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Patent US5855292 - Fluid storage - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA fluid container and capsule therefor. The capsule comprises upper and lower parts, at least one of which has a dished formation and both of which have a peripheral rim, the rims being secured together so that the upper and lower parts are at least partially in register with one another to provide at...http://www.google.com/patents/US5855292?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US5855292 - Fluid storageAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS5855292 APublication typeGrantApplication numberUS 08/827,939Publication dateJan 5, 1999Filing dateMar 12, 1997Priority dateAug 24, 1992Fee statusLapsedAlso published asDE69324493D1, DE69324493T2, EP0655044A1, EP0655044B1, US5645188, WO1994004433A1Publication number08827939, 827939, US 5855292 A, US 5855292A, US-A-5855292, US5855292 A, US5855292AInventorsAlan Gray, Barry AdamsOriginal AssigneeAlcan International LimitedExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (17), Classifications (10), Legal Events (7) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetFluid storage
US 5855292 AAbstract
A fluid container and capsule therefor. The capsule comprises upper and lower parts, at least one of which has a dished formation and both of which have a peripheral rim, the rims being secured together so that the upper and lower parts are at least partially in register with one another to provide at least one vented chamber extending into the dished formation. The capsule includes a vent hole or like structure in at least one of the parts to communicate between the interior of the chamber and the exterior thereof. The lower part has its exterior so formed as to enable it to be held in stable engagement with a surface but so that a fluid may pass freely between those parts of the exterior of the lower part and the surface that are not in intimate engagement.
1. A fluid container having a generally cylindrical body and comprising a top, a base and an annular side wall, at least part of the body defining a closed primary chamber openable by manually operable means in the top, the base projecting inwardly of the primary chamber to present an inner surface, a capsule comprising upper and lower parts, at least one of which has a dished formation and both of which have a peripheral rim, the rims being secured together so that the upper and lower parts being distinct from said top, base and side wall and at least partially in register with one another to provide at least one vented secondary chamber extending into the dished formation, means in at least one of the parts to communicate between the interior of the secondary chamber and the exterior thereof, wherein the upper and lower parts of the capsule are laminated or coated with a protective material.
2. The fluid container of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the capsule is made of aluminum.
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 08/392,767, filed Apr.10, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,188.
Frequently such capsules are of plastics material and are a friction fit within the can. Specifications GB 2183592 and GB/PCT 91/07326 show such arrangements. However friction fit capsules, may damage the thin protective coating customarily applied to the interior of the cans.
3) Pasteurisation of the can at, say, 60-80� C. causes the pressure therein to rise to say 70-80 psi. The pressure in the capsule will again lag behind that in the body of the can and the degree of lag will depend both upon the size of the hole or holes in the capsule (or the nature of its valve) and the rate of heating. Again the overall pressure on the capsule acts in the sense to collapse it. On cooling after the pasteurisation process the pressure within the can and the capsule reverts to an equilibrium position at about 40 psi.
4) When the can is opened its internal pressure drops to atmospheric substantially instantly while the pressure within the capsule, initially remains at about 40 psi. This pressure difference causes the stout plus gas within the capsule to be ejected forcefully through the hole or holes or through a valve in the capsule to generate the desired head. Thus when the can is first opened and for a short time thereafter the overall pressure on the capsule acts in the sense to inflate it.
Accordingly for different uses a container may be of steel, or an aluminium alloy or a plastics/metal laminate or a plastics material and fine capsule may be wholly or partly of plastics or metal.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a capsule comprising upper and lower parts each having a dished formation and a peripheral rim, the rims being secured together so that the formations are at least partially in register with one another to provide at least one vented chamber, means in at least one of the parts to communicate between the interior of the chamber and the exterior thereof and the lower part having its exterior so formed as to enable it to be held in stable engagement with a surface but so that a fluid may pass freely between those parts of the exterior of the lower part and the surface that are not in intimate engagement.
FIG. 14 is a view in the direction of the arrow `A` in
FIG. 13 and after removal of the mandrel.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 a capsule indicated generally at 100 has upper and lower parts 101 and 102 which are either moulded from a plastics material; press-formed of aluminium alloy foil or comprise one-plastics and one foil part. The parts 101 and 102 each have an outer flange 103, 104, an annular dished formation 105, 106 and generally flat regions 107, 108 lying within the formations 105 and 106. These regions lie in the same planes as the respective flanges 103 and 104. Thus the dished formations 105, 106 together form a toroidal chamber 100a. Three radial recesses 109 are formed in the dished formations 105 and 106; these are significant only in respect of one of the parts as will be described later but it is convenient both from a manufacturing and an orientation point of view to form them in both parts.
The outer edges 110, 111 of the flanges 103, 104 are curled inwardly for a purpose to be described later and the parts are secured together by adhesive (such bonding including heat sealing of plastics material and plastics coated material) bonding around their flanges and flat regions. When both parts are of aluminium foil a vent hole (not shown) will be formed between the flanges as will be described later and when one or both parts are of plastics material such vent hole may be formed at any convenient location. The vent hole may be parallel sided, tapered or stepped and its smallest diameter may be as low as 100 μm.
When one or both of the parts 101, 102 is of plastics material this is preferably of food grade polypropylene having a thickness of 0.5 to 1.5 mm and preferably about 0.8 mm. For carbonated drinks any vent hole in the plastics material should be 200 to 500 gm in diameter (at its smallest) and may be parallel sided or tapered. For other uses and for substances other than liquids and gases (for example slurries) the vent hole or holes could be of greater diameter.
When one of the parts is of aluminium foil the capsule could be secured to the surface by ultrasonic welding but when the capsule is wholly of plastics material it is preferable to secure it ro the surface by adhesive bonding. Alternatively whatever the material of the capsule it could be held against the surface by mechanical means (not shown).
A capsule 6 comprising a second chamber is disposed internally at the lower end of the can. This capsule is press-formed of aluminium alloy foil components and comprises (in the arrangement of FIG. 3) identical pressed-out parts 7 and 8 having rolled edges 9 and 10 which are bonded together to provide the capsule having an annular side wall 11 and inwardly dished top and bottom walls 12 and 13. It will be understood that bonding can be adhesive bonding, heat sealing or ultrasonic welding. The walls 12 and 13 are curved so that they meet at their centre --A -- and, moreover their curvature is such that the bottom wall 13 sits snugly on the bottom wall 5 of the can.
The parts 7 and 8 are preferably of foil or thin sheet having a thickness of 40 to 500 μm. When the parts are of foil they may be from 50 to 300 μm with 100to 200 μm being the preferred range. The external surfaces of the parts 7 and 8 are coated with a stoving lacquer that is of sterilisable grade and has a thickness of 2 to 20 μm, preferably 3 to 5 μm. Internally, or if desired also externally, the parts 7 and 8 have a polypropylene/lacquer laminated to or coated on the foil before the parts are pressed out. This lamination may have a thickness of 20 to 75 μm and is preferably about 50 μm. The grade of polypropylene used should soften at not less than 85� C. and melt at about 160� C. Contact time should be 0.1 to 5 secs and typically 0.5 secs and it should be of food grade quality.
The capsule 6 may be sectured to the can by a single bond at the position A or by means of ultrasonic welding when the external surface of the part 7 has an appropriate laminated coating. Alternatively all or part of the mating surfaces could be provided with a patch of adhesive at the position A and localised heat applied thereto. In both cases the appropriate tool (not shown) can extend through the can before the top wall is secured thereto or tools may be applied to the inside and/or the outside of the can.
In all the arrangements above described including FIGS. 1 and 2 it is essential that, for use in beverage cans, no aluminium should be exposed to contact by the contents of the can. Thus while the internal surfaces of the can and the appropriate surfaces,of the capsule 6 are coated as described above a problem may arise in venting the capsule 6 to the interior of the can.
Another potential location of uncoated aluminium is the curled edges 9 and 10 of he parts 7 and 8. Conventionally the edge material would be externally curled back on itself so that a raw aluminium edge would occur only inside the rolled material and within a body of adhesive. FIG. 9 shows an alternative arrangement in which these edges are reverse curled so that during the crimping/sealing operation polypropylene material would flow into the rolls to seal the edges from the interior of the can.
In this specification the term "fluid" is to be understood as meaning not only liquids and gases but also other substances such as pastes, creams and slurries that are flowable at least at selected temperatures.
Patent CitationsCited PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS2043694 *Jan 14, 1933Jun 9, 1936Borg WarnerLaminated metal barrelUS3448850 *Nov 30, 1967Jun 10, 1969Gen Numismatics CorpOrnamental coin holderUS3579806 *Jun 19, 1969May 25, 1971France Armed ForcesMethod of producing toroidal bodies from hard, brittle steelsUS4524078 *Mar 29, 1982Jun 18, 1985General Foods CorporationPressurized container providing for the separate storage of a plurality of materialsUS4627986 *Mar 29, 1982Dec 9, 1986General Foods CorporationAutomatic mixing upon opening, carbonated beveragesUS4832968 *Oct 8, 1986May 23, 1989Arthur Guinness Son & Company LimitedBeverage package and a method of packaging a beverage containing gas in solutionUS4995218 *Apr 28, 1989Feb 26, 1991Arthur Guinness Son & Company (Dublin) LimitedMethod of packaging a beverageUS4996823 *Apr 28, 1989Mar 5, 1991Arthur Guinness Son & Company (Dublin) LimitedMethod of packaging a beverage and a package structureUS5072851 *May 23, 1990Dec 17, 1991Essef CorporationDynamic pressure relief seal for pressure vesselsUS5340595 *Feb 21, 1991Aug 23, 1994E J Price (Development) LimitedHaving reservoir with pressurized gas which passes into drink on opening canUS5645188 *Aug 24, 1993Jul 8, 1997Alcan International LimitedFluid container and capsule therefor *DE27687C Title not availableEP0448200A1 *Jan 28, 1991Sep 25, 1991Guinness Brewing Worldwide LimitedA beverage package and a method of packaging a beverage containing gas in solutionGB2211813A * Title not availableGB2268151A * Title not availableWO1991000825A1 *Jul 2, 1990Jan 24, 1991Whitbread & Co PlcBeverage container and method of filling itWO1991013006A2 *Feb 21, 1991Sep 5, 1991Price Dev Ltd E JDrinks containers* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification220/23.86, 220/4.21, 220/689, 426/131, 426/115, 220/501International ClassificationB65D79/00, B65D85/73Cooperative ClassificationB65D85/73European ClassificationB65D85/73Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionFeb 11, 2008ASAssignmentOwner name: NOVELIS CORPORATION, OHIOFree format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:CITICORP NORTH AMERICA, INC.;REEL/FRAME:020487/0294Effective date: 20080207Owner name: NOVELIS INC., GEORGIAFree format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:CITICORP NORTH AMERICA, INC.;REEL/FRAME:020487/0294Effective date: 20080207Owner name: NOVELIS CORPORATION,OHIOOwner name: NOVELIS INC.,GEORGIAMar 6, 2007FPExpired due to failure to pay maintenance feeEffective date: 20070105Jan 5, 2007LAPSLapse for failure to pay maintenance feesJul 26, 2006REMIMaintenance fee reminder mailedMar 3, 2005ASAssignmentOwner name: CITICORP NORTH AMERICA, INC., NEW YORKFree format text: SECURITY INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:NOVELIS CORPORATION;NOVELIS INC.;REEL/FRAME:016369/0282Effective date: 20050107Owner name: CITICORP NORTH AMERICA, INC. 390 GREENWICH STREETNFree format text: SECURITY INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:NOVELIS CORPORATION /AR;REEL/FRAME:016369/0282Owner name: CITICORP NORTH AMERICA, INC.,NEW YORKJul 23, 2002REMIMaintenance fee reminder mailedJul 3, 2002FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services