US 12,110,221 B2
Pouring device
Adrien Gatti, Lille (FR); Matthieu Guyot, Mons en Baroeuil (FR); Christian Dupire, Marquette Lez Lille (FR); Hervé Szymanek, Lambersart (FR); and Yves Gosselin, Allouagne (FR)
Assigned to LESAFFRE ET COMPAGNIE, Paris (FR)
Appl. No. 17/786,153
Filed by LESAFFRE ET COMPAGNIE, Paris (FR)
PCT Filed Dec. 17, 2020, PCT No. PCT/FR2020/052507
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jun. 16, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/123645, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 24, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 1915023 (FR), filed on Dec. 19, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2023/0312320 A1, Oct. 5, 2023
Int. Cl. B67B 7/00 (2006.01); B65D 81/20 (2006.01)
CPC B67B 7/26 (2013.01) [B65D 81/203 (2013.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. Pouring device suitable for piercing and emptying a granular material contained in a vacuum-sealed package, comprising:
a tubular body, having a duct for the flow of the material, extending from an inlet opening positioned at a first end of the tubular body to an outlet opening for the granular material, positioned at a second end of the tubular body,
a hollow piercing tool having a distal end ending in a pointed tip and a widened base at the proximal end thereof, rigidly connected to the tubular body at the first end of the tubular body, the piercing tool having at least one lateral opening along the length of the piercing tool, said lateral opening extending along the length of the piercing tool from the widened base of the piercing tool, said lateral opening being configured to allow the material to be poured from the outside to the inside of the hollow portion of the piercing tool, the hollow portion of the widened base of the piercing tool communicating with the inlet opening of the tubular body, and
a shoulder serving as a peripheral stop, formed by the first end of the tubular body arranged around the widened base of the piercing tool, said shoulder serving as a stop being configured to come into contact with the wall of the package to stop the pouring device when said wall is pierced by the piercing tool in a position in which said lateral opening extends to the inside of the package,
wherein said pouring device is configured to ensure the continuous emptying of the contents of the vacuum-sealed package when the pouring device is oriented vertically, the pointed tip pointing upward, the granular material flowing by gravity through said lateral opening via the inlet opening and to the outlet opening by gravity in the opposite direction of an air entering the vacuum-sealed package, and
wherein the piercing tool comprises a locking groove intended to receive the wall edge of the package directly, or indirectly via an annular ring rigidly connected to the wall of the package, said locking groove being configured so as to hold the piercing tool once the package has been pierced by the piercing tool, said groove being formed by a plurality of notches located on a same radius with respect to the axis A of the piercing tool.