GB2289252A

GB2289252A - Sealed drinking vessel containing a beverage

Info

Publication number: GB2289252A
Application number: GB9409286A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John George Thompson Muter
Original assignee: H & A Bottlers Ltd
Current assignee: H & A Bottlers Ltd
Priority date: 1994-05-10
Filing date: 1994-05-10
Publication date: 1995-11-15
Also published as: GB9409286D0

Abstract

A container for a beverage in the form of a drinking vessel such as a wine glass 10 for wine, holds a quantity of beverage and has a removable cover member 19 providing a fluid-tight closure to retain the beverage. Preferably the vessel is of plastics material and the cover member is a laminate of metal foil and plastics film. The central portion of the cover member may be recessed 21 so as to contact the beverage surface and a manually graspable tab 23 may be provided adjacent a peripheral portion 20 which is heat sealed to the container rim. <IMAGE>

Description

PATENTS ACT 1977 TITLE: Containers for Beverages Description of the Invention This invention relates to container from which a beverage may be drunk.

Beverages are commonly provided in containers such as plastics or glass bottles or metal cans which are robust and economical but which are not, to many or even most people, acceptable vessels from which to drink directly.

Therefore it is common to pour the beverage from the bottle or can into a suitable drinking vessel, e.g. a glass, to be drunk. A problem arises in the case of beverages such as wine, which are perishable in that they deteriorate in contact with air, and which usually are supplied in bottles containing a volume of liquid sufficient to fill a number of the drinking vessels usually used for the beverage.

If only, for example, one glass of wine is to be drunk, when a bottle has been opened and part of its contents removed, the remaining contents cannot be satisfactorily stored. Although some use has been made of bottles of wine each containing sufficient to fill only a single glass, they are relatively inconvenient because in most cases it is still necessary to pour the wine from such a bottle into a glass to be drunk.

It is broadly the object of the present invention to provide for the supply of a beverage in a container from which it may be drunk directly, and which is suitable for a perishable beverage such as wine. The invention is, however, applicable to other beverages including those which might not be as liable to deterioration as wine.

According to one aspect of the present invention, we provide a container having the form of a drinking vessel with an opening at which beverage may be drunk from the vessel; a quantity of beverage in the container; and a removable cover member providing a fluid-tight closure at said opening of the container.

The beverage may be a perishable beverage such as wine, or any other alcoholic or non-alcoholk beverage which may or may not be perishable.

The container may be in the form of vessel of the type generally known as a "wine glass", comprising a body with a rim at its upper end, and a stem and base at its lower end so that the container can stand stably on a surface.

The base of the container preferably is of a dimension such that it can fit within the body of the container, enabling the containers to be nested together for storage prior to use.

Preferably the container is of a plastics material. A suitable plastics material for containing wine, in respect of preventing deterioration of the wine in storage and which also can be provided in clear form so as to present the appearance of a glass container, is PET (polyethylene terephthalate).

The container may be an injection moulding of such material. It will be appreciated that other plastics materials may be suitable for containing wine or other beverages which may place different requirements on the material in which they are contained.

The cover member may be a laminate of a metal foil, e.g. aluminium, and a plastics film, e.g. polypropylene. Such a cover member may be heat-sealed to the rim of the container, with its plastics film presented towards the interior of the container.

Preferably the cover member includes a peripheral portion sealed to the rim of the container as aforesaid, and a central portion which is spaced downwardly from the rim. The quantity of beverage in the container preferably is sufficient substantially to reach the central portion of the cover member, which is at a level to which a container such as a wine glass tvpically is filled with wine from another container, to enable it to be handled and drunk from with relative ease.

The provision of the central portion of the cover member, spaced downwardly from the peripheral portion thereof, reduces to a minimum the space in the container which does not contain the beverage and thus must contain gas or vapour. Preferably the space in the container not containing beverage contains a gas or gases which is or are inert with respect to the beverage in the container, e.g. nitrogen and/or carbon dioxide in the case of wine.

Preferably the cover member includes a tapering portion between its peripheral portion and central portion so that the central portion is spaced from the wall of the container beneath the rim. Thus capillary action of the beverage between the cover member and container is reduced.

The cover member preferably has a manually graspable tab formation enabling the cover member to be removed from the container by a peeling action.

The invention thus provides a method by which a beverage such as wine can be provided in a relatively small quantity in a container in the form of a drinking vessel, and from which it can therefore be drunk directly, whilst reducing problems of deterioration of the beverage prior to opening of the container for drinking.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing, which is a perspective view of a container according to the invention.

The illustrated container has the shape of a well known type of wine glass. It comprises a body 10 whose peripheral wall 11 tapers slightly from a circular rim 12 at its uppermost end to a region indicated at 13, and then converges more rapidly in a region 14 to reach the top of a stem 15. At its lowermost end the stem 15 has a circular base 16 so that in use the container may be stood stably on a surface if such surface does not deviate too greatly from being flat and horizontal. The diameter of the base 16 is such that it can fit within the body 10 to about the portion 13 thereof, so that emptv such containers can be partially nested within one another for storage.

The container preferably is an injection moulding of a clear transparent plastics material such as PET, so that the container, as well as having the shape of a wine glass, presents the appearance of being made out of glass.

A groove 17 is shown as extending around the body at the region 13 thereof, and this groove may be provided at a junction between respective parts of a mould tool in which the container is made. Such mould tools may be arranged to provide for manufacture of differently shaped containers parts of which are of common shape, by replacement of part only of a toolset.

A beverage is contained within the container, reaching a level 18 slightly below the rim 12 thereof, such level being comparable with the level to which a wine glass commonly is filled with wine from a bottle thereof, for convenience in handling and drinking. The beverage may be wine.

The opening defined by the rim 12 of the container is closed by a cover member indicated generally at 19. This comprises a peripheral portion 20, a circular central portion 21, and an intermediate portion 22. The peripheral portion 20 of the cover member has fluid-tight sealed engagement with the rim, to prevent escape of beverage from and ingress of air to the interior of the container. The cover member preferably is of a laminated metal foil and plastics film, e.g. aluminium foil and polypropylene film, the plastics film being presented towards the interior of the container. Preferably the sealing connection to the rim of the container is provided by heat sealing between the plastics film of the cover member and the material of the container.

The central portion 21 of the cover member is spaced beneath the peripheral portion 20 of the cover member so as to contact or nearly contact the surface of the beverage within the container. Thereby the space in the container above the beverage is reduced to a minimum. By way of example the portion 21 may be about 10mum below the portion 20. The intermediate portion 22 of the cover member tapers frusto-conically from the peripheral portion to the central portion, so that the central portion ' 1 is spaced from the wall 11 of the container and the possibility of capillary action of the beverage taking place to enable the beverage to reach the rim 20 is reduced.

The cover member further comprises a manually grasps'blue tab 23 which enables the cover member to be removed from the container by a peeling action.

A label to indicate the contents of the container may be affixed to the container as indicated at 23.

The space in the container above the beverage therein preferably is filled with a gas which is inert with respect to the beverage in the container, e.g.

nitrogen or carbon dioxide in the case where the beverage is wine. Such an inert or relatively inert gas may be introduced hy, for example, introducing the beverage into the container and applying the cover member thereto under an atmosphere of such gas, or by a purge of such gas after introduction of the beverage into the container and prior to the application of the cover member thereto.

The invention thus provides a package which enables a single measure of beverage such as wine to be drunk without requiring it to be poured into a drinking vessel from a container such as a bottle in which it has been supplied, with the attendant problems of deterioration of the beverage which remains in the large container after removal of such a small quantity thereof. Further, the inconvenience of having to provide a separate drinking vessel is avoided.

The invention is most readily applicable to beverages such as wine which are highly susceptible to deterioration from contact with air. However, it is to be appreciated that it is applicable to beverages of all types including those which are liable to such deterioration and those which are not. For example, it may be used for spirits or mixed drinks, fruit juices, and so on.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims

1. A container in the form of a drinking vessel having an opening at which a beverage may be drunk from the vessel; a quantity of beverage in the container; and a removable cover member providing a fluid-tight closure at said opening of the container.

2. A container according to Claim 1 wherein the beverage is a perishable beverage.

3. A container according to Claim 2 wherein the beverage is wine.

4. A container according to any one of the preceding claims in the form of a wine glass, comprising a body with a rim at its upper end, a stem, and a base enabling the container to stand stably on a surface.

5. A container according to Claim 4 wherein the base is of a dimension such that it can fit within the body of the container.

6. A container according to any one of the preceding claims which is of a plastics material.

7. A container according to Claim 6 wherein the material is PET.

8. A container according to Claim 6 or Claim 7 which is an injection moulding of said plastics material.

9. A container according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the cover member comprises a laminate of a metal foil and a plastics film.

10. A container according to Claim 9 wherein the cover member is heat sealed to the rim of a container, with its plastics film presented towards the interior of the container.

11. A container according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the cover member comprises a peripheral portion secured to the rim of the container and a central portion spaced inwardly of the container from the rim thereof.

12. A container according to Claim 11 wherein the quantity of beverage is sufficient substantially to reach the central portion of the cover member.

13. A container according to any one of the preceding claims wherein a space in the container not containing beverage contains a gas or gases which is or are inert with respect to the beverage in the container.

14. A container according to Claim 11 or claim appendant thereto wherein the cover member includes a tapering portion between its peripheral and central portions, so that the central portion is spaced from the wall of the container.

15. A container according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the cover member has a manually graspable tab formation enabling it to be removed from the container by a peeling action.

16. A container substantially as hereinhefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

17. Any novel feature or hovel combination of features described herein and/or in the accompanying drawings.