Today in 2006, US Patent D533739 S1 was issued, an invention of Brian Miesieski, Devin Kelly, and Geoff Blanck, assigned to the Labatt Brewing Company Limited, for their “Goalie Mask Beer Dispenser.” There’s no Abstract, although this is the entire claim:
The ornamental design for a goalie mask beer dispenser, as shown and described.
Today in 1959, US Patent 2917220 A was issued, an invention of Raymond N. Bostock, assigned to Ballantine & Sons, for his “Carrier for Beer Bottles and the Like.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
Open top cartons, that is cartons having bottom, side and end Walls, but not a top wall or cover, have been used for a number of years for the purpose of storing and transporting Various items of merchandise, including glass bottles containing beer, soft drinks or other liquids. Such cartons are usually provided with partitions that divide their interiors into compartments for receiving individual bottles to prevent the bottles from coming into direct contact with each other, thereby minimizing the possibility of breakage of the bottles in the course of handling.
Due to the weight of the merchandise and the rough handling to which loaded cartons are frequently subjected, present-day open cartons are generally constructed of heavy fibreboard. It is often necessary, in order to provide adequate strength and rigidity, to reinforce the cartons in various ways. As a consequence, such cartons are quite expensive.
container may be made of a relatively lightweight, inexpensive corrugated cardboard. The sling is preferably made of a heavy duty fibreboard, while the partition unit is made of a suitable grade and Weight of fibreboard. Fibreboard is recommended for the sling and partition unit, to provide necessary strength and to permit repeated reuse of the same, with the initial or subsequent outer containers. Also, the sling and partition unit are treated to make them waterproof, thereby protecting them from moisture and prolonging their useful life. It will be understood that the term paperboard, as used hereinafter and in the appended claims, is intended to cover various sheet materials that may be used in the mantufacture of the carrier of this invention, whether corrugated cardboard, fibreboard or other appropriate material.
The primary object of the invention is to provide a carrier for bottles or the like having improved features’ of construction.
Another object of the invention is to provide a bottle carrier having a relatively inexpensive disposable outer container.
Another object of the invention is to provide a bottle carrier having a relatively inexpensive outer container, which may be discarded when scuffed or otherwise rendered unsightly, and a relatively strong reinforced inner container, which may be reused many times with successive outer containers.
Today in 1967, US Patent D209533 S was issued, an invention of Glen E. Cole and Wayne Miller, for their “Beer Can Holder.” The text of their patent application is, in its entirety:
The ornamental design for a beer can holder, as shown.
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Today in 1958, US Patent 2863579 A was issued, an invention of George L.N. Meyer, for his “Case Unloader with Bottle Rejecting Head.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
This invention relates to a case unloader adapted to unload empty bottles from a case and to reject bottles with corks, caps or other obstructions in the neck of the bottle.
In case unloaders used to remove empty beer, carbonated beverage bottles, etc., from cases and deliver them to a bottle washer, or the like, prior to refilling, much trouble has been experienced with bottles that have been re-capped or which have a cork or other obstruction in the neck. Case unloaders heretofore made had no provision for rejecting such bottles and as a result bottles with caps or corks on the necks were processed through the bottle washer. When such bottles reached the inside brush station, or the rinsing station, the brush spindle, or the rinse nozzle, would strike the cap, cork or other obstruction and bend either the spindle or the nozzle, necessitating stopping of the machine to replace the damaged element.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a case unloader for bottles which will reject any bottles having a crown, cork or other such obstruction in the neck, and so prevent such bottles from going through the washing machine.
Another object is to provide a case unloader which will remove only those bottles from the case which have the necks of the bottles free of obstructions.
A further object of the invention is to provide a case unloader for beverage bottles, or the like, which will reduce break-downs in the bottle washing machinery.
A still further object is to provide a case unloader which will reduce the amount of supervision required to load bottles onto a bottle washer.
A still further object of the invention is to reduce the overall cost of washing bottles.
Today in 1896, US Patent 572708 A was issued, an invention of Charles Meldrum, for his “Beer Bottling Apparatus.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
Prior to my invention it has been the usual custom to fill bottles with beer from the keg by employing flexible rubber tubes which are passed down through the open bung-hole into the beer and siphoning the beer through these tubes into the bottles. The disadvantages in bottling beer in this manner are that too much air is admitted through the open bung-hole and the beer is subjected to unnecessary agitation in being siphoned over, all of which results in the liberation and escape of sufficient gas to materially effect the life of the beer. Then, too, any sediment or impurities which may be present in the beer in the keg are carried over into the bottles, which is also a serious objection.
-The object of my present invention is to overcome these defects in a simple and effective manner; and to that end it consists of a passage or conductor one end of which is adapted for tight insertion and removable retention in the bung-hole on the lower side of the keg and provided with a vent-tube which passes up through the beer and into the air-space above, the other end having a chamber across which is placed a strainer and a series of outlet-passages arranged in the wall of the straining-chamber and adapted for engagement with a series of flexible tubes, through which the strained beer passes by gravity into the bottles.
Today in 1995, US Patent 5473161 A was issued, an invention of John A. Nix, Stephen W. Zagarola, and Louis Jolie, for their “Method for Testing Carbonation Loss from Beverage Bottles using IR Spectroscopy.” Here’s the Abstract:
A method for measuring carbonation loss in beverage bottles and predicting shelf-life thereof utilizes infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy. The concentration of CO2 gas in a bottle being tested is measured with an infrared beam according to Beer’s Law. In one embodiment the CO2 gas measured is in the headspace of a test bottle partially filled with carbonated water. The walls of the bottle are clamped in a fixture to maintain the bottle diameter substantially constant. An IR beam is transmitted through the bottle just below the fixture, and absorption values of the beam are measured. Shelf-life is calculated from the absorption values. In another embodiment the test bottle is filled with compressed CO2 gas generated by dry ice placed in the bottle.
Today in 1896, US Patent 572257 A was issued, an invention of Albert Heinemann, for his “Hermetically Closing Jug.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
This invention relates to a jug, pitcher, or like receptacle having a slightly conical neck and a correspondingly-shaped lid, such lid being tightly closed by means of a suitable locking device, which can be readily opened or closed by a suitably-shaped lever. A packing-ring of india-rubber or other suitable material is placed on the lid in such manner that it is tightly pressed against the conical neck of the receptacle when the lid is closed. This receptacle is particularly adapted for gaseous liquids, such as beer, as also for preserves, seeing that the packing-ring prevents any gases escaping, and also prevents atmospheric air gaining access tothe contents of the receptacle.
Monday’s ad is for Miller High Life, from 1913, published in the Telegraph Herald on July 2, 1913. In this curious ad, titled “The Result of Good Brewing—,” the scene is a parade of Germany soldiers. Though it’s hard to read, toward the bottom it reads “High Life in Germany,” while to the left the Miller Girl has been inserted into the illustration as if she’s watching the parade.
But even more curious about this ad is the inset box, “The Brown Bottle Joke,” where they try to explain why using a clear bottle is actually better than using brown, and they do so without even mentioning why brown is preferred or indeed anything about what effect light would have on the beer after bottling.
The brown bottle fallacy has been so completely exploded that little is left to be said in defense of that side of the question which advocated the use of dark bottles to the absolute exclusion of light bottles. It is admitted that common beer comes in dark bottles and that beer of a high degree of stability is preferably bottled in light bottles.
Wahl-Henius Institute of Fermentology (America’s greatest authorities on brewing) are in accord with this view. Here is their statement in relation to the bottling of high-grade beer:
“FOR SUCH BEERS THE LIGHT BOTTLE is PREFERABLY EMPLOYED because it can more readily be inspected before filling to insure thorough cleanliness and because the finished package reveals at a glance whether the contents meet the requirements of the consumer as to color, clarity and freedom from sedimentation.”
Today in 1973, US Patent 3760968 A was issued, an invention of S. Amberg, C. Heyne, and J. Meincer, assigned to Owens Illinois Inc., for their “Composite Container Article” Here’s the Abstract:
The invention disclosed relates to an improved container article for pressurized products, such as beer, beverages, and the like, which is made from a glass bottle or jar and a sheet of shrinkable plastic material pre-decorated as flat sheet, then wrapped on a mandrel to a sleeve that is telescopically inserted over the major side wall of the bottle so that a lower marginal end thereof overhangs the bottom end of the bottle. The sleeve may be of a pre-foamed or non-foamed plastic material and is shrunken in situ by heat so that it fits snugly on the bottle surface and conforms to the body around its shoulder, side wall and its lower corner radius or heel and onto the bottom end of the bottle protecting the glass against surface damage, providing a pre-printed label or decoration for the bottle and covering the bearing surface and lower corner radius of the bottle protecting those areas plus affording coaster protection to furniture or like surfaces. The orientation of the plastic is major on the peripheral dimension of the sleeve and minor on the axial dimension. Antistatic compounds are applied to the surface opposite the printed surface also priming the bottle for good cohesion of the sleeve. The plastic sleeve has a skin depth differential, the thicker skin being adjacent the bottle.
Today in 2010, US Patent 20100236113 A1 was issued, an invention of Shelagh McNally, assigned to Big Rock Brewery, for his “Cover Resembling a Beverage Container.” Here’s the Abstract:
A cover for hay bales and other three dimensional objects, and a method of advertising using the cover is described. The cover is generally of a size and shape to be wrapped about an cylindrical object having the relative proportions of a beverage can. When the cover is applied to hay bales, round bales may be stacked to provide suitable proportions. The cover bears indicia associated with a particular brand and/or type of beverage, such that the covered bales will resemble an enlarged version of the particular beverage can, thereby providing suitable advertising benefit to the beverage company.
