Dispensing – With plural openings or discharge guides – Having flow controllers or closures
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-24
2003-12-16
Mancene, Gene (Department: 3754)
Dispensing
With plural openings or discharge guides
Having flow controllers or closures
C222S504000, C222S442000, C222S641000, C251S129210
Reexamination Certificate
active
06662976
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application claims the benefit of priority from Danish Patent Application No. PA 2001 00124 filed on 2001.
Statement Regarding Federally Sponsored Research Or Development
Not Applicable
Reference To A Microfiche Appendix
Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a dosing spout for mounting on a container, said dosing spout having a liquid outlet valve, which, at placing of the spout in an electric field, can be actuated by the field for opening of outflow of liquid directly from the container and out through the mouth of the spout, and having an air inlet valve which can let air from the surroundings directly into the container as compensation for the quantity of liquid flowing out, the dosing spout being adapted for actuation of the liquid outlet valve and the air inlet valve for substantially simultaneous opening of these, and the liquid outlet valve and the air inlet valve being actuateable by displacement in the longitudinal direction of their respective, separate armatures, said armatures being influenced by the electric field.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,032 describes a dosing spout for mounting on a liquor bottle, where dosing takes place by opening of a valve for a pre-defined period of time corresponding to the quantity of liquor to be dispensed. At dispensing, the spout is passed into an electric coil which is energized, whereby the resulting electric field displaces an armature which is arranged in the spout and opens the valve. The quantity of liquor dispensed can thus be varied as required by control of the period of time in which the valve is open, for example, by means of a computer. The dosing spout is further provided with an air inlet in the form of a non-return valve placed inside the bottle at one end of a tube, the other end of which communicates with the surroundings. The non-return valve functions by means of a ball, which, in its closed position, is pressed against a seat by the liquid pressure in the bottle, and, during dispensing, is opened by the slight underpressure resulting from the outflow of liquid.
The prior-art dosing spout is not suitable for application, however, in connection with bottles that constantly hang upside down as in this situation the non-return valve will have difficulty in closing completely and it is therefore possible that liquor may leak out through the air inlet tube. If the non-return valve is designed with a closing force suitably large to enable it to close completely at a constant fluid pressure in the bottle, possibly by means of a spring, it will, however, find it difficult to open at the relatively small underpressure that occurs in the bottle during dispensing.
It has furthermore been established that in the prior-art devices the quantity of liquid dispensed cannot always be controlled suitably accurately in dependency of the period of time in which the valve is open.
AT 405276 describes a device for dispensing of beverages in portions, where a dispensing spout for mounting in a bottleneck comprises two magnetically actuateable valves for dispensing of liquid and air supply to the bottle, respectively. The valves can be actuated simultaneously by the field from an electromagnetic coil in which the dispensing spout is inserted at suspension of the bottle. The dispensing spout is divided into two longitudinal ducts extending in parallel, each containing a magnetically actuateable valve. Because of the two built-in valves the dispensing spout is relatively large, particularly in the transverse direction, and this means that the coil in which the spout is inserted at dispensing must have a rather large diameter. Furthermore this dispensing spout requires a rather strong magnetic field for the actuation, which necessitates an even larger coil that has a high cost price. As a consequence, particularly in case of dispensing systems having a large amount of bottles permanently suspended in their respective coils, this dispensing spout is unsuitable, because the large and consequently expensive coils raise the price of the equipment. In addition, the dispensing spout has a complex structure as it comprises many components, and consequently the device is also difficult to assemble during manufacturing.
In the catering trade it is often desired, however, that each bottle is provided with a dosing spout sealed onto the bottle to ensure registration of all dispensing. In this connection it is necessary to have a store of bottles fitted with dosing spouts, and therefore a simple and thus inexpensive structure is desired. In consideration of an agreeable design, emphasis is also on a structure of small dimensions.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to devise a dosing spout which is simpler and more compact than prior-art devices.
In view of this, the dosing spout according to the invention is characterized in that the armature of the liquid outlet valve and the armature of the air inlet valve are arranged consecutively in the longitudinal direction.
By arranging the two displaceable armatures of the dosing spout consecutively in their direction of displacement, a much slimmer dosing spout can be achieved, which can thus be inserted in a coil with a substantially smaller inner diameter, so that the dimensions of the entire device are reduced considerably in relation to prior art. Furthermore, in this way the coil windings can be made to lie closely around the displaceable armatures, whereby the magnetic field is utilized better, so that less electric power has to be applied in the coil for actuation of the valves, and for that reason an even smaller coil can be applied. Moreover, this arrangement of the armatures makes it possible to design the liquid outlet valve and the air inlet valve integrally, thus saving components and space in relation to the prior-art structures.
In a particularly advantageous embodiment the armature of the liquid outlet valve and the armature of the air inlet valve are mutually displaceable by mutual magnetic influence as a result of the magnetic field. The stationary armatures of the valves can thus be omitted, allowing a particularly compact structure of the dosing spout as a whole. Furthermore, this prevents the container with dosing spout attached from being affected by an upward force at actuation, which can cause the container to jump out of the coil and fall to the floor.
Both armatures can be guided axially in a tubular spout section extending between a mounting portion for insertion in a neck of the container and the mouth of the spout, and, in the open position of the valves, both armatures can abut a fixed stop in the tubular spout section. This may ensure a suitable travel by both armatures at the opening of the valves.
In an advantageous embodiment in terms of design the armatures are guided by means of longitudinal ribs in the tubular spout section and the fixed stop may be in the form of projections on the ribs. In this way the liquid can pass the armatures and thus flow through the tubular spout section as it flows between the ribs, and this obviates the need for a separate duct for the liquid in the spout section. Also, by integrating the fixed stops with the ribs a simple design is achieved.
In an advantageous embodiment a magnetizable armature fixed stationarily in the dosing spout is placed between the armature of the liquid outlet valve and the armature of the air inlet valve. By placing the dosing spout in the associated coil so that the armature of the liquid outlet valve is fully or partly outside the coil and thus influenced less by the electric field from the coil, it is possible to cause opening of the air inlet valve for a fraction of a second, and preferably less than half a second, before opening of the liquid outlet valve, the current through and/or the voltage across the coil being increased step by step at dispensing. In this way, any underpressure in the container can be eliminated by influx of air through the air inlet valve before the dispensing of liquid, a
Jensen Bjørn Slot
Lindberg Frank
Lindberg Peter
Lindberg & Jensen ApS
Mancene Gene
Shannon John P.
Venable LLP
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