METHOD AND APPARATUS TO PERFORM QUICK VACUUM EVACUATION FROM UNIVERSAL SEALABLE VACUUM CONTAINERS OR WINE BOTTLES

Abstract

A method and apparatus to perform effortless vacuum evacuation for food and wine preserving and meat marinating purpose. The vacuum method allows the apparatus to work with any food sealable vacuum container and wine bottle found on the market. The method also conveniently allows vacuum operation without using tubing to connect between sealable vacuum container and vacuum source. The food and wine vacuuming apparatus are of circular shape, which include vacuum chamber, vacuum source, control circuitry, vacuum switch, and solenoid release valve.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to a method and apparatus to perform effortless vacuum evacuation on universal food sealable vacuum containers or wine bottles for food preserving and meat marinating.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Storing and preserving food in vacuum environment has been proven to prolong the life of food significantly. Currently, there are many types of appliances that can be found in the market to perform vacuum evacuation from sealable vacuum containers, which are typically made of plastic or glass. Sealable vacuum containers are characterized as those are equipped with a valve that only allows air to go in one direction. Air is extracted from the container through this valve using vacuum pump. Sealable vacuum containers are also equipped with a release valve that allows the air to fill back into the container at the end of the storage period to recover the preserved food.

Almost all sealable vacuum containers (i.e U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,493) found on the market nowadays are proprietarily designed to only work with their compatible vacuum appliances. This fact can add to the cost of owning vacuum operation at home.

Another shortcoming of prior art systems is that it takes a great deal of efforts to operate vacuum evacuation on sealable vacuum containers. As for all existing vacuum appliances (i.e. FoodSaver® Vacuum Sealer), in order to extract air from a sealable vacuum container, the user has to use a tubing extended from the vacuum appliance and insert it into the sealable vacuum container extract valve. After the vacuum operation is done, the user has to store the tubing back into the vacuum appliance.

Current vacuum appliances on the market can only perform vacuum extraction from a sealable vacuum container, one at a time. The user has to repeat the tubing inserting and air extracting process multiple times if he/she has multiple sealable vacuum containers that need to be vacuumed. This can increase the time and effort to perform vacuum operation significantly.

Vacuum operation can also be utilized to aid the meat marinating process as it can speed it up. Most vacuum appliances in the market now can be used for this purpose. However, each vacuum appliance also requires its proprietary sealable vacuum container. Furthermore, tubing has to be used between the vacuum appliance and the sealable vacuum container.

Furthermore, a market research has found that none of the existing vacuum appliances can be used to extract air from universal wine bottles to preserve wine. Since wine bottles are not proprietarily designed to work with current vacuum appliances, they cannot be used with them. The only device that can be used for this purpose is the vacuum hand pump that works with its proprietarily designed bottle vacuum stopper.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above shortcomings and others are addressed in one or more preferred embodiments and vacuum process of the invention described herein. In one aspect of the invention, the system used for evacuating air from the sealable vacuum containers comprised of a vacuum chamber that is large enough to enclose a sealable vacuum container or multiple of them. This vacuum chamber, in effect, is a large-size vacuum container that has a vacuum port. The vacuum chamber is of circular shape to better withstand the negative pressure. The vacuum chambers are formed by a dome as the top part and the base unit as the bottom part. Between the top part and the bottom part is an airtight element. The vacuum port is on the base unit.

The other aspect of the invention is a system of tubing, vacuum pump, release valve, vacuum switch, microchip control board, and operation switches. This system is connected to the vacuum chamber to control the vacuum condition inside the vacuum chamber and the food sealable vacuum container.

Another aspect yet of the invention is the vacuum extracting and quick releasing process that allows the operation to work with any food sealable vacuum container found on the market.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the vacuuming process in action.

FIG. 2 shows the de-vacuuming process in action.

FIG. 3 is the perspective view of the food vacuum appliance with a food sealable vacuum container in open position.

FIG. 4 is the perspective view of the food vacuum appliance with a food sealable vacuum container in closed, operating, position.

FIG. 5 is the perspective view of the wine vacuum appliance with a wine bottle in open position.

FIG. 6 is the perspective view of the wine vacuum appliance with a wine bottle in closed, operating, position.

FIG. 7 is the operating flow chart of the vacuuming and de-vacuuming process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to apparatuses and method to perform vacuum evacuation from universal food sealable vacuum containers or wine bottles for food and wine preserving. The invention also relates to a vacuum evacuation method for meat marinating. FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show the vacuum evacuation operations on a vacuum chamber. There are two types of vacuum chambers presented in this invention: food and wine vacuum chambers. Without losing the generality, only the food vacuum chamber is presented in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, where the vacuum operations are presented. FIG. 1 shows the vacuum evacuation process, and FIG. 2 shows the de-vacuuming process. FIG. 3 shows the perspective view of the food vacuum chamber, with a sealable vacuum container, in open position, FIG. 4 shows the perspective view of the food vacuum chamber, with a sealable vacuum container, in close or operating position. FIG. 5 shows the perspective view of the wine vacuum chamber, with a wine bottle, in open position, and FIG. 6 shows the perspective view of the wine vacuum chamber, with a wine bottle, in close or operating position. FIG. 7 shows the flow chart of the operating processes. The key of the invention that makes this vacuum appliance novel and different than the existing ones is the quick de-vacuuming process. This allows the food sealable vacuum container to remain vacuumed after the process. The basis of the vacuum and de-vacuum process is as followed.

FIG. 1 shows the vacuum evacuation process in action. In this figure, the food vacuum chamber 1 is used, as shown in its sectional view. For illustration purpose (not part of this invention), a food sealable vacuum container 2 is also shown placed inside the vacuum chamber. For the purpose of simplicity and without losing generality, only the food vacuum chamber is shown in this figure. The vacuum operation is the same for all vacuum chambers, food or wine. These vacuum chambers are shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6. Back to FIG. 1, the food vacuum chamber comprises of a dome 1 and the base unit. A vacuum port, 16, on the base unit is connected to the vacuuming system, which comprises of tubing 15, vacuum pump 5, vacuum switch 4, release valve 3, control circuit 11, and operating switches 7-10. The vacuum pump, vacuum switch, and the release valve are connected to the control circuit by electric wirings 12-14, same as the operating switches 7-10. Vacuum pump 5 is a commercially-off-the shelve (COTS) one and is of reciprocating type, which has a piston that moves inside a cylinder. The vacuum pump cylinder is equipped with a one-way valve that only allows the air to go one way. The vacuum pump piston is driven by an electric motor in such a way that it moves in a reciprocating pattern and draw air from the cylinder, which in turn will extract air from the vacuum chamber. Vacuum switch 4 is a COTS vacuum sensor that acts as an electrical switch, which is triggered by the sensed vacuum level. The vacuum switch used in this application is a normally-open one, meaning its electric switch is in opened position when the sensed vacuum level is less than the preset threshold. When the sensed vacuum level crosses a preset value, the vacuum switch will close its electrical switch. The release valve 3 is a normally-closed on-off solenoid valve, which can be controlled electronically. The release valve used for this application is of a high-flowrate one to allow an almost instantaneous de-vacuuming process, and this is what makes this invention novel. Control circuit 11 comprises of programmable microchip controller and circuitry for power supply and for powering up the pump, valve, lights . . . .

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show the perspective view of the food vacuum appliance. A food sealable vacuum container is also shown placed inside the vacuum appliance. This food sealable vacuum container can be of any brand on the market. Typically, these food sealable vacuum containers are equipped with a vacuuming one-way valve 4a and a release valve 4b. The base unit 2 houses the pump, valve, and the control unit. The airtight dome is secured on top of the base unit by its own weight. Rubbery material is used for the seal between the dome and the base unit. The buttons 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d are for vacuum, cancel, marinate 1, and marinate 2 enabling. The vacuum port 2d is also shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show the wine vacuum appliance. Wine vacuum appliance comprises of top part 2, which is of one opened-end cylinder shape and secured on top of base unit 1 by its own weight. A rubbery seal is in between the two units. The control panel is on the side of the base unit. Button 1a and 1b are for vacuum and cancel enabling. Shown inside the vacuum chamber is a wine bottle 4, which is sported with a vacuum stopper 5. FIG. 6 also shows the internal view of the wine vacuum appliance; where pump, valve, and control unit 1c are shown.

Starting with the vacuum operation, as shown in FIG. 7 for control logics and FIG. 1 for actual system, the user first places a food sealable vacuum container inside the vacuum chamber and close the vacuum chamber lid down. When the vacuum switch 7 is pressed by the user, which responses to the “vacuum switch on” on the operating flow chart in FIG. 7, the vacuum pump 5 will be turned on to extract air from the vacuum chamber. Since the vacuum switch 4 is also connected in-line with the air tubing 15, it can sense the air pressure inside the tubing and therefore the vacuum chamber itself. Since the food sealable vacuum container is inside the vacuum chamber, air is also extracted from it. As mentioned earlier, the food sealable vacuum container is equipped with a one-way valve. The pressure imbalance between the vacuum chamber and the food sealable vacuum container when the vacuum evacuation in action will also cause the air to escape the food sealable vacuum container through its valve.

When the vacuum level in the tubing hit the preset vacuum threshold set on the vacuum switch, it sends signal to the microchip controller to turn off the vacuum pump and open up the release valve to let the air into the vacuum chamber to de-vacuum it instantaneously, as shown in FIG. 2. The air flow is in the direction of the shown arrows along the tubing. The food sealable vacuum container, because of its one-way valve, preventing the air from getting back into it, and therefore remains vacuumed after this process, even after the pressure inside the vacuum chamber has become that of the ambient. As mentioned earlier, the release valve used is a high-flowrate one that allows instantaneous de-vacuuming, and this is key of this invention. If a low-flowrate valve were used and the de-vacuuming process were not quick enough, the air would leak back into the food sealable vacuum container. The one-way valve on the food sealable vacuum container only works if the differential pressure, inside vs. outside of the container, is large enough. A slow de-vacuuming process would cause a low differential pressure, and the air will find it way back into the food sealable vacuum container. Following the de-vacuuming process, a 3-second delay is allowed before the microchip controller will send a signal to close the release valve and to set the system back to the standby mode, getting ready for the next command. The user now can open the vacuum chamber to retrieve the food sealable vacuum container to store it somewhere else. When needed, the user can press the release valve on the food sealable vacuum container to de-vacuum it and retrieve the food inside.

For the wine vacuum appliance, the vacuum operation on the wine bottle follows the exact procedure as in the vacuuming the food sealable vacuum container. However, instead of extracting the air from the sealable vacuum container, the air now is extracted from the wine bottles themselves. The wine bottle vacuuming process is made possible with the use of wine bottle vacuum stopper, which are readily available on the market. These stoppers act as a one-way valve and release valve combined. The user just plugs a vacuum stopper into the wine bottle and place it in the wine vacuum appliance and turn the vacuum switch on to start the vacuuming process. When the vacuum pressure has reached the preset value, the wine vacuum appliance will go into the de-vacuuming cycle, while the wine bottle still remains vacuumed. The user now can retrieve the vacuumed wine bottle from the wine vacuum appliance. When needed, the user can press the vacuum stopper to de-vacuum the bottle.

For the food vacuuming appliance, the next available operation is meat marinating Mode 1. FIG. 7 shows the operation procedure of this mode, starting with “marinating 1 switch on” block. To marinate meat, unlike with prior art systems, the user can use any open container for meat and marinating recipes, as opposed to a proprietary one of closed type. Trays, bowls . . . can be used for this purpose. Prior art systems require that meat and marinating recipes be placed in a specially designed, sealable container. Back to FIG. 1, the user first place meat and marinating recipes container inside the vacuum chamber and press mal button 9 to start this marinating mode. The vacuum pump 5 will turn on to start pumping air out of the vacuum chamber. When the vacuum level sensed by vacuum switch 3 reaches the preset threshold, the vacuum switch 3 will send a signal to the microchip controller to stop the vacuum pump 5. A 6-minute delay will follow to allow the marinating recipes to soak into the meat. Following this 6-minute delay, the microchip controller will open the release valve 3 to de-vacuum the sealable vacuum container. After a 3-second delay, the release valve 3 is closed again by the microchip controller, getting ready for the next vacuuming cycle, which will start immediately by turning on the vacuum pump. The next vacuuming cycle will end at the end of the 3-second delay mentioned above. In summary, Marinating Mode 1 consists of five vacuuming cycles as described above and totals about 30 minutes.

Marinating Mode 2 logics are shown on FIG. 7, starting with “marinating 2 switch on” block. The user will press the mat button 9 on FIG. 1 to start this mode. Marinating Mode 2 is similar to marinating Mode 1, except the delay period is 30 minutes instead of 5 minutes. Also, there is no repeat of the vacuuming cycle as in Mode 1.

At any time into an operation, when cancel button 8 is pressed, the vacuum pump 5 will stop and release valve 3 will open to bring the pressure inside the vacuum chamber to that of the ambient.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described, modifications may be made without departing from the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims, and all devices that come within the meaning of the claims, either literally or by equivalence, are intended to be embraced therein.

Claims

1. An appliance for vacuum evacuating operation on universal food sealable vacuum container, said appliance comprising:

a vacuum chamber, said vacuum chamber is either in rectangular shape or circular shape, said circular vacuum chamber is made out of glass;

a vacuum chamber enclosure, said vacuum chamber enclosure is either an airtight door that is hingeably mounted at the front of the said rectangular vacuum chamber or an airtight lid that is removable from the top of the said circular vacuum chamber;

a vacuum source and control unit, said vacuum source and control unit is mounted at the back of said rectangular vacuum chamber on the top of said circular vacuum chamber;

a control panel, said control panel comprising operation buttons and indicating lights, said control panel is mounted at the front of the said rectangular vacuum chamber or on the top of said circular vacuum chamber.

2. An appliance for vacuum evacuating wine bottle, said appliance comprising:

a vacuum chamber, said vacuum chamber is of cylinder shape with one end opened and one end closed and made out of plexiglass;

a base unit, said base unit is airtight against the said vacuum chamber sitting above it and comprising vacuum source, control unit, and control panel.

3. A method for vacuum evacuating universal food sealable vacuum container, said method comprising the steps of:

turning the said vacuum source on;

monitoring vacuum level in the said vacuum chamber;

turning the said vacuum source off when vacuum level meets threshold;

quickly de-vacuuming said vacuum chamber to retain the food sealable vacuum container in vacuum state.

4. A method for vacuum evacuating wine bottle, said method comprising the steps of:

turning the said vacuum source on;

monitoring vacuum level in the said vacuum chamber;

turning the said vacuum source off when vacuum level meets threshold;

quickly de-vacuuming said vacuum chamber to retain the wine bottle in vacuum state.

5. A method for vacuum evacuating that aid the meat marinating process, said method comprising the steps of:

turning the said vacuum source on;

monitoring vacuum level in the said vacuum chamber;

turning the said vacuum source off when vacuum level meets threshold;

keeping the meat under vacuum state for a period of time;

De-vacuuming said vacuum chamber;

Repeat that vacuuming and de-vacuuming cycle few times for marinating Mode 1 and no repeat for marinating Mode 2.