AN IMPROVED DEVICE FOR SECURING CORKS IN BOTTLES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Abraham Van Winkle, of Southampton Street,
Bloomsbury, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED DEVICE FOR SECURING CORKS IN BOTTLES."-A communication
from abroad by William M. Littell, of Newark, New Jersey, United
States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Abraham Van Winkle
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 18th May 1869.
I, ABRAHAM VAN WINKLE, of Southampton Street, Bloomsbury, in
the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED DEVICE FOR SECURING CORKS IN BOTTLES," a
communication, to be as follows:-
My Invention is more especially designed for securing the corks of
bottles of soda water or other aërated or effervescing liquids. The

page_text: ordinary method of securing the corks in such bottles with light metallic
wire necessitates the employment of two operatives, one of whom fills
and corks the bottle and then delivers it to the other who "wires"
the bottle and secures the wire over the cork. By my Invention I
am enabled to dispense with one of these operatives in filling and
corking the bottles, as my improved device when once placed around
the neck of the bottle is always found ready for use, and being very
simple in its construction it may be used by persons not having any
special skill or experience in bottling liquids under pressure.
The said device consists of a clip or fastener the ends of which arc
jointed or secured in eyes or loops formed in a band or ring encircling
the neck of the bottle. The said clip or fastener is formed with two
arms extending up at the sides of the cork, which arms are united by
a cross piece designed to rest upon the top of the cork when the same
is inserted in the bottle. I prefer to form this clip or fastener of iron
wire, which should be coated or covered with tin, lead, or other com-
paratively non-oxidizable metal or material. The top or cross piece is
curved or bent in such a manner that the central part projects over
and secures the cork when the same is released from the corking
machine, while the sides of the said cross piece are preferably curved
in the opposite direction, which facilitates the adjustment of the clip or
fastener over the cork.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Abraham Van Winkle in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 18th November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ABRAHAM
VAN WINKLE, of Southampton Street, Bloomsbury, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant, unto me, the said Abraham Van Winkle, Her special licence

page_text: that I, the said Abraham Van Winkle, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Abraham Van Winkle, 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 DEVICE
FOR SECURING CORKS IN BOTTLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Abraham Van Winkle, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument 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 Scal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Abraham Van Winkle, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification ;-
My Invention is more especially designed for securing the corks of
bottles of soda water or other äcrated or effervescing liquids. The
ordinary method of securing the corks in such bottles with light metallic
wire necessitates the employment of two operatives, one of whom tills
and corks the bottle and then delivers it to the other who "wires" the
bottle and secures the wire over the cork. By my Invention I am
enabled to dispense with one of these operations in filling and corking
the bottles, as my improved device when once placed around the neck of
the bottle is always found ready for use, and being very simple in its
construction it may be used by persons not having any special skill in
bottling liquids under pressure.
The said device consists of a clip or fastener the ends of which are
jointed or secured in eyes or loops formed in a band or ring encircling
the neck of the bottle. The said clip or fastener is formed with two
arms extending up at the sides of the cork, which arms are united by
a cross piece designed to rest upon the top of the cork when the same

page_text: is inserted in the bottle. I prefer to form this clip or fastener of iron
wire, which should be coated or covered with tin, lead, or other com-
paratively non-oxidable metal or material. The top or cross piece is
curved or bent in such a manner that the central part projects over and
secures the cork when the same is released from the corking machine,
while the sides of the said cross piece are preferably curved in the
opposite direction, which facilitates the adjustment of the clip or fastener
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved fastening device
showing the same prepared for attachment to a bottle; Figure 2 is a
side view of part of a soda water bottle shewing a cork secured therein
by the said fastening device; Figure 3 is a top view of the same.
letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawing.
Like
The clip a which may be made of metal wire of any suitable thickness
and for bottles of any desired size consists of the arms a' and cross
piece a; b is the band clasp or ring which encircles the neck e of the
bottle and which is formed with the eyes or loops b' to receive the
ends d of the clip, which ends form pivots whereon the said clip is turned
to adjust it over the cork c. The clasp or ring 6 when formed as shewn
in Figure 1 is easily placed around the neck of the bottle and secured
thereon by twisting its ends together, as shewn in Figure 2. The cork
having been inserted by a corking machine, the clip a is turned over
the top of the said cork, as shewn in Figures 2 and 3, and effectually
secures the same. When it is desired to open the bottle the said clip
may be readily turned upon its pivots away from the cork, which will
then at once escape. The clip or band b remains attached to the neck
of the bottle so that the clip a is ready for use in again securing tho
cork as soon as the bottle is refilled.
The chief advantages gained by the use of my Invention are the saving
of expence and time, the greater security of the corks, and facility of
liberating the same.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to
me from my foreign correspondent I claim, an improved fastening device
whereby a cork may be securely held in a bottle and readily released

page_text: therefrom without detaching the said device from the neck of the bottle,
substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Abraham Van Winkle, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Sixteenth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
ninc.
ABRAHAM VAN WINKLE. (L.S.)
Witness,
HARRY WRAIGHT,
Clerk to Messrs. Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.