CYLINDER EXCLUSIVE CONNECTION

Abstract

A connecting device comprising, a piercing housing for receiving the neck of a gas cylinder with a top surface comprising a gas outlet the piercing housing is defined by an opening, side wall and a bottom wall a piercing member arranged in the piercing housing for piercing the gas outlet of the gas cylinder a container defining a space for retaining the gas cylinder a protection cap being provided in the piercing housing which encloses the piercing member partially and can be pushed axially relative to the piercing member, wherein the axial direction coincides with the axis of the gas cylinder, wherein a male portion is provided on the protection cap for connecting the protection cap with the neck of the gas cylinder on which a female portion is present, wherein the female portion has a corresponding shape for being inserted in the male portion, the male portion and the female portion are fitted with each other when a correct position is achieved so that after the fitting the both portions cannot be rotated relative to each other.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A connecting device, comprising: a piercing housing for receiving a neck of a gas cylinder with a top surface comprising a gas outlet, the piercing housing defined by an opening, a side wall and a bottom wall; a piercing member arranged in the piercing housing for piercing the gas outlet of the gas cylinder; and a protection cap provided in the piercing housing, the protection cap enclosing the piercing member at least partially and axially pushable relative to the piercing member, wherein an axial direction of the protection cap coincides with an axis of the gas cylinder, the protection cap comprising: a male portion for connecting the protection cap with a female portion of the neck of the gas cylinder, the female portion having a corresponding shape for being inserted in the male portion such that the male and female portions are fitted with each other when a correct position is achieved upon rotation of the female portion to an amount selected from the group consisting of the rotation being less than 360, and the rotation being less than 180.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the male portion comprises an axially upwardly extended wall shaped by at least one recess for allowing the female portion fitting with the male portion.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein an upper profile of the axially upwardly extending wall has no straight lines at a direction which is vertical to the axis such that the female portion is orientable to the correct position by pushing to fit into the male portion.

19. The device of claim 17, wherein the axially upwardly extending wall is shaped by at least two recesses which sit opposite to each other.

20. The device of claim 16, further comprising a collar containing the female portion and which is arranged on the neck of the gas cylinder.

21. The device of claim 20, wherein the collar comprises an opening defining a channel for receiving the piercing member in the channel.

22. The device of claim 16, further comprising at least one spring in contact with the protection cap, the at least one spring providing a force against pushing the gas cylinder onto the protection cap.

23. The device of claim 20, wherein the collar extends beyond the top surface of the gas cylinder.

24. The device of claim 16, further comprising a seal assembly forming an axial seal between the piercing member and the top surface of the gas cylinder and/or to form a radial seal between the piercing member and the neck of the gas cylinder.

25. The device of claim 24, wherein the seal assembly is attached with the piercing member.

26. The device of claim 24, wherein the seal assembly comprises a High Pressure (HP) seal.

27. The device of claim 20, wherein the collar comprises at least one predetermined breaking point.

28. The device of claim 16, wherein the gas cylinder contains a percentage of oxygen selected from the group consisting of more than 21 vol.-% oxygen, more than 80 vol.-% oxygen, and more than 99 vol.-% oxygen.

29. The device of claim 16, further comprising a container defining a space for retaining the gas cylinder, and a screw assembly disposed between the container and the piercing housing to lock together the container retaining the gas cylinder and the piercing housing.

30. A gas cylinder having a collar containing a female portion and arranged on a neck of the gas cylinder, comprising a connecting device, the connecting device comprising: a piercing housing for receiving the neck of the gas cylinder with a top surface comprising a gas outlet, the piercing housing defined by an opening, a side wall and a bottom wall; a piercing member arranged in the piercing housing for piercing the gas outlet of the gas cylinder; and a protection cap provided in the piercing housing, the protection cap enclosing the piercing member at least partially and axially pushable relative to the piercing member, wherein an axial direction of the protection cap coincides with an axis of the gas cylinder, the protection cap comprising: a male portion for connecting the protection cap with a female portion of the neck of the gas cylinder, the female portion having a corresponding shape for being inserted in the male portion such that the male and female portions are fitted with each other when a correct position is achieved upon rotation of the female portion to an amount selected from the group consisting of the rotation being less than 360, and the rotation being less than 180.

Description

[0030] The present invention will now be described with reference to the following non-limiting examples and the accompanying schematic figures in which:

[0031] FIG. 1 shows a section view of the connecting device for oxygenating wine without container

[0032] FIG. 2 shows a top view of the piercing housing with the protection cap without gas cylinder

[0033] FIG. 3 shows a section view of the piercing housing without gas cylinder and container

[0034] FIG. 4 shows an exterior view of the gas cylinder with the collar

[0035] FIG. 5 shows a section view of the gas cylinder with the collar

[0036] FIG. 1 shows a part of a hand-held device for introducing oxygen into a bottle of wine. The device shown in the FIG. 1 contains three main parts: a gas cylinder 1, a piercing housing 7, a piercing member 4. The gas cylinder 1 is held by a container which is not shown in the figure. The container has a thread at the opening which correspond a thread on the exterior wall of the piercing housing 7. The container provides an axially force to the gas cylinder 1 by threading on the piercing housing 7 which converts a radially movement to an axially movement. The gas cylinder 1 is filled with pressurized oxygen enclosed by a pierceable diaphragm 3 which can be seen as an outlet for the gas. The gas cylinder is designed to be easily portable and disposable and has an overall length of about 6.5 cm to 7.5 cm and a diameter of about 1.5 cm to 2 cm. In this embodiment, the gas cylinder has a neck 2 which has a smaller diameter of about 0.5 cm to 1 cm than the main body of the gas cylinder 1. The neck 2 is defined by a side wall and a top surface on which the pierceable diaphragm 3 is arranged. A full filled gas cylinder with this size has a pressure between 150 bar and 200 bar. The piercing element 4 is formed as a blunt ended or truncated cone which allows the pierce diaphragm 3 to be deformed quite considerably before rupturing it.

[0037] The diaphragm 3 and/or the piercing member 4 are preferably made of a metallic material, for example steel or stainless steel. The piercing member 4 is provided with a channel 5 in the cone which allows the pressurized gas to escape from the gas cylinder 1 and via the channel 5 into further controlling or dispensing assemblies e.g. valve, membrane. Such a piercing of the outlet by means of a blunt end avoids particulate being separated from the outlet during piercing.

[0038] The piercing housing 7 is defined by side wall and bottom wall which is sized to allow the neck of the gas cylinder 2 having the collar 9 to be inserted into. In the piercing housing 7 a protection cap 8 is provided comprising an upper surface 11 and side walls which define an inner space to retain the piercing member 4 at least partially inside.

[0039] The protection cap 8 is so located in the piercing housing 7 that it can be pushed upwards or downwards in the piercing housing and cannot rotate relative to the piercing member 6. At the upper surface an opening 12 is present which is sized at least so large that the piercing member 6 can protrude out of the protection cap 8 through this opening 12 by pushing the protection cap 8 downwardly by gas cylinder 1. On the other side of the protection cap 8 which opposites the opening 12 some spring 13 are provided. The spring 13 sites under the protection cap 8 and provides an upwards force to the support the protection cap 8 to maintain its position. The spring 13 helps the protection cap 6 to return to its prior position by the biased force of the spring during the removal of the axial force pressing the protection cap 8, thereby the gas cylinder will be pushed off from the piercing member 6 by the protection cap 8 so that the gas cylinder is free and can be removed. The protection cap 8 may have a stop 16 which avoids the protection cap 8 being pushed excessively by the compressed spring 13. On the upper surface 11 a male portion 10 is performed as an axially extended wall which sites on the edge of the upper surface 11 and is formed with protection cap 11 as a single piece. A corresponding female portion 9a is provided on the collar 9 and suitable to fit with the male portion 10 so after the fitting the gas cylinder 1 cannot rotate relative to piercing member 6. The collar 9 has an inner anural surface which is engaged with the neck of the cylinder 2 with a variety of connecting means such as threaded, unthreaded, gluing, and shrinking fitting and so on. The annular internal wall provides an opening which defines a channel 9b for receiving the piercing member 6. A High Pressure (HP) seal 6 is formed as an annular sealing ring surrounding the piercing element 4 which is arranged for preventing the pressurized gas escaping in axial direction and radial direction. It has not to be limited to the HP seal, other sealing forms are also possible.

[0040] FIG. 2 shows a top view of the piercing housing 7. The outmost ring-shaped area is the side wall of the piercing housing 7 and the second outmost ring-shaped area is the male portion 10 on the upper surface of the protection cap 8. The forth outmost ring-shaped area is the opening 12 on upper surface of the protection cap 8 and the innermost area is the piercing member 6. The third outmost ring-shaped-area is an area between the male portion 10 and the opening 12 which is designed to meet the area of the channel 9b of the collar when the collar 9 is fitted with the protection cap 8. The FIG. 2 provides two views A and B which are vertical to each other. The FIG. 1 shows the view A and the FIG. 3 shows the view B. The difference between the both views is the male portion 10. The male portion 10 has an upper profile which is formed by two recesses 14 which can be better seen in the FIG. 4. The recesses 14 sit opposite to each other and define the remaining wall in between.

[0041] FIG. 3 shows the view B of the FIG. 2 in which the recesses 14 is seen with its section view. This view shows the deep point of the recesses in which the female portion 9a with corresponding profile, which is at the correct position as shown, can be inserted.

[0042] On the FIG. 4 a gas cylinder 1 with collar 9 is provided. The collar contains the female portion 9a and the channel 9b. The female portion 9a is shaped by two recesses 14 as shown which have a profile consisting of a half-parabola-like line and a straight line and define the remaining wall which have a sloping shape and can convert an axial force to a radial movement when it is being fitted into the male portion 10 on the protection cap 8. The FIG. 4 provides a C view of the gas cylinder 1 which is shown clearly in the FIG. 5 with a section view. The collar 9 has a female portion 9a and an opening defining a channel 9b for receiving the piercing member 6. On the other side 15 of the collar 9 which opposites the channel 9b one or more hollow spaces (not shown) are provided. The hollow spaces are used to make it difficult for pulling off the collar 9 from the gas cylinder 1. The hollow spaces may be defined by many intermediate plates, so when a user attempts to pull the collar off from the neck of the gas cylinder, the collar 9 will get broken by rupturing the plates, so the remove of the collar fails. This feature can avoid using an incorrect gas cylinder which may contain incorrect gas to ensure a safe and effective aerating.

[0043] In the connecting process, the gas cylinder 1 having the specially formed collar 5 on the neck 2 will be inserted into the piercing housing 7. If the gas cylinder is not at the correct position at which the profile of the female portion 9a is not aligned to the profile of the mal portion 10, the gas cylinder will orientate itself by the special shape of the female portion 10 until the correct positon is reached. Once the female portion 9 is fitted with the male portion 10 it is only possibly for a linear axial movement of the gas cylinder 1 relative to the piercing member 4 by threading the container (not shown) which retaining the gas cylinder inside, onto the piercing housing. The piercing member approaches the gas outlet of the gas cylinder via the channel with the linear axial movement and then pieces the gas outlet for delivering the compressed gas from the gas cylinder via the channel 5 of the piercing member 6 to further applications. During this process the HP seal 6 which is arranged around the piercing member 6 creates an axial seal between the gas outlet and the piercing member 6 to prevent the pressurized gas escaping to the atmosphere. Simultaneously, a radial seal happens secondary by compressing the axial seal expanding against the interior side of the channel 9b of the collar maximizing the sealing performance.

[0044] During this sealing process the gas cylinder moves only axially without rotary or lateral relative to the piercing member 6 or sealing assemblies which can avoid the undesirable friction force or transverse force caused by the rotation. This rotary movement can lead to damage of the seal assemblies as well as the piercing member which results to leakage or related accident or loss. Additionally, the special formed female portion and male portion can help the user to connect the correct piercing housing and gas cylinder together, so a safe and effective application is secured.