GB2323895A

GB2323895A - Device for dispensing liquids

Info

Publication number: GB2323895A
Application number: GB9626199A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andrew Henry Frans
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-12-18
Filing date: 1996-12-18
Publication date: 1998-10-07
Also published as: GB9626199D0

Abstract

A dispensing device, having an internally threaded collar 6 for screwing onto the neck of a drinks bottle, comprises a manually-operable pump for pressurising the interior of the bottle by pressing a first plunger 18 connected to a reciprocating piston 22 in a chamber 12 which forces air through passageway 10 via a non-return valve 24. Depression of a second plunger 26 within the device displaces a spring-biased 32 conical valve 30 from its seat 34, allowing pressurised fluid to flow up through a dip tube 14 and out through a spout 38. The device obviates the need for a container to be inverted to dispense liquid, and enables a pressure to be maintained within the container to prevent carbonated beverages from going flat.

Description

DisDensinq Device The present invention relates to a device for dispensing liquid from a container, and more particularly to a device for fitting to a drinks container.

A variety of beverages are nowadays distributed to the consumer in plastics bottles. Such bottles are typically formed of a thin flexible material such as a stopper or cap must be removed and replaced each time a quantity of liquid is required from a bottle. This repeated removal and replacement operation is inconvenient, particularly for persons having limited manual dexterity. The bottle must be inverted in order to dispense its contents, once its stopper or cap has been removed. As drinks bottles having capacities of up to 2 litres are now commonplace, children, the elderly or the infirm often have difficulty lifting and manipulating a bottle due to its considerable size and weight. Plastics bottles, in particular, become increasingly unwieldy as the quantity of liquid contained within them is reduced and therefore less support is provided for their flexible walls.

I have now devised a dispensing device which overcomes the above-mentioned limitations of existing bottles.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a dispensing device for fitting to the neck of a drinks container, the device comprising a manually-operable pump for pressurising the interior of said container and a spout provided with valve means for controlling the discharge of pressurised liquid therethrough.

It will be appreciated that such a device obviates the requirement for repeated removal and replacement of the cap or stopper of the container and inversion of the container to dispense a quantity of liquid, and also provides an effective means for maintaining sufficient pressure within the container to prevent a carbonated beverage from going flat.

Preferably the valve means is biased to a normally closed condition to prevent the release of liquid from the container, but may be manually displaced against its bias to permit liquid to be discharged.

Preferably the manually operable pump introduces air into the container at or adjacent its top.

Preferably the dispensing device comprises a tube for passing liquid from the interior of the container to the spout of the device.

Preferably the dispensing device comprises a threaded collar for screwing to the threaded neck of a drinks bottle.

Thus the device may be fitted to any bottle whose neck is formed with a complementary thread.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of an example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIGURE 1 is a section through a dispensing device in accordance with the present invention; FIGURE 2 is an exploded view of the dispensing device of Figure 1; FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the same dispensing device; and FIGURE 4 is a side elevation of the same dispensing device.

Referring to the drawings, a dispensing device is shown comprising an upper portion 2 and a lower portion 4. Lower portion 4 is formed with an internally threaded skirt 6 for screwing onto the threaded neck of a bottle so that a portion 8 projects into the interior of the bottle neck. Projecting portion 8 comprises a first passageway 10 for communicating air from a chamber 12 into the bottle and a second passageway 14 for communicating liquid into the dispensing device from a tube 16 which extends into the interior of the bottle.

The device is arranged such that the depression of a first plunger 18, having a shaft 20, causes a piston 22 connected to the lower end of the shaft 20 to move downwards within the chamber 12, thereby displacing a volume of air via a non-return valve 24 and through the passageway 10 into the bottle. Thus the interior pressure of the bottle is increased.

The plunger 18 is provided with a return sprint (not shown), and is arranged to admit air into the chamber 12 from the atmosphere as the plunger is raised to its original position.

A second plunger 26, having a shaft 28, projects at one end from the top of the dispensing device. The opposite end of the shaft 28 is formed with a conical valve 30 which is normally biased by means of a spring 32 so that it sits within a corresponding seat 34 and thus prevents the flow of liquid through an aperture 36 and out of the device through a spout 38. Having pressurised the interior of the bottle by successive depressions of the plunger 18, a depression of the plunger 26 causes the valve 30 to be displaced from its conical seat 34, thereby allowing a quantity of liquid to flow upwards via the tube 16 and passageway 14, and through the aperture 36 and thence out of the device.

It will be appreciated that, in order for the pressurisation of the container to cause an outflow of liquid from the dispensing device, the free end of the tube 16 must extend a sufficient distance into the bottle so that it remains immersed in the liquid contained therein.

Having dispensed a required quantity of liquid, the bottle may once again be pressurised by repeatedly depressing or pumping the plunger 18.

The dispensing device thus described obviates the requirement for the removal of a cap or stopper of the bottle and the inversion of the bottle in order to dispense a liquid therefrom. The pressurisation of the interior of the bottle also has the advantage that it prevents the tendency of a carbonated beverage to lose its dissolved gas.

Claims

1) A dispensing device for fitting to the neck of a drinks container, said device comprising a manually-operable pump for pressurising the interior of said container and a spout provided with valve means for controlling the discharge of pressurised liquid therethrough.

2) A dispensing device as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said valve means is biased to a normally closed condition to prevent the release of liquid from said container, but may be manually displaced against its bias to permit liquid to be discharged.

3) A dispensing device as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein said manually-operable pump introduces air into said container at or adjacent its top.

4) A dispensing device as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising a tube for passing liquid from the interior of said container to said spout.

5) A dispensing device as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising a threaded collar for screwing to the threaded neck of a drinks bottle.

6) A dispensing device substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.