Dual-Density Reclosable Wine Stopper for Oxidation Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bottle stoppers either allow high oxygen transfer leading to oxidation of wine due to low density materials or are difficult to reseal, making it challenging to maintain wine quality over time.
Innovation Solution
A reclosable bottle stopper with a morphology featuring a central body and a smaller lateral body, joined by a transition zone, made from polymeric materials or elastomers, allowing for both effective sealing and resealing with minimal oxygen transfer, facilitated by rounded or angled edges for easy insertion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If low density stoppers are used to allow resealing, then ease of operation is improved, but oxygen transfer increases causing oxidation
Solution Approach 1:
The stopper features a dual-density structure with a high-density main body (90-95 density) for low oxygen transfer and a low-density lateral body (70-85 density) for easy insertion and resealing. This local quality differentiation resolves the contradiction by assigning different material properties to different functional zones of the same stopper.
Solution Approach 2:
The stopper is constructed as a composite object combining materials with different densities - the central body uses high-density material for oxidation prevention while the lateral body uses low-density material for ease of operation. This composite structure allows both contradictory requirements to be satisfied simultaneously.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If high density stoppers are used to prevent oxygen transfer, then wine quality is preserved, but difficulty of insertion and resealing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The stopper features a dual-density structure with a high-density main body (90-95 density) for low oxygen transfer and a low-density lateral body (70-85 density) for easy insertion and resealing. This local quality differentiation resolves the contradiction by assigning different material properties to different functional zones of the same stopper.
3Reliability
If conventional stoppers are used for sealing, then sealing effectiveness is achieved, but resealing capability is lost or difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The stopper is segmented into two functional parts: a central body for initial sealing and a lateral body for resealing operations. This segmentation allows the stopper to maintain reliable sealing while enabling easy resealing by pulling the lateral body to create a vacuum effect that draws the central body back into the bottle.
4Ease of operation
If low density stoppers are used to facilitate resealing, then ease of operation is improved, but oxygen transfer increases causing oxidation
Solution Approach 1:
The stopper features a dual-density structure with a high-density main body (90-95 density) for low oxygen transfer and a low-density lateral body (70-85 density) for easy insertion and resealing. This local quality differentiation resolves the contradiction by assigning different material properties to different functional zones of the same stopper.
Solution Approach 2:
The stopper is constructed as a composite object combining materials with different densities - the central body uses high-density material for oxidation prevention while the lateral body uses low-density material for ease of operation. This composite structure allows both contradictory requirements to be satisfied simultaneously.
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
This document describes a stopper (1), bung, or plug for a container, such as a bottle, which allows the container to be hermetically sealed and to be closed again after opening. The said stopper of the invention permits the proper closure of a bottle not only when the product is originally bottled, but also after opening the bottle, in an easy and effective manner, because due to the presence of a series of recesses and section changes with a transition (5) between them, the stopper may be reinserted easily and efficiently