Device for uncorking a bottle of a pressurised liquid such as a bottle of champagne

A device for uncorking a bottle of a pressurised liquid such as a bottle of champagne. The device includes a hollow main body with a substantially cylindrical cross-section, with a lower portion including an opening allowing the neck of the bottle to pass therethrough and a profile capable of snap-fitting the lower portion onto the collar of the bottle, an intermediate portion making it possible to grip the device and guide the ejected cork into the main body, and an upper portion including means for trapping the ejected cork so as to make it possible to trap and retain the cork after extracting same.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a 35 U.S.C. §§ 371 national phase conversion of PCT/FR2016/051351, filed Jun. 7, 2016, which claims priority to French Patent Application No. 1555658, filed Jun. 19, 2015, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The PCT International Application was published in the French language.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention concerns a device for uncorking a bottle of a pressurized liquid such as a champagne bottle.

Although particularly adapted for uncorking champagne bottles, the invention may also be used for the uncorking of other types of bottle equipped with a cork and containing a pressurized liquid and in particular, by way of example, bottles of ciders.

PRIOR ART

The uncorking of a champagne bottle is a delicate operation, indeed the pressure in the bottle is generally in the order of 5 bars, and the pressure exerted by the carbon dioxide increases in the neck of the bottle during the uncorking such that the cork can be ejected at a speed greater than 50 km/h.

It is common to uncork the bottle by manually retaining the cork, nevertheless a poor control or the non-retaining of said cork may cause significant damage.

In order to avoid this drawback, many types of devices have been considered and in particular a safety system provided for in the document FR2828681 consisting of a ring held by the user and fastened on the other hand to the cork so as to prevent the disengagement of the cork after removal. However, this solution results in drawbacks, in particular, a risk of injury to the user's hand and also requires bottles having the original system equipment.

There are also known systems allowing the removal of the cork in a safe manner for the hand of the user, but which do not allow retaining effectively the cork and for example, from the document U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,696, a fork-shaped system allowing to bear on the rim of the bottle and to raise the cork until ejection.

There are also known systems allowing both the removal of the cork and the holding thereof and in particular a clamp as provided in the document US2005/0139040 including jaws and a stopper member of the cork.

However, these systems are not satisfactory in this sense that they do not allow a free ejection of the cork out of the neck before the holding thereof. In this type of system, the user absorbs the shock of the cork via the clamp, furthermore, the removal of the set formed by the clamp and the cork is not easy. Finally, the cork is stopped in the propulsion thereof, but is not retained afterwards by the system.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

A first aim of the present invention is to solve all or part of the technical problems related to the aforementioned prior art.

Another aim of the present invention is to provide an uncorking device allowing the damping and the holding of the cork.

Another aim of the present invention is to propose an uncorking device which may be adapted to the uncorking of any type of champagne bottle.

Another aim of the present invention is to propose an uncorking device allowing to avoid any risk of accident due to the ejection of the cork.

Another aim of the present invention is to propose an uncorking device allowing to serve the bottle without removing the device.

Another aim of the present invention is to propose an uncorking device allowing to release decorative elements during the ejection of the cork.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To this end, the uncorking device of a bottle of a pressurized liquid such as a champagne bottle comprises, according to the invention, a hollow main body of a substantially cylindrical section with:a lower portion including an opening allowing the passage of the mouth of the bottle and a profile capable of clipping the lower portion on the ring of the bottle,an intermediate portion allowing the grasping of the device and the guiding of the cork ejected into the main body and,an upper portion including means for damping the ejected cork so as to allow the damping and the retaining of the cork after the extraction thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This device1is placed on a bottle of a pressurized liquid2. This bottle2is closed by a cork3conventionally made in the form of a mushroom from which the wire cap has been previously removed.

This uncorking device1comprises a hollow main body4of a substantially cylindrical section with three portions. The section of the main body4has an inner diameter in the order of 32 to 45 mm allowing to receive a champagne cork, the standard diameter for a champagne bottle cork being of 31 mm.

This main body4comprises a lower portion5which is fastened on the top of the bottle2.

To do this end, the lower portion5includes an opening6allowing the passage of the mouth of the bottle2and a profile7capable of clipping the lower portion5onto the ring of the bottle2.

With reference toFIGS. 2a, 2band 2c, showing partial side views of the set uncorking device1and bottle2, the profile7of the lower portion5and the link between the lower part5and the bottle2are in particular shown.

The profile7further allows lifting and extracting the cork3by bearing on the ring of the bottle. To this end, after having positioned the device1on the bottle2, the user performs a pushing movement toward the top of the device1with his hand positioned on the device1while holding the bottle2with the other hand or preferably by imparting a rotational movement thereto. In this manner, the cork3is ejected inside the main body4.

In a variant, the profile7allows holding the uncorking device1on the bottle2but the pressure to make the cork3come out is exerted directly by the user who passes at least one finger through the opening6in order to press with said finger in order to eject the cork3.

The main body4further comprises an intermediate portion8allowing the grasping of the device1and the guiding of the cork3ejected in the main body4. The ejected cork3thus moves upwards along the main body4towards an upper portion9.

This upper portion9including means10for damping the ejected cork3. These are the damping means10which ensure the damping and the retaining of the cork3after the extraction thereof.

According to an advantageous aspect, the main body4is made of a deformable material allowing a good contact between the lower portion5and the neck of the bottle2. It may also be advantageous to make the main body4of a starch-based polymer.

This time, mainly with reference toFIG. 3showing an exploded view of the device1placed on a bottle2, the damping means10are shown including a deformable damping pocket11.

This deformable pocket11is disposed in the main body4on the ejection path of said cork and the deformation thereof is performed in the main axis direction of the main body4.

In the embodiment of the appended figures, the deformable damping pocket11is a flexible pocket equipped with a seal12opposite the point of impact of the cork3.

This seal12is tearable, which allows releasing the content of the damping pocket11during the impact of the cork3on said damping pocket.

In order to facilitate the breakage, at least one break line is advantageously provided at the seal12, which allows the tearing thereof at the moment of the impact of the cork3.

This being in another embodiment, it is provided that the seal12is made of a weak film which does not require break lines to be teared at the moment of the impact of the cork3.

In order to allow the retaining of the pocket11and the cork3, blocking means13are provided.

These blocking means13include a rim14formed in the inner wall of the main body4and a retaining ring15between which the collar16of the damping pocket10is held.

Advantageously, the retaining ring15is fastened to the main body4in a removable link and for example with a bayonet-type fastening as seen inFIG. 3.

With reference this time toFIGS. 4ato 4d, the arrangement of the different components of the blocking means13is in particular seen.

The different ejection phases of the cork3are also seen between the initial position shown inFIG. 4athen, successively the exiting from the mouth of the bottle2shown inFIG. 4b, the percussion of the cork on the pocket11shown inFIG. 4cthen finally the retaining thereof at the pocket shown inFIG. 4d.

The breakage of the seal12is also seen following the impact of the cork3inFIG. 4c.

In this regard, ejectable materials17in particular of a confetti type are provided in the damping pocket11. These ejectable materials17are propelled into the air at the moment of the breakage of the seal12giving a festive aspect to the uncorking of the bottle2. In a variant, ejectable articles, in particular of minimal weight, are placed in the damping pocket11to be able to be projected out of the pocket11by the percussion of the cork3.

With reference toFIG. 5, showing a perspective view of the set formed by the uncorking device1and the bottle2after the disengagement of the cork3, it is shown that the lower portion5of the main body4further comprises a second opening18.

This second opening18is interesting because it constitutes a passage allowing to pour the liquid without removing the uncorking device1. It is thus possible to pour the liquid into a glass without having to remove the cork3out of the device1.

The uncorking device1thus allows effectively and safely uncorking a bottle of a pressurized liquid by carrying out a damping and a retaining of the ejected cork.

It further ensures a great comfort of use both on the placement of the device1on the bottle and on its grip or thanks to the possibility of keeping the device1on the bottle while pouring the liquid.

Of course, other features of the invention might also have been considered without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the claims below.

By way of example, in a variant, the damping means10are constituted of a simple pocket fastened unremovably, without a seal. The user making sure before each use that the pocket is in place at the bottom of the main body4in order to be able to dump the stroke of the cork3.