Bottles and jars – Closures – With means to facilitate closure removal
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-22
2001-01-30
Cronin, Stephen K. (Department: 3727)
Bottles and jars
Closures
With means to facilitate closure removal
C215S211000, C215S215000, C081S003450
Reexamination Certificate
active
06179140
ABSTRACT:
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable
REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to devices and methods for removing corks from bottles, and more particularly to a cork removal apparatus in which an anchor is integrated with the cork in the bottling process, in which the cork is extracted with a cork-pulling handle that is packaged with the bottle or provided separately, and in which the cork-pulling handle is coupled to the anchor during bottling or later by the consumer.
2. Description of the Background Art
Wine and a few other beverages are typically packaged in glass bottles that are sealed with a cork stopper. Although “easy-open” containers such as snap-top cans and screw-cap bottles are well known, there are several reasons why easy-open technologies have not been widely adopted in the wine industry. Two particularly salient reasons are that (i) the aesthetic appeal of corked bottles is important to wine consumers, and (ii) no completely adequate means for quick and easy removal of corks, without the use of awkward, cumbersome, or clumsy auxiliary cork removing devices (such as cork screws, cork pullers, pressure pumps, etc.), has yet been invented.
A completely adequate means for quick and easy removal of corks from wine bottles must meet four basic requirements. The first is that the cork must provide an adequate seal against the inside walls of the neck of the bottle. The second is that a permanently installed pulling device must not protrude through the bottom or sides of the cork and it must not split or tear the cork because of the likelihood of resultant wine leakage and/or wine contamination. The third is that the cork and cork-puller installation into the wine bottle must not unduly complicate the present bottle-corking technology used throughout the industry. The fourth is that the cork must be easily extractable by the consumer without the use of cumbersome, awkward, or clumsy auxiliary devices. These requirements, however, tend to work against one another.
For example, the better the cork/glass seal is, the harder it is to extract the cork. For example the pulling force can increase by as much as 20 kg, or more, due to the addition of adequate amounts of paraffin wax for sealing. The only known viable prior device for quick and easy cork removal without a separate apparatus is the “cork stopper for bottles of wine” described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,251 issued to Hojnoski on Dec. 26, 1989. The Hojnoski device comprises an integrated cork and puller that enables the wine consumer to quickly and easily remove the cork, provided that the cork is sufficiently well coated with a lubricating agent such as silicone. However, with adequate lubricant, the cork/glass seal obtained is not as good as it should be because it is not possible to use enough wax in the cork coating. That is, it is wax that provides a good cork/glass seal. However, wax acts counter to the silicone lubricant and makes the cork stick to the glass. Consequently, if enough wax is used to provide a good seal, the pulling force required to extract the cork (which would normally be as high as 35 kg to 40 kg) using the Hojnoski device is too great. This results from the fact that Hojnoski uses a pulling device that is part of the cork unit, as desired, but because of this it is so small that only two fingers can be used for the pulling operation. With only two fingers, pulling forces in excess of about 20 kg would not be possible for many consumers. In addition, the Hojnoski device, by its nature, is too fragile to reliably withstand more than a pulling force of about 35 kg. This is due in part to a fundamental element of its design, namely the use of a hollow plastic cylinder for anchoring the cork, which enables the insertion of a pulling device into the anchor that can slide up and down to accommodate both operational and storage positions.
Another example of an attempt to provide a cork stopper with a self-contained pulling device can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 1,204,712 issued to Spelling. There are several reasons why the Spelling device is not viable, including the fact that it is not designed for high-speed bottling/corking equipment, and the requirement of a degree of elasticity and tensile strength of the stopper that exceeds that of cork resulting in a significant likelihood of the cork splitting during corking and, as a result, the wine leaking and becoming subject to contamination.
Therefore, a need exists for a self-contained cork and cork-removal apparatus that allows for “easy extraction” of the cork while still providing an adequate cork/glass seal that meets the four basic requirements outlined above. As used herein, “easy extraction” means that no cumbersome, awkward, or clumsy auxiliary equipment, such as cork screws that must be screwed into the cork by the consumer, blade style cork removers that require inserting a pair of blades between the cork and bottle, or air-pump cork removers that require a needle to be forced through the cork and air pumped into the bottle to increase pressure, and so on, is required of the consumer, and that adequate pulling forces are as easily applied as with conventional cork screws. The present invention satisfies these needs, as well as others, and overcomes the deficiencies of previously developed cork removal devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The foregoing needs are addressed by the present invention which generally comprises a cork anchor and an attached or detached cork-pulling handle that can withstand the required pulling forces while allowing the consumer to use more than two fingers to pull the cork out of the bottle, thereby enabling the consumer to apply pulling forces just as large as those currently being used with prior art auxiliary cork screws. This in turn allows the wine producer to use conventional cork coatings that provide a good wine seal. In addition, the present invention will have little or no impact on the high-speed mechanized corking equipment widely used in the industry, and does not introduce means by which the wine can be contaminated.
By way of example, and not of limitation, the present invention generally comprises a composite cork and cork-removing unit having two components. One component is the cork, in which an anchor for a cork-pulling handle is secured. The second component is a cork-pulling handle which can be connected to the anchor by any of several means, and which can be stored with the bottle as an integral part of the bottle/capsule/label package, or can be supplied separately.
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the top of the anchor is approximately flush with the top of the cork. The top of the anchor contains an eye, or other female, or male, part of a latch which can be hooked or otherwise connected to a mating part of a latch, using the stem of a detached pulling handle which contains the hook or other female, or male, latch at its end. The handle/stem combination can, as an example, resemble the basic T-shaped cork screw except, in place of a screw at the end of the stem, there is simply a hook. Also, the stem is joined to the handle with a hinged joint that allows the stem to be folded up against and co-linear with the handle. When folded into this compact storage configuration, the pulling handle can be stored against the side of the bottle neck, parallel to the bottle axis and congruent with the circumference of the bottles' neck. In any of the storage positions, the handle can be secured with any of various conventional means such as a plastic ribbon around the bottle, or with a quick release device like a rip tab that tears along a perforation.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the top of the anchor is permanently connected to the stem or the lengthwise center of a pulling handle with a flexible cord or strap having adequate tensile strength to withstand a pulling force of approximately 40 kg. The pulling handle can
Cronin Stephen K.
O'Banion John P.
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