EP1122182A2 - A stopper for bottles containing liquids, in particular champagne and similar products - Google Patents
A stopper for bottles containing liquids, in particular champagne and similar products Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP1122182A2 EP1122182A2 EP01830045A EP01830045A EP1122182A2 EP 1122182 A2 EP1122182 A2 EP 1122182A2 EP 01830045 A EP01830045 A EP 01830045A EP 01830045 A EP01830045 A EP 01830045A EP 1122182 A2 EP1122182 A2 EP 1122182A2
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- stopper
- projection
- stopper according
- cylindrical element
- longitudinal axis
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
- 235000019993 champagne Nutrition 0.000 title claims abstract description 7
- 239000007788 liquid Substances 0.000 title description 11
- 238000000151 deposition Methods 0.000 claims 1
- 230000000284 resting effect Effects 0.000 abstract description 2
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 description 7
- 230000032683 aging Effects 0.000 description 5
- 210000004081 cilia Anatomy 0.000 description 4
- 238000000465 moulding Methods 0.000 description 3
- 238000007789 sealing Methods 0.000 description 3
- 239000002775 capsule Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000002347 injection Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000007924 injection Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000003780 insertion Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000037431 insertion Effects 0.000 description 2
- 235000014101 wine Nutrition 0.000 description 2
- 238000007796 conventional method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000008014 freezing Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000007710 freezing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000000717 retained effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 235000015040 sparkling wine Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 229920002994 synthetic fiber Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 238000007669 thermal treatment Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000011282 treatment Methods 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
- B65D39/00—Closures arranged within necks or pouring openings or in discharge apertures, e.g. stoppers
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
- B65D39/00—Closures arranged within necks or pouring openings or in discharge apertures, e.g. stoppers
- B65D39/0052—Closures arranged within necks or pouring openings or in discharge apertures, e.g. stoppers made in more than one piece
- B65D39/0064—Injection-molded plastic closures for "Champagne"-or "Sekt"-type bottles
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
- B65D39/00—Closures arranged within necks or pouring openings or in discharge apertures, e.g. stoppers
- B65D39/0052—Closures arranged within necks or pouring openings or in discharge apertures, e.g. stoppers made in more than one piece
- B65D39/007—Plastic cap-shaped hollow plugs
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Closures For Containers (AREA)
- Basic Packing Technique (AREA)
Abstract
Description
- The present invention relates to a stopper for bottles containing liquids, such as champagne or similar products.
- It is known that the production of sparkling wines, such as champagne, includes an ageing step, during which gas is formed inside the bottle.
- For this reason, the bottle must be fitted with a suitable sealing device, which is normally temporary, since the bottle may have to be reopened to allow suitable processing of its contents.
- Such sealing devices normally involve the insertion of a hollow, cylindrical stopper, closed at the top by a transversal wall which extends beyond the side surface of the cylinder, forming a contact surface. The stopper is made of a synthetic material and is pressed into the opening in the neck of a bottle until it rests against the contact surface on the edge of the opening.
- A metal sealing capsule, whose edge, generally crown-shaped, is designed to be clamped on the external ring-shaped edge of the neck of the bottle, is then applied over the stopper and holds it in position.
- Connected to the internal face of the capsule and inserted between the latter and the assembly consisting of the neck of the bottle and the stopper, there is a seal, designed to press against the end ring-shaped face of the neck and against the transversal wall of the stopper. This seal, together with the stopper, is designed to guarantee a seal which prevents the gas and liquid escaping.
- As well as contributing to the bottle closing seal, the stopper is also designed to collect ageing residues in the liquid bottled and to remove them from the bottle when the latter is opened.
- However, when the bottle is picked up for opening, the liquid inside is agitated and this may result in mixing of the residues which collected towards the upper transversal wall of the stopper, which then tend to drop down again or simply spread throughout the liquid in the bottle.
- Before the stopper is removed, the neck of the bottle is normally frozen in order to capture all of the residues and prevent them mixing with the liquid. However, this conventional method does not guarantee that part of the residues will not fall back into the liquid in the bottle.
- Moreover, since the bottle may be opened and the stopper extracted several times during the wine ageing process, the technique which involves repeated freezing of the bottle neck may on the one hand alter the characteristics of the wine and, on the other, may weaken or even break the bottle.
- The aim of the present invention is, therefore, to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages by providing a stopper which allows all residues formed during the ageing process to be retained.
- Another aim of the present invention is not to require additional treatments, for example thermal treatments, on the bottle and its contents.
- Accordingly, these aims and others, which are more clearly illustrated in the description which follows are achieved in accordance with the present invention by a stopper for bottles containing champagne or similar products, comprising a hollow, substantially cylindrical element with a longitudinal axis and a side wall. The stopper may be inserted, according to the direction of its longitudinal axis, in the opening in the neck of a bottle and closed by a transversal wall which has a ring-shaped projection resting on the ring-shaped end face of the neck. The stopper is characterised in that, at the internal surface of the side wall, the cylindrical element has means for retaining any residues, designed to keep the residues inside the hollow cylindrical element.
- Further technical features and the advantages of the present invention are more clearly shown in the detailed description below, with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention without limiting its scope of application and in which:
- Figure 1 is an axial cross-section of a first embodiment of the stopper made according to the present invention, inserted in the neck of a bottle;
- Figure 2 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the stopper;
- Figures 3 and 4 are perspective views of further embodiments of the stopper according to the present invention.
- With reference to the accompanying drawings, the
numeral 1 denotes a stopper for bottles containing a pressurised liquid, such as champagne or similar product. - The
stopper 1 comprises a hollow, substantiallycylindrical element 2, which can be inserted, according to the direction of itslongitudinal axis 3, in theopening 4 in theneck 5 of a bottle. - The size of the
cylindrical element 2 is such that some force must be exerted in order to insert it in theopening 4, so that itsside wall 6 is in close contact with the internal surface of theneck 5 of the bottle. - The
cylindrical element 2 is closed at the top by atransversal wall 7 with a ring-shaped projection 8 which rests on a ring-shaped end face 9 of theneck 5, creating a stop which halts the insertion of thecylindrical element 2. - At the
internal surface 6a of theside wall 6, thecylindrical element 2 has retaining means 10, which allow the residues which form during the ageing process to be held inside the cavity in thecylindrical element 2 of thestopper 1. - The retaining means consist of a
projection 11 extending towards thelongitudinal axis 3 of thecylindrical element 2. - In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1, the
projection 11 consists of asingle tab 20 having the shape of a substantially flat continuous ring. - The
tab 20 may be integral with theinternal surface 6a of theside wall 6 of thecylindrical element 2, or it may be part of theelement 2. - The extension of the
tab 20 towards thelongitudinal axis 3 has a depth S, measured on a plane P perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, which is less than the radius R of the cylindrical element. - The S/R ratio is between 0.2 and 0.8, preferably being 0.5.
- Advantageously, the
tab 20 extends longitudinally towards thetransversal wall 7 of the stopper, forming arecess 12 together with theinternal surface 6a of theside wall 6. - When the bottle is picked up, the residues which accumulated around the upper
transversal wall 7 of thecylindrical element 2 of thestopper 1 are mixed and tend to slip along theside wall 6 of thestopper 1 towards the bottom of the bottle. Thetab 20 stops the descent of the residues towards the bottom of the bottle, causing them to be deposited in therecess 12 formed between thetab 20 and theinternal surface 6a of theside wall 6. - When the bottle is opened, all of the residues are in the zone between the
tab 20 and thetransversal wall 7 and are, therefore, eliminated by simply removing thestopper 1 from the bottle. - The
tab 20 is set at an angle to thelongitudinal axis 3 such that it forms a convex angle α to theinternal surface 6a of theside wall 6, creating therecess 12. - The convex angle α measures between 5 degrees and 90 degrees, preferably being around 45 degrees.
- The
tab 20 may have a curved profile, not illustrated in the accompanying drawings, or it may be straight, as illustrated in Figure 1. - In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 2, the
projection 11 consists of atab 21 which extends substantially in the shape of a continuous ring, withcorrugations 21a to facilitate the collection of the residues, which tend to slip towards the bottom of the bottle. - In Figure 3, the
projection 11 consists of a plurality of flat elements ortabs 22 distributed in a ring shape and side by side, in such a way as to allow the passage of the liquid but not the residues. - In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 4, the
projection 10 consists of a plurality of hair-like elements orcilia 13 which extend towards thelongitudinal axis 3 of thestopper 1. - The cilia extend in what is substantially a ring shape and, advantageously, are set at an angle to the
internal surface 6a of theside wall 6 such that they extend longitudinally towards thetransversal wall 7. - The configuration of the
cilia 13 allows the liquid to be filtered when the bottle is picked up, retaining the residues in therecess 12 formed by thecilia 13 together with theinternal surface 6a. Although not illustrated, in the various embodiments presented, during the injection and moulding process, theprojection 11 is not necessarily set at the angle illustrated. This obviously depends on the moulding process and apparatus used. In order to facilitate the moulding process, theprojection 11, when extracted, is preferably set at a very different angle, which may even vary over 180 degrees, labelled β in Figure 1. Subsequently, in order to bring the projection to the final operating angle, a machine is used, designed specifically to bend the projection formed immediately after injection, so as to guarantee that the projection is positioned towards thetransversal wall 7. - The invention described can be subject to numerous modifications and variations without thereby departing from the scope of the inventive concept. Moreover, all the details of the invention may be substituted by technically equivalent elements.
Claims (14)
- A stopper for bottles containing champagne or similar products, comprising a hollow, substantially cylindrical element (2), with a longitudinal axis (3) and a side wall (6), it being possible to insert the stopper, according to the direction of the longitudinal axis (3), in the opening (4) in a neck (5) of a bottle and the stopper being sealed by a transversal wall (7) with a ring-shaped projection (8) which rests on the ring-shaped end face (9) of the neck (5), the stopper being characterised in that, at the internal surface (6a) of the side wall (6), the cylindrical element (2) has means (10) for retaining any residues, said means keeping the residues inside the hollow cylindrical element (2).
- The stopper according to claim 1, characterised in that the retaining means (10) consist of at least one projection (11), extending towards the longitudinal axis (3) of the cylindrical element (2) .
- The stopper according to claim 2, characterised in that the projection (11) extends in a longitudinal direction towards the transversal wall (7) of the cylindrical element (2), forming a recess (12) for depositing the residues.
- The stopper according to claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the projection (11) extends in a substantially flat continuous ring shape.
- The stopper according to claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the projection (11) extends in a substantially continuous ring shape with corrugations (21a).
- The stopper according to claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the projection (11) consists of a plurality of flat elements (22) distributed substantially in a ring shape.
- The stopper according to claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the projection (11) consists of a plurality of hair-like elements (13) distributed substantially in a ring shape, allowing the residues to be filtered out.
- The stopper according to any of the foregoing claims from 2 to 7, characterised in that the extension of the projection (11) towards the longitudinal axis (3) has a depth S, being measured on a plane P which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (3), which is less than the radius R of the cylindrical element, the S/R ratio being between 0.2 and 0.8.
- The stopper according to claim 8, characterised in that the S/R ratio is around 0.5.
- The stopper according to any of the foregoing claims from 3 to 9, characterised in that the projection (11) has a profile which is set at an angle to the longitudinal axis (3), in practice forming a convex angle (α) with the internal surface (6a) of the side wall (6).
- The stopper according to claim 10, characterised in that said convex angle is between 5 degrees and 90 degrees.
- The stopper according to claim 11, characterised in that said convex angle is between 20 degrees and 80 degrees.
- The stopper according to claim 12, characterised in that said convex angle is around 45 degrees.
- The stopper according to claim 10, characterised in that said profile is substantially straight.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
ITBO000041 | 2000-02-01 | ||
ITBO20000041 IT1320940B1 (en) | 2000-02-01 | 2000-02-01 | SHUTTER FOR BOTTLES CONTAINING LIQUIDS, IN PARTICULAR SIMILAR CHAMPAGNEE. |
Publications (3)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP1122182A2 true EP1122182A2 (en) | 2001-08-08 |
EP1122182A3 EP1122182A3 (en) | 2001-11-21 |
EP1122182B1 EP1122182B1 (en) | 2003-07-23 |
Family
ID=11438122
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP20010830045 Expired - Lifetime EP1122182B1 (en) | 2000-02-01 | 2001-01-26 | A stopper for bottles containing liquids, in particular champagne and similar products |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP1122182B1 (en) |
DE (1) | DE60100480D1 (en) |
IT (1) | IT1320940B1 (en) |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2004099058A1 (en) * | 2003-04-18 | 2004-11-18 | Seung Ki Lee | Champagne bottle with bottle opener |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
IT201700068058A1 (en) * | 2017-06-20 | 2018-12-20 | Franz Egger | PLUG TO CLOSE A BOTTLE, IN PARTICULAR A BOTTLE CONTAINING A TURBISH DRINK |
Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US2418630A (en) * | 1944-01-01 | 1947-04-08 | Febbraro Mario | Bottle closure |
FR2592860A1 (en) * | 1986-01-11 | 1987-07-17 | Euscher Gmbh & Co Ewald | Closure means for bottles, in particular for bottles of sparkling wine |
-
2000
- 2000-02-01 IT ITBO20000041 patent/IT1320940B1/en active
-
2001
- 2001-01-26 EP EP20010830045 patent/EP1122182B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2001-01-26 DE DE60100480T patent/DE60100480D1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Patent Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US2418630A (en) * | 1944-01-01 | 1947-04-08 | Febbraro Mario | Bottle closure |
FR2592860A1 (en) * | 1986-01-11 | 1987-07-17 | Euscher Gmbh & Co Ewald | Closure means for bottles, in particular for bottles of sparkling wine |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2004099058A1 (en) * | 2003-04-18 | 2004-11-18 | Seung Ki Lee | Champagne bottle with bottle opener |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
EP1122182A3 (en) | 2001-11-21 |
EP1122182B1 (en) | 2003-07-23 |
ITBO20000041A1 (en) | 2001-08-01 |
IT1320940B1 (en) | 2003-12-18 |
DE60100480D1 (en) | 2003-08-28 |
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