Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
  • B67B—APPLYING CLOSURE MEMBERS TO BOTTLES JARS, OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; OPENING CLOSED CONTAINERS
  • B67B7/00—Hand- or power-operated devices for opening closed containers
  • B67B7/02—Hand- or power-operated devices for opening closed containers for removing stoppers
  • B67B7/04—Cork-screws
  • B67B7/0405—Power-operated cork-screws, e.g. operated by an electric motor
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
  • B67B—APPLYING CLOSURE MEMBERS TO BOTTLES JARS, OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; OPENING CLOSED CONTAINERS
  • B67B7/00—Hand- or power-operated devices for opening closed containers
  • B67B7/02—Hand- or power-operated devices for opening closed containers for removing stoppers
  • B67B7/04—Cork-screws
  • B67B2007/0458—Means for cutting sealing capsules

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to corkscrews for removing a cork from a bottle, and more par- ticularly to hand-held electric corkscrews.
• Bertram '283
• the device is not powered by a self contained battery, requiring the use of an inconvenient electrical power cord. Further it precludes the use of such a device unless it is in the proximity of an electrical power outlet.
• the sleeve retracts into the housing with the attendant risk of an operator's finger being pinched between these moving parts.
• the non-integral exterior surface adds to the difficulty of cleaning the device .
• the proposed device has no means to react the torque generated by the corkscrew other than through the operator gripping the outer surface which is not provided with a suitable ergonomic handle.
• the battery case-cum- handle is of a most awkward shape and size, and is quite unsuited to be readily secured and gripped, while the right angled projection or the auger tube from the battery case/handle makes the device ergonomically unsuitable in that it requires a user to stand over the bottle being opened, with the "handle” extending substantially horizontally in an inconvenient orientation.
• the proposed gear reduction is a non-planetary configuration and to achieve a suitable gear ratio requires a large volume gearbox. The sleeve retracts into the housing with the attendant risk of an operator's finger being pinched between these moving parts. The non-integral exterior surface adds to the difficulty of cleaning the device.
• Federighi proposes a table mounted design and a foil cutter that is manually powered.
• May ('869) proposes a cylindrical device without any convenient means for the operator to resist the corkscrew torque.
• it proposes a 100 V AC to 6 V trans- former and the battery pack in the upper part of the handle assembly that will result in a large and top-heavy- design.
• the proposed design does not indicate a gear reduction between the motor and the auger thus a motor of sufficient torque to extract a full range of corks is likely to be unduly large to allow comfortable hand-held operation.
• the present invention provides a light-weight and compact electrically powered corkscrew appliance, the inclined handle of which facilitates, the ready application of a stabilising torque force to the device when in operation. Portability also is enhanced by the co-linear place- ment of the small motor, planetary gearbox and auger while the removable battery pack is stored in the handle.
• the subject device is provided with a number of er- gonomic features, these include : • transparent windows on the lower part of each side of the outer housing that allow the operator to see the position of the cork during extraction and ejection, • a handle set at an angle to the axis of the auger that allows the operator to easily resist the reaction torque from the device, such an handle is designed so that the appliance may be used in a standing position, with a bottle supported on a bar or table, or in a sitting position with the bottle supported on a table,
• a switch that drive the motor to extract and to eject the cork that is located so that it may be actuated without removing the hand from the handle
• an integral outer housing that is easy to clean, the outer housing may be easily removed from the drive assembly and handle to allow the removal of any cork pieces that may have broken off a cork.
• the subject device is provided with a number of safety features, these include :
• the main design an its operation features include :
• a handle that includes a removable battery pack that is re-chargeable
• the handle is set at an angle to a body housing which includes a motor, a gearbox, and an auger mechanism, the motor torque/speed characteristics, the gearbox reduction ratio and the battery assembly are designed to allow for the ability to open over 150 bottles between charges of the battery pack while minimising overall weight and volume of the device,
• the handle is set at an angle to allow the operator to resist the torque generated by the device easily
• the motor drives through a two stage planetary gearbox an auger device that is co-axial with the motor and is applied by the operator to the cork of the bottle to be opened
• the cork will continue to be driven up the auger assembly (cork rotation being re- strained by a number (preferably three or four) of internal axial ribs affixed to the interior axially sliding sleeve that engage the sides of the cork) until the cork trips a micro-switch that first stops the motor when the cork reaches a point near the end of the auger and then allows the motor actuator switch to be engaged in a "eject" or reverse direction, the auger then rotates in the opposite direction to eject the cork.
• a pair of light guided springs are compressed by the motion of the inner sleeve, these springs assist in the ejection of the cork ensuring that it is presented at the mouth of the auger assembly.
• the pair of springs are designed to accommodate any misalignment of the device axis to the bottle axis and yet provide a balanced force on the inner sleeve.
• An electrically driven accessory that performs the severance of the usual foil cap from the crown of a wine bottle.
• This foil cutter can be attached to the butt of the corkscrew handle. It provides a separate motorised seal cutter comprising a pair of mutually diametrically opposed, inwardly extending cutter blades.
• the seal cutter means is powered electrically from the battery pack that is stored in the corkscrew handle.
• a battery recharging unit This unit provides a receptacle that holds a single battery pack during its recharging cycle.
• the device incorporates an integral AC plug, transformer, diode assembly, over current protection and other appropriate charge rate control electron- ics.
• a small charge state indication light is incorporated in the front of the unit to indicate if the battery is being charged.
• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a corkscrew fixed on a recharger according to the invention.
• Figure 2 is a sectional view of the subject corkscrew, without the recharger.
• Figure 3 is a partial sectional view of the corkscrew of figure 2.
• Figures 4, 5 and 6 show a series of sectional views of the subject corkscrew as the cork is initially engaged and subsequently extracted.
• Figure 7 is a perspective view that illustrates the installation of a battery pack into the handle of the corkscrew.
• Figure 8 is a perspective view of the corkscrew and an associated accessory as a foil cutter.
• Figure 9 is a sectional view of the foil cutter.
• Figure 10 is an enlarged perspective view of the recharger of figure 1.
• Figure 11 is a front perspective view of the recharger of figure 10.
• the electrically pow- ered hand-held corkscrew has a tubular body portion 5 with a longitudinal axis and a handle 4 extending laterally therefrom, said body portion 5 having an outer barrel 36 with a free opening at one end to receive the neck 30 of a bottle in entered relation therein and rotatable cork auger means 10 substantially co-extensive and coaxial with said barrel.
• the body portion 5 has a cylindrical outer barrel of uniform section.
• the handle 4 is inclined from said body portion at an angle to the longitudinal axis less than 90 degrees to afford comfortable er- gonomic use of the corkscrew.
• the handle 4 is mounted at one end of the tubular body 5 with an angle ⁇ in the range of 46 to 89 degrees from the lon- gitudinal axis. More specifically, the angle is in the range of 60 to 75 degrees and for a better ergonomic use the angle is about 70 degrees.
• the handle 4 is also tubular and contains an electric power means such as a removable battery pack 21.
• This pack is locked in place by a simple hook 18 that is located on the end of a can- tilevered flexible extension to the battery pack end housing and which is engaged in a location 3A of the han- die 4.
• the body portion 5 comprises " an electric motor 3 that drives through a gear box 3' the auger means 10.
• the gear box is a two-stage plane- tary gear box in which the motor pinion 7 engages with an input stage 8 of the planetary reduction gear which is itself engages with an output stage assembly 9.
• the gear box is enclosed in a gear box housing 17 secured to the tubular housing 5.
• the out put stage assembly 9 is connected directly to the auger means 10.
• Said auger means is of usual spi- ral shape and is mounted along the main axis of corkscrew.
• the outer barrel 36 of the body portion 5 comprises at least one transparent window 36' that allows to see the position of the cork during its extraction and rejection.
• the body portion 5 includes bottle stop means within said outer barrel. Said bottle stop means is mounted axially movable along a predetermined distance within said outer barrel 36.
• said bottle stop means comprises in combination a cork restraint means located within said outer barrel 36 to limit rotation of a cork relative to said barrel when the cork is penetrated and engaged by the auger means 10.
• the cork restraint means includes an inner barrel 38 located within the outer barrel 36 and movable axially therein.
• the cork restraint means comprises a connection 52 constituted by a tongue 54 and a groove 56 and located between the inner 38 and the outer 36 barrels, to permit relative axial displacement therebetween while substantially precluding relative rotation thereof.
• the bottle stop means comprises not only the inner barrel 38 but also a longitudinal thrust 43 in the shape of a collar which slides in a circular recess 45 in the gear housing 17 up to a stop point designated by X in figures 4 to 6.
• the bottle stop means is further formed by an axial outer end portion 40 of said inner barrel 38.
• Said portion 40 has preferably a conical entry by which the crown portion 31 of a bottle neck portion is centred in the outer barrel 36.
• the inner barrel and more specifically the outer end portion 40 is further tapered at 42 to provide a conical guidance surface by which the cork 16 enters the bore 46 of the inner barrel 38.
• the bore 46 of said cork restraint means includes at least two axially extending ribs 48 in diametrically opposed relation to engage the cylindrical outer surface of cork 16, said ribs being of shallow depth to permit guide displacement of cork axially there along.
• the cork restraint means comprises compression spring means 57-58 extending axially relative to the inner 38 and outer 36 barrels in off-centred relation therewith, and connecting with said inner barrel in rotation inhibiting relation.
• the off- centred spring means comprises a pair of compression springs 57, each having a guide rod 58 extending there through.
• the guide rods 58 are fixed at one end in the gear box housing 17 and project within axially extending recesses 59 of the inner barrel 38 to preclude rotation of said inner band.
• the corkscrew comprises an auto shut-off switch 14 located adjacent to the end cap of the gear box in the gear box housing 17.
• This auto shut-off has a function of stopping the electric motor 3 when the cork has moved to the fully extracted position (see figure 5) .
• a single reversible actuator switch 2 located preferably in the intermediate section 60 between handle 4 and body portion 5 so that it may be actuated without removing the hand from the handle.
• the actuator with two printed marks indicating the rotation of the auger 10 in a first sense and an opposite sense.
• the body portion namely its free opening, is equipped with an end protection cap 6 and comprises a security coupling that requires a simultaneous push and turn release feature.
• a security coupling is already used by child proof medicine containers .
• a foil cutter assembly 22 attached to the free end of the handle 4 with a bayonet style fitting and comprising a pair of mutually diametrically opposed inwardly extending cutter blades 24 made on flexible spring steel.
• the blades 24 are motorised by an electric motor 23.
• the blades may be fixed in a recess located in the free end of the handle 4.
• the corkscrew of the present invention further comprises a recharger means 12 having a body to receive said corkscrew in a secured battery charging relation and a pair of electrical spade contacts 66 to suspend the recharger and corkscrew from a wall -mounted standard electrical outlet.
• the body has a semi-circular laterally extending recess 68 to receive and matche with the inclined handle 4. So, the handle 4 is secured in charge-receiving relation to the recharger means 12 by way of a pair of resilient charge transfer contacts 18.
• a first step in operation ,de-briding of the foil protective cover from the bottle crown 33 of the neck 30 is first carried out by applying the foil cutter assembly 22 and actuating the switch 2. Then, the child protection cap 6 is removed and also the foil cutter assembly 22. -.-
• FIG. 4 shows the appliance positioned over a bottle 15 with a cork 16 that is to be extracted.
• Figure 5 shows the first phase of cork extraction.
• the auger 10 drives into the cork and draws the bottle into the outer barrel 36 and compresses the springs 57. This continues until the inner barrel 38 comes in contact (at point X in figure 4) with the axially fixed gearbox housing 17. At this point further rotation of the auger 10 withdraws the cork 16 from the bottle 15. Initial rotation of the cork being resisted by its internal pressure on the bottle.
• FIG. 6 shows the position of the cork 16 after it has been fully extracted from the bottle and has been allowed to ride up the auger 10 until it has made contact with the auto shut-off switch 14. This switch cuts the current to the motor in the forward extraction direction. After the motor 3 stops, the operator reverses the actuator switch 2 and reverses the direction of rotation of the auger 10 so that the cork is ejected from the corkscrew.
• the torque force applied to the handle is stabilised when in operation.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Devices For Opening Bottles Or Cans (AREA)
• Walking Sticks, Umbrellas, And Fans (AREA)
• Finger-Pressure Massage (AREA)
• Push-Button Switches (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=23690308

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

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Family Cites Families (8)

• 2000
  • 2000-07-13 CA CA002388633A patent/CA2388633A1/fr not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-07-13 CN CN00817799.6A patent/CN1413165A/zh active Pending
  • 2000-07-13 EP EP00956340A patent/EP1227997B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-07-13 AU AU68324/00A patent/AU6832400A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-07-13 AT AT00956340T patent/ATE258901T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2000-07-13 DE DE60008131T patent/DE60008131T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-07-13 WO PCT/EP2000/007297 patent/WO2001030684A1/fr active IP Right Grant

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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