Patent Application
20240270452
None.
The present disclosure relates to non-drip beverage pourers. More particularly, it relates to a beverage pourer in the form of a one-piece, elastically flexible sheet member that can be rolled up and partially inserted into the neck of a beverage bottle, such as a wine bottle, to form a protruding pour channel.
According to an aspect of the disclosure, a beverage pourer comprises an elastically flexible sheet. The sheet has a relaxed state in which the sheet is generally flat and has a top side facing in an upward vertical direction, a bottom side facing in a downward vertical direction opposite the upward vertical direction, at least one horizontal longitudinal dimension, and at least one horizontal transverse dimension, the transverse dimension being perpendicular to the longitudinal dimension. The sheet comprises an upper surface on the top side, a lower surface on the bottom side, a sheet thickness extending downward from the upper surface to the lower surface, and a peripheral edge circumscribing an area of the upper surface and an area of the lower surface. The upper surface includes upper surface raised regions and upper surface recessed regions, the upper surface raised regions extending above the upper surface recessed regions. The sheet is adapted and configured to be manually flexed transversely to impart concavity to the upper surface, the flexed sheet being manually insertable through a round pour opening of a beverage bottle in a longitudinal insertion direction. The sheet is biased, when so flexed, partially inserted into the beverage bottle, and released, to unflex transversely so as to conform to at least a portion of an inner perimeter of the round pour opening to form a pour channel extending through the pour opening. The pour channel thus formed comprises a distal portion of the upper surface extending longitudinally into the beverage bottle from the round pour opening to a distal end of the pour channel, and a proximal portion of the upper surface protruding longitudinally out of the beverage bottle from the round pour opening to a proximal end of the pour channel. The lower surface of the sheet thus partially inserted and released is adapted and configured so to engage an inner surface of the beverage bottle as to restrict the beverage from flowing between the sheet lower surface and the beverage bottle inner surface, thus to allow a beverage to be poured from the beverage bottle through the pour channel without the beverage leaking or dripping out of the bottle under the pour channel.
Although the characteristic features of this disclosure will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the disclosed method and system, and how it may be made and used, may be better understood by referring to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views and in which:
A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that elements of the figures above are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and are not necessarily drawn to scale. The dimensions of some elements in the figures may have been exaggerated relative to other elements to help to understand the present teachings. Furthermore, a particular order in which certain elements, parts, components, modules, steps, actions, events and/or processes are described or illustrated may not be required. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that, for simplicity and clarity of illustration, some commonly known and well-understood elements that are useful and/or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment may not be depicted to provide a clear view of various embodiments per the present teachings.
In the following description of various examples of embodiments of the disclosed device and method, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration various example devices, systems, and environments in which aspects of the disclosed device and method can be practiced. Other specific arrangements of devices, systems, and environments, can be used, and structural modifications and functional modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the disclosed device and method.
Described in the present disclosure is a non-drip beverage pourer in the form of a thin, one-piece, round, elastically flexible sheet with at least one embossed pouring surface, an embodiment of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawing figures. As is commonly known, attempting to pour wine or other beverage directly from a glass bottle into a serving glass often results in drops of beverage forming at the pouring rim, particularly at the end of a pour when a server tips the bottle back to a vertical position from a tilted pouring angle. Such drops often adhere to and run down the outside of the bottle or drip from the rim at a steep angle that suddenly varies from that of a full pouring stream, in both cases missing an intended serving glass, going to waste, and potentially soiling a tablecloth or table surface. The disclosed pourer is said to be “non-drip” in that it prevents such dripping without the need for the technique of twisting the bottle at the end of a pour. In addition, the disclosed pourer is compact, being in the form of a generally flat, thin sheet when in a relaxed state between uses, and further promotes aeration, having an embossed pouring surface on one or both sides of the sheet, which tend to produce turbulent pouring flow.
With reference to the drawing views of
The sheet 12 comprising an upper surface 20 on the top side 16, a lower surface 22 on the bottom side 18, a sheet thickness t extending downward from the upper surface 20 to the lower surface 22, and a peripheral edge 24 circumscribing an area of the upper surface 20 and of the lower surface 22, which areas are essentially coextensive. By the sheet 12 being said to be “generally flat,” it will be understood that the upper surface 20 deviates no more than minimally from an upper tangent plane Pu, and the lower surface 22 deviates no more than minimally from a lower tangent plane Pl, each over its entire respective area, as described in more detail below.
The upper surface 20 has upper surface raised regions 26 and upper surface recessed regions 28, the upper surface raised regions 26 extending above the upper surface recessed regions 28. In addition, the lower surface 22 has lower surface raised regions 30 and lower surface recessed regions 32, the lower surface raised regions 30 extending below the lower surface recessed regions 32. The lower surface raised regions 30 are disposed opposite (that is, directly below) the upper surface recessed regions 28, and the lower surface recessed regions 32 are disposed opposite the upper surface raised regions 26. The upper and lower surfaces 20, 22 are said to be “embossed” with these raised and recessed regions 26-32. “Edges” and “vertices” where these regions meet, in the embodiment shown in
More particularly, the upper surface recessed regions 28 comprise a lattice of grooves, the lattice of grooves including a first set of parallel grooves 34 and a second set of parallel grooves 36, the first grooves 34 intersecting the second grooves 36, each upper surface raised region 26 being disposed between a neighboring pair of the first grooves 34 and between a neighboring pair of the second grooves 36, as best seen in
A depth of each groove of the first grooves 34 and the second grooves 36 is a vertical distance from an uppermost extent of a raised region 26 that is adjacent the groove 34, 36 to a lowermost extent of the groove 34, 36. In embodiments, a maximum depth of the grooves 34, 36 can for example, be about 0.010 inch or less, about 0.0075 inch or less, or even about 0.0050 inch or less. Similarly, a height of each ridge of the first ridges 38 and the second ridges 40 is a vertical distance from an uppermost extent of a lower surface recessed region 32 that is adjacent the ridge 38, 40 to a lowermost extent of the ridge 38, 40. In embodiments, the heights of the ridges 38, 40 are the same as the depths of the oppositely disposed grooves 34, 36. A thickness of the sheet t can be, for example, from about 0.00781 (about 0.2 mm) inch to about 0.0625 inch (about 1.60 mm). It will be understood that shallower grooves 34, 36 and a thinner sheet thickness t are generally desirable for compactness, and at least the latter for reduced manufacturing cost. On the other hand, deeper grooves 34, 36 may improve aeration, and a thicker sheet thickness t may improve the strength or durability of the sheet 12.
In another embodiment illustrated in
In another embodiment illustrated in
The sheet 12 is adapted and configured to be manually flexed transversely to impart concavity to the upper surface 20, the flexed sheet 12 being manually insertable through the round pour opening O of the beverage bottle B in a longitudinal (y) insertion direction. The sheet 12 is biased, when so flexed, partially inserted into the beverage bottle, and released, to unflex transversely so as to conform to at least a portion of an inner perimeter of the round pour opening O to form a pour channel 14 extending through the pour opening O, the pour channel 14 comprising a distal portion of the upper surface 20 that extends longitudinally into the beverage bottle B from the round pour opening O to a distal end of the pour channel 14, and a proximal portion of the upper surface 20 that protrudes longitudinally out of the beverage bottle B from the round pour opening O to a proximal end of the pour channel 14. The lower surface 22 of the sheet, thus partially inserted and released, is adapted and configured to engage an inner surface of the beverage bottle B in such a manner as to restrict the beverage b from flowing between the sheet lower surface 22 and the inner surface of the beverage bottle B, to allow the beverage b to be poured from the beverage bottle B through the pour channel 14 without the beverage b leaking or dripping out of the bottle under the pour channel 14.
The peripheral edge 24 of sheet 12 is preferably round, and still more preferably circular. This guarantees that the pour channel 14 will taper inwardly toward its bottom and toward its proximal end, thus providing a visual indicator of a pouring direction.
The sheet 12 is made of a food-safe polymer material. In an embodiment, it is made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). In particular, the sheet 12 is made by embossing a film in a desired pattern and die-cutting the film to a desired shape, such as a preferred round, or more particularly circular, shape. For example, the sheet 12 can be die-cut to a three-inch diameter circular shape. A plurality of the sheets 12 may be then packaged together, such as in a plastic bag.
In a method according to the disclosure, as illustrated in
The preceding description of the disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed. The description was selected to best explain the principles of the present teachings and the practical application of these principles to enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the disclosure in various embodiments and various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It should be recognized that the words “a” or “an” are intended to include both the singular and the plural. Conversely, any reference to plural elements shall, where appropriate, include the singular.
It is intended that the scope of the disclosure not be limited by the specification but be defined by the claim(s) set forth below. In addition, although narrow claims may be presented below, it should be recognized that the scope of this disclosure is much broader than presented by the claim(s). It is intended that broader claims will be submitted in one or more applications that claim the benefit of priority from this application. Insofar as the description above and the accompanying drawings disclose additional subject matter that is not within the scope of the claim or claims below, the additional disclosures are not dedicated to the public and the right to file one or more applications to claim such additional disclosures is reserved.
