Abstract:
The object of the present invention is to provide a bottle stopper configured to be used in re-sealing a mouth part of a bottle for containing a product which may cause a risk of easily being acidified due to the contact with oxygen, thereby safely and sustainably absorbing and eliminating oxygen introduced into the bottle. The bottle stopper according to the present invention is constructed such that the stopper main body fitted into the mouth part of the bottle to re-seal the mouth part of the bottle is formed with the accommodating space portion capable of receiving the oxygen absorber so that oxygen remaining in the bottle can be safely and sustainably absorbed and eliminated.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0045586, filed on May 14, 2010 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    (a) Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a bottle stopper configured to be used in re-sealing a mouth part of a bottle for containing liquid contents such as wine or the like, which may cause a risk of easily being acidified or deteriorating in terms of taste and fragrance due to the contact with oxygen, and more particularly, to a bottle stopper which includes an oxygen absorber accommodating chamber safely and stably oxygen introduced into the bottle during the use of the bottle. 
         [0004]    (b) Background Art 
         [0005]    Products having a risk of acidification or deterioration in quality due to contact with oxygen are contained in a glass bottle and are hermetically sealed to block the contact between the products and oxygen. For example, wine or the like starts to be oxidized when in contact with oxygen. An over-oxidized wine remarkably degrades in quality such as taste, fragrance, or the like. 
         [0006]    Therefore, in order to address and solve this problem, conventionally, after a bottle having wine contained therein is opened, oxygen is removed from the inside of the wine bottle in its opened state using a manual and automatic pump upon the re-sealing of the bottle. 
         [0007]    However, such a work causes an economic burden due to pump purchase expense as well as, particularly, gives inconvenience and difficulty of use to general public 
         [0008]    In order to address and solve this drawback, a stopper assembly for a wine bottle is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2009-0100554 (hereinafter, referred to as “prior art”) published on Sep. 24, 2009. The stopper assembly of this prior application is intended to effectively remove oxygen from the inside of the wine bottle within a shorter time upon the re-sealing of the wine bottle. The stopper assembly for the wine bottle includes a stopper main body having a fitting portion fitted into an entrance of the wine bottle, an oxygen absorbing member configured to absorb oxygen contained in the wine bottle, and a fixing unit configured to fix the oxygen absorbing member in a flowable state in the wine bottle. 
         [0009]    Such a prior art, however, also entails a problem in that since the oxygen absorbing member is in a freely flowable state in the wine bottle, it comes into close contact with a liquid of wine. That is, the stopper assembly for the wine bottle disclosed in the above prior art is constructed to be floated in the liquid of wine, but it involves a major problem in that the close contact itself between the oxygen absorbing member and the liquid of wine deteriorates wine. In addition, in the case where the oxygen absorbing member is submerged in a liquid content such as wine, there is a risk that since the oxygen absorber is clogged by the liquid content, it may not sufficiently perform an absorption function. Further, there is a risk that the fact itself that the oxygen absorber comes into close contact with the liquid content such as wine may give a severely unpleasant sensation to drinkers. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    Accordingly, the present inventor has researched and developed the present invention in an effort to solve the above-mentioned problems associated with the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a bottle stopper which can safely absorb oxygen contained in a liquid content of wine while not in close contact with the liquid content of wine, and allows an oxygen absorber to stably and sustainably exhibit an oxygen absorbing function. 
         [0011]    To accomplish the above object, in one aspect, the present invention provides a bottle stopper including: a stopper main body shaped so as to be fitted into a mouth part of a bottle by a predetermined depth only and configured openably and closably to re-seal the mount part of the bottle so as to prevent external leakage of a content from the bottle, the stopper main body including a fitting recessed portion of a predetermined dimension formed therein to a predetermined depth in a longitudinal direction thereof in such a fashion as to be opened at one end thereof; and a hollow cylindrical container configured to have an outer diameter equal to or smaller than a diameter of the fitting recessed portion of the stopper main body so as to removably fitted into the fitting recessed portion, the hollow cylindrical container including an accommodating space portion of a predetermined dimension defined therein so as to accommodate an oxygen absorber therein, the accommodating space portion having a circumferentially closed side wall, wherein the hollow cylindrical container includes one or more vent holes formed on a top wall and a bottom wall thereof so as to serve as passageways fluidically communicating with the inside of the bottle to allow the oxygen absorber to absorb oxygen remaining in the bottle therethrough. 
         [0012]    Also, in the bottle stopper of the present invention, preferably, a retaining step is protrudingly formed on corresponding engagement portions of an inner circumferential surface of the oxygen absorber accommodating container and an outer circumferential surface of the fitting recessed portion, respectively, so as to prevent the hollow container from escaping from the stopper main body. 
         [0013]    In addition, to accomplish the above object, in another aspect, the present invention provides a bottle stopper including: a hollow cylindrical container shaped so as to be fitted into a mouth part of a bottle by a predetermined depth only and configured openably and closably to re-seal the mount part of the bottle so as to prevent external leakage of a content from the bottle, the hollow cylindrical container including an accommodating space portion of a predetermined dimension formed therein to a predetermined depth in a longitudinal direction of the container in such a fashion as to be opened at one end thereof so as to accommodate an oxygen absorber therein; and an inner cover separably coupled to an opening of the accommodating space portion of the hollow cylindrical container so as to hermetically seal the opening of the accommodating space portion; wherein the hollow cylindrical container includes one or more vent holes formed on a top wall and a bottom wall thereof so as to serve as passageways fluidically communicating with the inside of the bottle to allow the oxygen absorber to absorb oxygen remaining in the bottle therethrough. 
         [0014]    According to the present invention, by a construction in which the oxygen absorber is embedded in the bottle stopper, the bottle stopper exhibits an oxygen absorbing function without any direct contact with the liquid content contained in the bottle when in use for the re-sealing of the bottle, thereby preventing deterioration in quality of the liquid content as well as giving an effect capable of stably drinking the liquid content to users without causing any unpleasant sensation. In addition, the bottle stopper of the present invention has an effect of maintaining an oxygen absorbing capability more sustainably, thereby making a warranty of merchantability to keep taste and fragrance of the liquid content for a long time period. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]    The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0016]      FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a bottle with a bottle stopper according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a bottle with a bottle stopper according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a bottle with a bottle stopper according to a third embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0019]    The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be made in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
         [0020]      FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a bottle with a bottle stopper according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , the bottle stopper according to a first embodiment of the present invention is used to hermetically re-seal a bottle  10 , and is formed to have an outer diameter equal to or smaller than an inner diameter of a mouth part of the bottle  10 . The bottle stopper is made of wood or resin, which is not harmful to the human body. The bottle stopper includes a stopper main body  110  shaped so as to be fitted into the mouth part of the bottle  10  by a predetermined depth only. 
         [0022]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the stopper main body  110  includes a fitting recessed portion  112  formed therein in such a fashion as to be opened at a lower end thereof so that a cylindrical oxygen absorber accommodating container  114  including an accommodating space portion  114   a  for accommodating an oxygen absorber  12  therein is fixedly fitted into the fitting recessed portion  112 . In order to facilitate the fitting of the oxygen absorber accommodating container  114  into the fitting recessed portion  112  of the stopper main body  110 , the oxygen absorber accommodating container  114  is also made of a flexible material having flexibility, which is not harmful to the human body. Thus, the oxygen absorber accommodating container  114  is more easily inserted into the fitting recessed portion  112  in a press-fit manner or is removed from the fitting recessed portion  112  for the purpose of replacement. 
         [0023]    The accommodating space portion defined along an axial direction of the oxygen absorber accommodating container  114  forms a hollow portion that has a circumferentially closed side wall. A method of installing the oxygen absorber  12  in the accommodating space portion forming the circumferentially closed hollow portion can be performed as follows. That is, after a previously prepared oxygen absorber  12  is put into the accommodating space portion  114   a  which is completely not closed, an opened portion of the accommodating space portion  114   a  is hermetically sealed by a general heat fusion technique. This method is a generally known technology, and thus the detailed description thereof will be omitted to avoid redundancy. 
         [0024]    The oxygen absorber accommodating container  114  to be fixedly fitted into the fitting recessed portion  112  includes one or more vent holes  116   a ,  116   b  and  116   c  formed on walls thereof so that the vent holes  116   a ,  116   b  and  116   c  serve as passageways fluidically communicating with the inside of the bottle to allow the oxygen absorber  12  to be in close contact with oxygen remaining in the bottle  10  therethrough to absorb the remaining oxygen. The oxygen absorber  12  absorbs the oxygen remaining in the bottle  10  owing to a function of the passageways to contribute to prevention of oxidation of the content in the bottle. The vent holes  116   a ,  116   b  and  116   c  are preferably formed on the oxygen absorber accommodating container  114  in such a fashion that two vent holes  116   a  and  116   b  are formed on a bottom wall of the oxygen absorber accommodating container  114  and one vent hole  116   c  is formed on a top wall of the oxygen absorber accommodating container  114  in order to allow oxygen remaining in the bottle to easily pass through the accommodating space portion  114   a . However, the vent holes formed on the top and bottom walls of the oxygen absorber accommodating container  114  is not limited to the number of the vent holes shown in the drawings, but may be formed in large numbers exceeding the number thereof shown in the drawings depending on the needs. Since each of the vent holes  116   a ,  116   b  and  116   c  is formed to have a size of approximately less than 0.1 mm so as to permit only passage of gas remaining in the bottle, the content contained in the bottle is not allowed to be introduced into the accommodating space portion  114   a  through the vent holes. 
         [0025]    The oxygen absorber  12  is a general oxygen absorber whose content is packed in a packing paper made of a material having an air-permeation and water-proof function. 
         [0026]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a bottle with a bottle stopper according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0027]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , the bottle stopper according to the second embodiment of the present invention is different from that according to the first embodiment of the present invention in that retaining steps  118  are protrudingly formed on corresponding engagement portions of an inner circumferential surface of the oxygen absorber accommodating container  114  and an outer circumferential surface of the fitting recessed portion  112 , respectively, so that the oxygen absorber accommodating container  114  can be securely fixed to the stopper main body  110  without escaping from the fitting recessed portion  112  by the engagement between the corresponding retaining steps  118 . That is, in order for the oxygen absorber accommodating container  114  not to easily escape from the fitting recessed portion  112 , the retaining step  118  having a retaining function is formed on corresponding engagement portions of the inner circumferential surface of the oxygen absorber accommodating container  114  and the outer circumferential surface of the fitting recessed portion  112 , respectively. Other constructions in the second embodiment are the same as the constructions in the first embodiment, and thus its additional description will be omitted to avoid redundancy. 
         [0028]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a bottle with a bottle stopper according to a third embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0029]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , the bottle stopper according to the third embodiment of the present invention is also constructed in the same manner as that of the bottle stopper of the first embodiment except that the oxygen absorber is directly accommodated in the bottle stopper. 
         [0030]    In other words, the bottle stopper according to this embodiment includes an oxygen absorber accommodating container  214  provided with an accommodating space portion  214   a  of a predetermined dimension formed therein in such a fashion as to be opened at a top end thereof only so as to directly accommodate the oxygen absorber  12  in the bottle stopper. The bottle stopper also includes an inner cover  213  separably coupled to an opening of the accommodating space portion  214   a  of the oxygen absorber accommodating container  214  so as to hermetically seal the opening of the accommodating space portion. This construction facilitates the removal of the oxygen absorber  12  form the oxygen absorber accommodating container  214  for the purpose of replacement or the internal cleaning of the accommodating container  214 . In this embodiment, it will be easily understood that although a construction of the cover  213  has been shown in which male and female screw threaded portions are formed on an outer circumferential surface of the cover  213  and an inner circumferential surface of an upper portion of the accommodating space portion  214   a  so that the cover  213  can be releasably engaged with the accommodating container  214 , the method of coupling the inner cover  213  to the accommodating container  214  may be implemented in a press-fit manner, but not in a screw-engagement manner as shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0031]    In addition, the oxygen absorber accommodating container  214  to which the inner cover  213  is coupled includes one or more vent holes  216   a  and  216   b  formed on a bottom wall thereof as in the above embodiments so that the vent holes  216   a  and  216   b  serve as passageways fluidically communicating with the inside of the bottle. The construction and operation of the vent holes  216   a  and  216   b  is the same as that of the vent holes in the first and second embodiments, and thus additional description thereof will be omitted to avoid redundancy. 
         [0032]    In the above embodiments, although one example has been shown that the bottle stopper is used to re-seal a wine bottle, the bottle stopper may be used to re-seal a bottle containing edible oil, edible oil and fat, fermented milk, fermented alcohol beverage, and the like. Besides, the bottle stopper according to the present invention is used as one for other purposes so that quality and freshness of the contents in the bottle can be maintained as it is as well as a period capable of appreciating the intrinsic taste of a relevant product is extended. 
         [0033]    While the present invention have been described in connection with the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings, they are merely illustrative embodiments of the bottle stopper, and the invention is not limited to these embodiments. It is to be understood that various equivalent modifications and variations of the embodiments can be made by a person having an ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the true technical scope of the present invention should be defined by the appended claims.