JPS61259999A - Dispenser for beer or similar article thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A dispenser for beer or the like comprising a container filled with a beverage having carbon dioxide in solution to between about 5/8 to 3/4 of its volume, the head space above the beverage being filled with a gas under pressure. When liquid is dispensed from the container the loss of CO2 dissolved in the liquid is less than that in dispensers known hitherto because the pressure in the head space remains relatively high and consequently less CO2 comes out of solution with the liquid. Hence a dispenser having a substantial head space significantly increases the ability to dispense relatively large volumes without requiring any significant restoration time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a dispenser for carbonated beverages, particularly beer.

For example, it can be kept at home and used to dispense only a portion of the container's volume at any given time, while keeping the residue under good conditions and under sufficient pressure to facilitate later dispensing. It would be desirable to provide a device for dispensing carbonated beverages that is stored under ambient conditions.

When the carbonated beverage occupies substantially all of the volume of the container and a significant amount of the beverage is to be dispensed, as in a conventional soda siphon, the volume of the head space increases, the gas pressure decreases and the volume of the dispensed will be canceled. Furthermore, the distribution is such that after a period of time during which the carbon dioxide dissolved in the beverage comes out of solution due to a drop in pressure, the pressure in the head space is restored. However, this means that the quality of the remaining beverage deteriorates and that it is not possible at any time to delay the withdrawal of a sufficient amount, for example in the case of beer or lager beer.

The general problem of the invention is to overcome this problem.

Beverage dispensers for use in the present invention may be made of two parts joined substantially together, e.g. by injection blow molding of a synthetic resin material with good gas barrier properties, e.g. polyethylene terephthalate (PH1), into one part. It consists of a container that is injection molded. Such containers equipped with dispensing valves or closures are known per se.

A container according to the invention is suitable for use when a beverage containing carbon dioxide in solution (e.g. beer) contains approximately 578 to 3/3 of its volume.
4, the top space above the beverage is filled with gas under pressure.

The inventors have found that a tall dispenser with sufficient head space enhances the ability to dispense relatively large volumes without requiring recovery time. Also, as the temperature rises and gases dissolve out of the beverage, the increase in relative pressure is less than that when the container is full, reducing its vulnerability to temperature changes. .

Furthermore, when dispensing a liquid in such a device, the loss of C(h) dissolved in the liquid is lower than in the case of a conventional dispenser after dispensing the same amount of beverage. CO□ remains high and therefore less CO□ is dissolved from the beverage.

If the temperature drops, more CO2 can be dissolved into the beverage, but this problem does not exist if the head space is filled with CO□. However, if the headspace is filled with nitrogen (N2) - which is preferable -
Since N2 is less soluble than C0z, a relatively small amount of N2 is dissolved.

The use of N2 helps maintain headspace pressure when dispensing beer or other carbonated beverages since a relatively small amount is dissolved in the dispensed beverage. Nitrogen "softens the mouthfeel" of beer, but this is offset by increasing the amount of CO□. (“Softening the mouthfeel” means reducing the C(h) that gives a tingling sensation on the tongue.) As an example of the present invention, beer 5E with the highest allowable C(h content) is introduced into a container 71 under atmospheric pressure.Nitrogen is then added to 2β
Filling the above head space with a pressure of 14 psi above atmospheric pressure,
As a result, 41 nitrogen occupies 21 head spaces. It has been found that in such devices, at ambient temperature and pressure, the beer is under pressure at any stage during dispensing, so that no air is drawn into the container as the beer is dispensed.

Theoretically, if the volume increases to 4β to dispense beer with a headspace of 31, the pressure is atmospheric (4β
nitrogen is initially filled into the top space of 21).

However, at this low pressure, some CO□ will dissolve from the beer until an equilibrium is achieved between a sufficiently high CO□ residual content to be acceptable and a head space pressure that is above atmospheric pressure. When the dispenser is used to dispense lager beer, it is believed that it is desirable to have a pressure of 8 psi in the head space when dispensing the last bind. This can be achieved by having an original head space filled with gas under somewhat higher pressure.

Finally, the container may have a helical neck and a stopper counterbalanced by two openings, each with a suitable attachment retaining means. One opening is for the purpose of filling the container and is advantageously located on the central axis of the container, so that no positioning of the container is necessary for filling. It may be closed by a non-removable stopper or lid or by a spiral or helical stopper.

The second opening may have a dispensing tail plug that can be handled with the pressure involved. It is also expected that the container will be equipped with a cradle so that it can be used in the customary barrel position with its main axis horizontal.

The location of the stopper is therefore low-slung in order to dispense the maximum amount of beverage before tipping is required.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A container is filled with a beverage containing carbon dioxide in solution about 5/8 to 3/4 of its volume, and the top space above the beverage is filled with gas under pressure. A dispenser for beer or its analogues, characterized by: 2) The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the gas in the head space is CO_2 or N_2. 3) A dispenser according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 5/7 of the volume of the container before dispensing is filled with beverage. 4) The dispenser of claim 3, wherein nitrogen is present in the head space at 14 psi above atmospheric pressure. 5) A dispenser according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the container is made of polyethylene terephthalate. 6) The container has two openings, one for filling the container, located in the central axis of the container and usually sealed with a removable lid, and a second opening adjacent around the end face. 6. A dispenser as claimed in claim 1, carrying a dispensing tap or the like which is located as low as possible in use.