Fluid dispensing system

A fluid container comprising:

• walls forming a substantially closed container capable of holding pressurized fluid;
• valve assembly means having a plurality of valves, said valve assembly having a body portion with a seal engaging surface;
• valve receiving means mounted within one of said walls of said container for holding said valve assembly for pressurizing fluid contained in said container and operating with said valve assembly to deliver fluid under pressure to a tapping mechanism attached to said valve assembly;
• the upper portion of said body portion of said valve assembly being arranged within said valve receiving member such that its upper portion is substantially flush with the upper portion of said valve receiving member;
• and means for securing said valve assembly to said container including a deformable sealing member, and non-threaded means for deforming said sealing member between said seal engaging surface of said valve assembly and said receiving member without a need for substantial rotational movement, said non-threaded deforming means being releasably secured within said receiving means at a predetermined position relative to said valve body portion for preventing overcompression of said seal member when said seal member is in engagement with said seal engaging surface.

A fluid container capable of receiving a valve assembly having a plurality of valves and a valve body with a complementary seal engaging surface and a retaining member engaging surface comprising:

• walls forming a substantially closed container capable of holding pressurized fluid;
• and a valve receiving assembly mounted in one of said walls of said container for holding a valve assembly for enabling fluid contained in said container to be pressurized and enabling such valve assembly to deliver fluid under pressure to a tapping mechanism attached to the valve assembly;
• said valve receiving assembly including:
• a neck member configured to receive the valve assembly, said neck member including an upper portion and a lower portion;
• said lower portion of said neck member has a seal engaging surface;
• said neck member has a plurality of flanges positioned around its outer peripheral surface and each of said flanges is wedge shaped and at least one of said flanges has a stop member at one end for limiting the movement of a coupler when attached to said neck member and one of said flanges has a blocking portion serving to engage with a locking member of a coupler for preventing release of such coupler when such coupler is in the open position;
• and said upper portion of said neck member has receiving means for receiving a resilient retaining member;
• said neck member being able to hold the valve assembly such that the upper portion of the valve assembly is substantially flush with the upper portion of said neck member when the valve assembly is closed and
• said receiving means being located for receiving a retaining member in engageable relationship with the retaining member engaging surface of the valve body for maintaining the complementary seal engaging surface a predetermined distance from said seal engaging surface of said neck member and compressing a sealing member between said seal engaging surface and the complementary seal engaging surface to effect a seal between the valve assembly and said neck member.

A coupler assembly for coupling a fluid dispensing mechanism to a valve assembly mounted within a neck member of a fluid container, where the neck member is substantially cylindrical and has a plurality of separate flanges extending in a circumferential direction around the outer peripheral surface of the neck member, each of the flanges has a stop member at one end thereof and the valve assembly includes two valves, said coupler assembly comprising:

• a coupler body having a side fitting coupled to a first passageway within said coupler body and a top fitting coupled to a second passageway within said coupler body;
• a probe member movable within said coupler body, said probe member being coupled to said top fitting and having a passageway therethrough in communication with said second passageway;
• actuating means for moving said probe member between an open position and a closed position whereby in said open position said coupler opens the valves of the valve assembly and connects all of said passageways within said coupler body to the open valves and in said closed position said coupler seals said passageways of the valves of the valve assembly;
• means for releasably securing said coupler body to the neck member, said securing means including a plurality of engagement members extending from the bottom of said coupler for gripping corresponding flanges so as to secure said coupler body to the neck member, said securing means enabling said coupler body to be rotated on the neck member with such rotational movement being limited by the stop members on the flanges;
• and, locking means for preventing said coupler from being disengaged from the neck member when said probe is in said open position, said locking means including a locking member movable into a position for engaging one of the flanges of the neck member for preventing any attempted rotational movement of said coupler.