IMPROVEMENTS IN CORKSCREWS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO SCREWPASSERS, AUGERS, SCREWDRIVERS, AND OTHER SIMILAR HAND TOOLS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Wolverson, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CORKSCREWS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO SCREWPASSERS,
AUGERS, SCREWDRIVERS, AND OTHER SIMILAR HAND TOOLS."
Sealed the 21st August 1875, and dated the 2nd March 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Wolverson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2nd March 1875.
I, EDWIN WOLVERSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,"
Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN CORKSCREWS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO SCREW-
PASSERS, AUGERS, SCREWDRIVERS, AND OTHER SIMILAR HAND TOOLS," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
corkscrews, whereby the driving of the worm into or its withdrawal from
the cork is effected by giving the cross handle of the corkscrew a back-
ward and forward partial rotation instead of an intermittent rotation in

page_text: one direction as usual, the rotary motion of the worm being produced
without loosing the said handle. Great steadiness and facility in driving
in the worm is thereby secured, and its central position in the cork is
preserved with ease by the user of the corkscrew.
F
without loosing the said handle. Great steadiness and facility in driving
in the worm is thereby secured, and its central position in the cork is
preserved with ease by the user of the corkscrew.
My Invention also consists in the adaptation of the said improvements
in corkscrews to screwpassers, augers, screwdrivers, and other similar
hand tools, which in use have a rotatory motion communicated to
them.
In constructing a corkscrew according to my Invention I make the cross
handle near the head of the stem of the corkscrew loose upon the said
stem, instead of connecting it rigidly thereto as usual. The said loose cross
handle, besides being capable of turning upon the stem is also capable
of a limited sliding motion upon the said stem, the said cross handle
being situated between two collars on the said stem, the distance between
the said collars being somewhat greater than the diameter of the handle.
The opposed faces of these collars are made into ratchets or ratchet teeth.
On the upper and lower faces of the loose handle of the corkscrew, and
concentric with the hole in the said handle, which works upon the
stem, are ratchets or ratchet teeth of a size proper to take into those
on the collars of the stem, that is to say, when the loose handle is pressed
towards the worm the lower ratchet on its face can be engaged with the
ratchet on the lower collar, and when the said handle is raised from the
worm the upper ratchet on its face can be engaged with the ratchet
on the upper collar. When either of the ratchets on the handle is made
to engage with the ratchet on its corresponding collar, and a backward
and forward twisting motion or a motion through part of a circle is
given to the handle, the teeth of the ratchet on it alternately engage
with and slip over the teeth of the ratchet on the collar of the stem with
which they are in contact, and rotation is thereby given in one direction
to the stem and to the worm on its end.
.
In using the corkscrew the point of the worm is placed against the
cork in the ordinary way, and the loose cross handle is pressed towards
the cork, and the lower ratchet on the said handle engaged with the
lower ratchet on the stem. A backward and forward twisting motion
being given to the handle the worm is rotated and driven into the cork.
To withdraw the worm from the cork the loose handle is pulled upwards,
and its upper ratchet engaged with the ratchet on the upper collar of

page_text: the stem. A twisting motion of the kind described being given to the
handle, the worm is rotated in a direction proper to withdraw it from the
cork. Thus the pressing of the loose handle in the direction in which
the worm is required to move, and twisting the cross handle as described,
causes either the advance or the withdrawal of the worm without the
necessity for loosing the handle.
In applying my Invention to screwpassers, augers, screwdrivers, and
other tools rotated by hand, I construct and arrange the parts by which
motion is communicated to them through a loose handle, substantially
as described with respect to a corkscrew.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edwin Wolverson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th August 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWIN
WOLVERSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Edwin Wolverson, Her special license that
I, the said Edwin Wolverson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Edwin Wolverson, my executors, admini-
strators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN CORKSCREWS, WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO SCREWPASSERS, AUGERS,
SCREWDRIVERS,
AND OTHER SIMILAR HAND TOOLS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Edwin Wolverson, 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

page_text: .
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 Edwin Wolverson, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
corkscrews, whereby the driving of the worm into or its withdrawal from
the cork is effected by giving the cross handle of the corkscrew a back-
ward and forward partial rotation instead of an intermittent rotation in
one direction as usual, the rotatory motion of the worm being produced
without loosing the said handle. Great steadiness and facility in driving
in the worm is thereby secured, and its central position in the cork is
preserved with ease by the user of the corkscrew.
My Invention also consists in the adaptation of the said improvements
in corkscrews to screwpassers, augers, screwdrivers, and other similar
hand tools which in use have a rotatory motion communicated to
them.
In constructing a corkscrew according to my Invention I make the
cross handle near the head of the stem of the corkscrew loose upon the
said stem, instead of connecting it rigidly thereto as usual. The said
loose cross handle, besides being capable of turning upon the stem, is
also capable of a limited sliding motion upon the said stem, the said
cross handle being situated between two collars on the said stem, the
distance between the said collars being somewhat greater than the
diameter of the handle. The opposite faces of these collars are made
into ratchets or ratchet teeth. On the upper and lower faces of the
loose handle of the corkscrew, and concentric with the hole in the said
handle which works upon the stem are ratchets or ratchet teeth of a size
proper to take into those on the collars of the stem, that is to say, when
the loose handle is pressed towards the worm the lower ratchet on its face
can be engaged with the ratchet on the lower collar, and when the said
handle is raised from the worm the upper ratchet on its face can be
engaged with the ratchet on the upper collar. When either of the
ratchets on the handle is made to engage with the ratchet on its corre-
sponding collar, and a backward and forward twisting motion or a

page_text: motion through part of a circle is given to the handle the teeth of the
ratchet on it alternately engage with and slip over the teeth of the
ratchet on the collar of the stem with which they are in contact, and
rotation is thereby given in one or other direction to the stem and to the
worm on its end.
In using the corkscrew the point of the worm is placed against the
cork in the ordinary way, and the loose cross handle is pressed towards
the cork, and the lower ratchet on the said handle engaged with the
lower ratchet on the stem. A backward and forward twisting motion
being given to the handle the worm is rotated and driven into the cork.
To withdraw the worm from the cork the loose handle is pulled upwards,
and its upper ratchet engaged with the ratchet on the upper collar of the
stem. A twisting motion of the kind described being given to the
handle, the worm is rotated in a direction proper to withdraw it from the
cork. Thus the pressing of the loose handle in the direction in which
the worm is required to move, and twisting the cross handle as described,
causes either the advance or the withdrawal of the worm without the
necessity for loosing the handle.
I will now describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing, a
corkscrew constructed according to my Invention.
Figures 1 and 2 represent side elevations of the said corkscrew,
Figure 1 representing the corkscrew in position for driving the worm
into the cork, and Figure 2 the same in position for withdrawing the
worm from the cork; Figure 3 is a cross section of Figure 1 taken
through the handle; Figure 4 is a plan of the same; and Figure 5 is a
cross section of the stem, and exhibits the face of one of the ratchets.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts.
a is the cross handle of the corkscrew, capable of sliding and rotating
on the upper part 6 of the stem c. The said cross handle a is situated
between two collars fixed on the stem, the opposed faces of the said
collars being made into ratchets or ratchet teeth, marked respectively d
and e.
The sliding motion of the cross handle upon the stem 6 is
limited by the said ratchets d and e. On the upper and lower faces of
the loose handle a are ratchets or ratchet teeth fand g, of a size proper
to engage with the ratchets d and e on the stem b. These ratchets f
and g are made upon the ends of the tubular piece h (see Figure 3) fixed
in the cross handle a by pins or otherwise. When the cross handle a is

page_text: pressed towards the worm c³, as represented in Figure 1, its ratchet g is
engaged with the lower ratchet e on the stem, and when the cross
handle a is lifted from the worm its ratchet fis made to engage with the
upper ratchet d on the stem, as seen in Figure 2. The respective pairs
of ratchets d, f, and e, g, can thus be engaged together at the will of the
user of the corkscrew.
When the pair of ratchets e and g are engaged together, as in
Figure 1, and a backward and forward twisting motion or a motion
through part of a circle is given to the cross handle a, the teeth of the
ratchet g alternately engage with and slip over the teeth of the
ratchet e on the stem c, and rotation is given in the direction indicated
by the arrow to the said stem and its worm c², and the latter is made to
advance into the cork, and the cork may be withdrawn.
When the pair of ratchets d and fare engaged together by sliding the
cross handle a upon the stem, as represented in Figure 2, and a twisting
motion is given to the said handle, a rotatory motion is given to the stem
and its worm in the direction indicated by the arrow (Figure 2), the
said worm moving in a contrary direction to that described when the
ratchets e, g, are engaged together, and hence the worm is withdrawn
from the cork.
By an examination of Figures 1 and 2 it will be readily seen how
when the lower ratchet g of the cross handle is turned in one direction
the base of its teeth engaging with the base of the teeth of the ratchet e
push forward the said ratchet e and parts connected with it, and how
when the cross handle makes its return motion the teeth of the ratchet g
slip over the teeth of the ratchet e, and communicate no motion thereto,
and thus by alternately engaging the ratchets 9 and f with their
respective ratchets e and d, rotations in opposite directions may be com-
municated to the stem c, and its worm c² either driven into or withdrawn
from the cork, the cross handle a of the corkscrew not being released:
from the hand during either the advance or the withdrawal of the
worm.
In applying my Invention to screwpassers, augers, screwdrivers, and
other tools rotated by hand I construct and arrange the parts by which
motion is communicated to them through a loose handle, substantially as

page_text: screwdriver, or other similar hand tool replacing the stem and worm of
the corkscrew.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do
not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but I claim as my Invention the improvements in cork-
screws, screwpassers, augers, screwdrivers, and other similar hand tools
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing,
that is to say, applying to the upper and lower faces of the loose cross
handle of the corkscrew (or screwpasser, or other similar hand tool) the
ratchets and g, and fixing on the stem of the corkscrew (or hand tool)
the corresponding ratchets d, e, the respective pairs of ratchets d, f,
and e, g, being engaged together according as the corkscrew (or hand
tool) is to be advanced or withdrawn, thereby securing the required
motion of the stem of the corkscrew (or hand tool) on giving a backward
and forward partial rotation to the said cross handle, the several parts
being arranged and working substantially as and for the purpose
described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin Wolverson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
EDWIN WOLVERSON. (L.S.)