Patent Grant
10974947
This application claims the benefit of priority from Chinese Utility Model Application No. 201921691628.5, filed on Sep. 30, 2019. The content of the aforementioned application, including any intervening amendments thereto, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present invention relates to storage tanks, more particularly, to a liquid storage apparatus.
Beverages, such as beers, strong ciders and some wines, may contain dissolved carbon dioxide and/or other gases, which enables the beverages to be carbonated or bubbly. The dissolved gas may escape from the solution, causing the beverages go flat. Specifically, the beverages tend to go flat when the beverages are exposed to the atmospheric pressure. The beverages that went flat are not welcomed by the consumers.
The change of the pressure in a liquid container, affected by the external environment, will affect the change of the pressure of the carbon dioxide in the container. Therefore, the liquid container is required to be able to adjust the pressure in the container.
A liquid storage apparatus is in need to adjust the pressure in the liquid storage apparatus.
In order to achieve above purpose, the present invention provides a liquid storage apparatus, comprising: a container, an upper cover, a dispensing faucet, a conduit, a gas cylinder and a gas cylinder sleeve; wherein the container comprises a cavity and an upper opening;
the upper cover is arranged on the upper opening; the dispensing faucet is led out from a side of the upper cover and is connected to the conduit in the upper cavity; and
the conduit extends to a bottom of the container; and
the upper cover comprises an adjusting knob which adjusts a pressure in the cavity of the container by rotating to open or close a valve of the gas cylinder.
In some embodiments, the gas cylinder sleeve comprises an end portion and a sleeve body; the end portion is fixed to the upper cover.
In some embodiments, the upper cover further comprises a housing and a mounting portion arranged inside the housing.
In some embodiments, a plurality of holes are provided on the housing.
In some embodiments, the adjusting knob is arranged on a side of the mounting portion; the upper cover further comprises a pressure gauge which is fixed to a top surface of the mounting portion.
In some embodiments, along a direction from the adjusting knob to an inside of the mounting portion, the upper cover further comprises a first fixing nut, a torsion bar, a first spring, a push block, a second fixing nut, a sealing piece, a push rod, a guiding column, a sealing member, a slider, a second spring, a valve stem, a third spring and a third fixing nut;
where the torsion bar is connected to the adjusting knob passing through the first fixing nut; the sealing piece is arranged between the second fixing nut and the push rod; a lower portion of the push block abuts the sealing piece passing through a central hole of the second fixing nut; the push rod passes through the guiding column, and an upper portion of the push rod contacts the sealing piece and a lower portion of the push rod contacts the slider; the sealing member is pressed into an inner groove of the slider and contacts a lower portion of the guiding column; and the second spring abuts the slider.
In some embodiments, the upper cover further comprises a fixture and a connecting portion; the fixture is arranged on a side of the upper cover facing the cavity; the connecting portion is connected to the fixture; and the upper cover is connected to the gas cylinder via the connecting portion.
In some embodiments, the connecting portion is the third fixing nut and is screwed to the gas cylinder sleeve.
The liquid storage apparatus provided by the present invention comprises the container, the upper cover, the dispensing faucet, the conduit, the gas cylinder and the gas cylinder sleeve; the container comprises the cavity and the upper opening; the upper cover is arranged on the upper opening; the dispensing faucet is led out from the side of the upper cover and is connected to the conduit in the upper cover; and the conduit extends to the bottom of the container; and the upper cover comprises the adjusting knob which adjusts the pressure of the cavity of the container by rotating to open or close the valve of the gas cylinder. The pressure in the container can be adjusted since the gas cylinder is arranged in the container and the valve of the gas cylinder can be opened or closed by the rotating of the adjustment knob, such that the amount of gas can be adjusted according to the personal preference to have different textures, where the gas is not limited to CO2 and could be N2; and since the dispensing faucet is led out from the side of the upper cover, the liquid can be more easily dispensed. The liquid storage apparatus in the present invention has the advantages of small size, integrated functions and cost saving.
The accompanying drawings of the embodiments will be briefly described below to illustrate the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the accompanying drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art according to the structures shown in the accompanying drawings without any creative work.
The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be described clearly and completely in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by the skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts are within the scope of the present invention.
It should be noted that terms such as “up”, “down”, “left”, “right”, “front”, “rear” in the embodiments of the present invention are only used to explain the relative position and movement, etc. of components.
In addition, terms “first”, “second”, and the like in the present invention are used for description only, and are not intended to indicate or imply their relative importance or the number of technical features, which explicitly or implicitly indicates that one or more features defined by “first” or “second” may be included in the present invention. In addition, the technical solutions of various embodiments may be combined to form other embodiments which are considered to fall within the claimed scope.
In the present invention, unless specified, terms “connect”, “fix” and the like should be understood broadly. For example, “fix” may result in a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integrated configuration of elements. The elements may be connected mechanically or electrically; or directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium. Alternatively, two elements may be in communication or interact with each other unless specified. For the skilled in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific conditions.
As shown in
The upper cover 40 is provided with an adjusting knob 1, and the valve of the gas cylinder 70 can be opened or closed by rotating the adjusting knob 1 to adjust the pressure of the cavity 51 of the container 50.
In some embodiments, the container 50 is of a double-wall structure and comprises a vacuum space 53 arranged between an outer wall 55 of the container and an inner wall 56 of the container. A bugle 52 is provided at a bottom of the container 50 to achieve a vacuum insulation.
The upper cover 40 is arranged at the upper opening 54 of the container 50. The dispensing faucet 60 is led out from the side of the upper cover 40 and is connected to a conduit 18 in the upper cover 40, and the conduit 18 extends to the bottom of the container 50. The adjusting knob 1 is arranged on the side of the dispensing faucet 60, enabling a more convenient use. With the conduit 18, the liquid inside the container may be discharged more completely such that the waste is avoided. In the related art, the conduit is not provided, and the liquid in the container is forced to flow into the dispensing faucet by the air pressure, where the pressure inside the container is more difficult and complicated to be adjusted. The conduit adopted by the present invention is easier to use. Specifically, the conduit 18 is a stainless steel straw which is fixed to a junction of the dispensing faucet 60 and the upper opening 54 through a clearance fit. The conduit 18 is directly clamped in a hole at the junction of the dispensing faucet 60 and the upper opening 54, and when the container has a positive pressure (i.e. CO2), the liquid inside the container 50 is extracted to the dispensing faucet 60 through the conduit 18.
The upper cover 40 further comprises a pressure gauge 19 with a dial, and the pressure gauge 19 is used to indicate the pressure in the cavity.
As shown in
During mounting, the torsion bar 3 is connected to the adjusting knob 1 passing through the first fixing nut 2; the first spring 4 is connected to the torsion bar 3 and the push block 5; the sealing piece 7 is arranged between the second fixing nut 6 and the push rod 8; the lower portion of the push block 5 and abuts the sealing piece 7 passing through a central hole of the second fixing nut 6; the push rod 8 passes through the guiding column 9, and the upper portion of the push rod 8 contacts the sealing piece 7 and the lower portion of the push rod 8 contacts the slider 11; the sealing member 10 is pressed into the inner groove of the slider 11 and contacts the lower portion of the guiding column 9; and the second spring 12 abuts the slider 11. The guiding column 9 is fixedly mounted in the mounting portion 30 to guide and limit the movement of the push rod 8. The side of second spring 12 away from the slider 11 fixedly abuts an inner casing of the mounting portion 30.
The valve of the gas cylinder 70 is formed by the slider 11, the sealing member 10 and the guiding column 9.
During operation, the second spring 12 acts on the slider 11 which then contacts the guiding column 9 through the sealing member 10, and the sealing member 10 deforms after contacting the slider 11, causing a sealing effect, and thus the valve is closed. Due to the threads on the first fixing nut 2 and the torsion bar 3, the torsion bar 3 moves forward by rotating the adjusting knob 1, and the first spring 4 is then compressed by the torsion bar 3. Due to the spring force, the push block 5 moves forward to press the sealing piece 7, and then the push rod 8 is forced to move forward to push the slider 11, such that the slider 11 is no longer in contact with the sealing member 10, and the valve is opened and a gas passage is formed. When the sum of the pressure in the guiding column 9 and the spring force of the second spring 12 is larger than the spring force of the first spring 4, the push block 5, the push rod 8 and the slider 11 are reset to close the valve.
The fixture 16 is embedded between the connecting portion 17 of the upper cover 40 and the mounting portion 30. The fixture 16 may break the valve to conduct gas. Specifically, the upper cover 40 is made of plastics. In cooperation with the valve stem 13, the third spring 14, and the third fixing nut 15, the fixture 16 moves to break the valve.
The connecting portion 17 is connected to the fixture 16, and the upper cover 40 is connected to the gas cylinder sleeve 80 via the connecting portion 17. Specifically, the connecting portion 17 can be set as a third fixing nut and screwed to the gas cylinder sleeve 80.
The adjustment knob 1 is used to adjust the pressure of the liquid applied to the cavity 51.
In the liquid storage apparatus 100 of the present invention, the pressure in the container 50 can be adjusted since the gas cylinder 70 is arranged in the container 50 and the valve of the gas cylinder 70 can be opened or closed by rotating the adjustment knob 1. Since the dispensing faucet 60 is led out from the side of the upper cover, the liquid can be more easily dispensed. The liquid storage apparatus 100 has the advantages of small size, integrated functions and cost saving.
The above embodiment is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, which is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any equivalent variations based on the present invention or direct or indirect application of the present invention in other related technical fields shall fall within the scope of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201921691628.5 | Sep 2019 | CN | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2705578 | Burns | Apr 1955 | A |
| 3679104 | Giroud | Jul 1972 | A |
| 5329975 | Heitel | Jul 1994 | A |
| 5443186 | Grill | Aug 1995 | A |
| 6651852 | Arellano | Nov 2003 | B2 |
| 8070023 | Vitantonio | Dec 2011 | B2 |
| 8191740 | Hoss | Jun 2012 | B2 |
| 9352949 | Rege et al. | May 2016 | B2 |
| 9533865 | Sonnichsen et al. | Jan 2017 | B2 |
| 20150336785 | Rege | Nov 2015 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 101208255 | Mar 2013 | CN |
