An Improved Fluid-pressure Apparatus for Working Cork- extractors, Beer-pumps, Lemon-squeezers, and the like.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 25th July, 1894
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Jan., 1895-Accepted, 20th Apr., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Fluid-pressure Apparatus for Working Cork-
extractors, Beer-pumps, Lemon-squeezers, and the like.
JULIUS FREDERICK MOORE POLLOCK, Engineer, and WILLIAM LEACH,
Slater and Merchant, both of No. 16, Canal Basin, Leeds, in the County of York,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention consists in the employment of a special motor cylinder, and we
use water preferably as the motive power. (Compressed air, steam, &c., may be
used, but we think water from the main the most convenient.) In most places
pressures may be obtained varying from 20 to 120 lbs. per square inch, and a diameter
of cylinder of from 3 ins. to 2 ins. will give the necessary power for extracting
corks-the stroke required in this case being about 4 ins. The cylinder is supplied
with a valve of the slide, rotary, or piston form-(the rotary being considered the
most convenient) actuated by a handle placed near the central part of the cylinder,
and so arranged that when the handle is moved one way the water will enter the
cylinder at one end, and escape from the cylinder at the other end, and vice versa,
as with an ordinary steam cylinder. We prefer to make the cylinder annular,
i.e., with a tube down the centre through which descends the central screw spindle
carrying the cork screw at its lower end. The pistou of the cylinder has 2 (or
more) rods ascending through glands on the top cover, and connected to the central
spindle by a crosshead. The central spindle and guide nut work in the tube and
are thus kept free from the water, and from the friction of glands, &c., & do not
add to the length of the machine. There is a projecting neck at the lower end of
the cylinder, terminating in a lined nozzle, to receive the bottle mouth, and having
openings above and below, to allow the corks to be discharged and delivered on the
upward stroke of the screw spindle. The cylinder is carried on a stem preferably
at an angle, to suit the attendant, and may be made either to screw to a counter or
to grip it like a vice. The inlet and outlet passages pass through this stem, and
the inlet tap is placed beneath the counter. The outlet may return the water to a
cistern, or pour it into the sink for washing glasses, &c., or otherwise conveniently
dispose of it. A counting apparatus is attached, if required, to the valve handle,
so as to record the number of corks drawn, and the amount of water used.
shelf with adjustable height may also be added, on which to place the bottles under
operation.
A
Our water-motor as above described, may also be applied to the working of beer-
pumps, the squeezing of lemons, and other similar purposes.
Our apparatus practically dispenses with labour, it reduces the risk of breakage,
is free from links joints and wearing parts-and exceeds in rapidity any hand
power machine.
Dated this 24th day of July 1894.
JULIUS F. M. POLLOCK.
WILLIAM LEACH.

page_text: An Improved Fluid-pressure Apparatus for Working Cork-
extractors, Beer-pumps, Lemon-squeezers, and the like.
We, JULIUS FREDERICK MOORE POLLOCK, Engineer, and WILLIAM LEACH,
Slater and Merchant, both of No. 16 Canal Basin, Leeds, in the County of York,
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 :-
This invention has reference to an improved apparatus for working cork-
extractors, beer-pumps, lemon-squeezers and the like.
In such apparatus according to our invention we employ a special motor-
cylinder, in which we preferably use water as the motive fluid; compressed air,
steam, or other suitable fluid may be used, but we think water from the main will
usually be the most convenient motive fluid as therefrom in most places pressures
may be obtained which, with a cylinder having a diameter of from 2 ins. to 3 ins.
will give the necessary power for extracting corks or performing other operations
of the kind referred to, the stroke required being about 4 inches.
The cylinder is supplied with a valve of the slide, rotary, or piston form (the
rotary being considered the most convenient), actuated by a handle placed near the
central portion of the cylinder, and so arranged that when the handle is moved one
way motive fluid (hereinafter referred to as water) will enter the cylinder at one
end and escape from the cylinder at the other end, and vice verso, as in the case of
an ordinary steam cylinder.
We prefer to make the cylinder annular i.e. with a tube through the centre, down
which descends a central screw-spindle which in a cork extractor, carries a cork-
screw at its lower end. The piston of the cylinder has two or more rods which
work through glands in the top cover and are connected to the central spindle by a
crosshead. The central spindle and its guide-nut work in the tube and are thus
kept free from the water, and from the friction of glands etc. and do not add to the
length of the machine. There is in the case of a cork extractor, a projecting neck
at the lower end of the cylinder, terminating in a lined nozzle to receive a bottle-
mouth and having openings above and below to allow the corks to be discharged
and delivered on the upward stroke of the screw-spindle.
The cylinder is carried on a stem preferably at an angle to suit the attendant,
and may be made either to screw to a counter, or to grip it like a vice. The inlet
and outlet passages pass through this stem, and the inlet tap is placed beneath the
counter. The used water may be conveyed to a cistern be poured into the sink for
washing glasses etc., or be otherwise conveniently disposed of.
A counting apparatus may be attached if required to the valve handle, so as to
record the number of corks drawn, and the amount of water used. A shelf of
adjustable height may also be added upon which to place the bottles under
operation.
Our water-motor as above described may also be applied to the working of beer-
pumps, the squeezing of lemons, and like purposes.
Our apparatus practically dispenses with labour, it reduces the risk of breakage,
and greatly exceeds in rapidity any hand-power machines.
The accompanying illustrative drawings represent an apparatus according to this
invention as adapted for working a cork-extractor,
Fig. 1 being a side elevation and Fig. 2 a central vertical section thereof;
Fig. 3 is a plan of the cover of the motor-cylinder;
Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views showing the crosshead and its attachment to the
piston rods and the screw spindle ;

page_text: Fig. 6 shows a cross section through the neck along the line A B of Fig. 1 and
Fig. 7 shows a cross section along the line CD of Fig. 2.
a is the motor-cylinder, which may be formed by a length of drawn tube. A
central tube b passes through this cylinder and is formed integrally with, or other-
wise connected to, the bottom cover and main frame c which contains the valve d
and water-passages e and f. The central tube b extends into and nearly through
the top cover g and is threaded internally at its upper end to receive a tubular
screw-plug preferably provided with a hexagonal head i, by means of which the
motor-cylinder a is securely held between its two covers which are made with
grooves or recesses to receive the ends of the cylinder a to ensure its being co-axial
with the central tube b. The joints of the tube b and the cylinder a are made
water-tight by leathern washers or by other suitable means. Through the bore of
the plug passes freely the screw-spindle k which carries at its lower end the cork
screw or extractor . The central part of the screw-spindle k is provided with a
screw-thread m which is of a similar pitch to the cork-screw and fits in a nut n
contained in the tube b. The upper end of the spindle extends through the
crosshead and terminates in a centre or point p, below which is secured on the
said spindle
a nut which bears against the crosshead o, endwise movement of
the spindle, independently of the crosshead being prevented by a plate r secured
to the said crosshead but so as not to interfere with the free rotation of the
spindle.
h
The nut and the chambers of the central tube bare of similar cross section,
which may be square as shown in Fig. 7, or of any other suitable form such as to
prevent the nut n, which is free to move end wise in the said chamber, from rotating
therein. Below the chambers the passage through the central tube b is cylindrical,
and acts as a guide to the screw spindle k.
The motor-cylinder a and the central tube b together form an annular chamber,
the piston of which fits against both. This piston comprises two doubly flanged
cup-leathers t and t' placed back to back, and held together by metal rings u and u',
to which are secured two rods and vl which pass through suitable glands w and w
in the top cover g and are secured at their upper ends to the crosshead o. It will be
evident that in travelling from end to end of the annular cylinder, the piston will
carry with it the two rods vand v', the crosshead o the screw spindle k with
attached corkscrew and the square nut n and that when the nut n arrives at the end
of the chamber s it will be arrested and the screw spindle k will then be compelled
to rotate in the nut n during the remainder of the stroke, the direction of rotation
of the spinale depending on the direction of motion of the piston.
C
The part of the main frame c that contains the valve d and the passages e and f
is formed with a base x adapted to rest on a counter, and is preferably formed so as
to hold the cylinder a with its axis at a considerable inclination to the vertical, as
shown. A stem y extending from the underside of the base is adapted to pass
through the counter, and is furnished with a screw-thread to receive the nut for
securing the apparatus to the counter.
Through the stem y are formed the inlet passage a' and the outlet passage
which communicate at c' and c with opposite sides of the chamber d' of the valve d
whilst the passages e and f, communicating with the top and bottom of the cylinder
respectively, open into the said chamber at points midway between c¹ and The
valve d which is shown in Fig. 2 in the position for closing both of the passages e
and f, is operated by the handle d' (see Fig. 1).
The lower cover of the cylinder is provided with a projecting neck e' terminating
in a bell-mouthed nozzle lined with leather e to receive the mouth of the bottle
to be operated upon. The neck eis provided with lateral openings g¹ and g³
between the nozzle e² and the cylinder to allow of the escape of the extracted
corks.
The operation of withdrawing a cork is as follows:-The bottle is held with its
nozzle within the nozzle and the handle d' is turned into the position indicated
at d Fig. 1. The inlet a¹ is thus put in communication with the passage e aud the

page_text: pressure of the water brought to bear upon the top of the piston; while the lower
end of the cylinder is simultaneously put in connection with the outlet 61; the
piston therefore descends and forces the corkscrew 1, which is caused by the nut n
to rotate during the bottom half of its stroke, into the cork. The handle d' is now
raised into the position indicated at d³, whereby the inlet a' is put into communica-
tion with the bottom of the piston, and the outlet 51 into communication with the
top thereof. The piston accordingly ascends, drawing with it the screw spindle k,
nut n, corkscrew 1, and the cork; but when the said nut arrives at the top of the
chamber s the screw spindle k rotates in the nut n, thereby disengaging the cork,
which falls away through the opening y2 in the neck e. The handle d' should
then be returned to its central position, so as to close both of the passages e and f
When the apparatus is used for squeezing lemons, the neck e and the nut n and
spindle k are dispensed with, the piston being connected directly to the squeezer,
the valve motion remaining the same.
The piston may also be directly attached to the rod of a beer-pump, so as to
operate the latter upon suitably moving the valve d by its handle d¹.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that
what we claim is :-
1. A fluid pressure apparatus adapted for any of the purposes hereinbefore
mentioned, comprising a double acting motor cylinder a containing a central tube
that forms with the cylinder an annular chamber, an annular piston fitted to work
in said chamber and connected by two or more rods with a crosshead and a rod or
spindle connected to the said piston and arranged to work through the said tube
and from which motion is directly obtained substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. A fluid-pressure apparatus of the kind specified in the preceding claim in
which the central tube is provided with a chamber of less length than the annular
piston chamber, and the rod or spindle that works therethrough is formed with a
quick screw thread and provided with a nut adapted to slide but not to rotate in
said chamber, substantially as herein described for the purpose specified.
3. The improved fluid-pressure apparatus adapted for working cork-extractors,
constructed and arranged as hereinbefore described with reference to and shown in
the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 22nd day of January 1895
JULIUS F. M. POLLOCK.
WILLIAM LEACH.
W. Lloyd Wise,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicants.