Fluid dispensor with isolation membrane

Abstract

A beverage dispenser is configured as an outer pressure vessel (12) with one or more internal liner bags (11) for respective content, the dispenser having one or more content pathways, a selector valve connected to the content pathways for selection and proportion mix, a pressurization port in the container for charging the container externally of the liner bags and to promote discharge through the pathways, a bleed valve from a pressurized gas supply for selective gas injection at or close to a point of dispensing with a facility to pre-mix and feedback the pre-mix to a dedicated liner bag.

Claims

1. A fluid containment and dispensing apparatus comprising: a flexible bag; a collar, wherein the collar is attached to the bag and the collar comprises: a first aperture configured to attach to a first fluid carrying conduit, the fluid carrying conduit providing for ingress and egress of fluid to and from the bag; a second aperture configured to attach to a second fluid carrying conduit, the second fluid carrying conduit providing for ingress and egress of fluid to and from a space situated to the outside of the bag; a top plate wherein the first aperture is located in the top plate; and a collar body wherein the second aperture is located in the collar body; and an attachment means to attach the top plate to the collar body.

2. A fluid containment and dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a seal situated between the top plate and the collar body.

3. A fluid containment and dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a clamp adapted to clamp together the top plate and the collar body.

4. A fluid containment and dispensing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a spear, the spear attachable to the collar.

5. A fluid containment and dispensing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the spear is held in place by the clamp.

6. A fluid containment and dispensing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the bag is attached to the spear, the spear extending into the bag.

7. A fluid containment and dispensing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the spear has an open end and is configured such that fluid flows through the open end of the spear into or out of the bag.

8. A fluid containment and dispensing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a spreader member associated with the end of the spear distal from the collar.

9. A fluid containment and dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the collar is configured to attach to an access port of another container.

10. A fluid containment and dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flexible bag when collapsed is so shaped and dimensioned as to fit through an opening in a container.

11. The combination of a container of a first volume and a fluid containment and dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the container includes an access port and the collar of the apparatus is attached to the access port.

12. The combination of claim 11, wherein the container is pressurizable.

13. The combination of claim 1, wherein the container is one of: a barrel, a cask and a keg.

14. A method of containing fluid in and dispensing fluid from a vessel comprising the steps of: introducing fluid into the flexible bag of the combination of claim 11 via the first aperture; allowing fluid situated in the space between the outer wall of the flexible bag and the inner wall of the container to egress via the second aperture; and dispensing fluid from the flexible bag through the first aperture by introducing through the second aperture fluid under pressure into the space between the outer wall of the flexible bag and the inner wall of the container.

15. A fluid containment and dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a spear, the spear attachable to the collar.

Description

EMBODIMENTS

(1) There now follows a description of some particular embodiments of the invention, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic and schematic drawings, simplified for ease of illustration and comprehension, and in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a reservoir and dispenser for flowable materials, such as real ale or spring water, configured as rigid wall outer container or pressure vessel 12 with an internal flexible wall liner bag 11 for content 14 to be dispensed through a content pathway 13 and delivery or discharge port 16. The liner bag 11 is fitted within a port 19 in the container top and around an internal mounting and location conduit or spear with a content pathway 13 which reaches down closed to or at the bottom of the liner bag 11 and upwards through the port 19 to a discharge port 16. A collar or sleeve 15 fits around the conduit 13 as an upstand from the container port 19; an annular passage 17 within the collar 15 communicates with the inside of the container 12 externally of the liner 11. A pressurisation medium from a supply or reservoir, in this case a separate external gas cylinder 18, feeds the pressurisation (gas) medium through a feed line 24 into the collar 15. The pressurisation gas is thus isolated from the content, but pressure is transferred to the content through the flexible liner bag wall membrane; a divert bleed 25 can be enabled to divert some of the pressurisation gas into the delivery port 16 for dispensed product aeration.

(3) The basic configuration of outer container shell to serve as a pressure vessel or chamber and flexible internal liner membrane for content admits of considerable variation, for enhanced flexibility and functionality; such as in number, sub-division or fragmentation of pressure shells; number, relative size, location, manner and disposition of pressurisation source; selectable and adjustable proportion mixing at the output, with selective output aeration option; selective regulated feedback of mix for temporary storage in one or more dedicated liners; cross-feed between liners and pressure sources; programmable valve and dosage measurement and control;
only some, but by no means all of which are explored in the subsequent drawing Figures, but not exhaustively, given the number of possible permutations and combinations.

(4) FIG. 2 shows a variant of FIG. 1 with multiple liner bags 21, 22 with content communication pathways conjoined or intercoupled by a selector and mixer control valve 27, within a common outer housing or container 12; the multiple liner bags 21, 22 can hold different content for mixture combination upon dispensing; alternatively, the bags could hold the same content to provide a back-up reserve and more controllable delivery from a smaller intermediate reservoir than a single larger liner bag.

(5) FIG. 3 shows a variant of FIG. 2 with separate respective content pathways or conduits 23, 24 for each liner bag 21, 22; with a selector and mixer valve 29 to set delivered content mix proportions; a selective adjustable bleed option through an aeration valve 31 allows adjustable aeration of contents individually or collectively upon dispensing; provision can be made, such as through one-way valves (not shown) to inhibit cross-contamination of content or aeration of a bag, unless that is intentional required to create a mix or blend, in which case cross-feed or feedback pathways (not shown) could be fitted or if pre-fitted enabled by remote command.

(6) FIG. 4 shows a variant of FIG. 3, with multiple internested liner bags 41, 42, 43 within a common housing; the regions between liner bags can themselves serve as isolated content chambers for different content for delivery through respective content pathways 46, 47, 48 to a delivery control and mixer valve 49 in adjustable proportions; again with the option of selective aeration of individual content or post-aeration of pre-mixed content, through a gas pressure diversion bleed and aeration control valve.

(7) FIG. 5 shows a variant of FIG. 1 with multiple internested housings 52, 53 to create intervening isolatable internal pressure containment regions which if desired can be set at different pressures; in this example a single liner bag 51 with respective content delivery pathway is depicted; the container shells 52, 53 could serve as relative backup containments or bunds for one another; a liner bag 51 might extend between containment walls, to assist which a convoluted and, say, multiple lobed with intermediate waisted profile can be adopted.

(8) FIG. 6 shows a variant of FIG. 5 with multiple individual liner bags 61, 62, 63 intervening within and between respective container shells 52, 53; again with respective conduit pathways 65, 66, 67 for each liner bag to feed a mixer and optional aeration valve **; an adjacent shared or conjoined pathway option (not shown) could also be admitted.

(9) FIG. 7 shows a variant of FIG. 1 with a compact gas pressure cylinder 78 feed line 74 and liner bag 71 with conduit pathway housed within a shared container; 72 an alternative could be a demountable outer gas pressure cartridge, albeit more vulnerable to impact damage, whereas an internal location enshrouded by the walls of the container 72 affords additional protection.

(10) FIG. 8 shows a variant of FIG. 7 with multiple discrete individual liner bags 81, 83 with respective conduit pathways 86, 88 and associated gas cylinders 84, 85 connected to respective sides of a sub-divided internal region; with an option (not shown) of selective regulatable cross-feed between cylinders and/or bags.

(11) FIG. 9 shows a variant of FIG. 8 with multiple liner bags 91, 92, 93, 94 with respective conduit pathways 101, 10, 103, 104 within a shared container or pressure vessel, with an output selector, mixer and aeration bleed control valve 108.

(12) FIG. 10 shows a variant of FIG. 9 with selective regulated individual controllable aeration for respective liner bags 111, 112, 113, 114 with respective conduit pathways intercepted by aeration mixer valves 116, 117, 118, 119 to allow selective controlled aeration of individual content before mix; the aeration or gas pressure injection could be within the output stream isolated from bag content, unless whole content aeration is required.

(13) FIG. 11 shows a variant of FIGS. 1 through 10 with a perforated conduit 131 and end spreader disc 132 as co-operative measures against liner bag 11 cling to and obstruction of the conduit 13.

(14) FIGS. 12A through 12C show 3D perspective views of a container 12 of barrel or cask format with a demountable conduit 13 and entrained liner bag 11.

(15) Thus, FIG. 12A shows an external view with a conduit 13 pre-wrapped with a liner bag 11 sheath, as a cartridge, ready for insertion through a top container port.

(16) FIG. 12B shows a part cut-away view of a subsequent assembly stage of FIG. 12A with conduit 13 inserted and liner bag 11 still wrapped around, ready for content fill and inflation or distension.

(17) FIG. 12C shows a subsequent content 14 fill and liner bag inflation stage to FIG. 12B.

(18) FIG. 12D shows a container 12 pressurisation stage with pressure transfer through the liner bag 11 wall to the content 14.

(19) Content mix and aeration mix could be through separate control valves or a combination valve, allowing independent setting of mix selection and mix proportion and adjustable individual or collective aeration.

(20) FIG. 13 sequence shows side sections of a retrofit adaptor for an otherwise potentially standard container, such as a beer barrel, cask or keg.

(21) Referring to the drawings, a simple format liner bag 11 is disposed within outer housing or container 12 using a location and mounting collar or sleeve fitting 15 upon an elongate stem, spear or spigot 13; the collar 15 is a snug, sealable fit, through a split circumference clamp ring 22, in an upper wall port 23 of the container 12; a pressurisation feed line 24 connects to an outer priming rim chamber 27 of the collar 15 for communication with the inside of the container outside of the liner bag 11; a content pathway or conduit 13 spans from inside the liner bag 11 to an outlet port 16 and thence to a fill/delivery line; severable line couplings (not shown) can be fitted for ease of line purging, flushing and replacement.

(22) The structure is not content-specific, but prime examples include spring water and real ale, where the liner bag 11 containment offers advantages of isolation from a pressurisation for delivery medium.

(23) A liner bag 11 conveniently has a compact collapse-fold cartridge format for ease of insertion through the container port 19; it can then be inflated by contents fill, either under gravity or which a modest pressure differential assist by drawing air from the container 12 around the liner bag 11.

(24) The conduit 13 could be a simple tube format. Alternatively, a lance format, of a shallow, progressive longitudinal wedge taper profile conduit spear or spigot 13 allows an end impact insertion action, such as with a soft head mallet, to drive the upper shank home into secure sealing engagement with the collar 15. Removal can be effected with an extraction tool or puller (not shown) or repeated wiggle of the spigot end, optionally assisted by repeated taps to the sides around the circumference and even raising the internal container pressure; in any event, this is essentially a return to base exercise, replacing an empty container with another full one at a dispenser point.

(25) In a variant not shown, multiple liner bags, of the same or different size, in clusters or groups, could share a common location and mounting spigot, with with a common port or a port sub-divided with separate subsidiary ports with pathways for respective liner bags.

(26) Another option would be multiple discrete individual housing top ports, say with respective regulator or control valves, for different individual liner bags, or liner bag groups or clusters, allow greater flexibility in overall liner bag mix; and thus options for content mix selection, combination and dispensing.

(27) FIG. 2 shows an option for regulated or controlled aeration of selected content constituents or ingredients; individual constituents can be differently aerated. A multi-path combination or mixer valve could be employed to select and port constituents individually, jointly or collectively continuously or in prescribed incremental dosages, along with a regulated dose of aeration. Dosages can be consumer selected and dispenser directed or fulfilled. An example valve configuration would be a spool valve with an elongate longitudinal valve stem slidable within a barrel valve chamber with a plurality of wall ports and offshoot branches. Alternatively, a rotary valve could offer a compact format.

(28) The term aeration is used herein for convenience generally to embrace application or injection of any gas or gas mixture, including carbon dioxide (vis carbonation), nitrogen, or otherwise.

(29) Mixing of constituents or introduction of additive dosages could itself be used to affect aeration, say through turbulent flow or re-circulatory churn, in the presence of or under exposure to an aeration gas; one or more constituents could be injected individually or collectively into one or more streams of the same or different aeration gases, or gas(es) could be injected into constituent streams; or a combination of both measures.

(30) Gas, such as CO2, NO or air, injection could also be used for content agitation, mixing and stirring such as by diverting a gasification or aeration output stream back into a liner bag, particularly one used to store a pre-mix, such as one achieved by diversion of controlled amounts of selected content from other liner bags. Neither mixing nor aeration need be stable conditions, so periodic re-charge would be useful to restore an previously established mix and aeration level; aeration gas can go back into solution. For visible gas bubbles to enliven visual and olfactory appeal of a pre-mix, further aeration pulses can be applied to regenerate bubbles to replace those which might have collapsed. A particular constituent and aeration mix need not be stable or in equilibrium, but could change, re-balance or settle over time, so allowance could be made for this in a compensatory offset in the mixing balance for pre-mixing at the outset.

(31) Upon dispensing at a point of consumption a mixer control could include a pre-setting reflecting an original source constituent and aeration mix. This, along with a menu of pre-sets for different constituent and aeration mixes, judged to offer significant, worthwhile, differentiated olfactory sensations, which would have to remain stable only for a short period until consumption. In particular, high temporary aeration or imposed or injected gas charge levels could be offered, akin to, say, frothy beverages; pre-sets aside, a consumer could be offered a modicum of further choice at their whim.

(32) As a measure or validation of authenticity, the analytical constituents of the source could be presented, say as a simplified colour coded visual graphic chart, for reassurance at a point of consumption and as a basis for guidance and recommendation in variation selection. In a more elaborate scenario, the analysis of different other spring sources might be replicated in production, as an emulation rather than an original. Such emulations might themselves be offered for consumer selected combination mixes, alongside original source material.

(33) Should it transpire a source is not consistent over time, or at different sample locations, this can be conveyed to a consumer as a promotion of faithful realism; blends to reflect such natural variability might also be offered; the intention would be to reflect natural rather than artificial industrial factors. Such a litmus test parallel could be extended to the natural pH or reactivity of the source spring water;

(34) with a cross-check demonstration against the dispensed product. A bespoke liner for a consumer glass, such as of an otherwise inert impregnated plastics or fibre matrix insert, might be produce to replicate a colour change test. At least approximate informal checks might also be implemented at a consumption vessel for the level of aeration and constituent mix.

(35) Where a pure spring water natural ethos or authenticity is not a commercial imperative, it is known to add taste, flavour and odour highlights, for a tang or nuanced uplift, such as a hint of lemon, lime, tonic or soda, to an otherwise unadulterated, albeit industrially processed and packaged, bottled water. This can be encompassed at the point of dispensing, without need to store a pre-mix in bulk; similarly with a modicum of nutritional enhancers or additives, if not sugars, particularly where product variants are pitched as a soft drink or mixer in a highly competitive market. Such additives can be stored in smaller liner bags with conduit pathways to a dosage meter and onward to a port of a mixer valve.

(36) For a consumable drink or beverage dispenser a demountable liner bag might also be used for diverse other purposes; even cleansing, flushing out and rinsing containers, lines and valves; beyond that, in a wider spectrum of use, in principle any flowable product might be used.

(37) Bottled water products are not uncommonly recommended for consumption within a few days of opening; such a short off-the-shelf life does not apply to the dispenser of the invention where liner bag contents can be kept securely sealed away from the ambient air of the surroundings. A one-way valve could be fitted to an output port or line to help promote such product isolation; such a valve could be temporarily bypassed or over-ridden at a content fill station.

(38) Aside from or to supplement a pressure differential across a liner bag wall, mechanical displacement such as a squeezer vane or opposed rollers, (not shown) might be used to promote content discharge.

(39) As to liner bag profile, a convoluted re-entrant or marginally sub-divided form, such as in a series of companion pressure cells, might be adopted to help maintain pressure uniformity and consistency, even as content is discharged. A partitioned or sub-divided bag might also be used to house different constituent contents in mutual separation and isolation; in a variant of that, a controlled cross-feed, or internal bleed might be admitted into a mixer cell, communicating with a discharge path.

(40) A variable-capacity, say expandable, liner bag, say configured like a collapse fold multi-panel ball bladder, could fit within a complementary variable-capacity, say expandable, outer housing. An outer housing or containment need not be absolutely rigid, but is usefully stiffer and more robust than an inner liner bag; a hinged wall or interconnected stiff panels might serve for a variable profile housing. Outer housing base footprint desirably provides stable free-standing self-support; similarly with internested housings configured for mutual stability.

(41) For content aeration, an integrated content and internal pressurisation source solution could allow a miniature gas bottle within a shared outer housing with a liner bag; similarly, multiple bags and/or gas bottles might be accommodated; an alternative would be an external gas bottle with a demountable, say screw thread or bayonet, fitting within a container wall in conjunction with a self-closing (ball) valve and seal against leakage until installation and enabling for intended use. Admixture by weight or volume could be employed for a flowable, say liquid, constituent, with the degree of aeration set by visual inspection.

(42) Mild electrolytic action could be applied to spring water; to release molecular component hydrogen and oxygen, which in turn could be bubbled through the remaining water for internal charge, churning and mixing, if not aeration; this could also be used to affect the pH balance of a mix.

(43) A vibratory pulsating actuator, such as a blade or paddle, could be applied to a container wall, as a content energiser, promoting dissolved gas release for internal aeration. Alternatively, an electrically conducting strand, band or film in a liner bag wall could have current induced, by a varying applied electric field, along with a reactive electromagnetic vibratory action. Flowable (liquid) content could be passed through a peristaltic mode pump, to generate a continuous regular cyclical pulsating pressure wave, to impart a smooth blending action for constituent mix; this in turn could be co-ordinated with a phased, portion-controlled, delivery discharge.

(44) A location and mounting spear, spigot or stem conduit pathway could be pre-fitted, curled or wrapped with a collapse-folded liner bag, say in a circumferential helical wrap format. An insertion or penetration point of the spear and liner bag wall could feature a resilient annular collar or peripheral rim seal; a resilient circumferential ring could retain the liner bag wrap until content fill, whereupon it would be displaced. Alternatively, a disposable, say plastics, spear and conjoined liner bag combination could have an integrally moulded, bonded or welded perimeter liner bag; a liner bag might be part inserted in an elongate slot in a spear, rather like the eye of a needle, or through a split spear shank, rather like a peg, for liner bag location, but allowing disciplined liner bag unfurl upon content fill. To help keep a progressively more collapsed liner bag wall clear of blocking the spear content pathway as liner bag content is emptied, a spreader disc, such as a an open radial spoke spider arm format, in the manner of a ski or walking pole, might be fitted at or around a spear bottom end opening; this could be sufficiently flexible to allow insertion and removal through a container top wall port; an alternative format would be a shuttlecock.

(45) An alternative spear termination end closure or capture could be a lattice mesh spreader bulb or arrowhead configured to laterally displace and spread a liner bag film over the spear entry port and inhibit ingress, restriction, obstruction or blocking by the bag; the content presence itself may help with this, but may be displaced at low residual content levels; another alternative would be a reinforced liner bag fabric, say with embedded mesh strands to resist crumpling and collapse into a minimalist form which might risk entry into the content pathway. An elastic stretch sock might be fitted over the liner bag and location spear for protection in transport and storage and to preserve a compact section for container port insertion, before liner content fill; with a sock end downward the sock could be removed automatically by the action of port insertion.

(46) With an internal liner bag for content to be dispensed, a barrel or cask becomes an outer containment vessel for a pressurisation driver gas, isolated from liquid content by a liner bag barrier membrane, so other vessel formats might be employed; these could include split, fragmented, or segmented wall vessel formats to allow inspection of an access to internal liner bags, which might be fitted from inside, rather than through a top wall port. Multiple discrete ports for mounting of individual liner bags could be contrived, for which a wider shallower vessel format or profile might be adopted. If content agitation is required, say to aerate or promote release of dissolved air or other gas, a pulsating, surge, impulse or shock pressure wave might be applied; a mixer and/or aeration valve might be mounted upon a vessel top wall or wall ports, in turn connected to content pathways of respective liner bags. One-way valves might be fitted to inhibit any transfer or cross-contamination between liner bag contents. A supplementary backup inner or outer liner might also be fitted, to reinforce and stiffen the overall liner wall and provide a backup bund to breach, rupture or penetration of an inner layer, thus preserving content from spillage into the pressure vessel.

(47) A prime consideration for wider adoption of a content liner is a facility for conversion of existing containers

(48) and conformity or consistency with established trade channels, of content fill at the point of production or bulk storage, distribution to the point of sale, dispensing at the point of sale and return to a base for cleaning and refill ready for onward delivery.

(49) The FIG. 13 sequence example for retrofit of a standard container, reflects a vessel capable of withstanding pressurisation for content delivery, but low pressure variants or casks can be used if, say, the delivery pressure is modest, such as by use of a hand pump of gravity feed to create a pressure head over a discharge level. An adaptor neck or collar is fitted to a standard top access port, such as by a threaded interconnection, with an intermediate sealing ring. The collar provides an extended mounting for a liner inserted through its top mouth. This can be done manually or with the assistance of a tapered cylindrical guidance mandrel (not shown). The liner is configured as a open-top bag whose top edges are brought over a circumferential top flange of the adaptor collar to present intervening contact sealing faces for a top closure plate held in position by a circumferential C-clamp, such as of a standard format used for barrel top fittings. One outer side of the liner is laid over the upper surface of a top flange of the adaptor collar. A top closure plate 19A overlies the opposite inner side of the liner so the liner is sandwiched between otherwise mating flanges respectively of the adaptor collar top flange and the top closure cap plate to achieve a generous annular double seal 19B. A flange clamp with an internal channel locates and captures the juxtaposed flanges with the intervening liner and when set secures them firmly together. The top cap carries a delivery conduit or spear fitted through a top opening, such as with an interference push fit or threaded joint coupling, with a demountable coupling for a delivery feed line upon final installation. An advantage of the open mouth adaptor is that the liner or rather liner bag can also follow that to provide a generous inlet port for content fill before the top cap is fitted. Once the content has been discharged removal of the top cap, such as by releasing the clamp, allows removal for disposal or recycling of the liner. The top plate serves as convenient secure mounting for a depending conduit spear, centralised and stabilised with the container axis.

(50) A liner need not be of identical size or volumetric capacity as a container. Rather any intervening void between liner an container could be used as pressure chamber for content held within the liner. Liner wall gauge or thickness must be sufficient to bear the suspended content weight and to withstand differential delivery pressure across the liner wall along with passive inertial drop and accelerative movement stress in use. In that regard, content slop is a stress factor. External pressurisation can serve as a counter cushion buffer and damper on this. In that regard, a multilayer or multi-wall liner configuration discussed later can enshroud gas cushion or damper layers around and between content pockets. Pliable reinforcement and stiffener ribs, bands or seams could be incorporated into a liner wall to brace against or redirect applied stress and counter undue stretch of distension. These could also serve as convenient location, hand hold and fold-over points for compact bag collapse.

(51) More than one bag could be fitted into a common container port, such as with a multiple channel or throat adaptor. Thus, say, a clover-leaf profile internal passage in a cylindrical adaptor collar could allow individual fitting, insertion and indeed removal of discrete individual liners. Each liner could have its own feed conduit or use a shared conduit with regulator or control valves to inhibit cross flow between liners.

(52) Conventional containers of established stock may be of metal, commonly aluminium, or plastics. Issues of degradation and contamination can arise with aluminium containers which are therefore being progressively phased out. A liner with an adaptor of the present invention offers a way of prolonging the life of existing containers whilst obviating the contamination risk.

(53) A fitting or insertion manual tool or mandrel can be used as a temporary holder and guide for liner installation, by insertion into the bag before fitting, followed by withdrawal leaving the liner in situ. A liner upper edge location and retention collar is conveniently a container port adaptor ring or sleeve. Paired collars might be used to capture and seal a liner between opposed flanges. To preserve bag integrity soft buffer cushion washers might be interposed between flanges and liner wall. For economy, it may be possible to adopt a standard open top food grade plastics bag as the liner. A more bespoke liner could have an integrated fused sealing collar or ring.

(54) A multiple layer liner configuration could be adopted for extra security. Content could be stored between liners. Different content could be isolated between liners in a common container. For increased mechanical strength, and tear resistance, a re-entrant fold multi-layer contiguous liner format could be adopted. An intervening region between bags could admit content, whether segregated into flexible walled compartments, or as a continuous but partitioned or sub-divided enclosure. In a multi-wall liner environment intermediate mix constituent ingredient could be stored in pockets between liners for intermingle or intermixing upon discharge, or in a mix region between liners, using mix valving in conduit between pockets.

(55) Supplementary gas pockets could also be contrived within mutually juxtaposed lined regions for more evenly distributed pressurisation rather than a localised pressure inlet port. This could also promote gasification such as aeration if lined intermediate gas pockets were allowed to contact intervening segregated lined liquid pockets. To promote gasification or aeration, perforated or otherwise controlled porosity intermediate internal partition liner walls could be admitted, allowing an uninterrupted bleed, trickle transfer or percolation of pressurised gas into liquid in adjacent liner pockets. Other bespoke liner materials could undergo a visible change, such as in surface effect or texture, reflectivity, opacity or colour upon a certain condition change. Permeability could be one such condition.

(56) In a simplified variant construction, for adapting to or converting existing conventional containers, an adaptor neck or collar is fitted as an external extension to an access port in a top wall of an otherwise standard container, such as a beer barrel, keg or cask; a discrete liner, such as an open top bag, is inserted through the adaptor, into the container; content to be stored to dispense is then loaded into the liner through the container mouth; a top cap is then fitted to the adaptor; a dispenser conduit is then fitted into the cap to reach down into the container and any content therein.

(57) The top cap can be configured as a disc flange plate with a peripheral top seal to the adaptor circumference. A demountable, adjustable throat, clamp, such as an opposed open jaw C-clamp,

(58) can be deployed to secure the flange to the adaptor. The adaptor itself could have an end and/or edge seal, such as an embedded O-ring, to abut and interact with the container top port opening,

(59) such as one incorporated in, or working in conjunction with, a jointing thread. A wedge taper profile for interacting surfaces of the adaptor and top fitting could provide a supplementary interference fit clamping and locking action. A multiple stepped or serrated surface profile could increase the clamping and sealing surface area. A rotary indexing and capture profile, such as a bayonet with diametrically opposed lugs,

(60) could be used for an adaptor to a container port, mouth or neck upstand fitting. A locally roughened or complementary ribbed liner surface could also promote grip and sealing. There now follow various further outline examples:

Example 1

(61) A dispenser configured for pressurised content delivery without cross-contamination, by isolation of content to be dispensed from a pressurisation, pressure transfer or delivery medium, through the intervention or intermediary of a flexible barrier membrane.

Example 2

(62) A pressure vessel or container, with an input or charge port, for connection to or mounting a pressurised gas cylinder to charge the housing interior; a liner or liner bag to hold content to be dispensed, for location within the container; a content output or discharge port, connected to the liner bag; an output selector, an output regulator or control valve, a gas admission or bleed valve for contents delivery gas injection or aeration.

Example 3

(63) A housing, a content storage chamber within the housing, an internal partition membrane, across or to one side of the storage chamber, as a sub-division between a sub-chamber for contents to be dispensed

(64) and a sub-chamber for air or other gas under pressure, to displace the partition and in turn contents to be dispensed.

Example 4

(65) A dispensing valve, with an inlet from a reservoir of material to be dispensed, an outlet for material to be dispensed, a pressure intake from a pressure source, such as a pump, or tank of compressed gas; for content and/or aeration selection.

Example 5

(66) A plurality of discrete pressure vessels configured for co-operative individual and/or collective interaction,

(67) with one or more storage chambers for material to be dispensed, a regulator or control valve to determine the interaction between pressure and storage chambers, a gas admittance valve for selectively introducing gas into the delivery and controlled mixing with the material to be dispensed.

Example 6

(68) A mediator valve between a plurality of pressure vessels, a plurality of liner bag storage vessels, for content to be dispensed; to allow content selection for mix or pre-mix and recycling or feedback of pre-mixed content into a designated storage vessel for interim storage.

Example 6

(69) A discharge moderator and mixer with an output valve configurable to admit air, or other gas, for admixture with a delivered product for product gas injection, such as aeration after storage in low-aerated, non-aerated or still form.

Example 7

(70) A cascaded intercouple of containers as pressure vessels with respective internal liner bags for content, and a common or shared discharge output control.

Example 8

(71) A master pressurisation gas reservoir connected to subsidiary content reservoirs for content.

Example 9

(72) A liquid blender configured to merge or blend one or more ingredient or constituent liquids, with an aerator of adjustable effect.

Example 10

(73) A plurality of discrete individual liner bags, juxtaposed within a common housing or pressure vessel,

(74) and connected to a joint mixer valve, for selective combination with one another in adjustable proportions,

(75) and/or with a gas admittance port, connected to a pressurised gas supply, such as air, carbon dioxide or nitrogen, to aerate, or gasify, one or more ingredients, either individually or when combined.

Example 11

(76) A liner bag with a primer, a flushing or sterilising agent to allow flushing, purging, rinsing or sterilisation

(77) of downstream valves and lines upon connection to a pressurised gas supply; without undue surface scouring upon flushing, to obviate inadvertent material pick-up, which might adversely affect taste, odour or appearance.

Example 12

(78) A liner bag of low reactivity material to reduce the risk of content contamination, upon prolonged exposure, such as through migration from liner (plastics) molecules, optionally also with supplementary neutral or inert barrier coatings.

Example 13

(79) A multi-layer liner bag configured by repeated in-turn or infold from an open mouth or neck of a single start bag or flattened tube; to provide multiple stacked wall overlay for mutual reinforcement as a more robust containment.

Example 14

(80) A dispenser with a plurality of content pathway ports for respective liner bags, a mixer chamber, a mixer valve for controlling the communication of the inlet ports with the mixer chamber, an output port for discharge from the mixture chamber, a control valve for controlling the connection of the mixer chamber with the outlet port, an admittance valve connected to a pressurised gas supply for pressure discharge from the mixer chamber.

Example 15

(81) A mixer dispenser for controlling the admixture of a plurality of liquids and pressurised gas to dispense a selected proportion of liquid and gas; in one construction, a mixer control valve might be a combination rotary action for mix selection and another, say downward push or upward pull, action of a linear spool valve to control mix discharge under pressure; an adjustable aeration valve might be used to regulate the admission of pressurised gas, or a selected combination of gases such as nitrogen or carbon dioxide, to mix constituents individually or collectively; a mixer chamber, such as with a swirl action, might be used to promote constituent mix upon or before discharge; a pressurised gas might be introduced into the mixer chamber to promote the mix as well as to provide some aeration.

Example 16

(82) A dispenser (de-)aeration control to determine the amount of air, or other gas such as nitrogen or carbon dioxide, or a combination of gases, introduced before or upon dispensing; with a range from say, de-gassed, de-aerated, flat or still, to highly charged with gas or aerated and sparking.

Example 17

(83) A multi-role mixer and aeration control valve allowing variable mix selection and independently adjustable admittance of pressurised gas; to determine either aeration or de-aeration.

Example 18

(84) A multi-way or multi-function control valve, with one action to select a component to be dispensed, another action to select a mixture of components, a further action to select the component proportions, yet another action to adjust the introduction or injection of pressurised gas, for either aeration (gasification) or de-aeration (de-gasification).

Example 19

(85) A mixer configured to (de-)aerate constituents individually, before admixture and to deliver them together in combination with the option of further (de-)aeration; delivery might be in parallel streams through respective delivery nozzles, albeit closely juxtaposed, or through a common nozzle, say prefaced by a mixture chamber, with opportunity for mixed product swirl; that mixture might itself be further charged,

(86) by exposure of the mixing chamber to pressurised gas.

Example 20

(87) A multi-compartment bag liner, such as sub-divided with partition walls, allowing different mutually isolated constituents with respective individual degrees of (de-)aeration, (that is dissolved air or other gases), housed in a common outer container, such as a capture bag liner, into which constituents can be individually or jointly admitted, for onward discharge; the isolated (before discharge) constituents can be differently (de-)aerated, but share a common containment or outer confinement pressure; alternatively, bag liners at different internal pressures could be stored in a common housing, with a shared container internal pressure, the pressure differences between respective bags and container being accommodated by respective wall stiffness or rigidity or displacement, deformation or distention of flexible walls.

Example 21

(88) A rigid or stiff-walled container housing a plurality of discrete individual bag liners, or a bag liner internally sub-divided by partition walls, allowing different contents, conditioning, such as (de-)aeration or respective pressurisation; such bag liners could share a common container access port, say in a top wall;

(89) they could also share a common delivery control valve; this might have a simple on/off function say, where the container is pressurised internally but externally of the bags; or a flow regulator and/or pressure control function, to determine rate of delivery discharge.

Example 22

(90) A container configured with a movable wall to promote or effect contents discharge and to contribute towards contents conditioning, such as (de-)aeration.

Example 23

(91) A container with a periodically movable or pulsating wall, to act as a vibratory drum membrane, for contents conditioning and/or to promote contents discharge.

Example 24

(92) A container re-configurable, through deflectable or deformable outer walls, as a whole or in part, for contents conditioning, such as (de-)aeration, and/or for contents fill and discharge.

Example 25

(93) A segmented, sectioned or sub-divided container and/or container liner, with a plurality of mutually complementary profile, discrete nesting sections, selectively configurable to group or cluster, around a common or shared communication or mounting port; to allow either individual or joint fill or discharge, and individual or joint conditioning, such as (de-)aeration, before or upon discharge; with provision for a variable mix of constituents from respective individual bag liners, in a combined flow to a shared or common output port.

Example 26

(94) A vibratory or oscillatory member in contact with a liner bag wall to transfer vibrations or oscillations to the content, such as for agitation, mixing, aeration or de-aeration.

Example 27

(95) Exposure or contact between a pressurisation gas and material dispensed represents a cross-contamination risk, such as in taste, appearance or microbiological content, so the gas might be pre-sterilised or neutralised or feature an embedded sterilising or neutralising agent to help counter this;

(96) such an agent might be stored in a dedicated liner bag for selective discharge into other liner bags, feed lines or control valves.

Example 28

(97) A private potable drinking water supply with a tap connected to spring water has some appeal as a natural product, with presumed health benefits, if not a natural remedy, but is not in itself an immediately or readily scalable or portable proposition; an industrial scale bottling plant would not suit small scale rural spring locations, nor be economical justified or viable for small-scale batch production.

Example 29

(98) Treatment options include: filtration, reactivity or pH adjustment, nitrate, iron and manganese removal, arsenic reduction, organic scavenge; carbon filter backwash; reverse osmosis, ultra violet light exposure; desalination; limescale removal; ionisation; distillation.

Example 30

(99) Quality control, such as through periodic sampling and testing, may also be implemented, particularly for potable potions, using the pressure containment vessel ports and control valves for access to liner bag content; tests may also be undertaken upon line, port and valve cleansing, rinsing and purging.

(100) The examples may also use a compressed gas isolated from bulk content to dispense selected individual or mixed content, with the option of using gas injection upon delivery offers operational flexibility.

(101) Ease of content fill and downstream dispensing are both impacted by the container adaptor effectiveness.

(102) Similarly, with quick-fit installation and demountability of a container discharge conduit or spear fitting in relation to plumbing feed to counter top hand-operated dispenser valves, pressurisation supply lines and pumps at the point of dispensing. To this end standard snap-action fittings are familiar and convenient. Thus a splayed opposed pivoted jaw C-collar clamp with an over-centre actuator lever allows single-handed securing and release by moving the handle through an operative arc.

(103) Some modes exposure of a liner protrusion from a container port can be tolerated as providing a visual witness of installation and sealing efficacy. Thus any content liquid or pressurisation gas weep may track along the surface of and so leave a tell-tale stain sign on the liner.

(104) Liner tension reflects the extent of fill and pressurisation. The liner might be fitted slack upon initial installation and then progressively tension, leading to some tautness and stiffness. In doing so, more load is imposed by the liner upon a top mounting adaptor. This could be directed to bolster rather than strain liner to adaptor sealing effectiveness if the liner were drawn in a dog-leg or re-entrant path over a wedge taper entrance profile upon entrapment in an adaptor mouth or throat.

(105) Excess protruding liner could be trimmed or gathered for neatness. More purposefully, it could be extended downward as an external protective wrap or drape over a container outer surface. Heat could be applied to shrink the liner as a sheath in those applications where the content would not be adversely affected or some internal process such as pasteurisation would be accelerated. The outer sheath could signify some wider sterilisation process.

(106) A basic installation, such as a counter mounted container could feature a top or side mounted pump handle or flow control for content dispensing. An external pre-charge pressurisation and/or gasification or aeration bulb could also be fitted alongside. An output conduit or spear could be a plastics or metal tube or pipe to the outer wall of which a liner could also be sealed as a secondary back-up measure to a seal in an adaptor collar to a container access port. A gravity rather than pressurised fill, such as from an overhead production process reservoir, would be simple and convenient, as would an inverted container gravity discharge with a breather port opened to the content top surface.

(107) A standard 40 liter volumetric capacity when fully distended food grade liner bag could be attached to a food grade nylon delivery pipe for insertion into the liner within a container and designed to withstand, say, circa some 6 times a passive content weight load in dynamic shock, such as abrupt lateral shunt or vertical drop load. A mitred or otherwise profiled pipe end could inhibit a liner cling to and blocking the end and the weight of residual product would help keep it clear against the contraction effect of pressure externally of the liner. More elaborate pipe profiles such as local bulbous enlargement could be adopted for more intimate liner contact and support. This provided consistent with insertion with clearance into a container port diameter. Multiple individual clustered pipes could be used for a common liner or multiple individual liners.

(108) Aside from adapting existing standard format cylindrical containers, the liner effectively liberates the container form, material and construction. Mutually, internested container forms with intervening liners could allow mutual float along with segregated containment.

COMPONENT LIST

(109) 11 liner bag, wall or membrane 12 container or pressure vessel 13 conduit or content pathway 14 content (to be dispensed) 15 collar or sleeve upstand 16 delivery or discharge port 17 an annular passage 18 gas cylinder 19 container port 21 liner bag 22 liner bag 24 feed line 25 divert bleed 26 mixer valve 27 aerator valve 28 29 mixer valve 41 liner bag 42 liner bag 43 liner bag 46 conduit content pathway 47 conduit content pathway 48 conduit content pathway 49 selector mixer control valve 51 liner bag 52 liner bag 53 liner bag 61 liner bag 62 liner bag 63 liner bag 71 liner bag 81 liner bag 83 liner bag 91 liner bag 92 liner bag 93 liner bag 94 liner bag 111 liner bag 112 liner bag 113 liner bag 114 liner bag 116 aeration control valve 117 aeration control valve 118 aeration control valve 119 aeration control valve 120 selector mixer control valve 131 perforated conduit 132 spreader disc