Fluent material handling – with receiver or receiver coacting mea – Diverse fluid containing pressure filling systems involving... – With plural diverse passages for gas to receiver or head
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-16
2003-11-18
Maust, Timothy L. (Department: 3751)
Fluent material handling, with receiver or receiver coacting mea
Diverse fluid containing pressure filling systems involving...
With plural diverse passages for gas to receiver or head
C141S037000, C141S067000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06648028
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to apparatus for aerating liquids, and in particular to portable machines for preparing aerated beverages and more particularly, to a safety device for such machines.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Apparatus for preparing aerating beverages are very widely used in the home. Because of such widespread home use, safety requirements for such apparatus are particularly stringent.
In the aerating machine to which this invention refers, a bottle containing liquid to be aerated is loaded onto the machine and the gas is introduced into the machine and passed through the liquid contained in the bottle. The bottle is subsequently removed, when the aerating has been completed.
The gas used for aerating is supplied from a gas cylinder or balloon, which can be fitted onto the machine, on a part thereof hereinafter called “cylinder holder”, and replaced when it has become exhausted. A valve—hereinafter “the cylinder valve” is provided to control the flow of gas from the cylinder. Usually the cylinder is rechargeable and said valve is fitted onto its outlet, but may be part of the machine in the case of disposable cylinders. The bottle containing the liquid to be aerated, is fitted on another part of the machine, which will be called “the aerating head”.
Gas conduit means are provided in the machine for permitting gas to flow from the cylinder holder to the aerating head. When the cylinder valve is opened, gas passes into the cylinder holder and from it to the aerating head and through the liquid, generating an internal pressure within the machine and inside the bottle, which pressure is limited to a given maximum level by a valve, which will be called “the exhaust valve”. Said pressure is called hereinafter “the system pressure”. When the liquid aeration has been completed, which may be indicated by a sound produced by the exhaust valve when it opens to prevent the pressure from rising further, and the bottle is removed from the machine. In order to remove the bottle, it is tilted, and this causes a lever, hereinafter called “the tilting lever” to be tilted as well. Tilting the tilting lever causes a valve to be opened and to vent the pressure within the machine to the atmosphere.
A typical way of operating the cylinder valve consists in actuating, e.g., by means of a lever—hereinafter “the actuating lever”—a plunger which is in contact or in abutting relationship with a pin of the valve and, when actuated, displaces the valve pin, against the reaction of valve spring, so that it becomes detached from its seat and allows gas to flow between pin and seat. When the actuating lever is released, the reaction of the valve spring returns the valve pin to its closing position in its seat, and the plunger returns to its non-actuated position. The flow of gas from the gas cylinder to the machine and then to the bottle ceases. Another spring—“the actuating lever spring”—returns the actuating lever to its inactive position.
A aerating apparatus of this kind is described in European Patent No. 472.995, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. This invention is not limited to its application to the apparatus of EP 472.995, since it may be usefully applied to other liquid aerating apparatus. However, it will be described, by way of example and by way of preferred application, with reference to the said European patent.
FIG. 1
represents the portion of the apparatus of the said European patent on which the gas cylinder is mounted, only the top portion of the gas cylinder being shown. Numeral
10
designates a cylinder holder. Numeral
11
designates gas cylinder, on the neck of which the body
12
of a cylinder valve is mounted, e.g. by screwing. The gas cylinder is fitted onto the cylinder holder
10
, e.g. by screwing said valve body onto said cylinder holder. The valve body
12
has a valve chamber which houses spring
14
. A valve pin
15
, having a gasket
16
, is urged by spring
14
against a seat formed in said valve body, which is provided with a bore through which a projection of the pin passes. The cylinder holder
10
is provided with an actuating lever
13
, hingedly connected thereto at
18
, and which can be manually depressed and is urged to its normal, inoperative position by an actuating lever spring
70
′. When depressed, it bears upon a plunger
19
slidable in the cylinder holder and depresses it. The lowermost end of plunger
19
contacts said valve pin
15
. Therefore, when lever
13
is depressed, said plunger causes said pin to be depressed, compressing spring
14
and leaving a space between the pin and its seat, through which gas can pass from the cylinder to a chamber
17
defined by inner surfaces of the cylinder holder and by the top surface of the cylinder valve, and therefrom to conduit
20
, only partially shown, from which the gas passes to the aerating head (not shown in
FIG. 1
) on which is mounted the bottle containing the liquid to be aerated. When lever
13
is released by the operator—as it may be released several times, and finally, when the escape of gas through the exhaust valve (not shown) indicates that the maximum pressure allowable within the machine has been reached—spring
14
causes valve pin
15
to rise and to close the cylinder valve, thus terminating the flow of gas from the cylinder to the bottle through conduit
20
.
However, should foreign material become trapped between valve pin
15
and its seating when the pin is depressed, this foreign material will prevent the pin from seating when lever
13
is released so that gas continues to flow from the gas cylinder to chamber
17
to the liquid containing bottle and/or to be discharged through the exhaust valve. While the machine is designed so that this has no harmful consequences, the user may become aware of the constant flow of gas and take some action, which action may initiate a serious malfunction of the machine and cause inconvenience to the user.
It will be understood that the aforesaid possible drawbacks are not limited to the device of European Patent 472.995, but are common to any liquid aerating apparatus in which the flow gas from a pressure gas cylinder to the apparatus and to the bottle containing the liquid is controlled by a valve that is opened by hand-actuating a mechanical element, such as a lever or the like. In any such apparatus, the possibility of the malfunction hereinbefore described exists and this invention is applicable to it.
Accordingly, it is a purpose of this invention to eliminate the aforesaid drawbacks from liquid aerating apparatus.
More specifically, it is an object of this invention to stop the flow of gas from the gas cylinder or balloon, whenever the user wishes to stop it, regardless of possible malfunctions of the valve which controls the outlet of said cylinder.
It is another purpose of this invention to provide, in a liquid aerating apparatus, in which a hand-operated mechanism is used to open the cylinder valve, to provide additional valve means, viz. means for automatically stopping the flow of gas from the gas cylinder to the aerating head and to the liquid containing bottle, if the cylinder valve has a malfunction.
It is a further purpose of this invention to assure that, should a cylinder valve pin be prevented from closing, due to wear or damage or for any reason, the flow of gas to the carbonating system is still prevented and further operation of the pin depressing means is inhibited or at least made difficult.
Other purposes of this invention will appear as the description proceeds.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides safety means for a liquid aerating apparatus, which apparatus comprises a cylinder holder for retaining a pressure gas cylinder, and an aerating head for retaining a bottle which contains a liquid to be aerated.
When the gas cylinder is mounted on the cylinder holder, an intermediate chamber is defined in said cylinder holder or between the same and the gas cylinder, for receiving gas discharged from said cylinder. A cylinder valve is provided for
Hulley Peter
Wiseburgh Peter Gordon
Maust Timothy L.
Soda-Club (CO2) Atlantic GmbH
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