WO2003068661A1

WO2003068661A1 - Corkscrew

Info

Publication number: WO2003068661A1
Application number: PCT/NL2003/000122
Authority: WO
Inventors: Patrick Lambertus Kerkhof; Eelco Jan Gerardus Witteveen; Arnoud Willem Zweekhorst
Original assignee: Vacu Vin Innovations Ltd.
Priority date: 2002-02-18
Filing date: 2003-02-18
Publication date: 2003-08-21
Also published as: AU2003211328A1; NL1019986C2

Abstract

Mounting of a corkscrew to a bottle is proposed, comprising a receptacle for the top part of the neck and two limbs of different lengths which engage on different sides of the bottle. Each of the two limbs is provided, in the vicinity of the end, with a support, which is preferably made from rubber. Attaching the corkscrew to the bottle by means of a tilting movement makes it possible to provide a fixed engagement between the bottle and the corkscrew.

Description

CORKSCREW

The present invention relates to a corkscrew, comprising a support, which is to be placed onto a bottle and is provided with engagement means for engaging on a bottle, and a cork-removing part, which is connected to the support, said engagement means comprise a first point of support, which is designed to lie above the top edge of the said bottle, a second point of support, which is arranged at a first distance from the first point of support in the direction away from the cork-removing part and which is designed to engage on the neck of the bottle, and a third support point, which is arranged at a second distance from the first point of support in the direction away from the cork-removing part, said second distance being greater than the said first distance, and said second and third support points delimiting between them a space for receiving the said bottle.

A corkscrew of this type is known from US-A-4,377,069.

The prior art has proposed numerous retaining means which are used to connect the support of the corkscrew and the bottle to one another in a stable way. This firstly makes it possible to concentrate completely on the removal of the cork, i.e. there is no need to pay any further attention during removal of the cork to the correct positioning of the support with respect to the bottle. Secondly, this allows certain automatically operating corkscrews to function. In this connection, reference is made to European patent EP 0847370B1, in the name of Vacu Products B.V.

Although systems of tins type are quite satisfactory, they are complicated. This complication applies to both their production and their operation. For operation, it is necessary for the operator to know that he needs to carry out an additional step in order to couple the corkscrew to the bottle.

US-4,377,069 discloses a corkscrew comprising two elastically deformable limbs which extend along the bottle neck and on one hand can rest on the thickened portion at the top of the bottle neck and on the other hand can rest on the widening part of the bottle neck. Depending on the dimensions of the bottle, engagement may or may not take place. A design of this type is unable to retain the corkscrew on the bottle, i.e. to provide an engagement force when the spiral screw is being screwed in.

The object of the present invention is to provide a corkscrew with retaining means in which the retaining means can be of simple design and in which coupling of the bottle and the retaining means can be implemented in a simple way.

This object is realised, in a corkscrew of the type described above, in that said engagement means comprise retaining means, and said three points of support are arranged in such a manner that a positive lock is obtained when the corkscrew is placed onto a bottle.

According to the invention, the use of three points of support which are fixed with respect to one another when the corkscrew is being positioned on the neck of the bottle results in a positive lock in various directions. The corkscrew can easily be placed onto the bottle and this positive lock is achieved immediately after the corkscrew has been placed onto the bottle. The positioning of the second and third points of support are responsible for determining the positive lock. Their positioning is partly determined by the use of the corkscrew. If it is intended to use the corkscrew for the widest possible range of bottles and in particular bottle necks, the distance between the first and third points of support will be relatively short. However, if a limited group is intended, this distance can be large and the action of the positive lock is optimized. If the second point of support is closer to the third support point, the freedom of movement of the corkscrew is limited to a considerable extent. This makes handling more difficult, i.e. it is more difficult to place the corkscrew onto the bottle.

The fact that the second point of support and the third support point are at a certain distance from one another allows the clamping attachment to the bottle to be effected by means of a tilting motion. In this case, the second point of support will as far as possible remain pressed onto the bottle, and the third support point will move away from or towards the bottle, unlike the movements of vertical pushing along the axis of the related bottle which are known in the prior art. Only this tilting movement allows the corkscrew to be secured to a bottle in a positively locking manner. Therein it is necessary for the corkscrew, while it is being used, to lie in line with the centre axis of the bottle. After all, if it is tilted the positively locking retention of a bottle neck is eliminated.

This means that the first and second distances are determined by the range of bottle neck diameters, by the range of lengths of the bottle neck, by the range of diameters of the top of the bottle and by the ease with which it must be possible for the corkscrew to be placed on the bottle.

By way of example, values of 25-35 and 55-65 are mentioned for the abovementioned first and second distances.

Although it is possible to apply the second and third support points on an imaginary cylinder which is arranged around the bottle, in which case this cylinder will of course extend no further than the second point of support, according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention it is provided that the second and third support points are arranged on limbs which extend at an angle from the said support.

As described above, the retaining means can be used for any type of corkscrew. One example of this is spiral corkscrews in all possible embodiments. These range from a simple spiral corkscrew with a handle and a spiral screw through a complicated corkscrew as described in European patent EP 0847370B1.

However, it is also possible for the retaining means described above to be used in combination with other types of corkscrews.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to an exemplary embodiment illustrated in the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a corkscrew according to the invention; Fig. 2 shows a cross section through the said corkscrew when it has been placed onto a bottle,

Fig. 3 shows a cross section at 90° to the corkscrew shown in Fig. 2, in the position in which it has been placed onto a bottle; and

Fig. 4 shows the cross section shown in Fig. 3 when the corkscrew is being put onto or removed from a bottle.

Fig. 1-3 show a corkscrew according to the invention. The corkscrew shown in these figures is denoted overall by 31 and comprises a support 32 provided with a socket-like part or first point of support 40. The radius of this "socket" is preferably slightly smaller than that of the intended bearing point on the bottle. In this case, optimum engagement will be provided as a result of deformation of the rubber when it is pressed onto the bottle. Moreover, a second point of support 35 and a third support point 36 are present. These are both designed as a rubber part which has been quick-fitted into limbs 34, 33. The interior of the rubber parts 35 and 36 is designed in such a manner that it is slightly in the shape of a socket, i.e. matched to the external shape of a bottle neck. The distance between the first point of support 40 and the second point of support 35 is denoted by A, and the distance from the first point of support to the third support point is denoted by B. In this example, A is approximately 27 mm and B is approximately 57 mm. The second and third support points are arranged opposite one another. In the rubber part 35 and 36 there are recesses for improving engagement. The rubber part in the receptacle is provided with a resilient lip 41 in order to provide optimum centering and engagement on the top of the bottle. A spiral screw which is actuated by a handle 38 is denoted by 37.

Fig. 4 shows the operation of putting the corkscrew onto or removing it from a bottle. It can be seen from this figure that this positioning or removal operation involves tilting it with respect to the bottle, after which removal is possible. Tilting takes place about the second point of support 35. In the process, the corkscrew can be moved upward slightly and removed from the bottle. When it is being placed onto the bottle, the spiral will be moved upward and the handle 38 will move to a distance from the frame 32. The cork can be removed in the usual way by means of a screwing motion.

On reading the above text, the person skilled in the art will come up with numerous variants which lie within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. Corkscrew, comprising a support (2, 32), which is to be placed onto a bottle and is provided with engagement means for engaging on a bottle, and a cork-removing part, which is connected to the support, said engagement means comprise a first point of support (20, 40), which is designed to lie above the top edge of the said bottle, a second point of support (5, 35), which is arranged at a first distance (a, A) from the first point of support in the direction away from the cork-removing part and which is designed to engage on the neck of the bottle, and a third support point (6, 36), which is arranged at a second distance (b, B) from the first point of support in the direction away from the cork-removing part, said second distance (b, B) being greater than the said first distance (a, A), and the said second and third support points delimiting between them a space for receiving the said bottle, characterized in that said engagement means comprise retaining means, and said three support points are arranged in such a manner that a positive lock is obtained when the corkscrew is placed onto a bottle.

2. Corkscrew as claimed in claim 1, in which the said second and third support points are arranged on two limbs (3, 33; 4, 34) which extend at an angle from said support.

3. Corkscrew as claimed in one of the preceding claims, in which the said first point of support comprises a socket-shaped receptacle for the top of the said bottle.

4. Corkscrew as claimed in claim 3, in which the said socket comprises a resiliently deformable inner boundary.

5. Corkscrew as claimed in one of the preceding claims, in which said cork-removing part comprises a spiral screw (37).

6. Corkscrew as claimed in one of the preceding claims, in which said second and third support points each comprise a rubber part which engages on the bottle.