The Virtual Corkscrew Museum's Daily Newspaper
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Sunday, July 6, 2003 |
Growing Worms
Somewhere in Middle America - For years corkscrew worms have made in factories. Hundreds of inventors and manufacturers have worked diligently to come up with the best of worms at a most favorable production cost. They've twisted wire, cut steel and even cast metal to match various drawings and specifications. The fruits of their efforts work but it is all a very tedious time consuming process.
Now thanks to Jessica (Hope) Fowler making corkscrew worms will no longer be a 9 to 5 factory job. Hope has managed to grow some fine worms in her garden (pictured). We suspect the process will soon catch on and worms will multiply and be picked instead of labor intensively produced. Congratulations Hope!
Passing Gas
San Francisco, California, July 6, 1965 - George Federighi has been granted a second patent
for his gas powered cork ejector. The original patent was issued in 1961 and was called "Pressurized Device for Uncorking Bottles." The product is marketed under the name "Cork Pops" and operates by inserting a needle through a cork and then injecting gas between the wine and the cork to force the cork out.
The second patent is called "Cork Ejector with Pressurized Liquid Propellant" and has been assigned U. S. Patent Number 3,192,803. Federighi commented on his previous invention: "…it has been found that in some instances the corks are dry and porous, and the gas would escape upwardly through the corks without lifting the corks out of the bottles." He resolves this by creating great force "to assure the cork in being blown out by a sudden thrust or impact without breaking the bottle." The actual instance is that the liquid propellant in the container changes from liquid to gas as it expands by "as much as 260 times."
Although it is not part of his claims, Federighi also made a very important change from the first patent to the second - he made the needle easily replaceable by grasping the knurled end on the needle connection and by adding a male thread to the needle connection and a female thread to the cylinder base.
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©2003 Don Bull, Editor |
