Claims
- 1. A barrel, comprising:
a. a body having a top end, a middle portion, a bottom end, an interior surface, and an exterior surface; b. a first head and a second head, said first head toward said top end, said second head toward said bottom end; c. a bunghole; d. a removable trapdoor having a geometrical shape, edges, an inner surface and an outer surface; and e. an aperture having a similar geometrical shape to said geometrical shape of said trapdoor, said trapdoor being receivable by said aperture.
- 2. The barrel as recited in claim 1, where said aperture is sized and shaped to receive said trapdoor with said aperture edges abutting and in intimate contact with said trapdoor edges when said trapdoor is inserted into said aperture.
- 3. The barrel as recited in claim 1, where said trapdoor edges and said aperture edges are beveled, and where the surface area of said trapdoor outer surface is greater than the surface area of said trapdoor inner surface.
- 4. The barrel as recited in claim 1, where said aperture is located in said barrel middle portion.
- 5. The barrel as recited in claim 1, where said bunghole is located in said trapdoor.
- 6. The barrel as recited in claim 1, where said barrel body is comprised of a plurality of wooden staves bound in assembled relationship with at least two hoops wrapped around said plurality of wooden staves.
- 7. The barrel as recited in claim 6 where said aperture is located in said barrel body between two adjacent hoops of said at least two hoops.
- 8. The barrel as recited in claim 7 where each said wooden stave in said plurality of wooden staves having a width and where said aperture is located in one wooden stave of said plurality of wooden staves and where said aperture is not wider than the width of said one wooden stave.
- 9. The barrel as recited in claim 6 where said aperture is located in said barrel body between two adjacent hoops and extends at least partway beneath said two adjacent hoops of said at least two hoops.
- 10. The barrel as recited in claim 9 where each said wooden stave in said plurality of wooden staves having a width and where said aperture is located in one wooden stave of said plurality of wooden staves and where said aperture is not wider than the width of said one wooden stave.
- 11. The barrel as recited in claim 9, where said aperture has cut stave ends beneath said two adjacent hoops.
- 12. The barrel as recited in claim 11 where said cut stave ends and said trapdoor have a seal there between.
- 13. The barrel as recited in claim 1 further comprising a seal material compressed between said trapdoor edges and said aperture edges where said seal material forms a liquid-tight seal when said trapdoor is inserted into said aperture.
- 14. The barrel as recited in claim 13 where said seal material is selected from the group consisting of: cork, rubber, neoprene, silicone and plastic.
- 15. The barrel as recited in claim 1 where said trapdoor is composed of material selected from the group consisting of: wood, rubber and plastic.
- 16. The barrel as recited in claim 1 where said barrel and said trapdoor are composed of similar material.
- 17. The barrel as recited in claim 1 further comprising at least two brackets projecting from an exterior surface of said barrel in proximity to and approximately parallel to opposed edges of said aperture, and further comprising at least two securing members, where said at least two brackets each receivably accepts and securely clasps one of said at least two securing members.
- 18. The barrel as recited in claim 2, where a portion of said aperture edges contains a groove approximately parallel to said aperture edges, where a mating lip protrudes from a reciprocal portion of said trapdoor edges, where said groove receives and accepts said mating lip.
- 19. The barrel as recited in claim 1, further comprising at least two flange mechanisms affixed through and to said inner surface of said trapdoor, each of said at least two flange mechanisms comprising a flange and a screw, said screw having a head, a shaft and a tip, said shaft and said tip driven through said trapdoor from said outer surface to said inner surface, said screw head resting against said trapdoor outer surface, said screw tip attached to a flange which rotates when said screw head is rotated, said flange rotating from an insertion position resting against said inner surface of said trapdoor to a securing position resting against said interior surface of said barrel when said screw head is rotated.
- 20. The barrel as recited in claim 1 further comprising at least one handle attached to said outer surface of said trapdoor.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/246,180, filed Nov. 6, 2000.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60246180 |
Nov 2000 |
US |