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Figure 1
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72 Figure 2
A Vessel and Keg Assembly for Storing and Dispensing Beverages
Technical Field
The present invention broadly relates to a keg assembly for storing and dispensing liquids such as beverages. The present invention also relates to a uniquely shaped keg in the form of a vessel being part of the keg assembly.
Background of the Invention
A keg is commonly used to store, transport, and serve beverages such as alcoholic and carbonated drinks. One-way kegs, also known as disposable or PET kegs, usually
1o made of plastic have been commonly used. Some involves utilisation of either bag
in-keg/ball or spear technology. Such a two-compartment system with an inner bag inside a high-tech PET pressure vessel provides beverages with good protection over the entire supply chain. As such, beverages including beers and sparkling wines with higher pressures can also be filled in one-way kegs.
The abovementioned kegs however have at least a shortcoming that their typical shapes and configurations take up a lot of space and hence the costs of storage and transportation are relatively high.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a vessel and a keg assembly, which may eliminate or at least ameliorate the above shortcoming, or which will at least
provide a useful alternative.
Summary of the Invention
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a keg assembly
for storing and dispensing a liquid, the keg assembly including: a vessel having an opening;
a compressible receptacle having a vent and in use being disposed within the vessel; and a coupling means with a valve, the coupling means being adapted to independently and sealingly engage the vessel and compressible receptacle so as to facilitate injection of a propellant into the vessel via the valve and the opening, and flowing of beverage out of the receptacle via the vent; wherein the vessel is generally in the shape of a rectangular prism.
The propellant may be a gas including compressed air and C0 2. The liquid may be a beverage.
Preferably, the coupling means includes an inlet for introducing the propellant into
the vessel and an outlet for dispensing the beverage.
Alternatively, the keg assembly further includes a tapping head adapted to be
1o operatively connected to the coupling means, the tapping head including an inlet for introducing the propellant into the vessel and an outlet for dispensing the beverage.
In a preferred embodiment, the vessel includes a sunken area on its top surface.
Preferably, the vessel also includes a sunken area on its bottom surface. Each sunken area creates a shallow depression over the majority of the top and bottom surfaces
allowing the vessel to sustain high pressure. More preferably, the vessel includes radiused corners and edges throughout its body thereby further enhancing its sustainability to high pressure.
Preferably, the vessel includes a wall having a uniform thickness of1mm. As such, the wall defines a cavity which is also generally in the shape of a rectangular prism.
Preferably, the compressible receptacle includes a spout which defines the vent. More preferably, the spout when in use is in registry with and placed concentrically with the opening.
Preferably, the opening is defined by a collar extending outwardly from the vessel.
Preferably, the coupling means includes a probe adapted to be received in the spout
of the compressible receptacle. More preferably, the keg assembly includes a fastening means adapted to sealingly secure the spout onto the probe in a fluid-tight manner. Even more preferably, the fastening means is in the form of an annular clamp which circumferentially urges the spout onto the probe. Most preferably, the coupling means also includes a base adapted to operatively and sealingly engage the collar of the vessel. The base is configured such that in use the vessel is in sealed communication with the gas inlet.
Preferably, the tapping head is an S-type tapping head. More preferably, the tapping head is removably connected to the coupling means.
Conveniently, the valve is a self-closing valve. More preferably, the valve is an S-type valve. Even more preferably, the self-closing valve is openable when gas is
introduced from the tapping head into the vessel which results in the receptacle 1o being pressurised thereby squeezing the beverage out of the receptacle.
Optionally, the vessel includes a plurality of internal ribs.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vessel for a keg assembly for storing and dispensing a liquid, the vessel being generally in the
shape of a rectangular prism.
Preferably, the vessel includes an opening.
Brief Description of the Drawings
The invention may be better understood from the following non-limiting description of preferred embodiments, in which:
Figure 1 is a top front isometric view of a keg assembly in accordance with a
preferred embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a rear bottom isometric view of the keg assembly of Figure 1;
Figures 3 is a front view of the keg assembly of Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a top plan view of the keg assembly of Figure 1;
Figure 5 is a side view of the keg assembly of Figure 1;
Figure 6 is a exploded perspective view illustrating the various components, particularly the vessel, of the key assembly of Figure 1;
Figure 7 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the cross section of the keg assembly of Figure 1 taken along plane AAA;
Figure 8 is a top front isometric view of a keg assembly with an alternative
embodiment of a coupler;
Figure 9 is an exploded perspective view of the key assembly of Figure 8;
Figure 10 is a top plan view of the key assembly of Figure 8;
Figure 11 is a side view of the keg assembly of Figure 8; and
1o Figure 12 is a schematic view showing multiple identical vessels of Figure 1 being stacked and stored in a custom refrigerator.
Detailed Description of the Drawings
It is noted that the vessel of the present invention is made out of polyethylene terephthalate PET having a nominal wall thickness of 1mm throughout its body. As
such, both the vessel and the entire keg assembly are very lightweight rendering them easy to lift, use and move around. Also, the propellant may be a gas including
carbon dioxide and compressed air. Furthermore, the liquid may be a beverage including alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, carbonated or non-carbonated.
Referring to Figures 1 and 6, a keg assembly 10 for storing and dispensing a beverage
is shown. The keg assembly 10 has a vessel 12, a compressible receptacle 14 (as best shown in Figure 7), a coupling means 16 with a valve 18, and a tapping head 20.
As best shown in Figures 6 and 7, the vessel 12 has an opening 22. The compressible
receptacle 14 has a vent 24 and in use being disposed within the vessel 12. The coupling means 16 is configured to independently and sealingly engage the vessel 12
and compressible receptacle 14 so as to facilitate injection of a propellant such as a gas into the vessel 12 via the valve 18 and the opening 22, and flowing of beverage out of the receptacle 14 via the vent 24. The tapping head 20 is configured to be operatively connected to the coupling means 16. As shown in Figures 1 and 3 to 7, the tapping head 20 has a gas inlet 26 for introducing gas into the vessel 12 and a beverage outlet 28 for dispensing the beverage.
Referring to Figures 6 and 7, the compressible receptacle 14 has a spout 30 which
defines the vent 24 and which in use is in registry with and placed concentrically within the opening 22 which is defined by a collar 32 extending outwardly from the
vessel 12.
As best shown in Figures 4 to 7, the coupling means 16 has a probe 34 which is
1o adapted in use to be received in the spout 30 of the compressible receptacle 14. The
keg assembly 10 also has a fastening means in the form of an annular clamp 36 which is adapted to sealingly secure the spout 30 onto the probe 34 in a fluid-tight
manner. In use, the annular clamp 36 is tightened to circumferentially urge the spout 30 onto the probe 34. The coupling means 16 also has an annular base 38 adapted to
operatively and sealingly engage the collar 32 of the vessel 12. In this embodiment, the annular base 38 is equipped with a push on clamp which enables the base 38 to
interlock with the collar 32 such that in use the vessel 12 is in sealed communication with the gas inlet 26. It will be appreciated that as an alternative, connection
between the annular base 38 and the collar 32 may be effected by threadable
engagement instead.
It should be noted that in the present embodiment, the tapping head 20 is an S-type
tapping head which is removably connected to the coupling means. Also, the valve 18 in the present embodiment is an S-type valve which is capable of self-closing. As indicated by arrows B in Figures 4 and 7, the valve 18 is openable when gas is
introduced from the gas inlet 26 of the tapping head 20 into the vessel 12 which results in the receptacle 14 being pressurised thereby squeezing the beverage out of the receptacle 14. The beverage is ultimately discharged through the 28 outlet, as indicated by arrow C.
Turning to Figures 8 to 11, the keg assembly 10A is shown being attached to an alternative embodiment of a coupler 58. In this embodiment, both an inlet 60 for introducing the propellant into the vessel 12A and an outlet 62 for dispensing the beverage stem from the coupler 58. As such, it will be appreciated that the tapping head 20 of the previously described embodiment is integrated into the coupler 58.
It should be noted that in both of the described embodiments as illustrated in all of Figures 1 to 11, the vessel 12 is generally in the shape of a rectangular prism. The
wall of the vessel 12 has a uniform thickness of1mm. As such, the wall defines a
cavity 40 (see Figure 7) which is also generally in the shape of a rectangular prism. Such a shape offers the benefit of withstanding considerably high pressure, which is
io particularly important when the pressure in cavity 40 rises as gas is being continuously pumped into the vessel through the valve 18 in order to exert
compressive force on the receptacle 14. in fact, the shape and configuration of the vessel 12 in the present embodiment is believed to be the most efficient use of
space in terms of the volume vs pressure ratio.
Turning to Figure 12, multiple keg assemblies 10, 10B, 10C & 1OD are fitted neatly in a custom refrigerator 54 being stacked on top of one another. This is another major advantage offered by the shape and configuration of the vessel 12.
It will also be appreciated that in the present embodiment, the vessel 12 has sunken
areas 42 & 44 on its top and bottom surfaces respectively. Each sunken area 42, 44
creates a shallow depression over the majority of the top and bottom surfaces. These shallow depressions further enable the vessel 12 to sustain high pressure.
Moreover, the vessel 12 has radiused corners 46 & 48 for example (See Figures 1 and 6) and both internal and external edges 50 & 52 for example throughout its body
thereby further enhancing its sustainability to high pressure. It should be noted that
in the present embodiment, vessel 12 is capable of operating at 150 KPA and being able to sustain a maximum pressure of 500 KPA.
Referring to Figures 1 to 10, the vessel 12 also includes four dimples 70 provided on
its top surface in close proximity to the four corners, respectively. The vessel 12 also includes four legs 72 which extend from the bottom surface of the vessel 12. The four legs 72 are configured to correspond to and aligned with the four dimples 70. As such, the kegs 10, 1OB, 10C and 10D, for example, are capable of being stacked on top of one another with the legs 72 being nested snugly within the dimples 70.
Now that preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in some detail, it will be apparent to a skilled person in the art that the vessel and keg
assembly of the present invention may offer at least the following advantages:
1. they are simple and easy to use and operate;
2. they are very lightweight rendering them easy to lift and move around;
3. they are stackable or capable to be stored neatly on shelves thereby
enabling significant space saving;
4. they are able to offer flexibility being able to operate at a relatively low
pressure of 150KPA as well as sustaining high pressure of up to above 300
KPA is required;
5. they have minimal components and hence cheap to manufacture.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention described herein is susceptible to variations and modifications other than those specifically described. For instance, the vessel 12 may include a plurality of internal or external ribs to
further enhance its sustainability to high pressure. Also, the radius of the curved
edges and corners of the vessel 12 may vary. The dimensions of the vessel 12 may
vary so that the vessel 12 may become a cuboid (ie square prism) for example. The wall thickness of the vessel may also vary to suit different pressure requirements.
Furthermore, the wall thickness of the vessel may vary, particularly for the purpose of accommodating higher pressures and/or volumes. The number of valves provided
in the coupler may also vary. For instance, two valves may be provided, one for gas in
and the other for liquid out. All such variations and modifications are to be considered within the scope and spirit of the present invention the nature of which is to be determined from the foregoing description.