IT202300000012A1 - FILTRATION APPARATUS WITH VACUUM CONNECTOR FOR SPARKLING WINE BOTTLES - Google Patents

Description

FILTRATION APPARATUS WITH VACUUM CONNECTOR FOR SPARKLING WINE BOTTLES

DESCRIPTION

The invention can find application in the production process of sparkling wine with the "classic method" (or "champenoise method"), at the end of the "second fermentation" and the period of refinement on the yeasts, when it is necessary to remove the lees of the exhausted yeasts (and other unwanted residues and debris) that are suspended in the wine.

As is known, all those processes that require the elimination of the residues listed above require long times and considerable laboriousness in terms of processes, use of manpower and overall costs.

Traditionally, the sedimentation phase is carried out inside the bottle and leads to conveying and collecting such residues towards the cork. This phase, known as ?remuage?, was carried out manually in the past and is currently carried out automatically with bulky machinery, but these techniques still have several drawbacks, including long production times and high costs, especially given the significant impact of specialized labor.

The main task of the present invention is to solve the above problems by creating an apparatus that allows the sedimentation of lees and other residues to be obtained automatically, in a controlled manner, under sterile conditions, during the production of sparkling wine, with a simple, small-sized, rapid and economical solution.

The present invention has as its object an apparatus through which a heterogeneous mixture contained in any bottle (A) which, at the end of the "foaming" and the period of refinement on the yeasts, is generally carried and/or placed above the invention, passes by gravity, accelerated by the suction carried out by a vacuum pump, to another collection bottle (B), generally placed under the invention.

So, by way of example, but not limited to, let's take any bottle (A) at the end of the "prise de mousse" and the period of refinement on the yeasts, let's cool its neck before disgorging it, to avoid the escape of sparkling wine, let's uncork and attach to the bottle the inlet duct (1) of the invention which is already previously attached with the outlet duct (2) to the collection bottle (B), then we turn it upside down, like an hourglass and begin the filtration speeded up by the suction carried out with the vacuum pump. At the end of the rapid process we obtain the collection bottle (B) ready to follow the final phase to which the sparkling wine is subjected after disgorging.

The arrangement and orientation of the bottles (A) and (B), with respect to what is described above by way of example, can be any, provided that the bottles (A) and (B) are associated with the invention respectively via the inlet (1) and outlet (2) ducts.

Furthermore, with the new process, the caps with bidules that were used to collect the residues are no longer necessary, with simple standard caps being used instead.

Another purpose of the invention is to propose an apparatus that allows the sedimentation of lees and other residues to be carried out automatically, without compromising in any way the quality of the sparkling wine being produced, but rather obtaining a high quality sparkling wine with a desired and measurable level of clarity.

Therefore, a high quality control of the sparkling wine can be achieved, in particular the clarity can be increased simply by increasing the porosity of the filter. The turbidity can be reduced to very low levels of NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units), until obtaining a sparkling wine with a level of clarity never achieved before.

By means of the invention, potentially harmful submicron particles that are still not eliminated with current methods and remain in the sparkling wine are eliminated, thus resulting in a healthier sparkling wine.

The device can be associated with a turbidity level meter expressed in NTU that would ensure control for each individual bottle, which is currently not done.

The invention also finds application, for example, within the production process of industrial and/or artisanal beer.

Let's take a bottle of unfiltered beer, which is very often put on the market unfiltered to avoid the higher costs due to clarification, and let's apply the invention, just as we have already seen previously for the bottle of sparkling wine, let's obtain in the collection bottle, a microfiltered beer in a rapid, simple, safe, repeatable, replicable, sequential way.

Producing beers that are stable without being microfiltered or pasteurized is a very difficult process, which requires working in conditions that avoid any possible contamination by microorganisms. Furthermore, failure to subject the beer to heat treatment and microfiltration leaves it entirely full of dead yeasts, impurities and suspended substances. The cloudy effect of these beers is precisely because the aforementioned substances are inside.

In short, the microfiltration obtainable with the invention undoubtedly removes all the useless residues mentioned and certainly makes the beer itself more digestible and healthier, avoiding the presence of impurities.

So, not filtering the beer is an advantage for the producer, who saves money by avoiding a step, precisely because expensive machinery is needed to carry out these processes, but it is certainly not an advantage for the health of the consumer.

Another purpose of the invention is to create an apparatus with low costs and safe application.

Another purpose of the invention is to create an apparatus that can be easily obtained starting from elements and materials that are commonly available on the market.

Not least, the aim of the invention is to create an apparatus that ensures high reliability and repeatability of operation.

This task and these and other purposes which will become clearer below are achieved by an apparatus according to claim 1-10.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become more evident from the description of a possible method of realizing the invention, for the purpose of example, identification but not limitation of the invention, illustrated in the attached drawings, Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig.3 and Fig.4.

Figure 1-2 shows how the apparatus comprises at least one closed filtration chamber (3), inside which at least one filter (4) is positioned. The closed filtration chamber (3) is equipped with at least one inlet duct (1), which is connected to a bottle (A) from which the heterogeneous mixture to be separated comes, and is equipped with at least one outlet duct (2) which is connected to a collection bottle into which the clarified liquid (B) will arrive. In the filtration chamber (3) there is a vacuum connection (5) to connect a water pump or a mechanical pump with which a partial vacuum is created inside the collection bottle (B). Sometimes, a safety valve can be added to control the vacuum suction.

The heterogeneous mixture contained in the bottle (A) passes through the inlet duct (1) reaching the filter (4) which retains the solid particles and passes the liquid towards the collection bottle (B), accelerated by the suction under pressure. To avoid the suction of the filtrate into the vacuum tube, generally but not exclusively, the vacuum connection is placed in a position above the filtrate outlet.

The filtration chamber can be made of various materials, glass, polycarbonate, plastic, steel, etc., and includes a closed chamber at the ends of which there is an inlet duct (1) adapted and fitted inside the ring of the bottle (A), to have a watertight seal, with or without gaskets, with possible conical coupling, all to avoid losses of the mixture or air losses which would cause the vacuum and sterility conditions to fail, and an outlet duct (5) which must present the same conditions described for the inlet duct (2).

The filtration chamber (3) can be of various shapes and of variable capacity, depending on the volume of the mixture to be purified and/or the starting container.

The composition of the filter (4) can vary depending on the size and interaction with the particles to be retained.

The filter (4) can be made of polypropylene and can be recommended for room temperature acids, alcohols, glycols, ethers and ketones and more.

The filter (4) can be made of PTFE, suitable for all common acids, bases and solvents.

The filter (4) with borosilicate glass fibres is chemically resistant to most organic and inorganic solvents.

A filter (4) made of acetate, nitrate and cellulose esters can be used.

It can be of various sizes, thicknesses and diameters or of any other composition or materials most suitable for the purpose.

In another possible embodiment of the invention, illustrated in the attached Figure 3, for the purpose of example but not limitation of the invention, the filter can be expected to be dismantled and replaced. In fact, an invention can be made with a quick-disassembled filter for easy replacement and cleaning. In this case, the invention is made up of three components and the sealing flange of the support and that of the container are ground to ensure excellent sealing. All the retained solids are deposited within the filter section without peripheral losses.

At the same time, however, this treatise claims specific protection on the use of the apparatus (again, obviously, as described and illustrated thus far), for the automatic implementation of the clarified filtration phase of the bottle at the end of the "prise de mousse", and of the period of refinement on the yeasts, when it is necessary to remove the lees of the exhausted yeasts (and other unwanted residues and debris) that are suspended in the wine.

As seen, the object of the protection claimed herein is first and foremost the apparatus as described and illustrated herein, regardless of the specific application context in which it is used.

The operation of the apparatus according to the invention is evident from what has been explained so far, but a brief summary is given below.

The heterogeneous mixture contained in the bottle (A), enters through the inlet cone (1) into the chamber of the device, and reaches the filter (4) which retains the solid particles and passes the liquid towards the collection bottle (B), accelerated by the suction under pressure. The filter (4) allows the solid and/or suspended particles in the mixture to be retained up to submicron dimensions with high flow rates and/or large volumes of liquids which can, therefore, be clarified very quickly.

The invention, thus conceived, is susceptible to numerous modifications and variations, all of which fall within the scope of the inventive concept; furthermore, all the details may be replaced by other technically equivalent elements.

In the illustrated examples of embodiment, individual characteristics, reported in relation to specific examples, may in reality be replaced with other different characteristics, existing in other examples of embodiment.

In practice, the materials used, as well as the dimensions, may be any according to the needs and the state of the art.

Claims (10)

1. Filtration apparatus with vacuum connection for bottles of sparkling wine. The apparatus comprises at least one closed filtration chamber (3), inside which a filter (4) is positioned. The filtration chamber (3) is equipped with at least one inlet duct (1), which is connected to a bottle (A) containing the heterogeneous mixture to be separated, and at least one outlet duct (2) which is connected to a collection bottle (B) into which the clarified liquid will arrive. The filtration chamber (3) has at least one vacuum connection (5). 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterised in that the filtration chamber can be made of various materials, without limiting the use of alternative or different materials from those described. 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the inlet duct (1) must be adapted and fitted inside the ring of the bottle (A), to have a watertight seal, with or without gaskets, with an eventual or possible conical coupling, all to avoid leaks of the mixture or air leaks which would cause the vacuum and sterility conditions to fail, or the inlet duct (1) can be adapted in any other way while maintaining the purpose and functionality described above. 4. Apparatus according to claim 3 characterised in that the inlet (1) and outlet (2) ducts can be positioned in a vertical position as per the drawings but can also be positioned according to any variable angle. 5. Apparatus according to one or more of claims 1-4, characterised in that it can be equipped with a safety valve to control the depression created inside the collection bottle under the action of the vacuum pump. 6. Apparatus according to one or more of claims 1-3 characterised in that the filtration chamber (3) can be of various shapes and of variable capacity, for better adaptation to the volume of the mixture to be purified and/or of the starting container. 7. Apparatus according to one or more of claims 1-6, characterized in that the apparatus provides for the filter to be assembled inside the filtering chamber and can be disassembled and replaced. Therefore, an invention can be created with a quick-disassembled filter for easy replacement and cleaning. In this case, the invention is made up of three components and the sealing flange of the support and that of the container are ground to ensure excellent sealing. All retained solids are deposited within the filtering section without peripheral losses. 8. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding claims, to which it is possible to associate, in the apparatus, a turbidity level meter expressed in NTU, by way of example but not limited to, which would ensure the control for each individual bottle which currently does not occur. The measuring system, for example, provides plug-and-play functionality in any communication adapter for interactive measurements, calibration, configuration and diagnostics with industrial computers or with the local display of a PC. 9. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding claims, can be placed in series, in series on multiple levels, to ensure the process simultaneously on multiple bottles up to treating a very large number of bottles and can be inserted into any industrial process of which the one indicated in the description is only a non-limiting and exclusive example. 10. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding claims, can be used for any container containing any heterogeneous container.