Abstract:
Devices for dispensing unit portions of solid sweeteners. The devices incorporate structure for accurately and precisely dispensing known volumes of sweeteners in solid form. The devices are of compact size and, therefore, are conveniently portable by a consumer. Methods for dispensing liquid sweeteners are also disclosed.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The invention relates generally to sweeteners. More specifically, the invention relates to devices for delivering controlled amounts of sweeteners to servings of an edible material, such as a beverage.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Nutritive and nonnutritive sweeteners have long been used to sweeten comestibles, including beverages. High intensity sweeteners have found significant use in consumer-oriented products as essentially zero-calorie replacements for sugar, e.g., sucrose, glucose, fructose and the like. Such sweeteners are useful as aids to diet regulation for such purposes as weight control and for blood glucose control for diabetics. Because the sweetening power of high intensity sweeteners is typically much higher than that of sugar, however, very small amounts are used in sweetening a single serving of a consumable food product. For example, although one such sweetener, sucralose, is commonly used in “neat” (i.e., substantially undiluted) form for industrial purposes. Its use in this neat form for low volume applications, such as, consumer use, has not generally been practical because the amount of neat sucralose appropriate for a single consumer use typically is only about 0.0066 grams. Such a low quantity is difficult for a consumer to measure with precision and an error of just 0.0003 grams results in a noticeable sweetness difference in a single portion of a typical consumer product. Therefore, the use of neat sucralose for such applications has not generally been found to be practical. To overcome this problem, sucralose products are conventionally diluted to about 2 to about 10% concentration to facilitate accurate and precise delivery. Such dilution can be in either a solid form or a liquid form.  
         [0003]     Packets and tablets of diluted, solid, high intensity sweeteners are widely used throughout the world for consumer applications. At least one such sweetener, sucralose, is currently also available in a form in which air and a complex carbohydrate are use to decrease the volumetric sweetness intensity of the composition to that of table sugar, while delivering a de minimus caloric nutritional content.  
         [0004]     Thus, although numerous efforts have been made to take advantage of the potential of high intensity sweeteners such as sucralose to be used in very small amounts, the ability to do so with sufficient accuracy and precision has proven to be an elusive goal. There remains a need to provide a device for dispensing single consumer portions of high-concentration sucralose and other high intensity sweeteners with acceptable accuracy and precision for consumer use.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     To meet this and other needs, and in view of its purposes, the present invention provides, in one aspect, the invention is a device for dispensing a unit portion of an elongate solid sweetener composition, comprising, consisting of, and/or consisting essentially of a hollow container having openings at a distal end and proximal end, wherein the elongate solid sweetener is in the hollow container and means for expelling a portion of the elongate solid sweetener composition from the opening in the distal end of the hollow container.  
         [0006]     An additional embodiment of the present invention includes a device for dispensing a unit portion of a solid sweetener, comprising, consisting of, and/or consisting essentially of a housing having a proximal end, a distal end, an opening in the proximal end, and an outlet in the distal end; a hollow body container in the housing having a proximal end, an opening at the proximal end, a distal end, and a friction inducing restriction at the distal end, wherein the distal end of the container faces the distal end of the housing and the solid sweetener is held the hollow body of the container, a movable plunger in the housing having a proximal end extending beyond the opening of the housing and a distal end facing the distal end of the housing; a piston having a distal end within the hollow body of the container for expelling the solid sweetener through the friction inducing restriction of the container and out through the outlet and a proximal end facing the proximal end of the housing when the piston is moved towards the distal end, and means for engaging the plunger and the piston to expel the unit portion of the solid sweetener through the friction inducing restriction.  
         [0007]     A further embodiment of the present invention is solid sweetener rod for sweetening a consumable, the solid sweetener rod comprising, consisting of, and/or consisting essentially of a length and a width, an effective amount of a solid sweetener at identical intervals along the length to sweeten a single beverage, and means for communicating such intervals, wherein the solid sweetener rod is configured to fit a device for dispensing the solid sweetener rod at such intervals.  
         [0008]     An additional embodiment of the present invention is a method of sweetening a consumable comprising, consisting of, and/or consisting essentially of providing a device for dispensing a unit portion of an elongate solid sweetener composition, comprising a hollow container having openings at a distal end and proximal end, wherein the elongate solid sweetener is in the hollow container and means for expelling a portion of the elongate solid sweetener composition from the opening in the distal end of the hollow container, and expelling a portion of the elongate solid sweetener into the consumable.  
         [0009]     A yet additional embodiment of the present invention is a method of sweetening a consumable comprising, consisting of, and/or consisting essentially of providing a device for dispensing a unit portion of a solid sweetener, a housing having a proximal end, a distal end, an opening in the proximal end, and an outlet in the distal end; a hollow body container in the housing having a proximal end, an opening at the proximal end, a distal end, and an friction inducing restriction at the distal end, wherein the distal end of the container faces the distal end of the housing and the solid sweetener is held the hollow body of the container, a movable plunger in the housing having a proximal end extending beyond the opening of the housing and a distal end facing the distal end of the housing; a piston having a distal end within the hollow body of the container for expelling the solid sweetener through the friction inducing restriction of the container and out through the outlet and a proximal end facing the proximal end of the housing when the piston is moved towards the distal end; means for engaging the plunger and the piston to expel the unit portion of the solid sweetener through the friction inducing restriction and expelling a portion of the elongate solid sweetener into the consumable.  
         [0010]     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, but are not restrictive, of the invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0011]     The invention is best understood from the following detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing. It is emphasized that, according to common practice, the various features of the drawing are not to scale. On the contrary, the dimensions of the various features are arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. Included in the drawing are the following figures:  
         [0012]      FIG. 1A  is a diagram of a device for dispensing sweetener according to the invention; and  
         [0013]      FIG. 1B  is an expanded view of the ratchet mechanism in the device shown in  FIG. 1A . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0014]     For simplicity, discussion of the devices and methods of the invention will recite the choice of sucralose as the sweetener used in the device  10 . It is to be understood, however, that the use of any sweetener is contemplated according to the invention. Other non-limiting examples of such sweeteners include, but are not limited to, sucrose, dextrose, fructose, fructans, sugar alcohols, sucralose, saccharin, acesulfame-K, stevia, neotame, alitame, aspartame, other protein sweeteners, and combinations thereof.  
         [0015]     In an embodiment of the invention, there is provided a device  10  for dispensing accurate and precise single-use consumer portions of a sweetener, such as sucralose, in solid form. The device  10  has an elongated hollow container  15  in which is situated a rod or column of sweetener composition in solid form  16 . The composition  16  may consist essentially of 100% high intensity sweetener, or it may contain a mixture of sweeteners, the sweetener with a binder or solid diluent or other solid material. The composition  16  may be dispensed in unit amounts by operating a plunger  12  or any other mechanism or means known to those skilled art to gradually advance the solid rod or column of sweetener composition out the end  18  of the device  10 , where the portion that has exited is dispensed into a beverage or other consumable item.  
         [0016]     The rod or column  16  of composition may be hard or soft, as long as the portion that has exited the device  10  either falls away into the consumable item or can be broken off by the user for addition to the consumable.  
         [0017]     Referring now to  FIG. 1A , there is shown a device  10  comprising a housing  11 , enclosing a mechanism for delivering sweetener. While any mechanism for delivering the solid sweetener may be use, the exemplified mechanism includes a plunger  12 , which when pushed by the user of the device  10  drives a piston  14  against a sweetener rod or column  16  housed in a container  15 .  
         [0018]     The plunger  12  is coupled to the piston  14  by a ratchet mechanism  20 , detailed in  FIG. 1B . The ratchet mechanism allows the plunger  12  to engage the piston  14  on the downstroke, but the two components are disengaged when the plunger  12  is released and a spring  22  pushes the plunger  12  back upward. The sweetener  16  exits the device  10  at an friction inducing restriction  18  when the plunger  12  is pushed.  
         [0019]     In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1A , an optional check valve  19  prevents accidental discharge of the sweetener rod or column  16 . As used herein the term “check valve” means any device that prevents the a solid sweetener from leaving the device at times when the plunger or other activation switch is not engaged. The plunger  12  has a controlled stroke depth, so that a controlled amount of solid is dispensed with each operation of the plunger  12 . This control allows for accurate delivery of even highly concentrated sweetener rod or column  16 . Thus, for example, a solid sucralose rod having 1 mm in diameter would require about a 6 mm length to provide a typical amount for sweetening a single serving of a beverage. Alternately, a solid sucralose rod having a 2 mm diameter would require about a 1.6 mm length to provide a typical amount for sweetening a single serving of a beverage. A solid sucralose rod being 2 mm diameter by 100 mm length would provide enough for about 60 single servings of a beverage. A solid sucralose rod being 1 mm diameter by 100 mm length would provide enough for about 15 single servings of a beverage.  
         [0020]     In another embodiment the solid sweetener rod can fit into a standard pencil lead dispensing device, such as a Pentel model P205 as manufactured by the Pentel Co., Ltd.  7 - 2 , Koami-cho, Nihombashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo  103 - 8538 , JAPAN and others known to those skilled in that art.  
         [0021]     In an embodiment of the invention, the dispensing device  10  includes a container  15  that remains filled with rods or columns  16  containing sucralose, and the user operates a plunger  12  to activate a piston  14  which on each push of the plunger  12  moves another unit of the sucralose rods or columns  16  though the container  15 , providing very accurate delivery of the sweetener composition. The piston  14  may directly impinge a rod containing sucralose, thus pushing it by direct pressure, or it may operate by pressurizing air, which in turn pushes the rod containing sucralose. The rod containing sucralose  16  is prevented from leaving the container  15  in the absence of pressure from the plunger  12  or piston  14  by a check valve  19  or other closure device known in the art. The term “unit” as applied to a sweetener composition means an amount providing a predetermined level of sweetness enhancement, which may for example be equal to that of a half teaspoon of sugar, or a full teaspoon of sugar, or any other convenient level of sweetening equivalence. It will be understood that some individuals will use more than one unit of sweetener, according to individual preferences.  
         [0022]     In one embodiment of the invention, the device  10  may be constructed and operated very much like a mechanical pencil, with the rod or column sweetener composition being advanced in the same manner as lead would be advanced in a pencil. The rod or column of sweetener composition may be of any convenient thickness, and it may be of any convenient cross-sectional shape, including but not limited to a circular cross section (i.e., a cylindrical rod), a square cross section, a regular polygon cross section, and a rectangular cross section. The rod may optionally be scored in one or more places along its length to enhance ease of breaking off pieces of appropriate size. At least one replacement rod may be stored in device  10  for use once the first rod has been used.  
         [0023]     In another embodiment of the invention, the column of sweetener composition may include discrete pellets of the composition, stacked column-wise in the aforementioned elongated hollow container  15 . The pellets, each of which incorporates a defined amount of sweetener, may be of any shape, with non-limiting examples being cylindrical, oblong, and spherical.  
         [0024]     In a further embodiment of the invention, the device  10  includes pellets of sweetener composition in an elongated hollow container as described above, with the end of the shaft where the pellets exit being equipped with a retainer to keep pellets from exiting the shaft in the absence of the user operating the advancing mechanism. The retainer may be, in exemplary embodiments, an O-ring, tube, diaphragm with a hole in it, or other equivalent structure made of a resilient material (for example, an elastomer) such that a hole in the retainer is smaller than the size of a pellet, but large enough that the pellet can be pushed through the retainer when the advancing mechanism is operated by the user.  
         [0025]     Solid sweetener compositions described above may optionally include other ingredients, including as non-limiting examples, flavors and nutrient materials, such as vitamins and minerals, according to the invention.  
         [0026]     The components for the devices of the present invention may be made suitable materials, including, but not limited to, plastic, metal, wood, rubber, and the like.  
         [0027]     Thus, in its various embodiments, the invention provides devices and methods for dispensing unit portions of high intensity sweeteners in concentrated form, thereby providing portability, compact delivery, ability to adjust delivered portion size, and quantitatively accurate sweetener delivery.  
         [0028]     Although the invention is illustrated and described above with reference to specific embodiments, the invention is not intended to be limited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications may be made in the details within the scope and range of equivalents of the components and steps without departing from the invention.