Improvements in Machines for Corking or Closing Bottles.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Aug., 1891-Accepted, 26th Sept., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Corking or Closing Bottles.
We, JOHN HENRY BRINJES and PAUL THOMAS GOODWIN, both of the
Whitechapel Engine Works, Fieldgate Street Engineers, FRANK BURMNAN BELL,
of 18 Soho Square, Gentleman, and JAMES BARBOUR of 9 Luxmore Strect,
Malpas Road, Brockley, Engineer, all in the County of London, 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:-
My invention relates to bottle corking machines of the kind described in the
Specification of former Letters Patent No. 12509 of 1890, the object of the said
invention being to provide improved means for conveying the corks to the position
from which they are driven into the bottles, and also to provide means whereby a
covering of vegetable parchment paper or other suitable material may surround the
cork when the latter is in position.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine provided with our improvements.
Figure 2 is a view of the right hand side of the same; and
Figure 3 is a view of the left hand side.
Figure 4 is a rear elevation of the machine; and
Figure 5 is a view shewing the arrangement of the carrier by means of which the
corks are conveyed into position for forcing them into the bottles.
a indicates the frame or standard of the machine, and the driving shaft
mounted in bearings in the upper end of the frame and provided with a crank c
to which the plunger d for forcing the corks from the holder into the bottles is
connected.
e is the table upon which the bottles to be corked are placed, the said table being
operated so as to be intermittently rotated in the manner described in the
Specification before referred to, by means of the pawl f engaging with ratchet-
teeth 9 upon the surface of a wheel secured to the shaft upon which the table e is
carried, the said pawl being attached to one end of a bar working in suitable
guides and having at its other end rack-teeth; with which a toothed sector k
engages, the said toothed sector being oscillated by means of a crank-pin / upon
the disc (secured to the driving shaft), through the medium of the rod m.
n indicates my improved cork-carrier which has upon its periphery a series of
spring-clips n', n¹ for holding the corks in a manner which will be most readily
understood by reference to Figure 5, in which the letters n² indicate the corks in
position in the clips, the said corks being introduced by hand.
This cork-carrier is mounted upon a bracket o secured to the standard a of the
machine and is arranged in such a position that the corks will be successively
brought beneath the plunger d in a manner which will be best understood by
reference to Figure 1. This carrier is intermittently rotated in order to bring the
corks successively beneath the plunger in a similar manner to the table e, and for
this purpose it has formed upon its upper surface a series of teeth p with which a
pawl upon one end of a sliding-bar p² engages, the other end of the said sliding-
bar having rack-teeth with which a toothed sector q engages. The said sector 7 is
oscillated through the medium of a lever q', a rod y² and a lever 3 pivotted at q,
one end of the said lever having a roller 7 running in a cam-groove 9° upon the back
of the disc l.
It will thus be understood that every rotation of the disc causes the cork-
carrier n to be moved forward one notch, the length of the notches corresponding to
the distance between the centres of adjacent corks.

page_text: The mechanism for feeding the parchment or other material into position beneath
the corks and for cutting off pieces of required length comprises a guide-board r
having a pair of feed-rollers, ², at its front end, and a pair of knives-s; s', the
latter of which knives is fixed so that its cutting edge is level with the surface of
the board over which the parchment or other material slides. Intermittent
motion is imparted to the rollers to move the strip of parchment forward the
required distance from time to time by means of the gear-wheel t which engages
with a gear-wheel t* on the shaft of the upper roller.
The gear-wheel t* drives the lower roller by means of a gear-wheel t** on the
shaft of the said latter roller. The wheel t is carried upon a shaft t' which also
carries a ratchet-wheel 2 having engaging with it a pawl 3, the said pawl being
carried by levers t* moving freely on the shaft t' and having connected to them a
rod to.
The rod t is also connected to a lever to pivotted at t' and having at one end a
roller running in the cam-groove q* in the disc l¹.
The arrangement of this feeding-mechanism is such, that motion will be imparted
to the rollers, to feed the parchment forward into position beneath a cork when
the plunger d is in its uppermost position, so that, when the said plunger descends
to push the cork into the bottle, the parchment will be caused to surround the said
cork.
The moveable knife s works in guides s² and is attached to a lever s³ connected to
a sliding rods, the upper end of which carries a roller s running against the surface
of a cam s having a projection 7, which cam, at each rotation of the driving shaft
causes the depression of the said knife s to sever a piece of parchment from the
strip.
A spring u surrounds the rod st and serves to raise the knife after it has been
depressed by the cam sⓇ.
Immediately beneath the knife s and against the surface of the knife s¹ is a
plate having beneath it springs and adapted to be depressed by the contact of
the knife s therewith when the latter descends.
The object of this plate vis to normally present a surface even with the surface
of the board so that, as the parchment is fed forward, it shall not catch against
the edge of the knife s¹.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
(1) In a machine for corking bottles, the employment of a cork-carrier having
upon its periphery a series of clips for holding the corks, the said carrier being
adapted to be intermittently rotated to bring the corks successively beneath the
corking plunger, substantially as described.
(2) In a machine for corking bottles, the combination with the cork-carrier of
mechanism for feeding a strip of material such as parchment forward and
mechanism for cutting off a piece of such material substantially as, and for the
purpose described.
(3) The combination with a corking machine of cork-carrying-mechanism and of
mechanism for feeding-and-cutting parchment or similar material, substantially as
hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
(4) The manufacture and use of the improved bottle corking machine herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated the 20th day of August 1891.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.