technical description winged corkscrew

Peter Politis TWR2000 010 Due Oct 17 2012 Technical Description Assignment

THE WINGED CORKSCREW

A TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION

The Winged Corkscrew: A Technical Description

Table of Contents

1.0 General Description of the Winged Corkscrew ................................................ 1

2.0 Description of the Main Components of the Winged Corkscrew ........... 4

2.1 Cork Extractor ..................................................................................................................... 4

2.1.1 The Screw Blade .................................................................................................................. 5

2.1.2 The Gear Rack ...................................................................................................................... 5

2.1.3 The Torque Handle ............................................................................................................. 6

2.2 Stabilizing Frame ............................................................................................................... 6

2.2.1 The Bottle Socket ................................................................................................................. 7

2.2.2 The Cork Extractor Housing .............................................................................................. 8

2.2.3 The Gear Pivot Shoulders .................................................................................................. 9

2.3 Geared Lever Arms .......................................................................................................... 10

3.0 Cycle of Operation .............................................................................................................. 12

3.1 The Cork is Removed From the Bottle .................................................................... 13

3.2 The Impaled Cork is Removed From the Corkscrew ...................................... 13

4.0 References .............................................................................................................................. 14

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1.0 General Description of the Winged Corkscrew

A winged corkscrew is a hand-held mechanical device used to draw corks from

wine bottles. This design of corkscrew is extremely popular for home use due to its

ease of operation and low strength requirement.

The winged corkscrew is constructed from four pieces of chrome-plated molded

stainless steel, and two stainless steel hinge pins. The device consists of a stabilizing

frame with a socket at one end to accommodate the wine bottle mouth and a

cylindrical chamber at the opposite end housing the moveable cork extractor,

keeping it locked within the device but free to move along the central axis of the

device within prescribed limits. Two identical lever arms with geared ends are

hinged to shoulders on either side of the central frame near the chamber housing

the cork extractor. The gear teeth of the lever arms articulate with a series of gears

on the cork extractor.

The device is 15 cm in length from the end of the cork extractor to the tip of the

lever arms when the cork extractor is pulled out as far as the device allows. When

the cork extractor is pushed in as far as the device allows the device is 20 cm in

length from the end of the cork extractor to the top of the lever arms. When the cork

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extractor is pushed in or pulled out half of the allowed movement, the lever arms

stick out perpendicular to the long axis of the device at a maximum, giving it a 20 cm

width and a length of 16 cm (see FIGURE 1).

FIGURE 1 Winged Corkscrew Cork Extractor Halfway

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2.0 Description of the Main Components of the Winged Corkscrew

The winged corkscrew consists of three main components (see FIGURE 2): (1)

the cork extractor, (2) the stabilizing frame, and (3) a set of two identical geared

lever arms.

FIGURE 2 Main Components of the Winged Corkscrew

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3

3

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2.1 Cork Extractor

The cork extractor is a single chrome plated piece of cast stainless steel 15 cm in

total length. It looks like a long cylinder with screw threads at one end and a roughly

semi-circular hollow tab at the opposite end. The cork extractor functions to

penetrate deep into the cork by hand turning and withdraw along with the cork out

of the neck of the wine bottle when the pair of levers interacting with it is pulled

down. The cork extractor consists of three subcomponents (see FIGURE 3): (1) the

screw blade, (2) the gear rack and, (3) the torque handle.

FIGURE 3 Subcomponents of the Cork Extractor

1

3

2

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2.1.1 The Screw Blade

The screw blade is the end of the cork extractor that is centred on the

cork and penetrates into the cork when a clockwise turning motion is applied to

the cork extractor piece. The flat portions of the screw turns allow the cork to be

gripped internally on penetration. The screw blade on the winged corkscrew is

5.5 cm long and has 5 helical turns terminating in a sharp point at the

penetration end (see FIGURE 4).

FIGURE 4 Close-up of Screw Blade Showing Helical Turns

2.1.2 The Gear Rack

The gear rack is a portion of the cork extractor that articulates with the

gear teeth of the lever arms. The purpose of the gear rack is to translate the

forced motion of the cork extractor when impaling the cork into the motion of

the lever arms away from the stabilizing frame; and to translate the forced

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motion of the lever arms toward the stabilizing frame into the withdrawing

motion of the cork extractor. The gear rack on the winged corkscrew is 5 cm long

and consists of a series of rings along the cork extractor .25 cm higher than the

core cylinder of the cork extractor (See FIGURE 5).

FIGURE 5 Close-up of Gear Rack Showing Rings

2.1.3 The Torque Handle

The torque handle is the roughly semi-circular tab-shaped end of the cork

extractor. Its function is to provide a handle for the user to apply a clockwise

turning motion to the cork extractor piece.

2.2 Stabilizing Frame

The stabilizing frame is a single piece of chrome plated cast stainless steel in a

very rough I-shape with a socket at one end to accommodate the wine bottle mouth

and from which two parallel bracings to emerge and run to a cylindrical chamber at

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the opposite end where the bracings merge. The stabilizing frame is 9.25 cm long

from the rim of the socket to the opening of the housing, and 8cm long from the rim

of the socket to the gear pivot shoulders. The stabilizing frame consists of three

subcomponents (see FIGURE 6): (1) the bottle socket, (2) cork extractor housing

and, (3) and two identical gear pivot shoulders.

FIGURE 6 Subcomponents of the Stabilizing Frame

2.2.1 The Bottle Socket

The bottle socket is the flared end of the stabilizing frame and is meant to

rest safely on top of the bottle mouth and stabilizes the mechanism during use.

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3

1

3

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The bottle socket is a flared ring 1.25 cm wide, the diameter of the opening of the

bottle socket is 3.5 cm and narrows to 2.5 cm where connected to the stabilizing

frame bracings (see FIGURE 7).

FIGURE 7 Close-up of Bottle Socket (1) and Frame Bracings (2)

2.2.2 The Cork Extractor Housing

The cork extractor housing is a molded cylindrical chamber in the

stabilizing frame at the opposite end from the bottle socket. It is 3cm long and

slightly larger than the gear rack of the cork extractor at 1.1 cm inside diameter

1

2

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(see FIGURE 8). The purpose of the housing is to maintain the position of the

cork extractor subcomponent relative to the stabilizing frame but allowing free

movement of the cork extractor. This results in: (1) the point of the cork

extractor aligning with the centre of the cork, and (2) allowing the gear teeth of

the lever arms to properly interact with the gear rack of the cork extractor.

FIGURE 8 Close-up of Cork Extractor Housing

2.2.3 The Gear Pivot Shoulders

The Gear pivot shoulders are two .5 cm wide slots, each in an oval-shaped

protrusion of the molded stabilizing frame. There is a .5 cm wide hole through

which the lever arms are hinged into place. The hinge acts as the point of

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support through which the forces are transferred back and forth between the

lever arms and the cork extractor (see FIGURE 9).

FIGURE 9 Close-up of Gear Pivot Shoulders

2.3 Geare