Patent ID: 7069813

Claim:
A corkscrew comprising a body, the body including a socket adapted to receive the neck of a bottle sealed by a cork, an actuation lever, an axially rotatable worm spiral mounted on a carriage within the body and arranged to rotate and penetrate the cork as the lever is lowered, the spiral being further arranged to cease rotation as the lever is raised to withdraw the cork from the bottle, the corkscrew being further arranged to discharge the cork from the screw by lowering and raising the lever after the neck of the bottle has been removed from the socket; wherein the carriage is mounted for movement between upper and lower positions along at least guide runner extending longitudinally of the body, the spiral being connected to the carriage by a bearing so that the spiral is rotatable with respect to the carriage, and further comprising a guide member having an aperture, the screw extending through the aperture, the aperture being adapted to cause the screw to rotate as the screw moves axially through the guide member, first latch means being adapted to releasably engage the guide member to the corkscrew body, and second latch means being adapted to releasably engage the guide member to the carriage, wherein the socket comprises an actuator adapted to engage an upper surface of the neck of a bottle inserted into the socket, the actuator being mounted in a guideway the actuator being axially moveable between upper and lower positions within the guideway, wherein the first latch means is caused to move to an open position to disengage the guide member when the actuator is moved to the upper position.