Dispensing – With discharge assistant – Container with follower
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-08
2001-09-18
Jacyna, J. Casimer (Department: 3751)
Dispensing
With discharge assistant
Container with follower
C222S386000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06290105
ABSTRACT:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
Not Applicable
BACKGROUND—FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to adjustable volume containers, including containers for the storage and preservation of consumable liquid products which require isolation from the air and other elements to prevent undesirable chemical reactions.
BACKGROUND—DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
In the storage of many items, liquid, solid and gas, the problem of isolating the item from contact with the gases in the surrounding atmosphere has been an ongoing battle. In the case of an open bottle of wine, for example, degradation due to oxidation begins almost immediately and is able to quickly alter, and at last ruin, the highly prized qualities for which the product was purchased.
Several arrangements are sited in prior art to deal with this situation. As it applies to flowable food items, U.S. Pat. No. 3,784,051 issued to Shaw on Jan. 8, 1974, U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,941 issued to Blessing on Oct. 26, 1976, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,674 issued to Nunes on Feb. 9, 1988 describe systems which will isolate stored products within a container from the atmosphere without. These patents show movable follower lids inserted into a container able to adjust to changes in volume due to dispensing, whether by removing the lid and serving, or by dispensing from a tap at the bottom.
These inventions are designed for short term storage and have limitations confining them to that purpose. More importantly, these inventions present a solution to only part of the problem. Many food items and other products can be degraded simply by being in contact with commonly accepted materials such as plastic, rubber, leather or others. Rubberizer and plasticiser compounds and other agents can leach into the stored products and alter their properties and flavors. In dealing with substances such as wine, which is subject to the incredibly sensitive inspection by the wine consumer, finding a system which sufficiently satisfies these needs has proved elusive.
Some additional inventions and methods devised to accomplish this task for use with wine have included:
Using a vacuum pump to evacuate the gases present in the products original container. This has proved somewhat effective in reducing oxidation, but has faults of its own. The vacuum created in the vessel tends to liberate volatile components of certain products, such as esters from wine. This effect makes this system less than desirable.
Transferring the wine to a smaller vessel which the wine will fill completely and seal that vessel, or keep on hand a collection of glass marbles so that when a vessel is not full, one could wash these marbles and drop them into the vessel until the air void is displaced by the rising fluid, then reseal that vessel. The fact that these methods are hardly ever used, especially in the food service industry, attests to its impracticality.
Until now, the best options in the minds of most wine connoisseurs has been to drink the whole bottle within hours of its being opened, or reserve the unused wine, as expensive as it may have been, for use in cooking. The reason being all of the heretofore known inventions suffer several disadvantages:
(a) The products are manufactured using materials which are deemed unacceptable to the consumer because they react with, or are perceived as reacting with, the stored contents.
(b) They are not convenient enough to use on a regular basis. This inhibits there acceptance as a system for daily use, such as food service situations, where many containers of products may be reduced in volume and stored again over and over each day.
(c) These systems do not satisfy the sensitivities of the consumer.
SUMMARY
A variable volume storage device for fragile fluids such as wine, comprising a container, a closure which is movable linearly within the container, and a sealable orifice. Those surfaces which come into direct contact with the contents are made of an inert material suitable for storing contents without adulteration such as, but not limited to, glass or stainless steel. Those materials necessary for creating hermetic seals are positioned so as not to come in direct contact with the contents. Isolation of these materials is accomplished by using there sealing abilities to simultaneously encapsulate tiny amounts of air into pockets. These air pockets act as buffers to isolate the contents from the seal materials.
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of my variable volume storage device are to solve the problem of:
(a) Storing constantly varying volumes of materials, such as the unused contents of a open bottle of wine or other products, while restricting contact between these materials and perceive undesirable or reactive elements.
(b) Storing these materials in an easy and convenient manner.
(c) Appealing to the needs and sensitivities of the typical consumer of fine wines and other products.
Further advantages are that this variable volume containers design is both easy and affordable to manufacture, is of a simple design and requires little instruction in its use. Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 33637 (1861-11-01), Dungan
patent: 523951 (1894-07-01), Van Fleet
patent: 1699873 (1929-01-01), Brodsky
patent: 1714482 (1929-05-01), Schmuziger
patent: 2341031 (1944-02-01), Flynn
patent: 2557952 (1951-06-01), Dumont
patent: 3362589 (1968-01-01), Kinnavy et al.
patent: 3578467 (1971-05-01), Huber
patent: 3784051 (1974-01-01), Shaw et al.
patent: 3804635 (1974-04-01), Weber
patent: 3987941 (1976-10-01), Blessing
patent: 4169671 (1979-10-01), Culler
patent: 4620794 (1986-11-01), Leka
patent: 4644807 (1987-02-01), Mar
patent: 4723674 (1988-02-01), Nunes
patent: 4759461 (1988-07-01), Sharples et al.
patent: 4790458 (1988-12-01), Moore
patent: 4951848 (1990-08-01), Keller
patent: 5882691 (1999-03-01), Conboy
patent: 5957338 (1999-09-01), Lohmann
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