A. MACHINE FOR WIRING CORKS IN BOTTLES
Year: 1884

page_text: I, HERBERT JOHN ALLISON, of the firm of Allison Brothers, Patent Agents, of
52 Chancery Lane, London, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of my Invention for A. MACHINE FOR WIRING CORKS IN BOTTLES, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :—
This Invention relates to an improvement on a machine for this purpose for
which I made application for Letters Patent, Jan. 17, 1884, No. 1617, and consists
of certain improvements in the details of the mechanism of the said machine.
In this machine, the wire used for wiring the corks in bottles is manipulated,
applied to the bottles, and twisted into place by a pair of operating jaws camed on
the front end of a sliding shaft. There are also employed in this machine as well
as in the former, a pair of nippers for holding the front end of the wire in the
proper position for the bottle to take it, a pair of shears for cutting off the wire
after it shall have been twisted on the bottle, and spools attached to the sliding
shaft for carrying the wire which is to be wound on or applied to the bottles.
In this machine the spools which contain the wire ready for use, are all attached
to the rear end of the sliding shaft and the wire is led thence through tubes
contained in the shaft to the jaws at the front end of the machine. It is necessary
to use three wires with this machine, so as to put one wire over the top of the cork,
and the other two around the neck of the bottle, all united and twisted together
at two opposite sides of the bottle, but I prefer to use four wires, so as to put two
wires over the top of the cork, and one at either side of the neck of the bottle.
This arrangement of four wires is also better on account of the facility of placing
the four wire spools so as to balance on the shaft to which they are attached.
From. the said spools the four wires leading therefrom are conducted through the
tubes which extend through the entire length of the said shaft, a separate tube for
each wire, so as to prevent the possibility of the wires becoming fouled with one
another. From the front end of the said tubular shaft the wires are conducted
through suitable guides to the front or operating ends of the jaws.

page_text: In this machine as in that of my former Invention a pair of nippers holds the
wire when it is first carried forward by the jaws. The said nippers, however, and
the mechanism for operating them are very much improved in the present Invention,
as described below. The said nippers in the present instance have a pivot plate
attached to the rear side of them, and a pivot pin fixed in an arm or standard and
which projects outwardly and forward from the said arm or standard, and passes
through a suitable aperture in the said pivot plate thereby providing a fulcrum or
support for the said nippers. The pivot pin is slightly curved so as to permit the
front end of the nippers to swing in or out, as the operation of the said nippers
requires. These nippers are habitually thrown open by means of a spring and
they are closed by means of a cam. The cam is, with the said frame, so constructed
as to make a quick throw of the said cam frame up or down (as the case may be)
and then hold the said cam frame up or down at the full limit of its movement
during the rest of the time occupied by the rotation of its shaft. The cam is
placed between the handles or arms of the nippers, and is constructed somewhat
in the form of an ellipse and it is of such dimensions that when it is turned down
Hatwise between the arms of the nippers, the jaws of the nippers are opened, and
when it is turned up endwise, the arms of the nippers are forced open, and the jaws
of the said nippers are closed upon the wires which will then have been placed
between them. A connecting rod connects the cam frame with the cam, so that
the movements of the said cam and its nippers are actuated by the driving cam,
and the said jaws are thus opened and closed once at each revolution of its shaft,
and as above described the said movements for opening and closing the nippers are
made quickly, and the said nippers are held open or closed, as the case may be, for
the remainder of the time occupied by the shaft in making each and every
revolution.
It is necessary for the nipper jaws (when closed upon the wire, and while the
wire is being drawn tightly around the bottle neck) to hug tightly toward the
bottle and for this reason the said nippers are lightly mounted on the carrying
pin and allowed to swing laterally thereon. A spring rod having one of its ends
fixed to the frame or arm has its other end free and extending nearly or quite
parallel with the inner face of the said nippers, and engaged against a pin rising
from and attached to the said nippers, the whole arranged so that the said spring
rod habitually throws the said nipper jaws back towards the bottle but permits
them to move outwardly with a yielding pressure of the jaws.
The jaws which carry the wires to and twist them around the bottle neck, are
pivoted to the head piece of the shaft. The rear ends of these jaw pieces have
sheaves journaled in them in such a manner as to allow the peripheries of the said
sheaves to project inwardly from the said jaw pieces. The sliding shaft besides
having on its forward end the bifurcated head piece to which the jaws are pivoted,
has a sliding head with sloping or wedge shaped sides against which sloping sides
the sheaves press as the shaft is thrown forward to the full limit of its movement,
and the said sheaves rolling up on these inclines or sloping sides, throw the front
ends of the said jaws together upon the wires which are placed between them.
A spring catch is pivoted in a projection at the bottom side of the sliding head
piece and arranged to catch in a suitable serration or notch in the bottom side of
the sliding shaft when the sliding head is thrown forward on the said shaft to the
limit of its movement, and this latching of the sliding head upon the shaft when
the said sliding head is thrown forward between the sheaves so as to close the
jaws, holds the said jaws firmly closed upon the wires until the latch is released
and the spring is allowed.to throw the sliding head back from the fixed head piece.
A downwardly projecting lever attached to the said latch has a spring which
habitually throws the latch into engagement with its notch in the shaft. An
adjustable stop is attached to the table or frame so as to engage the lower end of
the lever and release its latch just before the attainment of the full forward stroke
of the sliding shaft. Just about this moment in the movement of the machine the
bottle to be wired is placed from below, up between the jaws and the wires are
..i

page_text: drawn over and around the bottle top, and the next instant the lever strikes its
top, and then the sloping head piece is released and the spring throws it back and
the jaws are opened and allowed to draw back around the neck of the bottle.
Then as the shaft is next thrown backward, the adjustable stop is engaged by the
rearwardly moving head piece and stops it while the shaft is still moving rearwardly,
and the shaft is continued in its rearward movement until the latch is engaged in
the notch prepared for it in the shaft and thus the jaws are closed and held closed
until the stop releases them at the next forward movement. While the jaws are
thus closed the shaft and its jaws are rotated so as to properly twist the wire on
the bottle. The two side wires, i.e. those which pass around the sides of the bottle.
neck are led through guides on the inner sides of the jaws and near their forward
ends, thus placing them so the bottle neck can readily be thrust up between them.
After the wires are fully twisted on the bottle they are cut off by means of.
a pair of shears attached to the inner face of arm, the said shears being operated
by a cam on the shaft and the connecting rod in a manner very similar to that
employed in my former machine.
This machine is started and stopped by means of a clutch gearing and it is
necessary to stop it with the jaws in a horizontal position so as to present them
when they are moved forward in the proper position for a bottle to be thrust up
between them. To do this properly it is required to stop the rotation of the shaft
instantly, and to prevent what would be a recoil shock, I place a spring catch on
the frame of the machine and arrange it to engage with a stop on the wheel so as
to arrest any recoil of the machine as soon as the said stop passes the said; catch,
the moment of stopping the rotation of the machine being arranged to occur just
at the moment the stop shall have passed the catch.
i
The mechanism of this machine is started and stopped by means of a clutch
gearing on the shaft which said clutch gearing or mechanism is operated by the
treadle at the front end of the machine. This treadle is pivoted to one of the front
legs of the machine, and in a convenient position for the operator to press it down
with his foot, as he sits, or stands in front of the machine in the position for
applying the bottles to the machine. A spring habitually draws the treadle up,
and a rod connects the treadle bar with the clutch lever, which is pivoted to the
frame of the machine, at a convenient point to engage with the clutch spring pin
of the clutch wheel. The top end of the said lever which engages with the clutch
spring is beveled so as to allow the projecting head of pin to slide up on it and
draw the said clutch pin out of contact with the clutch gearing or serrations which
are formed in the face of the cog wheel. When this is done the wheel revolves
loosely on the shaft and the operative parts of the machine remain idle, but as soon
as the treadle is pressed down the beveled end of the lever is drawn out from
behind the catch pin and it instantly springs into the serrations of the clutch, and
the wheel is thus coupled to the clutch head, which is secured to the shaft, and the
operative mechanism of the machine is thus set in operation and continues so until
the treadle is released, when the beveled end of the lever again slides behind the
head of the clutch pin, and thereby disengages the said coupling.
Dated this 23rd day of June 1884.

page_text: Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively a sectional front elevation, and a sectional plan of
the clutch gearing for starting and stopping the operating mechanism of the
machine.
Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional elevation of the sliding shaft, showing the wire
tubes therein contained.
In this machine, like that of my former Invention the wire used for wiring the
corks in bottles is manipulated, applied to the bottles, and twisted into place by a
pair of operating jaws A-A, carried on the front end of a sliding shaft B.
There are also employed in this machine as well as in the former, a pair of nippers C
for holding the front end of the wire in the proper position for the bottle to take
it, a pair of shears D for cutting off the wire after it shall have been twisted on the
bottle, and spools E attached to the sliding shaft for carrying the wire which is to
be wound on or applied to the bottles.
.
In this machine the spools E which contain the wire ready for use, are all
attached to the rear end of the sliding shaft B, and the wire is led thence through
tubes b, contained in the shaft B, (as shown in Fig. 6) to the jaws A at the front
end of the machine. It is necessary to use three wires with this machine, so as to
put one wire over the top of the cork, and the other two around the neck of the
bottle, all united and twisted together at two opposite sides of the bottle, but I
prefer to use four wires, so as to put two wires over the top of the cork, and one at
either side of the neck of the bottle. This arrangement of four wires is also better
on account of the facility of placing the four wire spools so as to balance on the
shaft B to which they are attached. From the said spools E the four wires leading
therefrom are conducted through the tubes b, which extend through the entire
length of the said shaft B, a separate tube for each wire, so as to prevent the
possibility of the wires becoming fouled with one another. From the front end of
the said tubular shaft the wires x-x¹-x²-x³-are conducted through suitable
guides to the front or operating ends of the jaws A.
This machine is driven by a driving wheel F on a driving shaft F¹, on which
there is a cog wheel F2 which gears into and drives a cog wheel G on the counter
shaft G. This counter shaft carries also the cam wheel G³, and the cog wheel G³,
the said cam wheel being used to impart the required longitudinal movement to the

page_text: sliding shaft B, as presently explained, and the wheel G³, to rotate the said sliding
shaft, through the medium of the gear wheels H, and B¹, the last named wheel
being a small cogged pinion on the shaft B, by which the said shaft is rotated, but
permitted to slide longitudinally through, the engagement between this shaft and
wheel being made by a tongue in the wheel, (not shown) and the longitudinal
groove b¹ in the said shaft.
The cam G throws the sliding shaft B, and with it the jaws A forward and
backward once at each rotation of the said cam. This is accomplished by the cam
engaging the sheave i of the lever I, and moving it and the said lever, laterally in
conformity with the conformation of the lateral deflections of the cam groove
which engages the said sheave 1, the axle pin of which is secured to the said lever.
The upper end of this lever I is connected by means of a connecting rod I¹ with
the sliding collar B of the shaft B, and the lower end of the said lever is attached
by the vertically adjustable fulcrum pin i¹ to the vertical ways k of the table K.
By these means the fulcrum pin i may be adjusted vertically, (a suitable slot in
the lever I permitting the adjustment) so as to adjust the top end of the lever, and
with it the sliding shaft B to a longer or shorter throw, as required.
The collar B, to which the connecting rod I is attached, allows the shaft B to
rotate within it, but it is made in the form of a two part collar, which embraces an
annular collar B³ which is fixed to the shaft B, and as the collar B is moved
longitudinally by means of the lever I as aforesaid, the relatively fixed collar B³
compels the shaft B, to move forward and backward with it, while the shaft is still
allowed to rotate within the moving bifurcated collar or clutch B. A guide
piece 62 depends from the bottom side of collar B³, and engages on the sliding
way k¹, so as to prevent the collar or clutch B2 from rotating with the shaft B, by
reason of frictional contact therewith.
The shaft B has its bearings in journal boxes or pillar blocks K¹, which are
attached to the top side of the table or frame K. In this machine as in that of
my former Invention, a pair of nippers C holds the wire when it is first carried
forward by the jaws A. The said nippers however, and the mechanism for
operating them are very much improved in the present Invention, as described
below. The said nippers in the present instance, have a pivot plate c attached to
the rear side of them, and a pivot pin c¹ fixed in the front arm or standard K²,
projects outwardly and forward from the said arm or standard, and passes through
a suitable aperture in the said pivot plate c, thereby providing a fulcrum or support
for the said nippers. The pivot pin c¹ is slightly curved so as to permit the front
end of the nippers to swing in or out, as the operation of the said nippers requires.
These nippers are habitually thrown open by means of a spring c², and they are
closed by means of the cam C, the connecting rod C³, the cam frame C³, and the
cam C. The cam is placed on the front end of the shaft G¹, and working
within the cam frame C³, is, with the said frame so constructed as to make a quick
throw of the said cam frame up or down, (as the case may be,) and then hold the
said cam frame up or down at the full limit of its movement during the rest of the
time occupied by the rotation of its shaft G'. The cam C¹ is placed between the
handles or arms of the nippers C, and is constructed somewhat in the form of an
ellipse and it is of such dimensions that when it is turned down flatwise between
the arms of the nippers, the jaws of the nippers are opened, and when it is turned
up endwise, the arms of the nippers are forced open, and the jaws of the said
nippers are closed upon the wires which will then have been placed between them.
The connecting rod C2 connects the cam frame C³, with the cam C', so that the
movements of the said cam C¹ and its nippers C, are actuated by the driving
cam C, and the said nippers C, are thus opened and closed once at each revolution
of the shaft G', and as above described the said movements for opening and closing
the nippers C are made quickly, and the said nippers are held open or closed, as the
case may be, for the remainder of the time occupied by the shaft G¹ in making each
and every revolution.

page_text: It is necessary for the nipper jaws C, (when closed upon the wire, and while the
wire is being drawn tightly around the bottle neck) to hug tightly toward the
bottle and for this reason the said nippers are lightly mounted on the carrying
pin c¹ and allowed to swing laterally thereon. A spring rod C³, having one of its
ends fixed to the frame or arm K' has its other end free and extending nearly or
quite parallel with the inner face of the said nippers, and engaged against a pin c
rising from and attached to the said nippers, the whole arranged so that the said
spring rod C³ habitually throws the said nipper jaws back towards the bottle but
permits them to move outwardly, with a yielding pressure of the jaws.
The jaws A which carry the wires to and twist them around the bottle neck, are
pivoted at a to the head piece B* of the shaft B. The rear ends of these jaw
pieces have sheaves a¹ journaled in them in such a manner as to allow the
peripheries of the said sheaves to project inwardly from the said jaw pieces. The
sliding shaft B, besides having on its forward end the bifurcated head piece B' to
which the jaws A are pivoted, has a sliding head B³ with sloping or wedge shaped
sides against which sloping sides the sheaves al press as the shaft is thrown
backward to the full limit of its movement, and the said sheaves rolling up on these
inclines or sloping sides, throw the front ends of the said jaws together upon the
wires which are placed between them. The said sliding head B5 is placed on the
shaft B, just behind the fixed head piece B', but far enough removed from it to
allow the head piece B5 to slide forward and backward on the said shaft, one or
two inches (more or less). A rod B having a coiled spring B³ around it, is
supported in the lugs band b parallel with and near the shaft B, the said lugs b
and 6 being respectively secured to the fixed head B' and the sliding head B5, to
one of which said lugs the rod B is secured, and through the other one the said
rod is allowed to slide. The spring b³, is arranged so as to habitually throw the
head pieces B and B apart, but so as to allow the head piece B³ to slide toward
the fixed head piece as required for the operation of the machine. A spring
catch A is pivoted in a projection at the bottom side of the sliding head piece B³,
and arranged to catch in a suitable serration or notch in the bottom side of the
shaft B, when the sliding head is thrown forward on the said shaft to the limit of
its movement, and this latching of the sliding head upon the shaft B, when the
said sliding head is thrown forward between the sheaves a¹ so as to close the jaws,
holds the said jaws firmly closed upon the wires until the latch A¹ is released and
the spring 63 is allowed to throw the sliding head B³ back from the fixed head
piece. A downwardly projecting lever A³ attached to the said latch A¹ has a
spring a² which habitually throws the latch A¹ into engagement with its notch in
the shaft B. An adjustable stop A³ is attached to the table or frame K, so as to
engage the lower end of the lever A³ and releases its latch A¹ just before the
attainment of the full forward stroke of the sliding shaft B. Just subsequent to
this moment in the movement of the machine the bottle to be wired is placed in
position from below, up between the jaws A, and the wires are then drawn over
and around the bottle top. Then as the shaft is next thrown backward, the
adjustable stop B7 is engaged by the rearwardly moving head piece B³ and stops it
while the shaft B is still moving rearwardly, and the shaft is continued in its
rearward movement until the latch A¹ is engaged in the notch prepared for it in
the shaft B, and thus the jaws are closed and held closed until the stop A³ releases
them at the next forward movement. While the jaws are thus closed the shaft B
and its jaws A are rotated so as to properly twist the wire on the bottle. The two
side wires, that is, those which pass around the sides of the bottle neck are led
through guides a³ on the inner sides of the jaws A and near their forward ends,
thus placing them so the bottle neck can readily be thrust up between them.
After the wires are fully twisted on the bottle they are cut off in about the
centre of the twist by means of a pair of shears D attached to the inner face of
arm K, the said shears being operated by a cam L' on the shaft G¹ and the con-
necting rod L², in a manner very similar to that employed in my former machine.

page_text: This machine is started and stopped by means of a clutch gearing and it is
necessary to stop it with the jaws A in a horizontal position so as to present them
when they are moved forward in the proper position for a bottle to be thrust up
between them. To do this properly it is required to stop the rotation of the
shaft B instantly, and to prevent what would be a recoil shock, I place a spring
catch M on the frame of the machine and arrange it to engage with a stop m on
the wheel H, so as to arrest any recoil of the machine as soon as the said stop
passes the said catch, the moment of stopping the rotation of the machine being
arranged to occur just at the moment the stop m shall have passed the catch M.
The mechanism of this machine is started and stopped by means of a clutch
gearing on the shaft G¹ which said clutch gearing or mechanism is operated
by the treadle N, at the front end of the machine. This treadle is pivoted to
one of the front legs of the machine, and in a convenient position for the
operator to press it down with his foot, as he sits or stands in front of the
machine in the position for applying the bottles to the machine. A spring n
habitually draws the treadle up, and a rod N¹ connects the treadle bar with the
clutch lever N, which is pivoted to the frame of the machine, at a convenient point
to engage with the clutch spring pin n¹ of the clutch wheel N³. The top end of
the said lever N' which engages with the clutch spring is beveled so as to allow tho
projecting head of pin n¹ to slide up on it and draw the said clutch pin out of
contact with the clutch gearing or serrations N which are formed in the face of
the cog wheel G. When this is done the wheel G revolves loosely on the shaft G₁
and the operative parts of the machine remain idle but as soon as the treadle N is
pressed down the beveled end of the lever N2 is drawn out from behind the catch
pin n¹, and it instantly springs into the serrations of the clutch N', and the
wheel G is thus coupled to the clutch head N³, which is secured to the shaft G¹,
and the operative mechanism of the machine is thus set in operation and continues
so until the treadle N is released, when the beveled end of the lever N2 again
slides behind the head of the clutch pin n¹, and thereby disengages the coupling
between N³ and N.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1st. The jaws A having sheaves a¹ journaled in their inner ends, and arranged
to roll up on inclined or sloping faces on the sides of the sliding head B' as the said
jaws are moved rearwardly, so as to close the said jaws by means of the said sheaved
ends thereof being pressed apart by the said intervening sloping sided head piece.
2nd. The sliding head piece B³ provided with a locking or latching piece A¹
arranged to engage in a suitable notch or serration in the shaft B to hold the said
sliding head secured in place with its impinging. jaws A closed, the said latch picce
being provided with a spring lever A2 which permits the latch to engage with its
notch in the shaft at the end of its rearward stroke, and to engage with a fixed
stop A³ at the front end of its stroke so as to release the said latch and allow the
jaws to open.
3rd. The fixed head piece B₁ of the sliding shaft B, and the sliding head piece B
connected together by means of their respective lugs b* and 68, and the intervening
rod B and the spring 63 arranged thereon so as to habitually throw the sliding
head back from the fixed head piece.
4th. The clamping jaws or nippers C, operated by the intervening elliptical
cam C, the connecting rod C2, the cam frame C³ and the operating cam C+ on the
shaft G, so as to close the said nippers quickly, and to hold them thus for a
considerable part of the time of each revolution of the shaft G¹.
5th. The spring C arranged to habitually throw the nippers C, inwardly, and to
hold them during the wiring operation.
6th. The stop A placed adjustably on the frame K, so as to adjust it to trip the
latch A¹ at any required point.

page_text: 7th. The clutch N³, N on the shaft G¹ so arranged in combination with the
lever N2, connecting rod N₁, and treadle so as to start and stop the operative parts
of the machine as required.
8th. The tubular shaft B having a separate tube or conduit extending through
its entire length for each wire used on the machine:
9th. The spring catch M arranged to engage with the stop m of the wheel H, so
as to prevent any recoil of the machine when its rotation is suddenly stopped.
Dated this 8th day of September 1884.
HERBERT J. ALLISON.