Patent EA-002473-B1 (EA)
Title: Safety device for liquid aerating apparatus
Inventor: HULLEY PETER
IPC: B67D1/12
Filed: 1999-09-16
Abstract: 1. A liquid aerating apparatus, comprising, in combination with a cylinder containing gas under pressure and a cylinder holder (21) for retaining a pressure gas cylinder: an aerating head (61) for retaining a bottle (63) which contains a liquid to be aerated, an intermediate chamber (38) for receiving gas discharged from said cylinder, a cylinder valve (32,33) for normally preventing discharge from said cylinder into said chamber and permitting it when desired, valve actuating means (13) which have an inactive position, in which they do not act on the cylinder valve, and an active position, in which they cause the cylinder valve to be opened and gas to be discharged from the cylinder to the intermediate chamber, gas conduit means (20) connecting said intermediate chamber with said aerating head, and auxiliary means (39,46) for sealing off said intermediate chamber from said conduit means when said cylinder valve is not fully closed and said valve actuating means are in their inactive position. 2. Liquid aerating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary valve means comprises a control chamber (25), a plunger head (42) and gasket (49) sealing off said control chamber from the intermediate chamber when the valve actuating means are in the inactive position and permitting passage of gas from said intermediate chamber when the valve actuating means are in the active position. 3. Liquid aerating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary valve means comprises a control chamber (25), having a first aperture (48) in communication with the intermediate chamber and a second aperture (46) in communication with the gas conduit means, plunger means (39,42) for normally concurrently sealing said apertures when the cylinder valve (32,33) is closed and the valve actuating means (24,42) are in the inactive position and concurrently freeing them when the valve actuating means are in the active position, said plunger means having such surface areas exposed to the gas pressure in the intermediate chamber that said pressure generates a force displacing said plunger means concurrently to seal said apertures of said control chamber when the cylinder valve is not fully closed and the valve actuating means are in the inactive position. 4. Liquid aerating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary valve means comprise a plunger (24,39,41,42) slidable in a seat from an uppermost to a lowermost position and a control chamber (25) in communication with a gas conduit (20) for feeding gas to a bottle which contains a liquid to be aerated, said plunger having a lowermost part (42) which seals the bottom of said control chamber when said plunger is in its uppermost position and having an opening (46) therein permitting the passage of gas from the cylinder to said gas conduit when said plunger is in its uppermost position, said plunger further comprising a piston having a lower and an upper surface exposed to gas pressure, said lower surface having an area larger than said upper surface. 5. Liquid aerating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cylinder valve comprises a valve housing (30) defining a valve chamber (31) having an inlet communicating with the gas cylinder and an outlet to an intermediate chamber (38); a poppet (32) which has a pin (33) slidable in said valve chamber outlet (51), a piston (35) housed in said valve chamber and solid with it or attached to said pin, a seat projection (50) in said valve housing about said outlet to the intermediate chamber, which projection can be engaged by said poppet piston in a gas-tight manner for preventing the discharge of gas from the valve chamber into the intermediate chamber, and elastic means (34) for urging said poppet body so to engage said seat projections. 6. Liquid aerating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the auxiliary valve means comprise a control housing (29) which is housed in the cylinder holder (21), constitutes the upper boundary of said intermediate chamber (38), has top, bottom and peripheral walls and defines a control chamber (25), said top and bottom walls having each an aperture and said peripheral wall having an outer surface spaced from the inner surfaces of the cylinder holder to define a gas passage (26) communicating with the conduit that leads the gas to the aerating head, a seat projection (47) being defined in the lower surface of said top wall about said top wall (43) aperture. 7. Liquid aerating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the auxiliary valve means comprise a plunger (22) slidable in the cylinder holder and the control housing from an uppermost to a lowermost position, and comprises, from top to bottom, a stem (24) passing through said aperture (46) of said control housing top wall, a piston (39) housed in said control chamber (25), a shank (41) having a cross-section substantially smaller than that of said plunger stem and also housed in said control chamber, and a head (42) slidable to seal or free an aperture (48) of said control chamber bottom wall (44). 8. Liquid aerating apparatus according to claim 7, wherein, when the plunger (22) is in its uppermost position, the plunger piston (39) tightly engages the seat projection (47) of the control housing (29) and the plunger head (42) seals the aperture of said control housing bottom wall so that said control chamber is tightly sealed. 9. Liquid aerating apparatus according to claim 3,whereinthe auxiliary valve means comprise a plunger (22) slidable in the cylinder holder (21) and the control housing (29) from an uppermost to a lowermost position, and comprises, from top to bottom, a stem (24) passing through said aperture (46) of said control housing top wall, a piston (39) housed in said control chamber (25), a shank (41) having a cross-section substantially smaller than that of said plunger stem and also housed in said control chamber, and a head (42) slidable to seal or free said aperture of said control chamber bottom wall, and wherein when the plunger is brought to its lowermost position by manually depressing the valve actuating means (13), the plunger piston ceases to engage the seat projection (47) of the control housing (29) and the plunger head (42) is displaced to below the aperture (48) of the bottom wall of said control housing and engages the poppet pin (33) of the cylinder valve so as to disengage the poppet piston (32) from the seat projection (50) of the valve housing against the reaction of the elastic means (34), whereby gas can freely flow from the gas cylinder to the valve chamber (31), from this latter to the intermediate chamber (38), from this latter to the control chamber (25), and from this latter to a gas passage (26) communicating with the conduit (20) that leads the gas to the aerating head (61). 10. Liquid aerating apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the poppet piston (32) comprises an elastomeric portion (36) adapted to engage the seat projection (50) of said valve housing about the outlet (51) to the intermediate chamber (38). 11. Liquid aerating apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the aperture (48) of the control housing bottom wall is provided with a gasket (49), and when the plunger (22) is in its uppermost position, the plunger head (42) tightly engages said gasket to seal said apertures (48,46). 12. Liquid aerating apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the cylinder holder (21) has defined therein a guide cylinder (23) and the plunger stem (24) is slidably housed therein, sealing means (40) being provided between said cylinder and said stem. 13. A safety device for liquid aerating apparatus, which apparatus comprises a gas cylinder, having a valve, and a bottle containing the liquid to be aerated, said device being characterized in that it comprises an inner chamber (25), apertures (48,26) for permitting gas to pass through said chamber so as to flow from said gas cylinder valve to said bottle and means (22) for sealing said apertures to prevent said gas flow unless said sealing means are inactivated by kinematic means. 14. A safety device for liquid aerating apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the sealing means comprise a plunger (22) having a first and a second surface exposed to the pressure in the control chamber (25), said first surface having a larger area than said second surface, whereby to generate a pressure force actuating said plunger to seal the apertures of said inner chamber of the auxiliary valve. 15. A safety device for liquid aerating apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the auxiliary valve is located above the gas cylinder valve (32,33) and the first and second plunger surfaces are the lower and the upper surface respectively. 16. A safety device for liquid aerating apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the difference between the areas of the first and of the second surface exposed to the pressure in the control chamber (25), is sufficient to generate the pressure force actuating the plunger (22) to seal the apertures (46,48) of said inner chamber (25) of the auxiliary valve whenever the gas cylinder valve is not fully closed. 17. A safety device for liquid aerating apparatus according to claim 13, which comprises a control chamber (25), having a first aperture (48) in communication with the gas cylinder valve outlet and a second aperture (46,26) in communication with gas conduit means leading the gas to said bottle, plunger means (22) for normally concurrently sealing said apertures when the cylinder valve (30) is closed and the valve actuating means are in the inactive position and concurrently freeing them when the valve actuating means are in the active position, said plunger means having such surface areas exposed to the gas pressure in the intermediate chamber (38) that said pressure generates a force displacing said plunger means concurrently to seal said apertures of said control chamber when the cylinder valve is not fully closed and the valve actuating means are i