A CERTAIN NOVEL APPLICATION TO THE CORKING OF BOTTLES, ENABLING THE CORK TO BE WITHDRAWN WITHOUT INJURY THERETO
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Featherstone Griffin, of 19, Great George
Street, Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
for the Invention of "A CERTAIN NOVEL APPLICATION TO THE CORKING
OF BOTTLES, ENABLING THE CORK TO BE WITHDRAWN WITHOUT INJURY
THERETO."
Sealed the 6th November 1868, and dated the 9th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Featherstone
Griffin at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 9th May 1868.
I, GEORGE FEATHERSTONE GRIFFIN, of 19, Great George Street,
Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "A CERTAIN NOVEL APPLICA-
TION TO THE CORKING OF BOTTLES, ENABLING THE CORK TO BE WITHDRAWN WITHOUT
INJURY THERETO," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to provide for the ready withdrawal
of a cork from a bottle without the aid of a corkscrew and without
injury to the cork.

page_text: I propose to effect my object by forcing into the bottle together with
the cork a band or strip of strong ribbon such as that known as "binding,"
or cap or bonnet ribbon, or flat wire ribbon dipped in a solution of
gutta percha or any material which will bear a powerful strain, this
band or strip passing down the side or sides round or under the cork,
but always so arranged that the act of corking the bottle will cause
a loop or other suitable hold to project above the top of the cork which
may be drawn by nulling thereon.
I propose to effect my object by forcing into the bottle together with
the cork a band or strip of strong ribbon such as that known as "binding,"
or cap or bonnet ribbon, or flat wire ribbon dipped in a solution of
gutta percha or any material which will bear a powerful strain, this
band or strip passing down the side or sides round or under the cork,
but always so arranged that the act of corking the bottle will cause
a loop or other suitable hold to project above the top of the cork which
may be drawn by pulling thereon.
To facilitate the introduction of my strip. or band in the corking
of certain descriptions of bottles I may find it advisable to groove the
neck of the same.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Featherstone Griffin in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 7th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
FEATHERSTONE GRIFFIN, of 19, Great George Street, Westminster, in
the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George Featherstone Griffin, Her
special licence that I, the said George Featherstone Griffin, my ex-
ecutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Featherstone Griffin, my executors, administrators, and assigns, 2
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 "A CERTAIN NOVEL APPLICATION TO THE CORKING
OF BOTTLES, ENABLING THE CORK TO BE WITHDRAWN WITHOUT INJURY THERETO,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Feather-
stone Griffin, 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,

page_text: 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 George Featherstone Griffin, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Sheet of Drawing hereunto annexed and forming part of this my
Specification and to the figures and letters of reference placed thereon,
similar letters of reference being placed upon and denoting similar
parts where such parts appear or may be seen at each of the Figures
respectively..
The object of my Invention is to provide for the ready withdrawal
of a cork from a bottle without the aid of a corkscrew and without
injury to the cork.
I effect this object by forcing into the bottle together with the cork
a band or strip of strong ribbon such as that known as "binding," or
cap or bonnet ribbon, or flat wire ribbon dipped in a solution of gutta-
percha or of any material which will bear a powerful strain, this band
or strip forming a loop above the cork by pulling on which the cork
may be extracted.
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawing Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation
of the neck of an ordinary wine or beer bottle corked according to my
Invention. a, cork; b, strip or band introduced with the cork, and
by pulling upon which it is to be extracted; this band is here shown.
passing down the sides and under the cork, but I sometimes pass it
through the cork as shown in the dotted lines and where the cork is
very short, as in pickle bottles, I may pass the strip down one side only
and not under the cork..
Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of part of a soda water bottle with‹
my Invention applied; the band is here passed through and secured.
within the cork in the following manner:-A piece c is cut out of the
bottom of the cork by means of a sharp edged tube or other suitable
tool, and the strip or band is threaded through the cork, as shown,.
using a needle or other suitable instrument; the two ends of the strip.
are then twisted together, and the knot drawn tight against the bottom.

page_text: of the hole into which the piece c is then forcibly reinserted, the cork
presenting the appearance shewn Fig. 3. For additional security I
sometimes place a little gum in the hole before reinserting the piece c,
but this is not absolutely requisite.
Although I have shewn this method of fixing my band in a cork 5
applied to a soda water bottle, I would have it distinctly understood
that it is applicable to the corking of every description of bottle.
To facilitate the introduction of my strip or band in the corking of
certain descriptions of bottles, for example, those containing champagne
or other effervescing or gaseous liquid, I form a recess for the reception: 1
of the head of the cork, either by moulding the neck of the bottle
with a circular groove as at d, d, Fig. 4, or with a circular shoulder or
shoulders extending around part only of the inner circumference of
the neck of the bottle as at d, d, Fig. 2. In corking, the plunger
enters the neck of the bottle, driving the cork down to the groove,
which it fills by its re-expansion, and the upper part or shoulder of the
groove will retain the cork in the bottle notwithstanding the pressure
of the fixed air or gas upon its bottom, no wiring is required. The
space e may be filled up with wax or other suitable material, and the
loop by which the cork is to be withdrawn may be sealed down in this
space or rise above the seal. If my band be passed down both sides of
the cork and enter the groove d, d, as at Fig. 4, it will when the loop
is pulled upon draw the head of the cork, from under the top of the
groove by compressing it, as shown in dotted lines, but the application
shewn Fig. 2 will also answer well. Corks with my strip or band
applied may be inscrted by hand or by means of any ordinary corking
machine, the loop being slightly opened or pushed from the path of
the plunger.
It need scarcely be observed that the cork is extracted by passing
the fingers or any convenient article through the loop and pulling
thereon as on a corkscrew, and that a cork thus extracted being quite
uninjured may be used again and again.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
what manner the same is to be performed, I would have it distinctly
understood that I do not confine myself to the use of any special material
for my strip or band, nor to any particular length of band or of loop,
nor to any precise method of fitting the same to the cork, using any
of the methods illustrated on the annexed Sheet of Drawing, or such

page_text: other as in practice may be found convenient, neither do I limit
myself to any precise depth of groove in the neck of bottles for
effervescing or gaseous liquids, nor to forming this groove at any
particular distance from the mouth of the bottle, and it may extend
entirely around or only around parts of the inner circumference of the
neck; but what I claim is,-
Firstly. The application to a cork of a strip or band by which it may
be drawn from a bottle when required, substantially as described.
Secondly. The use of a groove or shoulder within the neck of a
bottle, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Featherstone Griffin, havo
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight
G. FEATHERSTONE GRIFFIN. (L.S.)