Push-Button Dispenser for Carbonated Beverages with Deformable Suction Tube
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dispensers for carbonated beverages are cumbersome for small children and elderly individuals, lead to excessive carbon dioxide loss, and result in foaming issues when pouring, due to their complexity, high cost, and requirement for metallic parts.
Innovation Solution
A pushbutton dispenser with a lateral pouring channel, a deformable elastomeric plastic suction tube, and a spring-loaded valve that reduces internal pressure to ambient levels, allowing for easy dispensing in any orientation without foaming, using a minimal number of cost-effective plastic components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a traditional dispenser with metal parts and multiple components is used, then the dispensing function is achieved, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions into a single integrated plastic dispenser body that includes the pouring channel, valve mechanism, and carbon dioxide regulation system. This eliminates the need for separate metal components and reduces the total number of parts while maintaining all necessary dispensing functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The dispenser is designed as a single-use plastic device that is discarded after one bottle is emptied. This eliminates the need for expensive metal parts and complex assembly, making it economically viable as a disposable product that provides complete bottle emptying without requiring recovery or maintenance.
2Loss of substance
If the bottle is opened traditionally, then the beverage can be poured, but excessive carbon dioxide escapes causing the beverage to become flat
Solution Approach 1:
The dispenser is pre-assembled on the bottle before use, creating a sealed system that maintains carbon dioxide pressure. The valve mechanism is pre-configured to control the release of carbon dioxide and beverage together, preventing premature gas escape that would occur with traditional opening methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The pressure regulation valve monitors the internal bottle pressure and automatically adjusts the opening degree to maintain optimal carbon dioxide levels. When pressure drops below a certain threshold, the valve restricts flow to allow carbon dioxide to replenish, preventing the beverage from going flat during the dispensing process.
3Productivity
If the beverage is dispensed quickly, then the dispensing time is reduced, but excessive foaming occurs preventing proper filling
Solution Approach 1:
The valve mechanism dynamically adjusts its opening degree during the dispensing process based on real-time pressure conditions. The valve opens wider when pressure is high to maintain flow rate, and modulates to a narrower opening when pressure drops to prevent excessive foaming, optimizing both dispensing speed and beverage quality throughout the emptying process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the flow parameters by adjusting the valve opening degree in response to pressure changes. This dynamic parameter adjustment allows the dispenser to maintain high dispensing speed during the majority of the emptying process while automatically reducing flow rate near the end to minimize foaming and ensure proper glass filling.
4Stress or pressure
If a spring-loaded valve with tube opening is used, then pressure reduction is achieved, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a pneumatic valve mechanism where compressed carbon dioxide pressure directly actuates the valve opening. The high-pressure gas flow itself provides the force to open the valve, eliminating the need for separate spring-loaded mechanical actuators or external compression mechanisms, thereby reducing manufacturing complexity and cost.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient, foaming-reduced dispensing of carbonated beverages from any bottle position, with minimal component count and cost, ensuring complete consumption with minimal residue, and allowing comfortable bottle handling.
Implementation Method 1
a spring-loaded valve that reduces internal pressure to ambient levels
Implementation Method 2
a deformable elastomeric plastic suction tube, and its outer and inner cross sections are so configured that with an inner pressure reduced to the ambient pressure it can be made narrow by deformation in its flow-through cross section in relation to the increased pressure prevailing from outside
Data Source
AI summary
The push-button dispenser for bottles with carbonated beverages as a head (1) which can be screwed onto a bottle and has a lateral pouring channel (15) and a push-button (16) on its upper side. A suction tube (10) projects downwards, this tube being intended to extend down as far as the base of the bottle (20) to be fitted with the dispenser. This suction tube opens out at the top into a valve device in the head (1), this valve device having a regulating means (5) which can be moved axially in relation to the bottle (20) and is biased in the closing direction by a spring (3). In order for the regulating means to be opened, pressure is applied to the push-button (16) from above, and therefore the pressure in the interior of the suction tube (10) is reduced to ambient pressure. This causes liquid to be expelled from the bottle, by way of the internal pressure prevailing in the bottle, out of the lower mouth opening of the suction tube (10) via the pouring channel (15). As a special feature, the suction tube (10) is produced from an elastomeric plastics material and its outer cross section and inner cross section are configured such that, with the internal pressure reduced to ambient pressure, in relation to the increased pressure prevailing from outside, it can have its throughflow cross section narrowed by deformation. This means that, despite the pressure in the bottle gradually decreasing, the amount of liquid which flows out per unit of time is kept more or less constant. The push-button dispenser makes it possible for bottles with carbonated beverages to be, for all practical purposes, completely emptied in an extremely convenient and reliable manner, in the upright or even horizontal position, just at the push of a button.