Mixing of two separately sealed materials: US Pat. No. 7,635,012

U.S. Patent No. 7,635,012, issued on December 22, 2009 to JPro Dairy Int’l, Inc. of Mission Viejo, CA, discloses a way to join a sealed container holding one material to a second container holding another material.  A seal in the sealed container is breached once the two containers are fully united, allowing the two materials to mix together.

The patent describes various situations in which such a system could be used, for example, for food products or pharmaceuticals where one or both materials are reactive in air and/or water, or must be maintained in a sterile environment. 

This patent illustrates that technical innovations can be found in many types of businesses.  JPro Dairy (I’m not sure if it’s a dairy or a distributor of dairy-based products) identified a problem to be solved, developed a patentable solution, and now has an exclusive right to practice the solution while the patent remains in force.  Undoubtably, it hopes that the time, effort, and expense in getting the patent is worth the competitive advantage that the patent provides.  JPro Dairy has two other recently issued patents as well for systems to selectively keep two materials sealed and separate until the desired time to mix them, so their technovations extend beyond this sole patent.