US2768771A - Dispenser for carbonated beverages - Google Patents

Description

1956 w. K. BEUTEL DISPENSER FOR CARBONATED BEVERAGES Filed Dec. 1, 1955 IN V EN TOR. WERA/E/P K- 3 -'-'d/7'L BY gm 5 7/ZM ATTORNEY United States Patent DISPENSER FOR CARBONATED BEVERAGES Werner K. Beutel, Rocky Hill, Conn.

Application December 1, 1953, Serial No. 395L368 4 Claims. (Cl. 222-494) This invention relates to a beverage dispenser and, more specifically, to improvements in a dispenser for carbonated bottled beverages.

It is the general object of the invention to provide a simple and foolproof dispenser which can be used to advantage in dispensing carbonated bottled beverages and which incorporates means for tightly sealing the bottle so as to prevent the escape of the liquid and gaseous contents thereof during periods of non-use and which will thereby preserve the quality and palatability of the beverage.

Other more specific objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the annexed drawing which, by way of preferredexample only, illustrates one specific embodiment of the invention and in which,

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the dispensing device, the device being shown in closed condition; and

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 wherein parts are shown in elevation and wherein the parts are shown in the positions they assume while dispensing.

It is widely recognized that in the intermittent use of a carbonated bottled beverage, one faces the likelihood that the last used portions of the beverage will lack quality and palatability by reason of the escape of the entrained gases. Immediately after a bottle has been opened, the entrained gases will start to escape. While there have been a wide variety of stoppers or caps provided to close and seal the bottle after it has been originally uncapped and while such stoppers or caps have been highly developed and skillfully designed, the loss problem has not been completely solved because in removing such stoppers or caps for subsequent use or dispensing of the beverage, additional gases escape the bottle.

In accordance with my invention, I utilize one such highly successful cap in the construction of a dispenser which permits the user to intermittently dispense the beverage without removing the cap and without permitting free and unwarranted escape of gas.

More specifically, 1 provide a siphon type dispensing device indicated generally by the reference numeral which is associated with a bottle closing cap 12 which has been found highly successful in sealing the opening in a conventional beverage bottle such as shown in broken outline by the reference numeral 14. Only the neck portion and bottom of the beverage bottle are shown, since only those portions are necessary to describe the manner in which the cap 12 is closed on the bottle opening and to fully describe the utility of the dispenser. The cap 12 is of a Well known type and has been shown in the U. S. Patent to Butts, No. 1,733,645 wherein it is explained that the cap is provided with a plurality of fingers 15, 15 which extend downwardly and which have their lower end portions rolled upwardly to support a split wire ring 16' which is closed or opened by a wire operating lever 17. More specifically, the ring 16 is passed through the rolled bottom edge portions of the fingers 15 with the free ends of the split ring being engaged by the lever 17 which has a hook portion 17a looped over hooks 16a formed on the free end portions of the wire 16. When the lever 17 is positioned as shown'in the drawing, the hooks 17a cams the ring hooks 16a together and thus tightens the fingers 15, 15 around the neck of the bottle 14. When the fingers are tightened in this manner, an annular seal 18 is compressed over the top of the bottle within the body portion of the cap 12 so as to seal the opening in the bottle. When the lever 17 is shifted upwardly, the hooks 17a and 16a are only loosely engaged so that the fingers do not grip the neck of the bottle and so that the cap can be removed from the bottle.

As shown in Fig. l, the cap 12 has an annular inturned flange 19 defining a central opening through which a tube 20 extends. As will be shown in greater detail hereinafter, the tube 20 forms an important part of the dispenser 10 and is extended through the cap 12 with its major portion depending from the cap so as to extend to a point adjacent the bottom of the bottle and the tube 20 also projects a relatively short distance above the cap. In accordance with the present invention, the cap 12 is secured to the tube 20 in a liquidtight airtight manner, as by welding or the like, so that no gas or liquid can escape from the bottle along the tube 20.

It is important to note that a bushing 21 is tightly fitted into the top end of the tube 20 and that a generally similar bushing 22 is tightly fitted into the bottom end of the tube 20. The bushings 21 and 22 are adapted to slidably support an inner tube 23 in spaced substantially concentric relationship to the outer tube 20. As will be explained in greater detail hereinafter, the inner tube 23 accommodates all of the fluid flow and will, therefore, be referred to as the flow tube. It is also important to 'note that the flow tube23 is considerably longer than the outer tube 20 and projects a substantial distance above the top bushing 21 and a lesser distance below the bottom bushing 22.

The upwardly projecting portion of the flow tube 23 extends into a generally cylindrical head member 24 which is closed at the top and which has a central longitudinally extending bore 25 in communication with the open top end of the flow tube. The head 24 also receives a flow nozzle 26 which is in communication with the bore 25 and which is secured to the head as by welding or the like so as to extend radially and downwardly therefrom. The head and flow tube are secured together in any conventional fashion as, for example, by press fitting the flow tube within the bore so that the top edge of the flow tube will engage a shoulder 27 defined therewithin or, in the alternative, the top end of the fiow tube may be threaded within the head.

An enlarged recess or well 28 is provided in the bottom of the head 24 to accommodate a coil spring 29 therewithin which can be disposed between top and bottom seat members 30 and 31 which slidably embrace the flow tube. The bottom seat member 31 engages an annular seal 32 which rests upon the bushing 21 in the top end of the outer tube 24). Thus, it will be seen that the head 24 may be pressed downwardly against the spring 29 to extend the flow tube a greater distance into the bottle 14. The movement of the head and flow tube is limited by the spring seat members 30 and 31 which have opposed sleeves 33 and 34 which will engage and stop downward movement of the head and flow tube in the position shown in Fig. 2. Obviously, when the head is pressed downwardly, the bottom portion of the flow tube will be extended beyond the bottom bushing 22.

In further accord with the present invention, the projecting bottom end portion of the flow tube 23 is closed by a cylindrical plug 35 tightly seated within the flow tube. A generally cup shaped member 36 is also supported on the bottom end portion of the flow tube as by a pin 37 which extends through the cup 36, the flow tube 23, and the plug 35. The open top end of the cup shaped member 36 is in spaced generally concentric relationship to the 'fiow tube 23 and is adapted to receive and seat a rubber or rubber-like seal member 38. More specifically, the seal 38 is provided with a shoulder 39 which is seated on the top edge of the cup member 36 and is also provided with a downwardly extending portion 40 which embraces the flow tube within the opening in the cup shaped member. The top face 41 of the seal member engages the bottom face of the lowermost bushing 22 to provide a seal around the flow tube.

Flow from the bottle into the flow tube 23 is accommodated through a pair of elongated openings 42, 42 which are provided in diametrically opposed relationship in the flow tube in that portion thereof which is normally embraced by the lowermost bushing 22. Accordingly, the flow openings 42 are provided with a double seal, namely, the bushing 22 and the rubber seal member 38. The openings 42, 42 are exposed when the head 24 is depressed whereby the seal 38 is thrust downwardly and the tube openings 42, 42 are extended beneath the bushing 22.

It is believed that a detailed description of the operation will be unnecessary in view of the foregoing description of the device. It will be readily understood that the elements associated with the bottom end of the flow tube constitute a valve which is doubly sealed in the closed position when the device is not being operated. The spring 29 in the head automatically closes the valve during periods of inoperation. To open the valve to dispense the liquid contents of the bottle, the head is pressed downwardly against the spring. It is quite apparent that in operating the dispensing device the cap does not have to be opened so that the bottle will remain sealed. It is also quite apparent that the liquid and gases within the bottle have no avenue of escape during non-use. It is quite important to note that during periods of use the gases in the bottle, which are not entrained in the beverage, cannot freely escape. The only avenue of escape during operation is through the ports 42, 42 in the flow tube and such ports are opened adjacent the bottom of the bottle so as to be within the body of the beverage. After the beverage contents have been dispensed to a point where the liquid level is near the bottom of the outer tube 20, the cap and dispensing device can be removed from the bottle and the remaining portion of the contents can be poured freely from the bottle.

Thus, it will be seen that with the above described dispensing device a bottled, .carbonated beverage can be dispensed intermittently without gas leakage while the beverage is dispensed or during extended periods of non-use. Therefore, the beverage can be preserved in a palatable state for extended periods of time after the bottle has been initially opened.

While the invention has been described with specific reference to the one embodiment shown in the drawing, it is not the intent to limit the scope of the invention to the details of said embodiment otherwise than indicated by the claims which follow.

I claim as my invention:

1. A dispensing device for bottled carbonated beverages comprising in combination, a cap detachably secured to the top of the bottle and sealing the opening therein, an outer tube secured in air-tight sealed relationship within said cap and projecting into the lower region of the bottle, a flow tube slidably disposed within said outer tube and having a closed bottom end projecting below said outer tube, said flow tube also having a transverse opening above the projecting bottom .end portion, an annular bushing disposed between the bottom end ,portion of-said' outer tube agd said flow tube to normally close .said transverse opening, a seal connected to the projecting bottom end of said flow tube and having a 4, surface normally engaging the bottom end of said annular bushing, an operating head connected to the top portion of said flow tube above said cap and having a discharge opening in communicatiop with said flow tube, and a spring biasing said head and said flow tube upwardly to normally position said transverse opening within said bushing and to engage said seal and the bottom end of said annular bushing, whereby said head can be depressed to disengage said seal and to extend said flow tube into the bottle and thereby expose said transverse opening below said bushing and said outer tube.

2. A dispensing device for bottled carbonated beverages comprising in combination, a cap detachably secured to the top of the bottle and sealing the opening therein, an outer tube secured in air-tight sealed relationship within said cap with its bottom end extending into the lower region of the bottle, a flow tube slidably disposed within said outer tube with its bottom and top end portions projecting therebeyond, said fiow tube also having a transverse opening above its projecting bottom end portion, means closing the bottom end of said flow tube, a bushing disposed between the bottom end portion of said outer tube and said flow tube and normally closing said transverse opening, a seal supported on the projecting bottom end portion of said flow tube having a surface normally engaging said bushing, an operating head connected to the upwardly projecting portion of said flow tube and having a discharge opening in communication with said flow tube, and a spring biasing said head and said flow tube upwardly whereby said head can be depressed to disengage said seal and said bushing and to expose said transverse opening below the bottom end of said outer tube.

3. In a dispensing device for bottled carbonated beverages, the combination comprising a cap detachably secured to the top of the bottle and sealing the opening therein, an outer tube secured in air-tight sealed relationship within said cap with its bottom end extending into the lower region of the bottle and with its top end projecting above the cap, a flow tube slidably disposed within said outer tube with its top end projecting above the outer tube and having a closed bottom end projecting below said outer tube, said flow tube also having a transverse opening above the projecting portion of its bottom end, a bushing disposed between the bottom end portion of said outer tube and said flow tube and normally closing said transverse opening, a seal secured to the bottom end of said fiow tube and having a surface normally engaging said bushing, an operating head connected to the projecting top end of the flow tube and having a discharge opening in communication with said flow tube, and a coil spring disposed in said head to exert force between said head and said outer tube whereby said head can be depressed to disengage said seal and said bushing and to expose said transverse opening below said outer tube.

4. A dispensing device for bottled carbonated beverages comprising in combination, a cap having a cen tral opening detachably secured to the top of the bottle to seal the bottle opening, an outer tube secured to said cap and extending through and sealed within said central opening with its bottom end projecting into the lower region of said bottle and with its top end projecting above said cap, top and bottom bushings disposed in the top and bottom ends of said outer tube, a fiow tube extending through said outer tube with its top end projecting above said top bushing and with its bottom end projecting below said bottom bushing, said fiow tube having a transverse opening normally closed by said bottom bushing, means closing the bottom end of said flow tube, a seal connected to the projecting bottom end of said flow tube and having a surface normally engaging said bottom bushing, a generally cylindrical operating head connected to the projecting top end of the flow tube and having a central longitudinal bore in communication therewith, discharge orifice means supported by References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Ames Oct. 29, 1929 Ramsay May 23, 1939 Threm Sept. 7, 1943 Martin et a1. May 1, 1951 Jarrett et a1 Oct. 7, 1952

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