Patent ID: 8740591

Claim:
A vacuum pump comprising: a casing having a bottom forming an aperture therein; a chamber slidably coupled within the casing, the chamber being positioned generally inside of the casing when the vacuum pump is in a compressed position, the chamber extending substantially out from the casing when the vacuum pump is in an extended position, the chamber having a bottom forming an aperture therein; and a piston slidably coupled within the chamber, the piston including an enlarged upper portion generally parallel to the chamber bottom, the piston further including a hollow shaft extending from a bottom surface of the upper portion, the shaft having a first end adjacent to the enlarged upper portion and a second opposing end, the shaft fitting within the chamber aperture and the casing aperture, the shaft including at least one aperture positioned at the first end, the second end of the shaft being fixed relative to the casing at the casing aperture, wherein the vacuum pump is configured to evacuate air from a flexible storage container by pushing the chamber in a downward direction to the compressed position such that the air is pulled through the aperture formed in the bottom of the casing and through the second end of the shaft into a sub-chamber positioned between the bottom surface of the upper portion of the piston and the bottom of the chamber through the at least one aperture positioned at the first end of the shaft.