Patent Grant
7162851
The present invention relates to a device for changing a bottle stopper and a method for changing a bottle stopper for changing a sealing stopper of a bottle with fluid such as wine and so on contained therein with a substitute stopper in place of the sealing stopper. To be more specific, the present invention relates to the device for changing the bottle stopper and the method for changing the bottle stopper capable of changing while supplying gas (deterioration preventive gas), which has as a main purpose for preventing deterioration in liquid such as wine and so on.
Recent popularization of wine is nothing short of eye opening, and brands, producing areas, kinds, tastes, and the like of the wine are diversified with the popularization of wine. This trend, for example, promotes opening business of a bar specializing in wine, which is so-called a wine bar, and a large variety of wines corresponding to customers' tastes have been offered at such a wine bar. This type of the wine bar, for example, offers a small amount of free samples among various brands of wines in order for customers to choose a wine of their tastes among the large variety of wines, or sells the wine by weight to the customers who want to purchase the wine in a glass unit, and therefore, many bottles need to be opened at the same time. However, since air enters the bottle once opened, deterioration of wine is inevitable when there is leftover wine in the bottle even though this problem does not happen when wine is drunk up. When leftover wine after opening the bottle deteriorates to a certain extent after a certain amount of time passes, there is no other choice but to throw leftover wine out. This is a waste of wine.
As a means for avoiding such an inconvenience, a liquid preserving device having a structure described below has been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-354206). This device has such a purpose that air in the bottle is inhaled by a vacuum pump through a pressure-reducing stopper installed on an opening of the bottle so that the deterioration of wine remaining in the bottle can be prevented.
In addition, an applicant of the present invention previously proposed a wine extracting device having such a structure that the device is mounted on an opening of the bottle, and that the bottle is opened while supplying insoluble inert gas with the opening of the bottle positioned downward, and consequently only a necessary amount of wine is extractable by gas pressure thereof (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-122397).
However, according to the aforementioned liquid preserving device, an existing bottle stopper must be opened in air in order to install the pressure-reducing stopper as a substitute stopper. Accordingly, air enters the bottle when opening the bottle stopper. Consequently, oxidation of the remaining wine by the entered air, that is, deterioration in a quality of wine, is inevitable.
Furthermore, the aforementioned wine-extracting device relating to the proposal of the applicant of the present invention is a device for extracting wine from the bottle without oxidizing wine by using insoluble inert gas, and not a device for changing the bottle stopper with the substitute stopper like the pressure-reducing stopper.
An object of the present invention is to provide a device for changing a bottle stopper and a method for changing a bottle stopper capable of changing the existing bottle stopper with the substitute stopper without allowing air to enter the bottle with fluid contained therein. In passing, the fluid includes not only liquid such as wine, carbonated water, and so on, but also overall fluid such as lactic acid bacteria beverage, fruit juice with pulp, fluid having a large fluid resistance such as edible oil, and so on.
In order to achieve the aforementioned object, the present invention provides a structure explained below. It should be noted that definitions or the like of terminologies for explaining any of the inventions might be applied to other inventions within a possible range of a nature. Furthermore, a description of “a first” and “a second” in the specification is only for convenience of explanation and does not specify either.
A device for changing a stopper relating to a first invention is a device for exchanging a bottle stopper which closes an opening of a head of a bottle with fluid contained therein, for a substitute stopper mountable on the opening, the device for changing the stopper comprising: an airtight container detachably mountable on the head of the bottle via an airtight mounting mouth; a gas supply port provided on the airtight container for supplying deterioration preventive gas to the airtight container; an air vent valve provided on the airtight container for discharging air from the airtight container; a first supporting structure for supporting a bottle opening member for detaching the bottle stopper in an airtight chamber, the first supporting structure being movable upward and downward while holding airtight in the airtight chamber; a second supporting structure for mounting the substitute stopper contained in the airtight chamber in a standing position on the opening of the head, the second supporting structure being movable upward and downward while holding airtight in the airtight chamber; and an operation body being operational individually or commonly with the first supporting structure and the second supporting structure, wherein the first supporting structure and the second supporting structure are mutually position changeable between them in order to place the first supporting structure or the second supporting structure above the opening of the head via the airtight mounting mouth while holding airtight of the airtight chamber, and wherein the bottle stopper detached by downward movement of the first supporting structure by means of an operation of the operation body and by a bottle opening operation of the bottle opening member is able to pull in the airtight chamber via the airtight mounting mouth as the first supporting structure moves upward when the first supporting structure is placed above the opening of the head, and wherein the substitute stopper contained in the airtight chamber by the operation of the operation body is mountable on the opening of the head via the airtight mounting mouth as the second supporting structure moves downward when the second supporting structure is placed above the opening of the head.
According to the device for changing the stopper relating to the first invention, by changing a relative position between the first supporting structure and the second supporting structure, the first supporting structure or the second supporting structure can be placed above the airtight mounting mouth, that is, the opening of the head of the bottle. In other words, whether the first supporting structure for supporting the bottle-opening member is positioned or the second supporting structure for supporting the substitute stopper is positioned relative to the opening of the head of the bottle is selectable. Furthermore, since the device allows the bottle stopper to be changeable without deterioration in a quality of fluid such as wine and so on by blocking a contact of fluid in the bottle with air even after opening the bottle, supply of deterioration preventive gas is inevitable. Accordingly, installation of the gas supply port communicating with a gas passage is necessary. With this, by providing the air vent valve, existent air as a cause of deterioration in the quality in the airtight chamber is changeable with deterioration preventive gas. Furthermore, the operation body can operate the first supporting structure or the second structure, and this operation makes opening the bottle by the bottle opening member or mounting the substitute stopper possible.
A device for changing a stopper relating to a second invention is a device for changing a bottle stopper which closes an opening of a head of a bottle with fluid contained therein with a substitute stopper mountable on the opening, the device for changing the stopper comprising: a holder body including a holding portion having a recessed portion with an upper opening, a tubular mounting mouth mountable on an outer peripheral face of the head of the bottle in an airtight state, and a through hole through which the recessed portion and a fitting hole of the tubular mounting mouth are communicable, and through which the bottle stopper and the substitute stopper are passable; a moving table being able to form a gas passage in the recessed portion by laying on the holding portion and closing the recessed portion, and including a communication hole through which the bottle stopper and the substitute stopper are passable; a gas supply port with which the gas passage is communicable and from which deterioration preventive gas is able to be supplied; a moving table supporting structure for supporting the moving table to be at least mutually position changeable relative to the holder body between a first position and a second position as a position other than the first position while holding airtight of the gas passage; a chamber body positioned on the moving table and including an airtight chamber communicating with the gas passage via the communicating hole; an air vent valve from which air in the airtight chamber is dischargeable; a first supporting structure for supporting a bottle opening member for detaching the bottle stopper in the airtight chamber, the first supporting structure being movable upward and downward while holding airtight in the airtight chamber; a second supporting structure for mounting the substitute stopper contained in the airtight chamber in a standing position on the opening of the head, the second supporting structure being movable upward and downward while holding airtight in the airtight chamber; and an operation body being operational the first and the second supporting structures, the operation body being able to be coupled selectively and detachably to the first supporting structure or the second supporting structure, wherein the bottle stopper detached by downward movement of the first supporting structure and by rotation of the bottle opening member is able to pull in the airtight chamber via the through hole and the communicating hole as the first supporting structure moves upward when the moving table is moved to the first position and when the operation body coupled to the first supporting structure is operated, and wherein the substitute stopper contained in the airtight chamber is able to insert in the opening of the head via the through hole and the communicating hole as the second supporting structure moves downward when the moving table is moved to the second position and when the operation body coupled to the second supporting structure is operated.
According to the device for changing the stopper relating to the second invention, the holder body, the moving table, and the moving table supporting structure constitute a base having the gas passage. The moving table is so structured that, by moving, the first supporting structure and the second supporting structure installed in the airtight chamber provided on the moving table are movable so as to allow position change at least between the first position and the second position. By moving the moving table, whether the first supporting structure for supporting the bottle opening member is positioned or the second supporting structure for supporting the substitute stopper is positioned against an opposite face of the opening of the bottle being the first position is selectable.
Furthermore, since the device allows the bottle stopper to be changeable without deterioration in a quality of fluid such as wine and so on by blocking a contact of fluid in the bottle with air even after opening the bottle, supply of deterioration preventive gas is inevitable. Accordingly, installation of the gas supply port communicating with the gas passage is necessary. With this, by providing the air vent valve, existent air as a cause of deterioration in the quality in the gas passage and in the airtight chamber is changeable with deterioration preventive gas. Furthermore, the operation body is selectively and detachably coupled to the first supporting structure or the second supporting structure to move it, and makes opening the bottle by the bottle opening member or mounting the substitute stopper possible.
A device for changing the stopper relating to the third invention is the device for changing the stopper according to the first invention, wherein the chamber body is structured with a first airtight tower including a first airtight chamber and a second airtight tower including a second airtight chamber, and wherein the communicating hole is structured with a first communicating hole communicating the first airtight chamber with the gas passage and a second communicating hole communicating the second airtight chamber with the gas passage, and the first communicating hole can pass at least the bottle stopper and the second communicating hole can pass at least the substitute stopper. Since the respective supporting structures can be contained in the airtight chambers by separating the airtight chamber into two, the entire device can be downsized and an amount of consumption of deterioration preventive gas can be reduced.
The chamber body is a base for installing the respective airtight chambers, and may be integrally structured with the moving table or may be structured with a different member. However, the respective airtight chambers are communicable with the gas passage via the respective through holes, thereby allowing deterioration preventive gas to be filled up. In addition, the respective supporting structures are provided in the respective airtight chambers, and the respective supporting structures are positioned by moving the airtight towers together with the moving table. The chamber body allows downsizing the entire device and reducing the amount of consumption of deterioration preventive gas to be promoted.
A device for changing the stopper relating to a fourth invention further comprises a coupling assist, wherein the coupling assist includes a packing disposed between an inner peripheral portion of the mounting mouth and an outer peripheral portion of the head of the bottle. The device for changing the stopper allows change of the stopper while blocking entering of air in the bottle, and therefore, it is necessary to hold an airtight state also between the device for changing the stopper and the bottle. As a means for holding the airtight state, the packing is disposed between the inner peripheral portion of the mounting mouth and the outer peripheral portion of the bottle. Any packing is acceptable as long as it holds between the head of the bottle and the inner peripheral portion of the mounting mouth of the device in a sealed state.
In a device for changing the stopper relating to a fifth invention, the coupling assist further comprises a coupling nut capable of screwing with a thread groove formed on an outer peripheral face of the mounting mouth, wherein a ring-shaped flange capable of abutting against a bottom end of the packing after screwing on the thread groove is provided on a bottom end of the coupling nut. When the ring-shaped flange abuts against the bottom end of the packing after screwing with the thread groove on the outer peripheral face of the mounting mouth, detachment of the packing is prevented.
In a device for changing the stopper relating to a sixth invention, the moving table is made of a disk body, and the moving table supporting structure supports the moving table to be able to turn or rotate horizontally relative to the holding portion between the first position and the second position. A change of a position of the moving table can be realized by a reciprocating mechanism or other mechanisms, but, here, the moving table is made of the disk body and the moving table supporting structure turns horizontally the moving table. The change of the position of the moving table can be realized by a reciprocating mechanism or other mechanisms, but, here, a turning mechanism is adopted in order to downsize the entire device by making a movable area as small as possible.
In a device for changing the stopper relating to a seventh invention, the moving table supporting structure is structured with a ring-shaped edge portion of the holding portion, an outer peripheral portion lower surface of the moving table capable of abutting against an upper end face of the ring-shaped edge portion, a ring-shaped flange portion extending downward from a position closer to a center of the outer peripheral portion lower surface and being able to fit in the recessed portion, a fixing ring for pushing down the moving table from the top not to detach from the holding portion, and a packing for holding airtight between an inner peripheral face of the ring-shaped edge portion and an outer peripheral face of the flange portion. The moving table supporting structure enables the moving table to make a turning motion on the holding portion, and furthermore, holds the airtight state by the packing. The fixing ring prevents detachment of the moving table and ensures certain turning motion.
In a device for changing the stopper relating to an eighth invention, the first supporting structure includes a first piston moving upward and downward in the first airtight chamber in an airtight state and supporting the bottle opening member to be able to turn at a central portion. The up-and-down movement of the first piston is conducted in an airtight state, and therefore, the airtight in the airtight chamber below the piston is held even if the first piston is moved upward and downward for a bottle opening operation. In addition, a circumstance in which air enters the bottle does not happen even after opening the bottle.
In a device for changing the stopper relating to a ninth invention, the operation body includes a swing lever one end portion of which is supported by the holder body to be able to swing, a lead screw mounted to be able to slide on the swing lever and a connector for selectively connecting the lead screw to the first supporting structure or the second supporting structure. The lead screw is a central member for detaching the bottle stopper or for inserting the substitute stopper by connecting with the first supporting structure or the second supporting structure via the connector. The lead screw and the connector are mounted via the swing lever, and for example, an obstruction is removable by pushing the swing lever down if the airtight tower obstructs during an operation of the change of the position.
In a device for changing the stopper relating to a tenth invention, the operation body includes a clutch mechanism for selecting whether or not a move screws mechanism between the swing lever and the lead screw is formed. Various functions of the lead screw are guaranteed by adopting such the clutch mechanism. In other words, the clutch mechanism is provided for realizing a selection of whether the lead screw slides relative to the swing lever or the lead screw forms a screw pair (a move screw mechanism). For example, when a corkscrew is inserted in a cork, a screw pair is not formed and the corkscrew can insert by a free rotation relative to the swing lever. In addition, when the substitute stopper is mounted on the bottle, the lead screw is rotated by engaging the clutch mechanism and forming the screw pair relative to the swing lever, thereby pushing the substitute stopper contained in the second airtight chamber in a standby state.
In a device for changing the stopper relating to an eleventh invention, the clutch mechanism is a manual clutch including a pair of clutch pieces each of which has a female screw portion at a position corresponding to a male screw portion of the lead screw, a compression spring for biasing the respective clutch pieces in a direction away from the lead screw, and push buttons provided on an outer end portion of the respective clutch pieces. Namely, the clutch mechanism is so structured that, if the pair of push buttons provided on a side of the swing lever is pushed, the screw pair is realized by engaging the female screw portions of the pair of clutch pieces with the male screw portion of the lead screw. As a result, if the lead screw is rotated in a state that the clutch mechanism is engaged, the lead screw can move upward and downward as a move screw.
A device for changing the bottle stopper relating to a twelfth invention is a device for changing a bottle stopper of the bottle with fluid contained therein with a substitute stopper, the device for changing the stopper comprising: an airtight container being detachably mountable on a head of the bottle via an airtight mounting mouth; a gas supply port provided on the airtight container for supplying deterioration preventive gas to the airtight container; an air vent valve provided on the airtight container for discharging air from the airtight container; a bottle opening member contained in the airtight container together with the substitute stopper; and an operating portion capable of operating the bottle opening member from outside in order to detach the bottle stopper, wherein at least a part of the airtight container is made of a flexible member, and wherein the substitute stopper is able to be mounted on the head of the bottle in place of the bottle stopper detached from an outside of the airtight container by using flexibility of the flexible member.
Similar to the device for changing the stopper relating to the aforementioned first invention, the device for changing the stopper relating to the twelfth invention allows the bottle stopper to be changeable without deterioration in a quality of fluid such as wine and so on by blocking a contact of fluid in the bottle with air even after opening the bottle. Therefore, supply of deterioration preventive gas is inevitable. Accordingly, installation of the gas supply port communicating with a gas passage is necessary. With this, by providing the air vent valve, existent air as a cause of deterioration in the quality in the gas passage and in the airtight chamber is changeable with deterioration preventive gas. Furthermore, the operation body is selectively and detachably coupled to the first supporting structure or the second supporting structure to move it, and makes opening the bottle by the bottle opening member or mounting the substitute stopper possible. Furthermore, a user can conduct an operation of mounting and so on of the substitute stopper from the outside of the airtight container since at least a part of the airtight container is made of the flexible member. Accordingly, a structure of the entire device may be extremely simple, and the device can be folded for a compact storage when not in use.
In a device for changing the stopper relating to a thirteenth invention, the bottle opening member is a corkscrew, and the first supporting structure supports the corkscrew to be able to rotate. The cork stopper is able to pull by supporting the corkscrew by means of the first supporting structure to be able to rotate and move upward and downward. The device for changing the stopper is intended for the bottles with various kinds of fluid contained therein, however, easy change of the cork stopper largely used for sealing the wine bottle is emphasized considering many cases that the wine bottle sealed by the cork stopper is a target. Accordingly, the corkscrew is adopted as the bottle-opening member, and a structure of the first supporting structure, which supports the corkscrew, is accordingly structured so as to be able to support it.
A method for changing a bottle stopper relating to a fourteenth invention relates to a method for changing a bottle stopper of a sealed bottle with fluid contained therein with a substitute stopper. The method for changing the bottle stopper comprises: a step of detaching a bottle stopper in an airtight container filled with deterioration preventive gas; and a step of mounting a substitute stopper contained in the airtight container in place of the bottle stopper. As a result, the bottle stopper is changeable with the substitute stopper. Here, the airtight container corresponds to, for example, the airtight container of the device for changing a bottle stopper relating to the aforementioned first invention, second invention, and twelfth invention. However, it is not limited to the above, and a method for changing the bottle stopper with the substitute stopper without deterioration in a quality of fluid in the airtight container is largely included. For example, such a case that a change of the stopper is conducted in a state that the entire device is in a sealed body of deterioration preventive gas is also included.
A method for changing a bottle stopper relating to a fifteenth invention makes clear that the fourteenth invention further comprises a step of pouring deterioration preventive gas after ventilating internal air inside the airtight container. In general, there is already air in the airtight container. However, if the bottle stopper is changed leaving air as it is, not only air enters the bottle but also air becomes a cause of preventing deterioration preventive gas from entering, so that the step of ventilating air is adopted. It is needless to say that such a case that an airtight chamber with little air therein in an initial state is adopted, for example, the case for changing the stopper while containing the device for changing the stopper in an atmosphere of deterioration preventive gas does not require such a step.
A sixteenth invention is characterized in that, in the method for changing the stopper, supply of deterioration preventive gas is continued during the step of detaching the bottle stopper and the step of mounting the substitute stopper. The reason for supply thereof is that pressure reduction or the like due to gas leak or a change of volume is expecting while an airtight state is maintained during these steps, and therefore continuous gas supply definitely prevents entering air.
a)–(c) are views showing the substitute stopper used in association with the present invention, wherein
Schematic Structure of Stopper Change Device
As shown in
Kinds or characteristics about kinds of fluid in the bottle B are not questioned, however, wine is specified as typical beverage and gas (hereinafter, referred to as “N gas”) having nitrogen as a main ingredient is adopted as deterioration preventive gas. The reason for adopting N gas is that it is suitable for gas for preventing deterioration in a quality of wine by blocking a contact of wine with air after opening the bottle or when extracting wine because this gas is insoluble and inert to wine. As shown in
(Structure of Stopper Change Device)
As shown in
(Structure of Holder Body)
The holder body 11 is generally structured with the tubular mounting mouth 13, and a gyration holding portion (a holding portion) 15 provided on an upper portion of the mounting mouth 13. As shown in
(Structure of Gyration Moving Table)
The gyration-moving table (a moving table) 23 is disposed above the ring-shaped edge portion 15a. The gyration-moving table 23 is made of a thick-plate disk and is structured to be able to turn or rotate relative to the holder body 11 via the moving table supporting structure 14. The moving table supporting structure 14 in the embodiment is structured with the ring-shaped edge portion 15a of the gyration holding portion 15, an outer peripheral portion lower surface 23b of the gyration moving table 23 capable of abutting on an upper end face 15b of the ring-shaped edge portion 15a, a ring-shaped flange portion 23a extending downward from a position closer to a center than the outer peripheral portion lower surface 23b capable of fitting in the recessed portion 15c, a fixing ring 16 for pushing down from upward so as not to separate the gyration moving table 23 from the gyration holding portion 15, and an O-ring shaped packing 8a for holding airtight between an inner peripheral face of the ring-shaped edge portion 15a and an outer peripheral face of the flange portion 23a. The fixing ring 16 includes a ring-shaped projecting portion 16a projecting from a top end thereof to a center, and the ring-shaped projecting portion 16a pushes an upper face of the outer peripheral portion of the gyration moving table 23 so as not to separate the gyration moving table 23. Fixing of the fixing ring 16 can be done by screwing together between a screw structure of an inner face of the fixing ring 16 and a screw structure of an outer face of the ring-shaped edge portion 15a. On the contrary, the holder body 11 and the gyration moving table 23 can be separated by unscrewing and taking out the fixing ring 16.
A turning of the gyration moving table 23 relative to the holder body 11 is stabilized and secured by abutment of the outer peripheral portion lower surface 23b of the gyration moving table 23 on the upper end face 15b of the ring-shaped edge portion 15a, and by prevention of separation of the gyration moving table 23 from the gyration holding portion 15 by means of the fixing ring 16. In addition, the packing 8a disposed between the inner peripheral face of the ring-shaped edge portion 15a and the outer peripheral face of the flange portion 23a holds airtight of the gas passage 17 during turning of the gyration moving table 23 relative to the holder 11 while following the turn. Formation of the gas passage 17 in the recessed portion 15c is made possible by mean of airtight closure of the recessed portion 15c of the packing 8a.
The gas supply port 19 is attached to a lower surface of the bottom portion 15d of the gyration holding portion 15, and the gas supply port 19 communicates with the gas passage 17 through a gas introducing hole 19a passing through the bottom portion 15d. The gas supply port 19 is so structured that deterioration preventive gas can be introduced to the gas passage 17 by communicating with a supply plug (not shown) or the like for supplying deterioration preventive gas.
(Structure of Chamber Body)
The chamber body 21 is integrally provided on an upper portion of the gyration-moving table 23. The chamber body 21 includes a first tubular airtight tower 24 in which a screw 27 as a bottle opening member is contained, and a second similarly tubular airtight tower 25 in which a substitute stopper 7 for change can be contained in a standing position, and both towers stand up side by side on the gyration moving table 23. The first airtight tower 24 includes a first airtight chamber 24a in an internal portion thereof, and the second airtight tower 25 includes a second airtight chamber 25a in an internal portion thereof, respectively. An outside diameter of the first airtight tower 24 may be set as, for example, approximately 30 mm, which is a sum of wall thickness of the first airtight tower 24 itself and an outside diameter of a bottle stopper because the outside diameter of the bottle stopper of a wine bottle, that is, a cork stopper, is generally approximately 25 mm. In addition, a height of the first airtight tower 24 may be set as, for example, approximately 85 mm from a bottom end of the flange portion 23a, considering a length of a general cork stopper is approximately 60 mm. In addition, an outside diameter of the second airtight tower 25 may be set as approximately 30 mm which is the same outside diameter as that of the first airtight tower 24 because the substitute stopper having almost the same outside diameter as the diameter of the cork stopper is contained in the second airtight tower 25 in the standing position, and similarly, a height thereof set to be the same as the height of the first airtight tower 24. It is needless to say that these outside diameters or heights can be appropriately set based on a shape, a conformation, or the like of the bottle stopper or the substitute stopper.
Regarding portions made to be tubular shapes, that is, body portions of the first airtight tower 24 and the second airtight tower 25, at least these portions may be made of a transparent synthetic resin material or the like. Inner conditions can be seen through the transparent portions, and accordingly, an operation or maintenance can be easily and surely conducted, which is convenient. The gyration moving table 23 including the flange portion 23a or the like, the first airtight tower 24 and the second airtight tower 25 can be respectively made of different members and integrated, but, here, they are integrated by integral molding so that manufacturing costs can be reduced by reducing an assembly process or the like. As shown in
Since the first airtight tower 24 and the second airtight tower 25 are respectively formed as tubular shapes and in the embodiment as cylindrical shapes, the first airtight chamber 24a and the second airtight chamber 25a respectively provided therein are in perpendicular cylindrical shapes. In the gyration moving table 23, a first communicating hole 24b and a second communicating hole 25b respectively passing through in a thickness direction are formed on positions respectively communicable with the first airtight chamber 24a and the second airtight chamber 25a. Therefore, the first airtight chamber 24a and the second airtight chamber 25a communicate with the gas passage 17 via the first communicating hole 24b and the second communicating hole 25b. The aforementioned screw 27 is positioned in the first airtight chamber 24a, and similarly, the substitute stopper 7 is positioned in the second airtight chamber 25a, respectively. The first communicating hole 24b and the second communicating hole 25b are almost the same size as that of the through hole 13c, that is, a size through which the bottle stopper C or the substitute stopper 7 is passable.
As described above, since the chamber body 21, that is, the first airtight tower 24 and the second airtight tower 25, is integrated with the gyration moving table 23, relative positions of the chamber body 21 to the holder body 11 can be mutually changed by the turn of the gyration moving table 23. In the present specification, a position where the first communicating hole 24b and the through hole 13c are lined up is called a first position, and a position where the second communicating hole 25b and the through hole 13c are lined up is called a second position, respectively. Accordingly, when the gyration moving table 23 is positioned on the first position, the cork stopper can be pulled in the first airtight chamber 24a through the through hole 13c and the first communicating hole 24b. When the gyration moving table 23 is positioned on the second position, the substitute stopper 7 contained in the second airtight chamber 25a can be pushed and inserted in a head opening B2 through the second communicating hole 25b and the through hole 13c. Pulling the cork stopper or inserting the substitute stopper is caused by mainly operations of the first supporting structure 28, the second supporting structure 34, and the operation body 41 to be described later.
(Structure of First Supporting Structure)
The first supporting structure 28 is structured with a first piston 31 capable of moving upward and downward inside the first airtight chamber 24a, a supporting member 29 capable of rotating relative to the first piston 31, an O-ring shaped packing 8b for holding airtight between an inner peripheral face of the first piston 31 and an outer peripheral face of the supporting member 29, and a similar O-ring shaped packing 8c disposed between an outer peripheral face of the first piston 31 and an inner peripheral face of the first airtight tower 24. The supporting member 29 is integrated with a base portion of the screw 27 as a bottle-opening member, and the screw 27 is also rotated according to a rotation of the supporting member 29. The entire first supporting structure 28 is moved upward and downward according to the operation of the operation body 41 to be described later, and the supporting member 29 is rotated according to the up and down movement. Therefore, the screw 27 is moved upward and downward while rotating in the first airtight chamber 24a according to the operation of the operation body 41. On an inside lower portion of the first airtight chamber 24a, a screw guide 33 is fitted to be able to move upward and downward through an O-ring shaped packing 8d. The screw guide 33 is a guide member for aligning a tip portion of the screw 27 with a center of the cork stopper C, and is so structured to be pushed up by moving upward of the cork stopper C, and pushed down by the first piston 31. The screw guide 33 may be omitted when the alignment with a center is not necessary. It should be noted that the first piston 31 is made of synthetic resin because it is not only light weighted but also easily processed, however, the first piston 31 can be made of a metal or other raw materials. The same thing can be said of a second piston 37 to be described later.
(Structure of Second Supporting Structure)
The second supporting structure 34 is provided on an upper portion in the second airtight chamber 25a. The second supporting structure 34 is structured with the second piston 37 capable of moving upward and downward inside the second airtight chamber 25a, a press-down member 35 capable of rotating relative to the second piston 37, an O-ring shaped packing 8e for holding airtight between an inner peripheral face of the second piston 37 and an outer peripheral face of the press-down member 35, and a similar O-ring shaped packing 8f disposed between an outer peripheral face of the second piston 37 and an inner peripheral face of the second airtight tower 25. The packing 8e serves as a means for holding airtight between the second piston 37 and the press-down member 35, and the packing 8f serves as a means for holding airtight between the second piston 37 and the second airtight tower 25, respectively. The press-down member 35 is a member for abutting on an upper end of the substitute stopper 7 contained in the second airtight tower 25, for integrally moving downward with the second piston 37, and for pushing down the substitute stopper 7 by the down movement. The press-down member 35 does not have to be rotated in order to push down the substitute stopper 7, however, it is able to rotate in order to commonly share the operation body 41 to be described later with the aforementioned supporting member 29. The press-down member 35 can be used without rotating by, for example, providing a means for canceling a rotation of a lead screw (described later) constituting the operation body 41, or by providing an operation body that is individually operable for the press-down member 35 without commonly sharing.
A slider 39 is fitted below the second piston 37. The slider 39 is so structured that its outer peripheral face is able to slide on an inner peripheral face of the second airtight chamber 25a, that the slider 39 is pushed down and moved downward by the second piston 37, and that the slider 39 is pushed up and moved upward by the substitute stopper 7 when the substitute stopper 7 is inserted. The slider 39 serves as a means for preventing shaking relative to the second airtight chamber 25a as a main purpose when the second piston 37 is moved downward, however, the slider 39 may be omitted if not necessary. A space in the second airtight tower 25, that is, the space under the slider 39 in the second airtight chamber 25a, is a space with a size in which the substitute stopper 7 can be contained. The substitute stopper 7 contained in the second airtight tower 25a can project from a lower portion thereof in a direction of a bottle disposed thereunder by moving downward of the press-down member 35 or the like. Incidentally, a circularly projected engaging portion (a connector receiving portion) 35a is formed on a top end portion of the press-down member 35.
To the respective internal portions of the first airtight chamber 24a, the second airtight chamber 25a, and the mounting mouth 13, N gas introduced from the gas supply port 19 provided on a lower portion of the holder body 11 can be supplied through the gas passage 17 from a gas introducing path 19a. Furthermore, N gas can also be supplied into the bottle B through the through hole 13c when the cork stopper C is pulled out of the bottle B.
(Structure of Operation Body)
The operation body 41 is a component for pulling the cork stopper by means of the screw 27 in the first airtight tower 24, for pushing the substitute stopper contained in the second airtight tower 25, or the like. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
When the switching member 48 is turned downward, the top end portion of the lead screw 45 abuts on the inner peripheral face of the switching member 48, which obstructs down movement of the handle 47. In other words, when the handle 47 is rotated, the top end portion of the lead screw 45 shows a tendency of projecting from the hole portion 48a thereof. However, the projection of the top end portion of the lead screw is obstructed by the inner peripheral face of the switching member 48, and therefore, the handle 47 cannot be rotated any further. In a state shown in
When the switching member 48 is turned downward, that is, when the relative up and down movement between the handle 47 and the lead screw 45 becomes obstructed, both the handle 47 and the lead screw 45 are integrally rotated in a state that both components are fixed. When the handle 47 is rotated in such an integral state, the lead screw 45 is also rotated according to the rotation of the handle 47. The rotating lead screw 45 is moved downward relative to the shaft-receiving member 49. As shown in
A connector 51 is connected to the straight portion 45b on a lower portion of the lead screw 45. As shown in
As shown in
An air vent valve 57 (refer to
(First Modification of Stopper Change Device)
An explanation will be given based on
In other words, a stopper change device 151 is generally structured with a flexible airtight container 153, a mounting mouth 155 communicating with an inside of the airtight container 153, a gas supply port 157 for supplying deterioration preventive gas in the airtight container 153, an air vent valve 159 for exhausting air from the airtight container 153, and an operation body 165 for operating from outside a corkscrew (a bottle opening member) 163 contained in the airtight container 153.
The airtight container 153 is made of a material having airtight and flexibility, for example, a sheet made of synthetic resin, synthetic leather, or the like being formed in a bag shape, and is structured to be mounted keeping airtight on the head of the bottle through the mounting mouth 155. The airtight container 153 is so structured that a user can change the cork stopper C with a substitute stopper 167 with his/her hands from outside utilizing the flexibility, and therefore, the airtight container 153 is formed with a size enough to conduct the change work. The mounting mouth 155 is so structured basically to have the same structure and to obtain the same effect as the mounting mouth 13 in the aforementioned present embodiment. Furthermore, the gas supply port 157 and the air vent valve 159 are also so structured respectively to have the same structure and to obtain the same effect as the gas supply port 19 and the air vent valve 57.
A method for using the stopper change device 151 is as follows. First, as shown in
After the cork stopper C is completely pulled out, as shown in
An explanation will be given based on
(Structural Example of Substitute Stopper)
Here, the substitute stopper 7 will be explained in detail with reference to
As shown in the drawing, the plug body 7a and the cap 7c are fixed by a screw in the vicinity of the upper portion of the substitute stopper 7, and airtight between the body 7a and the cap 7c is held by fitting an O-ring 7f as a packing on an upper portion of the flange portion. As shown in
Meanwhile, since inside diameters of the bottle opening B2 are diversified, it is difficult that a substitute stopper can correspond to all inside diameters for a cost reason. Therefore, as shown in
(Method for Changing Bottle Stopper by Stopper Change Device)
Next, a method for changing a bottle stopper using the stopper change device 10 will be explained. Basically, the method for changing the bottle stopper using the stopper change device 10 allows the bottle stopper and the substitute stopper to be changeable without deterioration in the quality of fluid by means of a process including a process of detaching the bottle stopper in the airtight container filled with deterioration preventive gas and a process of mounting the substitute stopper contained in the airtight container in place of the bottle stopper. This invention is naturally on the assumption of existence of a device such as the bottle stopper change device 10, however, it is not always limited to such a device. For example, such a case that the stopper change device itself does not require deterioration preventive gas, and that a change of stopper is conducted in a state that the entire stopper change device is contained in a sealed body filled with deterioration preventive gas is included.
First, as a first preparation of changing the bottle stopper, as shown in
Next, as a second preparation, the coupling assist 90 is mounted on the head B2 of the bottle B with fluid contained in it. First, in this process, a cap seal covering the opening B2 of the bottle is peeled off, and a coupling nut 91 of the coupling assist 90 is inserted so that the female screw portion faces upward, and a wide ring 93 as a packing is pressed into the head of the bottle. In passing, both operations may be simultaneously conducted because theses preparations are in a random order. Next, the stopper change device 10 prepared during the aforementioned first preparation is mounted on the opening B2 of the bottle so that the stopper change device 10 is fixed to the bottle B and mounted in an airtight state by rotating and fastening the coupling nut 91 after putting together the male screw portion 13a of the mounting mouth 13 and the female screw portion 91a of the coupling nut 91 (refer to
Next, as shown in
Next, the projecting portion of the switching member 48 attached to the handle 47 is turned downward. The lead screw is lowered against frictional drag of the first supporting structure 28 by pushing down the handle and making a clockwise rotation while maintaining the handle in an integrally rotating state with the lead screw 45. At this time, since the clutch mechanism 55 is in an open state, and the lead screw 45 is free to the swing lever 43, the tip portion of the screw 27 immediately reaches the top end portion of the cork stopper C. Furthermore, at this time, the crank-shaped recessed portion 51d (refer to
The screw 27 is thus lowered and the tip portion thereof is impaled on the top end portion of the cork stopper C through the opening B2 of the bottle. In addition, when the handle 47 is rotated clockwise while pushing it down, the screw 27 enters the cork C by a self-rotation. When the screw 27 thus enters the cork stopper C through the bottle opening B2 and reaches the vicinity of the bottom end portion of the cork stopper as shown in
At this time also, since the crank-shaped recessed portion 51d (refer to
Subsequently, in a state that the handle is grasped with one hand and the bottle B is grasped with the other hand, as shown with the two-dot chain line in
Subsequently, a screw pair is realized (refer to
Regardless of whether or not the clutch mechanism 55 is used, when the substitute stopper 7 is pressed, the bottom end portion of the connector 51 abuts on the engaging member 35a and pushes down the press-down member 35. The second piston 37 and the slider 39 are lowered according to pushing down of the press-down member 35. By this lowering, the lower portion of the slider 39 presses the tip portion of the substitute stopper 7 inserted in the second airtight chamber 25a so that the plug is lowered, and the plug is pressed into the opening B2 of the bottle. When the flange portion of the substitute stopper 7 formed in the vicinity of the upper portion abuts on the edge of the opening of the bottle, the pressing work of the substitute stopper is completed. In this state, N gas is filled in an upper space inside the bottle, and this gas is not leaked through the discharge valve 7b of the substitute stopper 7. Finally, the coupling nut 91 is rotated and the stopper change device 10 is taken out of the bottle B. This completes the work of changing the stopper.
By completion of the work of changing the stopper, the bottle B in which the bottle head B1 is closed by the substitute stopper 7 is obtained. Air is not contained in the bottle B and N gas is filled therein. Accordingly, oxidation of wine inside the bottle B is effectively prevented.
(Other Structure)
The above explanations were given on the assumption that fluid is wine and that deterioration preventive gas is gas-having nitrogen as a main ingredient (N gas). However, in addition, as deterioration preventive gas, carbon dioxide gas, mixed gas of nitrogen gas and carbon dioxide gas, or other gases can be adoptable. For example, when carbon dioxide gas is adopted as deterioration preventive gas for carbonated beverage, not only deterioration of the fluid can be prevented but also loss of carbon ingredients can be prevented. In addition, as the fluid, other beverages such as whisky, brandy, carbonated beverage, a nutritional supplement, a dairy product, fruit juice with pulp, condensed fluid, fluid having a large liquid resistance, and so on are acceptable. However, not only different deterioration preventive gas must be selected according to characteristics of the fluid but also a structure of a fluid extracting device must be corresponded thereto.
Furthermore, the above explanations were given on the assumption that the bottle stopper is a cork stopper. However, the present invention is applicable to other types of bottle stoppers such as a screw stopper in addition to the cork stopper. For example, as shown in
Furthermore, the above explanations were given on the assumption that an upper surface of the holder body is a circle having a recessed portion, that a moving table mounted thereon is a gyrating table, and that positions of the respective airtight chambers are changed by the turning or rotating. However, a spirit of them is not limited to the turning, and it is possible to change their positions by moving the moving table by a linear motion. In addition, the respective airtight chambers are provided in the respective airtight towers, however these airtight chambers can be provided side by side in one block. Furthermore, explanations were also given on the assumption that the operation body is provided via the swing lever supported on the holder body to be able to swing, however the operation body may be fixed or may be attachable and detachable.
According to the present invention, a device for changing a bottle stopper and a method for changing a bottle stopper capable of changing the existing bottle stopper with the substitute stopper without allowing air to enter the bottle with fluid contained therein can be provided. By changing the bottle stopper using such a device or a method, it is possible to effectively prevent the fluid remaining in a bottle once opened from deteriorating with the passage of time. Therefore, for example, if the fluid remaining in the bottle is beverage such as wine and so on, a good taste can be enjoyed for relatively a long period without worrying about oxidation of the beverage after opening the bottle.
As explained above, a device for changing a stopper and a method for changing a stopper of the present invention are suitable for changing an existing bottle stopper with a substitute stopper without allowing air to enter the bottle with fluid (for example, beverage such as wine and so on) contained therein.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002-149117 | May 2002 | JP | national |
This is a divisional application of U.S. nonprovisional application Ser. No. 10/493,815, filed Apr. 28, 2004, now U.S. Pat No. 7,032,364, granted Apr. 25, 2006, by Eiji Yoshida et al., titled “Plug Replacing Device and Plug Replacing Method,” which is a U.S. national phase entry of PCT application, PCT/JP03/06490, filed May 23, 2003, and which claims priority to Japanese national application 2002-149117, the entirety of which applications are incorporated herein by reference.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20050204704 A1 | Sep 2005 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10493815 | US | |
| Child | 11125519 | US |
