Multi-Port Quick Disconnect Spout

Abstract

A spout having a one piece molded body including two or more quick disconnect ports, the quick disconnect ports constructed and arranged to attach two or more attachments. The spout can have two, three or more ports. The ports can be for a liquid and a gas, for example coffee and an air line to recover condensate and recirculate the recovered coffee. The spout can be heat welded to a bag containing a liquid. The ports can have different diameters to facilitate the attachments.

Description

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There is a need for one piece multi-port quick disconnect spout, which is easy to manufacture and is inexpensive.

Without limiting the scope of the invention a brief summary of some of the claimed embodiments of the invention is set forth below. Additional details of the summarized embodiments of the invention and/or additional embodiments of the invention may be found in the Detailed Description of the Invention, below.

A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification is provided as well only for the purposes of complying with 37 C.F.R. 1.72. The abstract is not intended to be used for interpreting the scope of the claims.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In some embodiments, the invention is a spout having a one piece molded body including two or more quick disconnect ports, the quick disconnect ports constructed and arranged to attach two or more attachments. The spout can have two, three or more ports. The ports can be for a liquid and a gas, for example coffee and an air line to recover condensate and recirculate the recovered coffee. The spout can be heat welded to a bag containing a liquid. The ports can have different diameters to facilitate the attachments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the inventive one piece quick disconnect multi-port spout.

FIG. 2 shows a pair of attachments before they are attached to the ports.

FIG. 3 shows the attachment connected to the smaller diameter port.

FIG. 4 shows the attachment connected to the larger diameter port.

FIG. 5 shows the spout heat welded to a bag.

FIG. 6 shows the attachments before being attached to the ports.

FIG. 7 shows the attachments after being connected to the ports.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention is a one piece mold spout with multiple ports which offer quick disconnect for a variety of attachments. In one embodiment, the larger port is for coffee and the smaller port is for air, but the ports could be for any desired liquid or gas. In the embodiment, the air line is to recover condensate and recirculate the liquid recovered. The spout could be equipped with two, three or more ports, if desired. The spout is heat welded to a bag.

Referring to FIGS. 1-4, the inventive one piece quick disconnect multi-port spout is shown, with two ports, each having a different diameter for ease of correctly connecting the proper attachments. It should be understood that two, three or more ports could be incorporated, if desired. The ports can be for any liquid or air, both liquid or both air, if desired. In this embodiment, the smaller port can be for air (a gas), while the larger diameter port is for coffee (a liquid). The multi-port spout is shown generally at 10, with the smaller air port shown at 12 and the larger coffee port shown at 14. In FIG. 2, the air line attachment is shown at 16 and the coffee line attachment is shown at 18.

Referring to FIGS. 5-7, the spout 10 is shown heat welded to a bag 20 (shown empty). FIG. 6 shows the attachments 16 and 18 in the process of being attached, while FIG. 7 shows the attachments fully connected.

The above disclosure is intended to be illustrative and not exhaustive. This description will suggest many variations and alternatives to one of ordinary skill in this field of art. All these alternatives and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the claims where the term “comprising” means “including, but not limited to.” Those familiar with the art may recognize other equivalents to the specific embodiments described herein which equivalents are also intended to be encompassed by the claims.

Further, the particular features presented in the dependent claims can be combined with each other in other manners within the scope of the invention such that the invention should be recognized as also specifically directed to other embodiments having any other possible combination of the features of the dependent claims. For instance, for purposes of claim publication, any dependent claim which follows should be taken as alternatively written in a multiple dependent form from all prior claims which possess all antecedents referenced in such dependent claim if such multiple dependent format is an accepted format within the jurisdiction (e.g. each claim depending directly from claim 1 should be alternatively taken as depending from all previous claims). In jurisdictions where multiple dependent claim formats are restricted, the following dependent claims should each be also taken as alternatively written in each singly dependent claim format which creates a dependency from a prior antecedent-possessing claim other than the specific claim listed in such dependent claim below.

This completes the description of the preferred and alternate embodiments of the invention. Those skilled in the art may recognize other equivalents to the specific embodiment described herein which equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the claims attached hereto.

Claims

1. A spout comprising: a one piece molded body including two or more quick disconnect ports, the quick disconnect ports constructed and arranged to attach two or more attachments.

2. The spout of claim 1 wherein the two or more quick disconnect ports are a first port for a liquid and a second port for a gas.

3. The spout of claim 2 wherein the liquid is coffee and the gas is air, and wherein the gas attachment is to recover condensate and recirculate the liquid recovered.

4. The spout of claim 1 wherein the spout is heat welded to a bag containing a liquid to be dispensed.

5. The spout of claim 2 wherein the first port has a different diameter than the second port, to facilitate the correct attachments.