Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Packaged or wrapped product – Having consumer oriented diverse utility
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-30
2003-09-16
Becker, Drew (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Packaged or wrapped product
Having consumer oriented diverse utility
C426S120000, C426S394000, C426S519000, C206S220000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06620444
ABSTRACT:
The present invention is directed to a twin-compartment container or two-compartment container for use in a beverage container whereby two products will remain separate until the moment that the customer wishes to consume the mixture thereof. This ensures that the mixture is fresh and in the ideal condition to drink.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is a well-known technique to use small capsules or the like for initiating a production of bubbles in a beverage which contains carbon dioxide and optionally nitrogen. Specifically, such capsules are intended to provide a creamy head on freshly poured out beer. Bubbles may be initiated as follows: During the filling process of the beverage container, a drop of liquid nitrogen or the like is deposited in the container before it is rapidly closed. The liquid nitrogen evaporates and, together with the carbon dioxide present, an over-pressure is created in the container, e.g. by the said nitrogen. The capsule inside the container which is fixed to the bottom of the container or close thereto, has at least one opening which is very small. Immediately upon closure of the container, the latter is placed upside down such that the small opening of the capsule comes into communication with the headspace above the beverage in the container. Now, pressure equilibration between the inside of the capsule and the headspace above the beverage occurs. The gas under pressure enters the capsule until the inside pressure and the outside pressure are equal. Subsequently, the container is brought into its “normal” upright position. Due to the surface tension of the beverage, no or only few liquid may enter the capsule. Upon opening the beverage container, the pressure within the container drops immediately to ambient pressure thereby inducing a pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the capsule. This causes release of small bubbles through the small opening(s) which assist in the formation of the desired head of the beverage.
Instead of small orifices, the capsule may be provided with different valve means which respond to the mentioned pressure difference upon opening the beverage container. In such cases, positioning of the container into “upside down” is not required; however, production costs are increased. Moreover, these capsules are to be filled with gas and closed under over-pressure.
In WO 91/07326, such a capsule is disclosed. It is in the form of a closed hollow insert (for insertion into a container) having means responsive to opening of the container to provide communication between the inside of the insert and beverage contained in the body of the container upon opening of the container. The orifice in the wall of the capsule is in the lower half of the capsule and is suitably in a lower wall, suitably at or burst disk which, upon subjecting the burst disk to the pressure difference between the inside of the capsule and the atmosphere pressure in the container as or after it is opened, bursts to provide the orifice. The closure means may alternatively comprise a manually openable valve or puncturing device connected to the container closure. Alternatively, the closure means may comprise a pressure responsive valve which, when exposed to the pressure difference between the inside of the capsule and the atmospheric pressure in the container after opening, opens. The valve may suitably consist of a bore terminating in an orifice and a clock on the outside of the capsule which fits inside the b ore and which, when subjected to the pressure difference created on opening the container, is blown out of the bore. Additional embodiments of the valve are also described.
Recently, it has been suggested in PCT/EP 94/02491 to use such known insert as a capsule for receiving a second liquid to be mixed with the beverage liquid immediately before the beverage in the container is poured out or consumed. It is suggested to partly fill the said capsule with the second liquid whereby a second headspace above this liquid is provided. When the beverage container is opened and the pressure in the primary headspace above the beverage liquid in the beverage container drops to atmospheric, the pressure difference between the secondary headspace and atmospheric pressure causes the pressure-sensitive closure to open an orifice in the wall of the capsule, the orifice in the wall of the capsule being in the lower half of the capsule, and the secondary liquid to be ejected from the capsule into the primary liquid.
The said capsule is preferably precharged to a pressure above atmospheric. When this is the case, it may be held under this pressure whilst it is inserted into the container and the entire container and capsule held under this pressure whilst it is filled with a primary liquid. Due to the presence of a valve resisting to the step of pre-pressurizing the interior of the capsule, costs to provide such a capsule are very high.
It is also possible according to the said application to not pre-pressurize the capsule. In this case, there must be communication between the interior of the capsule and the outside thereof inside the beverage container which may cause contamination (e.g. leakage of the second liquid), or there must be a need for physical changes in the capsule to take place, e.g. shrinking, softening or the like. It is obvious that such additional steps and selection of useful materials therefore is also a source for additional costs.
However, because beverage containers are produced in high numbers, it is desired to lower the costs for such capsules.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention provides a container for receiving a flavour for the mixture thereof with a first beverage liquid in a beverage container immediately after opening the beverage container. It is a two-compartment container which does not need to be pre-pressurized before its insertion into the beverage container. One of the two compartments (“first compartment”) is intended to be completely filled with the flavour, while the other one (“second compartment”) is intended to be filled only with gas. The flavour may be a second beverage liquid, a syrup, or may be in a solid state, e.g. a powder or granulate. That compartment which contains gas (second compartment) is in communication with the outside, i.e. the so called primary chamber of the beverage container. This communication is provided by at least one orifice being of any shape provided that the gas flow is restricted sufficiently so that, on one hand, a gas flow slowly equilibrates the pressure difference inside and outside the compartment after closure of the beverage container within a considerable period of time, e.g. in the range of from some seconds to half an hour or one hour, while, on the other hand, upon a sudden pressure decrease in the primary chamber of the beverage container (i.e. after opening it), the gas cannot escape sufficiently fast to equilibrate the pressure decrease in the same magnitude of time as it appears on opening the beverage container (i.e. in the range of about {fraction (1/100)} to {fraction (1/10)} of a second).
There is no communication between the flavour containing, first compartment of the two-compartment container and the primary chamber of the beverage container. This first compartment is completely sealed. Preferably, it is completely filled with the second liquid, powder, granulate or the like.
In one embodiment of the invention, the two-compartment container of the present invention consists of at least two parts, a top part and a base part, at least one of which having side walls extending to the other part, such that upon connecting both parts, the said two compartments are provided. Two different kinds of side walls exist.
The surrounding outer side wall of the two-compartment container at least partly defines the outer wall of the gas containing compartment (second compartment) and is connectable or connected to the opposite base part or top part via closure means. This closure means must be such that it opens or breaks upon the sudden pressure dif
Becker Drew
Heller Ehrman White and McAuliffe
Schmalbach-Lubeca AG
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