NL2002315C2

NL2002315C2 - Smelling device for the smelling of liquids.

Info

Publication number: NL2002315C2
Application number: NL2002315A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Bart Clauwens
Original assignee: Pandora S Bottle V O F
Priority date: 2008-12-11
Filing date: 2008-12-11
Publication date: 2010-06-14

Description

P29665NLOO/JHO

Title: Smelling device for the smelling of liquids

The invention is directed to the tasting of liquids, particularly to a device for assessing the characteristics of a beverage, more particularly alcoholic beverages such as wine.

When a customer of a wine shop or liquor store is considering the purchase of an alcoholic beverage, it is not unusual to taste that beverage by drinking. However, in The 5 Netherlands, according to the Drank- en Horecawet, it is forbidden to drink alcoholic beverages inside wine shops. Shop owners can deal with this problem by starting a public room, a separate establishment dedicated solely to the tasting and promotion of alcoholic beverages.

Another issue is the decrease over time in the quality of a beverage, in particular 10 wine, when exposed to air. So it is not a desirable situation, besides the restrictions by law, to have opened bottles and glasses with alcoholic beverage, in particular wine, waiting to be tasted by a customer.

It is an object of this invention to provide a device which enables the tasting of a liquid, in particular an alcoholic beverage, inside a wine shop, without violating local law, if applicable. 15 It is another object of the invention to provide a device which enables preservation of the liquid, which is susceptible to degradation by air.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a device which, upon interruption of its operation, is closed to the air.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a device, which contains a minimum 20 volume of liquid.

One or more of the above objects are achieved by means of a smelling-device for smelling liquids, said smelling device comprising: a main reservoir for liquids which is connected to a pressure means for pressurizing the main reservoir, 25 - a vapour reservoir, having a smell opening to smell the vapour of the liquid, a connection to pass vapour from the main reservoir to the vapour reservoir, wherein the device is provided with a closure for closing the main reservoir from the vapour reservoir.

The invention is based on the insight that customers want to taste a beverage, in particular 30 wine, to assess its quality. As outlined above, in Dutch wine shops, tasting by drinking an alcoholic beverage is forbidden by law. However, tasting by drinking is not the only way to -2- access such a beverage, tasting by smelling the bouquet is a way too. Dutch law does not forbid such tasting by smelling.

In this specification the term “tasting by drinking” means assessing the characteristics of a liquid with the mouth and “tasting by smelling” means assessing the characteristics of a 5 liquid with the nose. When “tasting” is used without further specification, tasting with both mouth and nose are included.

The smelling-device according to the invention comprises a main reservoir containing, during use, preferably a small volume of liquid. Advantageously this main reservoir has a large surface area with respect to its volume and a relatively large flat bottom compared to its 10 height dimensions. In this way the saturation of the air above the liquid with aroma vapours evaporating from the liquid is enhanced. The vapour in the main reservoir is more or less saturated with aromas and volatiles vaporizing from the liquid and forming the bouquet in case of wine. The main reservoir is connected to a vapour container which functions as a collector for the vapour coming from the main reservoir. The vapour container is provided 15 with a smell opening through which the vapour can be smelled at by the user/customer. The device is provided with a closure such as a membrane or a valve, e.g. a one-way valve, a ball check-valve, a tap, an air-valve, etc., which lets through the vapour from the main reservoir to the vapour container in an open position, but prevents outside air from entering the main reservoir in a closed position, thus preserving the quality of the liquid. In order to 20 facilitate the transport of vapour from the main reservoir to the vapour container, the main container is preferably shaped like a volumetric or an erlenmeyer flask, e.g. the main reservoir is tapered. The main reservoir has a second opening to which a preferably manually operated pressure means is connected in order to pressurize the content of the main reservoir. Advantageously said pressurized content forces, above a certain threshold 25 value, the closure to open automatically, causing vapour to flow from the main reservoir to the vapour container, where the vapour can be smelled at. When operation of the pressure means is interrupted, the closure will close again without manual interference, thus closing the main container from the air.

Examples of liquids that can be smelled with the device according to the invention are edible 30 liquids like oils, e.g. olive oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil, arachis oil, etc., vinegar, e.g.

balsamic or wine vinegar, and beverages like coffee, tea, juices and in particular alcoholic beverages, e.g. wine, cognac and whisky. Another example of liquids that can be smelled concerns products for personal body care,in particular perfumes and the like.

In a preferred embodiment the vapour container is provided with a feed opening, which is 35 attached to the connection between the main reservoir and the vapour container, wherein the feed opening is provided with a closure, which closes the feed opening and thus restricts the escape of vapour from the vapour container to the smell opening only.

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In further embodiment the above feed opening is provided with a seat on which a spherical element is resting. Together the seat and spherical element function as a closure.

In another preferred embodiment the vapour container is detachable, meaning that the vapour container can be (reversibly) removed from the main reservoir, which adds to the 5 user-friendliness of the vapour smelling device, particularly the user-friendliness for disabled people. If desirable the connection is also detachable from the main reservoir. When the connection is detached, the main reservoir can be easily refilled with fresh beverage. Advantageously, the main reservoir and the vapour container are connected through a conically tapered ground glass joint, where the male part of the joint functions as a seat for 10 the spherical element, which closes the feed opening in the vapour container, said ground glass joint providing simple, easy to detach and air tight joint.

In a further embodiment the connection between the main reservoir and the vapour container comprises a tube, wherein the tube is provided with a seat upon which rests a second spherical element. A seat may be a restriction in the connection, upon which the 15 spherical element is resting. The element should block the tube when rested on the seat, but there is no need for the closure to be leak tight, e.g. the closure should limit the diffusion of air into the main reservoir, but not necessary to completely block it, which allows the seat and spherical element to be cheap and simple of construction. Another advantage of the spherical element construction is that there is no need for an expensive control unit to 20 operate the closure like a valve, since the construction works by simply applying pressure to the contents of the main reservoir using the pressurizing means, so that the pressurized contents will lift the spherical element from its seat, thus ‘switching’ the valve.

In another further embodiment the vapour container is cup-shaped to restrict the diffusion out of the vapour container and facilitate the blending of the aromas and volatiles contained 25 in the vapour. A cup shape, like the top of a wine or cognac glass also attributes to the perception of tasting wine.

In yet another preferred embodiment the main reservoir, the vapour container and the intervening connection are made from a transparent material, partly to be able to check the content of the main reservoir and partly from an aesthetic point of view.

30 From an aesthetic point of view, in a further embodiment the smelling-device is made from glass or crystal.

In a further embodiment the above spherical elements are marbles, in particular glass marbles, e.g. marbles having a colour different from the material of which the main reservoir, connection and vapour container are made.

35 In a next preferred embodiment the pressure means is a bellows, which is connected to the main reservoir, e.g. with a flexible hose. When the bellows is manually squeezed, air is pumped into the main reservoir, thus increasing the pressure inside the main reservoir.

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When said pressure reaches a certain threshold value, the pressurized content of the main reservoir will actuate the closure, e.g. lift the spherical element from its seat, enabling the passage of vapour from the main reservoir via the connection to the vapour container, where it can be smelled at. Said bellows is a cheap and simple means for providing pressure to the 5 content of the main reservoir, without the need of further control units or further, expensive, components.

In yet another preferred embodiment the pressure means comprises a tube which extends in the direction of the bottom of the main reservoir. When the pressure means is operated air is then bubbled through the liquid, which results in a better blending of air and aromas 10 and volatiles contained in the liquid.

The present invention is explained further on the basis of the appended drawing, in which: Fig. 1 is a diagram schematically representing an embodiment of a device according to the invention:

Fig. 2 is a diagram schematically representing a further embodiment comprising a 15 detachable vapour container.

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a smelling device 1 according to the invention, comprising a main reservoir 10 and a vapour container 20. In this embodiment the main reservoir 10 is conically tapered, e.g. like a volumetric flask, has an opening 84 opposite to the bottom 86 of the main reservoir. The main reservoir contains a certain amount of beverage 80, 20 preferably such an amount that the height h of the liquid level 82 is small relative to the diameter d5 of bottom 86. The vapour container 20, cup-shaped like a cognac glass, has a smell opening 24 and an opposite feed opening 22 with diameter di, which is provided with a seat 32 on which a spherical element 40 with diameter d2 is resting. Diameter d2 is larger than diameter di. A connection 30 is present between the main container 10 and the vapour 25 reservoir 20. A pressure means 50, e.g. a manually operable bellows, is connected to the main reservoir 10 with a flexible hose 52, said pressure means being attached to a glass tube 60 which is inserted in the main reservoir 10 and directed towards the bottom 86 such that the end 62 of the tube 60 extends below the surface level 82 of an amount of beverage 80 present inside the main reservoir 10. The glass tube 60 can be attached to the main 30 reservoir 10 via a ground glass joint 64, as shown.

Fig. 2 shows a further embodiment of a smelling device 1 according to the invention, comprising a detachable vapour container 20. In this embodiment, the vapour container 20 is attached to the connection 30 via a ground glass joint 36, where the female joint is part of the connection 30 and the male joint is part of the vapour container 20. Said male joint forms 35 a feed opening 22 and said male joint provides a seat 32, upon which a spherical element 40 with a diameter d2 is resting. The connection 30 with a diameter d6 contains a restriction with a diameter d8, which provides a seat 34 on which a spherical element 42 with diameter -5- d7 is resting, where diameter d7 is larger than diameter d8 and diameter d6 is larger than diameter d7.

Claims

A vapor-smelling device (1) for smelling a liquid, comprising: a main reservoir (10) for liquid which is connected to a pressure means (50) for pressurizing the main reservoir (10), a vapor holder (20 ), with an odor opening (24) for smelling vapor of the liquid, a connection (30) for allowing vapor to pass between the main reservoir (10) and the vapor container, the device (1) being provided with a closure (40) to close the main reservoir (10) from the vapor container (20). 10

Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the main reservoir (10), the odor holder (20) and the connection (30) are made of a transparent material.

3. Device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the odor holder (20) is provided with an inlet opening (22) which is connected to the connection (30) between the main reservoir (10) and the odor holder (20) and which is provided of the closure (40) for closing the inlet opening (22).

4. Device as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the inlet opening (22) is provided with a seat (36) on which a spherical element (40) rests.

Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the odor holder (20) is detachable.

Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the connection (30) comprises a tube provided with a seat (34) on which a spherical element (42) rests.

7. Device as claimed in claims 3 and / or 6, wherein the spherical elements are marbles.

Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the odor holder (20) is cup-shaped. -7-

Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pressure means (50) comprises a bellows.

Device according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pressure means (50) comprises a pipe (60) which extends to the bottom 86 of the main reservoir (10).

Use of a device according to one of the preceding claims for smelling a liquid. 10

Use of a device according to claim 11, wherein the liquid is an alcoholic beverage, in particular wine.