Automatic cork extractor

An apparatus for opening a bottle having a neck and a cork closure with a seal secured at the neck, including;

• a seal remover assembly and a cork remover assembly supported conjointly, said seal remover assembly including
• a housing having a cavity therein, said cavity including opposed side walls that converge toward a rear wall and taper inwardly toward a bottom opening;
• blade assembly means, including a pair of spring arms, a pair of blades supported by said spring arms in confronting, spaced apart relationship, said spring arms impinging resiliently on said opposed side walls of said cavity:
• means for guiding insertion of said bottle neck between said pair of blades to engage and urge said blades rearwardly, whereby said spring arms engage said side walls and are driven together to urge said blades to cut through the seal of the bottle neck;
• said cork remover assembly including;
• a corkscrew blade;
• a tubular passage having a distal end adapted to receive the neck portion of a corked bottle, said corkscrew blade extending axially from a proximal end of said tubular passage;
• motor means for rotating said corkscrew blade in a first direction to drive said corkscrew blade into the cork and exert a force proximally on said cork to pull the bottle neck proximally into said tubular passage;
• stop means for limiting proximal movement of the bottle neck in said tubular passage, whereby said corkscrew blade pulls the cork from the bottle neck;
• sensor means disposed at a proximal end portion of said tubular passage to be actuated by the cork pulled from the bottle neck, said sensor means connected to reverse said motor means and rotate said corkscrew in a second direction, whereby said corkscrew blade drives said cork and bottle neck distally from said tubular passage.

An apparatus for removing the outer end portion of a seal secured over the end of a bottle neck having a cork closure, including;

• a housing having a cavity therein, said cavity including opposed side walls that converge toward a rear wall and taper inwardly toward a bottom opening;
• blade assembly means, including a pair of spring arms, a pair of blades supported by said spring arms in confronting, spaced apart relationship, said spring arms impinging resiliently on said opposed, converging side walls of said cavity and disposed to translate along said opposed, converging side walls;
• means for guiding insertion of said bottle neck between said pair of blades to engage and urge said blades rearwardly, whereby said spring arms translate along said converging side walls toward said rear wall and are driven together to urge said blades to cut through the seal of the bottle neck;
• said seal remover assembly including compression spring means for urging said blade assembly in a forward direction away from said rear wall of said cavity and toward the diverging portions of said side walls, whereby said spring arms are maximally diverged within said cavity;
• said blade assembly including a pair of shoes, each disposed between a respective spring arm and a respective side wall to slidably translate said blade assembly along said side walls.