WO2019237196A1

WO2019237196A1 - Improved apparatus for preserving carbonated beverages or other liquids

Info

Publication number: WO2019237196A1
Application number: PCT/CA2019/050829
Authority: WO
Inventors: Carlyle MURRELL-COLE
Original assignee: Murrell Cole Carlyle
Priority date: 2018-06-13
Filing date: 2019-06-12
Publication date: 2019-12-19

Abstract

An apparatus for preserving liquids features a container, a slidable piston separating an interior of the container into upper and lower chambers, an extendable/collapsible conduit connected to the piston around a flow opening therein, and connected to an upper portion of the container around a mouth opening therein. An elongated stabilizer runs axially of the container and through the piston to guide the piston and constrain movement thereof. A valve mechanism is operable close and open the flow opening of the piston. A user-operated control device for manipulating the valve mechanism features an elongated pull member, a rotatable member situated externally of the container and operable to to pull upwardly on the valve mechanism via the elongated pull member, and an operating tool of compatible shape with an outer profile of the rotatable member for tool-aided operation thereof. A spring normally biases the valve into the open state.

Description

IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PRESERVING CARBONATED BEVERAGES OR OTHER LIQUIDS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to containers having means for preserving carbonated beverages or other gas containing liquids by preventing or limiting escape of the carbon dioxide or other gas therefrom, and more particularly to containers having a slidable piston that automatically reduces the effective storage volume of the container as the volume of liquid therein is depleted.

BACKGROUND

Applicant’s prior patent application WO2015/192236, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses an example of the forgoing type of liquid preservation container. In ongoing development of the product, Applicant has arrived at a new and improved iteration, the details of which are described herein below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for preserving liquids, said apparatus comprising:

a container having a bottom wall, a peripheral wall standing upward from the bottom wall and enclosing around an interior space of the container disposed above the bottom wall thereof, and an upper portion disposed atop the peripheral wall to substantially close off an upper end of the interior space, the bottom wall and the upper portion being separated from one another in an axial direction of said container;

an impermeable piston disposed within the interior of the container and having a peripheral sliding seal that slidably engages the wall of the container, thereby separating the interior space of the container into a lower chamber disposed below the peripheral sliding seal for storage of a liquid in said lower chamber, and an upper chamber defining a remainder of the interior space above the peripheral sliding seal;

an axially extendable and collapsible conduit having a lower end connected to the piston in a sealed manner around a flow opening that passes axially through the piston at a location spaced inwardly from the peripheral sliding seal, and an upper end connected to the upper portion of the container in a sealed condition around a mouth opening therein;

an elongated stabilizer running axially of the container and through the piston to maintain the piston in a predetermined orientation relative to the container to constrain movement of the piston to the axial direction of said container; and

a valve mechanism operable to switch between a closed state preventing fluid flow through the flow opening of the piston and an open position enabling flow through the flow opening of the piston.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for preserving liquids, said apparatus comprising:

a valve mechanism operable to switch between a closed state preventing fluid flow through the flow opening of the piston and an open position enabling flow through the flow opening of the piston;

a user-operated control device operable from outside the container to manipulate the valve mechanism into the closed state, said control device comprising:

an elongated pull member having a lower end connected to the valve mechanism;

a rotatable member that is situated externally of the container and rotatable in one direction to pull upwardly on the valve mechanism via the elongated pull member, and rotatable in an opposite direction to perform or enable lowering of the valve mechanism; and an operating tool having a mouth or inner profile of compatible shape with an outer profile of the rotatable member for tool-aided operation of the control device.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for preserving liquids, said apparatus comprising:

a valve mechanism operable to switch between a closed state preventing fluid flow through the flow opening of the piston and an open position enabling flow through the flow opening of the piston, said valve mechanism comprising a valve-biasing spring disposed between the piston and the valve mechanism to normally bias the valve mechanism away from the piston and into the open state; and

a control device operable from outside the container to manipulate the valve mechanism into the closed state, said control device comprising an elongated pull member that reaches downwardly to the valve mechanism to enable upward lifting thereof against a spring force of the valve-biasing spring.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a liquid preservation container according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the liquid preservation container of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the liquid preservation container of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid preservation container of Figure 3 as viewed along line A - A thereof.

Figure 5 is an elevational view of a stabilization tube of the container of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a bottom plan view the stabilization tube of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a top plan view of an outer closure member of a valve mechanism of the container of Figure 4.

Figure 8 is a bottom plan view of the outer closure member of Figure 7.

Figure 9 is an elevational view of the outer closure member of Figure 7.

Figure 10 is a top plan view of an operating tool in a deployed working position for tool-assisted operation of a winding mechanism of the container.

Figure 11 is a side elevational view of the operating tool of Figure 11.

Figure 12 is a side elevational view of the operating tool of Figure 11, but in a folded storage position.

Figure 13 is a bottom plan view of the container of Figure 3, but with the operating tool stored on the container in a non-working position disengaged from the winding mechanism and coupled to an underside of the container.

Figure 14 is a perspective view of the container and operating tool of Figure 13. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The drawings illustrate a liquid preservation container according to one embodiment of the present invention, which features a bottle 10 made up of a two-piece lower main portion 12 and a separate one-piece upper portion 14 that is selectively attachable to and detachable from the lower portion via co-operable mating threads on the two portions 12, 14.

The lower portion 12 features a bottom wall 16 and a cylindrical peripheral wall 18 standing upright from the bottom wall 16 at the circular periphery of the bottom wall 16. The container is shown in an upright position seated on a horizontal surface with the central longitudinal axis 19 of the cylindrical peripheral wall 18 oriented vertically. An upper end of the peripheral wall 18 features a reduced outer diameter relative to the remainder of the peripheral wall beneath it, and external threading is provided on this reduced-diameter upper end 20. The two-piece lower portion of the illustrated embodiment is divided into two detachable sections, specifically a cylindrical upper section 12a which defines a substantial majority of the peripheral wall 18 of the container, and a lower section l2b which defines the bottom wall 16 of the container and a threaded annular wall l8a that matingly threads with the cylindrical upper section l2a to complete the peripheral wall 18 of the overall container.

The upper portion 14 of the bottle has a cylindrically shaped lower end 22 with internal threading that is matable with the external threading at the reduced-diameter upper end 20 of the peripheral wall 18 of the lower portion 12. Above its internally threaded cylindrical lower end, the upper portion 14 features a dome-shaped intermediary section 24, which at its upper end transitions into an externally threaded neck 26 on which an internally threaded main cap 28 of the container is removably engagable in order to close off the interior space of the bottle. With the upper and lower portions 12, 14 of the bottle assembled, they form an overall bottle structure having an enclosed interior space bound by the bottom wall 16, peripheral wall 18 and dome 24. The hollow interior of the neck 26 thus defines a mouth 27 of the bottle by which liquid contents of same can be dispensed by tilting or inverting the bottle from its illustrated upright position.

Inside the hollow interior space of the bottle 10, a piston 30 is slidably sealed to the interior surface of the peripheral wall 18 by a silicone washer 32 or other seal engaged around the outer periphery of the piston 30, whereby the piston 30 is slidable along the central longitudinal axis 19 of the bottle while maintaining a fluid-tight seal with the peripheral wall 18 thereof. The piston 30 divides the interior space of the bottle into a lower chamber beneath the piston and an upper chamber above the piston 30. The piston 30 may be made of stainless steel, or other materials that will not be degraded by regular or extended exposure to liquid stored within the container. The use of stainless steel provides such degradation resistance, and may have greater weight than a piston made of plastic or other lightweight material, whereby the weight is sufficient to overcome the frictional resistance between the peripheral wall and the sliding seal 32 so that the piston 30 is gravitationally biased downwardly toward the bottom wall 16 of the bottle. The position of the piston within the bottle at any given time will depend on the level of liquid within the bottom chamber of the bottle’s interior, whereby the piston 30 forms a travelling cover that closes over the surface of the liquid in either contact therewith or close proximity thereto. A flow-through opening 34 passes axially through piston 30 at a central location thereon. A flexible conduit 36 has a lower end thereof attached in a fluid-tight manner to the piston 30 at an area around the flow-through opening 34. An upper end of the conduit 36 is attached to the upper portion 14 of the bottle in a fluid- tight manner, for example by a silicone or other suitable membrane, at an area surrounding the hollow interior of the neck 26 at the transitional area between the neck 26 and the dome 24. The conduit 36 thus forms a fluid-tight passage running axially of the bottle from the central through-flow opening 34 of the piston to the centrally located neck 26 of the bottle. The conduit thus fluidly connects the lower chamber of the bottle to the mouth 27 thereof. As shown, the conduit may be defined by a corrugated straw of silicone or other flexible material, whereby accordion-like pleats or folds enable axial collapse and expansion of the straw along the longitudinal axis of the bottle. This way, the overall length of the straw can increase and decrease to allow the axial sliding of the piston 30 within the bottle’s interior. The weight of the piston 30 may be selected to exceed to flexible straw’s resistance to axial expansion, thereby ensuring the automatic downward bias of the piston 30 toward the bottom wall 16 of the bottle, though as described below, and additional spring may be used to provide additional downforce on the piston.

A valve mechanism 37 is provided below the underside of the piston 30, and is operable between open and closed states respectively enabling and preventing fluid flow through the piston’s opening 34 from the lower chamber of the bottle up to the mouth thereof through the axially extendable and collapsible conduit 36. The valve mechanism 37 features inner and outer closure members 38, 40 that cooperatively obstruct the fluid flow opening 34 of the piston in the closed state of the valve mechanism, as described in more detail below. One or more open ports 42, of which there are three in the illustrated example, are provided in the domed section 24 of the upper portion 14 of the bottle. As a result, air can freely enter and exit the upper chamber of the bottle during downward and downward movement of the piston, respectively.

A flexible elongated pull member 44 in the form of a string, cord, cable or the like has a lower end thereof attached to the inner closure member 38. The pull member 44 extends upwardly from the inner closure of the valve mechanism and toward the mouth of the container through the piston’s through- flow port 34 and the conduit 36. A lower one-way valve 50 is installed within a central through-bore that opens through the bottom wall 16 of the container to enable air to enter, but not exit, the lower chamber of the container beneath the piston 30. A winding mechanism 52 is provided for operating the elongate member 44 to control the position of the inner closure member 38, and a piston-biasing spring 56 is coiled around the axially collapsible and expandable flexible conduit 36 in order to bias the piston 30 downwardly against the liquid contained in the lower chamber during use of the container to store and preserve a carbonated beverage or other liquid.

Firstly, attention is turned to the winding mechanism 52 for controlling the flexible elongated member 44 on which the inner closure member 38 is suspended in the lower chamber of the container. As illustrated, the winding mechanism may be the same as that described in Applicant’s prior application cited herein above. The illustrated winding mechanism 52 thus features an annular collar 58 circumferentially and rotatably disposed around the neck at a lower section thereof situated at the top of the intermediary section 24 of the upper portion 14 of the container, and below an externally threaded upper section of the neck that receives the internally threaded main cap 28. The flexible elongate member 44 extends upward from the inner closure member 38 through the flow-through opening 34 of the piston and the flexible conduit 36 into the neck 26 of the bottle, where it then exits the neck through a radial hole or port 57 therein. The position of this hole 57 in the neck 26 is axially short of the main cap’s position further up the neck, whereby the flexible elongate member 44 feeds into an annular space 59 defined between the neck 26 of the bottle and the surrounding collar 58. Flere, one end of the flexible elongate member 44 is attached to the rotatable collar 58. As a result, rotation of the collar 58 around the neck 26 in one direction acts to wind more of the flexible elongate member 44 around the neck 26, thus shorting the remainder of the flexible elongate member 44 that remains hanging inside the container, and thereby pulling the inner closure member 38 of the valve mechanism upwardly toward the underside of the piston 30 in order to lift the piston or drive the valve mechanism into its closed state, as described in more detail below.

The collar 58 features an outer peripheral wall 58a that spans circumferentially around the lower neck section 26a of the bottle at a radial distance outward therefrom to delimit the annular space that accommodates the wound portion of the flexible elongate member 44. The exterior surface of this peripheral wall 58a has scalloped recesses at regular intervals therearound to provide suitable gripping features for grasping with one’s fingertips during rotation of the collar 58, and/or for tool-aided rotational drive of the collar, as described in more detail further below. The attachment of the elongated pull member 44 to the collar and the arrangement preventing leakage through the hole or port 57 in the neck 26 may be of the same type described in Applicant’s prior application cited herein above, and so such features are not addressed herein in further detail.

So far, the description of the container is similar to the third embodiment of Applicant’s prior application cited above, with exception that the valve mechanism 37 comprises inner and outer closure members 38, 40 that cooperatively close off the flow-through opening in the piston, rather than the more simplistic single-closure configuration of the earlier designs. The reason for this dual-closure valve mechanism in the illustrated embodiment of the present invention is due to the likewise novel inclusion of an elongated hollow stabilizer 100 that runs axially of the container’s interior space on the central longitudinal axis thereof. This stabilizer tube 100 stands upright from the bottom wall 16 of the container, and spans a majority or near entirety of the internal height of the container from the bottom wall 16 to the neck 26.

The stabilizer tube 100 thus reaches upwardly through the flow-through opening 34 of the piston 30 from the lower chamber of the container into the extendable and collapsible conduit 36 in the upper chamber. The axial length or height of the stabilizer tube equals or exceeds the full available travel range of the piston 30, the upper limit of which may be determined by the fully collapsed state of the extendable and collapsible conduit 36 and/or the fully collapsed state of the piston-biasing spring 56. The diameter of the through-flow opening 34 in the piston 30 closely conforms to the outer diameter of the stabilizer tube 100. The piston is axially slidable up and down the outside of the stabilizer tube, while this close conformance of the piston with the stabilizer tube prevents the piston from being tilted out of a predetermined orientation lying properly perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis of the container. The stabilization tube 100 thus constrains the piston 30 to purely axial movement, and thereby maintains a properly sealed relationship between the peripheral seal 32 of the piston 30 and the peripheral wall 18 of the container.

The inner closure member 38 of the valve mechanism is slidably disposed inside the hollow stabilization tube 100 in the lower chamber of the container. From where it enters the interior space of the container from the winding mechanism 52, the elongate pull member 44 hangs downwardly into the stabilizer tube 100 in order to suspend the inner closure member 38 therein. The elongated pull member 44 thus hangs downwardly through the flow-through opening 34 of the piston inside both the expandable and collapsible conduit 36 and the stabilization tube 100.

The outer closure member 40 features a flat upper plate 102 lying perpendicularly to the central longitudinal axis 19 of the container, and a downturned collar 104 of cylindrical shape projecting perpendicularly from the underside of the plate 102. The downturned collar 104 resides in parallel relation to the central longitudinal axis 19 and thus in concentric relation around the outside of the stabilizer tube 100. The upper plate 102 has an annular outer portion 102a spanning externally around the stabilizer tube 100, and a central portion l02b of smaller circular disc shape that resides inside the stabilizer tube 100. A pair of connection tabs 106 project radially outward from the inner portion l02b at diametrically opposite points thereon and join up with the outer portion l02a through a pair of longitudinal slots 108 defined in the stabilizer tube 100 at diametrically opposing sides thereof. This leaves two arc-shaped openings 109 in the upper plate 102 of the outer closure member 40 through which the slotted wall lOOa of the stabilizer tube is received. The inner and outer portions of the outer closure member 40 are thus interconnected as to move together, along with the downturned collar 104, as a singular cohesive unit capable of sliding up and down the stabilizer tube 100. It will be appreciated that the outer closure member 40 thus resides partially internally and partially externally of the hollow stabilizer tube, whereby the term“outer” is being used merely to distinguish it from the inner closure member that resides fully inside the stabilizer tube. Alternatively, the inner and outer closure members may be referred to as lower and upper closure members, respectively, since the upper plate 102 at the top end of the outer/upper closure member 40 always resides above the inner/lower closure member 38.

The stabilizer tube 100 is slotted over a partial but majority length thereof that spans from the stabilizer tube’s lower end near the bottom wall 16 of the container. The slots 108 reach up to a location that corresponds to the uppermost travel limit of the piston 30. An unslotted upper portion lOOb of the stabilizer tube continues upward past this point toward the neck 26 of the container for coupling thereto, similar to the top end of the conduit 36 inside which this upper portion of the stabilizer tube is disposed.

The inner diameter of the downturned collar 104 of the outer closure member 40 conforms with the outer diameter of the stabilizer tube 100 in closely adjacent relation thereto to allow relative sliding therebetween, while preventing the outer closure member from tilting out of proper co-axial relation with the stabilizer tube 100. The inner closure member 38 of the valve mechanism resides below the inner portion l02b of the outer closure member 40, and the elongated pull member 44 reaches the inner closure member 38 through a small central aperture 1 11 in the inner portion l02b of the outer closure member 40. The inner closure member 38 features a rigid lower base 38a, atop which an axially compressible seal 38b is disposed. As part of the inner/lower closure member, this seal 38b is referred to as the inner or lower seal to distinguish it from other seals referenced herein.

The valve mechanism 37 additionally features a valve-biasing spring 1 10 disposed externally of the stabilizer tube 100 in concentric relation therewith between the underside of the piston 30 and the upper plate 102 of the outer closure member 40. By default, the outer closure member 40 is thus maintained in spaced relation downward from the underside of the piston 30 to define an open state of the valve mechanism in which the through-flow opening 34 of the piston is unobstructed to allow fluid flow therethrough. To shift the valve mechanism into its closed state fully obstructing the flow-through opening 34 of the piston, the winding mechanism 52 is used to draw the elongated pull member 44 upwardly, thus pulling the inner closure member 38 upwardly therewith toward the inner portion 102b of the outer closure member 40. Under sufficient raising of the inner closure member 38, it abuts against the underside of the inner portion l02b of the outer closure member’s upper plate 102. An annular seal 112 is situated atop the outer portion of the outer closure member’s upper plate 102, and is referred to as an outer or upper seal to distinguish it from the inner or lower seal on the inner closure member 38. In the illustrated embodiment, the valve-biasing spring is a conical coil spring, which is oriented in a downwardly tapering position, thus having a smaller diameter at its lower end than at its piston- adjacent upper end. The annular outer seal 1 12 on the outer closure member 40 is of slightly lesser diameter than the conical spring’s smallest diameter coil.

With sufficient pulling force exerted on the elongated pull member 44 by the winding mechanism 52, this raising of the inner closure member 38 lifts the outer closure member 40 upwardly toward the underside of the piston 30 against the spring force of the valve-biasing spring 110. The conical shape of the valve-biasing spring 110 allows it to be compacted into a fully flattened state in which the coils of the valve-biasing spring 110 reside in a shared singular plane at the underside of the piston 30. The outer seal 112, being of smaller diameter than the smallest-diameter coil of the valve-biasing spring 1 10, can be lifted up through the open center space of the flattened valve-biasing spring into contact with the underside of the piston 30. To achieve this, the axial thickness of the outer seal 112 must exceed the axial thickness of the spring coils. The outer seal of the illustrated embodiment has a multi -piece structure, featuring a metal upper ring 1 12a and accompanying lower gasket 112b, though a single-piece seal may alternatively be used.

When the valve mechanism is closed, the outer seal 1 12 is compressed between upper plate 102 of the outer closure member 40 and the underside of the piston 30 at an annular area thereof surrounding the through-flow opening 34, while the inner seal 36b is axially compressed against underside of the inner portion l02b of the outer closure member’s upper plate 102. The outer seal 112 thus prevents fluid in the lower chamber from passing through the opening 34 at an annular area thereof outside the stabilizer tube, and also prevents the fluid from entering the stabilizer tube above the outer closure member 40 through the slots 108 of the wall of the stabilizer tube 100. Meanwhile, the axially compressed inner seal 38b expands radially inward and outward against the elongated pull member 44 and the surrounding wall lOOa of the stabilizer tube 100 in order to prevent fluid in the lower chamber from passing upwardly past the outer closure member 40 through the interior of the stabilizer tube 100.

The lower end of the stabilizer tube 100 is supported on the bottom wall of the container by a cylindrical standoff 120 standing perpendicularly upright therefrom on the central longitudinal axis 19 of the container. The lower end of the stabilizer tube 100 fits circumferentially over the standoff 120 in frictional relation thereto to maintain the upright axial orientation of the stabilizer tube 100 on the central longitudinal axis. A central through-bore 122 in the standoff 120 penetrates downwardly through the bottom wall 16 of the container and contains the one-way valve 50 mentioned above in order to enable admission of air into the lower chamber of the container during raising of the piston 30 when preparing the container for filling. The valve 50 and through-bore 122 thus collectively define a one-way air passage for selectively admitting air into the lower chamber during preparation of the container for filling, but this one way air passage is selectively openable and closeable by way of a removable air closure cap 124 selectively matable with the bottom wall 16 of the container at the underside thereof to normally seal closed this air passage at other times. The air closure cap 124 may be internally threaded for mating with an externally threaded boss 126 protruding from the underside of the container’s bottom wall 16.

A plurality of support feet 128 likewise protrude from the underside of the container’s bottom wall 16. These feet 128 are situated at a radial distance outward from the threaded boss 126 and adjacent the outer perimeter of the bottom wall 16. The support feet 128 are evenly spaced around the perimeter of the bottom wall at equally spaced angular intervals around the central longitudinal axis of the container. Though five such feet are illustrated, the quantity and spacing thereof may vary. The feet protrude downwardly at least as far from the bottom wall 16 of the container as the mated-together boss 126 and air closure cap 124 so that the feet 128 can all stand flat atop a surface regardless of the air closure cap’s presence or absence at any given time.

Spanning around the threaded boss 126 is a snap-fit tool retainer 127 in the form of an annular disc either made entirely of resilient material, or at least having resilient material at the outer perimeter of the disc. The outer diameter of the snap-fit tool retainer is less than twice the radial distance from the central longitudinal axis of the container to the inner end 128a of each support foot 128, i.e. the end of the foot nearest the central longitudinal axis. Accordingly, an annular gap 130 is left between the outer perimeter of the snap fit tool retainer 127 and the inner ends 128a of the arrayed set of support feet 128.

As mentioned above, the collar 58 of the winding mechanism has a profiled exterior surface with a series of scalloped recesses 132 equally spaced therearound, thereby giving the collar a non-circular outer profile. Figures 10 through 13 illustrated an operating tool 134 selectively matable with the collar 58 of the winding mechanism for tool-aided rotational driving thereof.

With reference to Figure 10, the tool 134 of the illustrated embodiment is a box- ended wrench or ring spanner having a ring-shaped working head 136 of circular outer periphery 136a and profiled inner periphery 136b of compatible shape to the outer profile of the winding mechanism’s rotatable collar 58. So in the illustrated example, for each inwardly recessed scallop 132 in the outer profile of the rotatable collar 58, the profiled inner periphery 136b of the operating tool’s working head has a working tooth 138 jutting radially inward relative to a neighbouring pair of valleyed segments 140 on opposite sides of the tooth. The inner periphery of the operating tool thus has a minor diameter measured tooth-to-tooth, and larger major diameter measured valley-to-valley. A gripping handle 142 of the tool is linked to the working head via a pivotal joint 144 and a connection stub 146, the latter of which extends from the outer periphery of the working head 136 in a radial direction. The working head 136 of the tool closes concentrically around a working axis 148 around which the tool is manually rotated during use. The pivotal joint 144 defines a pivot axis 150 lying perpendicular to the tool’s working axis 148, and tangentially of the working head’s outer periphery l36a.

Figure 1 1 shows the gripping handle of the tool in a deployed working position lying perpendicular to the working axis 148 and parallel to the plane occupied by the working head 136 and connection stub 146. The connection stub 146 and deployed handle 142 thus form a lever arm projecting a notable radial distance outward from the working head 136. Figure 12 shows the gripping handle 142 in a folded storage position lying parallel to the working axis 148, or at least more parallel to the working axis than in the deployed working position, whereby the gripping handle 142 does not reach as radially far from the working head in the folded storage position.

Figures 13 and 14 show the operating tool stored on the container when not in use to drive the winding mechanism. With reference to Figure 13, the outer diameter of the tool retainer 127 on the underside of the container’s bottom wall 16 closely matches or slightly exceeds the minor-diameter of the tool’s working head 136, but is less than the major diameter of the tool’s working head. The outer diameter of the tool’s working head 136 is less than twice the radial distance from the container’s central longitudinal axis 19 to the inner ends l28a the container’s support feet 128. Accordingly, the working head 136 of the tool can be snap fit into frictional engagement over the outer perimeter of the tool retainer 127 to hold the working head 136 of the tool against the underside of the container’s bottom wall 16 in the annular gap 130 between the tool retainer 127 and the support feet 128, as shown in Figure 13. The connection stub 146 of the tool radiates outward from this annular gap 130 in one of the available open spaces 152 left between the support feet 128. The radial distance from the working axis 148 of the tool to the pivot axis 150 thereof slightly exceeds the radial distance from the central longitudinal axis 19 of the container to the exterior of the container’s peripheral wall 18. This way, the connection stub 146 places the pivotal joint 144 of the tool 134 just outside the container’s peripheral wall 18, so that the gripping handle 142 can be pivoted into the folded storage position so as to lie axially of the container against the exterior of the container’s peripheral wall 18, as shown in Figure 14. The tool is thus stored on the container without notably increasing the footprint thereof.

Anytime the winding mechanism needs to be rotated in the lifting direction, the user can optionally remove the tool 134 from its snap-fit engagement to the underside of the container 10, unfold the handle 142 from the storage position to the deployed working position, and fit the working head 136 of the tool over the collar 58 of the winding mechanism. This way, the deployed handle 142 can be used to exert greater torque on the collar 58 through the working head 136 than would be possible through direct manual rotation of the collar 58. Each scalloped recess in the rotatable collar 58 spans only a partial axial height of the collar from the top end thereof so that each recess has a floor 132a against which the face of the tool’s working head 136 can push in order to depress the collar and release the self-locking action thereof.

While the rotatable collar of the illustrated embodiment features scalloped recesses of arcuate shape, the particular shape or contour of the recesses, and compatible shape of the working teeth 138 of the tool, may vary. While the tool of the illustrated embodiment is a box-ended wrench or ring spanner whose working head is a closed ring with a profiled inner periphery closing fully around the working axis of the tool, other embodiments may be an open- ended wrench or spanner whose working head has an open-ended jaw whose interior is of compatible shape with the outer profiles of the rotatable collar 58 and tool retainer 127. In such case, the open jaw of the wrench may be flat-sided, and the rotatable collar may have opposing wrench flats thereon rather than a series of recessed arrayed around the full perimeter of the collar.

To prepare the container to receive a maximum amount of liquid, the piston must be raised to the uppermost limit of its available travel range so as to maximize the volume of the container’s lower chamber. The user removes the air passage cap 124 from the underside of the container, and whether manually or with aid of the tool, performs depression and rotation of the collar 58 in the lifting direction to initially pull the inner closure member 38 up against the outer closure member 40, whereupon continued rotation of the collar 58 then pulls the outer closure member 40 up against the valve-biasing spring 1 10. The opening of the air passage in the bottom chamber during this lifting process avoids creation of a vacuum in the bottom chamber that otherwise may resist or prevent raising of the piston 30.

The spring force of the valve-biasing spring 110 is greater than the spring force of the piston-biasing spring 56, whereby rather than collapsing the valve-biasing spring 110, continued rotation of the collar 58 instead only pulls the piston 30 upwardly to its upper travel limit, during which the conduit 36 is axially collapsed. When the upper travel limit is reached, continued rotation in the lifting direction would then pull the outer closer member 40 upwardly toward the piston 30, thus collapsing the valve-biasing spring 110. However, the user can feel the sudden increase in resistance due to the greater strength of the valve-biasing spring 1 10 relative to the previously collapsed piston-biasing spring 56. The user recognizes this as an indication to stop rotating the collar so that the outer closure member 40 is not lifted into its closed position closing off the through- flow port 34 of the piston 30. The downforce on the collar is also released, thus self-locking the elongated pull member 44 its current length of deployment, which thereby holds the piston in this fully raised position with the valve mechanism in the open state that allows fluid flow through the piston. The air passage cap 124 is engaged back on the underside of the container, and the main cap 28 is removed to open the mouth 27 of the bottle. Liquid is poured through the open mouth of the bottle into the expandable conduit 36 and stabilization tube 100, though which it flows down through the flow-through opening 34 of the piston 30 into the lower chamber of the container.

To lower the piston 30 to the surface of the liquid poured into the lower chamber, the collar 58 is depressed to once again unlock the elongated pull member 44, thus allowing the valve mechanism 37 and piston 30 to automatically fall under the action of gravity and the piston- biasing spring 56, with optional assistance by rotation of the depressed collar 58 in the lowering direction deploying more of the elongated pull member 44 into the interior space of the container. As the piston 30 is lowered toward the surface of the liquid, any air remaining in the lower chamber above the surface of the liquid is displaced upwardly through the flow-through opening 34 of the piston and out of the mouth 27 of the container via the conduit 36. When the underside of the piston 30 reaches the surface of the liquid in the lower chamber of the container, further lowering of the piston is prevented by the incompressible character of the liquid.

The user can pour liquid from the mouth container at this point by tilting or inverting the container while the valve mechanism 37 is still held in its default open state by the natural expanded condition of the valve-biasing spring, which thereby allows such pouring of the liquid out of the container through the conduit 36 and bottle mouth. If the user wishes to instead preserve the liquid for later consumption, he/she instead places the main cap 28 back on the neck 26 of the container, depresses the rotatable collar 58 and, manually or with aid of the too 134, rotates the collar 58 in the lifting direction. At this point, resistance to lifting of the piston 30 is not provided solely by the piston-biasing spring 56, but also by a vacuum effect in the lower chamber, where attempted lifting of the piston attempts to create an empty space above the surface of the liquid, for which there is no source of ambient outside air to fill, since the air passage is closed off by air closure cap 124. The combined resistance of the piston-biasing spring 56 and the vacuum effect in the lower chamber exceeds the resistance of the valve-biasing spring 110, whereby lifting of the inner closure member 38 up against the outer closure member 40 with sufficient force collapses the valve-biasing spring 110 and drives the inner and outer closure members upwardly into the closed state abutting against the underside of the piston 30, thus sealing closed the liquid-containing lower chamber of the container.

When consumption of liquid is desired, the main cap 28 of the container is removed, and the rotatable collar 58 of the winding mechanism is depressed and rotated, manually or with the aid of the tool 137, in the lowering direction allowing the inner closure member 38 to sink into the liquid, which in turn allows the valve-biasing spring 110 to force the outer closure member 40 downwardly away from the underside of the piston 30 to open up the flow-through opening 34 so that liquid can be poured from the lower chamber of the container through the through-flow opening 34, upwardly through the conduit 36 to the open mouth 27 of the container for dispensing.

Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. An apparatus for preserving liquids, said apparatus comprising:

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the elongated stabilizer comprises a hollow tube passing through the flow-opening of the piston, and the valve mechanism comprises an inner closure member situated inside the hollow tube and axially slidable therein between a closed position obstructing flow through the flow opening via the stabilizer tube and an open position enabling flow through the flow opening via the stabilizer tube.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the valve mechanism comprises an outer closure member spanning externally around the elongated stabilizer and axially slidable therealong into and out of a closed position obstructing flow through the flow opening of the piston.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the elongated stabilizer passes through the flow opening of the piston and the closed position of the outer closure member obstructs flow through the flow opening around the elongated stabilizer.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 or 4 comprising a compressible outer seal disposed atop the outer closure member, whereby the compressible outer seal is axially compressed between the outer closure member and the piston in the closed position of the outer closure member.

6. The apparatus of any one of claims 3 to 5 wherein the elongated stabilizer comprises a hollow tube, and the outer closure member comprises an inner portion residing inside the hollow tube, an outer portion residing outside the hollow tube and spanning circumferentially therearound, and one or more connections joining together the inner and outer portions via one or more slots in the hollow tube.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the valve mechanism comprises an inner closure member situated inside the hollow tube below the inner portion of the outer closure member, said inner closure member being axially slidable in the hollow tube between a closed position abutted against said inner portion of the outer closure member and an open position spaced below said inner portion of the outer closure member.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the inner closure member comprises a rigid base and a compressible inner seal seated thereatop, whereby the compressible inner seal is axially compressed between the inner closure member and the inner portion of the outer closure member in the closed position of the inner closure member.

9. The apparatus of any preceding claim comprising a user-operated control device operable from outside the container to manipulate the valve mechanism into the closed state, said control device comprising an elongated pull member that reaches downwardly through the flow opening of the piston inside a hollow interior of the elongated stabilizer, and that connects to the valve mechanism within the lower chamber of the container.

10. The apparatus of any one of claims 2, 7 or 8 comprising a user-operated control device operable from outside the container to manipulate the valve mechanism into the closed state, said control device comprising an elongated pull member that reaches downwardly through the flow opening of the piston inside the hollow tube to connect to the inner closure member of the valve mechanism.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 or 10 wherein the control device comprises a rotatable member that is situated externally of the container and rotatable in one direction to pull upwardly on the valve mechanism via the elongated pull member, and rotatable in an opposite direction to perform or enable lowering of the valve mechanism, and wherein the apparatus comprises an operating tool having a mouth or inner profile of compatible shape with an outer profile of the rotatable member for tool-aided operation of the control device.

12. The apparatus of any preceding claim comprising a valve-biasing spring disposed between the piston and the valve mechanism to normally bias the valve mechanism away from the piston and into the open state.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said valve-biasing spring comprises a coil spring disposed externally around the elongated stabilizer.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said coil spring is a conical coil spring collapsible into flattened relation against the piston.

15. The apparatus of any preceding claim comprising a standoff on the bottom wall of the container on which the elongated stabilizer is supported in an upstanding position therefrom.

16. The apparatus of any preceding claim comprising a selectively openable/closeable air passage through which the lower chamber is selectively communicable with the external environment through a one-way valve that enables admission of air to the lower chamber, but prevents exhaust of air therefrom.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 comprising a through-bore in the standoff that penetrates through the bottom wall of the container, and a one way valve operably associated with said through-bore to enable admission of air to the lower chamber, but prevent exhaust of air therefrom

18 An apparatus for preserving liquids, said apparatus comprising:

an elongated pull member having a lower end connected to the valve mechanism;

19. The apparatus of claim 1 1 or 18 wherein the tool and the container are configured for selective storage of the tool on the container in a non-working position disengaged from the rotatable member of the control device and mounted elsewhere on the container.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 comprising a tool retainer located at an underside of the container and having an outer circumferential profile of compatible shape grippable by the mouth or inner profile of the operating tool.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the tool retainer comprises resilient material at an outer perimeter thereof for frictional snap fit engagement of the mouth or inner profile of the operating tool with the outer perimeter of the tool retainer.

22. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 1 and 18 to 21 wherein the operating tool comprises a working head defining the mouth or inner profile thereof and a gripping handle joined to said working head, said mouth or inner profile spanning about a working axis around which the head is rotated during use of the operating tool, and said gripping handle is pivotable between a deployed working position extending outwardly away from said working axis and a folded storage position extending along said working axis.

23. The apparatus of claim 20 or 21 wherein the operating tool comprises a working head defining the mouth or inner profile thereof and a gripping handle joined to said working head, said mouth or inner profile spans about a working axis around which the head is rotated during use of the operating tool, said gripping handle is pivotable between a deployed working position extending outwardly away from said working axis and a folded storage position extending along said working axis, and a radial distance from the working axis of the tool to a pivot axis of the gripping handle slightly exceeds a radial distance from a center of the tool retainer to an exterior of the peripheral wall of the container, whereby storage of the operating tool with the working head engaged to the tool retainer enables folding of the gripping handle upwardly about the pivot axis into to the storage position to reside in adjacent relation with the peripheral wall of the container.

24. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein a radial distance from the working axis of the tool to a pivot axis of the gripping handle slightly exceeds a radial distance from a central longitudinal axis of the container to an exterior of the peripheral wall of the container, whereby storage of the operating tool with the working head in concentric relation to the container at a bottom end thereof enables folding of the gripping handle upwardly about the pivot axis into the storage position to reside in adjacent relation with the peripheral wall of the container.

25. An apparatus for preserving liquids, said apparatus comprising:

26. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein said valve-biasing spring comprises a conical coil spring collapsible into flattened relation against the piston.

27. The apparatus of 14 or 26 wherein the valve mechanism comprises a seal of lesser diameter than a smallest coil of said conical coil spring so that an open center space of said conical coil spring accommodates compression of said seal against the piston in the flattened state of the conical coil spring to achieve the closed state of the valve mechanism.

28. The apparatus of any one of claims 12 to 14 and 25 to 27 comprising a piston-biasing spring acting downwardly on the piston in the upper chamber, wherein the valve- biasing spring is of greater spring force than said piston-biasing spring.