Winged Corkscrew Description

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Winged Corkscrew Description Introduction In the wine industry, a winged corkscrew is a mechanical device that removes a cork from the narrow part of a wine bottle called the bottleneck. The cork i... s tightly wedged in the bottleneck and unable to be gripped by hand. In addition, "a force of 25 to 100 pounds, or 110 to 450 newtons, is needed to draw the cork out" (Hall). The operating principle of a winged corkscrew uses the foundation of a screw, a simple machine. The screw pierces and embeds into the cork. The winged lever arms lift up as the screw moves down into the cork. The user then pushes down on the winged lever arms to pull the cork out of the bottleneck. In physics, mechanical advantage of a winged corkscrew describes the amount of force utilized internally to allow the screw to push into the cork and lift the cork out of the bottleneck using the winged lever arms. Force is exerted on the top handle of the winged corkscrew causing the handle to rotate and, simultaneously, thrust the screw into the cork. Rotational force, called torque, and forward movement, called linear force, allow the winged corkscrew to use mechanical advantage to embed and fasten the screw into the cork so it can be lifted and removed from the bottleneck (Giancoli 256-260). According to Evergreenps.org, "the mechanical advantage can be calculated by dividing the circumference of the screw by the pitch, or lead, of the screw. The circumference is pi times diameter. The pitch, or lead, is the distance between the threads, or grooves, on the screw. The closer the threads, the greater the mechanical advantage, and less effort is needed to remove the cork from the bottleneck" ("Mechanical Advantage"). (see Figure 1, Evergreenps) [Show More]

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