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EP-4739475-A1 - WOODEN CONTAINER AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SAME

EP4739475A1EP 4739475 A1EP4739475 A1EP 4739475A1EP-4739475-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a wooden container for maturing and/or preserving a liquid, which comprises at least one wooden part (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70) consisting of at least one male wooden element (11) having a male profile (13) and at least one female wooden element (13) having a female profile (14), the shape of which is complementary to that of the male profile (13), the male wooden element (11) and the female wooden element (12) being assembled by nesting the male profile (13) in the female profile (14). The invention likewise relates to a method for manufacturing such a container and to a method for manufacturing wooden parts (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70).

Inventors

  • VERDIER, BENOIT
  • PRIDA, Andrei
  • BLUM, Alexis

Assignees

  • Seguin Moreau&Co

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240628

Claims (8)

  1. CLAIMS 1. Wooden part (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70) for manufacturing a wooden container intended for breeding and/or storing a liquid, comprising: - a male wooden element (11) having a length in a first direction of extension (Z), a width in a second direction of extension (Y) and a thickness in a third direction of extension (X), the first second and third directions of extension being orthogonal to each other, the length being greater than the width, the width being greater than the thickness, which male wooden element (11) having on one of its faces defined by its length and its width a male profile (13) extending along the length of the male wooden element (11) and over its entire length; - a female wooden element (12) having a length in a first direction of extension (Z), a width in a second direction of extension (Y) and a thickness in a third direction of extension (X), the first, second and third directions of extension being orthogonal to each other, the length being greater than the width, the width being greater than the thickness, which element (12) having on one of its faces defined by its length and its width a female profile (14) extending along the length of the female wooden element (12) and over its entire length, said female profile (14) having a shape complementarity with said male profile (13); the wooden part (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70) resulting from the assembly between them of the male wooden part (11) and the female wooden part (12) in such a way that a thickness of the wooden part (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70) is greater than the thickness of the male wooden element (11) and the thickness of the female wooden element (12).
  2. 2. Wooden part (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70) according to claim 1, in which the male profile (13) comprises a dovetail profile.
  3. 3. A wooden part (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70) according to claim 1 or claim 2, which comprises a plurality of male wooden elements (11) and a plurality of female wooden elements (12), each of the male profiles (13) having a shape complementarity with at least one of the female profiles (14), a length of the wooden part (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70) being greater than the length of the male wooden element (11) and the length of the female wooden element (12).
  4. 4. Shell (25, 45) of a wooden container intended for the breeding and/or conservation of a liquid, which shell (25, 45) comprises at least one wooden part (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70) according to one of claims 1 to 3.
  5. 5. Bottom of a wooden container intended for the breeding and/or conservation of a liquid, which bottom comprises at least one wooden piece (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70) according to one of claims 1 to 3.
  6. 6. A method of manufacturing a wooden part (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70) according to one of claims 1 to 3, said method comprising the following steps: - A step of cutting solid wood to obtain a first piece of wood of substantially parallelepiped shape and a second piece of wood of substantially parallelepiped shape; - A step of machining the first piece of wood obtained in the cutting step to obtain a male wooden element (11); - A step of machining the second piece of wood obtained in the cutting step to obtain a female wooden element (12); - A step of assembling the male wooden element (11) and the female wooden element (12) so as to obtain a wooden part (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70).
  7. 7. Manufacturing method according to claim 6, in which the assembly step comprises at least one step of fitting a male profile (13) into a female profile (14) of corresponding shape.
  8. 8. A method of manufacturing a shell (25, 45) of a wooden container intended for the breeding and/or preservation of a liquid, said method comprising the following steps: - A manufacturing step, according to the method of manufacturing a wooden part (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70) of claims 6 or 7, of a plurality of wooden parts (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70) in accordance with one of claims 1 to 3; - A step of assembling together the plurality of wooden parts (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70) obtained in the manufacturing step, in order to form a shell (25, 45) in accordance with claim 4.

Description

DESCRIPTION TITLE: Wooden container and method of manufacturing same Technical field The invention relates to the field of manufacturing containers designed to receive beverages, such as wines or spirits. In particular, the invention relates to the manufacture of wooden containers intended in particular for the maturation, aging and preservation of fermented beverages or the fermentation of sweet musts (grapes, apples, etc.). Preamble Maturing fermented beverages in wooden containers is an important step in the production of these beverages since it allows in particular compounds extractable from wood, such as tannins or aromatic compounds, to diffuse into the beverage, modifying its aroma and taste. Thus, these extractable compounds add to the complexity of the bouquet by bringing to the drink different more or less intense aromatic notes and sensations such as "sweetness", "astringency", etc. The aging of wines and spirits, which constitutes an important stage in their development, is in fact carried out in closed wooden containers, generally made from oak wood but also sometimes from other types of wood such as chestnut or robinia (false acacia). In addition to allowing the diffusion of aroma into the drink, aging in such closed wooden containers allows a slow penetration of oxygen through the container, thus allowing a controlled oxidation of the substances present in the drink in order to favorably modify the organoleptic characteristics of the drink such as its color, taste or smell. These closed wooden containers, which are later used for storing wines and spirits, can have different volumes and shapes, and are commonly referred to as vats, barrels, casks, casks, tuns or even pieces. They are generally composed of a dress or shell forming a closed outline around a main axis, and two bottoms coming to the ends of this dress or shell. The hull, which is generally circular or oval, is formed by a series of joined pieces of wood called staves, extending substantially along the main axis and held tight together by straps of metal bands or cables arranged in transverse planes and which surround the staves at different heights. The staves used to make such closed wooden containers are made from logs directly from the felling of selected trees. The logs are either split into staves (for containers up to 600l capacity) or sawn into blocks (for containers larger than 600l). These pieces are then dried and machined to obtain staves having in particular a length and thickness appropriate for the production of closed wooden containers intended for the aging of wines or spirits. Depending on the type of container, the staves must indeed have a significant length of up to 6.0 metres and even more in rare cases, and a thickness generally between 21 and 80 millimetres, in particular to ensure the watertightness of the container. However, the production of staves with appropriate dimensions is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive, for several reasons including the scarcity and therefore the ever-increasing cost of solid wood pieces, or logs, used to manufacture staves. Major production efficiency problems also arise, since only a small portion of the logs can be used to directly manufacture staves with appropriate dimensions. In addition, the production of staves with appropriate dimensions and characteristics has the disadvantage of generating significant losses in the form of unused wooden pieces because they are too short and/or too thin. Among the existing solutions, finger-jointing techniques, consisting of gluing wooden elements of insufficient length end to end, make it possible to obtain staves of appropriate length. Such finger-jointing techniques are for example illustrated in document FR2949375 A1. On the other hand, glued laminated timber techniques, consisting of gluing wooden elements of insufficient thickness face to face, also make it possible to obtain staves of appropriate thickness. However, the staves manufactured using these techniques, even if they have the required dimensions, often do not withstand the container manufacturing process which requires subjecting the staves to mechanical actions during bending, as well as a subsequent heat treatment consisting of heating the container in order to release the aromas of the wood. As a result, the different wooden elements constituting the same stave tend to separate from each other, and this phenomenon is particularly accentuated by humidity. ambient, generally high in cellars, to which the staves are subjected during the aging and conservation of the beverage in the container, and by the action of the beverage on the glue itself which becomes less effective over time, its properties being affected by too prolonged contact with the beverage. Furthermore, these known techniques, due to prolonged contact between the beverage and the glue used, cause the migration of constituents of the latter into the beverage, which has the consequence of c