Patent Application
20070044435
Many establishments that serve beverages, including liquor, wine, and the like, suffer from a recurrent problem of pests entering or trying to enter open bottles, taps, and other containers and dispensers of their beverages. Examples of such pests include fruit flies, drain flies, phorid flies, ants, roaches, sphaerocerid flies, and other insects, and can include small mammals, such as mice. When these pests become trapped in the bottles, they often die and contaminate the beverages in the bottles, resulting in the waste of the contents of the bottles. “Bottle” is used inclusively to indicate bottles, taps, and other containers and dispensers.
In addition to contamination by dying in bottles and the like, these pests can introduce disease-causing bacteria and sometimes lay their eggs on the containers. Larvae emerge from the eggs to feed near the surface of the fermenting material for several days and might not be noticed because of their small size. Ingesting fruit fly larvae can cause intestinal discomfort and diarrhea even apart from what bacteria they might carry would do to a person. While fruit flies frequent fresh fruits and vegetables, they are drawn to fermenting materials and visit rotting fruits and vegetables, drains, garbage, and damp organic materials. They breed in drains, sewers, septic tanks, and sewerage-contaminated soil. Ants visiting bottles in a bar can track through many other substances and thus introduce contaminants. Roaches are notoriously dirty creatures and carry many undesirable contaminants. The flies lay eggs near or on top of fermenting materials, such as beverages, decaying fruits and vegetables, garbage, and slime in drains. Thus, there is a strong incentive to prevent pest entry into bottles.
Currently, one method bartenders and others use to prevent pest entry into bottles is to use plastic wrap to cover the bottles. This does prevent most pests from entering the containers, but plastic wrap is difficult to place on such bottles. For example, one way to apply plastic wrap is to take a large roll of wrap, start at an end of a row of bottles, and draw wrap about each bottle until the end of the row is reached. Alternatively, individual pieces can be applied to respective bottles. Unfortunately, accidental breakage of bottles can occur while applying the wrap. Additionally, the wrap has a tendency to come off the bottles spontaneously, and slows bartenders down when they have to remove the wrap and/or replace the wrap.
An alternative method for inhibiting pest entry is to cover bottles with cloths, such as tablecloths, bar cloths, towels, and the like. These are far less effective at preventing pest entry, and some establishments use soiled cloths, which can introduce bacteria, viruses, and other contaminants themselves. Thus, there is a need for a simple, easy, quick, and economical method for preventing entry of pests into beverage bottles.
Embodiments contemplate covering open bottles of liquor, wine, and the like with a simple apparatus of the type disclosed in U.S. Design Patent No. D391,036. While the apparatus of the '036 patent was designed to hold ice cream cones and prevent drippings from soiling a user's clothing and the like, such apparatus is well-suited to this new use by placing the apparatus over the end of an open bottle, tap, or other container. Surprisingly, this method results in near total elimination of the pest problem discussed above. In addition, this method provides bartenders and others with an easy to apply, easy to remove, and easy to replace option for pest entry prevention that also is very quick to use. This is due in large part to snug engagement of the side wall of the apparatus with the side wall of the bottle, particularly in the conical form of the apparatus. Additionally, particularly in the substantially cylindrical form of the apparatus, the closed end of the apparatus can rest on an open bottle top or pour spout, blocking pest entry. Further, with use the external surface of the apparatus can become sticky from spilled contents and the like, and can act as a pest trap.
Embodiments contemplate the use of apparatus such as that disclosed in U.S. Design Patent D391,036. With reference to
The disc portion 3 is formed about the open end 5 of the cylindrical portion 2 and includes a rim 6 about its periphery to prevent spillage of ice cream drippings captured by the disc portion 3. About the open end 5, a plurality of de-nesting notches 7 are formed, preferably in varying patterns from one holder to the next, to prevent stacked apparatus from sticking together by vacuum formation, static electricity, and the like, when one on an end of a stack is removed. A lip 8 is formed in the disc portion 3 around the open end 5 to help keep drippings in the disc portion 3. However, for extreme drippings capture, it is preferable to have drippings enter the cylindrical portion rather than spill over the rim 6, so at least one drainage notch 9 is included in the lip 8 to allow drippings to enter the cylindrical portion 2 when the disc portion 3 is full. Preferably, the apparatus 1 is a single piece of material, such as plastic or paperboard. An effective conical portion can have a length of from about 1 to about 1.5 times the diameter of the open end and a closed end of substantially flat, circular form with a diameter of from about 0.75 to about 0.9 times the diameter of the open end.
The apparatus was designed to be used with the open end 5, 105 facing upward such that an ice cream cone can be inserted into the cylindrical or conical portion 2, 102. In such a configuration, drippings from the ice cream on the ice cream cone would fall onto the disc portion 3, 103, preventing drips onto floors, clothes, shoes, skin, and other surfaces upon which drips would be undesirable.
During a visit to an establishment, the current practice of wrapping bottle tops, taps, and other containers in plastic wrap to prevent pest entry was observed. “Bottle” is used inclusively herein to indicate bottles, taps, and other containers and dispensers. An authority of the establishment complained of the difficulty and inefficiency the current method entailed. The inventor conceived of the method of inverting the ice cream cone holder and placing it atop the bottles, which in experimentation proved to be extremely effective, as well as easy and efficient. In addition, the holder can be used to cover pour spouts and the like commonly used in bars and other establishments that enable easy, substantially drip free pouring of bottle contents. Still further, liquor leavings on the external surface of the conical portion 102 and cylindrical portion 2 can become sticky, acting as a trap for pests. When pests become trapped on the apparatus 1, 100, the apparatus can be discarded and new apparatus can be employed.
Embodiments thus contemplate a method of providing an apparatus 1, 100 with a conical portion 1, 102, placing an open end 5, 105 of the conical portion 2, 102 over the top 11 of a bottle 10, and moving the apparatus 1, 100 into engagement with at least one of the side wall of the bottle, the top of the bottle, and a pour spout mounted in the bottle, if present. The method of embodiments can further comprise placing apparatus over bottles at close of operations of an establishment and removing the apparatus when operations resume. Embodiments contemplate leaving apparatus in place except when a bottle is actually used, at which time the apparatus is removed, the bottle is used, and the apparatus is replaced. Additional embodiments comprise discarding an apparatus when it has trapped pests on its surface.
Through experimentation, it is clear that the more pronounced conical portion 102 is preferred over the substantially cylindrical portion 2 of
It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Additionally, various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.
This application is related to U.S. Design Patents Nos. D382,085 and D391,036, which are incorporated by reference in their entireties.
