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A fountain-style carbonated soft drink dispenser includes a housing adapted to attach to a beverage container, an actuator for selectively opening a fluid conduit, and one or more long tubes that vary a pressure drop across the dispensing assembly and convey fluid. The resistance through the tube(s)

A fountain-style carbonated soft drink dispenser includes a housing adapted to attach to a beverage container, an actuator for selectively opening a fluid conduit, and one or more long tubes that vary a pressure drop across the dispensing assembly and convey fluid. The resistance through the tube(s) is decreased as the pressure within the container decreases so as to maintain a substantially constant flow rate throughout dispensing.

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1. A dispensing assembly comprising: a housing adapted to attach to a container;an actuator for selectively opening a fluid outlet of said housing; the actuator connected to the housing; anda passageway communicating with the fluid outlet and causing resistance of fluid flow from the container to th

1. A dispensing assembly comprising: a housing adapted to attach to a container;an actuator for selectively opening a fluid outlet of said housing; the actuator connected to the housing; anda passageway communicating with the fluid outlet and causing resistance of fluid flow from the container to the fluid outlet wherein the resistance of the fluid flow is decreased by increasing the volume of the passageway in relation to decreasing internal pressure of the container as fluid is dispensed from the container such that the volume of the passageway is variable in relation to the internal pressure of the container to provide a substantially constant fluid flow rate as the pressure of the fluid in the container decreases as the fluid is dispensed from the container. 2. A dispensing assembly according to claim 1, wherein the passageway comprises a plurality of tubes and wherein the dispensing assembly further comprises a selector for selecting at least one tube to communicate with the fluid outlet at one time. 3. The dispensing assembly according to claim 1, wherein the passageway comprises a plurality of tubes and each tube provides a different resistance to fluid flow. 4. The dispensing assembly according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of tubes each have different inner diameters to provide a different resistance to the fluid flow. 5. The dispensing assembly according to claim 2, wherein said selector comprises a rotatable barrel having a number of flow passages corresponding to the number of said tubes, each flow passage being connectable to one of said tubes. 6. The dispensing assembly according to claim 5, wherein the diameters of the flow passages of said barrel correspond to the diameters of corresponding tubes connected to the flow passages. 7. The dispensing assembly according to claim 3, wherein the different resistances of said tubes is caused by different tube lengths. 8. The dispensing assembly according to claim 1, wherein increasing the volume of the passageway operates automatically in response to changes of pressure within the container. 9. The dispensing assembly according to claim 1, wherein increasing the volume of the passageway comprises a helical passage defined by a helical spool movable within and closely contacting a cylindrical chamber, with the helical passage increasing in effective length as the spool moves into the cylinder. 10. The dispensing assembly according to claim 9, wherein the helical spool is biased away from the cylindrical chamber by a spring such that said spool is furthest within said cylindrical chamber when the pressure within the container is highest and, and is least within the cylindrical chamber when the pressure is lowest. 11. The dispensing assembly according to claim 1, further comprising a membrane for compressing at least a portion of the passageway to constrict a flow path within the passageway. 12. The dispensing assembly according to claim 1, wherein the passageway further comprises an inner wall, the inner wall being formed of a material that can be eroded by the fluid within the container, wherein said inner wall erodes with time to increase the volume of the passageway. 13. The dispensing assembly according to claim 1, wherein the passageway comprises a plurality of tubes, with at least one of the tubes being closeable by a pressure sensitive valve, with the pressure sensitive valve opening to allow fluid flow through its associated tube when the pressure within the container falls below a predetermined threshold. 14. The dispensing assembly according to claim 13, wherein at least two tubes have associated pressure-sensitive valves, with said valves opening at different threshold pressures to provide for an increased volume of the passageway. 15. The dispensing assembly according to claim 1, wherein the fluid flow rate through the fluid outlet is substantially constant regardless of the internal pressure within the container. 16. The dispensing assembly according to claim 1, wherein the volume of the passageway varies proportionally in relation to the internal pressure of the container. 17. A method of dispensing fluid comprising: providing a passageway for fluid flow from a container, the passageway communicating with a fluid outlet and causing resistance of fluid flow from the container to the fluid outlet;selectively opening the fluid outlet; andincreasing the volume of the passageway in relation to decreasing internal pressure of the container as fluid is dispensed from the container such that the volume of the passageway is variable in relation to the internal pressure of the container to provide a substantially constant fluid flow rate as the pressure of the fluid decreases in the container as the fluid is dispensed from the container; wherein the fluid flow rate through the fluid outlet is substantially constant regardless of the internal pressure within the container. 18. The method of dispensing fluid according to claim 17, further comprising manually increasing the volume of the passageway to a desired flow rate. 19. The method of dispensing fluid according to claim 17, wherein the volume of the passageway is increased automatically in response to a decrease in pressure of the fluid within the container. 20. The method of claim 17 wherein the passageway comprises a first tube and a second tube and wherein the fluid flows normally through the first tube and wherein increasing the volume of the passageway to provide a constant fluid flow comprises opening the second tube. 21. The method of claim 20 wherein the passageway comprises a tube and the tube diameter is increased to provide a constant fluid flow. 22. The method of dispensing fluid according to claim 17, wherein the volume of the passageway is increased independently of the pressure inside the container and independently of the user. 23. The method according to claim 17, wherein the volume of the passageway varies proportionally in relation to the internal pressure of the container. 24. A dispensing assembly comprising: a housing adapted to attach to a container;an actuator for selectively opening a fluid outlet of said housing; the actuator connected to the housing; anda passageway comprising an inner wall, the inner wall being formed of a material that can be eroded by the fluid within the container, wherein the material erodes with time to increase the volume of the passageway, the passageway communicating with the fluid outlet and causing resistance of fluid flow from the container to the fluid outlet, and wherein the resistance of the fluid flow is decreased by increasing the volume of the passageway to provide a substantially constant fluid flow as the pressure of the fluid in the container decreases as the fluid is dispensed from the container. 25. The dispensing assembly according to claim 24, wherein increasing the volume of the passageway operates automatically in response to changes of pressure within the container.