US3815448A

US3815448A - Corkscrew

Info

Publication number: US3815448A
Application number: US00296245A
Authority: US
Inventors: G Artmer
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-10-10
Filing date: 1972-10-10
Publication date: 1974-06-11
Anticipated expiration: 1991-06-11

Abstract

A bottle opener has two parts which are slidable relative to one another and between which there is a pressure chamber. A corkscrew extends from one of these parts which has a cavity therein accommodating a valve and a gas cartridge. When the corkscrew is embedded in a cork in the neck of a bottle and the valve is actuated gas flows from the gas cartridge to the pressure chamber to move the two parts away from one another so that the cork is extracted.

Description

3,815,448 [451 June 11, 1974' United States Patent [191 Artmer 1 CORKSCREW Gero Artmer, Parkgasse 2, A-l030 Primary Lawreye smith Vienna Austria ASSISIGVII Examiner-Roscoe .Parker Oct. 10, 1972 [76] Inventor:

Attorney, Agentfor Firm-Woodhams, Blanchard &

Flynn n [22] Filed:

211 App]. No.1 296,245

[57] ABSTRACT A bottle opener has two parts which are slidable rela tive to one another and between which there is a pres- W B B H B" a m m m D" "m" y v. a" n 0 u .l r P a "w" n "a O m fiS a v U mm a p m fi n7 mn .w w "ms t hf 0 C o Uhm 11 will 0 218 B UHF I.

[56] v References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1964 Canieron 7 Cl 5 Drawing g s FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS France Ell/3.2

PATENTEmua 1 mm SHEET 10F 2 FIG./

Pmimenm 1 1 m 3.815448 saw 20? 2 I CORKSCREW This invention relates to bottle openers.

A bottle opener is known from French Patent specification No. 1,030,349 and in thecase of this bottle opener a corkscrew is carried by a piston which is slidable in a tubular part which is engaged with the neck of a bottle to be opened. In order to raise the piston, liquid is pumped by a manually operated pump from a container into a pressure chamber defined by the pis ton and the tubular part,

Two embodiments of this bottle opener are proposed in French specification No. 1,030,349 but both embodiments suffer from serious disadvantages. In one embodiment, the cork is extracted by a single stroke of of thehigh frictional losses which occur, it is highly dubious whether such a bottle opener would be'capable of functioning under practical conditions.

A bottle opener is also known from Swiss Paten specification No. 373,273. This bottle opener is provided with a cannula which is driven through the cork and by means of which gas is introduced into the bottle, the pressure of gas within the bottle slowly driving the cork from it.

A bottle opener of this type suffers from a number of disadvantages. Because the cannula must be sharpened to a point, a danger of injury or damage exists. Also, the cannula can very easily be bent out of shapeor broken; Further, the gas entering the bottle influences the liquid present therein, which applies more particularly in the case of wine, becausethe gas customarily used dissolves in the wine. Since the space between the liquid present in the bottle and the cork has to be filled with gas, consumption of gas is high. For this reason, partially full bottles cannot be opened with such a bottle opener because the space to be filled with gas is too large to allow the required pressureto build up to drive the cork out, or else the gas consumption is so high that at least a substantial part of a cartridge charge is consumed. In the case where the corks are made of plas-- tics material, this bottle opener fails to function because the plastics material does not completely seal the cannula and the gas, therefore, escapes from the bottle through the cork" and so the necessary pressure is not built up within the bottle to drive the cork out.

However, the most serious disadvantage of this type of bottle opener is that many bottles cannot withstand the pressure of gas which builds up and explode. This can lead to extremely serious injuries; bottle-openers of this type cannot be sold in a number of countries for this very reason.

According to the present invention there is provided a bottle opener comprising: two parts which are mounted for sliding displacement relative to one another; a pressure chamber defined by the two parts; and a corkscrew extending from one part which is of approximately cylindrical shape, the said one part being slidable within the other part which, in operation, is in engagement with the neck of a bottle, the said one part having a cavity therein, the cavity being accessible from an end opposite the end from which-the corkscrew extends and being dimensioned to receive agas cartridge'and valve means, the arrangement being such that, in operation, actuation of the valve. means causes gas to flow' from the gas cartridge into the pressure chamber whereby the two parts are displaced and the cork is extracted from the bottle.

Preferably the said other part at least partially surrounds a part of the cavity.

According to a preferred embodiment, the said one part has an axially extending annular space therein in which the said other part is guided, the two parts being sealed with respect to each other to define the pressure chamber.

The said one part may comprise two tubular sections fixed together. I

Preferably the cavity is dimensioned substantially to the shape of a given gas cartridge.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a bottle opener comprising: two parts which are mounted for displacement relative to one another; a pressure chamber defined by the two parts; a corkscrew extending from one part which is of approximately cylindrical shape, the said one part being slidable within the other part which, in operation, is in engagement with a neck of a bottle, the said one part having a cavity therein, the cavity being accessible from an end opposite the end from which the corkscrew extends and being dimensioned to receive a gas -cartridge;and valve means actuation of which causes gas to flow from the gas cartridge into the pressure chamber whereby the two parts are displaced and the cork is extracted from the bottle.

lows the corkscrew to be rotated.

The invention is illustrated, merelyby way of exam-- I ple, in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows, in axial section, a bottle opener according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows, also in axial section, a modification of part of the bottle opener of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 show, in elevation, a modification of part ofthe bottle opener of FIG. 1 with an actuating handle in two different positions; and

FIG. 5 shows the actuating handle as viewed in the direction of the arrow A of FIG. 3.

A bottle opener according to the present invention is illustrated in FIG. land comprises two parts 2, 3 which are mounted for sliding displacement relative to one another by a predetermined amount. The part 2 consists of two

tubular sections

2a, 2b which are fixed together. The tubular section 2b carries, at its lower end (as seen in the drawings), a helical corkscrew 5.. Between the

tubular sections

2a, 2b there is formed an annular gap in which the part 3 is guided. A gas cartridge 9 and a valve arrangement 10 are inserted into a cavity 8 in the part 2, which cavity is accessible from the upper end of the tubular section 2b opposite to the end 3 which carries the corkscrew. The cavity 8 is dimensioned, so far as is possible, to the shape of the cartridge 9 in order to avoidunnecessary wastage of space. In the annular gap formed between the

tubular sections

20, 2b a pressure chamber 4 is formed by thepart- 3, which is sealed with respect'to" the

tubular sections

2a, 2 b by O-

rings

7, 6 respectively. The valve arrangement 10 is sealed with respect to the tubular section 2b by an O-ring 11 and, when actuated, allows gas from the cartridge 9 to enter the chamber 4 so that the two parts 2, 3 are displaced relative to one another.

The valve arrangement 10 comprises a support element 13 in which a plunger 15, slidable by means of a push button 14, is supported and retained by a circlip 16. The plunger 15 is sealed with respect to the support element 13 by a sealing ring 17. in the undepressed position of the plunger 15, a vent bore 18,'arranged beneath the sealing ring 17, is in communication, through V the support element 13, with the atmosphere Atit's lower end the plunger 15 has a thrust bar with helical grooves'. ln the region of the thrust bar 20, the support element 13 is provided with a radial bore 21 which is in communication with an'axial groove 22 also provided in the support element 13; The bore 21 and the groove 22 constitute 'a channel leading to the cavity 8.

Adjacent the thrust bar 20 there is a displaceable ball member 23. The ball member together with a conical sealing surface 24 constitute a valve portion of the valve arrangement 10. A hollow spike 25 is arranged to penetrate a closure (not shown) of the gas cartridge 9 when the valve arrangement 10 is screwed into the cavity 8. The gas cartridge 9 is sealed with respect to the valve arrangement 10 by means of a sealing element 26 which surrounds the spike 25.

The tubular section 2a is provided, at its upper end, with a collar 28 which serves as an upper abutment for the part 3. The tubular section 2ais further provided at its lower end with a beak which protrudes into a groove 29 in the part 3. The beak 30 serves as a lower abutment. Thus, the upper and lower abutments limit the relative sliding displacementof the parts 2, 3.

To permit the corkscrew 5 to be driven more satisfactorily' into a cork 33 which seals a neck'34 of a bottle, the part 2 may be provided with knurling 31.

As may be seen from FIG. 2, which shows a modification of part of the bottle. opener of FIG. 1, the part 3 need not be tubular but may have, at its upper end, a ring 35 which carries the O-

rings

6 and 7 and webs 36 which come to rest upon the neck of the bottle.

As shown by the modification illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5, the valve arrangement 10 may have, at its upper .end, a peripheral part 35 of octagonal cross-section.

' sufficiently far that the spike 25 pierces the gas cartridge 9, the actuating handle 40 is disengaged from the part 35 which is now within the part 2. The actuating handle 40 can now be removed and reversed, that is to say, positioned as illustrated in FIG. 4. in this position,

splines. on a cylindrical part 42 come into engagement with mating splines 19 provided on the periphery of the part-'2, Thus the corkscrew 5 can be driven into a cork on rotation of the actuating handle 40.

"in order to open a bottle, the corkscrew 5 is driven into the cork 33 until the bottle opener is in engagement with the neck 34 of the bottle. Thereupon, the push button 14 is depressed and the ball member 23 is lifted from the conical sealing surface 24. Gas flows from the gas cartridge 9 through the hollow spike 25, the grooves of the thrust bar 20, the bore 21 and the groove 22 into the cavity 8 and out of the latter through a bore 12 into the pressure chamber 4. As soon as the pressure which builds up in the pressure chamber 4 exceeds the frictional force between the cork 33 and'the neck 34 of thebottle, the part 3 slides relative to the part 2 which is fixed against the neck 34 of the bottle. Thus the cork is extracted.

The dimensions of the part 3 are so chosen that the cork is extracted slowly even in the case where pressure in the gas cartridge 9 is high. v

The two parts 2, 3 are displaceable-relative to one another by an amount at least equal to the length of the cork, thus the extracted cork is located totally within the part 3.

Because of the provision of the O-rings6, 7, 11 and the sealing element 26, during extraction of the cork, gas consumption is limited to the amount of gas requiredto till the pressure chamber 4, the bore 12, the cavity 8, the groove 22, the bore 21, the thrust bar 20 and the hollow spike 25.

When the push button 14 is released, the ball member' 23 seats against theconicalsealing surface so that the plunger 15 moves upwardly. The bore 18 thus communicates with the atmosphere so that the pressure prevailing in the pressure chamber 4, the cavity 8 etc. is released and becomes equal to atmospheric pressure. Subsequently, the part 3 can be slid into the part 2 and the cork 3 becomes easily accessible so that it can be removed from the corkscrew 5. The bottle opener is ready to be used again. Optionally, a radial bore (not shown) may also be provided in the section 2a which radial bore is exposed after the required displacement of the part 3 relative to the part 2, so that the pressure chamber'4 is vented and the displacement is thereby limited.

The bottle opener is preferably made of light metal or hard plastics material. The gas cartridge 9 may be of the conventional type which has a charge of carbon dioxide gas and'which has been developed for use with soda syphons. The pressure of carbon dioxide in a conventional gas cartridge is approximately 40 atmospheres at 22C and this is sufficient to enable the bot-.

tle' opener to be used "30 to 50 times. a

Because a slow build-up of pressure occurs in the pressure chamber 4, the two parts 2, 3 are uniformly mutually displaced and so the bottle opener has the advantage that the corkscrew is prevented from tearing out of the cork.

Because such a bottle opener can be handled like a conventional corkscrew, it can be used even when the gas cartridge is exhausted. Since, furthermore, the gas does not enter the bottle, the bottle cannot explode and no deterioration of the liquid contained in the bottle, for example, wine, by the gas occurs.

The bottle opener is suitable for opening partially emptied bottles and for removing leaky corks and also torn-off champagne corks. lt canalso be used for removing corks" fabricated of plastics material. By virtue of its construction, furthermore, the bottle opener consumes the minimum possible quantity of propellant gas. Due to the fact that the gas cartridge is arranged within the parts 2, 3 a space saving construction is achieved and the bottle opener can therefore be given a highly convenient shape.

Corks of any desired types can be therefore removed from bottles without difficulty with the bottle opener described above, whilst avoiding the difficulties inherent in the prior art. More particularly, as soon as the corkscrew has been screwed into the cork, no force is required to remove the cork from the neck of the bottle, and actuation of the bottle opener can be effected by only one hand,

I claim:

l. A bottle opener comprising: two parts which are mounted for sliding displacement relative to one another; a pressure chamber defined by the two parts; a corkscrew extending from one part which is of approximately cylindrical shape, the said one part being .slidable within the other part which, in operation, is in engagement with the neck of a bottle; and a cavity defined within the said one part, the cavity being accessible from an end opposite the end from which the corkscrew extends and being dimensioned to receivea gas cartridge and valve means, the arrangement being such that, in operation, actuation of the valve means causes gas to flow from the gas cartridge into the pressure chamber whereby the two parts'are displaced and the cork is extracted from the bottle. 7

2. A bottle opener as claimed in claim 1 in which said other part at least partially surrounds a part of the cavrty.

3. A bottle opener as claimed in claim lin which the said one part has an axially extending annular space 5. A bottle opener as claimed in claim 1 in which the cavity is dimensioned substantially to the shape of a given gas cartridge.

6. A bottle opener comprisingi two parts which are mounted for displacement relative to one another; a pressure chamber defined by the two parts; a corkscrew extending from one part which is of approximately cylindrical shape, the said one part being slidable within the other part which, in operation, is in engagement with a neck of a bottle; a cavity defined within the said one part, the cavity being accessible from an end opposite the end from which the corkscrew extends and being dimensioned to receive a gas cartridge; and valve means actuation of which causes gas to flow from the gas cartridge into the pressure chamber whereby the two parts are displaced and the cork is extracted from the bottle.

7. A bottle opener as claimed in claim 6 in which the valve means and the said one part are provided with different peripheral sections, a handle having apertures of a shape corresponding to the peripheral sections being provided so that the handle, when in a first position, allows the valve means to be screwed into said one part and, when in a second position, allows the cork-

Claims

1. A bottle opener comprising: two parts which are mounted for sliding displacement relative to one another; a pressure chamber defined by the two parts; a corkscrew extending from one part which is of approximately cylindrical shape, the said one part being slidable within the other part which, in operation, is in engagement with the neck of a bottle; and a cavity defined within the said one part, the cavity being accessible from an End opposite the end from which the corkscrew extends and being dimensioned to receive a gas cartridge and valve means, the arrangement being such that, in operation, actuation of the valve means causes gas to flow from the gas cartridge into the pressure chamber whereby the two parts are displaced and the cork is extracted from the bottle.

2. A bottle opener as claimed in claim 1 in which said other part at least partially surrounds a part of the cavity.

3. A bottle opener as claimed in claim 1 in which the said one part has an axially extending annular space therein in which the said other part is guided, the two parts being sealed with respect to each other to define the pressure chamber.

4. A bottle opener as claimed in claim 3 in which the said one part comprises two tubular sections fixed together.

5. A bottle opener as claimed in claim 1 in which the cavity is dimensioned substantially to the shape of a given gas cartridge.

6. A bottle opener comprising: two parts which are mounted for displacement relative to one another; a pressure chamber defined by the two parts; a corkscrew extending from one part which is of approximately cylindrical shape, the said one part being slidable within the other part which, in operation, is in engagement with a neck of a bottle; a cavity defined within the said one part, the cavity being accessible from an end opposite the end from which the corkscrew extends and being dimensioned to receive a gas cartridge; and valve means actuation of which causes gas to flow from the gas cartridge into the pressure chamber whereby the two parts are displaced and the cork is extracted from the bottle.

7. A bottle opener as claimed in claim 6 in which the valve means and the said one part are provided with different peripheral sections, a handle having apertures of a shape corresponding to the peripheral sections being provided so that the handle, when in a first position, allows the valve means to be screwed into said one part and, when in a second position, allows the corkscrew to be rotated.