THE WINGED CORKSCREW

A TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION

Peter Politis TWR2000 010 Due Oct 17 2012 Technical Description Assignment

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
4.0 References

...................................... 13

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The Winged Corkscrew: A Technical Description

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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The Winged Corkscrew: A Technical Description

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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The Winged Corkscrew: A Technical Description

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.

2
3

1
3

FIGURE 2

Main Components of the Winged Corkscrew

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The Winged Corkscrew: A Technical Description

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

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The Winged Corkscrew: A Technical Description

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

2.1.2

Close-up of Screw Blade Showing Helical Turns

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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The Winged Corkscrew: A Technical Description

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

2.1.3

Close-up of Gear Rack Showing Rings

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 Winged Corkscrew: A Technical Description

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

2.2.1

Subcomponents of the Stabilizing Frame

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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The Winged Corkscrew: A Technical Description

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

2.2.2

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

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The Winged Corkscrew: A Technical Description

(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

2.2.3

Close-up of Cork Extractor Housing

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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The Winged Corkscrew: A Technical Description

support through which the forces are transferred back and forth between the
lever arms and the cork extractor (see FIGURE 9).

FIGURE 9

2.3

Close-up of Gear Pivot Shoulders

Geared Lever Arms

The geared lever arms are each a single piece of chrome plated cast stainless
steel 9.5 cm long from end to end. The Geared end is molded in a roughly wheel
shape with a series of gear teeth each .5 cm long. The arms are .2 cm wide except at
6.5 cm from the tip of the gear wheel the arm flattens and flares out into a narrow
leaf shape grip .5 cm thick and 1 cm wide at the widest and tapering to a narrow
point (see FIGURE 10). The purpose of the lever arms is to transmit the force

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The Winged Corkscrew: A Technical Description

applied by the user through the hinge pin to the gear interaction between the gear
wheel of the lever arms and the cork extractor gear rack.

FIGURE 10

Geared Lever Arms Profile View

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The Winged Corkscrew: A Technical Description

3.0 Cycle of Operation

A cycle of operation of the winged corkscrew consists of removing the cork from the
bottle and then removing the cork from the screw blade, returning the corkscrew to its
original state.

3.1

The Cork is Removed From the Bottle

First, the lever arms of the winged corkscrew are raised until the point of
the cork extractor is extended as far as possible. While the lever arms are being
gripped against the body of the corkscrew, the point of the cork extractor is
aligned with the centre of the exposed cork in the neck of a wine bottle that is on
a firm surface.

Second, the flared bottle socket is lowered into contact and gripped
tightly along with the neck of the bottle. The torque handle of the corkscrew is
turned clockwise several times with the free hand. The lever arms are forced to
rise by the interaction of the gear rack on the cork extractor with the gear wheel
of the lever arms.

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The Winged Corkscrew: A Technical Description

Third, once the torque handle can no longer be turned and the lever arms are
at maximum extension, both lever arms are forced down through the arc of their
motion, until they rest along the sides of the corkscrew stabilizing frame. The
cork extractor will be forced up and out of the bottle-neck along with the
impaled cork by the action of the gear wheel on the gear rack of the cork
extractor.

Fourth, the whole device is grasped and lifted off the top of the bottle freeing
the cork completely from the bottleneck.

3.2

The Impaled Cork is Removed From the Corkscrew

First the corkscrew is held with the lever arms away from the stabilizing
frame and the impaled cork at maximum extension.

Second, with the lever arms and the torque handle gripped tightly, the
cork is grasped by the other hand and turned counter clockwise until it comes
completely free from the screw blade of the cork extractor.

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The Winged Corkscrew: A Technical Description

4.0 References

Wikipedia, Corkscrew, Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corkscrew

Jessica Espina, Winged Corkscrew, wikispaces.com

http://1006-w08.wikispaces.com/Winged+Corkscrew

Jessica Espina, Visual Walkthrough of Usage, wikispaces.com

http://1006-w08.wikispaces.com/Visual+Walkthrough+of+Usage

Juan Ramires, The Easiest Corkscrews to Use, eHOW

http://www.ehow.com/list_7492622_easiest-corkscrews-use.html

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