Patent Application
20050236439
This invention relates to fluid dispensers and more specifically to a bottle top for the controlled dispensing of pressurized or carbonated beverages.
Carbonated beverages are commonly provided to consumers in bottles. To dispense liquid from a carbonated beverage bottle, a consumer typically unscrews a bottle top and pours the drink into a drinking container. To re-seal the carbonated beverage container, the consumer reattaches the bottle top. A common problem with this type of sealing apparatus is that after a first use, the carbonated beverage steadily loses carbonation and goes “flat”. There exists a need for a bottle top dispensing means that easily dispenses carbonated beverages into a drinking container yet preserves the carbonation in the portion of the carbonated beverage remaining in the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,932 to Nagy discloses a bottle siphon and dispenser for carbonated beverages that operates by placing pressure on a lever, which displaces an obstructor and allows a liquid to be dispensed. Nagy discloses that a portion of the obstructor passes through an opening in the dispenser body and makes contact with the lever. There is an imperfect seal in the dispensing chamber between the obstructor and the dispenser body. Nagy attempts to reduce the problem of this imperfect seal by positioning an O-ring around the obstructor in the area in which it passes through the dispenser body. This arrangement is relatively expensive to make and the imperfect seal is less than desirable, particularly since the obstructor moves up and down with respect to the dispenser body.
Other dispensers have attempted to improve the process of dispensing of carbonated beverages with limited success. Shortcomings of existing dispensers, such as disclosed by Nagy, include expensive and complicated construction, leaky valves, and the dispenser being too large such that it cannot fit on current carbonated beverage bottles when the bottles are stacked in standard shipping crates.
There is a need for a liquid dispenser for carbonated beverages which has a sealed dispensing chamber that is not penetrated by an obstructor, and where the obstructor is guided into making a proper seal by shaping the obstructor and the dispensing body in a suitable fashion, or by centering the obstructor within the dispenser body.
There further remains a need for a dispenser of relatively inexpensive construction and small in size such that it may be used on carbonated beverage bottles stacked in existing shipping crates.
A shell of a dispenser for dispensing fluid from a container has an inlet, an outlet, a dispensing chamber, and a mechanism to attach the shell to a top portion of the container. A membrane pin is coupled to a membrane and to an obstructor such that depression of the membrane results in displacement of the obstructor. The obstructor is movable between a closed position that prevents the flow of fluid between the inlet and the outlet and an open position that allows flow between the inlet and the outlet.
The height of the dispenser when attached to a container is between about 1 cm and about 4 cm measured from the uppermost surface of the container to the uppermost surface of the dispenser.
A siphon may be coupled to the shell in a fluid tight seal for dispensing pressurized fluids such as carbonated beverages.
In figures which illustrate non-limiting embodiments of the invention:
Throughout the following description specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the invention. However, the invention may be practiced without these particulars. In other instances, well known elements have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative, rather than a restrictive, sense.
As shown in
The membrane 110 and the membrane pin 130 may form one continuous piece of material with the dispenser shell 100. For example, polyurethane is a suitable material that can be used to mold the dispenser shell 100, including the membrane 110 and the membrane pin 130. Polyurethane B-601 and polyurethane B-614 are examples of suitable polyurethanes that may meet FDA standards for the shell. Texin® 255 resin, which is a polyester based thermoplastic polyurethane made by Bayer Corporation is another example of a suitable material, which may be used to form the dispenser shell and membrane by injection molding. A thickness of membrane 110 in the range between 0.08 cm (0.030″) and 0.14 cm (0.055″), and preferably a thickness of about 0.10 cm (0.040″), are appropriate for the above examples of suitable materials. When the membrane 110 is fashioned from the material and widths provided in these examples, a depression of membrane 110 of about 0.2 cm (0.08″) is sufficient to dispense fluid. It is to be understood that in alternate embodiments of this invention, the membrane 110, the membrane pin 130 and the dispenser shell 100 may be formed from more than one piece of material.
The dispenser shell 100 has a threaded region 190 for removably attaching to the screw top 280 of a bottle 290, such as a carbonated beverage bottle.
The centering piece 150 is coupled to a bottle closure seal 180, which provides a fluid tight seal between the lower dispensing chamber 125 and the upper portion of the bottle 290. The centering piece 150 is further coupled to a siphon 140, which is shown in truncated form in
When the dispenser 10 is in the open position, as shown in
It is to be understood that this invention can be practiced without a siphon 140, closure seal 180 and/or centering piece 150 shown in
A button 200 is provided in dispenser 10 to facilitate the depression of the membrane 110. The button 200 has a reinforced area 220 that is positioned in contact with a membrane knob 210. The membrane 110 may have a resilient nature that biases the membrane 110, and in turn the button 200, to the upward and closed position. It may also be noted that when dispensing pressurized contents from a bottle 290, the pressurized contents exert an upward force on the obstructor 120, that biases the obstructor 120 and membrane 110 into the closed position.
When the button 200 is depressed, the membrane 110 is depressed, displacing the membrane pin 130, which in turn displaces the obstructor 120 in a downward direction. This allows fluid to travel through the siphon 140, through the inlet 260 in the centering piece 150, through the lower dispensing chamber 125, around the obstructor 120 and out the dispensing channel 160. The button 200 may be attached to the dispensing shell 100 by any suitable attachment means, such as by snap fit shown in
An example of the relative size and position of the dispenser 10 with respect to a beverage bottle 290 is shown in
The operation of the dispenser 10 is initiated by depression of the membrane 110. Depression of the membrane 110 may be achieved by a number of different methods, such as direct pressure on the membrane 110, indirect pressure on the membrane 110 by a button 200, pressure by a lever such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,932, or a force exerted by a twist top 320 as shown in dispenser 300.
With reference to
The shape of the spout 170 is not important for the functioning of this invention. Accordingly,
An advantage of the invention is that the distances 95, 195 & 395 measured from the uppermost portion of the bottle 290 to the top of the membrane knob 210, to the top of the button 200, and/or to the top of the twist top 320 can be between about 1 cm to 4 cm, and more preferably between about 1.0 cm to 2.5 cm, such that the dispenser can fit on existing carbonated beverage bottles while the bottles are stacked in existing crates or stored in refrigerators, cabinets or furniture based on current standard sizes of bottles.
When the present invention is used for dispensing a pressurized liquid, the open position results in a unidirectional flow of fluid, namely expelling the pressurized liquid until the pressurized liquid is no longer in contact with the siphon, such as when container is empty. Normal operation of the invention for dispensing carbonated beverages expels only liquid, until empty, thus maintaining bottle pressure and beverage carbonation. Since fluid from outside the bottle will not flow into the bottle while the bottle contents are under pressure, the potential for contamination of the product is significantly reduced or eliminated.
In embodiments of the invention wherein the dispenser is fabricated directly on the top of a bottle, this feature combined with the unitary directional flow of the contained pressurized beverage, will provide assurance to consumers and suppliers that the contents of the bottle have not been easily altered or refilled after manufacturing. It would be possible to fill or refill a bottle having a dispenser directly fabricated thereon by using a special device, such as exerting pressure and fluid through the spout 160 or 560 when the dispenser 10, 300 or 500 is in the open position.
As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the foregoing disclosure, many alterations and modifications are possible in the practice of this invention without departing from the scope thereof. For example, although the invention has been described with a single membrane pin, the invention can be practiced with a plurality of membrane pins. Further, if the walls of the dispensing chamber are appropriately shaped in relation to the obstructor, a proper seal may be achieved without a centering piece and/or without a membrane pin that passes completely through the obstructor. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be construed in accordance with the substance defined by the following claims.
