Patent Publication Number: US-2009230137-A1

Title: Cabinet for keeping bottles, in particular bottles of wine

Description:
The present invention relates to a cabinet for keeping bottles, in particular bottles of wine. 
     For the purpose of keeping beverages, such as wine, it is often desirable to place these liquids at a temperature that is both positive and below the ambient temperature. Wine, whether it be white or red, is therefore tasted fully when it is kept at a temperature of between 8° and 17° C. To do this, there are refrigerated cabinets in the internally cooled enclosure of which the consumer stores bottles that are not yet opened, typically horizontally in order to optimize the quality of keeping of the wine contained in these bottles. 
     This solution is satisfactory so long as the bottles of wine are not opened. On the other hand, as soon as the consumer takes a bottle out of the cabinet and opens it to consume only a portion of its content, he can no longer put the opened bottle back into the cabinet, unless he takes the precaution of stoppering that bottle in an extremely secure manner in order to prevent leaks of wine once the bottle is repositioned and stored horizontally, it being furthermore noted that it is not advisable to keep an opened bottle of wine horizontally for reasons of rapid spoiling of the wine. In addition, in this case, the consumer must be careful to mark in the cabinet the bottle or bottles thus opened in order to prevent opening others without having finished the bottles opened first. 
     In this context, US-A-2006/090427 has proposed a refrigerated cabinet fitted with an electric vacuum pump which, in service, may be connected, via a special vacuum hose, to the opening of an opened bottle in order to aspirate it. In practice, the aforementioned vacuum pump is activated by a manual switch incorporated into a front wall of the refrigerated cabinet. The result of this is that the operation to aspirate this special hose, notably its sealed connection to the bottle, is totally separate from the operation of actuating the vacuum pump, by operating the front switch. In these conditions, the user of this refrigerated cabinet can carry out these two operations only in a successive manner, which is awkward and not very reliable. 
     The object of the present invention is to make the use of a refrigerated cabinet extremely easy making it possible to effectively keep opened bottles. 
     Accordingly, the subject of the invention is a cabinet for keeping bottles, in particular bottles of wine, comprising: 
     an enclosure for horizontally storing unopened bottles, 
     electric means for refrigerating the internal volume of the enclosure, 
     at least one vacuum stopper for an opened bottle arranged vertically in the internal volume of the enclosure, this vacuum stopper being incorporated so as to be freely movable inside the enclosure and delimiting an aspiration passageway that is suitable for emerging in a sealed manner in the neck of the opened bottle, and which is connected to an electric vacuum pump via a circuit that is at least partly flexible, and 
     control means for controlling the vacuum pump, which are suitable for activating the vacuum pump when the air pressure in the aspiration passageway is greater than a predetermined value and which comprise a manual on/off switch supported by the vacuum stopper. 
     The basic idea of the invention is both to provide, within the refrigerated enclosure of the cabinet, one or more vertical storage places for one or more opened bottles and, above all, to incorporate into this cabinet a function for aspirating this or these opened bottles. Specifically, by aspirating a bottle of wine that has previously been opened, that is to say deprived of its original stopper typically made of cork, the user limits contact between the wine contained in the bottle and the oxygen of the air, this contact in time spoiling the gustatory and organoleptic qualities of the wine. At the same time, according to the invention, the bottle thus aspirated is kept at a given cooled temperature, below the ambient temperature of the everyday living room in which the cabinet is installed, which makes it possible to have a bottle ready for service while the wine that it contains is at a temperature appropriate for being tasted. 
     The cabinet according to the invention is extremely easy to use. On the one hand, when the user wishes to store an opened bottle in this cabinet, he naturally places it vertically in the enclosure of the cabinet and then takes the or one of the vacuum stoppers and places it on the top of the neck of the bottle very easily because of the great mobility of this stopper inside the enclosure. With the same hand as was used to thus place the vacuum stopper on the bottle, he operates the switch to control the actuation of the electric vacuum pump. In other words, the vacuum stopper according to the invention may be handled in one and the same movement for stopping the neck of the bottle and for controlling the aspiration of this bottle under the effect of the vacuum pump. The user may then use his other hand, if necessary, to stabilize the bottle, without lengthening the overall time necessary for the application of the invention. On the other hand, in service, the vacuum pump incorporated into the cabinet is activated in order to assure the user that, both during the initial aspiration and later, a satisfactory level of evacuation is maintained in the top portion of the opened bottle. This activation, which may be qualified as automatic, of the vacuum pump makes it possible to readjust this level of evacuation at all times, in particular when, eventually, the seal between the vacuum stopper and the neck of the bottle diminishes to allow a slight amount of outside air into the top portion of the bottle. Advantageously, the combination of this automatic activation of the pump and the freedom of movement of the vacuum stopper causes the head to reposition itself on the neck of the bottle in order to enhance the seal of their contact, for example when the user has not rigorously centered the stopper on this neck or else has not sufficiently pushed into this neck the outlet of the aspiration passageway delimited by the stopper. 
     Other advantageous features of the cabinet according to the invention, taken in isolation or in all the technically possible combinations, are specified in the appended claims. 
    
    
     
       The invention will be better understood on reading the following description, given only as an example and made with reference to the drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a view in elevation of a keeping cabinet according to the invention, in which both unopened and opened bottles are stored; 
         FIG. 2  is a view in perspective, partially exploded in schematic manner, of the cabinet of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIGS. 3 and 4  are views in perspective, from different angles of observation, of a vacuum stopper belonging to the cabinet of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIGS. 5 and 6  are views in perspective at respective angles of observation that are identical to those of  FIGS. 3 and 4 , in which a portion of the vacuum stopper is not shown in order to display the inside of this stopper; and 
         FIG. 7  is an electric schematic diagram relating to the function of aspiration by the stopper of  FIGS. 3 and 4 . 
     
    
    
       FIGS. 1 and 2  represent a cabinet  1  for keeping bottles of wine. This cabinet  1  is a furniture item, typically designed to be installed in a living room of a house, such as a kitchen or a lounge. 
     The cabinet  1  comprises a closed outer enclosure  6 , which in this instance has a generally parallelepipedal outer shape and which defines a main internal volume V 6  in which the bottles of wine to be kept are stored. This volume V 6  is delimited by a ceiling wall  6 A and floor wall  6 B of the enclosure  6 , and by side walls of the enclosure including an opening door  6 C which, in the open position as in-figures  1  and  2 , allows the user to access the volume V 6  via the front side of the cabinet  1 . 
     Amongst the bottles of wine kept in the cabinet  1 , there are bottles  2 , ten in number in the exemplary embodiment considered in the figures, which are stored horizontally in the volume V 6 , lying on horizontal racks  8  arranged in a tiered manner in the enclosure V 6 , and two bottles  3  and  4 , which are stored vertically and which are placed one above the other, in this instance generally in the vertical extension of one another. In the present document, it is considered that a bottle is vertical when its longitudinal direction is vertical, with its neck directed upward, while a bottle is considered horizontal when its longitudinal direction is parallel to a flat surface, typically the floor or a storage shelf, on which the enclosure  6  rests in service in a fixed manner. 
     The top bottle  3  rests upright on a specific horizontal support  10 , in this instance generally disk-shaped, and connected rigidly to the enclosure  6 , while the bottom bottle  4  rests upright on a specific horizontal support  11 , situated vertically beneath the support  10  and in this instance incorporated into the floor wall  6 B of the enclosure  6 . The supports  10  and  11  have respective top faces shaped to stabilize the bottles  3  and  4  in the vertical position. 
     In order to keep the bottles  2 ,  3  and  4  at a substantially constant temperature, below the ambient temperature, the cabinet  1  is refrigerated, that is to say that it is fitted with electric means  12  for refrigerating the volume V 6 , only visible schematically in  FIG. 2 . These refrigeration means  12  convert electric energy, originating from a source not shown, typically the mains, via an electric cable  14 , into refrigeration carried by cooled air flows admitted into the volume V 6  and indicated by arrows  16  in  FIG. 2 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , these refrigeration means  12  are arranged, at least for the main part, in a region  18  of the cabinet  1  that is situated in the bottom and on the rear side of this cabinet. The air flows  16  travel from this region  18  to the volume V 6  through a slotted wall  20  partially delimiting the volume V 6 , so that, for reasons given below, these air flows are preferably exclusively admitted into the bottom portion of the volume V 6 , for example in this instance into the bottom quarter of this volume. 
     Advantageously, notably in order to prevent adversely affecting the relative humidity of the air in the volume V 6 , the refrigeration means  12  are designed so that the minimum temperature of the cooled air flows  16  that they produce is strictly above 0° C., the refrigeration means  12  therefore being cooled at positive cold refrigeration. In practice, these refrigeration means  12  are made in the form of one or more Peltier elements or else comply with the technical teachings of the French patent applications filed by the present Applicant and registered under the numbers 06 05775 and 07 59432. Naturally, other embodiments of these electric refrigeration means can be envisaged in the context of the present invention. 
     The cabinet  1  also comprises two stoppers  24  and  26  for aspirating respectively the bottle  3  and the bottle  4 . These two stoppers  24  and  26  being identical, only the stopper  24 , shown on a large scale in  FIGS. 3 to 6 , is described below in greater detail. 
     The stopper  24  comprises a hollow rigid outer shell  28 , made in this instance in two portions, respectively a bottom portion  28 A, shown alone in  FIG. 5 , and a top portion  28 B shown alone in  FIG. 6 , these two portions  28 A and  28 B being assembled fixedly together, as in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , when the stopper  24  is in service. 
     The stopper  24  is furnished with a flexible skirt  30  capable of being inserted in a substantially coaxial manner into the neck of the bottle  3  in order to form a sealed contact with this neck, advantageously enhanced by sealing lips  31  which extend on the outer periphery of the skirt  30 . The skirt  30  delimits internally an aspiration passageway  32 , which, when this skirt is housed in the neck of the bottle  3 , opens at its bottom end into this bottle neck, while its top end opens inside the shell  28 , more precisely into a sealed manifold  34  ( FIG. 5 ) in fluidic communication with the end  36 A of a long flexible duct  36 . In the exemplary embodiment considered here, the skirt  30  is secured to the bottom shell portion  28 A, passing right through it, and this shell portion  28 A supports, on its side directed toward the top shell portion  28 B, the manifold  34  and the duct end  36 A. 
     The duct  36  runs from the stopper  24  inside a flexible sheath  38  arranged so as to be able to move freely in the volume V 6 , up to an electric vacuum pump  40 , shown in  FIG. 2  partially and schematically, and in  FIG. 7  symbolically. 
     Advantageously, notably for reasons of electrical integration and space limitation, the vacuum pump  40  is situated in the same region of arrangement  18  as the refrigeration means  12  and it is electrically supplied by the same cable  14  as these means  12 . In practice, the vacuum pump  40  is for example mounted electrically in parallel with the refrigeration means  12 , with possible interposition of electric transformers if necessary. Therefore, in  FIG. 7 , the electric connection of the pump - 40  is considered between a ground line  42  and a nonzero potential line  44 . 
     When the pump  40  is electrically supplied, it aspirates the air at the end  36 B of the flexible duct  36 , which progressively lowers the air pressure in the duct  36  and the aspiration passageway  32  if the skirt  30  is engaged in a sealed manner in the neck of the bottle  3 . 
     In order to control the activation of the vacuum pump  40 , that is to say to establish or interrupt its electrical supply, the supply circuit of the pump is fitted with a manual switch  46  and a vacuostat  48 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , the pump  40 , the vacuostat  48  and the switch  46  are mounted in series between the ground line  42  and the potential line  44 . Physically, the vacuostat  48  is installed in the same arrangement region  18  as the pump  40  while the switch  46  is supported by the shell  28  of the stopper  24 , more precisely is mounted on the top shell portion  28 A, as can be clearly seen in  FIGS. 3 and 6 . Accordingly, electric wires, not shown, connect on the one hand the vacuum pump  40  and the vacuostat  48 , arranged in the region  18 , and, on the other hand, the terminals of the switch  46 , that can be accessed inside the shell  28 , these electric wires running inside the sheath  38 . 
     The vacuostat  48  is sensitive to the pressure at the outlet of the vacuum pump  40 , that is to say to the pressure prevailing in the duct  36  and the aspiration passageway  32 , as shown schematically in  FIG. 7  by a vacuum line  50  connecting the end of the duct  36 B and the vacuostat  48 . The circulation of the electric current through the vacuostat depends on the value of the pressure in the line  50 : when the pressure in this line  50  is above a predetermined value strictly below the atmospheric pressure, in other words when the line  50  is in over-pressure relative to the aforementioned predetermined value, the vacuostat  48  is closed, that is to say that the electric current passes through it, while, when the pressure in the line  50  is below the aforementioned predetermined value, in other words when the line  50  is in under-pressure relative to this predetermined value, the vacuostat  48  is open, that is to say that it stops electricity circulating through it. In practice, the aforementioned predetermined value is chosen to be substantially equal to  300  millibars below atmospheric pressure. Other vacuum pressure values can be envisaged, when they significantly slow the deterioration of the gustatory and organoleptic qualities of the wine to be kept. 
     The electric supply circuit of the pump  40  is also furnished with a light-emitting diode  52 , mounted in parallel with the pump  40  and with the vacuostat  48 , between the switch  46  and the ground line  42 . The diode  52  is supported by the stopper  24 , while being housed in a through-hole of the bottom shell portion  28 B so as-to illuminate the zone situated directly below the shell portion  28 A. 
     The stopper  24  is also provided internally with a permanent magnet  54 , situated against the inner face of the upper shell portion  28 B, as can be seen in  FIG. 6 . This magnet is powerful enough to keep the stopper  24  by magnetic effect against the lower face  6 A 1  of the ceiling wall  6 A of the enclosure  6 , this wall  6 A including an appropriate ferromagnetic layer, at least partially situated vertically above the support  10 . 
     Similarly, the support  10  comprises a ferromagnetic layer with which the magnet incorporated into the vacuum stopper  26  interacts by magnetic effect in order to keep this stopper in contact with the support  10  when the shell of this stopper is pressed against the lower face  10   1  of the support. 
     The operation of the cabinet  1  is as follows. 
     Initially, it is considered that the cabinet  1  contains only horizontal bottles of wine  2 . There is no bottle on the supports  10  and  11 . 
     In order to keep, notably for several days, the opened bottle of wine  3 , the user opens the door  6 C and places the bottle  3  on the support  10 . With one hand, he then picks up the vacuum stopper  24  which, until then, was kept pressed against the lower face  6 A 1  of the ceiling wall  6 A, under the magnetic action of the magnet  54 . The user easily separates the stopper  24  from the ceiling wall  6 A having to overcome the magnetic attraction associated with the magnet  54 . The user then freely moves the stopper  24  to the neck of the bottle  3 , the sheath  38  and the duct  36  deforming flexibly inside the volume V 6 . The user inserts the skirt  30  into the neck of the bottle, then actuates the switch  46  so as to allow the circulation of electricity through this switch. In practice, the user manually flips an actuation button of the switch, of the on/off type. 
     To the extent that the pressure in the aspiration passageway  32  is, at this time, substantially equal to atmospheric pressure, the vacuostat  48  is in the closed position. The vacuum pump  40  is then supplied with electricity and progressively aspirates the bottle  3 . When the pressure in the upper portion of this bottle reduces and reaches the aforementioned predetermined value, this pressure value is communicated to the vacuostat  48  via, in succession, the passageway  32 , the duct  36  and the line  50 , which opens the vacuostat and switches off the supply of electricity to the pump. If the level of evacuation subsequently passes over the predetermined value, the vacuostat closes again and the pump  40  is reactuated in order to lower the pressure in the bottle  3 . The level of evacuation in the bottle  3  is thus controlled automatically and, as necessary, is readjusted without additional intervention on the part of the user. 
     Furthermore, while the switch  46  is closed, the diode  52  is on, which makes it an indicator that the stopper  24  is operating, and it illuminates the bottle  3  which is thus clearly brought to the attention of the user, including after the closure of the door  6 C if the latter allows the light to pass through. 
     When the user desires to drink the wine contained in the bottle  3 , he opens the switch  46 , by manually actuating its button, and then removes the skirt  30  from the neck of the bottle  3 , notably by successively tilting the stopper  24  from side to side so as to deform the skirt and allow the outside air into the top portion of the bottle. To prevent the stopper  24  hanging limply in the volume V 6 , the user presses it against the lower face  6 A 1  of the ceiling wall  6 A so that the magnet  54  keeps it in place against this wall. 
     By using the stopper  26  in the same manner, the user is capable of keeping the second opened bottle of wine  4  after having placed it in the enclosure  6  on the support  11 . 
     In addition to being able to simultaneously keep the two opened bottles  3  and  4  in the cabinet  1 , the main value relating to the presence of the two vacuum stoppers  24  and  26  is associated with the fact that they are situated at different respective heights and that, by cooling exclusively, or more generally essentially, the bottom portion of the volume V 6 , the refrigeration means  12  produce a temperature gradient that increases between the floor wall  6 B and the ceiling wall  6 A of the enclosure  6 . The temperature difference between these two walls may therefore reach approximately ten degrees. In these circumstances, for better tasting, the bottle  4  is preferably a bottle of white wine, while the bottle  3  is preferably a bottle of red wine, which are for example kept at respective temperatures of approximately 8° and 15° C. 
     As a variant, the cabinet  1  may be arranged to make it possible to change the direction of the cooled air flows  16  produced by its refrigeration means  12 . Therefore, by means of an appropriate control, these air flows may instead be directed from the wall  20  into the whole volume V 6 , which results in evening out the temperature in this volume. It is understood that, depending on whether the bottles  2 ,  3  and  4  contain white wine and/or red wine, the user is then capable of checking the temperature values in the enclosure  6  in the vertical direction, by attenuating or by amplifying the temperature difference between the floor wall  6 B and the ceiling wall  6 A of the enclosure as a function of the direction of the air flows  16  admitted into the volume V 6 . 
     To the extent that the stoppers  24  and  26  are freely movable in the enclosure  6 , they may be positioned so as not to interfere with the unopened necks of bottles placed vertically on the supports  10  and  11 . In this case, the ferromagnetic layers respectively associated with the magnets of the stoppers are advantageously designed to be sufficiently extensive to immobilize far enough away from the necks of unopened bottles the stoppers thus not being used to aspirate the bottles. 
     Various arrangements and variants of the cabinet  1  described hitherto may also be envisaged. For example: 
     in order to fix the position of each vacuum stopper  24 ,  26  when it is not installed on the neck of a vertical bottle to be kept, this stopper may, instead of being held by the magnetic effect of its magnet, be accommodated in a housing that is substantially complementary of its outer shell, these housings for accommodating the stoppers  24  and  26  preferably being situated vertically above the support  10 , respectively the support  11 ; 
     the cabinet  1  incorporates normal arrangements for refrigerated cabinets for keeping bottles; the cabinet  1  is for example fitted with a temperature indicator; and/or 
     optionally, the refrigeration means  12  include a “boost” function, that is to say that they include arrangements designed to temporarily increase their production of cold, for example when the user desires to accelerate the cooling of one or more bottles that he has just stored in the enclosure  6 .