Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
71
~L~G i~O~ D o~ 7.,~ .r~I~.IO,..
This inve~tio-Q ls d.irected to a.n~aratus for transferrin;~, ket-
chup from one-na,rrow-neckect ketchup bo-ttle to anot!-er, arld
~,~hich ap~araL~tus is c~danted -to be rca-oped agains-t a solicl surface
to affect relief oE any clogged condition in the Elo~! of the
I~e~tchu1? that might ~ise in t"e process. Apparc?,tus o'` this "nature
is needed narticularly in restauran-ts, where it is customary.to
refill ketchup bottles rel~1a.ining partially Eillecl ln or~er to a-
~oid ~aste by trans-Eerring the contents fro!n one ~arti~-ll].~T fill-
ed bottle into another. ',nhe sl~w moving characteristics o:E ketch~lp,~
-together wi-th the narro~ necks o:E the ,~.g,l.a,ss bo-ttles, not only
nakes the refilling process time consu.~in, but also presents~
other prob]erns) such a.s clogOing oE the 1cetchup ~low, lealca,ge,
and possible chippinOr o-~ tihe bottles.
Devices attempting to sup~ly this need are known :from patel~ tS `
nulrbered 3~877~9; ~ 6~5-~3; 3i~rj~ r)72; a.nd 3,~ 0~ In
these pa.tents the bottle -to be dra.ined is ~.;et by hand in .Irl in-
vert;cd positi.on over the bo-t,t~c to be :~i.llc?d, ~nd it is ~?lt,her
coup1.~d -to ',,'~e lat-te-r bo~ttle b~ canc, of a. cvupling e]cment
as In the .irst th-ree o-f these paten-ts; or it ls left ln a
glass-tr,~n1ass contact, as in the .~ourth patent. 'Lnhese several
devices lac'.~ an effi~ient Inea.ns for obtaini.rlO a quick inversio~
of the one 'oottle relative to the other. Spillage is likely
to occur b~ ~the tlme the inversion is properly o~-tained. '~he
coupling elernents ~lithout rnore are an lnadequ~te sup-rox~t :Eor
thr heas~ inverte1 glass bot tle3, 50 that the coupled bottles
would be in a.n accident prone condition. In the p~tent where
the inverted bottle is le~t in gla.ss to-grlass contact with the
lower bottle, not only leaka.ge but also chippi.n.g o:E the bot-tle
is li1cely during the in~Jersion -oroces3. .
.
Patents 3,8~0,048 and 3j?86,~49 also disclo3e apparatus for
transferring fluid from one bottle to another. EIowever, i.n
these the apparatlls is cur1bersolne; and the bottles to be
c~rained obtair ~n undesir~ble angular -,oosition subjecting
the draining fluid to exposu-.-e and possible contamination.
2.
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Fur-ther~ the arrangernents in these 'cno~.m de-i~ices a.ppear to be i.-
practical to pe-rmit the ap-pca~ratus to be shar~l1 rap^ecl agai.~st
a solid surface ~hen it is desired t^o has-ten ketchu;o flow or to
dislodge a clogged flow conditi.on. Such action could posslbl~-
~result in to-unllng, crackin~G or di.slodgin~ -the bottles.
~ UI-~'A~Y 0. '1~ IY~ n.'I0~1
l~ccordin~-ly~ the ?resent inventlon is directed to improvin~
over these kno~/n ~1evices a~nd providin~ apparatlls for :~aGil-
itating the trallsfer of l~etch~ ) fror.1 one narrow-necked bottle
into another without the accornnanying faults of these knol~!n
.~ devices.
! It is fu-rther intended b~r the presen-t inven.-tion -to provide a
ma.nuall~J portable apparatus which is practical in i-ts mode of
use, and is effecient in effecting transier o~ ketclm.lp frorn one
conventioncal ke~tchup 'bo-ttle to another ~ which is desl.gned to
~ermit quick inversion and alirrnrnent of one bnt-tle relative to .
the other ~or -this purpose without darnage to the bottles; and
which is of a constuction enabling it to be rao-p,ed sharply a-
gainst a solid sur~ace without damage in order to sp^ed up ket~
ehup flow or to relieve a clogged f`lo~ condition.
In accordance ~ith ~the inven-tion there is provided portable
a~;,aratus for ef'fectin.g transf-er of' ~etch~ from one narrow-
necked bottle to another, cornprisi~lg a ~air of ~-form racks,
each rack having a base member and an upright back rnember,
eac'n base rn.ernber havin~ a recess in its u~oer face for seated
dis-Qosition therei~ of one of the bo-ttles, clamp mearls fi~ed
;: to each rack for securing t'ne related bo-ttle in seated -posi-tion,
a hin~e con~ecting the racks -to one anothrr ena~ling pi~rotin.l-r O:r
one rack relati.ve -to the other from a back to-back relation-
ship of the racks th:rou~h 1$0 degrees to an opposed inverted
vertical position ln ~hich the r~.outh ends of the bottles seat-
ed in the raclcs are d.i.s~osed in ali.~ned opposed relatjonship.
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3:~.I.3.~ '' O`;` '~''.'~`., D:?~h,iI~:G
~IG. 1 ls a vi.e~ i si.de ele,atlo~ o~ a~?~ra-tus emboclyi.
~- the invr-~ntio-n, sho~;rir~ i.n ~ ll, li.ne -the -no:rl~al or l`'lCl'-
to-'bacl.~ position of racks, and sllol.!i-nr; i'.î 'oro'kerl l:ine t'le
clegree pivotea ~osJi tion o:. one ~a.ck ancl its rellt;ec':
,, bo~,-tle relati~re to the othcr -r2c`- anrd its rel~l;ed 'bottle:
' FIG. ? is 2. secti.on on line ~_? oF-~'IG. 1, the l)o-t-l,les bein~
.~ shown in brol~er-l line:
.~
FIG. 3 is an enlarged olan view of FIG. 1, ~ortions ~.~eing
brok.~rl ~!a~ to avoici urlnecessar,~J cletail alld l.o ~ro1not;e a.dd-
ed clari-t~:
~IG. ~ is a vlew i.n Si(3.(? elevation of tlle ~uicle Cllp~ scc-ti.on-
r~r~ p~:L~t:
~IG. 5 is a vlew illlls-tratin,.r, an en~aged condition of -the
latch: and
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~IG. 6 is a ~e:rspective view of an in.sert -that rnigh-t be used
. beneath a bo-t~le to ajust its hei~,ht, wnen neerled, in its
'~ r.lc]~.
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C i~ ïP r~ O'ii P ~ ''C~ r, o DI I "~ Ll
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'~he invention wll] now be described ~;Jith reference to the
accom~anyil~ dr~wing sul`iiciently an~ in such conci~c manne
as -to enable persons ha~ing ~rdinary skill in the art to
unders.and ard use the in~ention.
The apparatus sho~n in the dralillng as lllus-trating an em-
bodimen~ O r the invention includes, see FI~. 1, a pair of
bottle stands or racks la and lb o~ similar struc-ture.
( It is noted that the components of rack la are design-
ated in th~s description and tha drawing by unprimed re-
ference numbers; and the corresponding components ~n rack
1'~ are designated by primed reference numbers. )
~ach rack is of ~-form, having a flat bo-ttomed base rnember
2, and a unrioh-t; vertically extending back ~ember ~. ~lere,
the base members 2 and 2' are shown as square; and -the back
members 3 c~nd ~' are ,hown as rectangular. '~hey are not,
howe~er, limited -to these confi~urations~ ~ach base member
has a recess 4 in its upper face desig~ed to have seated
therein a conventional ketchup bot-tle 5. 'I'he recess is of
shallow depth; and its cross dime~sions are such as to allow
the bo-ttom end of the bottle to be easily entered and seated
therein, the cross dimensions OI the recess being only slight-
ly greater that that of the bottle.
A s~in~ pinch clamp 6 is fixed to each rack. It is ~esign-
ated to grip about the neck of the related ~ottle seated :in
the rac'- so as to hold it in its seated posi-tiorl. rrhe clamp
has a bridgepiece 7 fixedto the inner face o~ -the bac~lnember
o:f the rac~ pair o F sprin~r~ a~rrns 8 extends for~ardly fro~
~he bridgepiece in overhanging relatlon to -the reces3 of the
rack. T`ne arl-1s are tensioned to~ rd each other so as to pro~ide
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anarro~.T entrarlce to an inner ^lnn~ r li1ider area, 9. The latt.r.~r
has a ].e~sC~er diar.leter tha~J the neck of the '-o-ttle ''~ei.~g force-
e~ bet~een the c~r-lns 8 and entered i~to the area 9, the arrr.s
become cla,mpe~ about -the neck o- the bottle sufficiently to
hold the bottle seated in the rack.
The racks la a~d lb h'^,ve -a norr.~a.l bac1c--to-~?Lck collapsed
position, as i-L~dicated ln full li~e in '?IG. 1~A leaf hin~e
11 mount;ed 1~et~/een the u.c~?er rear areas o:f the back meMbe~.rs
is pro~Jidecl, whereb~T l"ack la rnay 'be ret;urnrec'l or plv-oted on
the hinge rela-tive to r?ck lb tl1rou.~;h 1~0 c1~i~ree-s ~o ?ïl in-
verted verticl position, as indicatecl b,~J -th,e brol.-en li.ne in :'
.IG~ 4s the rack is Pivotecl7 -the bottle 5 seated therein i.s
carried ~iith i.-t.
The pivotecl raclc obtains an i~ ,Tt.~r-terl ~o~ition in l!~ i C'rl a ton
~lat end surface'12 o:~ it;s baclc r.nember 3 abllts ~pO`~1 a corrcs-
ponc1inr end sur.~face o:F t~le otller raclc l~)j ir~ .rl1ich the in-
verted bac'!tclnember 3 is c.~i.s~,-osed. lillearl~y ;n e~-tens,ion o:E' the~
ot1ler ba.c'~. member 3'; in which -the 'base member 2 oi` the in-
verted ra,ck is dis~ose-l ~nposite to an~ aliOrned in over'nea(l
parallel relation ~ith the other base mernber 2'; and in '.~!hi~h
-the inverted bo-ttle 5 is a~,~ia]lvT ali~rned ~l~ith the o-ther bottle
5'.
Suitable iastenincr means, suc'n as a h?S~ or latch 13 is pro-
vided. It ser~Jes as a .~leans for ri~ridly retaT~llin~ the plvot.e(,`
rac'~ in its inverted position aga,inst col]a.~se1 as ~:~hen i-t is
esired to rnove the a.p~ara-tus :rrom one locatiorl to ' an~ther
or wherl it is deslred to ra~, the heel area of the lo~1er rack
rnember lb o~ -tile ap~a.ra-tus aOainst a scli.~ surfcace to re1ieve
a clogged l~.etchun ~loi~ condi-tion.
"he latcl~ 13 .i.s ?. convelltiorlal spring type~ It com1?:r~ses a
hook element 1~ -['i;~e-l 1roxirnated the u-~?~-er ed~e of -the i-nner
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face o:,~ br-.c!r !lem1~er 3 o:' r ac'~ la.; and a, lc~-~rer r,?ivo-tr-~ble
catch 15 ,nc!un~led to correspo~ ling f ace o ,'` the other baclr
r!1ember 3 . ~.fter the r~lvo ted rack la has obtained i-ts invertecl
.~ ~osition ( bro~ en line, -.~IG,. 1 ) t'ne f~atch 15 is enabled to ~l~e
:' manual'.y F)ivoted to en~a,ge ~itl'! the hook element 1 a, so as to
lock the pivoted .rack in i ts inverted posi-tion to rc~,ck lb~
~IC-. 5 sho~,s the hook and c~-tch elernents in an enga2ea locked.
relatlonship.
:~
.~ guicle cup member 16 is adapted -to be :fit-l'.ed to -the non-in-
verted bot ~,l', here bot~tle 5 t . It se~ves -to guiae ~e bot~ Le
::~ to be in~rer-ted, here bottle 5, do~mw~,rcl to an in~1erted ver-
tic.--~l posi-tio~AI ;n which i.t is alisned with the lo~er bot~tle
, ~ 5 ', as inidica.ted by thee broken line in FIG, 1. rl'he ~uide cu~?
- is formed o F resilient nl~teria,l, ~uch as plastic. It ~ncludes
a~n up~j?er -t-runcatecl C()`;l~:!C~ C'llp pt!rt~ on 17 ha~ri!~g cl :Elat bo t-l,om
all 18 fro~ .Yhi.ch a c~nlind:rical tube -lO (~epends a.xi2lly.
;~ub~ 10 i s ?dapt(?d to be sliclc~..bl;~r i.nser-ted i~1 to -the nlO~I l.ll en~.
of the ].ower or :~loll-in~ e~rted bottle~ 5', as .l~?~?e~rs in ~'I(~. 1.
"1he 'L~ottom wa.ll 18 of ~-,he cu? (lefines a~ annu'l~"r unde-r,,'nouldeL
?O whic'n is a~apte('~ to res t U~)o.ll the mou-th end of -the non-
:. inver-te~'. bot tle 5 ' . .'he !-~ajor,in~er diarrleter o:'` th(? c~u~i) is
adeque-te to ?lloi! i.'ne mou-t'-n en~ o F t`~le bot-tl e b ein~ lnvorted
-:' to be carried ang,ularlJr d0Wil into 1,he cu-- u~til th.e bo-t-tle a--
tc.ins an in~Jerted vertical .-~osi.tion seated upon -the in~.er sur-
fa,ce of the botto~n ~ a.ll of -t,.lQe cu.~ md i-n vertical a.lignnlen-t
with the lower bottle 5 ', as in ~I~-.1 .
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. ., In l~.sin~ the apparatus to effect -traMsfer o i" the contents of
: j on~ ~a,rtia.] l~- Eilled '~etc'nu;r~ bott' e in~to a~lother, the bottle"s
''. are :Eirst seated aMd clamp d into tlheix res~ective r-~c,~:s. ~h-
bot'-tle 5' seated i~. rac1~ lb is tl~e-rl fitted ~ ith the tube 10 of`
the fl'l'`r`l'?l CU~ . The r~lcl~ là corltai~:Lin, bott1. e 5 is then
r,7anuall,y plvotecl on t~ne hini~re 11 th:roug.`i. -1$0 de~:r.ees carr~i,l.;~
,. 7.
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bo~ttle 5 :~;t;h i-t. ~ the l~t-ter is ~ rled .lrlgulaxl.r ~lo1-n~;!ar.`.
~o it~ in~e:rted posi-tio~, i-t ~-nters -th.e coned Cll-O 16 a.ld :is
grui~ed b~ the la.tter so ~5 -to con~ to rest upon -the inne~
surface o:E ~''2 botto~ ial1 of -the cu-? in a -ve:rtical inverted
positi~n wit~ its moutl,~ encl aligned r/ith -~.hat of the lo~rer
bottle ~ he resillent shock absorbing na-ture of '~ne bo~tol:
all of -t~e cup protec-tivel~ cushionc-~ the bo-ttles as ~the in-
. verted bottle 5 obtains the latter posltion.
~he thickness of the bottom l~all 18 of -the cu-p member is equal
to the total ~.ifference in lenp:lh o~ -the bacl~ rnembers 3 and 3'
of the racks relatl~re to ~the slightly shorter bot-tles sea.tec1
in the racks. The bo-ttom ~all of -the cup in this respect
ser~es a.s a washer or ~eal between the mouth ends or rims of
the aligned bottles 5 and 5'.
If a shorte:r bottle the,n is customary is -to be se~.-ted in one
of -the racks, then a compen~ating flat, thin insert ( ~IG. 6),
to the exten~t needed, is pla.ced beneath the bottle to ob-l;ain
the desired height condi-tion.
. .
The a~aratus is equiped with means which enables i-t, a:~ter it
has obtained t'ne extended ~osition with rac'~ la inverted rel~
tive -to rack lb, to be manipulated so as to speed flo~/ of -the
slow moving ketchup or to relieve any clogged condition that
` may be impeding the flo~. To th~s end, the base member 2' of
: rack lb is provided a-t its underside rea.r or heel area wi-th
` foot pads 19 formed of shock absorbing material, such as rubber,
- To obtain the relief mentioned, the user manually ~r,rips one of
the back members 3 or 3' and then ~thrusts the apparcltus angularly
do~mward so as to raP or im~act the heel area of the lower base
member 2' against a solid surface. The resultant jarring of the
: apparat~s jarring of the apparatus operates to relieve the clogged
: condition and to speed up the flow of 1cetchup.
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In usin th.e ap~ara-tlls to ob-tain the :relief mentioned, the-re
is '10 likelihooa of dama~,e resul-tin~ to either the apnara-~;us
or -to -the bo-t-tles, since the :Eorce of the irn?~acts is absorbed
not onlv b~r the foot ~a.ds 1g benea.t7n -the b~se meml)er 2' of the
rac'.~ at the heel -~rea bu al.so by -the aligned back rnenbers 3
and 3 ' o:E both ra.cks .
T~ere, there is a :Eoo~t pad 19 a-t each o.f the two rear corne:rs
o:E the heel. area of -th.e base rnember 2 ' . F~owever, any o-t.'ner
suitable pacldin,~ arran~rement for this purpose m~y be used,
mhe foot elements ~3 ' located at the opposite or :or~lard
tl~!o corners of the base member 2', as ~Arell as the foot elements
~2~ located at the four co~ners of the base member 2 of raclic
la are not requi.red i.o t?~ formed of shock ~ab30rbin~rr ma-terial.
It is to be ~pr)reciate~ -th l-t the :~oot ~d 19 mcrl.y -~,alce -the form
o~ a single strip at -the heel area J
A rubber button 21 fl.xe~ to the rear f~ce oX t;'-~e hac!{ mer.?ber
3 of ,;he ci.?~n.-l.ratus, ~s in(?,ica-te~ in T~IG. 1, server-~ t~) cushi.on
the in~rerted rac`'r la as it i.s -returned to -the baclc-to-b.lcl- nor-
mal position of -the appar2tus.
.~ ,
Sui-table me. ns, such as a ~ender or eyelet 22 may be fi~ ed
to rack membQr la as a me~3ns of sus??en din~ the e.???~arritus
~: from a support after rack me.rnber 1 a has obtainecl its inverted
~osition .
.n.'he racks 1 a and lb may be formed of any suitable ma-terial
-Eor the purpo~ e intended, such as 1rood, met21, or -~lastic
:lhile an embocliment of the in~ention has been illustra-ted ~nd
described in detail, it is to be expressl;y unders-tooa that the
invention is not 1 imited there-to. Various chan-r;es of forrn,
desi~ or arran~ement ma~J b~ mla~3e~:n i ts ~arts lilit~1ollt depa.r-ting
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frorn the s~irit ana scone o~ he invent,ion. It is m,~ intentionJ
, -therefore, ~o clairQ -i,he invention no-t only as sho~n ~,nd de.sc-cib-
- ed but also in al~ such forrns~ modlfica-ted or e~luivalentGs -there-
,~ of .aS r~i~,h~t be reaso~^-bly cons,trued to be ~it~ n the spirit of
the invention l,~/hen concide^ring -the s~ecifica,,tion, dral,~ing7 c~.nd
the ~ ended claims
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