IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRAWING CORKS
Year: 1885

page_text: I, JOHN HENRY SMILES, of 1 Carr Street, Stockton-on-Tees, in the county of
Durham, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR DRAWING CORKS, to be as follows:-
A tube is supported obliquely in a bracket. A long compound spirally threaded
spindle, passes along the centre of this tube. The lower part of the said spindle
has a left hand thread formed upon it, the pitch of which is determined by the
power required. The upper part has a right hand thread, the pitch being equal to
that of the corkscrew. Upon this thread a nut is geared. This nut has a given
reciprocating motion along the tube, between the stops. Another nut which takes
the form of a crosshead, is mounted on the left hand thread, at the lower end of
the spindle. The said crosshead passes through slits in each side of the tube, and
is connected, by means of connecting rods, to a forked lever, which spans the tube,
the fulcrum being at the lower part of the aforesaid bracket, and the handle upon
the top of the lever.
A corkscrew is attached to the lower end of the spindle, also a sharp furrel or
thimble, for the purpose of cutting the cork fastening, and a fly wheel to the
opposite end.
A bell mouth for guiding the bottle neck to the centre, is formed on the lower
end of the tube.
A stopper is fixed at a suitable distance from the mouth, similar to that of my.
Patent of May 13th, 1885 No 5878. Or a sharp blade may be fixed longitudinally
in the top side of the tube, to prevent the cork from turning when the screw is
winding out of it.
An opening is made in the under part of the tube, immediately above the bell
mouth, to allow the corks to fall through, and be guided into a hopper by means of
a tube or spout.
.A gibbed, forked connecting rod, may be used instead of the rods before
mentioned. In this case only one slit will be required, and the connecting rod
will be attached to the nut or crosshead on the inside of the tube. The slit will be
on the top of the tube.
When it is desirable to have the lower and left screw, of coarse pitch, to obtain
twisting leverage, the screw would have a tendency to turn, when the cork was
being withdrawn, to prevent this, rachet teeth may be formed longitudinally on

page_text: the spindle. A pawl supported in the tube will gear with these teeth, which will
prevent the spindle from revolving until the cork is withdrawn, when the teeth
will have moved past the pawl.
The motion is as follows:-When the handle of the machine is in upright
position, the corkscrew, is a little within the said cork stopper. When it is pulled
forward, it will act upon the said crosshead, and cause the spindle to revolve and
move down the tube."
The rate of movement is determined, by the pitch of the right hand thread, at
the top of the spindle, which gears with the aforesaid nut, the nut being held by
the lower stop.
On the completion of this movement the corkscrew will have penetrated the
cork, and when the lever is moved backwards, for extracting it, the lower cross-
head, will move the spindle bodily upwards, the aforesaid nut, on the right hand
thread is moved from the bottom to the top at the same time. When it comes in
contact with the top stop, it retains the spindle, and the bottom crosshead then
causes the spindle to revolve. The end of the cork will then come in contact
with the corkstopper, thus preventing it from revolving, and allowing the corkscrew
to be wound out of it.
When this movement is completed the cork will drop through the side of the tube.
The reason why the lower crosshead acts upon the spindle to extract the cork,-it
not being directly attached thereto-is, because it takes more power to cause the
corkscrew to twist in the cork, than to withdraw the same, providing the pitch is
not too coarse; the fly-wheel also effects this. The compound screw and its
attachments may be placed in visa versa position in the tube, that is, the nut may
be at the bottom, and the crosshead at the top.
In place of the aforesaid compound spindle, two separate spindles, forming a
compound, may be used. The said crosshead will then be formed upon, or fixed to
the end of the spindle having the left hand thread. A small spindle passes
along this said spindle, upon the enlarged part of which, a right hand thread
is formed.
A compound sleeve nut is mounted on both these spindles, thread being at each
end of the sleeve with a chamber between, one gears with the left hand screw, and
the other with the right hand. The chambered part is equal to the travel required.
This nut has also a given movement along the tube and is held by similar stops.
It also revolves upon the left hand screw, and, the right hand screw passing through
it, it causes the same (the right hand screw) to revolve at twice the rate.
The fly wheel is attached to the right hand screw, This description applies to a
right hand corkscrew.

page_text: I, JOHN HENRY SMILES, of 1 Carr Street, Stockton-on-Tees, in the county of
Durham, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR DRAWING CORKS and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
A tube is supported obliquely in a pillar bracket. A long compound spirally
threaded spindle passes through the centre of the said tube. The lower part of
the said spindle has a left hand thread formed upon it, the pitch of which is
determined by the power required. The upper part has a right hand thread, the
pitch being equal to that of the corkscrew. Upon this right hand thread a nut is
geared. This nut has a given reciprocating motion along the tube. Another nut
which takes the form of a crosshead, is mounted on the left hand thread at the
lower end of the spindle. This crosshead passes through slits in each side of the
tube, and is connected by means of connecting rods or links, to a lever which spans
the tube. The fulcrum being in the lower part of the aforesaid bracket, and the
handle on the top of the lever.
A corkscrew is attached to the lower end of the spindle, and a fly wheel, similar
to that of my Patent of May 13th /85, to the opposite end.
A sharp thimble is also attached to the lower end of the spindle, for the purpose
of cutting the string.
A bell mouth for guiding the bottle neck to the centre, is formed in the lower
end of the tube.
A stopper is fixed or placed in the tube, at a suitable distance from the mouth,
similar to that of my Patent of May 13th 1885, or a sharp blade or blades may be
fixed longitudinally in the tube or stopper, to prevent the cork from turning, when
the screw is winding out of it.
An opening is made in the under part of the tube and stopper, immediately
above the bell mouth, to allow the corks to fall out and be guided into a hopper by
means of a tube or spout.
The motion is as follows:-When the handle of the machine is in upright
position, the corkscrew is a little within the said cork stopper. When it is pulled
forward, the lever will act upon the said crosshead, and cause the spindle to revolve
and move down the tube, the rate of movement along it is determined by the
pitch of the right hand thread at the top of the spindle, which gears with the
aforesaid nut, the nut being held by the lower stop. On the completion of this
movement, the corkscrew will have penetrated the cork, and when the lever is
moved backwards for extracting the same, the lower crosshead will move the
spindle bodily upwards, and the aforesaid nut on the right hand thread is moved
from the bottom to the top at the same time. As soon as the nut comes in contact
with the top stop, the reciprocating movement of the spindle is arrested, and the
right hand thread on the nut, then lends its aid to the bottom crosshead, and causes
the spindle to revolve the screw out of the cork, the cork having come in contact
with the cork stopper, and being prevented from turning.

page_text: When this movement is completed, the cork will drop from the underside of the
tube, and be conveyed to the hopper or basket under the counter by means of a
tube or spout.
The reason why the crosshead acts upon the spindle to extract the cork,-it not
being directly attached thereto, is, because it takes more twisting power to cause
the corkscrew to twist in the cork, than to withdraw the same, providing the pitch
is not too coarse. The size of the flywheel will also affect this.
With a given leverage or power, the pitch of the screws may be so determined
that the spindle will not revolve without the aid of both the left and right hand
screws on the same.
The compound screw and its attachments may be placed in visa versa position
in the tube, that is the nut may be at the bottom, and the crosshead at the top.
When it is desirous to have the lower and left screw of coarse pitch to obtain
twisting leverage, the screw would have a tendency to turn when the cork was
being withdrawn, to prevent this, rachet teeth may be formed longitudinally on
the spindle, a pawl supported in the tube, will gear with these teeth, which will
prevent the spindle from revolving until the cork is withdrawn, when the teeth
will have moved past the pawl. The rachet teeth and pawl may be in visa versa
position.
Or if the handle is pulled far enough forward, the crosshead will push the
stopper, and force the bottle off the cork."
The stopper and nut can be secured by means of a thumb-screw or spring catch,
one or the other must be free, or both. This gives the option of withdrawing the
cork, in the forward or backward movement, and allows of the stopper being fixed,
when it is desirable not to disturb the contents of the bottle.
A bent forked connecting rod may be used instead of the rods or links before
mentioned. In this case, only one slit will be required, and the connecting rod
will be attached to the nut or crosshead on the inside of the tube. The slit will be
on the top of the tube.
Spiral springs are placed in the tube, the spindle passing through them,―
between the nut and stops, and between the crosshead and stops, these are to
prevent shocks, and give a gradual and elastic pressure to the lever.
Another spiral spring is placed on the exterior of the cork stopper, between it
and the tube, in a chamber formed by flanges on the tube and cork stopper. This
spring is to bring the said stopper back to position, when the same is pushed
forward to withdraw the cork.
This description applies to a right hand corkscrew.
Fig. 1. Half sectional side elevation.
Fig. 2. Front view,
Tube a is supported in bracket b, with spindle c passing through it. Nut d
engages with the right hand thread on spindle c, and has a given movement
between stops v, spiral cushion springs q being placed between the nut and stops.
Pin key w gears in a longitudinal groove, formed in nut d, to prevent the same
from turning.
.
The crosshead e engages with the left hand thread on the bottom of spindle c,
and is connected to lever g, by means of connecting rods f, and is cushioned by
springs q, at each end. Lever g is supported in the base of stand b, on fulcrum h.
Corkscrew is attached to the lower end of spindle c, and fly wheel k to the
opposite end. The bell mouth m and cork stopper are attached, they have a given
movement in or on the tube, and are cushioned and kept in place by spring r in
the chamber formed round the stopper. Corkscrew j passes through and a little
beyond the said stopper and bell mouth, when penetrating the cork.
n is the
opening formed in the underside of the tube and stopper m, through which the

page_text: corks pass down spout o, to the hopper or basket. P. is a cork falling down
the same.
Thumb screw is for fixing the said stopper m when required, it also serves for
fixing top nut d as herein before described.
u is a bottle in position. Central bolt a is for securing the apparatus to the
table or counter t..
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is;
•
1st A spindle having a right hand thread at one end, and a left hand thread at
the other, and geared with a nut and crosshead, the nut being either fixed or free,
as, and for the purpose, herein before described, and shown in the accompanying
drawings.
2nd The crosshead and nut carried within a tube, and working between spiral
cushion springs and stops, as, and for the purpose, hereinbefore described and shown
in the accompanying drawings.
3rd The bell mouth, with stopper attached, having a given reciprocating move-
ment in or on the tube, with or without a spiral spring or its equivalent, to hold it
in position, and with an opening in the underside, as, and for the purpose, herein-
before described, and shown in the accompanying drawings.