Corkscrews of this type are known in the state of the art and these are marketed by the Applicant. One example of such a corkscrew is the type that consists of a sleeve-shaped first body in which a second body, to which the screw is attached, is accommodated.

During use the screw is screwed into the cork, as a result of which the cork, which is still completely in the bottle, comes to lie within the first body. By continuing to turn the screw, the neck of the bottle then comes into contact with said first body and the cork is pulled from the neck by the rotation of the screw. With this arrangement it is necessary that the screw is long enough to be able to pull the cork completely out of the neck. For this purpose it must be possible for the screw to be screwed completely through the cork.

Corkscrews of this type have the advantage that they are simple to use because all that is needed to uncork the bottle is to continue to turn the corkscrew in one direction.

Moreover, as a result of this force transfer relatively little effort is needed to extract the cork from the bottle.

However, a disadvantage of such corkscrews is that the screw is screwed completely through the cork. As a consequence cork can drop into the wine, which is highly undesirable.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a corkscrew which functions in the same way during use and for which the force needed to uncork a bottle remains low. With this arrangement, however, the cork must not be penetrated right through.

Said aim is achieved in that the corkscrew according to the present invention is characterised in that the first body is provided with a screw thread that engages in a complementary screw thread on the second body, in that a blocking element, which has restricted movement, is movably connected to one of the two bodies and is provided with a blocking stop that, at least in a first position, is in contact with a stop on the other of the two bodies, as a result of which the mutual rotation of the two bodies is blocked, in that in a second position of said blocking element the blocking stop does not engage on the other body and in that during use, when a certain length of the screw has been screwed into the cork, the blocking element moves from the first into the second position as a consequence of the relative movement of the screw with respect to the first body, as a result of which the

mutual rotation of the two bodies is enabled and the second body is moved in a direction away from the cork by turning the first body.

In one embodiment the continuity of the screw thread on one of the two bodies is interrupted in the first position of the blocking element, as a result of which the screw thread on the first body is no longer complementary to that on the second body. In order to make mutual rotation possible, in its second position the blocking stop does not interrupt the continuity of the screw thread on one of the two bodies, as a result of which the screw thread on the first body and on the second body are complementary in this position.

In a preferred embodiment the screw is fixed to the second body such that it has limited movement in the direction of its longitudinal axis. It is furthermore preferred that the screw is forced, at least partially, into the second body by a spring and that during use, when the screw is screwed into the cork, the screw is pulled out of the body overcoming the force of the spring. It is desirable that the blocking element is held in the first position by a spring element. In a first possible embodiment, one and the same spring can be used for this.

In a second embodiment, two springs are preferably provided, of which one spring interacts with the screw and the second body and the other spring interacts with the blocking element and the second body. In this case the screw, or an element connected thereto, ensures that the blocking element moves from the first into the second position.

The forces exerted on the blocking member are now fairly low, as a result of which a more uniform transition is obtained between the phase in which the screw is screwed into the cork and the phase in which the cork is pulled out of the bottle.

To facilitate unscrewing of the cork from the screw, after the cork has been pulled out of the bottle, it is preferable that the corkscrew has a third body adjoining the first body, said third body being able to rotate about the longitudinal axis of the screw relative to the first body and the screw. Said body is preferably so positioned that in use it is placed on the neck of the bottle.

It is furthermore preferable that a fourth body is at least partially accommodated in the third body, which fourth body can move freely over a limited distance in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the screw and is provided on the inside with gripper elements which are able to grip the cork during use. It is furthermore preferred that rotation of the cork relative to the third body is essentially blocked when the fourth body grips said cork during use.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the appended drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a partially exposed corkscrew according to the present invention in the initial position; Figure 2 shows the corkscrew from Figure 1 in a second position.

Figure 3 shows a further exposed view of the corkscrew from Figure 1; Figure 4 shows a further exposed view of the corkscrew from Figure 2 ; Figure 5 shows a partial cross-section along the plane V-V from Figure 1 ; Figure 6 shows a detail from Figure 5; Figure 7 shows a cross-section of the corkscrew from Figure 1 along the plane VII-VII, in which only the stop 8 is shown; Figure 8 shows a view, partially in section, along VIII-VIII in Figure 5 ; Figure 9 shows a cross-section corresponding to Figure 5 of a variant ; Figure 10 shows a cross-section along X-X in Figure 9.

Figure 1 shows a corkscrew 1, partially exposed for clarity, having a surrounding body 2, handgrips 3 connected thereto, a screw body 4 and a blocking element 7. The screw thread 5 of said screw body 4 engages on the inner screw thread 6 that is located on the inside wall of the surrounding body 2. In the initial position shown, the screw body 4 is in its highest position.

In this position mutual rotation of the screw body 4 and the surrounding body 2 is not possible because the blocking element 7 is in a position in which a blocking protrusion 8 thereof is located in a recess 30 in the surrounding body 2. The projection 28, which is clearly visible in Figures 7 and 8. delimits the recess 30 in which the blocking protrusion 8 is located at the rear. A similar projection 31, which is clearly visible in Figure 8, delimits said recess 30 at the front. It should be clear that when the blocking protrusion 8 is located in said recess 30 the screw body 4 is not able to rotate relative to the surrounding body 2 around the axis of rotation R.

As long as the blocking element 7 remains in the position shown in Figures 1 and 2, forces which are exerted on the surrounding body 2, in particular via the handgrips 3, will be transmitted via the blocking protrusion 8 and the blocking element 7 to the screw body 4. Because the screw is not able to rotate with respect to the screw body, this is also moved by the rotation of the surrounding body 2.

By moving the blocking element 7 upwards, as indicated by arrow A, see Figure 1,

the blocking protrusion 8 will be lifted out of the recess 30. As a result rotation between the screw body 4 and the surrounding body 2 is permitted. To ensure that the screw body 4 can be screwed upwards in the inner screw thread 6 of the surrounding body 2 it is important that the protrusion 8, when in the position in which it has been pushed up, does not disrupt the continuity of the screw thread 5 on the screw body 4. Provision is made for this by giving the protrusion 8 the same orientation as the screw thread 5, as can be seen in Figures 1 and 2. It can be seen in Figure 2 that when the blocking element 7 is in the position in which it has been moved upwards, the protrusion 8 is in the extension of the screw thread 5 of the screw body 4.

Thus, when the blocking element 8 is in its uppermost position the fixed connection between the screw body 4 and the surrounding body 2 is broken. If the screw body 4 is kept still while the surrounding body 2 is rotated, the screw body 4 will therefore, depending on the direction of rotation, be moved upwards or downwards by the screw thread 5 of the screw body that engages on the inner screw thread 6 of the surrounding body 2.

As can be seen in Figure 5, the screw 9 is connected to a slider body 11. The top 29 of this slider body 11 is accommodated in two elongated guides 12; see also Figure 6. The slider body 11, and thus also the screw 9, are held in a first position by a spring 13, as shown in Figure 3. A cover plate 10 prevents the slider body 11 being pushed out of the elongated guides 12 by said spring 13. By exerting a downward force on the screw 9 the latter, together with the slider body 11, can be moved downwards into a second position, as shown in Figure 4.

The top end 14 of the spring 13 pushes against the slider body 11 and the bottom end 15 of the spring 13 pushes against the blocking element 7. To ensure that the blocking element 7 is not pushed beyond its first position, the blocking element 7 has a stop 17 on its top part 16, which stop 17 lies in a recess 18 in the screw body 4. In this embodiment, the stop 17 is constructed as a screw for reasons of assembly.

For positioning the corkscrew 1 on the neck of a bottle 19, a rotary body 20 is rotatably attached to the bottom of the surrounding body 2. As can be seen in Figure 1, during use the rotary body 20 is pushed over the neck of a bottle 19 and the top 21 of said neck is in contact with a stop 22. Said stop 22 is on a guide body 23 that is movably accommodated in the rotary body 20. The guide body is shown in a first extreme position in Figure 1. In Figure 2 it is in a second extreme position. In this second position the top stop 24 is in contact with a stop 25 on the rotary body 20. By holding the rotary body 20

and the neck of the bottle 19 with one hand, the surrounding body 2 can be rotated relative to said neck and the rotary body 20.

The corkscrew according to the present invention functions as follows.

The corkscrew 1 is placed on the neck 19 of a bottle so that the stop 22 on the guide body 23 is in contact with the top 21 of said neck 19; see Figure 1. Because the screw body 4 is in the first position with respect to the surrounding body 2, the screw body 4 is not able to rotate relative to said surrounding body 2. In this position the screw 9 is in contact with the cork 26 in the neck of the bottle or has already been partially screwed into said cork, as shown in Figure 1.

By rotating the surrounding body 2 the screw 9 is screwed further into the cork 26.

Because the stop 22 of the corkscrew 1 is in contact with the top 21 of the neck of the bottle and the guide body is already in its first extreme position, the corkscrew is not able to move towards the bottle and the screw 9 will be drawn out of the corkscrew 1, overcoming the resilience of the spring 13. As a result the screw 9 will finally reach the position as shown in Figure 4.

Because the screw 9 cannot be drawn further outwards from this position and the stop 22 of the guide body 23 is still in contact with the top 21 of the neck 19 of the bottle, the cork will be pulled out of the bottle on continuing rotation of the surrounding body 2.

Because the cork 26 raises the blocking element 7 as it moves upwards, the blocking protrusion 8 is lifted out of the recess 30 in which it had been enclosed and rotation between the screw body 4 and the surrounding body 2 becomes possible. Because the cork 26 is still partially in the bottle, the friction between the cork 26 and the bottle will be sufficiently high to prevent the cork and bottle starting to rotate relative to one another.

Because the screw 9 is inserted in the cork 26 and, as a result of the geometry of the slider body 11 and the elongated guides 12, the screw 9 is not able to rotate about the axis R with respect to the screw body 4, the screw body 4 will not rotate relative to the bottle. The screw body 4 thus now remains stationary, whilst the surrounding body 2 is rotated. As a result the screw body 4 will be screwed upwards inside said surrounding body 2. Because the screw 9 is not able to move further out of the screw body 4, the cork 26 is pulled out of the bottle by this upward movement. Although the figures show one blocking protrusion 8 with associated stop 28, it is also possible for two or more such blocking protrusions, each with its own stop, to be provided.

Once the cork 26 has been almost or completely unscrewed from the bottle, the ribs

27 on the guide body 23 are (still) gripping the cork 26. Consequently rotation of the cork 26 can be counteracted by holding the rotary body 20.

In order to unscrew the cork from the screw 9 and to return the corkscrew 1 to its initial position, it is therefore necessary only to hold the rotary body 20 and to rotate the surrounding body 2 by means of the handgrips 3 in the direction counter to the screwing-in direction. Because the screw body 4 is still able to rotate in the surrounding body 2, said screw body 4 will be screwed downwards, as a result of which the cork is pushed downwards. The screw body 4 can be screwed down to a bottom position in the screw thread 6, after which it is no longer able to rotate in the direction of the unscrewing rotation with respect to the surrounding body 2. By now continuing to screw the surrounding body 2, the screw body 4 is moved with the latter and the screw 9 will be unscrewed from the cork. As soon as the contact between the cork 26 and the blocking element 7 has been broken, the protrusion 8 on the blocking element 7 will again be accommodated in the recess 30, as a result of which the mutual rotation of the surrounding body 2 and the screw body 4 is blocked. By continuing to screw the surrounding body 2, the screw 9 is further unscrewed from the cork 26. The screw 9 now moves back into its initial position in the screw body 4 and the corkscrew 1 returns to the initial position and can be used again.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 9 and 10 two springs 30,31 are used. The first spring 30 is pretensioned between the slider body 11 and an inward-facing flange 32 of the second body or screw body 4. The second spring 31 is pretensioned between the blocking element 7 and a second flange 33 of the screw body 4.

In the position shown in Figures 9 and 10 the blocking body 7 has been pushed upwards with respect to the screw body 4 such that the screw thread section 8 thereon is in contact with a stop 28, in accordance with the detail in Figure 7. The screw thread section 8 is offset with respect to the normal screw thread 5 of the screw body 4.

In accordance with the embodiment in Figures 1-8, the surrounding body 2 and the screw body 4 are locked with respect to one another in the direction of rotation by this means. In this position the screw 9 can be screwed into the cork.

On screwing the screw 9 further into the cork the slider body 11 slides downwards from the position shown in Figures 9 and 10, overcoming the resilience of the spring 30.

Finally, the slider body 11 comes into contact with the blocking element 7, that is likewise slid downwards as a result. During this movement the screw thread section 8 aligns with the normal screw thread of the screw body 4, as a result of which the block is removed and

the screw body 4 starts to turn relative to the surrounding body 2. As a consequence of their opposing screw threads 5,6, the screw body 4 is moved upwards relative to the surrounding body 2 as a result, such that the cork is drawn out of the bottle. The advantage of this variant is that the transition between screwing the screw into the cork and pulling the cork upwards takes place very uniformly.