Apparatus for pressurizing containers and carbonating liquids

A hand-held apparatus for pressurizing a container by charging the container with compressed gas from a standard compressed gas cartridge, said apparatus comprising:

• a housing sized to receive a standard cartridge containing compressed gas;
• a piercing element positioned to pierce a diaphragm on the cartridge to allow compressed gas to escape from the cartridge;
• an inlet port into which gas from said cartridge flows;
• an outlet port which is in fluid communication with said inlet port;
• a manually controllable valve which controls the flow of gas out of the cartridge;
• and
• a coupling device for releasably and manually coupling said outlet port with a cap which is removably secured to an opening on said container and which contains a check valve which permits flow of pressurized gas into the container but normally prevents gas flow out of the container, said coupling device being adapted to actuate the check valve when the container is to be charged with said compressed gas.

A gas pressurizing system, comprising:

• a hand-held charging gun having a gas pressure regulating head joined to a gas cartridge housing, said housing sized to receive a compressed gas cartridge, the pressure regulating head comprising:
• a piercing element for piercing a diaphragm of the gas cartridge;
• a valve chamber in fluid communication with the contents of the gas cartridge once the diaphragm has been pierced;
• an upstream valve at the opposite end of the valve chamber from the diaphragm, said upstream valve comprising a valve seat and a plug, the plug being sealingly held against the seat by pressure in the valve chamber;
• a piston positioned to slide within a cylinder and dividing the cylinder into an inner region and an outer region sealed from each other, said piston having a rod extending into the inner region, the rod extending through a passageway into contact with the upstream valve plug;
• a manual control button retained within a chamber adjacent the outer region of the cylinder;
• a pressure regulating spring positioned between the outer end of the piston and the inner end of the control button to transmit displacement of said control button to said piston;
• a transfer port in the inner region of the cylinder leading to an actuator having a nipple;
• and
• a first check valve cap having an aperture sized to receive said nipple and having internal threads shaped to sealingly mate with a neck of a first bottle containing a liquid, said first check valve cap having a check valve therewithin for retaining pressure within the bottle to which the cap is attached,
• wherein said first bottle may be pressurized by manually engaging the pressure regulating head to the check valve cap so that the nipple extends through the aperture to actuate said check valve, thereby opening a fluid communication path between the cylinder of the pressure regulating head and the contents of the bottle, and wherein depression of the control button causes the pressure regulating spring to compress and the piston rod to displace the valve plug from the upstream valve seat allowing pressurized gas from the cartridge to enter the cylinder and thereafter enter the bottle.