# US 10,501,259 B2 · Control of bubble size in a carbonated liquid > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,501,259 B2 - Document ID: US10501259B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/080,402 - Filed: 2016-03-24 - Published: 2016-07-21 - Granted: 2019-12-10 - Earliest claimed: 2010-10-20 - Assignees: PepsiCo, Inc. - Applicants: PepsiCo, Inc. - Inventors: Lee M. Nicholson; Peter S. Given; Prasad V. Joshi; Wei Liu; Denise H. Lefebvre; Marcin Jankowiak - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10501259B2 ## CPC - B65D 85/73: with means specially adapted for effervescing the liquids, e.g. for forming bubbles or beer head - B29C 49/12: Stretching rods - B29D 22/003: {Containers for packaging, storing or transporting, e.g. bottles, jars, cans, barrels, tanks} - B65D 1/023: {Neck construction} - B65D 17/02: {of curved cross-section, e.g. cans of circular or elliptical cross-section} - B65D 17/4012: {for opening partially by means of a tearing tab} - B65D 25/02: Internal fittings (of containers made by folding or erecting blanks made of paper B65D5/44) - B65D 25/38: Devices for discharging contents ({containers formed by folding or erecting paper blanks B65D5/72} ; incorporated in removable or non-permanently secured closure members B65D47/00; for discharging thin flat articles B65D83/08) - B29C 49/1212: {the stretching rod comprising at least one opening on the surface, e.g. through which compressed air is blown into the preform to expand the same} - B29K 2067/003: {PET, i.e. poylethylene terephthalate} - B65D 2517/0049: Straws, spouts, funnels, or other devices facilitating pouring or emptying - B65D: CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES - B29C: SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING (making preforms B29B11/00; making laminated products by combining previously unconnected layers which become one product whose layers will remain together B32B37/00 - B32B41/00) - B29D: PRODUCING PARTICULAR ARTICLES FROM PLASTICS OR FROM SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE (making granules B29B9/00; making preforms B29B11/00) - B29K: INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR {MOULDS, } REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS ## Abstract Cans, bottles and/or other containers used to hold a carbonated beverage can include internal features to promote and/or control bubble formation. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An article of manufacture, comprising: a container having an internal surface defining an internal volume; a carbonated liquid beverage sealed within the internal volume; a closed outlet located on the beverage container, the outlet configured for opening and positioned on the container so as to permit draining of the beverage from the internal volume through the outlet after opening of the outlet; and a baffle located within the beverage container, wherein the baffle is attached to portions of the internal surface and defines a passage separated from a remainder of the internal volume, wherein the passage has a volume less than the remainder of the internal volume, and a fluid path between the outlet and the remainder of the internal volume extends through the passage. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the fluid path is the only fluid path between the outlet and the remainder of the internal volume, and the fluid path extends through the passage. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the container comprises a metal can. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The article of manufacture of claim 3, wherein the baffle is vertically oriented when the can base is resting on a flat surface. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the passage comprises walls formed by a face of the baffle and a portion of the container internal surface, and wherein at least one of the passage walls comprises a plurality of surface features configured to perform at least one of the following operations upon opening of the outlet and draining of the beverage from the internal volume: promoting nucleation, and slowing movement of bubbles through the passage. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The article of manufacture of claim 5, wherein the surface features comprise at least one of short hair-like projections, small bumps, pits and surface indentations. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The article of manufacture of claim 5, wherein the surface features comprise linear protrusions, the linear protrusions comprising at least one of ribs, ridges or riblets. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The article of manufacture of claim 7, wherein the linear protrusions comprise discontinuous linear protrusions separated by interruptions. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The article of manufacture of claim 7, wherein the linear protrusions are oriented in a direction generally parallel to a direction of flow through the passage when the beverage is drained from the internal volume. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The article of manufacture of claim 7, wherein the linear protrusions are oriented in a direction generally perpendicular to a direction of flow through the passage when the beverage is drained from the internal volume. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The article of manufacture of claim 7, wherein the linear protrusions are oriented in directions generally at angles to a direction of flow through the passage when the beverage is drained from the internal volume, the angles being neither perpendicular nor parallel to the direction of flow. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein: the baffle is attached at a top of the container and extends down into the internal volume. ### Claim 13 An article of manufacture, comprising a container having a base, a sidewall and a top, wherein internal surfaces of the base, sidewall and top define an internal volume, and wherein at least the base internal surface is formed from a first material; a carbonated liquid beverage sealed within the internal volume; a closed outlet located on the container, the outlet configured for opening so as to permit draining of the beverage from the internal volume through the outlet after opening of the outlet; and a plurality of discrete nucleating elements embedded in the internal base surface and exposed to the beverage, wherein each of the discrete nucleating elements is formed from a second material, the second material is different from the first material, each of the discrete nucleating elements is configured to promote nucleation upon opening of the outlet, wherein the container is a bottle, the first material is a first plastic, the second material is a second plastic, and the discrete nucleating elements comprise particles of the second plastic. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The article of manufacture of claim 13, wherein the container is a bottle, the first material is plastic, the second material is silica, and the discrete nucleating elements comprise sand-sized particles. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The article of manufacture of claim 13, wherein the discrete nucleating elements further comprise insoluble fibers. ### Claim 16 An article of manufacture, comprising: a container having a base, a sidewall and a top, internal surfaces of the base, sidewall and top defining an internal volume; a carbonated liquid beverage sealed within the internal volume; and a nucleating structure located within the internal volume and extending upward from the internal surfaces of the base, the nucleating structure including a plurality of surfaces exposed to the beverage, at least one of the nucleating structure exposed surfaces having nucleation surface features thereon, the nucleation surface features comprising at least one of scratches or roughened regions, wherein: the container is a bottle; the base internal surface is formed from a first material; and the nucleating structure is formed from a second material that is different from the first material. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The article of manufacture of claim 16, wherein the nucleating structure comprises sharply pointed projections.