GB2306951A - Closure member; keystone and spile for barrels - Google Patents

Abstract

A closure member 1 for barrels comprises a keystone 2 of generally known form with tapered ribbed sides 5. Extending from the keystone is a flexible integral arm member 6 at the end of which is a split loop 7 for resiliently retaining a spile 8. The spile may be of any kind but is preferably of the flap valve type. Thus as delivered each barrel will have its own dedicated spile. There may also be a further arm 10 carrying a conical plug 11 for closing the keystone after the barrel has been emptied.

Description

A CLOSURE MEMBER The present invention concerns a closure member and finds particular although not exclusive application as a closure member for a barrel, especially a beer barrel.

When barrels are distributed by breweries to licensed premises, the opening in the barrel through which the beer is to be dispensed is initially closed by a closure member known as a keystone which may be made of plastics or other material and one of a standard range of sizes and shapes. Following installation of the barrel in the appropriate storage site, usually a cellar, and when the beer is ready to be dispensed, a tap or pipe union is attached to the barrel usually by driving a connector spigot through the keystone into the barrel, rupturing a framable? membrane thereof.

The movement of the barrel during delivery and installation initiates a secondary fermentation of the yeast in the beer and a resulting build-up of carbon dioxide gas which should ideally be allowed to escape from the barrel so as to maintain the desired condition of the beer. An elongate peg-like member, or spile, is therefore introduced into a previously closed opening in the top of the barrel following installation. Such spiles are conventionally made of wood, and two such spiles are used for each barrel, the first being of a porous wood such as balsawood while the second is made of denser hardwood. The porous nature of the balsawood allows the carbon dioxide gas to escape through the spile and out of the barrel.At the same time contaminants such as air are prevented from entering the barrel, for example if the pressure within the barrel were to drop below atmospheric pressure as the result of fluctuations in temperature.

As discussed above, spiles are conventionally made of wood which is disadvantageous in that they are easily broken and can be used only once. It is possible instead to use spiles having metal or plastics elements incorporating an internal passage through which the carbon dioxide is able to escape from the barrel as discussed above. Such spiles are less likely to break and can be used more than once.

The brewery generally supplies spiles in bulk to the licensed premises on request, rather than supplying a spile with each barrel. The possibility may therefore arise that a barrel may be delivered for installation at a site which may have run out of spiles, or that the spiles from one brewery are used on barrels supplied by another brewery.

Plastics or metal spiles are inevitably more expensive than wooden spiles. It would therefore be more cost effective for the brewery to supply one such spile with each barrel delivered, rather than supplying them separately and in bulk.

The present invention seeks to provide means by which this can be achieved and the aforesaid disadvantages overcome.

According to the present invention a closure member for closing an opening in a container, comprises a main closure body having or being provided with a retainer for releasably retaining a further member associated with the container.

In a preferred embodiment of the closure member according to the invention the said retainer is or includes a resiliently deformable member for retaining the said further member by friction.

In an alternative embodiment the said retainer includes a flexible arm or strip and means for holding the said arm or strip in an engagement position for holding the said further member, and, preferably, the said retainer is joined to the main closure body by an arm.

Preferably, the said arm is in the form of an elongate strip lying substantially in the plane defined by an end face of the main closure body from which the arm extends1 although other suitable structures can of course be used as appropriate. The said arm is preferably flexible.

The resiliently deformable member may be in the form of a split loop; its primary purpose is releasably to carry a further member such as a spile, although other items may be carried if this is considered appropriate or desirable.

Structures other than the split loop structure may also be used.

The orientation of the split loop is such that the plane of the loop is substantially perpendicular to the general plane defined by an end face of the main body. This arrangement allows the barrel to be manoeuvred into position while minimising the risk that the further member will break or be otherwise deformed.

Preferably the loop is split at a point remote from the connection of the loop with the said arm, but the split may alternatively be immediately adjacent the connection of the loop with the arm.

In a preferred embodiment the said main closure body is a barrel keystone and the integral retainer is shaped to receive a spile.

The closure member according to the invention when applied specifically to beer barrels therefore ensures that every barrel delivered by the brewery will be delivered together with a spile which is carried in the integral retainer, thereby ensuring that the licensed premises will always have a spile for the new barrel.

Furthermore, the likelihood that one brewery's spiles are used in another brewery's barrels will be minimised.

The brewery will also benefit economically by matching the number of spiles with the number of barrels supplied rather than supplying spiles in bulk when a significantly larger number of spiles may be used and there is a risk of wastage.

The closure member of the present invention may also be provided with separate secondary closure means. Such separate secondary closure means may act to close an opening in the said closure means itself. For example, if the said closure means is a beer barrel keystone as discussed above, the keystone is pierced in use by the pipe union which, upon exhaustion of the contents of the barrel is then removed to allow the barrel to be rolled on its way back to the brewery. Inevitably, even when no further beer can be dispensed from the barrel there is a small residue of beer left in the barrel which, upon rolling of the barrel, is frequently spilled out through the hole left by the tap or pipe union during rolling.

The sticky nature of beer makes this both unhygienic and unwelcome. By providing a secondary closure by which the opening in the keystone can be closed this disadvantage is readily overcome.

Preferably the secondary closure means is carried on the said closure, for example by means of an integrally moulded arm. Indeed the secondary closure means itself may be integrally moulded with the said closure means.

Suitably, if the said closure is a beer barrel keystone, which typically has a membrane pierced, in use, by the spile, located at the bottom of a recess, the secondary closure means may be in the form of a plug the sides of which are frictionally engageable with the sides of the socket in the keystone.

Two embodiments of the invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side view of an integral closure member and retainer formed as a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of the integral closure member of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a sectional side view of a barrel suitable for use with the closure member of the invention; Figure 4 is a plan view of a second embodiment of the invention; and Figure 5 is a sectional side view of the embodiment of Figure 4.

With reference to Figures 1 to 3 of the drawings, the numeral 1 generally indicates a closure member, in this embodiment formed as a keystone 2 having an integral retainer 3.

The keystone 2 is made from plastics material and is of generally known construction in the form of a hollow frustum with a closed (but frangible) end wall 4. The curved wall has a plurality of parallel circumferential ribs 5 on its outer surface for the purpose of increasing the frictional forces exerted between the keystone 2 and the surface of an opening in the barrel into which the keystone 2 is forced as a closure member or bung. In use, when a tap or pipe union is to be fitted to the barrel a spigot is driven into the keystone 2, rupturing the frangible end wall 4.

A resiliently flexible arm 6 which terminates in a resilient retainer 7 extends from the wider, outer end of the keystone 2. The arm 6 is formed integrally with the keystone 2 as a flat radially outwardly extending strip lying generally in the plane of the wider outer end of the keystone 2.

The retainer 3 includes a resiliently deformable split loop 7 shaped to receive a spile 8 shown in broken outline in Figure 2. The split loop 7 has sufficient resilience to grip a spile securely and ensure safe delivery of the spile to the licenced premises on the barrel.

The split loop 7 is of appropriate dimensions to receive and retain a spile. However, the resilience of the loop 7 will allow items of differing sizes to be carried.

In order to allow a spile to be carried so that it lies flat against a wall of the barrel, the loop 7 is orientated so that its plane is perpendicular to the general plane of the end face of the keystone 2. When a spile is carried in the loop 7, it will therefore lie with its axis parallel to the end surface of the barrel.

This allows the barrel to be rolled into its installation position without the risk of the spile breaking or being damaged due to the barrel rolling over an irregular surface.

In other embodiments of the closure member 1, the loop 7 may be joined directly to the keystone 2, and may furthermore be orientated in a different plane from that detailed in the preceding description.

The loop 7 itself may be formed as a different structure if required. For example, it may be formed as a simple resilient loop, or as a strap-like structure capable of being adjusted to fit tightly around the item to be carried.

Figure 3 is an illustration of a barrel, showing the location of the keystone 2 and a shive 9 which is the initially closed opening on the barrel wall through which a spile is inserted. The shive 9 is at a central circumferential position on the barrel wall and the barrel will be installed such that the shive 9 is on top.

The keystone 2 is located on an end wall of the barrel, having an eccentric position on that wall.

The closure member 1 comprising integral keystone 2 and spile holder 3 according to the invention therefore achieves the aim of enabling a spile to be supplied with every barrel delivered. This reduces the likelihood that licensed premises will use one brewery's spiles on another brewery's barrels, and further avoids a situation in which the carbon dioxide gas caused by the secondary fermentation of the beer cannot be released from the barrel, thereby leading to a deterioration in the condition of the beer, caused by a lack of spiles.

In addition, matching the number of spiles more accurately to the number of barrels delivered can be cost effective for the brewery, in particular where the spiles used are made of plastics material and can be used more than once if desired.

Referring now to Figures 4 and 5 there is shown an alternative embodiment provided with secondary closure means. In Figures 4 and 5 those components which are the same as corresponding components in the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2 have been identified with the same reference numerals and will not be described in detail again. In this embodiment the keystone 2 is provided with a further resilient arm 10 extending from the side wall 5 and lying generally parallel to the plane in which the arm 6 lies.

At the free end of the further resilient arm 10 is located a frusta-conical plug 11 having an external curved surface 12 which matches generally the curved internal surface 13 of the wall 5 of the keystone 2. In use, after the tap or pipe union (not shown) has been removed the plug 12 can be fitted into the socket defined by the side wall 5 to close the opening left by the tap or plug union. Both the keystone internal curved surface 13 and the plug's external curved surface 13 have respective circumferential ribs 14, 15 to increase the frictional forces exerted between them and ensure that the plug remains firmly in place.

Claims (16)

1. A closure member for closing an opening in a container, comprising a main closure body having or being provided with a retainer for releasably retaining a further member associated with the container.

2. A closure member as in Claim 1, in which the said retainer is or includes a resiliently deformable member for retaining the said further member by friction.

3. A closure member as in Claim 1, in which the said retainer is or includes a flexible arm or strip and means for holding the said arm or strip in an engagement position for holding the said further member.

4. A closure member as in any of Claims 1 to 3, in which the said retainer is joined to the main closure body by an arm.

5. A closure member as in any of Claims 1 to 4, in which the said retainer is formed integrally with the main closure body.

6. A closure member as in Claim 5, in which the said flexible arm is in the form of an elongate strip lying substantially in the plane defined by an end face of the main closure body from which the arm extends.

7. A closure member as in Claim 5 or Claim 6, in which the said arm is flexible.

8. A closure member as in Claim 2 or any Claim dependent thereon in which the resiliently deformable member is in the form of a split loop.

9. A closure member as in Claim 8 in which the orientation of the split loop is such that the plane of the loop is substantially perpendicular to the general plane defined by an end face of the main body.

10. A closure member as in Claim 9, in which the loop is split at a point remote from the connection of the loop with the said arm.

11. A closure member as in any preceding claim, in which the said main closure body is a barrel keystone and the integral retainer is shaped to receive a spile.

12. A closure member as claimed in any preceding claim further including separate secondary closure means.

13. A closure member as claimed in Claim 12, in which the secondary closure means is carried on the said closure by an integrally formed arm.

14. A closure member substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

15. A barrel when provided with a closure member as claimed in any preceding claim.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows

1. A closure member for closing an opening in a beer barrel, comprising a main closure body having or being provided with a retainer for releasable retaining a spile associated with the barrel.

2. A closure member for a beer barrel as in claim 1, in which the said retainer is or includes a resiliently deformable member for retaining the spile by friction.

3. A closure member for a beer barrel as in claim 1, in which the said retainer is or includes a flexible arm or strip and means for holding the said arm or strip in an engagement position for holding the spile.

4. A closure member for a beer barrel as in any of claims 1 to 3 . in which the said retainer is joined to the main closure body by an arm.

5. A closure member for a beer barrel as in any of claims 1 to 4, in which the said retainer is formed integrally with the main closure body 6 A closure member for a beer barrel as in claim 5, in which the said flexible arm is in the form of an elongated strip lying substantially in the plane defined by an end face of the main closure body from which the arm extends.

7. A closure member for a beer barrel as in claim 5 or claim 6 , in which the said arm is flexible.

8. A closure member for a beer barrel as in claim 2 or any claim dependent thereon in which the resiliently deformable member is in the form of a split loop.

9. A closure member for a beer barrel as in claim 8 in which the orientation of the split loop is such that the plane of the loop is substantially perpendicular to the general plane defined by an end face of the main body.

10 A closure member for a beer barrel as in claim 9, in which the loop is split at a point remote from the connection of the loop with the said arm.

11. A closure member for a beer barrel as in any preceding claim ,in which the said main closure is a barrel keystone and the integral retainer is shaped to receive a spile.

12. A closure member for a beer barrel as claimed in any preceding claim further including separate secondary closure means.

13. A closure member for a beer barrel as in claim 12 ,in which the secondary closure means is carried on the said closure by an integrally formed arm.

14. A closure member for a beer barrel as in any preceding claim where the said closure member incorporates either one or both embodiments integrally formed.

15. A closure member for a beer barrel substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

16. A barrel when provided with a closure member as claimed in any preceding claim.