AU2008100881A4 - An apparatus and method for cleaning and recycling water used in cleaning of barrells - Google Patents

Description

11/09 2008 THU 8t 54 FAX +61 8 8211 9433 LESICAR PERRIN [008/033 00 0 An apparatus and method for cleaning and recycling water used in cleaning of Cbarrels BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Wine and liquor producers use oak barrels to impart certain flavours to wine 00 00 5 and other beverages. Oak barrels are expensive and have a limited life and are only

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oable to be cleaned a certain number of times before they are unable to impart much flavour to the wine. Wine producers therefore often reserve the first use of a barrel 00 O for maturation of premium wines.

0 Wine makers manage oak barrels carefully ageing their wine in a mix of new and used barrels to achieve desired sensory evaluation characteristics for each wine.

Care however must be taken in the cleaning and reuse of older barrels, since the interior surfaces can harbour bacteria and yeasts that might contaminate the wine that is placed in the barrel. Such contamination results in vast amounts of spoilt wine each year. Furthermore, the wine maker will not know whether a wine has been spoilt until it has spent some time in the contaminated oak barrel.

In order to overcome this problem, it is known to shave the inner surface of the oak barrel to remove wine maturation residues. Various apparatuses including cutting routers, planes, rotating wire brushes and metal chains have been used to remove a small amount of wood off the inner surfaces of the barrel's staves. The process involves either the dismantling of the barrel or the removal of one end of the barrel. The wood of the interior of the barrel is then shaved to remove residues.

Shaving the wood reduces the chance of contaminating the wine that is to be placed in the barrel at a latter time, but also removes the toasting which is a critically important part of the flavour imparting characters of the oak. The method however is not time effective since the barrel must be moved to a location where it can be shaved. Furthermore, the inner surface of the barrel must be re-toasted.

Other methods that have been used to clean or decontaminate a barrel involve the use of high-pressure water and /or high temperature hot water to clean the interior surface of the barrel. A high-pressure water lance is inserted through the bunghole and is manually manipulated or mechanically rotated to spray jets of water over the internal surfaces of the barrel. This loosens the wine residue, tartrates and COMS ID No: ARCS-205707 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:28 Date 2008-09-11 11-/09 2008 THU 8:55 FAX +61 8 8211 9433 LESICAR PERRIN 0009/033 00 2 Sthe like which can then be removed. The detritus lees can then be drained by the use of a pump or by inverting the barrel.

_An alternate method that is used involves inverting the barrel over a cleaning nozzle that sprays high-pressure hot water over the interior surface of the barrel.

The method of using high-pressure hot water is limited because this method requires 00 the application to occur directly onto the inner surfaces of the barrel. This poses 00 problems especially around the bunghole, as it is difficult to rotate the nozzle to a position where the surface is directly contacted by the steam or water. Furthermore 00 00 these methods often result in the flavour imparting characteristics of the oak barrel being washed away by the high pressure high temperature hot water and also require a large amount of water which is then discarded.

It is an object of the preset invention to provide an apparatus and a method for cleaning oak wine barrels that overcomes at least some of the aforementioned problems or provides the public with a useful alternative.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide for the cleaning of oak wine barrels using ultrasonics.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method of ultrasonic cleaning whereby the cleaning apparatus may be transported to the location where the barrels are stored.

It is yet a further object of the invention to provide an ultrasonic cleaning and water recycling apparatus that can be mounted on a trailer or mobile transport unit.

Thus the wine barrels are cleaned by the use of ultrasonics. This cleaning method works by the action of cavitation where microscopic cavities collapse and release shock waves. The microscopic cavities are formed by sending sound at certain frequencies into a body of liquid within the barrel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore in one form of the invention there is proposed an ultrasonic apparatus for the cleaning of at least one barrel of the type having an internal chamber, said apparatus including: a fluid holding means; COMS ID No: ARCS-205707 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:28 Date 2008-09-11 11A09 2008 THU 8: 56 FAX +61 8 8211 9433 LESICAR PERRIN 0010/033

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00 o3 0 a means of supplying said barrel chamber with fluid from the fluid holding means; a support means for supporting at least one ultrasonic processor and allowing said ultrasonic processor to be moved to a barrel location for cleaning of said chamber; a fluid recycling means for recycling fluid from a cleaned barrel so that it is suitable for supply to the fluid holding means for reuse.

00 In preference said support means is in the form of a moveable support boom.

00 o Advantageously, said movable support boom is manually or hydraulically operated.

0 00 Preferably said barrel is a wine barrel that includes a bunghole.

0 OIn preference said apparatus further includes a transport means for successively transporting a plurality of barrels to said barrel location for cleaning.

In preference said recycling means includes a filtration device and/or an ultrasonic cleaning device.

Preferably, said transport means is in the form of a set of rollers above which said barrel is moveable to said barrel location.

Preferably, said apparatus is mounted on a trailer or a skids unit so that said cleaning apparatus may be easily moved between sites in a winery, or from winery to winery.

In a further form of the invention there is proposed a method for ultrasonic cleaning of barrels having an internal chamber, including the steps of: transporting a barrel to a barrel cleaning location; filling the internal chamber of the barrel with liquid supplied from a liquid holding tank; cleaning the inside of the barrel using an ultrasonic processor associated with a support means allowing the ultrasonic processor to be moved to said cleaning location; recycling liquid from inside the cleaned barrel; and supplying the liquid holding tank with said recycled liquid.

Preferably said ultrasonic processor is adapted to be immersed into the filled internal chamber.

In preference said ultrasonic processor induces ultrasonic cavitation within said liquid thereby cleaning the inside of the barrel.

COMS ID No: ARCS-205707 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:28 Date 2008-09-11 11-/09 2e.08 THU 8'58 FAX +61 8 8211 9433 LESICAR PERRIN o011/033 00 4 0 In preference the above steps are repeated for a plurality of wine barrels.

Preferably, said ultrasonic processor is manually placed within said barrels in _a vertical position.

Preferably, recycling of said liquid involves the use of at least one filtration 00 5 device.

00 8 In preference recycling of said liquid involves the use of at least one ultrasonic cleaning device.

00 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate several implementations of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the advantages and principles of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for cleaning and recycling water mounted on a trailer, illustrating how the shaft of an ultrasonic processor is inserted through the bunghole of a wine barrel; Figure 2 is a side cut away view of a wine barrel partially filled with water illustrating how the water is pumped in and out of the barrel through a tube housed within the body of an ultrasonic processor; and Figure 3 is a side cut away view of a wine barrel partially filled with water illustrating how the ultrasonic processor may be of a curved configuration and how the inside of the barrel may be viewed using a optical lens arrangement.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following detailed description of the invention and claims refers to the accompanying drawings. Although the description includes exemplary embodiments, other embodiments are possible, and changes may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the l II 1. I. 1- COMS ID No: ARCS-205707 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:28 Date 2008-09-11 11/09 2008 THU 9:03 FAX +61 8 8211 9433 LESICAR PERRIN 0011/033 00 4 0 In preference the above steps are repeated for a plurality of wine barrels.

)Preferably, said ultrasonic processor is manually placed within said barrels in a vertical position.

Preferably, recycling of said liquid involves the use of at least one filtration device.

00 00 In preference recycling of said liquid involves the use of at least one Sultrasonic cleaning device.

00 SBRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate several implementations of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the advantages and principles of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for cleaning and recycling water mounted on a trailer, illustrating how the shaft of an ultrasonic processor is inserted through the bunghole of a wine barrel; Figure 2 is a side cut away view of a wine barrel partially filled with water illustrating how the water is pumped in and out of the barrel through a tube housed within the body of an ultrasonic processor; and Figure 3 is a side cut away view of a wine barrel partially filled with water illustrating how the ultrasonic processor may be of a curved configuration and how the inside of the barrel may be viewed using a optical lens arrangement.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following detailed description of the invention and claims refers to the accompanying drawings. Although the description includes exemplary embodiments, other embodiments are possible, and changes may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same and like parts.

COMS ID No: ARCS-205716 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:44 Date 2008-09-11 11/09 2008 THU 9:03 FAX +61 8 8211 9433 LESICAR PERRIN 0012/033 00 Figure 1 illustrates a cleaning apparatus 10 including an ultrasonic processor 0 12 a movable support boom 14, on which the ultrasonic processor 12 is mounted, a water holding tank 16 and pumps 18 20 to circulate water through a filtration device _22. The average diameter of the bunghole 24 of a standard wine barrel 26 is between 49-50 mm at the outside surface and 47-48 mm at the interior surface.

_Therefore the shaft 28 of the ultrasonic processor 12 must be less than the smallest 00 diameter of the bunghole 24. The shaft 28 is preferably made from titanium however 00 the reader should understand that the invention is not limited to an ultrasonic processor 12 with titanium shaft 28.

00 The practice of recycling wine barrels by way of cleaning is used extensively within the wine industry. However bacterial and yeast contaminations resulting from incomplete cleaning, costs the wine industry vast amounts each year in spoilt wine.

The difficulty with wine and liquor barrels is that the opening of the container is restricted. This poses significant problems when such a container is cleaned.

Previously the barrels were dismantled and shaved, however recently high-pressure water or steam has been use to clean such containers. This however presents other problems especially in dryer areas where winemakers have limited water available.

The present invention proposes a transportable apparatus and a method of using ultrasonics to clean wine barrels and like container with restricted access. In the present embodiment, as illustrated in the Figures, the shaft 28 of an ultrasonic processor 12 is inserted through the bunghole 24 of a wine barrel 26. The reader should however understand that the present invention is not limited to wine barrels and can be used to clean any container with limited access such as liquor barrels or casks.

The cleaning apparatus can be mounted on a trailer 28 of the type include a tray 30 wheels 32 an A-frame 34 towing arrangement and associated coupler 36.

The reader should however understand that the invention is not limited to a cleaning apparatus 10 mounted on a trailer 28. Any type of transportation vehicle could be used and if desired the cleaning apparatus 10 could be affix in one location with the barrels being brought to the cleaning apparatus 10. The cleaning apparatus 10 can be powered by 240 volts through mains power or as illustrated in Figure 1 the trailer 28 can include a power generator 38. As the reader could appreciate including a generator or similar device means that the cleaning apparatus 10 can be used in any COMS ID No: ARCS-205716 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:44 Date 2008-09-11 11/09 2008 THU 9 04 FAX +61 8 8211 9433 LESICAR PERRIN 0013/033 00 6 00 location independent of a mains power source. Having a power generator 38 also 0 reduces the chances of electrocution occurring while the apparatus 10 is been used.

In one form of the invention the movable support boom 14 is constructed of a horizontal arm 40 and a vertical arm 42. The horizontal arm 40 as illustrated in Figure 1 can include two segments 44 and 46. Segment 44 is able to slide within the 00 body of segment 46 thereby reducing the length of the horizontal arm 40. Segment 0 46 of the horizontal arm 40 is attached to the cleaning apparatus 10 and able to pivot at point 48 in the horizontal and vertical planes. The retractable nature of the 00 horizontal arm 40 and its ability to pivot at point 48 means that the movable support boom 14 can be safely secured while the cleaning device 10 is being moved between Ssites. The attachment of the support boom 14 can be, as illustrated in Figure 1, on the top of the water holding tank 16, however the invention is not limited to a support boom 14 affixed to the top of the water holding tank 16. The horizontal arm 40 could alternatively be attached to a platform (not shown) which in turn is attached to the tray 30 of the trailer 28.

Section 44 of the horizontal arm 40 is attached to the vertical arm 42, which is able to pivot at point 50. The vertical arm 42 is attached to the ultrasonic processor 12. In this way the ultrasonic processor 12 can be aligned with the bunghole 24 of the wine barrel 26 through the manually manoeuvring of the support boom 14.

In one form of the invention and as illustrated in Figure 1, water is deposited into and siphoned out of the barrel 24 by means of a water distribution device 52 and a water pump 20. In the present form of the invention the water distribution device 52 is a standard flexible hose as is commonly used in household gardens, however, any type of flexible hose could be used.

To facilitate the cleaning of the wine barrels 26 a series of rollers 54 can be used to move the wine barrels 26 into position. These rollers 54 can be in the form of a ladder type configuration 56 as illustrated in Figure 1. These ladder type sections 56 can be coupled together at point 58 so as to form the desired length. The reader should understand that although only straight ladder type sections 56 are illustrated the invention is not limited to straight ladder type sections 56. Angular connections or semi-spherical sections may be used to transport the barrels 26 to the cleaning apparatus 10 from a distant location at an angle from the cleaning apparatus 10. In COMS ID No: ARCS-205716 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:44 Date 2008-09-11 11/09 2008 THU 9: 04 FAX +61 8 8211 9433 LESICAR PERRIN 014/033 00 7 the present form of the invention and as illustrated in Figure 1 the sections 56 may be Sstored on a shelf 60 within the body of the trailer 28.

rVf) As illustrated in Figure 1 more than one cleaning apparatus 10 can be located on a single trailer 28. The use of multiple support booms 14 with associated ultrasonic processors 12 means that more than one barrel 26 can be cleaned at a 0single time. The reader should understand that where two or more cleaning 00 00 apparatus' 10 are located on a single trailer the cleaning apparatus 10 may be 0 configured to work completely independent of each other. Alternatively they can be 00 integrated and share components such as the water holding tank 16 or filtration device 22.

The apparatus 10 further includes an ultrasonic control unit 62. The control unit 62 is in communication with the ultrasonic processors 12 via cables 64, as illustrated in Figure 1. The control unit 62 and ultrasonic processors 12 further include fans or air-conditioning units (not shown) which assist in cooling the components.

In the present invention a barrel 26 is at least partially filled with water. The shaft 28 of the ultrasonic processor or transducer 12 is then inserted through the bunghole 24 of the wine barrel 26 and immersed in the water contained within the barrel 26. The ultrasonic processor 12 is then induced to produce ultrasonics which in turn producing microscopic cavitations within the water body. Ultrasonic cleaning works by the action of these microscopic cavities collapsing and releasing shock waves. The microscopic cavities are formed by sending sound at high frequencies into a body of liquid that is in contact with the surface to be cleaned. In the present example the microscopic cavities form on the interior surface of the wine barrel 26.

The shock waves produced by the collapse of the cavities loosen the wine residue, tartrates, and the like.

The detritus along with the water contained within the barrel 26 can then be syphoned out through the bunghole 24 by the use of a pump 20 and a water distribution device 52. This water is then filtered through a filtration device 22, which may include commonly used mesh filters and an ultrasonic cleaning apparatus.

Ultrasonics can be used at the filtering stage as the process acts to disinfect the water body thereby limiting the chance of transferring bacterial or yeast contaminants to other barrels during the cleaning process. As the reader would now appreciate the COMS ID No: ARCS-205716 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:44 Date 2008-09-11 11/09 2008 THU 9:06 FAX +61 8 8211 9433 LESICAR PERRIN 0015/033 00 8 use of a filtration device means that the water can be continuously recycled thereby 0 substantially reducing the amount of water required for the cleaning process. This is a significant improvement on present methods where water cannot be recycled.

Turning now to Figure 2 the wine barrel 26 does not need to be completely filled with liquid. In the present example the barrel 26 is only half filled 66 with water 00 68. As the reader would now appreciate reducing the amount of water 68 used is a 00 significant advantage especially where the landholder has restricted water access. In 0 a further aspect of the invention and as illustrated in Figure 2, the water 68 can be 00 pumped into 70 and out of 72 the wine barrel 26 through the use of a pipe 74 or series of pipes housed within the shaft 28 and handle 76 of the ultrasonic processor S12. This means that the ultrasonic processor 12 which can include an intermediate flange 78 is able to remain in position within bunghole 24 through the entire cleaning process. As the reader can appreciate, limiting the handling of equipment both reduces the time taken and the chances of damage occurring to equipment.

Figure 3 illustrates a further aspect of the invention where an ultrasonic processor 12 with a shaft 28 is fitted with an optical lens arrangement 80. The optical lens arrangement 80 enables the operator to personally view 82 the interior of the barrel 26 to check the progress of the cleaning. This enhances the efficiency of the cleaning process as the operator can monitor the effects of the ultrasonic activity and where necessary make changes to the process. These changes can include increasing the length of time that a particular barrel 26 is exposed to the ultrasonic activity.

As illustrated in Figure 3 the shaft 28 of the ultrasonic processor 12 can be curvilinear in shape. By making the shaft 28 curvilinear in shape it may be easier for the operator to view the end staves 84 of the wine barrel 26. Alternatively a rigid or semi-rigid viewing apparatus that is not associated with the ultrasonic processor 12 may be used for the purposes of check the progress of the cleaning process.

As the reader would now be aware the use of ultrasonics is a cost effective way to clean wine barrels. The present invention avoids the need to completely dismantle the wine barrel or to remove one end of the barrel. The ability of ultrasonics to sterilise the interior surface of the wine barrel stave also means that the chances of cross contamination from bacteria and yeast is reduced. Furthermore, the ease with which the present invention can be transported between locations COMS ID No: ARCS-205716 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:44 Date 2008-09-11 11/09 2008 THU 9:07 FAX +61 8 8211 9433 LESICAR PERRIN E016/033 00 9 combined with its ability to recycle water would make this invention appealing to Spotential users.

The processor or transducer fits into the wine barrel through the bunghole slidably movable through a sealing means that ensures that no fluid escapes through the bunghole even when the barrel may be inverted. This sealing means slidably 00 accommodates the transducer so that it can be raised or lowered within the barrel as 00 needed and depending on the level of cleaning fluid within the barrel.

Further advantages and improvements may very well be made to the present 00 invention without deviating from its scope. Although the invention has been shown 10 and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope and spirit of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices and apparatus.

In any claims that follow and in the summary of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprising" is used in the sense of "including", i.e. the features specified may be associated with further features in various embodiments of the invention.

COMS ID No: ARCS-205716 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:44 Date 2008-09-11

Claims (5)

1. An ultrasonic apparatus for the cleaning of at least one barrel of the type having an internal chamber, said apparatus including: a fluid holding means; a means of supplying said barrel chamber with fluid from the fluid holding 00 means; 00 Sa support means for supporting at least one ultrasonic processor and allowing said ultrasonic processor to be moved to a barrel location for 0 0 cleaning of said chamber; a fluid recycling means for recycling fluid from a cleaned barrel so that it is suitable for supply to the fluid holding means for reuse.

2. An ultrasonic apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said barrel is a wine barrel that includes a bunghole.

3. An ultrasonic apparatus as in claim 1 or claim 2 further including a transport means for successively transporting a plurality of barrels to said barrel location for cleaning.

4. An ultrasonic apparatus as in any one of the above claims wherein said recycling means includes a filtration device and/or an ultrasonic cleaning device.

5. A method for ultrasonic cleaning of barrels having an internal chamber, including the steps of: transporting a barrel to a barrel cleaning location; filling the internal chamber of the barrel with liquid supplied from a liquid holding tank; cleaning the inside of the barrel using an ultrasonic processor associated with a support means allowing the ultrasonic processor to be moved to said cleaning location; recycling liquid from inside the cleaned barrel; and supplying the liquid holding tank with said recycled liquid. COMS ID No: ARCS-205716 Received by IP Australia: Time 09:44 Date 2008-09-11