Harnessing the cork

Part of the fun of opening a bottle of bubbly is seeing just how far the cork will go when the wire is released. But under the sort of circumstances where much of the drink gets consumed, it should come as no surprise that there is the serious risk of eye injury if people accidentally get, or fall, in the way. Champagne corks are typically propelled by more than 6bar gas pressure, three times the air pressure in most car tyres. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, errant Champagne and sparkling wine corks are one of the most common causes of public holiday related eye injuries, not to mention the cause of numerous broken light fittings at parties. The Challenge Nobody wants to spoil the fun of consuming such a traditional celebratory drink. But there is an American made gadget one can purchase, called the Champagne Opener, which helps remove and then catch the cork. But while it is probably great for the catering trade, it would appear to spoil the fun. Rather, the desire is, if possible, to increase the fun, while eliminating the hazard. The energy of the champagne cork comes from the gas pressure behind it. The issue then is whether to slowly release the pressure or catch the cork, or actually do something interesting with it. The solutions offered below come from a retired artillery range instrumentation expert. He solves the problem elegantly and at remarkably low cost without recourse to any kind of electronics. One is purely safety oriented while the other two, which have been prototyped and tested, add an element of fun as well. Once you see them, you may consider them obvious. For those without access to the web, the solution will be described fully in our April edition. See if you can come up with anything better. Solution The solutions to this month's challenge come from Doug Green, an inventor who used to devise solutions for monitoring the flight of munitions on a UK artillery range, among other things, but has since retired to the Philippines. He writes: "Idea one is simply to attach a small paper parachute to the cork which is stowed under the label. I made several prototypes and it was fun to see the corks floating to earth. The second idea is to attach the cork to the label using a lanyard made of ribbon. This is folded zig zag style so as it is pulled out, it rubs against itself absorbing energy. Then, inspired by the idea of a retro rocket and using a hollow plastic champagne stopper, I managed to install a party popper, so that when the cork flew out, the party popper fired the steamers creating an impressive display and slowed the cork at the same time".