An apparatus for preserving carbonated beverages or other liquids features a container, and an impermeable piston that divides the container interior into a lower chamber beneath the piston for storage of a liquid, and an upper chamber above the piston. An axially extendable and collapsible conduit has a lower end sealed to the piston around a flow opening that passes axially therethrough, and an upper end connected and sealed to an upper portion of the container around a mouth opening therein. A valve mechanism features a closure member movable between open and closed positions that respectively open and close the flow opening in the piston. Opening of the closure member allows pouring of the liquid out of the container via the flow opening, the conduit and the mouth, and closing of the closure member seals the lower chamber closed in order to preserve the liquid.

A system and method for protecting biological or other material from contamination through the steps of filling, freeze-drying, packaging, storing and use are disclosed. A system can include a flexible container, a membrane configured to transmit air or solvent vapor out of the flexible container, and a membrane frame supporting the membrane and engaged with at least one column member. The at least one column member can be configured to maintain the membrane and the membrane frame a spaced distance from one or more contents received within the flexible container. Upon application of a downward force, the at least one column member can assume a collapsed configuration. A method can include inserting a biological material, for example, into a flexible container, freeze-drying the biological material, moving the freeze-dried biological material to a portion of the flexible container that includes at least one port, and sealing the biological material within the portion.

A composite barrier film has a base layer of polyester or polyolefin with a barrier layer modified polyvinyl amine (mPVA). The mPVA is polyvinyl alcohol/polyvinyl amine copolymer crosslinked with citric acid and an optional additional crosslinking agent such as epichlorohydrin. The barrier layer can be applied by deposition of a reactive aqueous solution onto the base layer, heating and drying to remove water and crosslink the reactants. Excellent barrier properties of the film are obtained by applying and crosslinking the barrier layer during the transverse stretching steps of a biaxial oriented polymer film continuous fabrication process. Superior barrier properties are achieved with transverse stretching by a factor of about 3-4 for polyester and 4-10 for polyolefin.

A composite barrier film has a base layer of polyester with a barrier layer modified polyvinyl amine (mPVA). The mPVA is polyvinyl alcohol/polyvinyl amine copolymer crosslinked with citric acid and an optional additional crosslinking agent such as epichlorohydrin. The barrier layer can be applied by deposition of a reactive aqueous solution onto the base layer, heating and drying to remove water and crosslink the reactants. Excellent barrier properties of the film are obtained by applying and crosslinking the barrier layer during the transverse stretching steps of a biaxial oriented polymer film continuous fabrication process. Superior barrier properties are achieved with transverse stretching by a factor of about 3-4.

A package for storing perishable goods. Film forming the package has an inner layer that defines an interior surface of the package and is formed from a polyethylene and a tack agent that has migrated to the interior surface to provide tackiness. The tackiness permits cold resealing of the package after it has been opened, without substantially adhering to the perishable goods so that the perishable goods can be non-destructively removed from the package. An outer layer of the film defines an exterior surface of the package and is formed from another polyethylene. The polyethylene of the outer layer is configured to block migration of the tack agent through the outer layer such that the exterior surface is substantially non-tacky.

A method for sterile packaging of a plurality of containers is provided that includes: providing a carrier in which a plurality of receptacles are formed, the receptacles being formed by a closed bottom and a circumferential side wall, the upper ends of the receptacles, which are opposite to the respective bottom, are open and circumferential connecting webs are provided at the upper ends; placing the containers in the receptacles; providing a gas-impermeable protective foil; bonding the protective foil along the connecting webs with the upper surface of the carrier to package all the receptacles with the containers accommodated individually therein; and sterilizing the receptacles with the containers accommodated therein and/or the inner volumes of the containers by a gas flowing into the receptacles and/or into the inner volumes of the containers through at least one gas-permeable portion.

A lid for a container for bulk material includes a flange for sealing the lid to the container, the flange having an internal peripheral edge. The lid further includes a skim plate having an outer peripheral edge and an aperture sized to receive a barrel of a device for dispensing bulk material. A first tear strip is disposed between the outer peripheral edge of the skim plate and the internal peripheral edge of the flange to release the skim plate from the flange. A small disk portion is disposed in the aperture of the skim plate. A second tear strip is disposed between the outer peripheral edge of the small disk portion and the aperture to release the small disk portion from the skim plate. The flange, skim plate, small disk portion, the first annular tear strip and the second annular tear strip all comprise a unitary molded article.

A fluid preservation device, for preserving a liquid within a container, which includes an elongated member with a proximal end and a distal end and an inner shaft and an outer shaft. The outer shaft and inner shaft are attached to an expandable sealing member. The expandable sealing member has an expanded state and a collapsed state and a state change mechanism attached to the proximal end of the elongated member to change the state of the expandable sealing member between the expanded state and the collapsed state. When the expandable sealing member is in the collapsed state, it can pass through an opening of a container and when the expandable sealing member is in the expanded state it is big enough to contact the inner surface of the container near the surface of the liquid.

Container for e.g. wine has vessel, seal assembly, and handle assembly. Seal assembly has upper and lower seal compressor moldings on major faces of a seal, and seal's edge expands in response to moving the seal's major faces together to increase a diameter of the seal. Pressure on a glass vessel is sufficiently low to prevent the glass from cracking or breaking, and pressure can be sufficiently high to prevent air from entering the enclosed volume. Methods and parts associated with the container are also discussed.

An interior portion of a container (e.g., a lid portion, a base portion, etc.) includes one or more walls of a body of material (e.g., in a hexagonal configuration, a spiral configuration, a concentric circular configuration, etc.) that define one or more reservoirs. The one or more reservoirs are open to receive fluid composition therein (e.g., when the lid is positioned to close the container).