WO2004074161A1

WO2004074161A1 - Professional corkscrew, of the type with a lever particularly suited to the extraction of long corks

Info

Publication number: WO2004074161A1
Application number: PCT/IT2004/000063
Authority: WO
Inventors: Daniele Farfalli; Gianluigi Fortunato
Original assignee: Daniele Farfalli; Gianluigi Fortunato
Priority date: 2003-02-19
Filing date: 2004-02-17
Publication date: 2004-09-02
Also published as: ITVI20030033A1

Abstract

The invention in question relates to a wine-waiter corkscrew of the lever type that is particularly suited to the extraction of long corks that offer considerable resistance in particular in the final phase of the extraction itself. The corkscrew in question includes, as in the traditional styles, a partially hollow handle (1) to which the worm (2) to be screwed into the cork and a boot lever (3) To support the edge of the bottle are hinged, and is characterized in that said boot lever is linked to a shaped element (5) hinged at the top part to the handle. A shaped element that, being linked to a second pin (7), and being dragged in rotation by the boot lever in the final phase of the extraction, makes said second pin slide along an arched slot (8) present at the top of the handle, thus lengthening the worm extraction stroke.

Description

DESCRIPTION PROFESSIONAL CORKSCREW. OF THE TYPE WITH A LEVER PARTICULARLY SUITED TO THE EXTRACTION OF LONG CORKS Technical Field According to the invention a manual corkscrew device of the type with lever is to be produced which is particularly suited to the extraction of long corks that offer considerable resistance above all in the final phase. Background Art The most common type of corkscrew in the aforementioned category substantially includes a partially hollow handle to which are hinged, in the proximity of the centreline, the worm to be screwed into the cork that is to be extracted from the bottle and, at the top of said handle, the boot lever intended to interact with the edge of the neck of the bottle during the extraction operation that occurs by upward traction exerted on the handle. In the closed corkscrew position the aforementioned worm is folded round its fulcrum and introduced into the cavity of the handle Similarly, said boot lever is folded around its fulcrum to partially contain said worm to reduce the overall encumbrance. In the open corkscrew position the worm is instead found with its axial development approximately perpendicular to that of the handle and the boot lever is rotated out just enough to avoid obstructing the screwing manoeuvre of said worm in the cork that is to be extracted. Once this manoeuvre has been carried out the operator carries the serration present at the free end of the said boot lever with one hand, positioning it in contact with the edge of the neck of the bottle and this contact is maintained by clenching the fist around said neck during the cork extraction manoeuvre. This manoeuvre takes place through the work of the operator's other hand that lifts the handle with upward tensile stress. If the cork to be extracted is short enough, the total extraction of said cork could be carried out one a single upward manoeuvre, without intermediate restarts. However, in the case of long corks the total cork extraction operation requires the operator to carry out at least one intermediate restart preceded by the additional screwing of the worm into the body of said cork. It is completely evident that the main drawback presented by the aforementioned corkscrew typology resides in the discomfort of the manoeuvres illustrated above. Moreover, this discomfort is accentuated by the fact that, particularly in the extraction of the final part of the cork, the tensile stress meets greater resistance due to the invariance of the distance between the fulcrum of the worm and that of the boot lever. For this purpose a more recent professional corkscrew presents the top of the boot lever hinged in the region of the top of the handle, by means of a couple of fixed connecting pins of the two forked ends of the top of the boot lever. These fixed pins can slide transversely in a pair of slots during the cork extraction manoeuvre spontaneously varying the distance between the worm fulcrum and the rotation axis of the top of the boot lever, so as to facilitate the entire extraction manoeuvre for longer corks. However, even the latter type of professional corkscrew does not entirely satisfy the demand for the extraction of long corks in a single tensile manoeuvre without encountering efforts of partial difficulty, particularly in the final phase of the extraction itself. The invention in question intends to avoid the main drawbacks mentioned above. The main aim of said invention is therefore to allow the operator to operate with rapidity and agility, particularly in the extraction manoeuvres of very long corks that offer high resistance, above all in the final phase. The principal aim mentioned above is achieved by said invention that, in accordance with the content of the first claim, relates to a professional corkscrew of the lever type that includes a partially hollow handle to which the worm to be screwed into the cork that is to be extracted and a boot lever are hinged, said boot lever being positioned laterally to said worm on the opposite part to that of for the manual pressing of said hand grip, characterized in that said boot lever is connected to a shaped element by a first rotation pin, said shaped element being hinged at the top to said handle by means of said second rotation pin adjacent to said first rotation pin, said second rotation pin being capable of allowing said shaped element a limited oscillation with respect to said handle, said oscillation being limited by an arched slot with its centre on the axis of said second rotation pin and in which said first rotation pin slides transversely. In a preferred embodiment of the corkscrew in question, the aforementioned shaped element of the forked type, is hinged in correspondence to the second rotation pin and partially comes into contact with the attenuated top of the handle, this shaped element in turn partially coming into contact with the upper ends, also forked, of said boot lever in correspondence to the first rotation pin. In an operational variant that adheres to the same teachings, the aforementioned shaped element is obtained from a thin plate suitable for being interposed - between the two flanks in the form of a fork with which: the head of the handle is formed, this said shaped element being hinged to the two said flanks by means of the second rotation pin and supporting the first rotation pin that crosses the aforementioned arched slot present in said two flanks of the handle, which involve the upper ends, also forked, of said boot lever. The aims pursued by the invention will be better understood thanks to the following description, which relates mainly to the preferred embodiment mentioned above and that is supplemented by the drawings of the two enclosed tables, wherein: - Figure 1 shows a side view of the corkscrew in the closed position; - Figure 2 shows, again from a side view, said corkscrew in the open position and applied to the cork of a bottle at the initial extraction stage; - Figure 3 shows the same object in the final stage of extraction; - Figure 4 is an enlarged side view of the top of the handle showing the form of the above-mentioned shaped element; - Figure 5 frontally shows the same top part of the handle; - Figure 6 shows, again frontally, the different composition of the elements present in the top of the above-mentioned operational variant. The preferred embodiment of the conceived professional corkscrew is shown in through its fundamental components in Figures 1 to 3. These fundamental components are the handle 1 , the worm 2 to screw into the cork that is to be extracted and the boot lever 3 that is provided with a serration 31 intended for interacting with the edge of the neck of the bottle during the extraction manoeuvre of said cork. The handle 1 is usually partially hollow, to accept at least part of the blade 4 of a small knife often linked to the handle itself. Said handle 1 is also opportunely shaped for favour the accommodation of the worm 2 and of the boot lever 3 in the closed position in Figure 1 , and also to facilitate the operator's hand grip during the aforementioned extraction manoeuvre. The worm 2 is hinged to the handle 1 in the proximity of its centreline, while the boot lever 3 is hinged in correspondence to the top 11 of the handle 1 , namely on the part opposite to that of the grip, of the handle itself with respect to the hinging point 21 of the worm. The boot lever 3 is linked to a particular shaped element 5 by means of the first rotation pin 6, while said shaped element 5 is hinged in correspondence to the top 1 1 of the handle 1 by means of the second rotation pin 7 adjacent to the first rotation pin 6. Said second pin rotation 7 is suitable for allowing the shaped element 5 mentioned above, a limited oscillation with respect to the top 11 of the handle 1 , this oscillation being limited by the presence of the arched slot 8 visible in Figure 3, and more clearly in the enlargement of Figure 4. In fact, it is noted that the slot 8 has an arched development with its centre on the axis of the second rotation pin 7 and has a width suitable for allowing the transverse sliding of the first pin, for rotating 6 following the cork extraction manoeuvre, as will be better illustrated in the following description. Figure 5 underlines that in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the shaped element 5 is of the forked type, and is hinged to the top 11 of the handle in correspondence to the second rotation pin 7 and partially comes into contact with said top part, which is attenuated with respect to the remaining part of said handle. In turn, said shaped element 5 partially comes into contact with the upper ends 31 -32 of the boot lever 3 - ends also shaped in the form of a fork - in correspondence to the first rotation pin 6. In the operational variant in Figure 6 that adheres to the same inventive concepts mentioned previously, the aforementioned shaped element 5 is obtained from a thin plate 9 suitable for interposing between the two flanks 111-112 in the form of a fork with which the top 11 of the handle is formed. This shaped element 5-9 is hinged to the two aforementioned flanks by means of the second rotation pin 7 and supports the first rotation pin 6 that crosses the arched slot 8 present in said two flanks 111 -112 and that fastens onto the upper ends 31-32, also forked, of said boot lever 3, the upper ends of which involve said flanks. In the preferred embodiment of Figures 1 to 5, the anterior profile of said shaped element 5, indicated with 51 in Figures 3 and 4, is able to interact with the base 33 of engagement of the upper ends 31-32 in forked form of the boot lever 3, in the final phase of the cork extraction represented in Figure 3. It occurs in a similar way in the operational variant to which the view in Figure 6 makes reference. In the final phase of cork extraction shown in Figure 3, the aforementioned interaction provokes the contemporary rotation of the shaped element 5 that has become integral with the boot lever 3, around the second rotation pin 7. This rotation is allowed by the transverse sliding from top to bottom of the first rotation pin 6, along the development of the arched slot 8. In this way, by means of a single upward tensile manoeuvre exerted by the operator on the grip of the handle 1 , the main object of the invention is achieved, that is to say, to lengthen the extraction stroke of the cork caused by the descent of the first rotation pin 6, without however increasing the effort required, given that the lever arm remains substantially unaltered during the entire transverse sliding stroke of said first rotation pin 6 along the slot 8. From that which has been disclosed and illustrated above the invention in question achieves the pre-established aim. In the operational phase it will be possible to implement some modifications to the constructive details of the conceived lever- operated corkscrew, always remaining however in the field of inventive concepts disclosed previously. Every variant must remain protected by this invention.

Claims

Claims 1) A manual corkscrew device of the lever type including a handle ( 1) partially hollow to which the worm (2) to be screwed into the cork that is to be extracted and a boot lever (3) situated laterally to said worm on the part opposite to the hand grip of said handle are hinged, characterized in that said boot lever (3) is linked to a intermediate shaped element (5) by means of a first rotation pin (6), said intermediate shaped element (5) being hinged at the top to said handle by means of a second rotation pin (7) adjacent to said first rotation pin (6), said second rotation pin (7) being capable of permitting said intermediate shaped element (5) a limited oscillation with respect to the top (11) of said handle (1), said oscillation being limited by an arched slot (8) with its centre on the axis of said second rotation pin (7) and in which said first rotation pin (6) slides transversely. 2) A manual corkscrew device according to claim 1) characterized in that said intermediate shaped element (5) is of the forked type, and is hinged in correspondence to said second rotation pin (7) and partially involves the attenuated top part of said handle (1 ), said intermediate shaped element (5) being in turn partially involving the upper ends (31-32), also forked, of said boot lever (3) in correspondence to said first pin (6). 3) A manual corkscrew device according to claim 1) characterized in that said intermediate shaped element (5) is obtained from a thin plate (9) suitable for interposing between the two flanks (11 1 -112) in the form of a fork with which the top (11) of said handle (1 ) is formed, said intermediate shaped element (7) being hinged to said two flanks (1 1 1 -112) by means of said second rotation pin (7) and supporting said first rotation pin (6) that crosses said arched slot (8) present in said two flanks of said handle and that fasten onto the upper ends (31-32), also forked, of said boot lever (3) whose upper ends involve said flanks (1 1 1 -1 12). 4) A manual corkscrew device according to any of the previous claims characterized in that the anterior profile (51) of said intermediate shaped element (5) is able to interact with the engagement base (33) of said upper ends (31-32) in fork form of said boot lever (3), in the final phase of cork extraction, to provoke the transverse sliding of said first rotation pin (6) along the development of said arched slot (8).