IMPROVEMENTS IN CORKING, STOPPING, AND SECURING THE CONTENTS OF CHAMPAGNE AND OTHER BOTTLES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Percy Smith, of the Firm of Stallard and Smith,
Wine Merchants, of Philpot Lane, in the City of London, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CORKING, STOPPING, AND SECURING THE
CONTENTS OF CHAMPAGNE AND OTHER BOTTLES."-A communication from
abroad by Jeules Fisse and Gustave Thirion, of Reims, in the Empire
of France.
Sealed the 24th December 1867, and dated the 29th June 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Percy Smith at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th June
1867.
I, PERCY SMITH, of the Firm of Stallard and Smith, Wine Merchants, of
Philpot Lane, in the City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CORKING, STOPPING, AND SECURING THE
CONTENTS OF CHAMPAGNE AND OTHER BOTTLES," to be as follows:-
The first part of this Invention consists of a cap or cork cover of india-
rubber or other suitable material placed over the cork and between it and
the securing media for compensating for any porosity of the cork.

page_text: The second improvement consists of a ring or collar of india-rubber or other
suitable material passed over the cork and round the neck of the bottle and
under the cork cover before described; or this ring may be passed over the
cork and rest upon the mouth of the bottle so as to prevent any of the contents
from escaping between the cork and the bottle.
The third improvement consists of a metallic or other cap passed over the
head of the cork and inclosing the same, so that the lower edge of the said
cap either rests upon the bottle mouth and presses upon the stopping ring
above described, or encloses the hollow mouth and compresses the stopping
ring between the interior of the cap and the exterior of the neck of the bottle,
the said cap being of metal or other non-porous material thus hermetically
seals the cork.
The fourth improvement consists in the mode of securing the cap last
described to the neck of the bottle; for this purpose a piece of wire is used
doubled at about the centre of its length, and is thus formed into a long loop,
the loop end is left plain a short length and then the two wires are twisted
together, having two or more turns round each other, the two free ends of the
wire are now passed round a mandril and brought and twisted together, again
forming an eye between the latter and former twists; the wire is now ready
for securing the cap, in the side of which there is an annular indentation, the
eye is passed over the cap down to and is held in the said indentation when
an extra twist of the free end of the wire will compress the eye and cause it
to embrace firmly the said indented part of the cap; both the loop and the
twisted portion of the wires on the side opposite to the loop are now turned
downwards on opposite sides of the neck of the bottle; the free end of
the wire wound round the same under the usual neck flange, one wire on the
right side and the other on the left being passed through the loop, and back
to their own side of the neck of the bottle, where these ends being passed
across each other and being twisted together the fastening is complete.
Another mode of fastening the cap consists in forming it with side clips;
the lower ends or claws are pressed into the side of the bottle neck under the
flange, and bound by a binding wire or caused to maintain the required grip
by the pressure of the cork upwards. The cap may be formed with these
side claws, or the latter may be added thereto as an independent fastening,
and as such be used for securing corks in lieu of caps or capsules when used
with the cap herein-before described. A self-securing clip fastening, which I
also propose to use, consists of two rigid pieces of strong steel or other wire,
one of which I denominate the male and the other the feniale. The female is

page_text: formed somewhat in the shape of a staple, the two ends being turned up to
form hooks to catch or take under the flange of the bottle neck, and the
lower end of the male being also similarly formed; the loop of the staple or
female part is bent over at an angle with the two legs, the head of the male
is also bent over in like manner and terminates with a hook; this hook is
passed into the loop of the staple, the angular or bent over portion of the
male and female thus meet about the centre of the cork, the upward pressure
of which causes the legs and clips to incline inwards to the neck of the bottle,
and the greater the pressure exerted by the cork upwards the more firmly
will the clips be pressed under the flange of the bottle neck, while to uncork
the latter all that is necessary is simply a slight side pull of the male leg so as
to release the clip from under the said flange, when the female clips will also
become loose and set the cork free. In some cases the male limb may be
made of sufficient length to pass down the side of and clip the bottom of the
bottle. In other cases a short length of chain or a link may be attached to the
male leg, to the free end of which chain or link (or side pull) a disc, tablet,
or mark of any required shape or form may be added with the name of the
firm, company, or individual using the same stamped, engraved, embossed, or
otherwise indicated thereon, and this terminator may be made with a pointed
or flattened end to act as a lever when inserted between the side of the bottle
neck and the limb of the male clip, and thus instantaneously release the clip
and set the cork free, as before described. With this form of fastener all wires
or threads, strings, and the like may be entirely dispensed with, the said
fastener can be formed with a metal cap, the latter being made in the shape
of an inverted concave disc, having perforations in the sides or crown through
which the limbs of the male and female are passed and then bent to the
regular shape.
It will be readily understood from the foregoing description of the fastening
that it may be employed repeatedly for securing a number of bottles as in
detaching it and changing it from bottle to bottle it is unnecessary to break
or injure it.
Another improvement consists of a piped stopper fitted with an inlet air
duct and valve and tapped outlet; this stopper may be secured by being let.
into a suitable cork, or by being fitted with a screw; the air duct is fitted
with a valve, so that the air can only enter the bottle as required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Percy Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
December 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PERCY
SMITH, of the Firm of Stallard and Smith, Wine Merchants, of Philpot
Lane, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of our. Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Percy Smith, Her special licence, that I, the said Percy Smith, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Percy
Smith, my executors, administrators, 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 CORKING,
STOPPING, AND SECURING THE CONTENTS OF CHAMPAGNE AND OTHER BOTTLES," 18
communication to him from abroad by Jules Fisse and Gustave Thirion, of
Reims, in the Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that
1, the said Percy Smith, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, 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 Percy Smith, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof:-
The first improvement of this Invention 'consists of a cap or cork cover of
india-rubber, or other suitable material, placed over the cork and between
it and the securing media for compensating for any 'porosity of the cork.
The second improvement consists of a ring or collar of india-rubber or
other suitable material passed over the cork and round the neck of the
bottle and under the cork cover before described, or this ring may be passed

page_text: over the cork and rest upon the mouth of the bottle so as to prevent any of
the contents from escaping between the cork and the bottle.
The third improvement consists of a metallic or other cap passed over the
head of the cork and enclosing the same, so that the lower edge of the said
cap either rests upon the bottle mouth or presses upon the stopping ring
above described, or encloses the bottle mouth and compresses the stopping
ring between the interior of the cap and the exterior of the neck of the
bottle; the said cap being of metal or other non-porous material thus
hermetically seals the cork.
The fourth improvement consists in the mode of securing the cap last
described to the neck of the bottle.
For this purpose a piece of wire is used.
length, and is thus formed into a long
doubled at about the centre of its
loop; the loop end is left plain a short length, and then the two wires are
twisted together, having two or more turns round each other; the two free
ends of the wire are now passed round a mandril and brought and twisted.
together again, forming an eye between the latter and former twists. The
wire is now ready for securing the cap, in the side of which there is an
annular indentation; the eye is passed over the cap down to and is held in
the said indentation, when an extra twist of the free end of the wire will
compress the eye and cause it to embrace firmly the said indented part of
the cap; both the loop and the twisted portion of the wire on the side
opposite to the loop are now to be turned downwards on opposite sides of the
neck of the bottle, the free ends of the wire wound round the same under
the usual neck flange, one, wire on the right side and the other on the left
being passed through the loop and back to their own side of the neck of the
bottle, where their ends being passed across each other and twisted together
the fastening is complete.
Another mode of fastening the cap consists in forming it with side clips,
the lower ends or claws are pressed, into the side of the bottle neck under
the flange and bound by binding wire, or caused to maintain the required
grip by the pressure of the cork upwards. The cap may be formed with
these side claws or the latter may be added thereto as an independent
fastening, and as such be used for securing corks in lieu of caps or capsules
when used with the cap herein-after described. A self-securing clip fastening
which I also propose to use, consists of two rigid pieces of strong steel or
other wire, one of which I denominate the male and the other the female,
the female is formed somewhat in the shape of a staple, the two ends being
turned up to form hooks to catch or take under the flange of the bottle neck

page_text: hook, this
and the lower end of the male being also similiarly formed the loop of the
staple or female part is bent over at an angle with the two legs, the head of
the male is also bent over in like manner and terminates with a
hook passed into the loop of the staple, the angular or bent over portions of
the male and female thus meet about the centre of the cork, the upward
pressure of which causes the legs and clips to incline inwards to the neck of
the bottle and the greater the pressure exerted by the cork upwards the
more firmly will the clips be pressed under the flange of the bottle neck,
while to uncork the bottle all that is necessary is simply a slight pull of
the male leg, so as to release the clip from under the said flange, when the
female clip will also become loosed and set the cork free. In some cases
the male limb may be made of sufficient length to pass down the side of and
clip the bottom of the bottle. In other cases a short length of chain or a
hook may be attached to the male leg, to the free end of which chain or
book (or side pull) a disc, tablet, or mark of any required shape or form may
be added with the name of the firm, company, or individual using the same,
engrossed, stamped, embossed, or otherwise indicated thereon, and this
terminator may be made with a pointer or flattened end to act as a lever
when inserted between the side of the bottle neck and the limb of the male
clip, and thus instantaneously release the clip and set the cork free as before
described. With this form of fastener all wires, threads, string, and the like
may be entirely dispensed with. The said fastener can be formed with a
metal cap, the latter being made in the shape of an inverted concave disc,
having perforations in the side or crown, through which the limbs of the male
and female are passed and then bent to the required shape. It will be readily
understood from the foregoing description of the fastening that it may be
employed repeatedly for securing a number of bottles, as in detaching it and
changing it from bottle to bottle it is unnecessary to break or injure it. I
now proceed to describe the said improvements in further detail, reference
being made to the accompanying Drawings to which the following explanation
applies.
EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Drawing No. 1.-Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the cap or cork
cover which forms the subject of my first above-mentioned improvement.
Figure 2 is a plan of the ring or collar mentioned under the bead of my
second improvement.
Figure 3 is a transverse section shewing the metallic or other cap passed
over the head of the cork, being my third improvement.

page_text: a is the cork; b, the cork cover; c, the ring or collar; d, the metallic or
other cap; d', the wire binder, herein-after referred to; e, e, the bottle neck;
ff, a flange thereon.
Drawing No. 2.-Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, are intended to illustrate the
mode of securing the cork covers and cork, by means of a flexible wire binder
the mode of forming which is shewn at Figure 6, (Figure 3 being a plan and
Figures 4 and 5 transverse sections of the ring or collar similar to that shewn
at Figure 2, Drawing 1). In this case the metallic cap a is formed with a
bottom flange a¹ which rests upon the flange f on the neck of the bottle c,
under which flange the binder d is secured.
The mode of using the binder, shewn at Figure 6, is as follows:-The
eye C, is passed over the metallic cap until it embraces the annular
indentation therein, and around which it is tightened by giving the loop d, d,
on one side, and the free ends on the opposite side of the bottle an extra
twist. The loop end is then turned downwards and the free ends being
further twisted togetlier are also bent downwards and passed round the neck
of the bottle in opposite directions, and are passed respectively through the
loop and thence to the opposite side of the neck of the bottle, when they
are twisted together under the flange (see Figure 1) and the fastening is
complete.
"
Figures 7, 8, 9, shew another mode of fastening the cap, which is
made with an indentation 9, 9, at the top, over which is passed a clip h, h,
formed with claws i, i, at the bottom for securing it to the flange f
(see Figure 9).
Figures 10 and 11 are intended to illustrate another mode of securing the
cap by means of clips i, i, fitted to the cap or forming an integral part
thereof and being self securing, when formed as shewn at Figure 10, or by
the addition of a wire binder passing through eyes as shewn at Figure 11.
Drawing No. 3.-This Drawing is intended to illustrate various modi-
fications of the self-securing clip fastening and cork screwing cap. The
clip fastenings in this case consists of two rigid pieces of strong steel or
other wire (see Figure 1) which is first bent at the ends, as shewn at
Figure 2, then formed into a staple as shewn at Figures 3 and 4 in side
and end views with side limbs a' and a³, and a bead a³, which head is also
bent or cranked as shewn at Figures 5, 6, and 7. This part of the clip I
denominate the female. The mode of forming the male is illustrated at
Figure 8 in which b is the limb and c is the hook for connecting it with the
angle or crank of the female.

page_text: Figures, 9 and 10 show the cork screwing, cap. formed with holes c, c,
through, which the limbs of the male and female are passed as shewn at
Figures 13 and 14. In this case the pressure of the cork against the under
side of the beads of the clips causes them to incline. inwards, under the flange
of the neck of the bottle, and the greater the pressure exerted by the cork
the greater will be the holding power of the clips.
.
Figures 11 and 12 are intended to illustrate the mode of forming and
applying similar clips fitted to the cap or forming an integral part thereof.;
in this case the limbs a, a, and b are formed with a considerable amount of
spring for increasing their holding power.
Figures 16 and 17 shew the clips and cap with an addition at the end of the
male limb for releasing the clip. For this purpose the eye 6¹ is supplied with
a pull for disengaging it from the flauge when the two other clips a¹ and as,.
will also immediately free themselves from the bottle and release the cork.
Figure 18 shews this clip applied for securing the cork without the cap.
Figure 19 shews the cap formed with a male limb as an integral part
thereof,, the female clip only being required to be fitted thereto. Figures 20
and 21 shew the mode of fitting and securing the cap d by means of a wire
binder which is passed through the holes c, c, in, the cap, the ends 9. and h
being finally fastened together under the flange of the bottle. Figure 22
shews another form of clip and cap in which the limbs a, a, and b are simply
hooked to the cap d at c, c.
Drawing No. 4.-Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 shew several modifications of
the wire clip fastening before described when formed with the addition for
the pull b. In some cases I make this pull of sufficient length either to
pass round the neck of the bottle or down the side to the bottom, and be
fitted with hooks d, d, (see Figure 3) for securing it in either case. In
other cases I make one limb of sufficient length itself to pass down the side of
the bottle and clip the bottom, either with a single clip as shewn at Figure 4,
or with a double clip as shewn at Figure 5. The pull c for releasing being
then fitted at the bottom of the elongated limb. Figure 6 shews another
modification of the wire clip which may consist of a simple staple and be
passed over or through the cork. The lower ends of the limbs a, a, being
formed as here shewn and secured under the flange by means of a binder
(see Figure 8) or made with a considerable amount of spring and formed
and fitted with a pull c, attached at 6 as shewn at Figure 7. When desired
the pull may be made to terminate or be fitted with a lever or pin of an
ornamental or other design; and which may be made to serve the purpose of

page_text: a trade mark or label as its secondary object; its primary use being that of a
pointed lever for being inserted between the neck of the bottle and the limb
of the clip for releasing the clip from the flange, and to be used for that
purpose instead of the pull. I also propose to form a screw cork or stopper
fitted with any of the clip securing media herein-before described. In such
cases the clips being passed over and pressed under the flange, the cork or
stopper is inserted and secured in or released from the mouth of the bottle by
turning the screw, which may be fitted with a milled head, lever, or any other
suitable appliance therefor.
In witness whereof, I, the said Percy Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-fourth day of December, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-seven.
PERCY SMITH.
(L.8.)