Grape grabs cork grip

A small elastic band designed to slip over a wine cork to allow one to get a good grip on the cork and ease removal without having to use costly, cumbersome, frustrating contraptions that usually result in a damaged cork and/or cork bits in your wine.

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Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] not applicable

STATEMENT OF FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

[0002] not applicable

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX

[0003] not applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0004] Sometimes people do not finish a bottle of wine and need to re-cork it for enjoyment at another time. At that time one often finds the cork has been pushed into the bottle in such a manner that makes removing it with your bare hands impossible. Corks tend to be slippery. Some people will re-insert a corkscrew to pull the difficult cork out. This method is awkward and usually results in a damaged cork and cork bits floating in your bottle of wine. Still other people utilize various tools and contraptions to remove corks. They are both cumbersome and costly and cause undue frustration. This inventor has often taken an ordinary rubber band and wound it around the cork 2 or 3 times to allow a sufficient grip on the resistant cork and thus enable removal. I designed an elastic band specifically for this purpose. This invention is a simple but highly effective means for removing a (re-corked) cork from a wine bottle.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The size of the rubber band is such that it easily slips over a wine cork but is small enough to grip it sufficiently allowing the user to easily remove the cork from a previously opened wine bottle without having to use cumbersome and costly cork-removal devices. The cork grips are also decorative—produced in a variety of colors. Some are left blank (no imprint). Some are imprinted with the catchy name: Grape Grabs. Others are imprinted with whatever logo our customer desires.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

[0006] (One submitted.) A Grape Grab

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0007] Grape Grabs are measured via three dimensions—length, width and thickness. Measurements of Grape Grabs vary significantly due to imperfections of the manufacturing process. Pinch a band at each end as if to lay the band flat. The distance from end to end is the band length. A Grape Grabs is approximately 1⅛″ in length but can vary as much as ¾″ in either direction The width of the band measures how wide the band is, perpendicular to the length. A Grape Grabs is approximately ¾″ wide but can be much smaller or much bigger and still accomplish its goal of gripping the cork. Thickness measures the wall of the rubber band and a typical Grape Grab is approximately {fraction (1/16)}″ to {fraction (1/32)}″. Grape Grabs are made out of a variety of elastic material including but not limited to rubber, latex, or silicone. Grape Grabs can be left blank or imprinted with a variety of logos or designs. Grape Grabs come in a variety of colors depending on the material.

Claims

1. An elastic band specifically designed to ease removal of a wine cork from a previously opened, re-corked bottle of wine.

2. Said band is designed to easily slip over a wine cork so that one can get a good grip on the cork and remove it easily utilizing ones bare hands.

3. Said band is approximately {fraction (1/32)}″ thick, 1⅛″ in length (when laid flat), and ¾″ wide but these dimensions can vary significantly due to the impreciseness of the manufacturing process.

4. Said band is produced in a variety of colors and left blank or imprinted with logos or designs.

Patent History
Publication number: 20030052075
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 20, 2001
Publication Date: Mar 20, 2003
Inventor: Catherine G. Westover (Atherton, CA)
Application Number: 09956285
Classifications
Current U.S. Class: Stopper-type Closure (215/296)
International Classification: B65D039/00;