As is more fully explained in Applicants' parent application, a common complaint by bartenders and others serving a large amount of bottled beer, soda and other beverages is the problems encountered in unscrewing the caps thereof. This is not only very time consuming but can also be annoying and sometimes painful. Not infrequently, the caps are crimped so tightly that they are extremely difficult to unscrew and the bartender's hands can become sore and even cut when attempting to open the bottle.
Proposals have been made in the past to provide a power driven bottle cap remover for unscrewing the caps from twist top bottles. One example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,970. Insofar as Applicants are aware, this device has not met with any success and it is believed that this is true because of the relative complexity of the device which would add to the cost of manufacture. For example, in the device shown in the patent, the entire cap removing head is mounted for both rotational and axial movement. This requires a bushing support which allows for linear movement and also a gear train which allows for linear movement.
The device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,970 also includes a relatively complex arrangement of spring loaded knives and a spring loaded plunger for ejecting a bottle cap which has been removed from a bottle. However, it is not inconceivable that the cap could become so tightly lodged that the forces needed to remove the same would exceed the spring forces of the plunger and knife springs. Increasing these spring forces, however, would make it extremely difficult to operate the device. Thus, it is possible that a cap could become lodged in the removing head.
While the invention disclosed in application Ser. No. 563,777 overcame many of the disadvantages of the prior art, it still had some limitations. The prior device includes a bracket for mounting the same on a bar whereas for home use it is desirable to mount the bottle opener under a cabinet or the like. Because the cap ejector pin of the prior device extended upwardly through the top wall thereof, such devices could not be mounted under a cabinet.