A Combination Corkscrew and Stopper.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Aug., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 27th June, 1895-Accepted, 27th July, 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A Combination Corkscrew and Stopper.
We JULES ELSNER of No. 38 Tressillian Road, London S.E., Engineer and
EDWARD BLASS of Essen-Ruhr, in the German Empire, Civil Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
:-
Our invention relates to a novel combination of corkscrew and bottle stopper
and the object of it is to provide those whom it may concern, such as holiday
makers at picnics, with a convenient corkscrew for drawing a cork, and a handy
stopper for stoppering a half emptied bottle.
In carrying the invention into effect, we provide an expanding stopper consisting
of, substantially, two solid blocks and an expansible and elastic one between them,
the intermediate block being the actual stopper. These three bodies form a case
or have a central tube for the worm of the corkscrew which engages with the
lower of the first mentioned blocks in any convenient way, either by means of a
female thread or spiral or spirally arranged pins.
The head of the screw may be a ring or a crutch top pivotted, or otherwise, as
may be preferred. It may be provided with a cutter. When a pivotted top is
provided, it may have an eccentric adapted by bearing upon the head of the stopper
to draw the bottom block up to the top one.
The top block of the stopper may be flanged to rest upon the bottle neck, or
tapered.
Suitable provision of any convenient type such as pins engaging in grooves, lips
and grooves, or the like, is made to hold the various parts of the stopper together
after the corkscrew has been turned out of it, and to generally keep the said parts
in their respective working positions.
There may be a male thread on the shoulder of the corkscrew and a female one
in the head of the stopper to prevent the screw and stopper becoming separated in
the owner's pocket.
Dated this 29th day of August 1894.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Agents for the Applicants.
A Combination Corkscrew and Stopper.
We, JULES ELSNER of No. 38 Tressillian Road, London, S. E., Engineer, and
EDWARD BLASS of Essen-Ruhr in the German Empire, Civil Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
Our invention relates to a combination of corkscrew and bottle stopper and the
object of it is to provide those whom it may concern, such as holiday makers at
picnics, with a convenient corkscrew for drawing a cork and a handy stopper for
stoppering a half emptied bottle.

page_text: The invention consists of the combination with a corkscrew of an expanding and
contractible stopper consisting substantially, of two solid blocks and an elastic
intermediate one having a central longitudinal cavity adapted to serve as a case for
the worm of the corkscrew.
The invention consists of the combination of corkscrew, an expanding and
contractible stopper, a case for the worm of the corkscrew and means by which the
engagement of the worm with the stopper effects the expansion of it.
In carrying the invention into effect, we provide an expanding stopper consisting
of, substantially, two solid members and an intermediate elastic one. It is the
last mentioned one that acts as the actual stopper, the outer one, acting as a
support and vice for it in the well known way. The said members are bored so as
to constitute a case for the worm and the three are held together by a device
which leaves the cavity for the worm and screwshank open. The bottom member
is provided with a suitable device by means of which the end of the worm can
engage with it, and by a motion about its axis, draw the said member up to the
top one, thereby compressing the intermediate and expansible one between them as
There is further provided a device by which the corkscrew can be
heretofore.
held in its case.
Referring to the accompanying drawings:-
:-
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation illustrating the general construction of the
combination and its action as a stopper.
Figure 2 is a vertical section of the combination illustrated in Figure 1 shewing
the stopper out of contact with the bottle neck and ready for either withdrawal or
fixation.
Figure 3 is a vertical section illustrating a modified construction of the
combination, likewise shewing the stopper out of contact with the bottle neck and
ready for withdrawal or fixation.
Figure 4 is a vertical section illustrating a further modified construction of the
combination, the stopper being in the same condition as is illustrated in Figures 2
and 3.
Figure 5 is a sectional elevation, and Figure 6, a vertical section, of a further
modified construction of the combination, the stopper being in the same condition
as is illustrated in Figures 2, 3 and 4.
a is the top member; b, the bottom member; and c, the intermediate elastic
member. The two former are of incompressible material, and the top one, flanged
(as represented in Figures 1, 2 and 4) or tapered upwards (as represented in the
remaining figures), to a diameter in excess of the bottle top, as heretofore.
The case for the worm of the corkscrew consists of a central cavity extending
through the top and intermediate members a and c and nearly through the bottom
member b. It is part and parcel of the device for holding the three members
together; and the two are shewn as consisting of a metal tube e which fits within
the cavity. Both top and bottom members a and b are, re-pectively, connected to
the tube e, but this connection must be of such a type as will provide for the
necessary motion of the said members to and from each other. Providing that it
meets this requirement the device may be of any suitable kind.
In the construction illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the bottom of the tube e is
made fast to the top of the bottom member 6 and the top of the tube is fitted with
a flange which extends partly over the top of the top member a without being
made fast to it so that the upper portion of the tube can slide freely within the
eaid portion a in either direction.
In the construction illustrated in Figures 3 to 6, the bottom of the tube e is
made fast by any convenient means (not shewn) to the bottom member b. The
upper portion of the tube has two vertical slots e, e³, formed in it opposite to each
other. The length of a slot e (both are of the same length) is equal to the motion
of the two members a and c from or to each other. A pin e fast in the top
member a enters each slot to hold tube e and member a together. The top of the
tube stands below the top of the said member when the stopper is loose from the

page_text: bottle neck, by a distance not less than the length of a slot e³, in order to keep it
and the handle of the corkscrew out of the way of each other.
The device for compressing the intermediate member e may consist of a screw
thread and nut engaging with each other-the screw thread being on the shank
of the corkscrew and the nut within the tube and fast to it, or of the
combination with a quasi screw thread and nut, of a cam adapted to engage with
the top member a.
In the construction illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the shank of the corkscrew
has a screw thread fcut upon it, adapted to engage in an internally screw threaded
nipple fast within the upper portion of the tube e and flush with the top of it.
The necessary purchase is acquired by the resistance of the rigid dome f* resting
on the flange a of the top member a to the collar g' on the head g' of the corkscrew
shank.
In the construction illustrated in Figures 3 to 6, the worm g engages with two
pins g', g fixed across the tube e in the path of the hollow portion of the thread of
the said worm and on opposite sides of its axis.
In the construction illustrated in Figure 4, the necessary purchase is acquired
by the resistance of the flange a¹ on the top member a to the collar g³, the two
pins g, g, acting as a nut to the worm 7 which acts as the equivalent of the screw
thread falready described.
In the construction illustrated in Figures 3, 5 and 6, the engagement between
the worm g and the pins g', g' is no more than suffices to give the head of the
corkscrew a hold upon the bottom member b. The compression of the intermediate
member c is effected by a cam on the handle i. It is a matter of indifference
whether the projection of the cam is vertical as in Figure 3 or lateral as in
Figures 5 and 6. The handle i is pivotted to the head g of the corkscrew; and
in either case, the handle i is set with the said projection (or projections) across
the top member a before the worm g is engaged with the pins g', g'.
When the handle is crutch shaped, as illustrated in Figure 3, there may be
combined with it a cutting edge.
.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The hereinbefore described combination of corkscrew and stopper, as set
forth.
2. The combination of expanding and contractible stopper consisting of three
members and device for holding them together; cavity therein adapted to act as
the case of a corkscrew; corkscrew; and device for compressing the intermediate
member of the stopper, as set forth.
3. The combination with the handle of a corkscrew and the expanding and
contractible stopper, of a device operated by the said handle for approaching and
separating the top and bottom members of the stopper, as set forth.
Dated this 27th day of June 1895.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
22 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.