1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bottle opener for a bottle having a cork. More specifically, the invention relates to a bottle opener adapted to open a variety of bottle sizes and shapes by employing an insert to adapt to the various geometries.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Rustic or antique wine openers, made of timeless, robust materials, such as iron and wood, are classic. These openers are not only attractive, but functional. One variety of such an opener has a wood base and an iron rack and pinion extraction system. However, their functionality is limited.
Bottles that have stoppers inserted in the neck of the bottle, generically, referred to herein as “corked bottles”, regardless of material, come in a variety of shapes and sizes. This is especially true of wine bottles, which vary from a long thin bottle popular with a Moscato to a larger bottle, for example, a Pinot Noir. However, the antique iron bottle openers are not capable of accommodating or uncorking a variety of bottle sizes.
An antique bottle opener that has the flexibility to open a variety of bottles would be desirable. By combining a rustic or antique bottle opener with flexible bottle opening options, an attractive and functional bottle opener would result.
Thus, it is desirable to provide an antique bottle opener with modem bottle opening flexibility.
A device for removing a cork from a bottle comprises a corkscrew assembly having a corkscrew portion and a handle portion. A base having a carrier fixedly mounted thereto, where the carrier has a first end and second end, slidably supports a rack. The rack has a plurality of teeth disposed thereon and a yoke for receiving the corkscrew handle at a first end.
A pinion is pivotally mounted to the carrier, the pinion having a plurality of teeth and a lever extending radially from the pinion. The pinion is disposed in such manner to enable the pinion teeth to engage the rack teeth so as to convert rotational motion from the lever and pinion to linear motion of the rack, whereby torque exerted upon the lever will cause the rack to translate along a longitudinal axis.
A retainer ring is mounted adjacent to the first end of the carrier. An insert is disposed in the ring. The ring and insert have a slot sufficiently wide to permit a bottle neck to be placed within the insert and ring. The insert and ring permit bottles of varying diameters and geometry to be opened by the device.
Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from analysis of the following written description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.
a is a front view of one embodiment of an insert according to the principles of the present invention;
b is a plan view of the insert of
Referring now to
A pinion 30 having a plurality of teeth 32 and an actuator lever 34 is pivotally mounted to the carrier 12. The teeth 32 disposed on the pinion 30 mesh with the succession of teeth 22 on the rack 20. The actuator lever 34 extends from the pinion 30 whereby torque applied to the lever 34 causes the pinion 30 to rotate or pivot and transfer torque to the teeth 32 of the pinion 30. As the pinion gear turns, the interengaged teeth 22 and 32 operate to slide the rack 20 towards the opposite ends 14 and 16 of the carrier 12, depending on which way the actuator lever is turned.
Referring also to
As shown in
The insert 50 has a slot 55 extending between the ends 51 and 58 sized to permit the neck of a bottle to pass therethrough and be placed within the insert. When disposed within the retainer 18, the slots 19 and 55 are juxtaposed and permit the neck of the bottle to be received in the insert. The bottle opening device 10 accommodate bottles of varying shapes and sizes.
In the present embodiment, the top outer diameter 52 is smaller than the bottom outer diameter 54. As such, a bottle will contact either or both of the interior wall 57 and the base ring 58, depending on the geometry of the bottle. However, it should become readily apparent to those skilled in the art that any suitable exterior shape may be employed.
The insert 50 may be formed of plastic, nylon, hard rubber or any suitable elastomeric or polymeric material known in the art.
Additionally, it is to be appreciated that the present invention may be provided as a plurality of inserts to define a kit, each having a different inner diameter size and inner cross sectional shape.
Referring now also to
A user applies force to the actuator lever 34, which provides a torque about the pinion 30. The torque is transferred from the pinion 30 as a rotation force from the teeth 32 of the pinion 30 to the teeth 22 of the rack 20 as a linear force to the rack 20 along the axis 4. As the lever 34 is rotated clockwise, the rack 20 is forced to move away from the retainer 18 and an axial outward pulling force is applied to the corkscrew assembly 40. As the bottle is restrained from movement toward the second end 16 of the carrier 12 by the retainer 18, the rack 20 transmits a withdrawal force through the handle 44 and the cork is removed from the bottle.
The insert 50 disposed in the retainer 18 allows various bottles to be opened by the opening device 10. The insert 50 may contact the bottle at either the interior wall 57 or the base ring 58.
The foregoing discussion discloses and describes the preferred structure and control system for the present invention. However, one skilled in the art will readily recognize from such discussion, and from the accompanying drawings and claims, that various changes, modifications and variations may be made therein without departing from the true spirit and fair scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
This is a Completion Application of co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/723,662, filed Oct. 5, 2005, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
695235 | Riolet | Mar 1902 | A |
984661 | Halk | Feb 1911 | A |
1091301 | Doheny | Mar 1914 | A |
4295392 | Peck | Oct 1981 | A |
5016499 | Saveland | May 1991 | A |
5924338 | Peck | Jul 1999 | A |
5934160 | Gibson | Aug 1999 | A |
6357322 | Dolan et al. | Mar 2002 | B1 |
6530295 | Scott | Mar 2003 | B1 |
6622330 | Puig | Sep 2003 | B2 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20070079669 A1 | Apr 2007 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60723662 | Oct 2005 | US |