Abstract
Apparatus 10 and method for cleaning, rejuvenating or treating the internal surfaces of a timber barrel 28 with an abrasive, the apparatus 10 comprising a clamping arrangement that includes at least one clamp 21-24 for clamping the barrel 28. The clamp 21-24 being rotatable to rotate the barrel 28 about its axis and the clamping arrangement being operable to tilt the axis of the barrel 28 during rotation through at least about 20°, preferably 25-40%, to either side of horizontal.
Claims
1. Apparatus for cleaning, rejuvenating or treating the internal surfaces of a timber barrel with an abrasive, the apparatus comprising a clamping arrangement that includes at least one clamp for clamping the barrel, the clamp being rotatable to rotate the barrel about its axis and the clamping arrangement being operable to tilt the axis of the barrel during rotation through at least about 20°, preferably 25-40%, to either side of horizontal.
2. Apparatus according to claim 1, the clamp being operable to clamp an outer surface of the barrel between opposite ends of the barrel.
3. Apparatus according to claim 1, the clamping arrangement including a plurality of clamps to clamp the outer surface of the barrel at two or more different positions.
4. Apparatus according to claim 1, the clamping arrangement including a pair of clamps clamp for clamping each end of the barrel.
5. Apparatus according to claim 4, the clamping arrangement including a pair of clamps having a clamping surface for clamping contact with the barrel ends, the clamping surface including a resilient polymer material that resiliently compresses when pressed or pushed against the barrel ends.
6. Apparatus according to claim 4, the clamps being circular and the outer diameter of the clamps at the edge or perimeter of the clamps is greater than the diameter of chimes of the of the barrel ends.
7. Apparatus according to claim 4, the clamps having a shaft that extends from the back of each clamp and at least one of which is driven to rotate.
8. Apparatus according to claim 4, one or both of the clamps being attached to the drive by a universal joint.
9. Apparatus according to claim 7, one of the pair of clamps being free to rotate within a bearing upon rotation of the barrel.
10. Apparatus according to claim 4, one or both of the pair of clamps having a retracted and an extended position, in which in the retracted position, the clamp is spaced from engagement with an end of a barrel and in the extended position, the clamp engages the end of a barrel.
11. Apparatus according to claim 1, a barrel or a pair of barrels being supported side-by-side on a barrel rack and the clamping arrangement including at least one clamp for clamping the barrel or barrels, each clamp being rotatable to rotate the barrel or barrels about its axis and the clamping arrangement being operable to tilt the axis of the barrel or barrels during rotation through at least about 20°, preferably 25-40%, to either side of horizontal.
12. Apparatus according to claim 11, the apparatus including a lifting facility to lift the barrel or barrels from being supported within the barrel rack, so that the barrel or barrels are elevated above the support position on the barrel rack prior to clamping and the lifting facility including rollers for engaging the bottom or underneath portion of the barrel or barrels, the rollers allowing the barrel or barrels to shift axially.
13. Apparatus according to claim 1, the clamp or clamps being supported in a clamp supporting structure and the clamp supporting structure being movable vertically so that it can move to position the clamp or clamps in a clamping position relative to a barrel from above or below the barrel.
14. Apparatus according to claim 13, the clamp supporting structure including a square or rectangular frame with a pair of clamps being mounted at opposite ends of the frame to oppose each other and to extend and retract within the frame.
15. Apparatus according to claim 14, the frame of the clamp supporting structure being rotatable about an axis that extends laterally, preferably perpendicular, to the axis of the barrel or barrels clamped within the structure, and the frame being drivable about the axis of rotation to tilt the barrel or barrels clamped within the clamp supporting structure.
16. Apparatus according to claim 1, further including a loading station at which an abrasive can be inserted into a barrel through an opening in the barrel, such as bung hole of the barrel.
17. Apparatus according to claim 1, further including a washout station forming a discharge or washout station for introducing a liquid into the barrel to assist the discharge from within the barrel of the abrasive and liquid administered to the interior of the barrel and the debris removed from the internal surface of the barrel.
18. Apparatus according to claim 17, the washout station including a support that supports a barrel in a manner that allows the barrel to be gently rocked or vibrated in order to promote travel of abrasive and debris towards the bung hole.
19. A method of cleaning, rejuvenating or treating the internal surfaces of a timber barrel with an abrasive, the method involving; a. inserting an abrasive into a timber barrel, b. clamping each end of the barrel with clamps, c. rotating the clamps to rotate the barrel about its axis, d. tilting the axis of the barrel during rotation through at least about 20°, preferably 25-40%, to either side of horizontal.
20. A method according to claim 19, liquid being inserted into the barrel with the abrasive to form an abrasive/liquid slurry.
21. A method according to claim 19, the barrel being rotated with a generally horizontal axis for a first period, and then being tilted in a first direction to one side of horizontal and rotated in the tilted position for a second period, and then being tilted in a second direction to the other or opposite side of horizontal and rotated in the tilted position for a third period, and then being returned to a generally horizontal axis.
22. An abrasive for use in a method or apparatus for rejuvenating or treating the internal surfaces of a timber barrel the abrasive comprising granular garnet or garnet gravel in the size range generally of about 1 mm-8 mm, more preferably 2 mm-5 mm and/or having a bulk density of about 2100 kg/m3±3%, specific gravity 4.0±3%, grain shape—sub-rounded to sub-angular.
23. An abrasive according to claim 22, the abrasive comprising a mineral composition of 98% minimum garnet, 2% maximum feldspar and quartz and maximum 0.25% biotite and others.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0080] In order that the invention may be more fully understood, some embodiments will now be described with reference to the figures in which:
[0081] FIG. 1 is a side view of a trailer in accordance with one embodiment of the invention for cleaning, rejuvenating or treating the internal surfaces of timber wine barrels.
[0082] FIG. 2 is a side view of the loading and washout station of the trailer of FIG. 1.
[0083] FIG. 3 is an end view of the loading and washout station of the trailer of FIG. 1.
[0084] FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating one barrel in the processing station of the trailer of FIG. 1.
[0085] FIG. 5 is a plan view of the trailer of FIG. 1.
[0086] FIGS. 6 to 10 show a barrel being loaded into the processing station of the trailer of FIG. 1 and subsequently lifted, rotated and tilted.
[0087] FIG. 11 shows a barrel in the loading and washout station of the trailer of FIG. 1 being rocked.
[0088] FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a treatment facility in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention for rejuvenating or treating the internal surfaces of timber wine barrels.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0089] FIG. 1 is a side view of a trailer which has been assembled to include apparatus in accordance with the invention for cleaning, rejuvenating or treating the internal surfaces of timber wine barrels. The trailer 10 includes a chassis 11, that has a jockey wheel 12 at a front end, wheels 13 mid-way along the chassis 11, a spare wheel 14 and a gas cylinder 15. The trailer 10 is shown open, although it would be fully enclosed for travelling purposes with hinged doors or roller doors that can be opened and shut, so that the apparatus mounted within the trailer can be accessed when the trailer is stationary.
[0090] The trailer 10 includes a first area or processing station 20 within which a clamping arrangement in disposed. In FIG. 1, the clamping arrangement comprises four individual barrel clamps 21 to 24, each of which is arranged for engaging the chime at the head or end of a barrel. As will be seen later in this description (see FIG. 5 for example), the barrel clamps 21 to 24 are one of a pair of clamps that are positioned opposite each other for engaging the opposite heads or ends of an individual barrel. FIG. 5 shows that the clamps comprise pairs of clamps 21,21′, 22,22′, 23,23′ and 24,24′. The processing station 20 of the trailer 10 thus has capacity to receive and clamp the opposite ends of four barrels at one time.
[0091] The trailer 10 further includes a second station 25 in which a pair of barrels that are to be treated in the processing station 20, can be loaded with an abrasive. The second station 25 is thus alternatively termed a “loading station”. The loading station 25 can also constitute a “washout” station in which a barrel that has been treated in the processing station 20 can be emptied of abrasive and any debris that has been removed from the internal surface of the barrel, and washed. The washout station can be a separate and third station of the invention, although in the trailer 10, the loading station and washout station are both provided in the second station 25. FIG. 12 will be discussed later, but shows a different arrangement in which the washout station is a separate station to the loading station.
[0092] A timber barrel can be treated in the trailer 10 to remove unwanted lining or covering that has formed or has built up over the internal surface of the barrel, firstly by inserting an abrasive into the barrel and in relation to the trailer 10, this occurs within the loading station 25. The loading station 25 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 in both side and end view respectively. In FIGS. 2 and 3, a pair of hoppers 27 is elevated above the pair of barrels 28 and the hoppers 27 each include a feed tube 30 that includes a delivery valve 32 so that abrasive which is contained within the hopper 27 can be fed through the delivery tube 30 and into the barrel 28. Conveniently, feed into the barrels 28 can be through the bung hole of the barrel which is a hole that all wine barrels have. The bung hole is normally closed by a bung, but for the purpose of introducing abrasive into the barrel 28, the bung is removed.
[0093] To feed the hopper 27, a further feed tube 34 extends upwardly and into connection with the upper end of the hopper 27 and the feed tube 34 feeds from a supply of abrasive (not shown) to replenish the hopper 27 from time to time.
[0094] Liquid is also fed into the barrels 28 to mix with the abrasive and FIG. 3 shows a container 35 of water that feeds into the hoppers 27 so that the feed into the barrels 28 is an abrasive/water mixture or slurry. This feed can be automated so that the same amount of abrasive/water mixture is introduced into each barrel, or it can be manual and the amount determined by an operator.
[0095] A barrel is loaded into the loading station 25 on a barrel rack, which is not visible in FIGS. 2 and 3. The barrel racks are shown in FIG. 1 in the processing station 20 by the reference numerals 36. The barrel racks 36 shown in FIG. 1 are racks that include a pair of cradles side-by-side, which each support a single barrel. The barrel racks 36 can take a standard form that are used in wineries around the world.
[0096] In FIGS. 2 and 3, a pair of barrels 28 has been loaded by forklift into the loading station 25 in the direction shown by the arrow A. The pair of barrels 28 has been loaded into the loading station 25 supported on a barrel rack 36 and as the barrel racks 36 are loaded into the loading station 25 they are lowered, so that the barrels 28 supported on the barrel racks 36 are lifted from support on cradles of the barrel racks 36 by engagement with a support structure 38 that has four legs 39 and each of the legs 39 includes a roller 40 at its upper free or distal end. Accordingly, within the loading station 25, each barrel 28 is supported on either side of its axis by a pair of rollers 40 that allows the barrel 28 to roll about its axis. This is permitted by the orientation of the rollers, so that the rollers 40 do not allow linear axial movement of the barrels in the direction A, but rather, only allow rotational movement about the barrel axis. This ability for the barrels 28 to rotate about their axis in the loading station 25 is important so that the bung hole of each barrel can be rotated to an upwardly facing position for connection with the hopper feed tube 30, and can be subsequently rotated to a downwardly facing position, so that after treatment of the barrels 28, the abrasive within the barrels 28 and any liquid and debris, can be removed through the downwardly facing bung hole and the inside of the barrels can be washed out with liquid injected through the bung hole.
[0097] Once the pair of barrels 28 in the loading station 25 have received a charge of abrasive mixture from the hopper 27, the feed tube 30 can be disconnected from the barrels 28. Liquid can be introduced into the interior of the barrels 28 with the abrasive in a slurry as discussed above, although in alternative arrangements, liquid, such as water, can be introduced separately.
[0098] Once the abrasive/water mixture has been introduced into the barrels 28, the bungs can be reinserted into the bung holes, and the barrel rack on which the barrels 28 were delivered into the loading station 25, can be lifted, again by forklift, to 25. In an automated arrangement, removal and reinsertion of the bungs into the bung holes can be automated, as can introduction of the abrasive/water mixture into the barrels. The barrels can then be removed from the loading station an automated arrangement, such as by autonomous vehicles or conveyor.
[0099] The barrels 28 and the barrel racks 36 on which they are mounted, can now be placed into the processing station 20 and to allow this placement, the clamps 21,21′ to 24,24′ are lifted upwardly and out of the way. FIG. 4 illustrates schematically a forklift 42 that has delivered a pair of barrels 28 into the processing station 20 on a barrel rack 36 with the clamps 23,23′ shown elevated above the barrel 28. The clamps 21,21′ to 24,24′ are part of a clamping assembly 46 that will be described in more detail later herein, and the clamping assembly 46 includes a frame 48 to which the clamps (including the clamps 23,23′) are attached and that can be lifted and lowered. In FIG. 4, the forklift is retreating away from the trailer 10 having delivered the barrels 28 to the processing station 20.
[0100] FIG. 4 also shows the hydraulic mechanism by which the clamps 21,21′ to 24,24′ are raised along with the drive arrangements that are employed to drive the clamps 21,21′ to 24,24′ to rotate. The arrangement shown in FIG. 4 only shows the clamps 23,23′ but the arrangement applies to each of the clamps 21,21′ to 24,24′. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the clamps 21,21′ and 22,22′ are connected to one of the frames 48, while the clamps 23,23′ and 24,24′ are connected to the other of the frames 48. A separate hydraulic mechanism is attached to the separate frames 48, but their operation is the same.
[0101] The lifting arrangement includes a hydraulic strut 44 (FIG. 4) that raises and lowers the frame 48 that includes the clamps 23,23′. The frame 48 is square or rectangular (see also FIGS. 1 and 5) and has a pair of side rails 50 and a pair of end rails 52. The clamps 23,23′ are connected to the end rails 52 and the end rail 52 that connects to the clamp 23′ is connected to the strut 44 and is lifted up and down by the strut 44. Lifting and lowering of the end rail 52 by the strut 44 lifts and lowers the entire frame 48. FIGS. 1 and 4 show the frames 48 of the clamping assembly 46 in lowered and raised positions respectively. In the FIG. 4 position, the frame is raised is for loading of the barrel rack 36 and barrels 28 into the processing station 20 and once loaded, the forklift 42 can reverse away from the trailer 10. The frames 48 can then be lowered to the FIG. 1 position whereafter the clamps 23,23′ can be brought to a position adjacent the opposite barrel ends 53 and 54 for subsequently clamping the barrel ends.
[0102] As the frames 48 of the clamping assembly 46 are lowered from the FIG. 4 position, the barrels 28 remain supported on the barrel rack 36 within the processing station 20, however the clamping assembly 46 includes an actuating frame 56 (FIG. 4) that engages barrel supports 58 (FIG. 1) as the frames 48 are lowered, to lift the supports 58 into engagement with the underneath surface of the barrels 28 so as to slightly lift the barrels 28 off the barrel rack 36. The barrel supports 58 are pivotal about an axis so that as they are engaged on one side of the axis by the actuating frame 56 the opposite side lifts into lifting engagement with the barrels 28. In that lifted position, the barrel racks 36 no longer support or contact the barrels 28, so that the barrels are supported only by the barrel supports 58. The barrel supports 58 include rollers 60 that allow the barrels 28 to shift axially forward and back so that when the barrel ends 53 and 54 are engaged by the clamps 23,23′, if the barrels 28 are not perfectly centred between the clamps 23,23′ (and non-perfect centring will normally be the case), the barrels 28 can shift slightly axially without dragging resistance that would occur if the barrels 28 were still supported on the barrel rack 36.
[0103] As described earlier herein, the clamps 21,21′ to 24,24′ are circular (see FIG. 1) and of a diameter greater than the diameter of the chimes of the barrels 28, so that the periphery of the clamps 21,21′ to 24,24′ clamps against the chimes. The clamping surface of the clamps can be of any suitable material and a suitable polymer material can form the clamping surface that allows the chimes to compress into the polymer to enhance the connection between the clamps and the chimes.
[0104] FIGS. 6 and 7 show the arrangement of FIG. 4 but with the clamping assembly 46 lowered, so that in FIG. 6, the clamps 23,23′ are closely adjacent to the barrel ends 53 and 54, but are not clamped against those ends, while in FIG. 7, the clamps 23,23′ have been shifted into clamping engagement with the barrels ends 53 and 54. FIGS. 6 and 7 also clearly show the change in support of the barrels 28 between the barrel rack 36 and the rollers 60 of the barrel supports 58. In the broken line insert of FIG. 6, the underneath surface of the barrels 28 is supported on an upper end of a post 62 of the barrel rack 36 and the roller 60 is spaced from the underneath surface of the barrel 28. In contrast, in FIG. 7, the broken line insert shows that the roller 60 is now engaged with the underneath surface of the barrel 28 and the post 62 is no longer in contact with the barrel 28. In the FIG. 7 arrangement, the barrel 28 is now free to move slightly axially when the clamps 23,23′ engage the opposite ends of the barrel 28 to accommodate centring misalignment of the barrel 28 between the clamps 23,23′.
[0105] In the FIG. 7 configuration, the barrel 28 is clamped and thus can now be lifted for rotation and tilting. Lifting is necessary in the illustrated embodiment so that tilting can take place. FIG. 8 shows the clamping assembly 46 and the clamped barrel 28 lifted upwardly so that the barrel 28 is lifted away from the barrel supports 58. In the elevated position, and optionally as the elevation is taking place, the barrel 28 can be rotated. A hydraulic motor 64 drives the clamp 23′ which, by the clamping connection of the clamps 23,23′ with the barrel 28, causes the barrel 28 to rotate about its axis as shown by the rotation arrows shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. The opposite clamp 23 rotates freely within a bearing arrangement 66, so that rotation of the barrel 28 is by drive of the clamp 23′ only.
[0106] Rotation of the barrel 28 with the abrasive and liquid inside the barrel 28 applies a sanding effect against the internal surfaces of the barrel 28 so that any lining or covering, such as a tartrate layer deposited on the internal surface of the barrel 28, is removed. However, simply rotating the barrel 28 about its axis will not necessarily remove a lining or covering that has formed a layer on or over the inside surfaces of the barrel ends 53 and 54. Accordingly, the invention provides for tilting barrel 28 as it is rotated and FIGS. 9 and 10 show respectively, tilting in a first direction followed by tilting in a second and opposite direction. It can be seen from FIGS. 9 and 10, that the tilting movement occurs about a central pivot point P, which is the point at which the frame 48 of the clamping assembly 46 is pivotably connected to the actuating frame 56 at point P. The frame 48 is not shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 but can be seen in FIG. 8. It is the actuating frame 56 that is lifted and lowered on the hydraulic strut 44, and the frame 48 that is tilted relative to the actuating frame 56. Tilting is by extension and retraction of the hydraulic strut 68 that connects between the rod R and the connection point 70 (see FIG. 5 as well as FIGS. 6 to 10) and that tilts the frame 48 relative to the actuating frame 56. The angle of tilt can be appreciated from FIGS. 9 and 10 and in the examples illustrated, is in the order of about 40° from horizontal. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, as the tilting of the barrel 28 takes place, the barrel 28 continues to be rotated about its axis.
[0107] In testing conducted to date, it is only necessary to tilt the barrel in each direction once, so that for example, from the horizontal axis position of FIG. 8, the barrel 28 can be tilted in the first direction shown in FIG. 9 once, and after a predetermined time, the barrel can be tilted in the reverse direction to the FIG. 10 position and after a predetermined time, the barrel can be returned to the horizontal position of FIG. 8. In that position, the barrel can be lowered back to the FIG. 7 position and as the barrel is lowered, the actuating frame 56 will engage the barrel support 58 so that the support 58 lifts and the barrel 28 is lowered onto the rollers 60. The barrel clamps 23,23′ can then be released from either end of the barrel 28 and the clamping assembly 46 can then be lifted again, so that the barrel supports 58 shift downwardly or away from the underneath of the barrel 28 and lower the barrel 28 back onto the barrel rack 36. A forklift 42 can then be used to lift the barrel rack 36 and the barrels 28 from the processing station 20. The barrel rack 36 and the barrels 28 can be returned to the loading station 25 and as the barrel rack 36 is lowered into the loading station 25, the barrels 28 will be supported on the rollers 40 of the support structure 38 as shown in FIG. 3.
[0108] With the barrel rack 36 and the barrels 28 returned to the loading station 25, and with the barrels 28 supported on the rollers 40, the barrels 28 can be rotated from whatever orientation about their axis they are delivered to the loading station 25 in so that the bung hole faces upwardly and the bung can be removed. Once removed, the barrels can be rotated so that the bung hole faces downwardly and immediately liquid and abrasive, and the debris which has been removed from the internal surfaces of the barrel 28 will start to flow out of the bung hole. However, it is not expected that all of the abrasive and debris will flow out simply by orienting the bung hole downwardly, and so the support structure 38 is arranged for rocking the barrels 28 back and forward and one direction of rocking is shown in FIG. 11. By rocking the barrel back and forward, the abrasive and debris will tend to be shifted or agitated towards the middle of the barrel and thus out through the bung hole. The bung hole will usually be located in a low point of the barrel when the barrel is horizontal so that the bung hole becomes a drain hole to which liquid, abrasive and debris will naturally flow or move towards. The support structure 38 is arranged to oscillate forward and back along the track 72 and by that oscillating movement, the barrel rocks up and down from end to end, enhancing movement particularly of the abrasive and debris to the bung hole.
[0109] The rocking movement on its own is not expected to fully remove all abrasive and debris from within the barrel. Accordingly, while the barrel is supported by the support structure 38 (FIG. 3), a hose can be inserted into the bung hole, so that washing liquid, typically warm water, can be injected into the barrel to spray over all of the internal surfaces of the barrel and to cause all of the abrasive and debris to travel to the bung hole and out of the barrel 28. This can be a manual process whereby an operator inserts a hose into the barrel and directs the nozzle of the hose to spray liquid against all surfaces of the interior of the barrel to flush out the abrasive and debris. Alternatively, the hose can be affixed to a bracket which itself is connected over the bung hole and the bracket can be arranged to ensure that spray is directed across all internal surfaces of the barrel. In each case, the intention is that the nozzle or hose end that extends into the barrel only takes up a portion of the cross-sectional area of the bung hole, so that there is room for abrasive and debris to be flushed out of the barrel even as the hose and/or nozzle is inserted into the barrel through the bung hole. Bung holes can typically have a diameter of 40 mm or 50 mm and so a 20 mm diameter hose will leave on average a 10 mm gap about the hose for abrasive and debris to flow out of the bung hole while the hose is delivering flushing liquid into the barrel.
[0110] The output from the barrel can flow into a basin 74 (see FIGS. 2, 3 and 11) that liquid, abrasive and debris collect in after being flushed out of the barrel 28. This allows the abrasive to be collected for later reuse. The basin 74 can have a filter or screen that allows liquid to flow through so that only solids are collected on top of the filter or screen.
[0111] Once the barrel 28 has been fully washed out to the extent that all of the abrasive and debris is considered to be removed from the barrel, the forklift 42 can return to pick up the barrel rack 36 and the two barrels 28 for return for reuse within a winery. Two new barrels can be loaded into the loading station 25 on a barrel rack 36 and the process of treatment explained above repeated.
[0112] It will be appreciated that the processing station 20 of the trailer 10 can accommodate two barrel racks and thus four barrels, whereas the loading station 25 can accommodate just the one barrel rack and therefore two barrels. Of course additional loading stations can be added, or the capacity of the loading station can be increased so that a greater number of barrels can be loaded with abrasive and subsequently washed out than in the trailer 10. However, the trailer 10 as illustrated meets the required regulations for road travel and so redesign of the trailer would be required if a greater capacity in the loading station 25 were to be provided.
[0113] The trailer 10 has been developed as a means of making the present invention mobile so that an operator of the trailer 10 can move between wineries as required. However, the present invention is not limited to a mobile form of operation and in an alternative embodiment, a fixed facility can be created utilising the same invention as utilised in the trailer 10. FIG. 12 illustrates one rudimentary form of such a fixed installation in which the wine barrels 28 are fed from one end of the facility through to the opposite end by conveyor. The facility could be a linear facility, or a circular facility whereby in a circular facility, the barrels 28 are added to and removed from the facility generally at the same point, whereas in the linear facility, barrels 28 would be added from one side or end and removed from the opposite side or end.
[0114] FIG. 12 thus shows a treatment facility 75 having a loading station 76 at which point barrels 28 are loaded with an abrasive and water, and a rotating and tilting station 78 at which point barrels are fed to a clamping assembly 80 for clamping and lifting, and then for rotating and tilting. The clamping assembly 80 can operate in the same manner as described in relation to the clamping assembly 46 of the trailer 10. After a sufficient period of rotation and tilting, the barrels 28 clamped in the clamping assembly 80 can be lowered and fed to a wash out station 82, whereafter the barrels 28 can be removed and returned to barrel racks.
[0115] In the FIG. 12 arrangement, the barrels 28 could be conveyed thoughout the facility 75 supported on barrel racks, being lifted from the barrel racks when required, although in the illustrated form of the facility 75, the barrels 28 are removed from the barrel racks and placed on a conveyor to move through the stations 76, 80 and 82.
[0116] Where any or all of the terms “comprise”, “comprises”, “comprised” or “comprising” are used in this specification (including the claims) they are to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, integers, steps or components, but not precluding the presence of one or more other features, integers, steps or components.
[0117] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention described herein is susceptible to variations and modifications other than those specifically described. It is understood that the invention includes all such variations and modifications which fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
