AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CORKING BOTTLES, JARS, AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Bosselaers, of 74, Mark Lane, in the City
of London, Merchant, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
CORKING BOTTLES, JARS, AND OTHER VESSELS."-A communication from
abroad by Francois Vander-Hagen, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of
Belgium.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Bosselaers at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th June 1860.
I, CHARLES BOSSELAERS, of 74, Mark Lane, in the City of London,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CORKING BOTTLES, JARS, AND OTHER VESSELS," a coni-
munication from abroad by Francois Vander-Hagen, of Brussels, in the
Kingdom of Belgium, to be as follows:-
I employ a tube having a taper or conical bore, the smaller diameter being
at the bottom, and the larger at the top. The tube is provided with a
moveable cover, having a hole at the top forming a guide for a rod which
passes into the interior of the tube when the cover is on it. The rod abovo
the cover is encompassed by a buffer of india-rubber or other clastic material,
and the upper part of the rod of an increased diameter, so as to bear a
repetition of blows. The bottom of the tube is recessed to fit the top of the

page_text: neck of the bottle, and thereby place the bore of the tube concentric with it.
The cork is introduced into the larger part of the tube, the rod is entered, and
the cover put on, after which the end of the tube is placed upon the top of the
bottle, and the top of the rod struck by a mallet until the cork is driven
through the tube and corks the bottle, the buffer preventing the possibility of
breakage, and also denoting when the cork has advanced through the tube.
Before bottling it is necessary to dip the corks in water or in the liquid which
is being bottled.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Bosselaers in the Great Seal Patent Oflice on the
27th December 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
BOSSELAERS, of 74, Mark Lanc, in the City of London, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Пer most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Bossclaers, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Bosselaers, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Charles Bosselaers, 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
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
"AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CORKING BOTTLES, JARS, AND OTHER VESSELS," a
communication to me from abroad by François Vander-Hagen, of Brussels,
in the Kingdom of Belgium, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Charles Bosselaers, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
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 Charles Bosselaers, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
I employ a tube having a taper or conical bore, the smaller diameter being
at the bottom, and the larger at the top. The tube is provided with a
moveable cover, having a hole at the top, forming a guide for a rod which
passes into the interior of the tube when the cover is on it. The rod above
the cover is encompassed by a buffer of indin-rubber or other clastic material,
and the upper part of the rod of an increased diameter, so as to bear a
repetition of blows. The bottom of the tube is recessed to fit the top of the
neck of the bottle, and thereby place the bore of the tube concentric with it.
The cork is introduced into the larger part of the tube, the rod is entered, and
the cover put on, after which the end of the tube is placed upon the top of the
bottle, and the top of the rod struck by a mallet until the cork is driven
through the tube, and corks the bottle, the buffer preventing the possibility of
breakage, and also denoting when the cork has advanced through the tube.
Before bottling, it is necessary to dip the cork in water or in the liquid which
is being bottled.
This Invention will be clearly understood by referring to the figures and
letters on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents a
vertical section of my improved apparatus for corking bottles, shewing the
cork ready for being forced into the neck of the bottle; Fig. 2, a vertical
section of the same, shewing the cork driven in; Fig. 3 is an outside view of
Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a plan of the bottom; and Fig. 5, a plan of the top. The
cork is shown at a, placed in Fig. 1, in the taper or conical bore 6 of the
tube c, which has, when desired, a lining of metal d. The tube is provided
with the moveable cover e, bored at the top so as to form a guide for the rod f,
which passes into the interior of the tube, the top of the rod being enlarged as
at g. Under the head g is the buffer h of india-rubber or other elastic
material.
The bottom of the tube is recessed, as at i, to fit the top of the neck k of
the bottle, which places the bore of the tube concentric with the hole in the
neck.
When the cork is introduced and the cover put on, as in Fig. 1, the bottom
of the rod rests upon the cork, and by striking the head g with a mallet,
the cork is driven through the tube into the neck and corks the bottle, as
shewn in Fig. 2, the elasticity of the buffer h preventing breakage, the corks
being wetted with water or other liquid before being placed in the tube.
For bottles of all sizes, jars, and other vessels, it is only necessary to form
the parts of the apparatus of the size and strength required.

page_text: Having now described the nature and particulars of the said Invention, as
communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I claim the improved
apparatus for corking bottles, jars, and other vessels as herein described and
illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Bosselaors, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
CH. BOSSELAERS. (L.S.)