| Necessity is the mother if Invention. | | | | - As the system could only reseal one bottle at a |
| This certainly proved to be the case for Armando | | | | time, staff were constantly waiting to use the |
| Luis, CEO of one of New Jersey's leading wine | | | | system. Furthermore due to the limited size of |
| merchants, which led him to develop his patented | | | | vacuum pump the system could not be used |
| VINFINITY® wine-by-the-glass wine | | | | more than 15 times in any 5 minute period |
| preservation system. | | | | according to the instructions from the |
| In the late 1990's Armando opened 2 restaurants | | | | manufacturer. |
| in Hoboken. Naturally, as Armando was one the | | | | - It was located in only one area of his bar so |
| areas leading wine retailers the quality and | | | | staff and servers from the other side of his bar |
| selection of his wine-by-the-glass offering to his | | | | had to walk to the system every time they |
| customers was uppermost in his mind for his new | | | | served wines. |
| restaurants. He needed a wine preservation | | | | - His customers also complained of the constant |
| system to ensure every glass of wine he sold | | | | noise of the vacuum pump when it was being |
| was of optimum serving quality. | | | | used by staff. |
| As he consulted fellow restaurateur friends about | | | | - Much to his annoyance he discovered that when |
| the wine preservation systems they were using, | | | | he was not there the staff would only reseal the |
| he discovered there were two basic methods of | | | | bottles at the end of service. This completely |
| wine preservation: | | | | defeated the entire purpose of the system. If he |
| | | | wanted to only vacuum seal the wines at the end |
| 1. Injecting an inert gas to displace the air as the | | | | of the night he would have bought a hand |
| bottle empties. | | | | vacuum pump for a few bucks and not spend |
| 2. Exerting a vacuum on the opened wine bottle | | | | thousands of dollars on the vacuum system he |
| to remove the air. | | | | had. |
| When Armando installed an inert gas system he | | | | It was clearly evident to Armando that the |
| quickly discovered major operational difficulties. | | | | existing wine preservation technology had serious |
| -Inert Gas wine preservation systems work by | | | | practical and operational limitations. Most people |
| injecting an inert gas, usually Nitrogen, into the | | | | would simply struggle on with one of the |
| bottle, which pushes the wine out of a tap | | | | systems. However, before Armando had taken |
| mechanism and takes up the volume displaced.- | | | | over the family's wine business, he had been a |
| - Each bottle required its own tap valve and | | | | mechanical engineer in the hydraulics, nuclear and |
| plumbing set up which meant in order to offer a | | | | medical industries. Of the two proven methods of |
| reasonable selection of wines by the glass he | | | | wine preservation available it was clear to him |
| needed a very bulky system. | | | | that the simpler, more flexible, less expensive and |
| - As these systems typically only use about 4psi, | | | | more reliable of the two was the vacuum |
| the actual dispensing speed was very slow. Also, | | | | preserving principle. |
| as every glass poured had to come from the | | | | His solution to the problem was simplicity itself. A |
| same dispense location this became impractical for | | | | system having one central vacuum supporting |
| his busy operation that had multiple bartenders | | | | multiple outlets was the perfect solution. A |
| and servers. Replacing empty bottles during | | | | prototype was built from off-the-shelf |
| service was also a clumsy and slow operation. | | | | components and after extensive testing and |
| - He found the system was expensive to | | | | development, proved itself to be highly effective. |
| operate, as the cost of the Nitrogen gas cylinder | | | | The result of his ingenuity is a wine preservation |
| fill, delivery and cylinder rental was not | | | | system called Vinfinity that has 3 patents and is |
| inexpensive. | | | | now built under license by a specialised pneumatics |
| - The plumbing required constant maintenance. If | | | | company called Pneumadyne. |
| the tap mechanism was not connected perfectly | | | | Vinfinity® delivers a silent, multi-user, |
| the gas would simply escape from the mechanism | | | | multi-location system with response time of less |
| and empty the entire Nitrogen gas tank. | | | | than 2 seconds. Very simply, the Vinfinity central |
| - As the wine was flowing through tubing and tap | | | | vacuum unit contains a strong vacuum pump and |
| mechanism, he found sanitation was a constant | | | | a vacuum tank. Standard half inch tubing connects |
| issue and that a cleaning procedure had to be | | | | this vacuum tank to any amount of vacuum |
| implemented whereby the tap mechanisms would | | | | stations that suits your bar or restaurant. The |
| be cleaned in a similar manner to how beer lines | | | | pump creates a vacuum that is stored in the tank |
| would be cleaned. | | | | and in the tubing all the way up to each of the |
| The inert gas system solution was completely | | | | vacuum stations. When the wines are served a |
| impractical for his restaurant so he turned his | | | | special stopper is placed in the wine bottle and a |
| attention to the other method of preserving wine | | | | vacuum gun in the vacuum station is applied to |
| in an opened bottle which is applying a vacuum to | | | | the stopper. As the precise vacuum has already |
| the wine bottle after the wines were served. -In | | | | been created within the system when the |
| order for a wine preservation system that uses a | | | | vacuum gun is pressed against the stopper the |
| vacuum to seal the bottle to be effective, the | | | | vacuum rushes into the bottle. This takes under 2 |
| opened wine bottle must be resealed with a | | | | seconds even if there is only one glass of wine |
| precise vacuum when the wines have been | | | | remaining in the bottle. As bottles are resealed the |
| served.- | | | | vacuum level in the tank drops each time until the |
| So one of his wine suppliers supplied him with a | | | | vacuum level in the tank reaches 23 HG. At this |
| the only commercial wine vacuum system on the | | | | point the vacuum pump kicks in for a few |
| market at the time to trial in his other restaurant. | | | | seconds and builds the vacuum level in the |
| The system is a single-user, single-location system | | | | system up to 25 HG before shutting off. (wines |
| that utilizes a small electrical pump that is | | | | can still be resealed when the pump is on). |
| activated each time the wine bottled was | | | | As for the problem of staff only resealing bottles |
| resealed with the required vacuum. | | | | at the end of service when he wasn't there? Well |
| Much to his frustration Armando experienced | | | | he thought of that too! He incorporated an |
| major operational difficulties with this vacuum | | | | "anti-cheat counting feature" in the software that |
| system too. | | | | allows him to see how many times the system |
| - He found it required up to 6 seconds or more | | | | was used during a day or a shift. |
| to properly evacuate a wine which in his busy | | | | Necessity truly is the mother of invention. |
| environment was simply impractical. | | | | |