Patent Application
20220411136
Not applicable.
The present invention relates to wine bottle closures replacing the need and implementation of cork, synthetic cork, and screw cap closures, improving the stopper insertion and extraction task yet maintaining compatibility with existing “corking machinery” and devices for stopper extraction from wine bottles.
Wine bottles are commonly sealed with either a natural cork, synthetic cork, or screw-cap closures. The cork stopper dates back some three hundred years when glass bottles were hand blown, and no two bottles were alike. Variation in bottle mouth and neck inside diameter rendered it necessary to utilize the cork stopper because of the extremely compressible and accommodating nature of cork to fit a wide range of the inside diameter of bottles. With today's high demand for cork closures, the limited supply of cork has adversely affected the availability of acceptable quality of cork, resulting in significant price increases, and the surrender of implementing screw cap closure. In keeping with the natural and synthetic cork closure for bottled wines, three percent to 10 percent of wine is wasted and discarded due to defective natural and synthetic corks. Although not harmful, natural cork can contain unacceptable levels of a substance known as TCA (trichloranisole) causing taint-contamination that can make wines smell and taste musty. With natural cork stoppers, bottled wines also age inconsistently, depending on cork quality and cork-to-bottle sealing reliability. In so far as synthetic cork stoppers utilized in lieu of natural cork, these stoppers tend to oxidize after approximately two years, rendering them unreliable. Furthermore, the cork closure, whether natural or synthetic, can be difficult to extract from the wine bottle, especially by a person inexperienced in this task. In the event that either natural or synthetic cork disintegrates when attempting to extract it, fragments of the cork remain floating within the wine bottle and can pass into the serving glass or decanter when pouring, rendering the wine inappropriate to serve. Such failures in cork stoppers cause considerable waste and financial impact in the wine industry. With cost concerns, growing demand for high-quality cork, and diminishing availability of cork, the screw-cap proved least expensive and most reliable for bottled wine closures. This conversion from the cork-accepting bottle to the cap-accepting threaded bottle configuration requires expensive modification, if not replacement in the wine bottle closure machinery. Most important is the risk of producers losing marketability by offering bottled wine comprised of the undesirable “screw-cap” closure in lieu of the “cork” stopper. It is a world-wide opinion that the “screw-cap” bottled wine with screw-cap closures gives consumers the impression that the wine is of low quality, high production, and lack of mystique or romance in the art of opening a bottle of wine. Furthermore, the screw-cap can render the bottled wine easy to maliciously open.
In practice, it has been observed that well-known synthetic stoppers, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,862, despite having numerous advantages compared to natural cork stoppers, have a lower sealing action in the long term. Cork has the advantage that, in the presence of external moisture and a damp environment, it expands until it adheres completely to the inner wall of the bottle. Synthetic stoppers made of thermoplastic material only absorb moisture in negligible quantities and can only rely on their intrinsic resilience to adhere to the inner wall of the bottle. Gaps are therefore created between the stopper and the bottle neck glass wall allowing oxygen to filter from the surrounding atmosphere into the bottle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,904,965 describes a synthetic-material stopper which is formed by a rigid inner portion and a covering layer having a greater density, is engaged in the neck of the bottle by means of friction. This solution, in addition to being expensive to manufacture, does not completely eliminate the formation of gaps between the stopper and the glass of the bottle, and therefore oxidation of the bottle's contents.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,138 European patent No. 0,629,559 and French patent No. 2,731,677 describe stoppers, which have annular elements on their external surfaces which are able to interact with the inner wall of the bottle and prevent oxygen from entering the bottle.
A limitation of these solutions consists in the fact that the annular elements are all made from the same material for alimentary use and at a cost which is not excessively high and sometimes made from the same material used for the central portion of the stopper.
In order to guarantee the sealing action, the material used for these aforementioned annular elements must therefore embrace various properties, such as high elasticity, low gas permeability, high compatibility for alimentary use and at a cost which is acceptable. It is difficult to achieve a good compromise between these properties, without affecting the sealing action of the stopper.
In accordance with the present invention, a wine bottle closure comprises a rigid body with compressible elastomeric O”-rings and a volute-cavity within the body providing quick and easy extraction from the wine bottle and superior performance over synthetic cork, natural cork, and screw-cap closures.
A primary object of the present invention is that of eliminating the above-mentioned drawbacks by providing a stopper comprised of:
With particular reference to the aforementioned figures, the stopper is shown according to the invention, denoted in its entirety by reference number 10 and suitable in particular for wine bottles.
From the operation point of view of the production “bottling” process of inserting the stopper 10 through the mouth 50 and into the neck 52 of the bottle 48, the stopper 10 is inserted by means of a predetermined force, to the extent that either face 16 or face 18 is relatively flush with the mouth 50 of the bottle 48, causing both of the “O”-rings 22 and 24 to compress against the interior of the neck 52 establishing adequate friction for maintaining a seated position, requiring force to extract the stopper 10 from within the bottle 48 when extraction of the stopper 10 is desired. Having defined that the “O”-rings 22 and 24 are elastically and compressively positioned, establishing a “gasket-like” seal between the stopper 10 and the interior-neck 54 of the bottle 48, it is plausible to understand that the contents of wine within the bottle 48 is adequately contained and will not leak from between the stopper 10 and the interior neck 54 of bottle 48.
The burden to the consumer having to contend with the difficult and time-consuming task of inserting the typical cork-screw-extractor into either the solid cork stopper or the solid synthetic cork stopper is omitted with the stopper 10 comprised of the volute-cavity 40. When the stopper 10 is desired to be extracted from the bottle 48, the typical cork-screw-extractor's sharp tip is targeted at whichever foramen 42 or foramen 44 is exposed at the mouth 50 of bottle 48. The extractor is then rotationally inserted clockwise into the volute-cavity 40 until the extractor tip insertion comes in contact with the partition 46. Exerting a predetermined torque to the extractor, the partition 46 is punctured, allowing the extractor to penetrate completely or nearly completely into the stopper 10 body 12 volute-cavity 40.
There are major advantages of the stopper 10 over the natural cork, and the synthetic cork stopper. Inconsistency in natural cork density, and flaws due to the nature of natural cork, diminishes the dependability on cork life and performance, resulting in having to dispose of bottled wines because of cork containing fungus, and cork having cavities causing oxygen from the environment to filter into the bottle 48, contaminating the wine contents and therefore rendering the wine unsaleable. Inconsistency in cork density can also make the task of extraction of the natural cork from the bottle 48 using the typical cork-screw-extractor difficult or impossible, whereby the cork disintegrates leaving cork particles floating within the bottle and passing these particles into a drinking glass or flask which is undesirable, creating product loss and thusly revenue. Both synthetic cork and natural cork can be difficult to extract using the typical cork-screw-extractor, even when the extraction is performed by someone experienced in the task. The extractor tip must be targeted into a position onto the exposed top of the cork, keeping the extractor clear of the cork edge against the inner edge of the bottle 48 mouth 50 which can render the extraction task difficult or impossible, having to attempt other means of the extraction task, such as removal of the cork using one's hand, or attempt re-insertion of the extractor into the cork at another position onto the exposed top of the cork. The volute-cavity 40 enables the task of extraction reliable, quick and easy. Furthermore, the body 12 made of a rigid “food-grade” plastic provides superior quality-control and uniformity in density, omitting the risk of “cork-taint” resulting in reduction of product loss. The “O”-ring 22 and the “O”-ring 24 are made of compressible elastomeric “food-grade” silicone providing for superior quality control and uniformity resulting in reduction of product loss.
Another advantage in the stopper 10 is availability in obtaining the body 12 in clear-transparent, color-transparent thermo-plastic, whereby the volute-cavity 40 visibility adds to the collectability of the stopper 10.
Another advantage in the stopper 10 is the option to “stamp” the “brand” trademark or other information onto the cylindrical side 14 of the body 12 of the stopper 10.
Yet another advantage in the stopper 10 is availability in obtaining the body 12 in non-transparent thermo-plastic.
It is intended that stopper 10 be compatible with existing packaging equipment in the operation of initially inserting the stopper 10 into the bottle 48, a technical term in the wine-bottling industry referred to as “corking”, thereby avoiding having to modify packaging machinery or the need to purchase new machinery. In the event a membrane component of the bottle 48 packaging process is installed to shield the exposed face 16 or the face 18 of the stopper 10, the mouth 50 and the neck 52 of the bottle 48, the process is the same as shielding the bottle 48 with the standard cork or synthetic cork closure.
Subsequent to the initial opening, stopper 10 can be reinstalled into bottle 48 by forcibly inserting stopper 10 into the mouth 50 of bottle 48 providing engagement of at least one “O-ring insertion, either the ring 22 or the ring 24, or if so desired, the stopper 10 can be completely inserted into the bottle 48 whereby the stopper 10 is flush with the top of the mouth 50 of the bottle 48. In the event that stopper 10 is desired to be kept as a novelty, the “O”-rings 22 and 24 can be clear or pigmented transparent in a variety of different colors which can provide identification to the various wine manufacturers, and wine types. The “O”-rings 22 and 24 can be, if desired, removed from body 12. Again, transparency of the stopper 10 body 12 provides for volute-cavity 40 to be aesthetically appreciated. Stopper body 12 can be engraved, etched or pigmented a variety of colors for identification for deeming stopper 10 a collectable. Furthermore, the uniqueness of stopper 10 provides the opportunity to market stopper 10 independently as an accessory, for re-closure of bottles not equipped with stopper 10.
There are various other possibilities with regard to body 12 as shown in
In lieu of providing the partition 46 within the volute-cavity 40, which is intended to be punctured thereby allowing the typical cork-screw extractor to further penetrate the volute cavity 40 beyond the central plane 56, the partition 46 would be of a predetermined greater thickness preventing the extractor from puncturing and penetrating beyond the thicker partition (not shown), thusly maintaining the symmetry of the stopper 10 in consideration for simplifying the “corking process”.
Another embodiment of the present invention would be to provide a pressure-sensitive transparent disk membrane (not shown) onto both the face 16 and the face 18 of the body 12 for the purpose of sealing-off the foramen 42 and the foramen 44 respectively at both the face 16 and the face 18 respectively of the body 12 preventing leakage, thusly omitting need for the partition 46 mid-way of the volute-cavity 40, thusly maintaining the symmetry of the stopper 10 in consideration for simplifying the “corking process”.
Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.
Accordingly, it can be seen that the wine bottle stopper of the present invention provides a quality, cost effective, readily implementable in the “corking” process, durable, reliable, reusable, simple and quick means to extract the stopper using a typical cork-screw-extractor. Unlike a screw-cap closure, the stopper of the present invention is tamper-resistant. Unlike a screw-cap closure which implies to the consumer a “low-quality” low-end product, the stopper of the present invention, much like the natural cork and synthetic stopper, maintains a romantic, traditional and sense of quality in the wine it is preserving. However, unlike the natural or synthetic cork stopper, the stopper of the present invention will not disintegrate as will cork, leaving pieces of cork floating in the wine bottle and glass into which it is being poured, rendering it undesirable. Unlike natural cork, the stopper of this invention eliminates the possibility of “cork taint”, the musty undesirable taste and odor caused by TCA. Furthermore, the stopper of the present invention is provided with a volute-cavity for effortless and accurate insertion of a typical cork-screw-extractor into the stopper and dependable extraction by eliminating risk of failure in extraction that could occur in when extracting natural cork or synthetic cork. The stopper of this invention eliminates waste of product lost due to natural or synthetic cork failure. Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. Various other embodiments and ramifications are possible within its scope.
