WO2025012689A1

WO2025012689A1 - Drinking vessels device for reduction of gas bubble size distribution and addition of beneficial substances to liquids

Info

Publication number: WO2025012689A1
Application number: PCT/IB2023/057197
Authority: WO
Inventors: Marko KALENTIC
Original assignee: Tehnoplast 1980 Doo
Current assignee: Tehnoplast 1980 Doo
Priority date: 2023-07-13
Filing date: 2023-07-13
Publication date: 2025-01-16
Anticipated expiration: 2026-01-13

Abstract

The invention relates to a device (3) with complex geometry which can be added to, or can be an integrated part of a drinking vessel or its cap, and which is used for creation of a turbulent liquid flow in order to create a reduction of the overall size distribution of air/ gas bubbles inside of the liquid. The device has a complex geometry and can contain meshes, holes, openings, (16) channels or lattices structures (15) to increase its overall efficiency. Additionally, the said device can also include reservoirs (9) and hold beneficial substances such as flavors, minerals or vitamins which would be slowly released when the drinking vessel is used.

Description

Title of Invention

Drinking vessels device for reduction of gas bubble size distribution and addition of beneficial substances to liquids

Technical Field

A47G19/22 - Drinking vessels or saucers used for table service

■ Influencing taste or nutritional properties

Background Art

Many of the commonly used beverages on the market are carbonated and have gas bubbles inside the liquid (US4695468A). More recently, there are also manufacturers that use a permanent or exchangeable pod/capsule system to introduce flavors inside of the drinking vessel such that when the liquid (most notably water) is being drank, it receives a flavor. There are also approaches where the water is not directly fed through the flavor containing pod, but instead only external atmospheric air passes through the pod and takes on the flavor, as described in more details in DE202016004961U1. This stream of flavored air is then combined with the water from the drinking vessel somewhere in the proximity of the mouthpiece zone of the tube and as such is drank by the user, giving an impression that the overall liquid is flavored, and not just the air bubbles. In all of these cases, the user experience and the volume of the received flavor sensation is directly related to the bubble size and content. Recent research has shown that in carbonated beverages, the overall bubble size distribution has a strong effect on the user experience, with smaller bubbled leading to a better taste sensation of the beverage.

With the recent advances in manufacturing methods such as additive manufacturing (3D printing), manufacturing of complex geometries in large volumes has become a reality. These parts can be manufactured as a monoblock (single piece) and include intricate geometries such as meshes, holes, openings, lattice geometries, (micro and macro) fluidic channels, one-way valves etc. Manufacturing of such parts is becoming possible mainly by 3D printing methods such as SLA, DLP, FDM, LPBF and others. In the case of certain geometries, conventional injection molding or even casting might be a possibility although less likely. Thus, in the present invention a device that creates a turbulent flow and reduces the gas/air bubble size has been described. This device has an intricate complex geometry and as such is preferably manufactured by means of additive manufacturing (3D printing) but could also be manufactured by other means as well. This device can be manufactured as an add-on on the tube of a drinking vessel or can be an integrated part of the tube, or as a part of the cap (lid) of the drinking vessel.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention relates to a device with complex geometry which can be added to, or can be an integrated part of, a drinking vessel or its cap, and which is used for creation of a turbulent liquid flow in order to create a reduction of the overall size distribution of air/gas bubbles inside of the liquid. The device has a complex geometry and can contain meshes, channels or lattice structures to increase its overall efficiency. Furthermore, the said device can also include reservoirs and hold beneficial substances such as flavor or vitamins which would be slowly released when the drinking vessel is used.

Brief Description of Drawings

Figure 1 Cross sectional view of a drinking vessel with a refining device inserted in the tube

Figure 2 Example of the geometry and different zones of the said device

Figure 3 Cross sectional view of a drinking vessel's tube with the said device and an additional air inlet

Figure 4 Cross sectional view of a drinking vessel's tube with the said device with integrated reservoirs

Figure 5 Cross sectional view of a drinking vessel's tube with the said device and an external flavor pod

Figure 6 Cross sectional view of a drinking vessel's tube with the said device and an internal integrated substance containing reservoirs

Description of embodiments

Figure 1. In an embodiment shown in Figure 1, a drinking vessel (1) containing carbonated medium with gas bubbles, a mouthpiece (2) and the said device (3) used for the creation of a turbulent flow and reduction of gas bubble size distribution. As the liquid from the drinking vessel passes in the direction (13) through a tube (20), it has a mostly laminar flow with mostly larger gas bubble distribution (4) which passes through the mentioned device (3) which has an intricate internal geometry (6). This is a simplified representation, but the preferred geometry might comprise any combination of geometries such as fine holes, meshes, openings, (micro or macro) fluidic channels, lattices or any other complex geometries (example shown in Figure 2). As the liquid medium passes through the said device a more turbulent liquid flow is created (5) with smaller gas bubble size distribution (5) which are beneficial for the flavor reception of the user. The said device would preferably be manufactured out of biocompatible polymer, but also metals, ceramics, composites or other materials could be envisaged.

In a preferred embodiment, the said device could be added into the tube (20) from the mouthpiece side or any other opening, but in another embodiment, the said device could be an integral part of the tube or the drinking vessel. Most conveniently it would be premanufactured and added to the tube during its manufacturing step.

In another embodiment, the said device could be part of the separate lid (cap) of the drinking vessel, in which case the lid and the device would also act as a mouthpiece.

Figure 2 shows an illustration of an example of the device (3) which consist of complex geometries (6) such as any of the following: permeable lattice structures (15), meshes, holes and openings (16), integrated micro or macro channels integrated in the housing (17), or other geometries which combined could be used to increase the turbulence of a liquid flow. In a preferred embodiment, the said device can be comprised of some or all of these geometries, as well as of other additional features which would increase its efficiency. This is just a depictive representation of the device and should not be taken as a limiting factor. The preferred geometry of the said device would be determined by extensive flow simulations verified by experimental tests, and would also be a function of the tube diameter and the desired bubble size distribution. Fluidic channels are in this embodiment part of an integrated block (17) and are better shown in a cross section of the said device, thus for a better representation please see e.g. Figure 6 with examples at position (6, 9, 12).

Figure 3 shows another embodiment where the device (3) contains also an external air inlet (11) which introduces additional air bubbles to the liquid. This can be applied to any type of drink, and is not limited to only carbonated liquids.

Figure 4. In another embodiment the said device includes also reservoirs (14) which contain dissolved vitamins, beneficial minerals, flavor or other substances which would be slowly released in the liquid flow. The reservoirs are connected to the main flow by microfluidic channels, whose shape and size would determine the amount of released substances. Such a device would have a similar function to a pod. The device might also optionally contain the segment with complex geometry (6) which would further better mix the released substance in the liquid flow, reduce the bubble size in case when applicable to the liquid in question.

Figure 5 shows in another embodiment an external flavor pod (8) as per the patent (DE202016004961U1). The flavor pod (8) has an external air inlet (11). When the water is consumed from the drinking vessel, the air flow from the air inlet (11) is started and passes through the pod (8). Subsequently, the flavored air bubbles pass through a mesh/lattice like geometries (12). This reduces the air bubble size before they are mixed with the liquid (water) flow (4) with the flow direction (13). In another embodiment, additional geometries in the bubble reduction segment (6) are implemented to further increase the turbulence of the liquid flow and to reduce the bubble size distribution. Finally, a turbulent liquid flow (5) reaches the mouthpiece (2). In another embodiment, the said device itself can represent the mouthpiece (2). In another embodiment, the external flavor pod (8) is placed further down the tube, and before the refining device (3) such that the flavor bubbles are first mixed with the flow (4) and then afterwards they reach the refining device (3).

Figure 6. In a different embodiment, at least part of the device is comprised of at least one flavor reservoir (9). The reservoir has an external connection (11) through which air is introduced. The flavor reservoirs are connected with (micro or macro) channels (12) to the main stream of liquid (water). The liquid flow is in the direction (13). In another embodiment, the reservoir is constituted of permeable lattices (18), (micro and macro) channels (12) or other geometric features which are used to increase the rigidity of the reservoir, but also to reduce the bubble size and to better mix the flavor. The additional geometries would also increase the available surface of the reservoir which might be important for the adhesion of certain substances. Additionally, micro voids could be engineered to further increase the overall internal surface. Similarly to the embodiment in Figure 4, the reservoirs could contain other beneficial substances which could be slowly released in the stream.

In some cases, depending on the desired bubble size, it would be useful to have additional geometries in the form of the bubble size reduction segment (6) which would be implemented to further increase the turbulence of the liquid flow and to reduce the bubble size distribution. Finally, a turbulent liquid flow (5) reaches the mouthpiece (2). In another embodiment, the device itself can represent the mouthpiece (2).

Such an approach as described in Figure 6 would remove the need for an external flavor pod shown in Figure 5 as position (8). With the increase in the possible resolution of printed parts, multiple reservoirs (9) could be integrated, each being used for a different substance.

These reservoirs could be easily filled with specially designed syringes. For this purpose and taking the full advantage of 3D printing, sacrificial inlets would be manufactured and could be easily removed after the reservoirs have been filled. With the design of the geometry of reservoir nozzles their release rate could be fine tunned. Furthermore, these reservoirs could introduce geometries which would act as one-way valves (19). These valves would be elastic by nature and would release the flavored bubbles but prohibit the liquid flow in the opposite direction. The same effect could be obtained by fine tuning the size of the openings such that the gas can pass, but that the liquid would be prevented due to the surface tension.

In a preferred embodiment, the said device is a separate device which can be easily placed in the correct position in through the mouthpiece or some other opening of the drinking vessel. In another embodiment, the refining device is an integral part of the tube (straw) used to bring the liquid from the drinking vessel. In other embodiments, the device is placed as a separate or integral piece of the cap of the drinking vessel.

All figures are shown as preferred embodiments but should not be taken as limiting factors and various other designs could be envisaged. The embodiments of the invention and materials suggested for the device in the present application are only illustrative examples and should not be construed in a limiting manner. The present invention may also use equivalent means and other geometries or other manufacturing methods which would allow to achieve similar results as the ones described therein with corresponding results. The embodiments described herein may also be combined together.

Industrial Applicability

With the advancement in 3D printing processes, the said device could be manufactured efficiently at scale by means of e.g. polymer 3D printing, most notably high resolution DLP process. This would allow the said device to be integrated in mass in a wide range of beverages ranging from carbonated soft drinks, carbonated water, alcoholic beverages, and also to drinking vessels that mix pure water and flavor pods, either internal or external. The process could be applied also to pure water where the integrated reservoirs of the said device would store substances beneficial for the user.

Claims

Claims:

Claim 1 A device (3) as shown in Figure 1, used to refine the bubble size distribution, comprising of at least one of the geometries: lattice (15), fluidic channels (17) or holes, meshes, openings (16) as shown in Figure 2.

Claim 2 A device as defined in claim 1, where the refining geometry (6) of the device is comprised of an intricate set of geometries which are known in the state of the art to be used to increase the turbulence of the flow.

Claim 3 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where an additional stream of air is introduced by an inlet (11) as shown in Figure 3.

Claim 4 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where the device contains at least one reservoir (14) as in Figure 4 which contains dissolved vitamins, minerals, flavor, or other beneficial substances.

Claim 5 A device as defined in the preceding claim 4, where the reservoirs are connected to the main flow by fluidic channels.

Claim 6 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where an external flavor pod (8) in Figure 5 with an external air inlet is connected to the device or just before the device.

Claim 7 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where complex geometries (12) in Figure 5 are used to further refine the bubble size.

Claim 8 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where at least a part of the device is comprised of at least one reservoir (9) shown in Figure 6.

Claim 9 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where the reservoirs are also acting as a refining device and no other refining elements are used in the device. Claim 10 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where the reservoir (9) has an external air connection (11) through which air from external atmosphere is introduced to the whole system.

Claim 11 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where the reservoir is constituted of complex geometries such as lattices (18), (micro and macro) channels (12), holes, meshes, openings or other geometric features as shown in Figure 6.

Claim 12 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where a system of additional geometries is added to the said device to further increase its efficiency.

Claim 13 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where the device (3) is placed at the end of the tube and also represents the mouthpiece (2).

Claim 14 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where the reservoirs (9) also integrate lattice structures (18) or other geometries.

Claim 15 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where multiple systems of reservoirs (9) are manufactured to accommodate for multiple substances.

Claim 16 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where the channels in the device include geometries similar to one way valves (19) in Figure 6.

Claim 17 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where sacrificial nozzles are manufactured and used to fill the reservoirs, and which could be easily detachable after filling is done.

Claim 18 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where the device is a separate piece placed in the correct position of the tube through the mouthpiece or some other opening of the drinking vessel.

Claim 19 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where the device is an integral part of the tube (straw) that is used to bring the liquid from the drinking vessel. Claim 20 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where the device is a separate part of the cap of the drinking vessel.

Claim 21 A device as defined in one of the preceding claims, where the device is an integral part of the cap of the drinking vessel.