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  Method of packaging wine or a similar beverage, products obtained by the method, and apparatus for implementing the methodRelated Patent Categories: Package Making, Methods, Filling Preformed Receptacle And Closing, With Separate Closure Attaching (e.g., Cap Or Plug)The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070294983. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
[0001] The present invention relates to a method of packaging wine or a similar beverage, to products obtained by the method, and to apparatus for implementing the method. [0002] French patent No. 2 735 003 describes a container in the form of a drinking glass used as the material for packaging, transporting, and distributing a beverage such as wine. [0003] That patent also describes a method of filling the container, whereby the container closure element is fitted with a device that enables air to be extracted during filling. [0004] The present invention seeks to provide an improved method of filling and packaging a wine glass. [0005] The object of the invention is specifically to lengthen the shelf life of wine packaged in a receptacle in the form of a drinking glass; wine can become transformed due to contact with air, in particular due to phenomena whereby the wine is oxidized, via its free surface which is of much larger area in a glass than in a bottle, particularly when it is recalled that the area should be compared with the volume of wine contained in the glass, or the bottle as the case may be. [0006] The advantage of improving the above-mentioned patent can thus be seen, particularly when packaging wines for laying down or wines that are intended to be consumed more than one month, preferably more than four months, any indeed more than ten months after packaging. [0007] In a first aspect, the present invention thus consists essentially in packaging wine or a similar beverage in a receptacle that is completely closed, whose overall permeability to oxygen, i.e. permeability including that of the walls of the receptacle, of the capsule, and of the junction zone between said receptacle and said capsule, makes it possible to conserve a wine in the long term, preferably more than ten months, without exceeding a tolerable quantity of oxygen. To do this, the walls of the receptacle are made of a material that is not permeable or practically not permeable to oxygen in the long term, and in particular said receptacle is made of glass. Glass presents practically zero permeability to oxygen. [0008] If the capsule presents very low overall permeability after it has been closed onto said receptacle, and preferably permeability of not more than 10 cubic centimeters per square meter per 24-hour period (cm.sup.3/m.sup.2/24 h), then it is possible to conserve a wine for more than ten months. [0009] In a first aspect, the invention thus consists in a method of packaging wine or a similar beverage in a receptacle in the form of a drinking glass, in which such a glass receptacle is closed by means of a disposable capsule (for single use, i.e. which can be removed but which cannot be put back into place), having very low overall permeability to oxygen once closed on said receptacle, and preferably permeability of less than 10 cm.sup.3/m.sup.2/24 h. [0010] A laminated capsule is preferably used comprising a metal layer coated in a layer of heat-sealable thermoplastic material, presenting overall permeability to oxygen, after heat-sealing, of not more than 10 cm.sup.3/m.sup.2/24 h. [0011] The oxygen content of the gaseous atmosphere imprisoned inside the glass is preferably reduced to a value below the mean oxygen content of air (i.e. about 20% by volume). [0012] More preferably, the wine is packaged under a gaseous atmosphere whose oxygen content is less than or equal to 5% by volume and/or under a partial vacuum. [0013] Advantageously, the glass is filled with wine under an inert atmosphere, comprising carbon dioxide. [0014] By selecting a capsule whose overall permeability to oxygen after bonding onto said receptacle is less than 5 cm.sup.3/m.sup.2/24 h, and by packaging the wine under an inert atmosphere comprising carbon dioxide or a mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, and even when the residual space defined by the glass, the free surface of the wine, and the capsule has a volume greater than 2 cm.sup.2 (contrary to the above-mentioned patent), it has been found that wine packaged in this way can be conserved for very long periods (up to twenty-four months). Naturally, it is both possible and desirable to limit said residual space to a volume of said value. [0015] Packaging in an atmosphere comprising carbon dioxide presents the additional advantage that the gas can become absorbed and dissolved in the wine over a period of several hours following packaging, thereby lowering the pressure inside the glass. Thus, if the receptacle of the invention should subsequently be exposed during storage to conditions in which ambient temperature is raised, and in particular raised to above 25.degree. C., the gas included in the glass does not give rise to extra pressure that would cause the capsule to bulge due to the effect of the heat. [0016] Insofar as wine naturally contains carbon dioxide, generally at a concentration lying in the range 50 milligrams per milliliter (mg/ml) to 1500 mg/ml, it is preferable to desaturate the wine of carbon dioxide prior to filling the glass, and to do this it is preferable to degas the wine prior to packaging, in particular to reduce its dissolved carbon dioxide content to a value of less than 400 mg/ml, and preferably less than 200 mg/ml. [0017] The carbon dioxide dissolved in wine can be expelled by bubbling through gaseous nitrogen, thereby injecting the gaseous nitrogen into the wine. [0018] To obtain low permeability through the capsule, it is preferable to use a stratified material comprising a layer of pure aluminum coated in a layer of polyethylene. [0019] Such a material is preferably selected for the thickness of the metal layer to lie in the range 10 microns (.mu.m) to 100 .mu.m, and the thickness of the plastics film likewise to be situated in said range of values; this makes it easier to cause the capsule to adhere to the rim of the glass under the effect of heating the capsule, which heating must be performed very quickly in order to avoid heating the wine. For this purpose, the metal layer of the capsule is preferably heated by being put into contact with a resistive heater element, or by induction. Raising the temperature of the metal layer causes the temperature of the plastics film to be raised prior to coming into contact with the rim, thus causing it to adhere to the glass. Said temperatures preferably reach a maximum value of not more than about 350.degree. C., and in particular preferably lying in the range 80.degree. C. to 180.degree. C., for a period of a few seconds or tenths of a second only. [0020] In order to improve adhesion, the capsule is pressed against the glass with a bearing force that preferably lies in the range 10 decanewtons (daN) to 250 daN, and in particular in the range 30 daN to 100 daN. [0021] For this purpose, it is also preferable to use materials to constitute the glass receptacle comprising blown glass or blown and turned glass leaving a bead at the rim of width greater than the wall thickness of the glass, thus improving adhesion of the capsule. Alternatively, in certain cases it is possible to use molded glass. [0022] In another aspect, the invention consists in providing a pack comprising wine packaged in a drinking glass, said glass being closed by a heat-sealed capsule that is substantially oxygen proof, the gaseous atmosphere present inside the glass being depleted in oxygen; the pack can be obtained using the above method. [0023] More particularly, said gaseous atmosphere inside the receptacle comprises carbon dioxide and is at a pressure slightly lower than the surrounding ambient atmospheric pressure. In some cases, it is found that, immediately after packaging, the flexible capsule takes up a shape which is slightly dished towards the inside of the receptacle. [0024] Although the invention applies essentially to packaging wine, it can also be used for packaging oxygen-sensitive beverages other than wine in a glass, in particular alcoholic beverages based on vegetable extracts, and also fruit juices. Continue reading... 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