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CA-3151310-C - VACUUM STOPPER AND ASSEMBLY OF STOPPER AND CONTAINER

CA3151310CCA 3151310 CCA3151310 CCA 3151310CCA-3151310-C

Abstract

Vacuum stopper and assembly of stopper and container. There is disclosed a vacuum stopper (1) configured to be positioned into a neck (9) the neck of the bottle, the stopper comprising: a resilient shoulder (4) provided at an upper end of the elongated body (2). wherein the resilient shoulder is arranged for resting onto an upper side of the neck of the bottle; a stop ring (5) provided at an upper end of the elongated body above the resilient shoulder; a valve arranged (6) inside of the elongated body for allowing, in use, air to be sucked out of the container.

Inventors

  • Dalibor Borjanin
  • Robert Franciscus Van Der Hulst
  • Rui Medeiros Santos

Assignees

  • AIRTENDER WORKS B.V.

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20200917
Priority Date
20190918

Claims (20)

  1. 27 Claims 1. A vacuum stopper configured to be positioned into a neck of a container for closing the container and allowing the container to be 5 vacuumised, the vacuum stopper comprising: - an elongated body configured to be inserted into the neck of the container; - a resilient shoulder provided at an upper end of the elongated body, wherein the resilient shoulder is arranged for resting onto an upper side of the neck of the container; 10 - a stop ring provided at an upper end of the elongated body above the resilient shoulder; and - a valve arranged inside of the elongated body for allowing, in use, air to be sucked out of the container; wherein the elongated body further comprises at least one radially 15 protruding flange element.
  2. 2. The vacuum stopper according to claim 1, wherein the stop ring is positioned approximately level with an upper side of the elongated body.
  3. 3. The vacuum stopper according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the elongated body is cylindrically shaped. 20
  4. 4. The vacuum stopper according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the at least one flange element is provided as a circumferential continuous flange.
  5. 5. The vacuum stopper according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein at least three radially protruding flange elements are provided on the 25 elongated body that are positioned at the same axial position on the elongated body.
  6. 6. The vacuum stopper according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the at least one radially protruding flange element extends at least one of in circumferential direction along the elongated body and in longitudinal 30 direction along the elongated body. Date Re9ue/Date Received 2024-03-25 28
  7. 7. The vacuum stopper according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the resilient shoulder is provided of a resilient material and/or of a resilient configuration.
  8. 8. The vacuum stopper according to claim 7, wherein the resilient 5 shoulder is hingedly engaged to the elongated body.
  9. 9. The vacuum stopper according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the resilient shoulder is deformable between a rest position in which the resilient shoulder is undeformed, and a working position in which the resilient shoulder is deformed, when the stopper is positioned in a neck of a 10 container and the inside of the container is vacuum.
  10. 10. The vacuum stopper according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the resilient shoulder is adjustable between a rest position, to which rest position the resilient shoulder is biased, such that, when the stopper is engaged in the neck of the container, there is no vacuum in the container, 15 and between a working position, in which the resilient shoulder seals the neck of the container, such that, when the stopper is engaged in the neck of the container, there is vacuum in the container.
  11. 11. The vacuum stopper according to claim 9 or 10, wherein, in the rest position, the resilient shoulder is provided with at least one position 20 around which the resilient shoulder can hinge and/or deform from the rest position towards the working position.
  12. 12. The vacuum stopper according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein an upper side of the elongated body is configured to receive a vacuum pump. 25
  13. 13. The vacuum stopper according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the elongated body is deformable, in use, under the influence of vacuum, such that an outer diameter of the elongated body at least locally increases.
  14. 14. The vacuum stopper according to any one of claims 1 to 13, 30 wherein the stop ring is stiffer than the resilient member. Date Re9ue/Date Received 2024-03-25 29
  15. 15. The vacuum stopper according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the stop ring is stiffer than the elongated body, and the elongated body is stiffer than the resilient member.
  16. 16. The vacuum stopper according to any one of claims 1 to 15, 5 wherein a diameter of the stop ring is approximately 1,5 times a diameter of the elongated body including the at least one flange element in a nonvacuumed rest position.
  17. 17. The vacuum stopper according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the valve is a one-way valve. 10
  18. 18. The vacuum stopper according to claim 17, wherein the valve is a duck bill valve.
  19. 19. The vacuum stopper according to any one of claims 1 to 18, wherein the valve is arranged at a position inside of the elongated body such that an upper side of the valve is lower than an upper side of the elongated 15 body.
  20. 20. An assembly of a container and a vacuum stopper according to any one of claims 1 to 19.

Description

1 Title: Vacuum stopper and assembly of stopper and container The invention relates to a vacuum stopper for a container, in 5 particular for a container such as a wine bottle. Vacuum stoppers are widely used and available in various arrangements and sizes. The vacuum stopper is usually available in combination with a dedicated vacuum pump. A typical vacuum stopper has a tapered body for insertion into the 10 neck of the container. The tapered body provides for accommodation of various sizes of inner diameters of the neck of the containers. The body has a head portion in which the valve is provided. The head is compatible with the dedicated pump. Due to the contact between the tapered body and the neck of the bottle, a vacuum sealing can be obtained. 15 A drawback of these known stoppers is that they may be rather bulky and/or may have a large head. The head may make the bottle rather high which makes it difficult that the bottle, with the stopper, is stored in a conventional storage element such as a refrigerator. Further, a bottle with a conventional stopper may not be suitable for horizontal storage as there is a 20 risk on fluid spillage and/or accidentally undoing of the vacuum. Due to the protruding head and/or the bulky appearance, users, in particular professional users, such as restaurant holders etc. are reluctant to use to the stopper as it may deteriorate the view on their visible wine bottle stock. Such a conventional stopper may also be prone to accidentally undoing of 25 the vacuum, e.g. when handling the vacuumed bottle, but there may be no visible indication of the vacuum on the stopper. Also, the spread in diameter of the neck of a wine bottle increases and a conventional stopper may not be able to accommodate a larger diameter spread. So, there is a need for an improved vacuum stopper that obviates at 30 least one of the above mentioned drawbacks. CA 03151310 2022-3-15 2 Thereto, according to a first aspect of the disclosure there is provided for a vacuum stopper configured to be positioned into a neck of a container for closing the container and allowing the container to be vacmnned, the vacuum. stopper comprising: an elongated body configured to 5 be inserted into the neck of the container; a resilient shoulder provided at an upper end of the elongated body, wherein the resilient shoulder is arranged for resting onto an upper side of the neck of the container; a stop ring provided at an upper end of the elongated body above the resilient shoulder; a valve arranged inside of the elongated body for allowing, in use, 10 air to be sucked out of the container; wherein the elongated body further comprises at least one radially protruding flange element. By providing a vacuum stopper having a resilient shoulder and a stop ring above the resilient shoulder, wherein the valve is arranged inside of the elongated body, a compact and elegant vacuum stopper can be 15 obtained. By providing the stop ring above the resilient shoulder, the vacuum stopper can be of a limited height, such that, when the vacuum stopper is inserted in the neck of the container and the resilient shoulder abuts onto the upper side of the neck of the container, the stopper only limitedly extends above the upper side of the neck of the container. Thus, an 20 elegant and compact view may be provided with the stopper inserted into the container, typically a bottle, such as a wine bottle. Contrary to a conventional stopper, the said stopper is not provided with a head, but only is provided with an elongated body in which elongated body the valve is arranged. By arranging the valve inside of the elongated body, and not, as in 25 a conventional stopper, in the head of the stopper, the head of the stopper can be obviated and thus the height of the stopper can become lower such that it only limitedly extends above the neck of the container when in use. By providing a resilient shoulder at an upper end of the elongated body, almost all of the elongated body may be inserted into the neck of the 30 container, such that only a limited height of the elongated body extends CA 03151310 2022-3-15 3 above the neck of the container. By providing the shoulder, in use resting on the neck of the container, resiliently, the shoulder deforms upon vacuuming of the container and a tight sealing of the shoulder to the neck of the container can be obtained. By sucking air out of the container via the valve 5 arranged inside of the elongated body, an negative pressure, or so-called vacuum., can be created inside of the container. Due to the negative pressure the stopper may be pulled somewhat more inside of the container, resulting in deformation of the resilient shoulder. A deformation of the resilient shoulder may provide for a tight abutting of the shoulder to the neck of the 10 container and for a firm and/or reliable sealing of the container in vacuum. By providing for such a resilient shoulder that deforms when there is vacuum in the container, a v