EP1227997B1

EP1227997B1 - Hand-held electrically powered corkscrew

Info

Publication number: EP1227997B1
Application number: EP00956340A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Dusan Nikolic
Original assignee: GLOBE DESIGN
Current assignee: GLOBE DESIGN
Priority date: 1999-10-25
Filing date: 2000-07-13
Publication date: 2004-02-04
Anticipated expiration: 2020-07-13
Also published as: DE60008131D1; EP1227997A1; CN1413165A; DE60008131T2; AU6832400A; ATE258901T1; WO2001030684A1; CA2388633A1

Abstract

A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew having a tubular body portion (5) with a longitudinal axis and a handle (4) extending laterally therefrom, said body portion having an outer barrel (36) to receive the neck of a bottle in entered relation therein; a rotatable cork auger (10) means substantially co-extensive and co-axial with said barrel, wherein said handle is inclined from said body portion at an angle to the longitudinal axis less than 90 degrees to afford comfortable ergonomic use of the corkscrew.

Description

The present invention relates generally to corkscrews for removing a cork from a bottle, and more particularly to hand-held electric corkscrews.

Various electric corkscrews are known for removing a cork from a bottle. Examples of such appliances are described in the following United States Patents :

U.S. Patent n° 4,637,283, Bertram, January 1987 ;

U.S. Patent n° 4,955,261, Chiang, September 1990 ;

U.S. Patent n° 5,079,975, Spencer, January 1992 ;

U.S. Patent n° 5,095,778, Bocsi et al., March 1992 ;

U.S. Patent n° 5,372,054, Federighi, December 1994 ;

U.S. Patent n° 5,503,047, Brockington, April 1996 ;

and U.S. Patent n° 5,724,869, May, March 1998.

However, the proposed corkscrews illustrated in these patents suffer from a number of defects that reduces the likelihood of their achieving commercial success.

In the case of 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.

In the case of Chiang ('261) 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.

Spencer ('975) , Brockington ('047) and Bosci et al ('778) each provides a handle portion comprising a battery compartment oriented in axially aligned relation with the operative position of the respective device. These arrangements in addition to the resulting undue length of the devices, are also ergonomically unsuitable, while also requiring a user to grip the handle sufficiently tightly to provide the requisite torque necessary to off-set the reaction torque generated by the action of the bottle opening auger in penetrating and drawing the cork. Furthermore, a user has to position their operative hand well above the bottle, in an unusual posture. As with the above 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 ('054) 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. In addition it proposes a 100 V AC to 6 V transformer 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.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a hand-held electrically powered corkscrew as defined in claim 1, 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 placement 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 ergonomic 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, and
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 :

a child proof end cap,
an single actuation switch that is recessed or conformal with the outer form of the appliance so that it is not switched on by the inadvertent setting down of the switch on a surface,
an auto shut off switch, and
an integral outer housing that precludes the possibility of pinching of the operator's fingers and acts as a moving safety guard to push away the operator's other hand if applied too high on the bottle neck.

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,
an auger that engages the cork and in doing so pulls the outer housing over the top of the bottle and then lifts the cork from the neck of the bottle. The cork is further pulled from the bottle until it is held within an inner sleeve in the auger assembly,
the operator is able to observe the progress of the extraction of the cork through the transparent windows in the sides of outer housing of the auger assembly,
As the operator maintains the switch in the "extract" position then the cork will continue to be driven up the auger assembly (cork rotation being restrained 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. During the extraction process 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.

In addition to the main corkscrew device there are two associated accessory items :

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 electronics. A small charge state indication light is incorporated in the front of the unit to indicate if the battery is being charged.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Certain embodiments of the invention are described by way of illustration, without limitation of the invention thereto, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, wherein :

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.

Referring to figures 1 and 2 the electrically powered 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 co-axial with said barrel. The body portion 5 has a cylindrical outer barrel of uniform section.

According to the invention, the handle 4 is inclined from said body portion at an angle to the longitudinal axis less than 90 degrees to afford comfortable ergonomic use of the corkscrew.

As shown more particularly in the figure 2, the handle 4 is mounted at one end of the tubular body 5 with an angle α in the range of 46 to 89 degrees from the longitudinal 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.

Referring to figures 2 and 7, 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 cantilevered flexible extension to the battery pack end housing and which is engaged in a location 3A of the handle 4.

As it appears on figure 2, 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 planetary 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 spiral shape and is mounted along the main axis of corkscrew.

Moreover, 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. Preferably, there are two opposed transparent windows 36'.

According to a further feature of the invention, 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.

Referring more particularly to figure 3, 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. For such a displacement 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.

In the construction shown in these figures, 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.

As shown in figures 2 and 3, 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.

In a preferred embodiment, 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).

In order to enhance the ergonomic shape of the corkscrew, there is provided 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. In figures 7 and 8, we can see the actuator with two printed marks indicating the rotation of the auger 10 in a first sense and an opposite sense.

Moreover, referring now to figures 2 and 7, 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. Such a security coupling is already used by child proof medicine containers.

In order to facilitate the use of the corkscrew, there is provided, as shown in figures 8 and 9, 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. Preferably, the blades 24 are motorised by an electric motor 23. In an alternate embodiment not described in the drawings, the blades may be fixed in a recess located in the free end of the handle 4.

Considering the electric power means with a removable battery pack 21, and with reference to figures 1, 10 and 11, 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 match 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.

USE AND OPERATION OF THE INVENTION

In 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.

Referring now again to figures 4 to 6, this set of figures demonstrates the sequential operational phases of the electric corkscrew. Figure 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. After the actuation of switch 2 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. Further extraction of the cork allows engagement of the cork with two axially located internal ribs 48 that prevent any rotation of the cork with respect to the inner barrel 38 and thus the outer barrel 36. Figure 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.

Thanks to the inclined handle 4 and the compact tubular construction of the body, the torque force applied to the handle is stabilised when in operation.

Claims

A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew having 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) to receive the neck (30) of a bottle in entered relation therein, and a rotatable cork auger means (10) substantially co-extensive and co-axial with said barrel (36), characterized in that said handle (4) is inclined from said body portion (5) at an angle (α) to the longitudinal axis less than 90 degrees to afford comfortable ergonomic use of the corkscrew.
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to claim 1, characterized in that the angle (α) is set in the range of 46 to 89 degrees.
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to claim 2, characterized in that the angle (α) is about 70 degrees.
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to claim 1 to 3, characterized in that the body portion (5) includes bottle stop means (38, 43) within said outer barrel (36).
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to claim 4, characterized in that said bottle stop means (38, 43) is mounted axially movable along a predetermined distance within said outer barrel (36).
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to claim 5, characterized in that the body portion (5) comprises a cork restraint means located within said outer barrel (36) to limit rotation of a cork relative to said barrel (36) when the cork is penetrated and engaged by the said auger means (10).
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to claim 6, characterized in that said cork restraint means includes an inner barrel (38) located within said outer barrel (36) and movable axially therein and comprises a tongue (54) and groove (56) connection between the inner (38) and the outer (36) barrels, to permit relative axial displacement therebetween while substantially precluding relative rotation thereof, said inner barrel (38) having a longitudinal thrust (43) which slides in a recess (45) up to a stop point X making a part of bottle stop means.
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to claim 7, characterized in that said bottle stop means is further formed by an axial outer end portion (40) of the said inner barrel (38).
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that said cork restraint means comprises compression spring means (57, 58) extending axially relative to said inner (38) and outer (36) barrels in off-centred relation therewith, and connecting with said inner barrel (38) in rotation inhibiting relation.
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to claim 9, characterized in that said off-centred spring means (57, 58) comprises a pair of diametrically spaced compression springs (57), each having a guide rod (58) extending therethrough, said guide rods (58) projecting within axially extending recesses (59) of said inner barrel (38) to preclude rotation of said inner barrel.
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to anyone of the claims 6 to 10, characterized in that said cork restraint means includes in its bore (46) at least two axially extending ribs (48) in diametrically opposed relation, said ribs (48) being of shallow depth to permit guide displacement of cork axially therealong.
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to claim 1, characterized in that the handle (4) is tubular and contains an electric power means such as a removable battery pack (21) while the body portion (5) comprises an electric motor (3) that drives through a gear box (3') the cork auger means (10).
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to claim 12, characterized in that the handle (4) is mounted at one end of the body portion (5) with an angle (α) in the range of 60 to 75 degrees from the longitudinal axis, while the other end of the body portion (5) has a free opening.
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that said gear box (3') is a two-stage planetary gear box.
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to claim 12, characterized in that the body portion (5) comprises at least one transparent window (36') located on a outer barrel (36) of said body portion (5) that allows to see the position of the cork during its extraction and ejection.
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that the body portion (5) has a cylindrical outer barrel (36) of uniform section.
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to anyone of the claims 12 to 16, characterized in that it comprises a single reversible actuator switch (2) located 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 (4).
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to anyone of the claims 12 to 17, characterized in that the body portion (5) comprises an auto shut-off switch (14) that stops the electric motor (3) when the cork has moved to the fully extracted position.
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to claim 18, characterized in that the auto shut-off switch (14) is located adjacent to the end cap of the gear box (3').
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to anyone of the claims 13 to 19, characterized in that the body portion (5) is equipped with an end cap (6) mounted on the free opening and comprises a security coupling that requires a simultaneous push and turn release feature.
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to anyone of the claims 12 to 20, characterized in that a foil cutter assembly (22) is attached to the free end of the handle (4) and comprises a pair of mutually diametrically opposed inwardly extending cutter blades (24) motorised by an electric motor (23).
A hand-held electrically powered corkscrew according to anyone of the claims 12 to 21, characterized in that said corkscrew further comprises a recharger means (12) having a body to receive said corkscrew in secured battery charging relation and a pair of electrical spade contacts (66) to suspend the recharger means and corkscrew from a wall-mounted standard electrical outlet.