CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CORKS AND BUNGS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Marshall Downing, Mechanical Engineer,
of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford, for the Invention of " CERTAIN
Sealed the 10th December 1861, and dated the 13th June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Marshall Downing
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th June 1861.
I, THOMAS MARSHALL DOWNING, Mechanical Engineer, of Handsworth, in
the County of Stafford, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention
for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CORKS AND BUNGS," to be
as follows (that is to say):
My improvements in the manufacture of corks and bungs have for their
object economy of labour and material, with an improvement as to general
quality, and may be stated under four heads.
First, in the machinery for dressing or preparatory rounding strips, technically
called "lengths," such lengths being cut from the sheets of corks, in size slightly
in excess of the finished corks to be cut from them. For this purpose I employ
a revolving knife, the cutting edge of which forms an angle of about 170 degrees
of a circle, the diameter of which is equal to the diameter of the finished cork
desired to be made; this knife is fixed upon a revolving disc, mounted upon
a hollow shaft, the cutting edges of the knife being concentric with its axis ;

page_text: a non-revolving expansive tabular guide is placed within the hollow shaft as
close as convenient to the back or inner surface of the knife. At the opposite
end of the guide is an excentric segmental knife carried by a disc keyed upon
a revolving axis parallel to the before-described hollow shaft, from whence it
receives motion. I use change wheels or their equivalents for the purpose of
altering the ratio of their velocity to produce long or short corks as may be
required; the extreme edge of the said knife crosses the axis of the hollow
shaft in once of its revolution a distance equal to that of the radius of the
finished cork; the eccentricity of the knife slightly exceeds the diameter of
the said cork. The rough lengths are introduced by means of a pair of
grooved rollers, which urge it forward through an expansive square or other
shaped guide, which clips it tightly, giving way to its inequalities while under
the operation of the knife, with which it is concentric, and as it issues from
the said guide, the length will be dressed or rounded by the operation of the
said knife, and cut off to the lengths required by the eccentric segmental
knife before described. These corks so treated are suitable to be placed in a
machine hereafter to be described; these mechanical arrangements I purpose
mounting upon a suitable stand.
Secondly, my improvements relate to a machine for the making of finished
corks from lengths, whether square or previously dressed by the machine first
described, the said length having a width, breadth, and diameter slightly in
excess of the diameter of the finished corks desired to be made from such
lengths. For this purpose I employ a hollow cylindrical or a flat circular
knife, but I prefer the former, mounted upon the end of a spindle, revolving
in a suitable carriage fixed in a slide at right angles with the axis. The said
carriage and slide is mounted upon a revolving disc fixed upon a hollow shaft,
the axis of the before-mentioned spindle standing at right angles with the axis
of the hollow shaft, forming a tangent with a circle described from the
hollow shaft, having a diameter equal to that of the knife plus that of the
cork when finished. A non-revolving face pin-wheel encircles the before-
mentioned disc, and is concentric with it, and into this gears another smaller
face pin-wheel keyed on the extreme end of the knife spindle, and being
carried around by the aforesaid disc, causes the aforesaid spindle to revolve.
A non-revolving guide similar to the guide described in the former machine is
placed within the hollow axis projecting towards the knife in close proximity
to it. At the opposite end of the said guide is an excentric segmental knife,
also similar to that first described; the lengths are also introduced by rollers
and guides as before described, and is rounded and finished as it issues from
the guide by the revolving hollow cylindrical knife revolving around it.. Taper

page_text: or oval corks are produced by causing the carriage to slowly reciprocate in the
slide before mentioned by a cam or other suitable means.
Thirdly, my improvements relate to a machine for the purpose of rounding
and finishing what are technically called quarters or finishing the rough
corks produced by the machinery described under the first head, or any
imperfect corks produced by the machinery last described. For this purpose
I also employ a hollow cylindrical or flat circular knife, but, as before stated,
I prefer the former, the diameter of which I prefer being about 8 inches,
more or less, as may be required; this knife is fixed upon the upper end of a
perpendicular spindle, which is caused to revolve by means of a horizontal
shaft and bevilled wheel, which shaft likewise carries two V-grooved pulleys,
to which an intermittant revolving motion is imparted by means of a cam or
other equivalent, which, for the facility of description, I will call cam No. 1, also
a cam No. 2, or its equivalent, for giving an intermittant longitudinal motion to
two pairs of spindles, one pair placed on opposite sides of the knife, having
toothed heads, for the purpose of holding the quarter or roughly-formed cork
between them. An intermittant revolving motion is imparted to them by
small V-grooved pulleys fixed upon each of them, around which and the large
V-grooved pulley (upon the horizontal shaft) a band passes; the axes of
these spindles are placed at such a distance from the cutting edge of the
knife as to be equal to the radius of the cork desired to be cut. The hori-
zontal shaft has likewise a cam No. 3, or its equivalent, fixed upon it, for the
purpose of imparting a reciprocating motion at right angles to the toothed-
headed spindles to two oblong tubes hung perpendicularly upon centres or
pivots near the top. The tubes have such an internal size, that the quarters or
rough corks will drop freely down; this said shaft likewise carries a cam No. 4,
or its equivalent, for the purpose of giving an intermittant motion to the
spindle carrying the knife. This is effected by causing the carriage in which
the said spindle revolves to move in a slide fixed at right angles to the knife
spindle, and parallel to the axis of the tooth-headed spindle; the cutting edge
of the knife is in the same plane as the axis of the said tooth-headed spindle.
To give effect to this machine, the attendant drops the quarter or imperfect
cork down the perpendicular tube, which is so adjusted that when its recipro-
cating motion has brought it to its extreme point towards the knife, the axis
of the quarter which lies upon the bottom of the tube shall be in the same
right line as the axis of the hollow spindle. When the tube arrives at this
point its motion ceases, and the tooth-beaded spindles are released by the cam
No. 2, and are presse.l forward by springs until they come in contact with the
opposite end of the cork; a portion of the tube nearest the knife is cut away

page_text: to allow the tube to retire, leaving the quarter firmly held between the
tooth-headed spindles. Cam No. 2 now comes into action, imparting a
revolving motion to the said quarter, and now cam No. 4 comes into action,
causing the knife to pass longitudinally along the quarter, rounding and
finishing it as it moves; arriving at its end, it returns rapidly to its first
position. Cam No. 2 now comes into action for the purpose of withdrawing
the tooth-heated spindles, and releasing the cork or corks as produced, which
fall down a channel (as the machine continues to work) into any receptacle
provided to receive them. The carriage of the tooth-headed spindle is made
to move at pleasure at right angles to the said spindle, and in a plane parallel
to that of the cutting edge of the knife, for the purpose of producing or cutting
corks of any given size or amount of taper.
And my fourth and last improvement in the manufacture of corks consist
in a mechanical arrangement for finishing, pressing, and embossing them when
required by the application of heat, by which means I am not only enabled to
produce them with great truth and accuracy as to size, but to print or emboss
the top ends of corks with the name of the user, or quality or nature of the fluid
or mixture they are required to protect, or other character or characters that
may be required. And I effect this by placing the rough or other formed cork
tightly in a mould, the form of which is that of the required cork; the said mould
may be opened or closed at the ends as required. I then subject the moulds
containing the corks to beat of about 300 degrees, more or less, which may be
applied in any suitable manner, either by hot fluids or steam, but I prefer the
latter. And my apparatus for effecting this consists in the application of a
steam-wheel, the diameter of which I prefer to be about six feet, more or less,
having a rim that is oblong in cross section, and cast hollow, its greatest width
being at right angles with the axis; two parallel passages unite this rim to a
centre chamber, at each end of which is a hollow gudgeon, upon which the
wherns, and through one of which the steam enters, passing up one of
the before-mentioned passages through the hollow rim down the other passage,
and out through the other gudgeon. A number of metal moulds, either
round, oval, taper, or otherwise, are placed equidistant, and as close together
as convenient and concentric with the axis; these pass through the hollow
rim parallel with the said axis, being firmly secured steam-tight in the metal
sides, each end of the mould being open. A number of these circles of moulds
may be placed in the said rim, each circle containing the same number of
moulds. Upon each side of the wheel is placed a shaft at right angles to its
axis and in the same plane; two cams are fixed upon each shaft, which, as
the shaft revolves, urges forward cross heads moving in slides parallel with

page_text: the axis of the wheel; in these cross heads are fixed two lines of studs, so
arranged that they shall correspond accurately with the moulds, into which
they enter. As the cross head is urged forward, the upper line of studs, each
carrying before it a rough rounded cork from the bottoms of oblong tubes
similar to that described in the last machine, but being cut away so as to
allow the bottom cork to be pushed out endways by one of the said studs into
the moulds, with one of which said moulds each tube corresponds. The
bottom line of studs each force out a cork that has been placed in from the
opposite side, and that has remained in the mould during the time occupied
by the steam wheel in making one revolution, less two moulds, more or less.
The cross heads having been caused to return to their original position by
springs or other means, a paul actuated by a lever, actuated by a stud fixed in
a worm wheel upon the cam shaft, engages with a tooth (their being cast
equidistant around the periphery of the steam wheel a tooth for each mould
in a circle), causing the said steam wheel to turn until the next under moulds
correspond with the studs; another lever releases a detent so as to stop and
maintain the said wheel in its proper position. The cam shafts are caused to
revolve by means of worm or other wheels from a shaft driven by a pulley
and band, the whole of the machine being suitably mounted and fixed to be
worked by steam, water, or other convenient power.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Marshall Downing in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
MARSHALL DOWNING, Mechanical Engineer, of Handsworth, in the nty
of Stafford, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Marshall Downing, Her special license that I, the said Thomas
Marshall Downing, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas Marshall Downing, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully

page_text: might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CORKS AND BUNGS," upon the
condition (among others) that I, the said Thomas Marshall Downing, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Marshall Downing, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawings here-
unto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon (that is to
say):-
My improvements in the manufacture of corks and bungs have for their
object economy of labour and material, with an improvement as to general
quality, and may be stated under four heads.
First, in the machinery for dressing or preparatory rounding strips, techni-
cally called "lengths," such lengths being cut from the sheets of corks, in size
slightly in excess of the finished corks to be cut from them. For this purpose
I employ a revolving tubular knife, the diameter of which is equal to the
diameter of the cork desired to be prepared or roughly made; this knife is
fixed upon a revolving disc mounted upon a hollow shaft, the cutting edges of
the knife being concentric with its axis; a non-revolving expansive tubular
guide may be placed within the hollow shaft as close as convenient to the
back or inner surface of the knife. At the opposite end of the guide is an
eccentric segmental knife, carried by a disc keyed upon a revolving axis
parallel to the before described hollow shaft, from which it receives motion.
I use change wheels or their equivalents, for the purpose of altering the ratio
of their velocity to produce long or short corks as may be required, the extreme
edge of the said knife crosses the axis of the hollow shaft in each of its revo-
lutions a distance equal to that of the radius of the finished cork; the eccen-
tricity of the knife slightly exceeds the diameter of the said cork. The rough
lengths are introduced by means of a pair of V-grooved rollers, which urge it
forward through the expansive square or other shaped guide, which clips it
tightly, giving way to its inequalities while under the operation of the knife
with which it is concentric, and as it issues from the said guide the length will
be dressed or rounded by the operation of the said knife, and cut off to the

page_text: lengths required by the eccentric segmental knife before described. Corks so
treated are suitable to be placed in a machine hereafter to be described. These
mechanical arrangements I purpose mounting upon a suitable stand, and to
be worked by steam or other auxiliary power.
Secondly, my improvements relate to a machine for the making of finished
corks from lengths, whether square or previously dressed by the machine first
described, the said length having a width and breadth slightly in excess of
the diameter of the finished corks desired to be made from such lengths.
For this purpose I employ a hollow cylindrical or a flat circular knife, but
I prefer the former, mounted upon the end of a spindle revolving in a suitable
carriage fixed in a slide at right angles with the ax's. The said carriage and
slide is mounted upon a revolving disc fixed upon a bollow shaft, the axis of
the before-mentioned spindle standing at right angles with the axis of the
hollow shaft, forming a tangent with a circle described from the centre hollow
shaft, having a diameter equal to that of the of the knife, plus that of the cork
when finished. A non-revolving face pin-wheel encircles the before-mentioned
disc, and is concentric with it, and into this gears another smaller face pin wheel
keyed on the extreme end of the knife spindle, and being carried around by
the aforesaid disc causes the aforesaid spindle to revolve; a non-revolving
guide is placed within the hollow axis, and projecting towards the knife in close
proximity to it. At the opposite end of the said guide is an eccentric seg-
mental knife, also similar to that described in Figure One; the lengths are also
introduced by rollers and guides as before described and exhibited in Sheet
One, and is rounded and finished as it issues from the guide by the revolving
hollow cylindrical knife revolving around it. Taper or oval corks are pro-
duced by causing the carriage to slowly reciprocate in the slide before men-
tioned by a cam or other suitable means.
Thirdly, my improvements relate to a machine for the purpose of perfecting
or finishing what are technically called quarters, or finishing the rough corks
produced by the machines described under the first head of my Invention, or
any imperfect corks produced by the machine last described. For this pur-
pose I employ either a hollow cylindrical or flat circular knife, but, as before
stated, I prefer the former, the diameter of which I prefer being about eight
inches, more or less, as may be required. This knife I fix upon the upper
end of a perpendicular spindle, which is caused to revolve by means of a
horizontal shaft and bevilled wheel, which shafts likewise carries two V-grooved
pulleys, to which an intermittant revolving motion is imparted by means of a
face cam or other equivalent, which for the facility of description I will call
cam No. 1, also a cam No. 2, or its equivalent, for giving an intermittant

page_text: longitudinal motion to two pairs of spindles, one pair placed on opposite sides
of the knife, having toothed heads for the purpose of holding the quarter or
roughly-formed cork between them. An intermittant revolving motion is im-
parted to them by a small V-grooved pulley fixed upon each of them, around which
and the large V-grooved pulleys (upon the horizontal shaft) a band passes. The
axis of these spindles are placed at such a distance from the cutting edge of the
knife as to be equal to the radius of the cork desired to be cut. The horizontal
shaft has likewise a cam No. 3, or its equivalent fixed upon it, for the purpose
of imparting a reciprocating motion at right angles to the tooth-headed spin-
dle to two oblong tubes hung perpendicularly upon centres or pivots near the
top; the tubes have such an internal size that the quarters or rough corks will
drop freely down. The said shaft likewise carries a face cam No. 4, or its equi-
valent, for the purpose of giving an intermittant longitudinal motion to the
spindle carrying the knife. This is effected by causing the carriage in which
the said spindle revolves to move in a slide fixed at right angles to the knife
spindle, and parallel to the axis of the tooth-headed spindles; the cutting edge
of the knife is in the same plane as the axis of the said tooth-headed spindle.
To give effect to this machine the attendant drops the quarter or imperfect
cork down the perpendicular tube, which is so adjusted that, when its reci-
procating motion has brought it to its extreme point towards the knife, the axis
of the quarter which lies upon the bottom of the tube, shall lie in the same
right line as the axis of the tooth-headed spindle. When the tube arrives at
this point its motion ceases, and the tooth-headed spindle are released by the
cam No. 2, and are pressed forward by springs until they come in contact
with the opposite ends of the cork, a portion of the tube nearest the knife is
cut away to allow the tube to retire, leaving the quarters firmly held between
the tooth-headed spindles. Cam No. 1 now comes into action, imparting a
revolving motion to the said quarter, and now cam No. 4 comes into action,
causing the knife to pass longitudinally along the quarter, rounding and finishing
it as it moves; arriving at its end, it returns rapidly to its first position.
Cam No. 2 now comes into action for the purpose of withdrawing the tooth-
headed spindles, and releasing the cork or corks as finished, which fall down
a channel (as the machine continues to work) into any receptacle provided to
receive them. The carriages of the tooth-headed spindle are made to
move at pleasure at right angles to the said spindle, and in a plane parallel
to that of the cutting edge of the knife, for the purpose of producing or
cutting corks of any given size or amount of taper.
And my fourth and last improvement in the manufacture of corks consist
in a mechanical arrangement for smoothing, finishing, pressing, and embossing

page_text: them when required, by the application of heat, by which means I am not only
enabled to produce them with great truth and accuracy as to size, but to print
or emboss the ends or other parts of corks with the name of the user, or
quality, or nature of the fluid or mixture they are required to protect, or trade
mark or character that may be required. And I effect this by placing the
rough or other formed corks tightly in moulds, the form of which is that of
the required cork, the said moulds may be opened or closed at the ends as
required; I then subject the moulds containing the corks to heat of about
three hundred degrees, more or less, which may be applied in any suitable
manner, either by hot air, steam, or other fluids, but I give preference to
steam. And my apparatus for effecting this consists in the application of
a steam wheel, the diameter of which I prefer to be about five feet, more or
less, having a rim that is oblong in cross section and cast hollow, its greatest
width being at right angles with the axis; two parallel passages unite this
rim to a centre chamber, at each end of which is a hollow gudgeon upon
which the wheel turns, and through one of which the steam enters passing
up one of the before-mentioned passages, around the hollow rim, down the
other passage and out through the other gudgeon. A number of metal moulds,
either round, oval, taper, or otherwise, are placed equidistant, and as close
together as convenient, and concentric with the axis; these pass through
the hollow rim parallel with the said axis, being firmly secured steam-tight
in the metal sides, each end of the mould being open. A number of these
circles of moulds may be placed in the said rim, each circle containing the
same number of moulds. Upon each side of the wheel is placed a shaft
at right angles to its axis, and in the same plane two cams are fixed upon
each shaft, which as the shaft revolves urges forward a cross head or slide
moving in guides parallel with the axis of the wheel. In these cross heads
are fixed two lines of studs, so arranged that they shall correspond accurately
with the moulds into which they enter as the cross head is urged forward;
each of the upper line of studs carries before it a rough rounded cork from
the bottom of an oblong tube, similar to that described in the last machine,
but being cut away so as to allow the bottom cork to be pushed out endways
by one of the said studs into the moulds with one of which said moulds
each tube corresponds. The bottom line of studs each force a cork that
has been placed in from the opposite side, and that has remained in the
mould during the time occupied by the steam wheel in making one revolution,
less two moulds, more or less. The cross heads having been caused to return
to their original position by springs or other means, a paul actuated by a
lever, actuated by a stud fixed on the side of the driving wheel upon the

page_text: cam shaft, engages with a tooth (there being cast equidistant around the
periphery of the steam wheel a tooth for each mould in a circle,) causing-
the said steam wheel to turn until the next under moulds correspond with
the studs. Another lever may be placed so as to release a detent so as to
stop and maintain the said wheel in its proper position. The cam shafts are
caused to revolve by means of worm or other wheels from a shaft driven
by a pulley and band, the whole of the machine being suitably mounted and
fixed so as to be worked by steam, water, or other convenient power. But
reference to the accompanying Drawings will show more fully my Invention
and the practical means for realizing the same.
Figure 1, Sheet 1, represents a side view of the machine for rounding and
cutting off the corks from what are technically called lengths, which machine
is described under the first head of my improvements.
A, A, A, forms the stand and bed of the machine, which I have here
represented as of wood, but which may be made of iron or otherwise as
preferred; B is a table piece for the length of cork to rest on as it passes
between the feed rolls marked C, C, partly shown in dotted lines. These
rolls are fitted or set up in open iron standards for receiving them, and set
to their work by the top and bottom screws D, D, a spiral spring being
placed each side between the gland and head piece for the purpose of holding
the top feed roll down to its work, and to provide for any inequality in the
size of the cork fed through. In the front of these feed rolls is a hollow
plate marked C¹³, so divided that springs may be applied within to exert their
force on the top plates marked a, the corresponding lower plates marked b
being adjusted by a set screw. These plates hold the cork firmly and in
position to be presented to the operation of the revolving hollow knife or
cutter marked F; this knife is attached to a hollow shaft held by a gland
marked G, which is screwed down to the bed as here shown; H is a pinion
secured to the hollow shaft, and I is a collar secured to the bed by screws
and nuts, and supports the hollow delivery tube marked J, the end in con-
nection with this part being shouldered and fitted so that the shaft may
rapidly revolve while the part J is perfectly stationary; K is an eccentric
segmental knife, hereafter to be referred to; L, L, is a shaft secured on the
under side of the frame in suitable glands, and on which the fast and loose
pulleys M and N are placed for receiving the band from a main driving pulley
for setting in motion or stopping the action of the machine when required;
O is a spur wheel which gears into the pinion H, and thereby gives motion
to the cutter F, and P is a bevil wheel which gears into another bevil wheel
marked Q, principally shown in dotted lines, on the vertical shaft of which

page_text: the right and left-handed worms R and S are placed, and which worms are
geared to wheels not shown in this view, but fixed on the shaft carrying the
feed rolls before referred to, marked C, C, and from which the said feed rolls
derive their motion. And we will suppose that T, T, is a rude square strip of
cork, technically called a "length," pushed in between the V grooved
peripheries of the feed rolls, the strip of cork will be impelled forward through
the guide plates a, a, b, b, against the operation of the revolving knife, which
pares off the angles and irregular portions, leaving the now cut cylinder of
cork to pass along through the hollow spindle until it protrudes through the
mouth piece J, to be divided or cut up into given lengths by the eccentric
segmental knife K, which derives its motion by being fixed or secured to
the plate U, which is formed with or connected to the collar V, which
is keyed on to the hollow spindle W, W, which again works on the shaft
before referred to, marked I, being driven by the cog wheel C, keyed
upon the shaft L, gearing into the wheel X, X, and Y being united
together and working on the fixed axis or shaft Z; the wheel Y drives the
wheel d fixed upon the hollow spindle W, W, and the different size of X, Y,
and c, d, enables me to vary the lengths of the corks cut off by regulating
the action of the knife. From this description it will be seen that the
different sized corks are produced from the different sized lengths by ex-
panding or contracting the feed rolls, adjusting the mouth or guide plates a, a,
b, b, and altering the size of the knife F and delivery tube J, and adjusting
the speed of the knife K. In some instances instead of using the circular
knife F, I fix a kind of face plate upon the hollow shaft, say, in the position
of D, as exhibited in a front view at Figure 5; h is staple or bolt, with a
slot through it for holding the shank of the cutter j, and which staple passes
through the part F', and is secured at the back by being tapped and
screwed. The knife is bent outward nearly at a right angle with the disc,
at the bottom, its cutting portion forming an arc of a circle, of the diameter
of the cork intended to be cut, which is represented by the concentric circle
marked k
Figure 6 is a side view of Figure 5, shewing a side view of the knife, and
the staple or bolt by which it is held, as also the cork partly shaped, marked k.
At the back of the plate F' a collar is formed, marked m, for better supporting
it on the hollow shaft, which is here shewn partly broken off, marked n. And
although I can only exhibit in this view one hollow knife and delivery mouth J,
with feed rolls, etc., nevertheless such parts being repeated and properly
placed on the stand, the one spur wheel marked O and bevil wheel marked P
will give effect to two sets of feed and rounding apparatus. at one time, the

page_text: eccentric segmental knife cutting off the corks so rounded alternately, first on
one side and then on the other. This will be seen more plainly by referring
to Figure 2, which is a top view of one-half of Figure 1, the same parts being
intended to be repeated identically as here shown. The head pieces and set
screws D, D, are removed from the standards marked A¹, A', with this
exception, the parts as shown in Figure 1 are here represented marked with
the same letters of reference.
Figure 3 is a part end view of Figures 1 and 2, with the table and part of
the frame removed for the convenience of better exhibiting the working parts,
as well as defining their respective positions; the shafts that carry the feed
rolls marked e, f, are also represented broken off. The part marked B³, B³,
forms one casting with the standards A¹, A¹, and is broken off in the middle in
this view for the purpose of exhibiting the bevilled wheels P and Q, Q being
fixed to a vertical shaft, which works in a gland at bottom and top, as at g,
and on which shaft the worms are fixed which give motion to the feed rolls by
pinions marked
being shown in connection with the shaft E, but omitted below. The part
marked G is the gland for carrying or supporting the hollow shaft, circular
cutter, etc., on this side, deriving its motion as the corresponding parts on the
1 eft-hand side does by pinions put in motion by the spur wheel O. I have
not thought it necessary to show the teeth upon this or the other wheels, as
this mode of delineation is well understood by fitters and engineers generally.
C', C', and C', represent the hollow plate, secured to the standards A¹, A¹,
and in this part grooved recesses are formed for receiving springs, and sup-
porting the fixed and regulating guide plates described in Figure 1, as marked
a, b, and which part is represented in a detached front view at Figure 4, which
represents the cover removed from one set of guides for the purpose of showing
the springs which press down the top guides a, a, and the screws that set
up the lower ones b, b. g, g, are the glands, marked g, referred to in Figures 1
and 3, and in which the shaft carrying the worms R and S revolve.
p, fixed upon the shaft e, f, being geared into them, the pinion
Before passing to Sheet Two, I will observe that I have not thought it
necessary to exhibit a Drawing of the machine herein-before referred to under
the second head, as its use, purpose, and action is already sufficiently described,
the parts not separately described being similar in detail to the machine first
described and exhibited in Sheet One.
Figure 7, Sheet Two, is a top view of my improved apparatus for rounding
quarters or imperfect corks described under the third head of my Invention;
and Figure 8 is a section of Figure 7, taken through the dotted line A, A;
and Figure 9 is a longitudinal irregular section of Figure 7, taken through the

page_text: dotted lines B and B, the same parts, as they appear in the various views,
being defined with the same letter. C, C, C, C, is a cast-iron or other formed
stand, cast and moulded in a way best calculated to receive the various working
parts; the lower strengthening rails marked D, D, may be formed with or
separate and added, as here shown; E, E, is the main driving shaft, on the
outer end of which the fast and loose pulleys are placed, marked F and G, for
giving motion to this machine. In the centre of the machine a traversing bed
working in slides N is formed, with glands for supporting a vertical shaft
marked H, and which shaft is fitted with a collar at the top marked I, I,
exhibited only in Figures 8 and 9, but removed in Figure 7, the shaft being
shown in section in this Figure, also marked H. On the collar I a circular
crown knife is placed, the blade being supported on a disc, from which it may
be removed at pleasure, which disc is shown in section with the knife at
Figure 10, the disc resting on the collar I, on which it is held by the top of
the shaft being screwed for receiving the nut here shown.
Figure 11 is a top view of the knife, disc, washer, and nut. The vertical
shaft H derives its motion from the bevilled pinion J, gearing into the bevil
wheel K, which wheel is secured to a hollow collar that slides upon a key
fixed in the shaft; a strap from the sliding bed extends down marked L,.and
takes into a groove in the collar last mentioned, marked M; N is a face cam,
secured upon the shaft E, and a projecting steel spring marked O is secured
to the traversing bed for working against the face of the cam, the contact of
the part O with the face of the cam being maintained by a suitable coiled
spring or other suitable material; P and Q are grooved driving wheels,
receiving a gut, shown by the red-line, that works over the smaller pulleys R
and S, but before referring to them I will further describe the parts on the
shaft E. The driving wheels P and Q are finished with toothed collars for
clutching in a corresponding grooved collar marked T, the one at the other end
being omitted to avoid confusion; the lateral face of the collar is partially
eccentric, and is caused to slide upon a key fixed in the shaft by means of a
fixed pin bearing against the partial eccentric face of the collar, by which
means an intermittent motion is given to the wheels Q and P, and which pin
is marked U. V, V, are simply the glands in which the shaft E works;
W, W, are also cams fixed or formed on the shaft E, and which cams operate
on the levers X, X, which working on fulcrums at Y, Y, expands or withdraws
the spindles Z, Z, by the top ends of the levers taking into the grooved collars
or locked nuts marked A', A', and which are screwed upon the spindle for the
purpose of being set in the desired position, according to the length of the
corks or quarters to be operated on in this machine, the spindles being brought

page_text: up and held to their work by the force of two compound springs, centrally
secured at each end of the machine, one of which is here shown partly in
section at the ends, and secured to the vertical standard M', M'; the plate of
the spring that bears against the shoulder of the spindle is made wide and
slotted out for the purpose of allowing free action to the spindles. A cork or
quarter I have exhibited at B¹, which is held between the inner ends of
holders screwed into the spindles, the holders being radially toothed for that
purpose, and in position for the traversing action of the revolving crown knife
not shown in position, as before stated. According to the arrangement of the
machine it is set for trimming the periphery of corks perfectly cylindrical,
but which is not essential to this machine, as by turning the screws by
the wheel heads marked C, C, and C, C¹, the carriage or carriages that
support the spindles Z, Z, may be placed slightly oblique; nevertheless the
periphery of the cork will be presented parallel with the traversing action
of the knife. Thus I am enabled with the same facility to produce taper
as well as parallel corks from the largest bungs down to the smallest
phial corks. The manner of supplying unfinished corks or quarters to this
machine forms an important feature in my arrangement, and this I have
exhibited in a detached front and side view at Figures 12 and 18. The
parts that appear in these views referred to at Figures 7, 8, and 9 are
marked with the same letter of reference. On the shaft E the cam D¹ is fixed,
which operates on the lower end of the rod E¹, which works through the
guide F, which is held by the nut or nuts that secure or hold down the top
gland that the shaft E works in; the rod E¹ is connected to the lever G¹,
which works on the fulcrum or standard H¹; the end of this lever is connected
to a coupling secured in their outer ends to two oblong tubes marked I', and is
suspended and works on an axis marked J', J', which may be supported in any
convenient manner; the bottom end of the oblong tube is closed, but the part
opposite the ends of the quarters is cut away to allow the holder to come in
contact with the ends of the said quarters, as is also the side next the knife, to
allow the tube to retire, leaving the quarter between the holders as is exhibited
in Figures 7 and 9, marked K', K. Turning to Figure 12, it is seen how the
rod E', working over the cam marked D', rises up and down, and operates on
the lever G', and by means of the coupling L, L, expands and contracts the
lower ends of the oblong tubes I', I', which are represented in this view in
position for the holders to take hold of a quarter upon each side of the machine,
which by the operation of the cams W, W, and levers X, X, have been opened
for freeing the cork last operated on, and to be in position for allowing two
more quarters or unfinished corks to be placed in position; at which time the

page_text: cam D¹ only, shown at Figure 13, will pass around to have its furthest throw
at the bottom side of the shaft, when the oblong tubes I', I', will be expanded,
leaving the unfinished corks to be operated on by the traversing action of
the revolving knife. Thus in, working this machine the attendant boy or girl
has only to supply the "quarters," which is a term well understood in the
trade, down the oblong tubes in the direction of the arrows; one of the said
quarters is shown at O' ready for delivery. By referring to Figure 12, it will
be seen that the coupling is composed of two tubes tapped in a reverse
direction at each end for taking into corresponding rods attached by centres, as
here shown; two to a centre axis, and one each side to axes secured to the
oblong tubes; and it is by this means I am enabled to adjust the tube I¹ so
that when in the position shown the axis of the quarter that lies upon the
closed bottom of the tube I shall correspond with the axis of the spindle. I
have not thought it necessary to show the teeth in the bevil wheels for the
reason before stated.
Figure 14, Sheet 3, represents as much as is necessary of a top view of my
machine, representing my Invention for giving truth, evenness, and uniformity
of surface, as also if desired for embossing or printing corks, named under the
fourth or last head of my improvements, adapted for: the use of steam, but
which same apparatus is equally applicable to the performing or producing
the like result, supposing hot air or any other hot fluid to be used. B, B, B, B,
and B, B, are wood sleepers; C, C, represents the periphery of a hollow wheel,
which is cast or formed with the parts D, D, the outer necks of which rest
on glands secured to the sleepers, the top gland being removed from the part
E, but exhibited at F, which is cast with a strengthening rib, marked G; tho
parts H, H, are packing glands or stuffing boxes for securely packing the
steam feed and delivery pipe I and J, the course of which is indicated by the
arrows; in this Figure, as well as in Fig. 15, the hollow rim of the wheel C
is fitted with brass tubes, having an internal form and size corresponding to
that of the required cork when finished; these tubes are placed radially, con-
centrically, and equidistant apart; they pass through the rim, and are secured
steam-tight in the side by riveting over the ends. K, K, is a horizontal
shaft on which the driving pulley or pullies are placed, marked L and M, the
shaft being broken for the convenience of space, and the different sizes of
pulleys is for giving me the advantage of different speeds. On the shaft K, K,
the worms N and O are placed for the purpose of giving motion to the cam
shafts P and Q, by their having worm wheels fixed on their ends. The worm
wheel in connection with the worm O is entirely removed in this view, and the
wheel R.in connection with the worm N is represented partly broken for the

page_text: purpose of showing the shaft Q extending through, on which the worm wheel
R is securely keyed on the shafts P and Q; the cams S, S, and T, T, are
secured for the purpose of actuating the cross-heads marked U, U, and V, V ;
U, U, is shown partly in section for showing its form in contact with the peri-
phery of the cam T, as also for the purpose of showing how the studs W, W,
are fitted in and held in position by the nuts and screws a, a, a; the fore
end of these studs, marked b, are turned down so as to enter into the tubes,
for the purpose of pressing the rough rounded cork into the said tubes, placed
in the rim of the wheel as before described, and as will be seen at Figure 15,
(such line of holes being defined by the corresponding letter 6,) which repre-
sents a side view of as much of the wheel as is necessary for illustrating my
improvements. Nor have I thought it necessary to exhibit more tubes for
receiving the corks than here shown, as they would only tend to confuse.
The studs c, c, c, c, c, are secured to the part U, by having enlarged shoulders
or collars abutting against it, marked d, d, d, d, d, and passing through the
part Q, is secured by screws and nuts, as at e, e, e, e, e. This second row of studs
is for emptying the radial line of holes marked f. ff. f. Thus it will be seen
that the studs U, U, and V, V, are advanced by the simultaneous action of
the cams S, S, and T, T; the top series, such as 6, b, b, b, b, and 9, g, g, are
for pressing the corks into the tubes, and the lower rows c, c, c, c, c, and
h, h, h, h, h, are intended to force out or eject the corks from the said tubes
after the wheel C, C, has made one revolution, and the said tubes having been.
kept at a temperature of about three hundred degrees, more or less, during
the time so occupied, by steam or other hot fluids, as herein-before described.
In working, the wheel will be entirely charged with corks before the first
radial row has passed around to be ejected. The tops of the guides of the
slide U are removed, but exhibited in position over the slides V, V, Figure 14,
marked X, X; nor have I exhibited the springs which hold the slides or cross
heads against the face of the cam. Before finishing the description of the
studs W, W, I will observe that I place spiral springs on them, between the
face of the casting U and the lock nuts I, I, for the purpose of presenting an
elastic pressure on the corks to be pressed into the tubes. And this same
principle I also apply to the series on the slide V, a part of which is broken,
for the purpose of exhibiting how the studs h and c are applied and held in
position. The wheel has an intermittant motion imparted to it by a stud fixed
on the inside of the worm wheel, which at each revolution acts on the lever
marked Y, which works on a fulcrum at Z; to the other end of this lever is
attached a pendant pall, which catches into teeth placed equidistant apart
around the whole of the periphery of the wheel C, causing the wheel to move.

page_text: a certain portion in the direction shown by the arrow k at each revolution of
the worm wheel K, and during which revolution, when the wheel C is
stationary, five corks will be forced in, and five forced out on each side, in a
condition perfect as to form and evenness of surface, a result produced from
the pieces of cork being pressed in and subjected to heat during the revolution
of the wheel, which would be about from fifteen to twenty minutes, more or
less, according to the speed with which the machine is being worked. Figure
16 is an end view, shewing the worms on the shaft K, K, also the worm
wheel R, with the driving pulley Land M; the position of the driving pulleys
and the lever in this view are changed from the left to the right, merely to
shew that it is immaterial as to their position; the pendant pall is shown in
this view marked A', by the sleeper, on this side marked B, being removed for
the purpose of exhibiting it; and the forms of the cams as at S or T, Figure 14,
is here defined by the curved line B', B', B', partly dotted; the wheel referred
to in the other Figures is also partly shown in this view marked with the same
letter, broken for the convenience of space. When it is desirable to print or
impress any name or design on the top or bottom of the cork, by preference I
employ dies, which being properly formed slightly taper in a line with its axis,
and applied with the rough corks with their embossed or engraved surface in
the right direction for impressing the end of the cork in contact with it, such
dies from being slightly taper and fitting tight in the tube, will remain in
contact with the cork during the revolution of the wheel, but will yield to the
pressure of the delivery studs before referred to, when they are presented to
force out the cork. The manner in which I purpose supplying rough corks to
this machine is, by forming a stationary box on each side of the wheel with
oblong grooves, the grooves being arranged for the particular sized corks I
wish to make, shewing that the row of holes in the wheel nearest the periphery
is for the largest sized corks, and each concentric row to be smaller and
smaller, so that by supplying the right sized rough corks to the oblong grooves
in connection with its respective sized holes in the wheel, I am enabled to
make, say, ten positively different sized corks; but as I am working with a
non-positive material, the holes may be slightly irregular in size, without
affecting the principle of my Invention, as the pall will always move the
wheel a positive distance, which will bring the next under tube to that last
charged or emptied in a line with the studs, so that they will freely enter
therein. The feed tubes I have not thought it necessary to show, further than
to indicate their position by the dotted lines marked C, C, such grooves or
tubes terminating so that the axis of the lowest cork shall correspond with the
axis of the charging stud to which it corresponds; the feeding tubes being

page_text: cut away to allow the said stud to pass through it, and push before it endways
into a finishing tube the lowest cork in the said feeding tube or groove.
Drawings are to a scale of 8 inches to one foot.
Having thus given a general description of my improvements in the manu-
facture of corks, I wish it understood that I do not purpose confining myself
to the exact details herein described and exhibited, as the same may be
considerably modified and altered without departing from. the spirit of my
Invention; nevertheless I believe the various modes herein shown.will be
found to combine the most practical results with the least expence, both: as to
the cost of production and the labor necessary in feeding and attending such
machines; but what I claim and wish protected by these my in part recited
Letters Patent is, the means generally herein described, and exhibited in the
three Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, for forming, finishing, printing,
and embossing corks.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Marshall Downing, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
THOMAS MARSHALL DOWNING. (L.B.)
JAMES S. COCKINGS,
Patent Agent,
Birmingham.