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
  • B65D39/0005—Closures arranged within necks or pouring openings or in discharge apertures, e.g. stoppers made in one piece
  • B65D39/0011—Closures arranged within necks or pouring openings or in discharge apertures, e.g. stoppers made in one piece from natural or synthetic cork, e.g. for wine bottles or the like
• • 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
  • B65D39/0058—Closures arranged within necks or pouring openings or in discharge apertures, e.g. stoppers made in more than one piece from natural or synthetic cork, e.g. for wine bottles or the like

Definitions

• the present invention refers to a closing device or stopper for barrels, particularly for wooden barrels, such as barriques or other containers with different capacities.
• Barriques wooden casks able to contain wine during partial or total fermentation, and/or subsequent refining, are closed with a frustoconical-shaped stopper, which is forcibly inserted into the wine input hole, so as to create a very tight seal against gas and liquids.
• the material most frequently used today for production of stoppers for barriques is high-purity silicone rubber that complies with the international standards which govern use thereof in contact with foodstuffs, in this instance alcoholic beverages.
• the resulting decrease in the initial level of filling generates a pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the barrique.
• This pressure difference draws in air and thus oxygen, which permeates mainly through the closing device.
• the amount of permeated oxygen is a function of the pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the barrique and of the specific degree of permeability of the materials of which said stopper is made.
• microorganisms therefore leads to a decrease in the quality of the wine and to the implementation of actions aimed at eliminating such microorganisms through antibacterial substances.
• the object of the present invention is to reduce part of the drawbacks of the prior art, proposing a closing device which provides lower gas permeability than that of current closures and therefore minimises the transfer of oxygen, thus reducing the possibility of growth of the above-mentioned microorganisms.
• Another object of the present invention is to provide a closing device for barrels that is practical, versatile and cheap thanks to the use of thermoplastic elastomers which simplify the production process by eliminating the need to use the reticulating agents currently used in the production of silicone rubber stoppers and which allow recovery of the core through regranulation.
• thermoplastic elastomers namely copolymers in blocks of the styrene type such as styrene- (ethylene-butene)-styrene (SEBS)
• SEBS styrene- (ethylene-butene)-styrene
• the materials used are characterised by hardnesses ranging between 20 and 70 ShA, calculated according to IS0868 standards, with a compression set below 40% with a test piece maintained at 23 °C for 72 hours according to IS0815 standards.
• these materials purely by way of example, it is possible to cite the Shell Kraton G2706, G2705, G2701 and G1650 family or the Kraiburg Thermolast K range or the Polyone Polyone - Softer Bergaflex83F line.
• the mean permeability to oxygen of a silicone rubber used for the application in question is about 20,000 cm 3 /mm/m 2 /day/atm, measured according to the ASTM-D1434 method, whereas the permeability of a SEBS elastomer with equivalent mechanical characteristics, measured according to the ASTM-D1434 method, is lower than 4,000 cm 3 /mm/m 2 /day/atm (preferably about 3,500 cm 3 /mm/m 2 /day/atm). SEBS therefore allows permeability to be reduced about five times with respect to silicone rubber, from which it can be deduced that the amount of permeated oxygen is five times less with an SEBS stopper than with a silicone rubber stopper with the same geometric shape.
• permeability to other gases also decreases.
• permeability to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is of about 200,000 cm 3 /mm/m 2 /day/atm for the silicone rubber and lower than 3,000 cm 3 /mm/m 2 /day/atm. (preferably about 2,500 cm 3 /mm/m 2 /day/atm) for SEBS, entirely to the advantage of the wine contained inside the barrel.
• the tubes were fluxed with inert gas (nitrogen) by means of a side opening and subsequently said side opening was sealed with very high gas barrier material. At set intervals, the amounts of oxygen that had migrated from the outside environment to the inside of the tube through the closure were calculated by non-invasive methods.
• inert gas nitrogen
• the duration of the test was 12 months; during said time the rates of transfer of oxygen remained constantly within the ratios mentioned above.

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Citations (6)

• 2003
  • 2003-12-09 EP EP03425788A patent/EP1541482A1/de not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (6)

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