Gas and liquid contact apparatus – Contact devices – Liquid tank
Patent
1981-08-19
1983-08-16
Chiesa, Richard L.
Gas and liquid contact apparatus
Contact devices
Liquid tank
74526, 993231, 141278, 261DIG7, 426477, B01F 304
Patent
active
043990819
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is concerned with portable apparatus for aerating liquids, and in particular to apparatus of the same general type as that described in our British Pat. No. 1,453,363.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
In the known apparatus which is disclosed in our earlier British Pat. No. 1,453,363, a bottle containing liquid to be carbonated is, after being loaded into the machine, raised into sealing engagment with an aerating head by a platform. The platform itself is lifted by a cam mechanism which is mounted within the machine casing and is rotated by means of a handle fast with the cam shaft outside the housing. The platform has an integral rigid stem which bears against the cam. As the handle is turned to raise the bottle, the cam rotates lifting the platform and bottle until the top of the bottle bears against the seal of the aerating head. Continued turning of the handle to its limit position causes further rotation of the cam, but because the bottle and platform cannot be raised any further the cam is deflected downwardly. When the bottle is pressurised during the carbonating process, the gas pressure generated in the air space above the liquid in the bottle produces an additional downward force on the bottle and its supporting platform with the result that the cam mechanism undergoes further deflection. The repeated bending of the cam shaft caused by the downward deflection of the cam is, of course, an undesirable effect arising due to the rigidity of the bottle raising mechanism. A further disadvantage can arise because the glass bottles for the liquid can only be made to a certain height tolerance, and short bottles may not be lifted high enough by the lifting mechanism to form an effective seal with the aerating head.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention aims at eliminating these drawbacks of the known machine and accordingly provides a portable apparatus for aerating liquids, comprising an aerating head, means for supplying gas to the aerating head, a platform for lifting a bottle containing liquid to be aerated into sealing engagement with the aerating head, means operable to raise the platform, and a resiliently compressible element interposed between the raising means and the platform, the element being arranged to be compressed when a bottle is lifted into engagement with the aerating head whereby to ensure adequate sealing pressure between the bottle and the aerating head.
As the compressible element is arranged to be compressed any need for a cam or other component of the platform raising means to deflect is avoided. As a result the platform raising means may comprise a completely rigid cam mechanism while an adequate seal is ensured between the bottle and aerating head each time the apparatus is used.
The compressible element is preferably a coil spring and precompressed so that on operation of the raising means it is only compressed further after the bottle has engaged the aerating head with a predetermined force.
The spring may conveniently consist of a coil spring which is held captive in a tubular stem integral with the platform by an annular plug screwed to the stem, a button slidable in the stem being urged downwardly by the spring and protruding through the plug to engage the cam.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the platform raising means comprises a rotary cam which is actuated by a handle located outside a casing of the apparatus, and rotation of the handle is limited by a projection, e.g. a pin which is fixed to the handle or casing and engages in an arcuate slot in the other of the handle or casing so as to move along the slot as the handle is turned whereby rotation of the handle is limited by the pin engaging the opposite ends of the slot.
In a preferred arrangement two fixed pins protrude from the casing and are diametrically opposite each other with respect to the handle axis. The pins are received in respective slots in the handle and an aperture in the handle allows one of the pins to be seen when the handle is in the co
REFERENCES:
patent: 913656 (1909-02-01), Giron
patent: 2415419 (1947-02-01), Cozzoli
patent: 2508142 (1950-05-01), Brothman
patent: 3139769 (1964-07-01), Gauchat
patent: 3390921 (1968-07-01), Klimek
patent: 4298551 (1981-11-01), Adolfsson et al.
Chiesa Richard L.
Sodastream Limited
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