Beverage dispenser and container stopper

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11565927-B2
Application number	US-202017032018-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 25, 2020
Priority date	Jan 5, 2018
Publication date	Jan 31, 2023
Grant date	Jan 31, 2023

Abstract

A beverage dispensing apparatus may include a beverage dispenser and associated stopper. The stopper may be used to replace a cork, cap or other closure of a beverage container, such as a wine bottle. A needle of the beverage dispenser may be inserted through a passageway of the stopper so that pressurized gas can be introduced into the container to force beverage liquid to exit the container via the needle. The stopper may suitably seal the container after dispensing is complete, e.g., to resist exposing the beverage to oxygen.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A beverage dispenser comprising:
a pressurized gas receiver arranged to fluidly couple with a pressurized gas source and conduct flow of pressurized gas along a primary gas conduit;
a body that houses the primary gas conduit, a regulator, a gas flow valve, and a secondary gas conduit;
the gas flow valve fluidly coupled to the primary gas conduit and arranged to control flow of gas from the primary gas conduit to the secondary gas conduit;
the regulator being part of the primary gas conduit and fluidly coupled between the pressurized gas receiver and the gas flow valve, the regulator being arranged to receive pressurized gas and reduce regulate a pressure of gas provided to the gas flow valve to a defined outlet pressure;
a flow restrictor in the secondary gas conduit, the flow restrictor arranged to reduce a flow rate and pressure of gas flowing in the secondary gas conduit; and
a needle extending from a portion of the body and including a needle gas conduit fluidly coupled to the secondary gas conduit downstream of the flow restrictor and arranged to deliver pressurized gas to a distal end of the needle, the needle further including a needle beverage conduit arranged to conduct a flow of beverage from the distal end of the needle to a dispensing outlet from which beverage is dispensed from the dispenser, a flow path from the distal end of the needle to the dispensing outlet being always open.

2. The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the flow restrictor has an orifice with a size of 0.2 mm to 0.4 mm.

3. The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the flow restrictor is arranged to provide a flow rate of 0.7 L/min to 5 L/min.

4. The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the pressurized gas receiver includes a piercing lance arranged to pierce a cap of a pressurized gas cylinder.

5. The dispenser of claim 4 , wherein the regulator includes a chamber body with an opening to a valve chamber of the chamber body, and the piercing lance is engaged with the opening of the chamber body.

6. The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the regulator includes a regulator valve with a piston movable to open and close the regulator valve based on a gas pressure inside of the piston and a spring force exerted on an outside of the piston.

7. The dispenser of claim 1 , further comprising a controller arranged to automatically control operation of the gas flow valve based on an orientation of the body.

8. The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the needle gas conduit is positioned inside of the needle beverage conduit.

9. The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the needle gas conduit delivers pressurized gas to an extreme distal tip of the needle, and the needle beverage conduit has one or more beverage inlet openings positioned proximal of the extreme distal tip of the needle.

10. The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the body includes a handle that is grippable by a user, and the dispensing outlet includes a tube that extends from the body to dispense beverage.

11. The dispenser of claim 1 , further comprising a stopper arranged to engage with an opening of a beverage container and having a passageway extending from a distal end to a proximal end, the stopper further including a seal positioned between the distal and proximal ends of the passageway, the seal arranged to sealingly engage with the needle with the needle inserted through the passageway so as to position the distal end of the needle beyond the distal end of the passageway.

12. The dispenser of claim 11 , wherein the stopper further includes a septum seal positioned proximally in the passageway relative to the seal, the septum seal arranged to resist fluid flow through the passageway and arranged to permit the needle to be inserted through the passageway.

13. The dispenser of claim 11 , wherein the stopper further includes a cap arranged to close the passageway to fluid flow at the proximal end of the passageway.

14. The dispenser of claim 11 , wherein the stopper further includes an insertion portion arranged to be inserted within the opening of the container, the insertion portion including one or more ribs extending radially outwardly from the insertion portion to engage with container openings of different size and resist fluid flow in a space between the stopper and the container opening.

15. The dispenser of claim 11 , wherein the stopper includes a plurality of ridges that extend around a portion of the stopper, and the dispenser is configured to engage with one or more of the plurality of ridges to resist rotation of the dispenser relative to the stopper.

16. The dispenser of claim 15 , wherein the dispenser includes a detent configured to engage with one or more of the plurality of ridges.

17. The dispenser of claim 1 , further comprising a pressure sensor fluidly coupled to the secondary gas conduit at a location between the gas flow valve and the flow restrictor, the pressure sensor arranged to detect a pressure of a beverage container fluidly coupled to the needle.

Assignees

• Coravin Inc

Inventors

• Lambrecht Gregory
• Rider Michael
• Deruntz Otto

Classifications

• B67D2001/0487

  Mixture of gases, e.g. N2 + CO2 · CPC title

• B67D1/0418

  comprising a CO2 cartridge for dispensing and carbonating the beverage · CPC title

• B67D1/0004 Primary

  the beverage being stored in a container, e.g. bottle, cartridge, bag-in-box, bowl · CPC title

• B67D2001/0481

  Single inert gas, e.g. N2 · CPC title

• B67D1/0412

  the whole dispensing unit being fixed to the container · CPC title