Oxygen regulation mechanism for a beverage gasket

Abstract

A gasket for a bottle closure that regulates the diffusion of oxygen into the bottle is provided. In one example, the gasket includes a flexible substrate permeable to oxygen and a barrier film that is less permeable to oxygen than the substrate layer, where the combined structure has a light transmittance of between 0.5% and 10%. In some examples, the substrate includes a polymer layer and the film comprises a metal or non-metal film, where the film may be vapor deposited or sputtered onto the substrate. The metalized film layer may be deposited on the substrate to allow oxygen to diffuse there through at a rate of 1.5 cc/m2/day to 20 cc/m2/day, or 5 mg of oxygen to diffuse through over a period of 6 months to 8 years. The exemplary gasket or liner may further include a film that is perforated to create areas of differing oxygen transmission through the substrate and film structure.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.