Patent ID: 7395947

Claim:
An apparatus comprising a spacer and a connecting device which is adapted to connect a discharge device ( 2 ) to a package ( 3 ) with liquid products ( 4 ), for discharging said products ( 4 ) from the package ( 3 ), wherein the package ( 3 ) has walls ( 8 ) of synthetic material, wherein the connecting device ( 1 ) is adapted to permit products ( 4 ) to flow therethrough from the package ( 3 ) to the discharge device ( 2 ), wherein the connecting device ( 1 ) comprises a tube member ( 23 ) which is provided on a first wall portion ( 8 a ) of the walls of the package ( 3 ), wherein the connecting device ( 1 ) comprises a connecting means ( 26 ) which is fixed to the tube member ( 23 ), and wherein the spacer ( 19 ) is provided on the connecting means ( 26 ) and adapted to be located in the package ( 3 ) in order to, during emptying of said package, keep wall portions thereof at a distance from the connecting device ( 1 ) such that said wall portions do not prevent or substantially obstruct emptying of the package, the spacer ( 19 ) has resilient properties, the connecting device ( 1 ) includes a tubular member ( 14 ) which is fixed to the connecting means ( 26 ), the connecting means ( 26 ), for fixation thereof to the tube member ( 23 ), is brought to cooperate therewith by means of the tubular member ( 14 ) of the connecting device ( 1 ) such that it the tube member ( 23 ) is pressed downwards with the connecting means ( 26 ) in a direction towards a support ( 29 ) on which the package ( 3 ) is placed with a second wall portion ( 8 b ) thereof, the spacer ( 19 ) by said downward pressing is brought to engage the support ( 29 ) through the second wall portion ( 8 b ) such that said spacer ( 19 ) at continued downward pressing is compressed from a normal shape (NF) to a compressed shape (KF), the tube member ( 23 ) having a space ( 28 ) in which the spacer ( 19 ) is received when it is compressed and in which it is accommodated in compressed shape (KF), that the connecting means ( 26 ) being fixed to the tube member ( 23 ) when said connecting means ( 26 ) is pressed downwards relative to the tube member ( 23 ) and said tube member ( 23 ) engages the support ( 29 ) through said second wall portion ( 8 b ), and the spacer ( 19 ) being provided to spring back to its normal shape (NF) when the downward pressing of the connecting means ( 26 ) and the tube member ( 23 ) ceases such that said spacer ( 19 ) can take up a distance keeping position.