INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION This invention relates to a beverage bottle assembly and a method of manufacturing a cork stopper.

The bottling industry, and in particular bottling of wine, has changed significantly from using the traditional cork to seal a bottle to screw caps. Whilst screw caps completely replace the need to have a corkscrew to open a corked bottle, there are some connoisseurs that prefer a corked bottle of wine. Consumers also generally prefer purchasing wine with a natural cork or alternatively a synthetic cork, or further alternatively composite corks, instead of wine bottles closed with a screw cap. Consumers generally believe that a wine closed with natural cork is of a better quality and character than a wine closed otherwise. Opening a bottle of wine that has been sealed by a cork stopper adds to the experience of enjoying wine, and is accepted to give an indication of the quality of the wine. Even with the advent of synthetic stoppers and screw caps, the cork stopper is still largely preferred due to it being a natural stopper, which improves the taste of wines whilst protecting the wine from outside elements and allowing the wine to breathe. Natural cork is flexible, with excellent sealing capacity and resilience. Closure types of wine directly influences the purchasing decision of consumers, most looking to buy wines closed with natural cork. A disadvantage experienced with a conventional synthetic or natural cork that is placed wholly within the neck of a bottle is that it frequently occurs that a user does not have a corkscrew available to open the bottle of wine. This may lead to consumers using alternative means to remove the cork, which may lead to injuries to consumers. It may further cause the bottle to break, which wastes the wine and places the consumer at further risk of being injured by the glass shards. Even if consumers may succeed to remove the cork from the bottle without a corkscrew, it often leads to the integrity of the cork being compromised, with small pieces of cork being spilled into the bottle, and eventually into the glass of the consumer. It was found that the more wine is consumed, the more daring the attempts at opening the bottle without a corkscrew become, often leading to injuries or spillage of wine.

There is thus a long felt need in the market for means for removing a cork that is wholly inserted into the neck of a bottle from the bottle in a relatively quick and convenient manner using no separate external items other than one’s hand or only readily available external items.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is accordingly an object of the current invention to provide a beverage bottle assembly and a method of manufacturing a cork with which the above disadvantages, and in particular the disadvantage of needing a separate corkscrew to open a corked bottle of wine, could at least partially be overcome or alleviated. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a beverage bottle assembly, comprising:

a bottle defining an open ended neck;

- a closure having a resiliently deformable body for closing the neck in a friction fit arrangement, the body being wholly disposed within the neck of the bottle, and having a closure-removing formation integrally engaged with the body and extending from an outer end of the body. Further according to the first aspect of the invention, the beverage is wine and the closure is in the form of a cork stopper.

The cork stopper may be selected from the group consisting of natural cork stoppers; composite cork stoppers; synthetic cork stoppers; and a combination of natural cork and synthetic material.

Yet further according to the first aspect of the invention, the closure removing formation is integrally formed with the body, with the closure removing formation extending from at least one end of the body. The closure removing formation may be in the form of a loop extending from the body. Alternatively, the closure removing formation may be a tapered head extending from the body, the tapered head being relatively wider at a distal end thereof. The closure removing formation may be manufactured from a polymeric material.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a beverage bottle comprising:

a closure having a resiliently deformable body for closing the neck of the bottle in a friction fit arrangement, the body being wholly disposed within the neck; and

a closure-removing assembly having at least one handle movably connected to an outer end of the body,

the arrangement being such that the closure-removing assembly is movable between a first inoperable position wherein the handle extends along an outer surface of the bottle and a second operable position wherein the handle stands proud of the said surface.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method of bottling a beverage including the steps of:

providing a bottle with an open ended neck;

filling the bottle with a beverage to a desired level;

providing a closure having a resiliently deformable body for closing the neck in a friction fit arrangement, and a closure-removing formation integrally engaged with the body and extending from one end of the body; and

inserting the body into the bottle so that the entire body is located wholly within the neck.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described further by way of a non-limiting example(s) with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: figure 1 : is a perspective view of a beverage bottle assembly indicating a first embodiment of the invention;

figure 2: is a perspective view of the beverage bottle assembly indicating the embodiment of figure 1 in use;

figure 3: is a perspective view of a beverage bottle assembly indicating a second embodiment of the invention; and figure 4: is a perspective view of the beverage bottle assembly indicating the embodiment of figure 3 in use;

figure 5: is a perspective view of a beverage bottle assembly indicating a third embodiment of the invention;

figure 6: is a perspective view of the beverage bottle assembly indicating the embodiment of figure 5 in use;

figure 7: is a further perspective view of the beverage bottle assembly indicating the embodiment of figure 5 in use; figure 8: is a perspective view of a beverage bottle assembly indicating a fourth embodiment of the invention; and figure 9: is a perspective view of the beverage bottle assembly indicating the embodiment of figure 8 in use.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In a first embodiment, figure 1 shows the neck 12 of a bottle of wine, with a cork stopper 14 wholly dispersed within the neck 12. Cork stopper 14 is provided with a loop formation 16 extending from the exposed end of the cork stopper 14. Removing means 18 has a gripping portion 20, with a hook 22 located at towards the middle thereof. To remove cork 14 stopper from the bottle, as illustrated in figure 2, loop 16 is hooked onto hook 22, with a user holding on to gripping portion 20 in such a way that a finger or fingers are located on both sides of the hook 22 (not shown), and when the removing means 18 is pulled away from the bottle 12, the hook 22 pulls loop 16 to remove the cork stopper 14 from the bottle. Loop 16 is preferably located on both ends of cork stopper 14 to enable either end of cork stopper 14 to be exposed once cork stopper 14 has been inserted into bottle 12 to assist with ease of insertion of the cork stopper 14 in bottle 12, and to enable use of current corking mechanisms or machines to utilise the cork stopper 14, without having to adapt the existing corking mechanisms or machines to ensure that the correct end of cork stopper 14 is exposed from the bottle 12. Hooks 16 are manufactured from a polymeric material which is sterilised to prevent contamination of the bottle contents, and are moulded into the cork stopper 14 during manufacture. Alternative removing means may be used instead of removing means 18, such as pliers or other tools elongate, or elongate objects may be placed through loop 16, with the elongate objects providing gripping means for a user to hold onto when the cork stopper 14 is to be removed.

Figures 3 and 4 shows a second embodiment alternative to the embodiment of figures 1 and 2. In this embodiment, loops 16 are replaced with gripping heads 24. Removing means 26 is provided, with tapered opening 28 for receiving gripping head 24. As shown in figure 4, to open a bottle, a user would locate removing means 26 over gripping head 24, and slide gripping head 24 into tapered opening 28 in such a way that the gripping head 24 is securely engaged in tapered opening 28. To remove the cork stopper 30, a user holds on to removing means 26 in such a way that a finger or fingers are located on both sides of tapered opening 28 (not shown), and when a pulling force is applied to removing means 26, cork stopper 30 is removed from bottle 32. Gripping heads 24 are manufactured from a sterilised polymeric material and are located at both ends of the cork stopper 30, and either end of the cork stopper 30 can be exposed from the bottle 32, similar to the embodiment of figure 1 and 2. Gripping heads 24 are also moulded into the cork stopper 30 during manufacture, but may alternatively be screwed into cork 30 stopper after a bottle has been sealed with a cork stopper (not shown), but without being screwed all the way through the cork stopper, so as to prevent contamination of the bottle contents. Once again alternative removing means to removing means 26 may be used, such as pliers or other tools or any other suitable implement. Figures 5 to 7 show a third embodiment wherein the removing means 18 of figures 1 and 2 is replaced with removing means 34. Removing means 34 comprises two arms 36 and 38 being pivotable relative to each other at hinge 40. When a user wishes to remove the cork stopper 42 from the bottle 44, arms 36 and 38 are lifted towards each other about hinge 40 until arms 36 and 38 abut each other. Cork stopper 42 is provided with a loop 46 at both ends of cork stopper 42 similar to the embodiments in figures 1 and 2, and when the removing means 34 is placed through loop 46 up until the point where hinge 40 is located within loop 46. When arms 36 and 38 abut each other, loop 46 is clenched between arms 36 and 38. When a user grips and pulls arms 36 and 38 (not shown), cork stopper 42 is removed from bottle 44. Hinge 40 is alternatively arranged in such a way that a slit is presented for the insertion of loop 46 in one side of hinge 40.

Figures 8 and 9 present a fourth embodiment wherein collapsible, pliable loops 48 are located at both ends of cork stopper 50. The loops 48 are foldable to lay flat on top of the cork stopper 50 and neck of bottle 52 (not shown), and can then be pulled upwards to the position indicated in figures 8 and 9. The openings of loop 48 are sufficient in size to allow a user to insert a finger through each of the openings, and when a user wishes to open the bottles, loops 48 can be pulled away from the bottle 52 to remove the cork stopper 50. Loops 48 are manufactured from sterilised polymeric materials, and for the same reasons as with the singular loops in the first and third embodiments, loops 48 are provided on both ends of cork stopper 50, and are also integrally moulded into the cork stopper 50 during manufacture.

In all of the embodiments above, the aluminium foil caps that are generally placed over the neck of a corked bottle are still applied to the neck of the bottles. In the first embodiment, the loop 16 is flattened against the bottle, and the cap is placed over the neck of the bottle (not shown).

In the second embodiment, the cap is placed over the neck of the bottle, with the gripping head 24 either covered or exposed by the cap (not shown).

In the third embodiment, the loop 46 is flattened, and the cap is placed over the loop 46 and the removing means 34 (not shown).

In the fourth embodiment, the loops 48 are flattened against the top of the cork 50 and neck of bottle 52, and the cap is placed over the flattened loops

48 (not shown). It is accordingly asserted that the disadvantages of the prior art are at least partially overcome by providing a beverage bottle assembly wherein the use of a traditional corkscrew or other cork removal means are obviated. Although only certain embodiments of the invention have been described herein, it will be understood by any person skilled in the art that other modifications, variations, and possibilities of the invention are possible. Such modifications, variations and possibilities are therefore to be considered as falling within the spirit and scope of the invention and hence forming part of the invention as herein described and/or illustrated.

It shall further be understood that the examples are provided for illustrating the invention further and to assist a person skilled in the art with understanding the invention and is not meant to be construed as unduly limiting the reasonable scope of the invention.