GB2335900A - Containers for dispensing beverages - Google Patents

Abstract

A system for dispensing beverages includes a container (40), for example a moulded plastics bottle, which contains a drinks syrup and is adapted to be connected to a dispensing supply line. As the syrup is dispensed from the container, the container collapses. The container may have lines of weakness or corrugated walls (50) which assist collapsing of the container as it is emptied. The container may also include means to prevent it being re-filled with concentrate after it has been de-coupled from the supply line and/or to indicate any attempt at refilling.

Description

11 2335900 1 DISPENSING BEVERAGES This invention relates to dispensing

beverages and especially, but not exclusively, to dispensing soft drinks which are made by diluting a concentrate.

The invention originally arose in the field of bar-dispense carbonated soft drinks, which are made by mixing a concentrated syrup with carbonated water. However, the invention has been found. to have applications in other fields.

There are two main ways used in the soft drinks industry (for example, in public houses) of providing a concentrate, known as a 94syrup", to a manually-operated tap for dilution with a potable liquid (e.g. carbonated water, or still water). The first way is provide the syrup in extremely strong, and rigid, stainless steel "milk churns", which are reusable. They are filled with the syrup at a factory, pressurised, typically using nitrogen, to a high pressure, and sealed closed. The internal pressure in the vessel is used to expel the syrup when an onloff valve is opened. These "milk churns" are transported to public houses, where they are plumbed in to a delivery system to provide the syrup to a dispense counter-mount on a bar counter at the public house. When the syrup runs low, or is fully used up, the landlord of the public house returns the "milk churns" to the factory for re-use.

The stainless steel "milk churns" are very heavy, expensive, and there need to be a large number of them in circulation for each one actually plumbed in to the delivery line in the public house. (Some need to be being cleaned, some need to be being filled, some need to be being transported, some need to be in stock in the public house).

2 The second way of delivering concentrate, and one which is by far the more popular in the soft drinks industry, is to provide the syrup in a "bag-in-a-box" format, the bag being provided with a coupling to connect 5 the contents of the bag to a syrup-supply pipework in the public house. The public house has a pump to pump the syrup out of the bag-in-a-box to the dispense counter-mount, where it is mixed with carbonated waterlstill water and dispensed into a glass.

1.1 A typical prior-art bag comprises upper and lower square or rectangular metallised laminar sheets which are welded together at their edges to form a sealed bag. The bag commonly has a volume of about 10 litres. A single hole is provided on one side surface of the bag, near a peripheral edge of the bag, and a plastics material valve is affixed to the bag so as to communicate the contents of the bag to the valve. The valve has a valve stem with coupling means adapted to couple it to complementary coupling means of the public house syrup-supply pipework.

The bag comprises an inner ply of polyethylene (plus other modifying chemicals), and an outer ply which comprises three layers: a middle layer of a metallised polyester sandwiched between upper and lower layers of polyethylene. The valve is also made of polyethylene and contains a stainless steel spring.

The bag has to be strong enough to withstand the hydraulic pressures exerted on it by the syrup that it contains, especially during transport of the full bag from the factory to the public house. The material of the bag constitutes a barrier to oxygen so as to prevent the 30 concentrate/ syrup inside becoming oxidised.

3 The bag, even when full of concentrate, is flexible: ripples can be seen in the surface of the bag if it is tapped with a finger. In order to protect the bag, and in order to provide some reaction to the hydraulic force applied by the fluid inside the bag, it is placed inside a strong cardboard box. cardboard box.

The stem of the valve is passed through a hole in the 1 It can be seen that the prior art bag-in-a-box has some problems.

Hitherto, these problems have simply been accepted (bag-in-a-box according to the prior art has been available for many years). For example, the bags cannot easily be recycled, because they are made of several different materials (polyethylene, polyesters, stainless steel, high-density polyethylene).

Furthermore, the bags can easily be damaged during manufacture and/or transport. The welded seal at the periphery of the bag is a point of weakness. Furthermore, because of the extremely flexible nature of the laminar bag wall, the bag can be folded back on itself, or creased, and the stresses introduced into the material during this foldinglcreasing can cause weakening. The laminar material is also relatively soft and can be scratched, nicked, or torn during handling of the bag. Transporting the bag in a strong cardboard box helps to reduce the damage to the bag due to handling once it is inside the cardboard box, but the cardboard box needs to be very strong, and is therefore expensive.

A further problem with the prior-art bag-in-a-box delivery system is that of "scalping". When a filled bag-in-a-box is left for a period of a week or two, it absorbs some of the flavour of the concentrate contained within the bag. The flavour leaches into the plastics inner layer of the 4 bag. This can be a problem for landlords and customers alike because it gives the bag-in-a-box a restricted shelf life.

When using the prior-art bag-in-a-box system it is necessary to provide shelving racks to store the boxes in the public house.

Over and above all of the aforementioned problems, the most worrying problem to manufacturers of concentratelsyrup is that of the potential refilling of bags with a non-approved syruplconcenthte.. Such a non-approved syrup will almost certainly be of lower quality. This procedure of re-filling the bags deprives the customer of the high quality syrup that was originally in the bag, cheats the manufacturer of the syrup out of a fresh order for a new bag-in-a-box of syrup, and can also damage the brand reputation of the drink concerned. Furthermore, when the valve of the bag-in-a-box is tampered with in order to introduce a non-approved syrup, air can be trapped in the bag, resulting in accelerated oxidation of the syrup.

In a first aspect, therefore, the present invention provides a package for dispensing drinks comprising a container and a liquid held in the container, the container having coupling means adapted in use to couple the container to a supply line whereby the liquid can be dispensed from the container, in which the container is self-supporting before being filled with the liquid and collapses as the liquid is dispensed therefrom.

In a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, the container is provided with means to prevent its being re-filled with the liquid after it has been de-coupled from the supply line.

In an alternative embodiment, the container is provided with means to indicate any attempt to re-fill with liquid after it has been de-coupled from the supply line.

Preferably the container is capable of having a first, full condition and a second, empty (or less full) condition and means adapted to prevent the successful return of the container to the first condition once it has been put into its second condition. The container may be adapted to break, or to be substantially weakened to an unsafe level, if an attempt is made to return it from its second condition to its first condition.

Preferably the container has a visually different appearance if it is returned to its first condition from its second condition, compared with the visual appearance of a container in its first condition before it has ever been put into its second condition. Preferably the container may be provided with lines of weakness, or fold lines, to control, in use, the collapse of the container. The lines of weakness may extend vertically, horizontally, or diagonally around the surface of the container relative to the container's central axis. The lines of weakness may be annular and extend completely around the container. Alternatively, they may not extend completely around the container. The lines of weakness may form a regular, or irregular, pattern on the container surface.

The container may be adapted to collapse in an undefined, irregular manner.

The container may be adapted to not return to its original shape after it has collapsed.

6 The container may be provided with support means adapted to enable the container to be suspended with an outlet aperture at the lowest level, so as to cause the concentrate in use to be urged by gravity towards the outlet aperture. The support means may, for example, comprise a hook.

Alternatively, the support means may comprise a generally annular shelf.

The container may be made of a plastics material, for example polyethylene terephthalate, or a co-extruded high-density polyethylene/ethylene-vinyl alcohollhigh-density polyethylene laminate.

The hook may be movable between a transport position in which it lies flat against the surface of the container, and an operative position in which it extends away from the surface of the container.

Preferably the liquid is a concentrate or a syrup, and the container may comprise a generally cylindrical body of a plastics material. The cylindrical body may have generally annular corrugations in its cylindrical wall.

According to a second aspect of the invention we provide a drinks dispense apparatus comprising a dispense unit, a supply of drinks concentrate having a container of concentrate provided with coupling means, concentrate -s upp ly pipework provided with complementary coupling means coupled to said coupling means and communicating with the dispense unit, and a supply of potable dilutant liquid connected to the dispense unit; the container being in accordance with the first aspect of the invention.

7 According to a third aspect of the invention we provide a method of dispensing drinks from an apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, in which the container is self-supporting before being 5 filled with the concentrate and collapses as concentrate is dispensed therefrom.

Preferably, the container collapses progressively as the concentrate is dispensed therefrom. The container preferably collapses id a controlled manner, for example from the bottom upwards.

The container may be of circular or rectangular cross-section. The container may have an internal volume of about 10 litres. The outlet spigot of the container may be of up to 60 mm diameter, or greater. Preferably the container is in use hung in an inverted fashion to draw syrup from the container using gravity in addition to pumping it out. The container may have a tamper-proof, or tamper-evident closure.

The container may be pressurised with a gas during manufacture.

This may make it stronger for transport. An inert gas (one which does not affect the container or contents) is clearly preferred, and nitrogen is probably best. The gas-pressurised container may be vented before being coupled to a syrup delivery line.

The invention may reduce the cost of providing packaged concentrate.

The invention may also be seen as being a method of improving the durability and strength of syrup containers used, for example, in public houses; or a method of reducing "scalping" of flavour.

8 Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:- is Figure 1 shows a prior art bag-in-a-box system for providing concentrate adapted to be diluted upon dispense;

Figure 2 shows a prior art flexible bag adapted to be distorted and received in the box of Figure 1;

Figure 3 shows a valve and coupling mechanism of the prior art arrangement of Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 shows a cross-section through a container of syrup in accordance with the present invention; Figure 5 shows the container of Figure 4 in an empty state; Figure 6 schematically illustrates the beverage dispense system in a public house; Figure 7a, shows several substantially full containers in accordance with the present invention provided in a storage area of a public house; Figure 7b shows one of the containers of Figure 7a in a substantially empty condition; Figure 8 shows an alternative embodiment of the present invention; 9 Figure 9 shows the embodiment of Figure 8 after use; Figures 9a and 9b show a further embodiment of the present invention before and after use respectively; Figure 10 shows the embodiment of Figure 4 part-way through use, when it still has about half of the original syrup left in it; Figure 11 shows another embodiment of the invention,' Figure 12 shows a further embodiment of the invention, and also shows the cardboard box in which the container is housed; Figures 13 and 14 show a connector of a containen and Figure 15 shows a connector complementary to that of Figures 12 and 13, provided on a syrup supply line.

Figure 1 shows a prior art bag-in-a-box 10 supply of soft drinks concentrate (e.g. concentrated orange drink), comprising a flexible bag 12 and a strong cardboard box 14. The bag is best shown in Figure 2 and comprises an upper rectangular panel 16 welded to a lower panel 18 at their peripheral edges by weld 20. A plastics spigot or flange fitting 22 is heat-sealed to the upper panel 16. A valve fits into the spigotlflange.

Each of the panels 16 and 18 comprises an inner ply of polyethylene and an outer ply which comprises a layer of polyester sandwiched between two layers of polyethylene. The bag is metallised and has a shiny mirrormetal finish. The material of the layers is very flexible and returns easily to its original shape when it is distorted (especially when the bag contains liquid concentrate).

1 The valve 22 co-operates in use with a coupling 24 provided on syrupsupply pipework 26 of a public house. Figure 3 illustrates schematically a valve and an associated coupling. A valve stem 28 is urged by a stainless steel spring 30 into sealing engagement with a valve orifice 32, preventing liquid from leaving the valve. When the coupling 24 is attached to the body of the valve (e.g. via screw threads 34 and 36) the valve stem is pushed backwards, opening a passageway through the orifice 32, thereby allowing syrup out. A hol16w spigot 26' is provided on the coupling to provide a fluid pathway to the syrup- supply pipework 26. The coupling may be of plastics material.

An embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figure 4 and comprises a moulded plastics container 40, such as a generally cylindrical bottle, having a hanging hook, or support means, (not shown) attached to an upper wall 44 of the container, and a hollow spigot 46 depending from a lower wall 48 of the container. The upper and lower walls 44 and 48 are generally circular in shape. Corrugated cylindrical side walls 50 join the upper and lower walls. The corrugations are in this example annular and comprise peak regions 52a to 52d and trough regions 54a to 54d. The container is integrally moulded, and in this example is made of a plastics material comprising a co-extruded laminate of high density polyethylene/ethylene-vinyl alcohollhigh density polyethylene. A membrane 56 closes off the end of the spigot 46 and retains concentrated syrup 58 in the container. The laminate may be transparent, or translucent (in which case the liquid can be seen inside the container), or it may be opaque (e.g. black), which may help to prevent light degradation of the syrup.

11 The spigot 46 has a screw thread (or other coupling means) to enable it to couple with complementary coupling means of a syrupdelivery pipework system 60 provided in a public house.

The container 40 is much more rigid and robust than the prior art metallised film bag. When full of liquidlsyrup (with minimal air space, in order to avoid oxidation of the contents of the container), and without any liquid in the container (before the container is filled with syrup) it has substantially the shape shown in Figure 4. The container. is self supporting. The unused container therefore hangs in generally its "fulV shape, even when it is empty.

The container 40 may be provided in a cardboard box for transport from the factory to the public house, but the spigot 46 does not protrude through a hole in the box. Furthermore, the box does not need to be as strong as a prior art box. The container 40 is packaged in a box for transport not so much for mechanical strength, or protection of the container (as is a metallised film bag), but more to ease stacking of the boxes (compared with stacking of cylindrical drums). In an alternative embodiment the containers are transported "naked" - without being put into a box first.

When the bottle-in-a-box package reaches a public house the landlord takes the bottle 40 out of its transportation packaging and couples it (via the spigot 46) to the coupling, referenced 24' of the syrup delivery pipework system 60 of the public house.

Figure 6 illustrates a bar top, or counter, 62, a soft-drinks counter mount 64, a hand-held beverage dispense - head 66 connected to the counter-mount 64 via a flexible pipe 68, and a supply 70 of carbonated 12 and chilled water connected to the counter-mount 64 via carbonated water pipework 72. A pump 74 is provided in the syrup-supply pipework 60, and another pump 76 is provided in the carbonated water pipework 72. The counter-mount 64 has manually -operated beverage selection switches 78 which enable a barman to choose-which syrup, from a variety of syrups, will be dispensed. The dispense head 66 has an onloff switch 80. The counter-mount has a mixing chamber 82 where a small volume of syrup from pipework 60 is mixed with a much larger volume of chilled carbonated water from pipework 72.

1 Figure 7a shows three syrup containers 40 (e.g. orange, blackcurrant, and lime) each being supported on a support member 84. The use of such support members enables us to provide containers of different size if we want to, without needing different storage systems in the public houses. The syrup is dispensed from the container through a pipe 60, by means of a pump shown schematically at P##. Emptying of the container 40 causes it to take up the configuration shown in Figure 7b.

When the barman presses button 80 the pump 74 operates on an appropriate selected syrup delivery line and a small volume of syrup is pumped into a chamber 82. Pump 76 also operates and a larger volume of chilled carbonated beverage is pumped to chamber 82, and hence the mixed concentrated syrup and carbonated water is dispensed out of head 66.

Since a volume of fluid is removed from container 40 the hydraulic support force that fluid provides to the container 40 is also removed. The container 40 therefore collapses under atmospheric pressure as syrup is pumped out of it. The more syrup that is pumped out, the more the 13 container collapses. It might be thought that a collapsing container 40 is a bad thing, but we believe quite the opposite.

The bottom wall 48 of the bottle 40 is gradually pushed up towards the top wall as the bottle is emptied of syrup. The pipework 60' needs to be flexible, or at least include a flexible portion, to accommodate this movement of the base of the container.

Figure 5 shows the container 40 nearly empty, fully'. compressed, and a vacuum 86 above the last remaining drops of syrup 58.

The arrangement of the corrugations of the side wall of the bottle 40 gives the bottle strength and stiffness against radial deformation (especially when it is full of liquid), and yet allows it to collapse axially.

The embodiment of Figure 4 collapses axially in a controlled manner. The troughs 54a to 54d provide lines of weakness where the side walls fold. Similarly, the peaks 52a to 52d permit controlled flexing. The container is rigid (or substantially rigid enough for use), but collapsible.

It is rigid enough to have a defined and definite shape.

Figure 10 illustrates the container 40 part-way through use (about halffull). The container has collapsed from the bottom upwards, with upper regions being substantially undeformed, whilst lower regions have deformed, and in this embodiment they have deformed substantially to their final deformed positions.

The nature of the plastics material walls is such that if a landlord of a public house tries to re-expand the container 40 from the collapsed condition shown in Figure 5 in order to re-fill it with syrup, he cannot 14 effectively re-use the container (or cannot do so reliably). In this embodiment the material of the side walls of the container is such that when it is folded at the corners 52 and/or 54 it is stressed and strained and weakened. When the corners 52 andlor 54 are flexed again in the opposite direction (expansion direction) they fracture, breaking the bottle and causing its contents to leak out (if it is re-filled).

In another embodiment the plastic material of the side walls may change colour upon experiencing stress or strain due to collipsing of the bottle. For example, it may turn a white colour, to leave a bottle with white lines or rings around it. If this bottle is re-expanded the areas of weakness where stress and strain has been experienced will not only be weak, and prone to breaking/ di s rupting the integrity of the bottle, but will also be differentially coloured. Thus, someone who may visit a public house to check that their bottles have not been re-filled with nonauthorised syrup can tell at a glance that a bottle has been reexpanded and re-used (because of the markings). This visual re-expansion indication means is a deterrent to the landlord, even if the bottle can be re-expanded and re-used.

Furthermore, even if the bottle can perhaps be re-expanded once, or even twice, or three times, there will come a point (preferably after one collapse or two collapses) if it were re-used when the repeated stress and strain causes the bottle to break. The experience of having a bottle break/leak when full of syrup will also be a deterrent to trying to refill containers.

It will be appreciated that ideally we want the bottle to break, or otherwise be non-reusable, after a first use. However, we need to ensure that the bottle does not break during transport and during the initial, approved collapse. Moulding tolerances may, or may not, be such that in order to ensure satisfactory "proper" single use of the container we need to make it strong enough so that it does not necessarily have a 100% (or substantially 100%) failure rate upon re-expansion. A failure rate of 80%, 60%, 50%, 40%, 20%, or even 10% upon a first re-expansion will still give us a substantial deterrent, especially if combined with a re-use detection system.

In order to facilitate the detection of re-expanded cohtainers they may be provided with specific features to achieve this. They may not be re-expandable to their original shape. We prefer to have the material of the container indicate re-use directly, but we may provide a breakable member (broken during the final stages of collapse or during re-expansion, e.g. a component mounted, for example glued, on the top wall that is grabbed (or engaged) by another component when the bottle is collapsed, and which is pulled off the top wall during re-expansion), or a laminate panel or strip provided on the bottle which has its laminations separate or become disrupted during collapse, thereby giving a visually distinct panel or strip, or we may provide something that changes colour when the container is collapsed (fully collapsed).

The embodiment of Figure 4 collapses in a controlled manner. This may make it more difficult to tell whether it has been reexpanded/more difficult to cause it to break upon re-expansion.

Figure 8 shows a container with a generally smooth outer wall. When this is collapsed there are no patterns to its collapse and it takes an irregular shape (schematically shown in Figure 9). This may make it easier to make a container that breaks when re-expanded andlor a container that looks different when re-expanded (e.g. a new container will 16 have no creases/lines on its walls and a re-expanded, ex-crumpled, container will have lines and look as though it has been crumpled and returned roughly to its original state.

The container may have regions which have bistable states which require more force to return them to their original state than to move them from their original state, more force than the container can take. Figure 9A shows a container having domed areas 90 in its original, full, condition. As liquid is dispensed and the container is '.squashed by atmospheric pressure the domed convex areas invert to concave areas, which are difficult to "flip" back to their original state.

Figure 11 shows a container 100 which does not have an outlet aperture at its bottom end, but instead has a drip-tube 102 extending to its bottom end.

Figure 12 illustrates a hook 42' that is folded flat against the upper wall 44' of a container for transport. The container is provided in a cardboard box 120 for transport.

Another way of preventing re-use may be to provide a formation in the coupling provided on the container that renders the coupling inoperable after use. For example, the container may have a connector 130, shown in Figures 13 and 14, which has no moving parts (unlike the expensive container of the prior art).

The connector 130 comprises a tubular projecting spigot 132 provided with a tamper-evident film or seal 134 at its front end, and a ring of teeth 136 (continuous tooth or broken ring) projecting into the hollow bore of the spigot. The teeth have a sloping surface 138 and an 17 abutment surface 140. A frangible line of weakness 142 connects the connector 130 to the wall 143 of the container. A protective ring 144 (not shown in Figure 13) may be provided and may overlie the line of weakness 142. A pull-tab 146 is connected to the protective ring. In use a user pushes a connector 150 shown in Figure 15 of a syrup-supply line into the spigot, and the teeth 136 engage behind complementary locking means 152 on the syrup-supply line connector, preventing removal of the connector 130. An 0-ring 154, or other seal, provided on the syrupsupply line connector seals to the spigot 132 (e.g. at a region 148) forwards of the teeth. The sloping surfaces 148 ride over the locking means 152 of the syrup-supply connector 150 to allow insertion of the connector 130 but the syrup-supply connector 150 has fingers 156, or prongs, which spring outwards to lock the connectors together (they are deflected radially inwards to allow the locking means 152 to ride over the teeth).

In order to release the container a user pulls the tab 146 circumferentially which breaks the frangible bridge between the spigot and the wall 143 of the container, breaking the spigot 132 off the container. This allows access to prongs 156. The user then squeezes the prongs inwards to deflect the locking means 152 to enable the (nowdetached from the container) ring of the connector 130 to be taken off the connector 150.

As will be appreciated, since the container now has its coup 1 ing/conne cto r broken off, it is not suitable for re-use.

Providing a container which does not return to its original shape and may, or may not, break may well be enough to deter publicans from re-filling syrup bags. If a publican tried to re-fill the same container too 18 many times, then it may well break, even if it does not break the first time. Being covered in syrup is likely to deter someone taking this risk. Having the container such that someone can tell at a glance whether the containers have been re-filled is also likely to be a deterrent. The container may provide this visual effect simply by being crumpled, and not smooth, when re-expanded. Alternatively, there may be some specific feature provided on the container to indicate that it has been collapsed for example a rigid but fragile, strip may break upon collapse, a laminar sheet may become detached, in places, from a lower sheet during -collapse and this may give a patchy visual effect, indicating collapse.

In order to help the container to break upon re-expansion, the material may be such that it cannot be flexed about a particular point too much -and therefore if the flex lines are introduced during compression they may fracture during expansion. Careful control of the shape andlor plastic used may well be necessary to do this. A portion of the wall of the container may be especially designed to break if the container is reexpanded. A formation may be provided inside or outside of the container (preferably inside) mechanically to latch two parts of the container together upon collapse, preventing expansion andfor causing damage to the container by virtue of this mechanical link if an attempt is made to expand it..

The fact that the container is mechanically strongerlinore rigid means that we can use cheaper cardboard boxes, or even no cardboard boxes at all, during transport.

When the coupling means of our containers has a membrane extending over it to close the outlet aperture of the container, coupling to complementary coupling means of the syrup-supply pipework may break 0 19 the membrane, allowing syrup to flow. The arrangement may be such that the closure membrane is not broached until the complementary coupling has sealed to the coupling (or nearly done so), so as to avoid leakage from the container. The user may invert the container in order to couple the coupling means to the complementarylcoupling means with the container upside down, with the spigot/syrup outlet extending upwards, so as to avoid spillage of the syrup during coupling.

Other modifications, readily apparent to those skilledlin the art to 10 which this invention relates, may be incorporated and are within the spirit and scope of this invention.

Claims (1)

1. A package for dispensing drinks comprising a container and a liquid held in the container, the container having coupling means adapted in use to couple the container to a supply line whereby the liquid can be dispensed from the container, in which the container is self-supporting before being filled with the liquid and collapses as the liquid is dispensed theref rom.

2. A package according to Claim 1, in which the container is provided with means to prevent its being re-filled with liquid after it has been de-coupled from the supply line.

3. A package according to Claim 1, in which the container is provided with means to indicate any attempt to re-fill with liquid after it has been de-coupled from the supply line.

4. A package according to any preceding claim, which is capable of having a first, full, condition and a second, empty (or less full) condition, and means adapted to prevent the successful return of the container to the first condition once it has been put into its second condition.

5. A package according to Claim 4 when dependent upon Claim 2, in which the container is adapted to break, or to be substantially weakened to an unsafe level, if an attempt is made to return it from its second condition to its first condition.

6. A package according to Claim 4 when dependent upon Claim 2 in which the container is adapted to break if at least 2, or at least 3, or at 21 least 4, cycles of use, collapse during use, and re-expansion for re- use are perf ormed.

7. A package according to Claim 4 when dependent upon Claim 3, in which the container has a visually different appearance if it is returned to its first condition from its second condition, compared with the visual appearance of a container in its first condition before it has ever been put into its second condition.

1 8. A package according to any preceding claim, in which the container has a predetermined shape.

9. A package according to any preceding claim, in which the container is provided with lines of weakness, or fold lines, to control, in use, the 15 collapse of the container.

10. A package according to Claim 9, in which the lines of weakness extend, vertically, horizontally, or diagonally around the outer surface of the container relative to the container's central axis.

11. A package according to Claim 9 or 10, wherein said lines of weakness are annular and extend completely around the container.

12. A package according to Claim 9 or 10, wherein said lines of 25 weakness do not extend completely around the container.

13. A package according to any one of Claims 9 to 12, in which the lines of weakness form a regular, or irregular, pattern on the container surface.

22 14. A package according to any one of Claims 1 to 8 which is adapted to collapse in an undefined, irregular manner.

15. A package according to any preceding claim in which the container 0 is adapted to not return to its original shape after it has collapsed.

16. A package according to any preceding claim which is provided with support means adapted to enable the container to be suspended by or on the support means.

17. A package according to any preceding claim, in which the container is made of a plastics material.

18. A package according to Claim 17, in which the container is made of polyethylene terephthalate.

19. A package according to Claim 17, in which the container is made of a co-extruded high-density polyethylene/ethylenc-vinyl alcohollhighdensity polyethylene laminate.

20. A package according to Claim 16 in which the support means comprises a hook.

21. A package according to Claim 20 in which the hook is movable between a transport position in which it lies flat against the surface of the container, and an operative position in which it extends away from the surface of the container.

23 22. A package according to any preceding claim in which the liquid is a concentrate or a syrup, and the container comprises a generally cylindrical body of a plastics material.

23. A package according to Claim 22 in which the cylindrical body has generally annular corrugations in its cylindrical wall.

24. A package according to any preceding claim in which the coupling means of the container has no moving parts.

25. A package, substantially as described and illustrated herein with reference to Figures 4 to 7, 10 and 12; or with reference to those Figures but modified in accordance with Figures 8 and 9; or modified in accordance with Figures 9A and 9B; or modified in accordance with Figure 11; or modified in accordance with Figures 13 and 14, of the accompanying drawings.

26. A drinks dispense apparatus comprising a dispense unit, a supply of drinks concentrate having a container of concentrate provided with coupling means, concentrate- s uppI y pipework provided with complementary coupling means coupled to said coupling means and communicating with the dispense unit, and a supply of potable dilutant liquid connected to the dispense unit; the container being in accordance with any one of Claims 1 to 25.

27. A drinks dispense apparatus, substantially as described herein.

28. A method of dispensing drinks from an apparatus according to Claim 26 or 27, in which the container is self-supporting before being 24 filled with concentrate and collapses as the concentrate is dispensed therefrom.

29. A method according to Claim 28, in which the container collapses progressively as the concentrate is dispensed therefrom.

30. A method according to Claim 29, in which the container collapses in a controlled manner.

31. A method according to Claim 30, in which the container collapses from the bottom upwards.

32. A method of dispensing drinks, substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

33. A package for dispensing drinks, substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 13 to 15 of the accompanying drawings.