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Stay-Fizz Piston Packaging

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Following a recent post and my annotation, I propose an alternative solution to the problem of the stay-fizz packaging. It´s a little dismissive to ask punters to just buy multipacks.

Remember that a drink always reaches gas equilibrium with the headspace - that is the space in the top of the bottle. The smaller the space, the greater the chance of a product staying fizzy.

The piston packaging comprises of a plastic bottle with the bottom cut off and a plastic circular base. Imagine that the base is like a large bottle top (similar in size to the base of a current 2L bottle), but that it has screw thread on the outside of the cap. The inside of the bottle itself has a screw line, so that the large bottom cap can be screwed up inside the bottle, from the bottom.

The drink is dispensed as usual and sealed as ever using the bottle top. Once drinking is done, the bottom cap is also screwed to push the base of the bottle up. This reduces the headspace in the bottle which in turn, slows down the rate of fizz loss.

jonthegeologist, Apr 12 2005

Inspiration : problem well presented Squeeze-activated_2...20bottle_20chambers
[jonthegeologist, Apr 12 2005]

The 'Squattle' http://www.squattle.com/
A cheaper solution, though not as robust. [ConsulFlaminicus, Apr 13 2005]

[link]






       excellent, you certainly know your subject!
po, Apr 12 2005
  

       How about you take a standard 2-liter bottle and squish all the air out before you cap it and put it back in the refrigerator? It looks a little odd, and doesn't stand up well, but it does the job--sorta. You could make a clip to keep it squished.   

       Seriously, I admire your goal. My soda limit is about one glass per day, and that's when I'm badly addicted to the caffiene. I prefer to take several small drinks through the day, usually over ice. I don't like lots of fizz, but something happens to the flavour, too.   

       I've seen a screw-on siphon arrangement that puts a straw to the bottom of the bottle and uses the fizz-pressure to dispense the liquid.   

       I advocate a bottle made as mentioned in the other post--in snap-over segments like a bendy-straw. If designed right, the segments could be shoved together to reduce volume and headspace, but only when no pressure is inside the bottle. Once a little fizz builds up some pressure, the segments lock up and stabilize.
Such a bottle would collapse for empty transport, which would remove the present requirement for every bottling plant to have a bottle-making machine.
baconbrain, Apr 12 2005
  

       [baconbrain]: If you squeeze a bottle to minimize headspace **AND KEEP IT SQUEEZED**, that will prevent the soda from going flat. If you do not keep the bottle squeezed, then you will in fact make the problem worse as more gas will have to come out of the soda to start building pressure.   

       My biggest concern with the particular idea as described is that I would think it difficult to make the bottom screw thingie leakproof. Note that in a conventional screw-top arrangement, the screw threads are not liquid-proof, but rather the top of the cap is pushed tight against the top of the bottle.   

       A slightly different variant might be to have the soda contained in bags which would be pressurized against the inside of a containing vessel. The containing vessel would not have to be liquid-proof (though it should be somewhat so, to help contain leakage in the event the inner bag breaks). This containing vessel could contain an interior "piston" mechanism to help keep the soda compressed.   

       One potential advantage of this approach would be that because only the interior bag ever comes in contact with the product, stores could have apparatus to allow customers to "refill" their containers. The apparatus would insert the bag into the container, fill it up with pressurized liquid/gas solution, and seal it. The weight and volume of trash produced would thus be reduced substantially compared with current two-liter bottles.
supercat, Apr 12 2005
  

       How about little tablets of ludicrously overpriced chalk (?or bicarbonate of soda?) to drop into your bottle before you screw the top on? They'd effervesce in the acidic drink and provide the overpressure to either keep it fizzy or explode the bottle in an amusing way.
Basepair, Apr 12 2005
  

       What you need is a squattle that can be locked into place somehow. some sort of hook and eye, or strap.
RayfordSteele, Apr 15 2005
  

       Or baby electric eels.
FarmerJohn, Apr 15 2005
  

       What dark beautiful discussions. Why stuff an unwilling cat down a chimeny when you don't really need to?
  

       macroscope, Apr 45, 2005   

       What?
Zimmy, Apr 16 2005
  
      
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