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
  • B27—WORKING OR PRESERVING WOOD OR SIMILAR MATERIAL; NAILING OR STAPLING MACHINES IN GENERAL
  • B27J—MECHANICAL WORKING OF CANE, CORK, OR SIMILAR MATERIALS
  • B27J5/00—Mechanical working of cork
• • 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
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61L—METHODS OR APPARATUS FOR STERILISING MATERIALS OR OBJECTS IN GENERAL; DISINFECTION, STERILISATION OR DEODORISATION OF AIR; CHEMICAL ASPECTS OF BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS OR SURGICAL ARTICLES; MATERIALS FOR BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS OR SURGICAL ARTICLES
  • A61L2/00—Methods or apparatus for disinfecting or sterilising materials or objects other than foodstuffs or contact lenses; Accessories therefor
  • A61L2/02—Methods or apparatus for disinfecting or sterilising materials or objects other than foodstuffs or contact lenses; Accessories therefor using physical phenomena
  • A61L2/025—Ultrasonics
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61L—METHODS OR APPARATUS FOR STERILISING MATERIALS OR OBJECTS IN GENERAL; DISINFECTION, STERILISATION OR DEODORISATION OF AIR; CHEMICAL ASPECTS OF BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS OR SURGICAL ARTICLES; MATERIALS FOR BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS OR SURGICAL ARTICLES
  • A61L2/00—Methods or apparatus for disinfecting or sterilising materials or objects other than foodstuffs or contact lenses; Accessories therefor
  • A61L2/02—Methods or apparatus for disinfecting or sterilising materials or objects other than foodstuffs or contact lenses; Accessories therefor using physical phenomena
  • A61L2/04—Heat
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61L—METHODS OR APPARATUS FOR STERILISING MATERIALS OR OBJECTS IN GENERAL; DISINFECTION, STERILISATION OR DEODORISATION OF AIR; CHEMICAL ASPECTS OF BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS OR SURGICAL ARTICLES; MATERIALS FOR BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS OR SURGICAL ARTICLES
  • A61L2/00—Methods or apparatus for disinfecting or sterilising materials or objects other than foodstuffs or contact lenses; Accessories therefor
  • A61L2/02—Methods or apparatus for disinfecting or sterilising materials or objects other than foodstuffs or contact lenses; Accessories therefor using physical phenomena
  • A61L2/08—Radiation
  • A61L2/085—Infrared radiation
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61L—METHODS OR APPARATUS FOR STERILISING MATERIALS OR OBJECTS IN GENERAL; DISINFECTION, STERILISATION OR DEODORISATION OF AIR; CHEMICAL ASPECTS OF BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS OR SURGICAL ARTICLES; MATERIALS FOR BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS OR SURGICAL ARTICLES
  • A61L2/00—Methods or apparatus for disinfecting or sterilising materials or objects other than foodstuffs or contact lenses; Accessories therefor
  • A61L2/02—Methods or apparatus for disinfecting or sterilising materials or objects other than foodstuffs or contact lenses; Accessories therefor using physical phenomena
  • A61L2/08—Radiation
  • A61L2/12—Microwaves
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61L—METHODS OR APPARATUS FOR STERILISING MATERIALS OR OBJECTS IN GENERAL; DISINFECTION, STERILISATION OR DEODORISATION OF AIR; CHEMICAL ASPECTS OF BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS OR SURGICAL ARTICLES; MATERIALS FOR BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS OR SURGICAL ARTICLES
  • A61L2/00—Methods or apparatus for disinfecting or sterilising materials or objects other than foodstuffs or contact lenses; Accessories therefor
  • A61L2/16—Methods or apparatus for disinfecting or sterilising materials or objects other than foodstuffs or contact lenses; Accessories therefor using chemical substances
  • A61L2/20—Gaseous substances, e.g. vapours
  • A61L2/206—Ethylene oxide

Definitions

• This invention refers to a stopper obtained by rolling up one or more cork leafs as spiral around them selves or around a core acting as starting support of the winding of the small leaf roll.
• subject of this invention is a machine or device allowing carrying out the process of the invention to obtain the subject stopper.
• the small leaf roll is kept permanently together by points or small zones of glue on the leafs or by interposition of plastic tape of containment or fastening.
• the subject of the invention refers more precisely to a stopper made of spiral wound cork leaf to form a small roll, that allows an easier manufacturing, a better exploitation of the raw material, the development of a new generation of stopper all leaf or with core, that can be of wood, glass, resin, plastic or cork agglomerate.
• stoppers on the market leaving out the low-cost type built by cork agglomerate ground and mixed with glue, are usually obtained from a solid cork pre-selected in a single piece by means of punch cutters, in this way stoppers are obtained made of a single piece of cork, that in turn are refined by means of honing machines, the subsequent phase is the sterilisation that obviously can spread only on the surface of the stopper and not inside.
• a further unsolved problem in the traditional manufacturing method is that related to the impossibility to eliminate from the inside of the stopper the red powders that cause serious damages for the bottled wine, in fact the rd powders are contained in all the holes (pores) of the cork, they can be seen in every traditional stopper also of first choice simply cutting in two the stopper, these as we said cause serious damages to the wine, in fact they cause the transfer to the wine of the usually called stopper taste or better tannin taste, it is enough to consider that only in Italy the problem cause losses many billions Euros' worth. Not less serious but very important is the impossibility in the current manufacturing to obtain identical stoppers with the same specific gravity, or better the impossibility to predetermine the specific gravity during the manufacturing phase.
• the stopper made of cork leaf is able to easily solve all the drawbacks present in the traditional stopper, as from tests and comparative trials.
• Task of this invention is to show a stopper obtained by rolling up under constant pressure a natural cork leaf of thickness variable between 0.5 and 1.5 mm, said rolling up occurring on itself in case of a all-leaf stopper or on a core, that forms the tip of the small roll that rolls up of the leaf, in the preferred case of stopper with head, being the leafs joined firmly together by means of glue or adhesive.
• a stopper made of spiral wound cork leafs characterised in that it includes one or more superimposed cork leafs, wound on them selves as a roll to form a cylindrical or truncated conical small roll (1), precisely the said stopper.
• This invention includes also a process that is substantially divided in subsequent working phases. It consists mainly of rolling up a natural cork leaf or more superimposed leafs as spiral on itself or them selves,
• this invention includes a process of preparation and manufacturing of the stopper made of cork leafs, characterised in that it includes the following operations, consisting of the below described phases.
• the chosen and selected cork shall be cut after the boiling into strips ca. 5 cm wide, the height being dependent on the thickness of the cork; - these strips, called straps, go to a subsequent phase of cutting belly and back that is the side that lies in contact with the trunk of the tree and the superficial side that lies outside the outer bark
• the stripping is carried out, by means of conventional machines already available on the market, to obtain leafs of a predefined thickness usually from 0,5 to 1 mm, for a full exploitation of all the cork of the strap without any scrap;
• This invention includes also a machine for the manufacturing of the stopper made of cork leafs with the above described process, provided with a bearing or roll of loading of the spool of cork, with means for the sterilisation of the cork leaf, with means for its impregnation by adhesive, or alternatively with coupling of the adhesive or thermo-adhesive tapes, characterised in that it includes a first fixed supporting arm that houses a slide for the laying and advancement of the leaf, of a second mobile arm openable in rotation against and coupled to a third mobile arm provided with rolls or sliding pins on a rail or slide groove machined on the on the part of said fixed arm, with means of control of the opening of said mobile arms and means of setting of the pressure put on the small roll of leaf to determine its dimensions and specific gravity, said mobile arms moving forward against the leaf, providing for its rolling up and the forming of the small roll of cork leaf as a stopper.
• the machine for the manufacturing of the stopper made of cork leafs is also provided with means of bending of the tip of the leaf to create a draft to rolling up by the mobile arm, with a guillotine cutter to cut the leaf at the end of the winding, and with pincers to position back the leaf of the spool in the starting position of the rolling up done by a new translation of said mobile arm.
• FIG. 1 shows an axonometric view of the stopper of the invention with spiral leaf stabilised by the use of adhesive
• FIG. 1a shows in plan view the leaf(s) on which the adhesive is arranged as stripes far enough from the external borders, that become gluing rings by rolled up leaf(s);
• FIG. 2 shows in section said cork leafs coupled to a thin external tape of adhesive material
• - Figure 3 shows in axonometry the leaf rolling up kept compact by a bi- adhesive tape arranged centrally on both sides of the leaf along the whole length of the leaf;
• - Figure 3a shows in section said cork leafs coupled and kept compact in the rolling up to a thin transparent tape of thermo-adhesive material arranged on both sides and along the whole length and width of the leaf ;
• FIG. 4 shows in axonometry the two sections of the stopper, head and bottom, where the cork leafs are dry spiral wound on them selves without the use of adhesive nor tape, kept compact by the rolling up as small roll by means of a capsule that houses them with free bottom and bored head;
• Figures 4a, 4b and 4c show respectively the two sections of the stopper of the Figure 4 in axonometry, head and bottom, and its arrangement by the bottling;
• FIG. 7a shows in section the slide for laying and advancement of the leaf for its unwinding and rolling up.
• FIG. 7b shows a detail section of the fixed arm of the machine of the invention
• FIG. 7c explains in axonometry and in detail the interaction and the way to work of the fixed arm and of the mobile arm coupled together of the machine of the invention;
• the stopper made of cork leafs spiral wound 1 includes one Y or more 1" superimposed cork leafs, wound on them selves as a roll to form a cylindrical or truncated conical small roll 1 , precisely the said stopper [Figure 1].
• Said zone 1'" of gluing can be limited to one ore more central rings of the leafs to form the small roll, Figure 1a.
• said cork leafs 1', 1" are coupled to an external adhesive tape 2 of inert and biocompatible plastic material, extensible to form a multilayer sandwich 1', 1", 2, said tape of plastic material wound on itself assuring by the border or the end tongue of the adhesive tape the closure of the small roll in the spiral winding of the leafs without the use of glues, Figure 2.
• the stopper 1 made of cork leafs can be also carried out only by the small roll composed of the cork leafs Y, 1", dry spiral wound on them selves without glue and an external containment layer like a capsule 3 of inert plastic material shaped as an inverted glass, with open bottom and the opposite side bored 3' to form the head of the said capsule, acting as a covering able to house the roll made of the said cork leafs and to assure the tightness of the whole without the use of glues, Figures 4, 4a, 4b, 4c.
• the stopper 1 of cork leafs 1 ', 1 " can also be provided with a head 4, Figures 5,5a Otherwise the stopper made of spiral wound cork leafs can be also carried out, unlike the stopper all made of leaf, winding the said leafs 1', 1" around a cylindrical nucleus or truncated conical core 5 of inert material, like metal, baked clay, silicone or polymer, being the reference axis of rolling up and the beginning of winding of the small roll, possibly provided with head 5 1 , Figures 6, 6a.
• the truncated conical stopper can be carried out by superimposition of cork leafs 1', 1" of different length and width, avoiding milling working on the cylindrical stopper producing scrap material; or by rolling up of leafs of decreasing transverse thickness, such stopper particularly suitable to distillates and spirits, in particular when provided with head joined to the core acting as beginning of the small roll.
• the process to create the stopper of cork leaf is the following.
• the chosen and selected cork shall be cut after the boiling into strips ca. 5 cm wide, the height being dependent on the thickness of the cork, this works must be done in any case also for the traditional stopper, these strips, called straps, go to a subsequent phase of cutting belly and back that is the side that lies in contact with the trunk of the tree and the superficial side that lies outside the outer bark; once obtained the clean straps the stripping is carried out, by means of conventional machines already available on the market, to obtain leafs of a predefined thickness usually from 0,5 to 1 mm, in this way there is a full exploitation of all the cork, that as leaf makes up the leaf stopper, without any scrap, in fact the whole leaf is used, a further important good point of this work process is that all the red powders are eliminated in this phase, in fact the pore housing the red powders reducing itself to the minimum thickness of 0,5 - 1 mm by a simple blowing loses its whole contents emptying itself fully.
• the spools are obtained composed of a number of leafs, usually ca. 1 m. long and joined together by adhesive or stapling points up to build a tape long enough to build the spool, able to feed the machine that later on winds the small roll that forms the stopper;
• the machine subject of this invention is based on the traditional electromechanical, hydraulic and pneumatic technique, it is able to build or manufacture the stopper composed of spiral cork leaf.
• the subject machine for the manufacturing of the stopper 1 made of cork leafs V 1 V that carries out the process of this invention is provided with a bearing or roll 14 of loading of the spool of cork 11 , with means for the sterilisation of the cork leaf, with means for its impregnation by adhesive, or alternatively with coupling of the adhesive or thermo-adhesive tapes (these means are not shown in the Figures) and includes a first fixed supporting arm 7 that houses a slide 12 for the laying and advancement of the leaf 1',1", Figures 7, 7c, 7d , preferably "U-shaped", Figure 7a, a second mobile arm 9 openable in rotation 9 1 against and coupled to a third mobile arm 10 provided with rolls or sliding pins 8" on a rail or slide groove 8' machined on the part 8 of said fixed arm 7, Figures 7b ,7c, 7d, with means 9" of control of the opening of said mobile arms 9,10 and means 13 of setting of the pressure put on the small roll of leaf 1', 1
• the leaf spool 11 is loaded on the support arm 10 of the machine, said machine being composed essentially of a fixed arm 7 on which the leaf 1', 1" proceeds and lies down and of a mobile arm 9 that produces a forward advancement pressing on the leaf to rolling it up, and a backward one to position itself back and do a new rolling up; as soon as the rolling up of the leaf has reached the desired thickness or diameter, a guillotine cutter cuts the leaf and separates it from the spool, while pneumatic pincers take the leaf of the spool and drag it to the starting position of the rolling up done by a new translation of the mobile arm.
• the rolled up leaf must at the end remain compact tied up and bound, must not reopen, therefore the leaf can be impregnated by sprayed adhesive before the rolling up, or a bi-adhesive tape can be arranged on both sides in order to assure the gluing, or simply to apply by moulding on both sides of the leaf a very thin layer of transparent cellophane like that used in the kitchen, that at the end of the rolling up stick itself between layer and layer by a warm stroke assuring the compactness of the small roll, or without any adhesive but with a plastic or silicone glass-shaped covering with bored bottom.
• the leaf in one pass before the rolling up undergoes also a treatment in a microwave or infrared chamber able to sterilize the whole leaf that must then be rolled up.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Forests & Forestry (AREA)
• Closures For Containers (AREA)
• Dry Formation Of Fiberboard And The Like (AREA)

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Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

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Family Cites Families (4)

• 2008
  • 2008-03-25 WO PCT/EP2008/002328 patent/WO2008113608A2/en active Application Filing
  • 2008-03-25 EP EP08716682A patent/EP2136976A2/de not_active Withdrawn

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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