Beverage dispenser

A beverage dispenser for interchangeable use with beverage containers adapted to be sealingly connected therewith. By use of the dispenser of the present invention, a quantity of a beverage, whether carbonated or not, may be stored in a refrigerated area after having been opened and tapped with the present dispenser. In this manner, a larger quantity of beverage than is normally obtainable in a bottle or can may be stored at home while requiring only one deposit rather than six, twelve, or eighteen separate deposits for various packs of beverages. The dispenser has a hand air pump or gas cartridge and a beverage tap communicating with the interior of the container so that the pressure of the air above the fluid in the container may be increased at will so as to draw beverage from the beverage line connected to the tap. When the beverage container is emptied, the dispenser is removed for use with another container or may be refilled after cleaning.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
I. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to beverage container dispensers and more 
particularly to dispensers which are adapted for use with a particular 
kind of container so as to be removable and reusable with several 
containers. 
II. Description of the Prior Art 
Since enactment of "bottle ban" laws in the various states, it has become 
desirable to both purchasers and sellers of containerized beverages to 
bottle or can the beverages in larger size containers, thus avoiding 
additional deposits on a number of small containers. For example, a two 
liter bottle contains enough soft drink or other beverage to fill a normal 
"six pack". Yet the deposit on the former is commonly only ten cents, 
whereas the deposit on the latter is three to six times as much. 
Nevertheless, the popularity of the intermediate or large beverage 
containers has not been that great since, once opened, they are 
susceptible to losing their carbonation and must generally be consumed in 
a reasonably short period of time. Thus, it has become desirable to 
provide a device for use with large containers such that a portion of 
beverage may be withdrawn periodically from a single container requiring 
only a single bottle or can deposit. To date, no such device has been 
provided. 
Furthermore, the "tappers" normally associated with barrels or half barrels 
of beer are unusable with these intermediate size containers since they 
are often too large and since the containers do not have appropriate 
connection counterparts. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The problems of the prior art have been overcome by the present invention 
wherein a removable and reusable tapper is provided for use with 
containers adapted to sealingly connect to the tapper. 
Two embodiments of the invention are disclosed, but both feature a separate 
air pump or equivalent means and beverage tap sealingly connected to the 
beverage container. A gas cartridge is also suitable for use with this 
invention as an equivalent for the air pump. Although only the air pump is 
referred to below, the invention is not so limited. The dispenser may be 
designed so as to cover only a single opening of the beverage container 
and thereafter seal the container for dispensing beverage from the 
interior thereof. Alternatively, the air pump and tapper may be inserted 
in separate openings which are subsequently sealed by tightening pliable 
gaskets against the opening area and against a rigid plate. A rigid plate 
is connected to a portion of the air pump and tapper, respectively, and 
inserted into the interior of the container. 
When the dispenser is of the type fitted onto a single large opening of the 
container, the air pump and tapper may be similarly sealed to openings in 
the body of the dispenser and the body portion of the dispenser is then 
sealingly engaged with the container. Alternatively, the tapper and air 
pump may be permanently fixed in the body portion of the dispenser. 
In any case, whether the dispenser is of one or two-piece construction, the 
dispenser is removable and reusable with another container. Since the 
containers are of intermediate to large size for beverages such as beer, 
the deposit on an entire six, twelve, eighteen, or twenty-four pack of 
containers is avoided and a similar amount of beverage is obtained with 
the deposit on only a single container. Commonly, the deposit on a large 
container is not significantly more than the deposit on a very small 
container. 
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a tapper 
which is removable and reusable on beverage containers adapted for sealing 
engagement therewith. 
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a dispensing 
device usable with intermediate size containers so as to avoid the 
inconvenience of multiple deposits on various smaller containers for use 
with beverages such as beer and soft drinks. 
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a dispenser 
wherein carbonated beverages will maintain their carbonation over a period 
of time after the dispenser has been sealingly attached to the container. 
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a tapper/dispenser 
wherein the dispenser is sealingly attached to the container so that an 
air pump or equivalent means may be used to create pressure in the 
interior of the container so as to be able to withdraw beverage from the 
interior of the container by means of the tap/valve portion of the 
dispenser. 
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a beverage 
dispenser container which is refillable after cleaning. 
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent when 
read in light of the following description and in conjunction with the 
drawing figures.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIG. 1, a container 10 is thereshown with screw threaded cap 
attachment. This container represents a beverage can or similar device, as 
purchased, with a carbonated beverage or similar potable fluid therein. It 
should be noted that the invention is not limited to this particular 
beverage container and may contain such various features as a completely 
removable pull-top lid. Alternatively, the container may have a screw-on 
cap as shown but with an inner foil liner, for example, which must be 
removed before attachment of the dispenser of the present invention. 
The dispenser container may be cleaned and refilled with a second potable 
fluid. The container of this embodiment may be closed and used as a 
twist-off container. 
The beverage container 10 of FIG. 1 has external screw threads 12 and a cap 
14 with finger-grip indentations 16. 
When the cap 14 has been removed, a preferred embodiment of the dispenser 
18 of the present invention may be threadably attached and sealed thereto 
as now shown in FIG. 2. The body portion 11 of the container is thereby 
sealed by the removable, reusable dispenser 18 of the invention. 
A cup-shaped body portion 20 of the invention is fitted with an air pump 22 
and a tap/valve device 24. Although an air pump 22 is discussed herein, a 
gas cartridge unit may be similarly fitted to the container. The air pump 
22 or tap/valve device 24 may be permanently affixed in the body portion 
20 of the dispenser 18 as illustrated with the tap/valve device 24. 
Alternatively, the pump 22 and tap/valve device 24 may be removably 
affixed to the body portion 20 of the dispenser 18 as illustrated with the 
air pump 22 which has threads 26 which sealingly close the aperture in the 
body portion 20 of the dispenser 18. The tap/valve element 24 of the 
dispenser has an extending draw tube 28 which is designed to protrude to 
the bottom of the container for which it is designed. In this manner, the 
opening for drawing of the liquid from the container is below the level of 
the fluid in the container until it is almost empty. 
A pressure gauge 30 is shown attached to the body portion 20 of the 
dispenser 18 and may be used to insure that sufficient pressure is 
maintained within the container 10 once the dispenser 18 has been attached 
thereto. In this manner, sufficient pressure may be kept available on the 
fluid so as to facilitate drawing of the fluid from the tap/valve 24 by 
turning the handle 32 of the tap/valve 24. Furthermore, sufficient 
pressure above the fluid beverage in the container body 11, once sealed by 
the dispenser 18, helps to maintain the fresh taste and carbonation of the 
beverage contained therein. 
Referring now to FIG. 3, the air pump 22, unlike the tap/valve device 24, 
has only a short air line 35 disposed through the cup-shaped body portion 
20 of the dispenser 18 so that the air is pumped into the body portion 11 
of the container 10 above the level of the fluid in the container 10. This 
is an important feature since it is known that pumping the air through the 
beverage may contaminate the taste or otherwise damage some beverages in 
the container. The cylinder body and valve device of the air pump are 
represented schematically as 34 and many forms of such devices are known 
in the art, any of which will function in a manner to supply an 
appropriate air pressure inside the container upon operation of the pump 
22. For example, a check valve may be used to provide air pressure to the 
container. Any such equivalent device that will provide a pressure head 
above the fluid in the container 10 is sufficient to satisfy the 
requirement of the air pump 22 of the present invention. 
A seal 36 is provided embedded in and attached to the cup-shaped body 
portion 20 of the dispenser but may alternatively be provided on the upper 
surface of the purchased containers although this may increase the cost of 
the beverage containers since the seal would not, presumably, be reused. 
Of course, when the seal 36 of the dispenser 18, as shown, becomes worn, 
it may be removed and replaced by a like seal to extend the life of the 
dispenser. 
The bottom portion of the container body 11 is recessed at 38 so that when 
the container is nearly empty, the final ounces of fluid are contained in 
the deeper portion 39 of the container body 11. Accordingly, the draw tube 
28 of the tap/valve 24 is disposed on one side of the container so that 
the draw tube 28 extends to this deepest portion of the container body 11. 
Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, a deposit beverage container 40 such as for 
beer or a similar beverage is thereshown with two frangible areas 48 and 
50 for insertion and attachment of the air pump 42 and the valve spigot 
44, respectively. 
Again, a gas cartridge unit may be fitted to the structure of the invention 
in place of the air pump. 
In the embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5, the tap/valve 44 is shown on the lower 
right-hand side, and the air pump 42 is on the upper left-hand side of the 
container 40 as seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, such that the draw tube 28 is 
normally below the fluid level for the container and the air pump inlet 46 
is normally above the fluid level to provide air pressure in the container 
40. Of course, fluid is drawn from the container 40 and pressure is 
maintained in the container 10 in a manner similar to that of container 10 
in FIGS. 1-3. Again, the air pump 42 is of conventional design as is the 
air pump of FIGS. 1-3. 
The frangible areas 48 and 50 are formed in the deposit beverage container 
so that they may be easily punctured and the tap 44 or air pump 42 of the 
invention may be used therewith without the requirement of forming an 
internal nut or similar threaded device on the inside of the container 
which would otherwise destroy the economy of forming the deposit beverage 
containers. 
Although the attachment of the air pump 42 may be accomplished by use of a 
frangible area 48 and sealing means such as is shown at frangible area 50 
in FIG. 5, the air pump may be sealingly engaged by a nipple 54 and rubber 
nozzle 56, as shown in FIG. 4. 
Alternatively, the frangible areas 48 and 50 may be formed as a slit or 
expanded slit, the width of which is about the same as the diameter of a 
rigid plate 58 of the tap/valve 44 to be inserted in the opening formed by 
puncturing frangible area 50. However, the flexible gasket or sealing 
member 60 may be of a somewhat larger diameter than the plate 58 since it 
may be flexed to be inserted through the slit opening where the frangible 
area 50 is slit-shaped. In this manner, rigid plate 58, and portion 70 of 
draw tube 28, and sealing gasket 60 of the tap/valve device 44 may be 
slipped sideways through the frangible opening 50, straightened, and 
thereafter tightened with a second flexible sealing gasket or member 62 
and an outer rigid plate 64 which is screw threaded on threads 66 of the 
neck of the tap/valve element 44. 
The container body 40 may be set on end 73, and the tap/valve element 44 
thereafter inserted. In this manner, the fluid 68 in the container will be 
below the opening formed by puncturing the frangible area 50 when the 
tap/valve element 44 is inserted. Using the slit-type opening of a 
predetermined width, the stable back 58 is inserted sideways through the 
opening slit of frangible area 50 while attached to the inlet or end 
portion 70 of the neck of the tap/valve element 44. Thereafter the 
flexible gasket 60 is inserted through the hole by flexing it somewhat 
such that although it has a larger diameter than the width of the slit, it 
is fitted through the opening. Thereafter, the tap/valve 44 is pushed well 
into the container and pulled back flush against the wall 72 of the 
container 40 while the container is sitting upright. The rigid plate 58 
thereby forces the flexible gasket 60 against the wall 72 and, although 
the rigid plate 58 has a slightly smaller diameter than the slit formed by 
puncturing frangible area 50, the flexible gasket 60 has a larger diameter 
than the slit and seals the opening at frangible area 50. The seal is 
secured by tightening the second flexible sealing gasket 62 and outer 
rigid plate 64 by means of the screw threads. Thereafter, the container 40 
is laid again on its side as shown in FIG. 5, the pump 42 is attached, and 
the pressure above the fluid 68 is increased by injecting some air at 46. 
The pressure of the fluid bears against wall 72 to increase the sealing 
engagement of flexible back 60 against wall 72, thereby sealing tap/valve 
44 of the invention in the container body 40. 
When substantially all of the fluid 68 has been withdrawn from the 
container 40, the rigid threaded plate 64 is loosened such that the 
flexible gasket 60 and rigid plate 58 may be removed from the frangible 
area 50 and the tap/valve element 44 of the invention may be removed and 
reused in another container. 
The advantage of the present invention is that a larger container may be 
used by consumers for beer, soft drinks, and similar beverages than is 
presently used without the extreme bulk of an entire keg. With the 
conventional soft drink or beer can and bottles of the present art, the 
containers are designed such that the beverage therein is of limited 
quantity such as twelve, sixteen, or sometimes as large as thirty-two 
ounces. The beverage must be consumed within a relatively short period of 
time. Although some of these devices have resealable caps, they have not 
proven completely effective to maintain the carbonation of large bodies of 
fluid over a more substantial period of time. Also, it is more troublesome 
to repeatedly unseal and reseal the container than to simply draw fluid 
from a tap. 
An additional disadvantage of the containers of the prior art is that they 
require a deposit in many states and consumers will often have a 
substantial amount of money invested in container deposits at any given 
time. The present invention is designed to overcome these difficulties of 
the prior art by providing dispensers of either embodiment for containers 
as shown in the drawings. In this manner, a container 10 or 40 as shown in 
FIGS. 1 and 4, respectively, may be designed such that it holds the 
equivalent of a six-pack, twelve-pack, eighteen-pack, or even a 
twenty-four-pack container case up to a volume of about 288 ounces. In 
this manner, only a single deposit is required for any given container 
under the laws of the states requiring deposits. A deposit of five or ten 
cents is common for beer and soft drink containers, with ten cents being 
the standard of the states for aluminum and steel cans. Even the largest 
of containers seldom has a deposit of more than twenty cents and thus the 
savings and investment on the deposit for containers would be considerably 
reduced by a removable, reusable dispenser which conforms to the design of 
containers normally used for retail sales of such beverages. 
Thus, the embodiment of the present invention with a cup-like body portion 
20, integral tap/valve 24, and air pump 22 or the embodiment of the 
present invention with separate air pump 42 and insertable tap/valve 44 
would function as reusable, removable elements which could be obtained 
with one purchase by the consumer and reused with containers such as the 
cylindrical container 10 shown in FIG. 1 or the rectangular container 40 
shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. 
Of course, many aspects of the present invention may be varied such as the 
type of attachment or sealing of the cup-shaped body 20 of the dispenser 
in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3 or the nozzle attachment of the air pump of 
the embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5. These and other aspects of the present 
invention may be varied by one skilled in the art without departing from 
the scope or spirit of the invention.