Abstract:
A one piece elastomeric pour spout is adapted to couple within the neck of a bottle, and has a substantially flat pouring end, whereby when the pour spout is coupled within the neck of a bottle, the pouring end is substantially flush with an annular lip of the neck of the bottle. The bottle may be recapped with original cap without removing the pour spout. The pour spout is further provided with a feature that suppresses dripping from the pour spout at the end of a pour.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates generally to a pour spout for insertion in and coupling with the neck of a bottle to facilitate the smooth and even pouring of liquid from the bottle and suppressing dripping from the pour spout. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Pour spouts are commonly comprised of a cylindrical body member and a protruding member or spout. Pour spouts may be flanged or not, and are made from a variety of materials, both pliable and rigid. Pour spouts are usually adapted to couple with the necks of a variety of bottles such that a cylindrical body member is inserted into and coupled with the neck of the bottle in a manner that allows the protruding member or spout to protrude or extend from the cylindrical body member beyond the annular lip of the liquid-containing bottle. The cylindrical body member may be annular or single or plural-channeled to allow liquid to flow from the bottle through the cylindrical body member and into an external receiving vessel, such as a drinking glass. 
         [0003]    Pour spouts facilitate smooth and even pouring of liquids, reduce or eliminate splashing, and provide the ability to control the velocity of the flow of liquid as it is being discharged through the pour spout. 
         [0004]    One drawback of using pour spouts is that, unless the pour spout is able to be sealed or capped, the liquid in the bottle is left exposed to the environment, which commonly results in a number of problems, including oxidation, evaporation, insect infestation, and/or other contamination. Although pour spouts may be inserted and removed and the bottle recapped with its original cap after each use, this process in cumbersome and often impractical. 
         [0005]    Further, even though many pour spouts provide sealing mechanisms, these mechanisms vary widely in their abilities to prevent oxidation, evaporation, insect infestation, and/or other contamination, and rarely provide the same measure of sealing ability as the original cap that came with the bottle or vessel. 
         [0006]    Therefore, there has been a longstanding need for a pour spout that allows for the recapping of bottles with their original bottle caps, without necessitating the removal of the pour spout. The present invention provides a pour spout that facilitates the smooth and even pouring of liquids, reduces or eliminates splashing, and provides the ability to control the velocity of the flow of liquid as it is being discharged while suppressing dripping from the pour spout at the end of a pour, and is also is adapted to couple within the neck of a bottle without protruding from the annular lip of the bottle, enabling the bottle to be recapped with its original bottle cap without having to remove the pour spout. 
       DISCUSSION OF THE PRIOR ART 
       [0007]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,138 teaches a plastic pourer for insertion into the mouth of bottle when the bottle cap is assembled with the container during the bottling process. The bottle cap can be removed from and replaced on the bottle using threads on the exterior of the neck of the bottle and interior of the cap, leaving the plastic pourer in place in the neck of the bottle. The plastic pourer has independent struts that extend from the lower side of a closure disc of the pourer into the neck of the bottle to secure the pourer in place. 
         [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,944 teaches a pour spout including an insertable member designed to engage an internal surface of the neck of a bottle, and an external spout extending above the bottle. A sealable cap is operably attached to the external spout. The cap may be operated between open and closed positions by causing a conical stopper member of the cap to move varying distances into the spout. 
         [0009]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,678 teaches a pour spout including a cap securable to the pour spout using threads on an external surface of the pour spout protruding from the neck of a bottle and threads on an internal surface of the cap. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    The present invention related to an aftermarket pour spout that facilitates the smooth and even pouring of liquids while suppressing dripping from the pour spout at the end of a pour, that is adapted to a couple within the neck of a bottle without protruding from an annular lip of a neck of the bottle whereby the bottle may be recapped with its original cap without removing the pour spout. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures in which: 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is a fragmentary side view, of the new pour spout coupled within the neck of a bottle; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a top view looking down on a substantially flat pouring end of the pour spout shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the pour spout shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is bottom view looking of the pour spout shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is an enlarged top view looking down on the substantially flat pouring end of the of the pour spout shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional side view of the of the pour spout shown in  FIG. 1 , taken at line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5 ; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the pour spout shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]      FIG. 1  shows a bottle  10  having a neck  11  with threads  12  on an exterior surface of the neck. The bottle has a cap  15  with threads on an interior surface (not shown) for mating with the threads on the neck of the bottle and securing the cap to the bottle. The bottle is filled with a liquid, such as liquor, and the cap is threadably attached to the liquid containing bottle as part of a bottling process. Thereafter the filled bottle is shipped from the bottling facility and in due course is supplied to the end user. The end user may be a purveyor of alcoholic beverages such as a tavern or bar that sells alcoholic beverages to patrons. A mixologist trained in the preparation of beverages containing one or more liquors and possibly other non-alcoholic liquids such as juices and carbonated beverages, removes the cap from the bottle for dispensing a designated amount of liquor into a container such as a drinking glass or shot glass. It is known for the mixologist to attach a prior art pour spout to the neck of the bottle  10  to better facilitate the dispensing of liquor from the bottle. 
         [0020]    It is desirable that after the liquor has been dispensed the bottle be resealed to prevent the introduction of foreign matter into the bottle. While there are prior art pour spouts that include bottle sealing mechanisms, these pour spouts require special caps and may be costly, or the special caps may be misplaced. A pour spout  20  according to the present invention may be coupled to the interior of the neck of a bottle and allow the cap that was originally furnished with the bottle during the bottling process to be used to reseal the bottle. 
         [0021]      FIGS. 2-7  show the structure of a one piece pour spout  20  according to the present invention. The new pour spout comprises a one piece elastomeric member having a disc portion  22 . The pour spout may be molded of any suitable elastomeric material having adequate elastic properties to facilitate the placement by hand of the pour spout into a neck of a bottle to form a seal between the bottle and the pour spout, as well as chemical properties such that the pour spout will not deteriorate or cause contamination when contacted by the liquid contents of the bottle. The disc portion has a top surface  23  and a bottom surface  25 . The bottom surface of the disc portion  22  is joined to a coaxial hollow cylindrical portion  24  by a coaxial hollow intermediary portion  26 . The common longitudinal axis is indicated in  FIG. 3  by reference character  28 . 
         [0022]    The hollow intermediary portion  26  has an outside diameter that is smaller than an outside diameter of the disc portion  22  and larger than an outside diameter of the hollow cylindrical portion  24 . It is an important feature of the new pour spout  20  that no portion of the one piece pour spout extends beyond the top surface  25  of the disc portion like the dispensing tubes of commonly used prior art pour spouts. It is the protruding dispensing tubes of prior art pour spouts that prevent the resealing of a bottle with the originally furnished cap without first removing a prior art pour spout from the bottle. 
         [0023]    The hollow cylindrical portion  24  has longitudinally spaced radially outward projecting circular sealing fins  32  extending from an exterior surface of the hollow cylindrical portion for engaging an inner surface of a neck of a bottle  10 . The pour spout  20  illustrated in the drawings has four sealing fins, but the number, spacing and sizes of the sealing fins can be varied to accommodate bottles of varying dimensions. It is important that the dimensions and elastic properties of the sealing fins facilitate the relatively easy insertion of the hollow cylindrical portion  24  into the neck of a bottle by hand without the aid of additional insertion tools. While the pour spout of the present invention may be sold and used as an aftermarket device, it is understood during the bottling process it could be assembled with a bottle before the placement of a threaded cap on the bottle. As used herein and in the claims the term aftermarket is understood to have its common meaning of the marketing of additional equipment, or replacement or repair parts for a manufactured product following the purchase of the manufactured product. 
         [0024]    The disc portion  22  has first and second circular apertures  34 ,  36  therethrough. Each of the circular apertures has a center that is collinear with the center of the other aperture and with a center of the disc portion. The centers of the two circular apertures are spaced apart from the center of the disc portion. As used herein and in the claims the term center is understood to have its common meaning of a point equally distant from all points on the circumference of a circle. As used herein and in the claims the term collinear is understood to have its common meaning of lying on the same straight line. 
         [0025]    The first circular aperture  34  is smaller than the second circular aperture  36  and is aligned with a bore  38  of a vent tube  40 . The vent tube has a first end  42  adjacent an interior surface of the disc portion  22  and extends through the interiors of the hollow cylindrical portion  24  and the hollow intermediary portion  26 , preferably to a second end  44  located outside the hollow cylindrical portion. An exterior surface of the vent tube  40  is optionally joined to an interior surface of the hollow cylindrical portion  24  by a rib  46 . When the liquid contents of a bottle fitted with the pour spout  20  are to be dispensed through the second aperture  36  the bottle is tipped from a vertical orientation toward a more horizontal orientation. As the liquid is dispensed from the bottle through the second circular aperture, the vent tube  40  allows air to enter the bottle, equalizing the pressure within the bottle and preventing the contents of the bottle from backing up and pouring out in an uneven manner. 
         [0026]    The top surface  23  of the disc portion  22  has an arcuate depression  48  therein that extends only partially around and concentric with the second circular aperture  36  in the disc portion. In a prototype the depth of the arcuate depression is in the range of one to two millimeters deep. The arcuate depression is nearer the second circular aperture than the periphery of the flat disc portion. The second circular aperture  36  is a spout, that is to say an opening that allows the passage of liquids therethrough directly from the interiors of the hollow cylindrical portion  24  and hollow intermediary portion  26  to the environment. The arcuate depression  48  locally reduces the thickness of the disc portion  22  causing that portion of the disc portion encompassed by the arcuate depression to be slightly more flexible than the remainder of the disc portion when a liquid is being dispensed though the second circular aperture  36  and this facilitates more controllable flowing of the liquid from the bottle. A side wall  35  of the arcuate depression provides a portion of the rim of the second circular aperture. A notch  37  in the side wall  35  of the arcuate depression is located adjacent the second circular aperture  36 . Preferably the notch  37  is aligned with the center of the first aperture and with the center of the disc portion. Preferably the notch extends from a top edge of the sidewall to the bottom end of the sidewall, which in a prototype is a distance of one to two millimeters. It has been observed that the notch  37  in the side wall  35  of the arcuate depression suppresses dripping from the second circular aperture when at the end of a pour the bottle is being tipped from a pouring position towards a position where the neck of the bottle extends upwards. 
         [0027]    In use the circular sealing fins  32  of the hollow cylindrical portion  24  and hollow intermediary portion  26  of the pour spout  20  are coupled with the neck of a bottle  10  with a flange surface  52  of the disc portion  22  adjacent the outer circumferential surface of the intermediary portion  26  being a flange sized to engage, but not extend radially beyond a rim  54  at a mouth of the neck of the bottle. The neck of the bottle is furnished with exterior threads for mating with a cap having interior threads and the cap is threaded onto the neck of the bottle to seal the bottle with an interior surface of the top of the cap being adjacent the top surface  25  of the disc portion of the pour spout. 
         [0028]    Put another way the present invention provides an aftermarket pour spout  20  for coupling with the neck of a bottle  10  having threads on an exterior surface of the neck and a cap provided with threads on an exterior surface thereof for engaging the threads on the neck of the bottle. The bottle contains a liquid and is sealed by the cap for distribution and sale. The new pour spout is coupled with the neck of the bottle only after the cap has been removed from the bottle. The cap is replaceable onto the neck of the bottle to seal the bottle with an interior surface of a top of the cap adjacent the top surface  25  of the disc portion  22  of the pour spout. 
         [0029]    It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages. It is, therefore, intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.