Composite Cap with Ball Valve for Sparkling Wine Yeast Containment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing caps for fizzy and sparkling wine do not efficiently manage secondary fermentation yeasts and sediments within the bottle, often requiring multiple steps and potential oxidation when pouring, and may involve the use of sulfites as antioxidants.
Innovation Solution
A composite material cap with a manually rotating ball valve that allows for the containment and removal of yeasts and sediments, facilitating secondary fermentation while preventing oxidation and allowing for the addition of additives without air exposure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a traditional cap design is used for bottle capping, then the structure is simple, but it cannot efficiently contain and remove yeasts and sediments during secondary fermentation
Solution Approach 1:
The cap is divided into distinct functional segments: a containment chamber for yeasts and sediments, a valve mechanism for controlled discharge, and a sealing portion for bottle closure. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently while maintaining overall system reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The valve mechanism is nested within the containment chamber, and the sealing portion is integrated into the cap structure. This nested arrangement maximizes functional density without proportionally increasing external dimensions, improving yeast containment efficiency while limiting complexity growth.
2Ease of operation
If the bottle is opened for pouring, then the wine can be served, but oxidation occurs and sulfites are required as antioxidants
Solution Approach 1:
The cap creates a controlled environment that minimizes oxygen exposure to the wine during storage and serving. By containing yeasts and sediments separately and allowing controlled discharge, the system reduces oxidation opportunities, thereby decreasing the need for sulfite antioxidants while maintaining pouring convenience.
3Reliability
If multiple discharge operations are performed to remove all yeasts and sediments, then the wine quality is improved, but the time and number of operations increase
Solution Approach 1:
The containment chamber is designed to collect and concentrate yeasts and sediments in a single location during the secondary fermentation process. This preliminary concentration action enables more complete removal in fewer discharge operations, improving wine quality while reducing the time and number of repetitive discharge cycles needed.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables pristine and natural tasting of sparkling wine by maintaining yeasts inside the bottle, reducing oxidation and sulfite use, and allowing for easy addition of wine improvements like sugars and spices without air exposure.
Implementation Method 1
the bottle is turned upside down, in a manner that the sphere concave cavity is turned toward the bottle inside, so that the yeasts and sediments of the wine are deposited on to such concave cavity
Implementation Method 2
a valve, allowing the passage of a quantity of wine, yeast and sediment contained therein
Data Source
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AI summary
Technical cap made of composite material and method suitable to enable the production of fizzy and sparkling wine through the fermentation in a capped bottle by means of the said technical cap and in an autoclave. In the present case the said method consists in maintaining the secondary fermentation or re-fermentation yeasts, inside the bottle, keeping intact, inside the bottle re- fermented wine, without the addition of sulphites.