EP0111812B1 - Soupape de distribution - Google Patents

Soupape de distribution Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0111812B1
EP0111812B1 EP19830112203 EP83112203A EP0111812B1 EP 0111812 B1 EP0111812 B1 EP 0111812B1 EP 19830112203 EP19830112203 EP 19830112203 EP 83112203 A EP83112203 A EP 83112203A EP 0111812 B1 EP0111812 B1 EP 0111812B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
piston
valve
outlet
inlet
chamber
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
EP19830112203
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0111812A3 (en
EP0111812A2 (fr
Inventor
Plastics United (Uk) Limited
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
UNITED PLASTICS (UK) LIMITED
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from GB838307607A external-priority patent/GB8307607D0/en
Priority claimed from GB838307672A external-priority patent/GB8307672D0/en
Priority claimed from GB838328829A external-priority patent/GB8328829D0/en
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to AT83112203T priority Critical patent/ATE33376T1/de
Publication of EP0111812A2 publication Critical patent/EP0111812A2/fr
Publication of EP0111812A3 publication Critical patent/EP0111812A3/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0111812B1 publication Critical patent/EP0111812B1/fr
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
    • B67D—DISPENSING, DELIVERING OR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B67D3/00—Apparatus or devices for controlling flow of liquids under gravity from storage containers for dispensing purposes
    • B67D3/04—Liquid-dispensing taps or cocks adapted to seal and open tapping holes of casks, e.g. for beer
    • B67D3/043—Liquid-dispensing taps or cocks adapted to seal and open tapping holes of casks, e.g. for beer with a closing element having a linear movement, in a direction perpendicular to the seat

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a valve as specified in the precharacterising part of claim 1.
  • a valve is previously known from AT-B-97998.
  • a type of wine container known as a "box" for containing wine, and from which wine can be dispensed from a valve and tap, is now becoming extremely popular.
  • the container comprises essentially a cardboard box containing a flexible internal bag which is sealed, apart from a valve and dispensing tap assembly from which the wine is dispensed selectively on operation of the valve. As the wine is dispensed, so the flexible bag progressively collapses due simply to the surrounding atmospheric to which the exterior of the bag is subjected.
  • box containers should be used for dispensing beer or other carbonated beverage.
  • the present invention is concerned with a dispensing valve especially suitable for use with a container of the "box” type intended to contain beer or other carbonated beverage.
  • the dispensed beverage will be dispensed with a frothy "head" which is considered desirable in the case of dispensing of beer.
  • AT-B-97998 discloses a beer tap specifically designed for use with a beer barrel, rather than with a "box".
  • the tap has a casing defining an inlet adapted to be connected to the barrel, the inlet communicating with a central chamber within the tap, the chamber having an outlet extending therefrom.
  • the chamber contains a valve member which moves vertically between an upper position in which the tap is open and a lower position in which the tap is closed. When the valve member is in the lower position part of the valve member actually closes off the region where the inlet enters the said chamber.
  • the valve member has a cylindrical recess formed in its lower part, and a fixed plunger is provided which is received within the recess.
  • the plunger is provided with an axial bore, and the arrangement is such that, as the valve member is lowered, the plunger is effectively moved into the recess.
  • the tap is relatively complex to fabricate and involves many moving parts.
  • DE-A-47094 discloses another valve arrangement intended for use with a beer barrel, this arrangement dating back to 1888.
  • the tap has a casing defining an inlet to be connected to a beer barrel, the inlet communicating with a chamber having an outlet extending therefrom.
  • the chamber contains a rotatable valve member.
  • the rotatable valve member is hollow and is snugly received within the chamber.
  • There is an aperture in a side wall of the valve member which can be brought into alignment with the inlet which communicates with the chamber and thus fluid can then flow from the inlet into the valve member.
  • the valve member is open at its lower end, thus permitting fluid to flow through the valve.
  • the hollow valve member also includes a plunger which can be moved downwardly within the valve member, as the valve member is closed.
  • the plunger includes a spigot which shuts off the outlet from the valve member as the plunger is lowered, the spigot having channels formed therein to permit fluid trapped within the valve member by the plunger as it moves downwardly to be forcibly ejected.
  • the valve is relatively complex, involving a number of moving parts.
  • GB-A-2108638 discloses another complicated beer dispensing tap.
  • the tap defines an inlet adapted to be connected to a source of beer, the inlet leading to a chamber which is associated with an outlet.
  • a vertically movable valve member is provided within the chamber.
  • movement of the valve member within the chamber does not, in any way, serve to prevent the flow of liquid into the chamber through the inlet, but instead movement of the valve member serves to close off the outlet.
  • a movable piston member Located within the chamber, above the outlet, is a movable piston member. Initially the piston member is in an elevated position. The piston member defines a relatively large channel running therethrough, which, when the tap is open, serves as the primary outlet and beer flows through the central channel. However, when the valve is to be closed initially the valve member moves downwardly, and a seal engages the upper surface of the piston member, thus shutting off the flow of liquid through the hollow central region of the piston member. Further movement of the valve member causes the piston member to move downwardly and fluid trapped within a chamber underneath the piston member is then ejected through a supplementary outlet.
  • the valve described is very complex including a large number of moving parts and many seals.
  • a dispensing valve said dispensing valve comprising a casing, said casing defining an inlet the inlet communicating with a chamber defined by the casing, there being an outlet extending from one end of the chamber, the chamber containing a valve member movable between an initial position in which the valve is opened and a position in which the valve is closed, the valve further comprising means whereby, when the valve is being closed, liquid therein may be dispensed in the form of at least one jet which impinges on the surface of liquid present in a cup or other container disposed under the valve to catch the dispensed liquid, characterised in that the valve member comprises an integral piston adapted to be moved, when the valve is to be closed, from said initial position in which the inlet and outlet are unblocked permitting fluid to flow through the valve, axially of the chamber initially to seal said inlet to prevent the further flow of liquid into said chamber, further movement of the piston serving partially to close said outlet so that subsequent movement of the piston selectively reduces the effective volume of
  • Embodiments of the invention have a minimum number of moving parts and may be easily and cheaply fabricated.
  • the valve of the invention is much simpler than the valves of the prior art.
  • the said inlet is adapted to be connected to a flexible container.
  • the valve can thus be used with carbonated beverages in flexible containers.
  • said inlet is associated with outer locating flanges for holding the valve in position in relation to a cardboard outer box. This facilitates use of the valve.
  • the said outlet comprises an outlet tube, the piston being provided with a protruding rod which, when the piston has been moved to seal said inlet, is inserted in said outlet tube, thus partially closing said outlet.
  • the piston itself closes the primary outlet, leaving open a supplementary outlet. At least one jet of liquid can then be forced out of the supplementary outlet to create a "head".
  • outlet tube and/or the rod provided on the piston are provided with axially extending grooves formed in the surface thereof, the rod, when inserted in the tube, closing all of the tube apart from the area defined by said grooves.
  • the piston is provided with upper and lower "O"-ring seals.
  • valve is provided with a piston rod, the piston rod being provided with manually graspable means, said manually graspable means being associated with cam surfaces so that rotation of the piston may cause the piston to be withdrawn from and inserted into the chamber.
  • the casing defines finger grip means to facilitate operation of the valve.
  • FIG. 1 to 4 illustrate a dispensing valve in accordance with the invention.
  • the valve comprises a casing 1 which is provided with a protruding bush portion 2 of cylindrical form.
  • the bush portion is provided with two radially protruding spaced apart retention flanges 3, 4, which are dimensioned to enable the valve to be clipped to a liquid containing package of the "box" type described above.
  • the casing 1 comprises a vertical cylindrical portion 5, which tapers inwardly to form a frusto-conical region 6 at the lower end, a central outlet tube 7 being provided at the lower end of the tapering frusto-conical region 6.
  • the dispensing valve includes a valve member in the form of an integral piston 9, which is slidably located within the cylindrical portion 5 of the casing 1.
  • the piston 9 consists of a cylindrical portion 10, the lower end of which tapers inwardly to form a frusto-conical portion 11, having the same angle of conicity as the tapering portion 6 at the lower end of the cylindrical portion 5 of the casing 1.
  • the piston 9 is provided, at the bottom of the frusto-conical portion 11, with a downwardly projecting cylindrical end rod 12 which is dimensioned to be inserted into the interior of the outlet tube 7.
  • the piston is operated by means of a piston rod 13, which is connected to the piston and which extends upwardly through a cap 14, which covers the open top end of the cylindrical portion 5 of the casing 1.
  • the top end of the piston rod 13 is formed into a ring 15 which is dimensioned to receive a finger, so that the piston may be actuated by the finger.
  • Adjacent the bottom and top edges of the cylindrical portion 10 of the piston 9 sealing "0" rings 16, 17 are provided to establish a seal between the exterior of the cylindrical portion 9 of the piston and the interior of the cylindrical portion 5 of the casing.
  • the outlet tube 7 does not have a circular interior cross section, but instead has a circular cross section provided with axially extending grooves 18. It is to be understood that the rod 12 provided on the piston 9 is dimensioned to be a neat fit within the interior of the outlet tube 7, but the end rod 12 does not extend into the grooves 18. Thus when the rod 12 is in the outlet tube 7 the outlet is partially closed. The rod effectively closes the outlet as defined by the main part of the outlet tube, but does not close the supplementary outlet defined by the grooves 18.
  • the outside of the cylindrical part 5 of the casing 1 is provided with two outwardly extending finger grips 19 to enable the valve to be held steady by one hand, whilst it is being operated by the other, for example.
  • the described dispensing valve operates in the following manner.
  • valve When the valve is connected to a liquid supply, such as bulk supply of beer, to dispense the liquid, initially the valve will be in the closed position illustrated in Figure 3. The finger grips 19 will then be held with one hand and the piston pulled with the other hand upwardly to the position shown in Figure 1. It will be readily understood that in this position liquid can flow from the bulk supply, through the bush 2, through the inlet tube 8, past the underside of the piston 9 and out through the outlet tube 7.
  • the 0-ring seals 16 and 17 prevent the escape of liquid upwardly past the piston.
  • 0-ring seals it may be possible to use a piston of a compressible material which is slightly oversized so that it will be compressed when positioned in the valve casing, thereby to form the seal.
  • the piston and cylinder may be of circular or square or other configuration in cross section as appropriate, but when the piston is circular and has the capabi!ity of rotating in the cylinder, a modification as shown in Figure 5 may be employed.
  • the modification consists in providing a top surface of the cap 14 with a pair of opposed lifting cam surfaces 20, 21.
  • the arrangement is such that by turning the finger grip 15, edges of the finger grip which engage the cam surfaces 20, 21, ride upwardly, following the cam surfaces, thereby retracting the piston from the closed position (as shown in Figure 3) to the open position (as shown in Figure 1).
  • the piston When the piston is to be returned to the closed position it can optionally be rotated and then pushed axially to the closed position, or it can optionally be pushed axially to the closed position, without an initial rotation step, in which case as it is pushed in it will be rotated by being guided on said cam surfaces.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Devices For Dispensing Beverages (AREA)

Claims (8)

1. Valve distributrice comportant un boîtier (1), ledit boîtier définissant une entrée (8) qui communique avec une chambre (5) définie par le boîtier, et dans laquelle il est prévu une sortie (7) s'étendant à partir d'une extrémité de la chambre, cette dernière contenant un élément formant valve (9) déplaçable entre une position initiale, dans laquelle la valve est ouverte, et une position, dans laquelle la valve est fermée, cette valve comportant en outre des moyens (7, 18, 12) grâce auxquels, lors de la fermeture de la valve, le liquide qui s'y trouve contenu peut être distribué sous la forme d'au moins un jet qui tombe sur la surface d'un liquide présent dans une coupelle ou dans un autre récipient disposé au-dessous de la valve et servant à collecter le liquide distribué, caractérisée en ce que l'élément formant valve (9) comporte un piston réalisé d'un seul tenant et apte à être déplace, lorsque la valve doit être fermée, depuis ladite position initiale dans laquelle l'entrée et la sortie sont débloquées permettant au fluide de traverser la valve, dans la direction axiale de la chambre pour initialement fermer de façon étanche ladite entrée (8) de manière à empêcher la pénétration d'un écoulement ultérieur du liquide dans ladite chambre, un déplacement supplémentaire du piston servant à fermer partiellement ladite sortie (7) de sorte qu'un déplacement ultérieur du piston réduit de façon sélective le volume effectif de l'espace présent entre le piston et ladite extrémité de la chambre, ci qui a pour effet que le liquide situé dans ledit espace est distribué par lesdits moyens de sortie sous la forme d'au moins un jet.
2. Valve distributrice selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle ladite entrée est adaptée (2) de manière à être raccordée à un récipient flexible.
3. Valve distributrice selon la revendication 1 ou 2, dans laquelle ladite entrée (8) est associée à des brides extérieures de positionnement (3, 4) servant à maintenir la valve en position par rapport à une boîte extérieure en carton.
4. Valve distributrice selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans laquelle ladite sortie (7) comporte un tube de sortie, le piston étant muni d'une tige saillante (12) qui, lorsque le piston (9) est déplacé pour fermer de façon étanche ladite entrée, est introduit dans ledit tube de sortie, ce qui ferme partiellement ladite sortie.
5. Valve distributrice selon la revendication 4, dans laquelle le tube de sortie (7) et/ou la tige (12) prévue sur le piston (9) comportent des rainures s'étendant axialement (18) ménagées dans la surface du tube et/ou de la tige, cette dernière fermant, lorsqu'elle est insérée dans le tube, l'ensemble de ce dernier en dehors de la zone définie par lesdites rainures.
6. Valve distributrice selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans laquelle le piston (9) comporte des joints toriques supérieur et inférieur (16, 17).
7. Valve distributrice selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans laquelle l'élément de valve comporte une tige de piston (13), qui comporte des moyens (14) pouvant être saisis manuellement qui sont associés à des surfaces de cames (20, 21) de telle sorte que la rotation du piston peut entraîner le retrait du piston hors de la chambre (5) et son insertion dans cette dernière.
8. Valve distributrice selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans laquelle le boîtier (1) définit des moyens de saisie en forme de doigts (19) de manière à faciliter l'actionnement de la valve.
EP19830112203 1982-12-07 1983-12-05 Soupape de distribution Expired EP0111812B1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AT83112203T ATE33376T1 (de) 1982-12-07 1983-12-05 Zapfventil.

Applications Claiming Priority (8)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB8234903 1982-12-07
GB8234903 1982-12-07
GB8307607 1983-03-18
GB838307607A GB8307607D0 (en) 1983-03-18 1983-03-18 Dispensing valve
GB8307672 1983-03-19
GB838307672A GB8307672D0 (en) 1983-03-19 1983-03-19 Dispensing valves
GB838328829A GB8328829D0 (en) 1983-10-28 1983-10-28 Dispensing valve
GB8328829 1983-10-28

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0111812A2 EP0111812A2 (fr) 1984-06-27
EP0111812A3 EP0111812A3 (en) 1985-07-24
EP0111812B1 true EP0111812B1 (fr) 1988-04-06

Family

ID=27449417

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19830112203 Expired EP0111812B1 (fr) 1982-12-07 1983-12-05 Soupape de distribution

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0111812B1 (fr)
DE (1) DE3376206D1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB8516908D0 (en) * 1985-07-04 1985-08-07 Alumasc Ltd Liquid dispensing tap
JPH0610000Y2 (ja) * 1987-03-30 1994-03-16 富士電機株式会社 炭酸飲料調整器

Family Cites Families (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE47094C (de) * Firma ZENKER & QUABIS in Breslau Auslösevorrichtung an dem aus Patentschrift 24548 bekannten Spritzhahn
AT97998B (de) * 1923-06-18 1924-09-25 Martin Sperlich Bierspritzhahn ohne Wirbel.
US2571327A (en) * 1947-11-12 1951-10-16 Agudo Francisco Fernandez Faucet
GB1315665A (en) * 1969-09-12 1973-05-02 Waddington & Duval Ltd Pourer tap
GB1381391A (en) * 1972-02-01 1975-01-22 Pitts Co Gerard Dispensing taps
NZ194373A (en) * 1979-07-30 1984-08-24 Lambert L J Fluid dispensing valve for flexible container

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0111812A3 (en) 1985-07-24
DE3376206D1 (en) 1988-05-11
EP0111812A2 (fr) 1984-06-27

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