Abstract:
Devices for dispensing well-controlled unit portions of liquid sweeteners. The devices incorporate structure for accurately and precisely dispensing small volumes of concentrated sweeteners in liquid 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]     Liquid forms of high intensity sweeteners, such as sucralose, have also been used commercially to consumers. One popular commercial form of diluted sucralose is liquid drops, which are preferred by some users because sufficient dilution of the high intensity sweetener can be achieved without the necessity of using a carbohydrate or other bulking agent. Such liquid sucralose is available for consumer use only in “dropper” type bottles, however, which often do not provide as high a level of dispensing accuracy and precision as is desirable for many consumer applications. Improvements in dispensing accuracy can be achieved by increasing the dilution of the sucralose, but it will be apparent that this increases the size of the required package, which is not desirable from a consumer convenience perspective. 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, a device for delivering a liquid 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 an orifice at the distal end, wherein the distal end of the container faces the distal end of the housing and the liquid 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 liquid sweetener through the orifice 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; a ratchet mechanism for engaging the plunger and the piston when the proximal end of the plunger is depressed to move the piston towards the distal end and a spring for disengaging the plunger and the piston when the proximal end of the plunger is released and moving the piston towards the proximal end.  
         [0006]     A further embodiment includes a liquid sweetener container comprising, consisting of, consisting essentially of a hollow body having a proximal end, an opening at the proximal end, a distal end, and an orifice at the distal end, wherein the distal end of the container faces the distal end of the housing and the liquid sweetener is held the hollow body of the container, wherein the container is configured to fit a device for dispensing the liquid sweetener.  
         [0007]     In another embodiment of the present invention there is provided a method of sweetening a comestible comprising, consisting of, and/or consisting essentially of providing a device for delivering a liquid sweetener comprising 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 orifice at the distal end, wherein the distal end of the container faces the distal end of the housing and the liquid 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 liquid sweetener through the orifice 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; a ratchet mechanism for engaging the plunger and the piston when the proximal end of the plunger is depressed to move the piston towards the distal end and a spring for disengaging the plunger and the piston when the proximal end of the plunger is released and moving the piston towards the proximal end; depressing the proximal end of the plunger to dispense the liquid sweetener into the comestible.  
         [0008]     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  
       [0009]     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:  
         [0010]      FIG. 1A  is a diagram of a device for dispensing sweetener according to the invention; and  
         [0011]      FIG. 1B  is an expanded view of the ratchet mechanism in the device shown in  FIG. 1A . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     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.  
         [0013]     According to one embodiment of the invention, a device for delivering a controlled amount of liquid having a concentrated sweetener includes a plunger that, when operated by a user, operates a piston that forces liquid out of a vessel, though a dispensing port, and into a portion of beverage or other consumable product. The liquid of the present invention can be a solution, a slurry, or a paste.  
         [0014]     Referring now to  FIG. 1A , there is shown a device  10  comprising a housing  11 , enclosing a mechanism for delivering sweetener. The mechanism comprises a plunger  12 , which when pushed by the user of the device  10  drives a piston  14  against a sweetener  16  housed in a container  15 .  
         [0015]     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 orifice  18  when the plunger  12  is pushed.  
         [0016]     In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1A , an optional check valve  19  prevents accidental flow of the sweetener  16 . The plunger  12  has a controlled stroke depth, so that a controlled amount of liquid is dispensed with each operation of the plunger  12 . This control allows for accurate delivery of even highly concentrated sweetener  16 . Thus, for example, a 0.0066-gram portion of sucralose, a typical amount for sweetening a single serving of a beverage, can be delivered by dispensing a 0.2 mL portion of a 25% aqueous solution of sucralose, thereby making possible the use of a very compact dispensing device  10 . A small container, about 50.8 mm (2 inches) long with a 6.35 mm (¼ inch) diameter, for example, could hold concentrated sucralose having the sweetening power of about 80 teaspoons of sugar. In general, a container  15  having a length-to-diameter ratio of about 8:1 or more is preferred, although not required, inasmuch as it provides greater precision in the amount of discharged liquid.  
         [0017]     In an embodiment of the invention, the dispensing device  10  includes a container  15  that remains filled with a concentrated liquid 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 sucralose  16  though the container  15 , providing very accurate delivery of the sweetener composition. The piston  14  may directly impinge on the liquid, thus pushing it by direct pressure, or it may operate by pressurizing air, which in turn pushes the liquid. However, any means for expelling the liquid sweetener from the hollow body container known to those skilled in the art may be used.  
         [0018]     Liquid 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. As used in this document, the term “concentrated liquid sucralose” means a fluid material having at least 10% by weight of sucralose that can be forced through an orifice. 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.  
         [0019]     In an embodiment of the invention, the external appearance of the device  10  resembles that of a writing pen.  
         [0020]     In another embodiment of the invention, the device  10  is equipped with an adjusting mechanism to allow the plunger stroke to be limited, or for the plunger  12  to drive the piston  14  a variable distance for each stroke. In this embodiment, a person operating the device  10  is able to adjust the amount of sweetener  16  delivered by the device  10  to suit his or her individual preference.  
         [0021]     In various embodiments of the invention, the device  10  may be configured for refilling with concentrated liquid sucralose  16 , or designed to take refill cartridges containing concentrated liquid sucralose, or designed to be disposable. In addition, the refill cartridge may be a liquid sweetener container having a hollow body having a proximal end, an opening at the proximal end, a distal end, and an orifice at the distal end, wherein the distal end of the container faces the distal end of the housing and the liquid sweetener is held the hollow body of the container, wherein the container is configured to fit a device for dispensing the liquid sweetener.  
         [0022]     Liquid sweetener compositions described above may optionally include other ingredients, including as non-limiting examples, flavors, colorants, nutrient materials, such as vitamins and minerals, according to the invention.  
         [0023]     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.  
         [0024]     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.  
         [0025]     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.