WO2003084858A1

WO2003084858A1 - Pocket corkscrew

Info

Publication number: WO2003084858A1
Application number: PCT/IB2003/001239
Authority: WO
Inventors: Germano Centazzo
Original assignee: Effegi S.R.L.
Priority date: 2002-04-09
Filing date: 2003-04-04
Publication date: 2003-10-16
Also published as: ITPN20020023A1; AU2003214508A1

Abstract

The pocket corkscrew consists of a handle (1), a screw (6) and a propping group (2). The propping group (2) is constituted by a supporting element (3) and a cursor ( 4) which is slidably movable and positionab1e in at 1east two positions on said supporting element (3). The supporting e1ement (3) is provided with pairs of stepped portions (33-34) having teeth (331-341) on which are engaged the leaning elements (43) of the cursor (4). The cursor (4) is urged against the teeth (331-341) by a spring (5) which also prevents the cursor (4) from free1y sliding on the supporting element (3). The supporting element (3) is also provided with teeth (351) for 1ocking said cursor (4). The possibility of moving the cursor ( 4) between at least two positions on the supporting element (3) allows the extraction of the cork from the bottle in at least two stages, making it possible to reduce the effort of the user.

Description

"Pocket corkscrew"

The present invention relates to a pocket corkscrew which is particularly shaped for reducing the minimum effort required for extracting corks from the bottles. Said effect, that is to say the reduction of the extraction effort, is obtained by means of a device allowing a variable length of that component which is commonly named "lever" by the persons skilled in the art.

In fact, said "lever" component is a really effective propping element of the corkscrew which rests on the outside mouth rim of the bottle neck to perform the entire extraction of the cork in two or more stages. Several types of corkscrews are well known at the present state and they are made in different manner with widely varied shapes and/or more or less functional devices for reducing the minimum effort required for extracting corks from the bottles. All the systems and/or the solutions of the state of the art often entail a constructive and functional complexity. The known corkscrew usually involve the assembly of several parts and require high production costs. Consequently, the known corkscrews are very expensive

for the corkscrew producer and also for the corkscrew user. Furthermore, the known corkscrews make often little improvements in the mode of utilization and in the reduction of the extraction effort. Therefore, they are not practical for ordinary users and may be more suited for professional operators, such as waiters, caterers and the like which are almost all able to use the cork¬

screw in a completely proper way.

Moreover, there are known corkscrews which permit the extraction of the cork in two stages, that is to say, by means of two leamng points of the propping element. Said leaning points are precisely constituted by a first leaning element and a se- cond movable leaning element which is pivoted to one end of the first leamng element, both elements being formed on the same propping element. The use of such solution normally entails some considerable drawbacks. For example, during the cork extraction, the user needs to release the hand in order to change the leamng point of the propping element and, consequently, the bottle

can slide off the hands of the user thus causing various damages and losses. The object of the present invention is to provide a corkscrew which solves the above stated constructive and/or functional drawbacks of the known corkscrews. A possible practical embodiment of this corkscrew is hereinafter described, by way of an illustrative and non-limiting example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

- the Figure 1 shows a side view of a corkscrew according to the present invention with its components placed in an open position ready to be used for drawing a cork; - the Figure 2 is a longitudinal cross section of the element which supports the propping element of the corkscrew on the mouth rim of the neck of the bottle;

- the Figures 3 e 4 are longitudinal cross sections of a "cursor" which is slidably placed on the support of the figure 2 and which forms the propping point during the uncorking stages; - the Figure 5 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken on the line I - 1 of Figure

3;

- the Figures 6 , 7 and 8 are perspective views showing the components of the propping group, and more precisely : the Figure 6 illustrates the basic support element, the Figure 7 shows the "cursor" which is slidably positionable on the above mentioned element of the Figure 6, and the Figure 8 illustrates the leaf spring which is interposed between the two elements of the Figures 6 and 7;

- the Figure 9 is a perspective view of the corkscrew of the Figure 1 with its components ready to be used for an extraction operation;

- the Figure 10 is a side view of the corkscrew in an initial operating position of the first uncorking stage;

- the Figure 11 is a side view of the corkscrew in a final operating position of the first uncorking stage;

- the Figure 12 is a side view, as the Figure 10, of the corkscrew in an initial operating position of the second uncorking stage;

- the Figure 13 is always a side view of the corkscrew in an operating position before the total extraction of the cork as well as in the position, indicated by light dot-dashed lines, of the total removal of the cork.

In the above mentioned figures, the same numerical references have been used to mark equal or similar parts. As can be seen by referring to the Figure 1, the corkscrew according to the invention is substantially constituted by a normal handle 1, on one end of which (1)

is pivoted a supporting element 3 of a propping group 2.

Said propping group 2 differs from the traditional devices in that a "cursor" 4 is placed on said supporting element (3) and it is slidably movable and positionable in at least two positions on said supporting element (3).

A traditional screw 6 is traditionally pivoted on said handle 1 at a convenient distance from the pivoting point of the supporting element 3 of said propping group 2. As it is well known, the corkscrew works according to the principle of the lever. In particular, the corkscrew represents a second-class lever, the fulcrum of which is constituted by the portions 45 of the wings 44 protruding from the "cursor"4, which bear on the mouth rim of the bottle to be uncorked. The external force FA is exerted on the handle 1 and the resistance point is located at a position which is intermediate between said fulcrum and the point where the force FA is applied, and more particularly at the position through which said screw 6 is pivotally mounted on the handle 1.

With reference to the Figure 1, it is to be noted that the corkscrew according to the present invention is constituted by a noπnal handle 1, of usual shape, to which a traditional common screw 6 is secured in the usual manner. Said corkscrew differs from the ordinary cork-extracting devices in that the propping group 2 is constituted by a "cursor" 4 which is slidably movable and positionable along a respective propping support element 3.

As is most clearly seen in the Figures 3 and 4, the embodiment illustrated in the above mentioned drawings provides a "cursor" which could be preferably placed in two different positions. As will be made clear by the specification, the "cursor" 4 could also be placed in more than two positions.

With reference to the Figure 2, it is to be noted that the support element 3 comprises two "steps" 33 and 34 which, as clearly shown in the Figures 3 , 4 , 10 , 11 , 12 e 13 of the drawings, will permit to place said "cursor" 4 on the support element 3 of the propping group 2 in a first initial working position (Figures 3, 10 and 11) and in a second final working position (Figures 4, 12 and 13). The possibility of slidably moving the "cursor" 4 on the outer part of the support element 3 of the propping group 2 is clearly shown in the Figure 5. As it is to be noted in said Figure 5 as well as in the Figure 6, the support element 3 presents a "C" shaped cross section comprising a pair of lateral parallel 32 wings which are orthogonally extending from a transverse wall 31. The upper ends of said lateral wings 32 terminate with semicircular shaped portions S. Said semicircular shaped portions are inwardly connected to arcuate portions A, which, in their turn, terminate inwardly in hollow portions I forming a suitable tool which is usable for removing crown caps. Said support element 3 is pivotally attached to the corresponding end of said handle 1 by means of a pin P which is mounted in the center of the semicircular shaped portions S. The hollow portions I form two suitable and inwardly inclined portions 35 in the edges of said pair of lateral wings 32. At the end of said portions 35, there are ob- tained two first portions which are re-entering and directed towards the transverse wall 31 for a convenient distance (which is at least as great as the thickness of the sheet metal constituting the cursor 4) thus forming respective first steps 33 having their longitudinal edges placed in a position which is parallel to said transverse wall 31. It is evident that the upper ends of said steps 33 form respective teeth 331, the function of which will be described in greater detail below. Said portions forming said first steps 33 are extending for a length which is prefe¬

rably shorter than the length of the cursor 4. Two further re-entering portions forming further second steps 34 are obtained in correspondence with the ends of said first step 33. The ends of said second steps 34 , which are adjacent the ends of the previous first steps 33, penetrate as much as the steps (33) thus forming respective teeth 341.

Said second steps 34 are extending outwardly inclined for a length which is equal or slightly longer than the length of the cursor 4 in order to allow said cur- sor 4 to penetrate and to place in them. The recess generating the second steps 34 terminates, at the lower end of said second steps 34, in a little protruding portion 35 forming a tooth 351 which has a width equal to the width of the previous teeth 331 and 341 and is connected to the free end of said support element 3 by means of an edge R conformed as an

arc of a circle.

As it is to be noted always in said Figure 5 as well as in the Figure 7, the cursor 4 also presents a substantially "C" shaped conformation.

As previously stated, the cursor 4 has a length which is equal or slightly longer than the length of said second steps 34 and, moreover, it is sized so as to be able to freely slide along the respective support element 3.

In detail, as is most particularly seen in Figure 5, the transverse wall 41, from which depart the two lateral wings 42, has a width sligthly greater than the width of the transverse wall 31 of said support element 3 and its lateral wings 42 present a width fairly greater than the maximum width of the lateral wings 32 of the

support element.

In other words, the lateral wings 42 present a fairly more width than the distance between the transverse wall 31, from which are departing the lateral wings 32, and the vertex of the tooth 35 in such a way as to create a space, between the two transverse walls 31 (inner) and 41 (outer). As is most particularly seen in Figures 3 and 4, said space is able to contain a spring 5 which urges the transverse walls 31 and 41, of the support element 3 and cursor 4 respectively, away from each other.

The respective ends of said two lateral wings 42 terminate in two short opposing portions which are inwardly folded as well as parallel to the respective transverse wall 41 so that they can form respective elements 43 for supporting the cursor 4 on the outer edges of the teeth 33 and 34 which are made , as already described, over the terminal edges of the lateral wings 32 of the support element 3. From the ends of said leaning elements 43 extend perpendicularly two further triangular wings 44 having a length which is conveniently shorter than the length of the respective cursor 4 and they are protruding in such a way as to allow their respective lower sides 45 to engage the upper rim of the bottle neck.

For the sake of clarity, it will now be described in greater detail the particular conformation of said spring 5 which, as stated above and clearly seen in the Figures 1 , 3 , 4 , 10 , 11 , 12 and 13, is placed between the support element 3 and the cursor 4.

In fact, as particularly shown in the Figure 8, said spring 5 is made of an elastic deformable metallic foil 51 which presents a substantially rectangular shape having a width equal or slightly smaller than the width of the transverse wall 41 of said cursor 4. The body of said spring is curved and it extends for a length equal or slightly longer than the length of said transverse wall 41 . The ends of said spring have slightly protruding portions 52 which engage, internally, the upper and lower edges of the lateral wings 42 in order to properly assure the position of the spring into the space created between the said transverse walls 31 and 41. On the basis of what has been described, it is evident that the cursor 4 on the re- spective support element 3 is very simple to assemble and to use.

After inserting of said spring 5 into the inner space of the cursor 4 and the positioning of the same spring against the inner surface of the transverse wall 41, the free end of the supporting element 3 is inserted into said cursor 4 through the upper opening thereof.

By pushing the free end of the support element 3 into said cursor 4, the portions 49 of the upper ends of the leaning elements 43 strike against the surfaces of the arc-shaped edges R of the protruding portions 35 in the free end of the support element 3. By continuing the insertion, the cursor 4 is shoved against said support element 3 and it deforms the spring 5 which urges said cursor 4 and said support element 3 away from each other.

Thus, the cursor 4 slides in the interior of said support element until its leaning elements 43 climb the vertex of the tooth 351. At this point, the spring 5 urges said leaning elements 43 against the respective edges of the steps 34 and provides a positioning of the cursor 4 as illustrated in the Figure 4. In this position, said portions 49 of the upper ends of the leaning elements 43 strike against the respec¬

tive teeth 341 causing the stop and the removable attachment of said cursor 4 to the respective support element 3.

For passing to the following innermost position, which is illustrated in the Figure 3, it is sufficient that the user pushes the cursor 4 against the support element 3 in such a way as to displace said portions 49 of the upper ends of the leaning elements 43 beyond the vertexes of the teeth 341, then, by pressing constantly the cursor 4 against the support element 3, the user can push said cursor 4 towards the following upper portion of the support element 3. The leaning elements 43 slide on the outer surfaces of the edges of the following steps 33 until their respective portions 49 collide with the corresponding following teeth 331 which cause their stop and, therefore, allow the cursor 4 to operate in the following position illustrated in the Figure 3.

From the above, it is clear that it is possible to invert the order of the described sequential operations and to pass from one position to another with a maximum

safety and simplicity. After the description of the structural and operational composition as well as of the basic components of the entire corkscrew forming the object of the present invention, it is now described its manner of operating by referring to the Figures 10, 11, 12 and 13. As illustrated in the Figures 1 and 9, the propping group 2 and the screw 6 are initially disposed outside the handle 1, then the free end of the screw 6 is disposed on the cork of the bottle and it is normally rotated and driven into the cork. After the cursor 4 has been placed in the initial operating position (see Figures 1 , 3 and 9), the handle 1 is rotated downwardly, that is to say towards the bottle, and it is positioned as illustrated in the Figure 10.

Then, the propping group 2 is pushed towards the screw 6, that is to say towards the bottle, and the lower ends (45) of the triangular wings (44) which are protruding from the cursor 4, are positioned for resting on the teπninal rim of the bottle neck. Therefore, the apparatus is now disposed in the position represented in the Figure 10.

At this point, the user begins the cork extraction process by applying an upward pull FA on the handle 1, that is to say, moving the handle away from the bottle to pass to the position shown in the Figure 11 (or also to a slightly higher position). Thus, a first stage of the extraction process has been completed, but the completion of said first cork extraction is not sufficient to completely remove the cork from the bottle.

During a second stage of the extraction process, the user firstly rotates the handle 1 again downwardly to the position shown in the Figure 12 and, then, it displaces the cursor 4 into the second final position. After which, the propping group 2 is approached to the bottle neck in such a way as to allow the repositioning of the lower ends (45) of the triangular wings (44), which are protruding from the cursor 4, on the bottle neck. At this point , the user repeates the operation described in the above mentioned first stage of the extraction, that is to say that the user applies an upward pull FA

on the handle 1 and it moves said handle to the position shown in the Figure 13 which is substantially identical to the position illustrated in the Figure 11. The handle 1, as can be seen by referring to Figure 13, may also be displaced fairly beyond the final position indicated by dot-dashed lines. This enables an increase of the cork extraction run that is extremely advantageous in the pulling out of corks of a greater length.

Clearly, the above operations can be carried out with both hands, by grasping the handle 1 of the corkscrew with one hand and holding the bottle neck with the other hand.

The operation can be carried out by the user by maintaining constantly the hands in contact with the corkscrew handle 1 and the neck of the bottle, thus allowing the operator to carry out both uncorking stages with a considerable safety and efficiency. In fact, the user never needs to release and re-engage either hand on the ensemble corkscrew/bottle, thus minimizing the risk of sliding of the triangular wings 44 on the bottle mouth as well as of disengaging of the hand from the bottle neck. It is evident that the corkscrew of this invention ensures a considerable simplicity and operational safety during the whole uncorking operation. Moreover it allows to obtain the remarkable advantage of reducing the minimum effort required for the uncorking operation by dividing the complete extraction of the cork into at least two followings stages.

It is well understood that modifications and variations may be made to the corkscrew foπning the object of the present invention without departing however from the scope defined by the following claims with reference to the accompany- ing drawings and thence from the protection extent of the present industrial invention.

Claims

1) Pocket corkscrew substantially constituted in a known way by a handle (1) which is formed by a conveniently shaped longitudinal element on one end of which is pivoted a propping device suitable for engaging, with one of its parts, the rim of the bottle neck to be uncorked and a screw (6), having a particular traditional shape allowing its insertion into a cork by screwing, which is pivoted at an intermediate position and at a convenient distance from the propping element, said corkscrew being characterized in that said propping device is constituted by a particular propping group (2) formed by a support element (3) and a "cursor" (4) which is externally disposed on the support element (3) and slidably positionable in at least two positions, said support element (3) being substantially constituted by a little arm which is longitudinally extending for a length approximately equal to the length of said screw (6), said little arm presents a "C" shaped cross section and at least two pairs of re- cessed portions formed on the edges of its lateral wings (32) in such a way that the recessed portions constitute respective pairs of steps (33-34), said

cursor (4) being constituted by a short element which is substantially "C" shaped and having the lateral wings (42) which are partially closed again by means of short portions forming respective leamng elements (43), said lea- ning elements (43) being suited to engage the edges of said steps (33-34) and presenting a width which is greater to the widths of the lateral wings (32) of said support element (3) in such a way that a space is obtained between the transverse wall of said cursor (4) and the transverse wall of said support element (3), a spring (5) is inserted into said space and is suited to maintain the respective transverse walls (31-41) separated from each other and, therefore, to maintain said leaning elements (43) of said cursor (4) to be urged con¬

stantly against the edge surfaces of the lateral wings (32) of said support element (3) and, therefore, against the portions of corresponding steps (33-34) in such a way that, when said cursor (4) is positioned in correspondence of one of said steps (33-34), the portions (49), which are resulting at the upper ends of said leaning elements (43), strike against the surfaces of respective pairs of teeth (331-341) which are ensuring the stop of the cursor in the desired position , from the ends of said leaning elements (43) extend respective triangular wings (44) having lower sides which are suited to lean on the rim of the bottle

neck to be uncorked, the disposition of said cursor (4) on the respective support element (3) , in a first position adjacent said pivoting point of this latter, permits to carry out a first stage of the partial cork extraction, the following disposition of said cursor (4) in correspondence of the free end of said support element (3) enables to carry out a second stage of the extraction which is suitable to obtain the completion of cork extraction.

2) Pocket corkscrew according to the claim 1, characterized in that the recessed portions, forming the pair of steps (34) on the lateral wings (32) of said support element (3) and disposed in the distal portion of the latter (3), present a length which is at least equal or slightly longer than the length of the cursor (4) , while those forming the following pair of innermost steps (33) present a length which is shorter than the length of the cursor (4).

3) Pocket corkscrew according to the claim 2, characterized in that two or more following pairs of steps can be provided in place of only one pair of steps (33) which are resulting internally with respect to the outer steps (34), for dividing

the cork extraction into more than two stages. 4) Pocket corkscrew according to the preceding claims characterized in that said

spring (5) is made of an elastic deformable thin metallic foil (51) which presents a substantially rectangular shape that is conveniently lengthwise curved and sized so as to be inserted in the space created between the outer surface of the transverse wall (31) of the support element (3) and the opposed inner surface of the transverse wall (41) of said cursor (4).

5) Pocket corkscrew according to the claims 1 and 4 characterized in that the ends of the central portion of said spring (5), which is extending for a length

equal to the length of said perimetrical walls (41-42-43) of the cursor (4), ha- ve suitable pairs of laterally protruding portions (52) which are suited for assuring the position of said spring (5) into said application space. On behalf of EFFEGI S.r.l. for AGENZIABRENETTI TORDENONE"

Da Riva Ermanno