Patent ID: 7789269

Claim:
A fitment for package holding a liquid therein, said fitment being arranged for selectively dispensing an amount of the liquid from the package, the package comprising a flexible bag in which the liquid is located and having a planar wall portion bounding the liquid, said fitment being a metering dispensing valve having a body, a fluid inlet check valve, a fluid outlet check valve, a bulb, a piercing element and an outlet, said body comprising a planar flange arranged for securement to the planar wall portion of the bag, said bulb being compressible and defining a collapsible reservoir into which the amount of the liquid from the bag can be transferred for dispensing, said inlet check valve being arranged to isolate said reservoir from the bag, said outlet check valve being arranged to isolate said reservoir from said outlet, said inlet check valve being coupled to said bulb and arranged to close in response to a compression of said bulb and open in response to the release of said bulb, said outlet check valve being coupled to said bulb and arranged to open in response to the compression of said bulb and close in response to the release of said bulb, said piercing element comprising a movable tubular member coupled to said bulb and having a passageway therethrough in fluid communication with said inlet check valve, said piercing element being arranged to be moved with respect to the planar wall portion of the bag and pierce through the planar portion of the wall of the bag in response to the compression of said bulb, whereupon the amount of the liquid in the bag is drawn into said reservoir through said inlet check valve, said bulb also being arranged to be compressed after the amount of liquid is drawn into said reservoir to dispense the amount of the liquid through said outlet check valve to said outlet said fitment additionally comprising an inlet barrier and an outlet barrier, said inlet barrier being initially disposed over said inlet and said outlet barrier being initially disposed over said outlet, whereupon the interior of said fitment is initially sealed and isolated from the ambient atmosphere so that the interior of said fitment can be exposed to ionizing radiation to render its internal surfaces sterile, whereupon said fitment is ready to be secured to the wall of said bag.