The Invention relates to a device for aerating wine, especially young and tannin-rich wines and full-bodied wines.

Aerating serves the purpose of releasing the flavors and making the wine appear milder and mature. Simply pulling the cork and leaving the bottle open would not have the desired effect. An important condition Is to provide a large surface of the wine to be exposed to surrounding air.

Aeration of wines requires decanting of wine from a wine bottle to another container and optionally back again. The other container would advantageously expose a larger surface area of the wine than a bottle allows, and thereby the wine can be aerated. The known devices have been developed with various degrees of mechanization. Many of them have to be monitored closely while transferring the wine between a bottle and a receptacle. Not least there is a risk that the receptacle and bottle do not have a stable in-use position and consequently result in the arrangement turning over and possible breaking into pieces. Moreover, there exists a challenge in not spilling the wine during the transfer thereof between the receptacle and bottle.

In EP-A-0 398 015 is disclosed a decanter including two receptacles, the first receptacle is provided with a customary tubular discharge pipe being arranged axia!iy in a plug adapted for secure coupling into the upper end of said first receptacle, while the opposite end of the discharge body is loosely inserted into a discharge opening in the second receptacle. The wine will flow between receptacles in free contact with the surroundings of the receptacle to be filled. in order to control pouring the receptacles are arranged on a seesaw type of cradle allowing controlled tipping of the receptacles for the wine to flow from the elevated side to the lowered side. The cradle is a cumbersome piece of equipment required to manage the aeration, and it takes up space, while it does essentially secure sp!i!ing-free decanting. The bottle as well as the pourer has to be positioned with great care in order to avoid spilling of wine. As long as the connection between the receptacles is not provided by a tight-fitting pourer, there will be a risk of wine spilling when emptying the one receptacle into a second receptacle. Accordingly, there are several goals to take into consideration, when designing an efficient container for aerating wine, such as:

- Simple configuration void of mechanization

- no dripping or spiliing

- unattended gentle pouring The device according to the invention provides a solution widely honoring the goals mentioned above.

Accordingly said device for aerating wine comprises a container part and a plug part fitting into an opening in the container part in a water and airtight manner, said plug past having an outer coupling surface and a throughbore, whereby the throughbore in the plug tapers from the interior end to the distal end, and at least part of said outer surface of the plug part is adapted for receiving, in a water and airtight manner, the outlet opening of a wine bottle by placing said bottle over a substantial part of said outer coupling surface.

By having a throughbore which tapers, a desired spreading out of the flow of wine exiting the bottle ss obtained. By spreading the wine over the inner surfaces of the container, a large exposed area is obtained resulting in a very efficient aeration. Usually, one wouid expect such airtight arrangement to not allow flowing of the wine due to occurrence of vacuum, especially when the wine is trax'ersing back into the original bottle. The invention overcomes this prejudice due to the special configuration chosen. Tests have shown that the dimensioning of the plug part is essential for the flow and for the efficient aeration obtained.

The device according to the Invention Is preferably positioning, in use, the wine bottle, said plug part, and said container part centered on a common longitudinal axis. In this way the device can keep good balance independently of whether the device is resting on the bottom of the bottle or the bottom of the container. Designing the container with a bottom part forming a resting surface, and an opening for receiving said plug part opposite said resting surface, results in an even more stable in-use position depending on the width of the resting surface. Moreover, the volume of the container is preferably one or two times that of a bottle, whereby stability of the device is enhanced and the ability to aerate wine is improved due to ample volume of air in the device,

The container part of the device shall be comprised of a leak tight material, preferably a transparent glass material. The choice is based on a practical and an aesthetlcal consideration.

According to the invention the plug part comprises a central throughbore having an inner surface widening in the direction of the container part, and an outer, mainly cylindrical surface for releasable tightening engagement with the outlet opening of the container. The increasing width of the throughbore towards the container benefits from wine having fairly small surface tensioning characteristics and the wine will follow the inner surfaces of the container and therefore flow outwards rather than directly downwards. The plug part of the device according to the invention shows a throughbore having conicity in the interval between 1 : 10 and 1 :20; preferably conicity of 1:15. The preferred dimensioning of conicity is found by testing. in an advantageous embodiment of the device said throughbore has a total length L in the interval from 50 to 80 mm, and the larger diameter D is about half the opening of the bottle opening in the preferred embodiment of the device the throughbore has a total length L of approx 55 mm, the larger diameter D is approx. 14 mm and the smaller diameter d is approx. 10 mm. Tests have shown these dimensions to result in optimal flow of the wine to be aerated.

The plug part of the device according to the invention is comprised of a flexible material e.g. TPR (thermoplastic rubber) or silicone, smoothly engaging in the opening of the container. Said smooth fit results in a very tight - air as well as liquid - connection between the plug and the container. Preferably, the outer, boitie receiving surface of said plug pari, is comprised of a hard- wearing and flexible materia! e.g. TPR or a hard silicone. Again, a very light connection is obtained, but this time it is between the bottle opening and the p!ug.

Further said plug part comprises a solid core part made of a plastic materia! e.g. PP (polypropylene) or ABS (Acfyionitfil butadien styrene) and at least partially covered by a hard-wearing and flexible material e.g. TPR or a hard silicone. The solid core adds strength to the piug by being a substrate for the flexible mate-

In order to strengthen the solid core part of the plug, said core part is preferably provided with an outer reinforcing ring of stainless steel. For the case wherein the container is used for pouring wine, the opening of the container could preferably be provided with a surrounding rubber ring, which makes for a non-drip container.

Finally, the device may be completed by further comprising a releasable cap with a sealing surface adapted to fit into the top of the piug part or alternatively into the opening of the container. Said cap will serve the purpose of not over-aerating the wine, if left longer time in the container, with or without the piug still engaged in the container,

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the enclosed drawing showing:

Fig. 1 the position of essential parts of the device, in use, about a common

vertical axis

Fig. 2 a sectional view of a bottle mounted on top of a container according to the Invention

Fig. 3 a sectional exploded view of a cap. a plug and a container according to the invention

Fig. 4 a sectional view of a bottle emptying wine into a container according to the invention Fig. 5 an assembled view of the aerator device according to the invention, wherein a piug and cap is installed, and

Fig, 8 an assembled view of the device according to the invention, comprising the cap mounted directly in the container.

In Fig. i the device 10 for aerating wine comprises a container part 1 and a piug part 2 fitting into an opening 15 in the container 1 in a water and airtight manner, and the plug 2 further has an outer coupling surface 4 and an inner throughbore 5. The throughbore 5 m the plug 2 tapers from the interior end 6 to the distal end 7, At least part of the outer surface 4 of the plug 2 is adapted for receiving, in a water and airtight manner, the outlet opening of a wine bottle 3 by placing the bottle 3 over a substantial part of said outer coupling surface 4, in use the wine bottle 3, said piug part 2 and said container 1 are positioned with a common longitudinal center axis 8.

Fig. 2 shows an assembled view of the container part 1 standing on its bottom part forming a resting surface S, and said piug part 2 being mounted in the container opposite said resting surface 9, and said bottom part 2 has again a bottle 1 mounted upside down on fop of the piug 2.

According to the invention the container 1 is made of a leak tight material, and in order to obtain an aesthetic pleasing appearance said material is preferably a transparent glass material.

With reference to fig, 3 in an exploded view the piug part 2 comprises a central throughbore 5 having an inner surface 12 widening in the direction of the container 1 (or tapering in a direction away from the container 1), and an outer mainly cylindrical surface 13. 14 for releasabie tightening engagement with the outlet opening 1-5 of the container 1. The tightening engagement is reached due to the cylindrical surface 13 being provided with circumferential ribs 14 having an outer diameter matching the outlet opening 15 of the container 1 Said surface 13 and ribs 14 are comprised of a flexible material e.g. TPR or silicone in order to smoothly engage In the opening 15 of the container 1. The throughbore 5 has conicity in the interval between 1:10 and 1 ;20; preferably 1:15. By letting the wine flow down through said throughbore, the wine will due to surface tensioning forces foiiow the widening interior of said throughbore onto the inner surfaces 11 of the receiving container 1 , whereby is obtained a larger aeration surface area of the wine.

The embodiment of the invention considered to be the currently most advantageous embodiment has a total length L of the throughbore 5 measuring from 50 to 80 mm, preferably approx 55 mm. and the larger diameter D measures about half the bottle opening, preferably approx. 14 mm, while the smaller diameter d being geometrically dependent on the conicity measures approx. 10 mm.

The cuter bottle receiving surface 4 of the plug part 2 is comprised of a hard-wearing and flexible material, e.g. TPR or hard silicone, and preferably configured as a formflt- ting sheath forming said receiving surface 4.

The plug part 2 of the device according to the invention further comprises a solid core 16 made of a plastic material e.g. PP or ABS and at least partially covered by a hard- wearing and flexible material e.g. TPR or a hard silicone. Said core 18 provides for a strong configuration and makes the aeration device 10 more secure to use by constituting a reliable connection between a bottle 3 and the container 1. An outer reinforcing ring 17 of stainless steel adds to the strength of the plug by crimping onto the upper part of the core 18. in order to make the container 1 also suited for pouring wine the outer edge of the opening 15 thereof is provided with a circumferential rubber non-drip ring 18 allowing a precise separation of the flow of wine from the opening 15.

As a complement to the container 1 and the plug 2 a cap 20 is provided, said cap 20 being configured much like the plug 2 and so it has a core 22, 23 comprising an upper part 22 embraced by an outer circumferential ring 21 of stainless steel to reinforce the cap 20, and a lower cylindrical part 23 provided with a sealing rib 24 extending perpendicular to said cylindrical part 23. The cap 20 is adapted to fit into the distal end 7 of the plug 2 or alternatively into the opening 15 of the container 1. The cap 20 makes the container 1 suited to be used as a closure in the waif for pouring wine having made one or several traverses between a bottle 3 and the container 1. The cap 20 is also able to be positioned directly in the container 1 or on the intermediate plug 2 being used as a spout for wine.

Fig. 4 shows the device in in-use arrangement, wherein the bottle 3, after having the aerating device 10; 1.2 mounted from above, is first turned with its outlet opening pointing down and in tight fit over the plug 2, and the wine is seen spreading and flowing in contact with the inner surface 11 of the container 1. Hereby the wine is aerated from exposing a larger surface area to the air trapped in the arrangement. Secondly; the arrangement can be turned upside down in order for the wine to return to the original bottle, if so required Air trapped In the bottle will escape through the aerated wine to the container overcoming the surface tension forces of the wine.

Fig. 5 shows the device 10 assembled from a container 1, a plug 2 and a cap 20, providing storage for wine to later be poured via the plug 2 serving as a pouring spout.

Fig. 6 shows the device 10 assembled from a container 1 and a cap 20, providing storage for wine to later be poured directly from the container and taking advantage of the rubber non-drip ring 18.