Patent ID: 9557307
Date: 2017-01-31
CPC Classifications: G01N

Claim:
1. An apparatus for determining freshness of wine stored in a container, the container having an opening and having a headspace above the wine inside the container, the apparatus comprising: a housing removably attachable to the container such that the housing spans the opening of the container and seals the opening of the container when the housing is attached to the container; a gas sensor affixed to the housing such that the gas sensor extends into the headspace of the container above the wine when the housing is attached to the container; an optical sensor pair comprising an optical emitter and an optical detector, the optical sensor pair positioned such that the optical sensor pair extends into the headspace above the wine when the housing is attached to the container, the optical emitter and optical detector further positioned such that optical energy emitted from the optical emitter is transmitted through at least a portion of the headspace toward the optical detector; and electrical circuitry contained in the housing and electrically interfaced to the gas sensor and to the optical sensor pair, the electrical circuitry configured to: operate the gas sensor to generate a series of gas level measurements each indicating a measured level of a gas in the headspace; operate the optical sensor pair to generate a series of optical transmission measurements each indicating a level of optical transmission of the emitted optical energy through the portion of the headspace; and determine a quality parameter for the wine, wherein the quality parameter corresponds to the freshness of the wine and is determined based on both the series of gas level measurements and the series of optical transmission measurements.