IMPROVED FASTENINGS FOR SECURING THE CORKS OR STOPPERS OF BOTTLES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Shanks, of Townsend Street, in the City of
Dublin, Ireland, for the Invention of "IMPROVED FASTENINGS FOR SECURING
THE CORKS OR STOPPERS OF BOTTLES."
Sealed the 24th June 1879, and dated the 9th April 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Shanks at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 9th April 1879.
JAMES SHANKS, of Townsend Street, in the City of Dublin, Ireland.
FASTENINGS FOR SECURING THE CORKS OR STOPPERS OF BOTTLES."
"IMPROVED
My Invention relates to improved constructions of fastenings consisting of metal
strips for securing the corks or stoppers in the necks of bottles, whereby such
fastenings are rendered readily adjustible if desired, so as to fit the neck of the
bottle closely and to be drawn tightly over the cork, while at the same time such
fastenings are of simple and consequently inexpensive construction, and are easily
undone when the bottle has to be opened.
According to one arrangement I construct a band or strip of metal, one end of
which has a transverse slot, while the other end has a tongue of a width corre-
sponding to the width of the said slot. This strip is bent round the neck of the
bottle just below the ring, the tongue being passed through the slot and drawn
tight, after which the tongue is bent back sharply over the edge of the slot, and
the strip is thus securely fixed round the neck. To this neck strip a second strip
passing over the cork or stopper, and which I will term the "cork strip," is secured
by either of the following arrangements. According to one method the one end of
the cork strip is bent sharply over the lower edge of the neck strip, and the other
end having been passed underneath the neck strip is then drawn down tightly over
the cork and bent sharply up over the lower edge of the neck strip. According to
another arrangement the neck strip is provided with two longitudinal slots at
opposite sides of the neck, and the cork strip having been passed through these
slots and drawn tight, is then bent up sharply as before. According to another
arrangement the cork strip consists of two separate lengths, one end of each of
which is secured to opposite points of the neck strip by bending. The other end
[Price BdL

page_text: of the one length has a slot formed in it, and the other end of the other length has
a tongue of a width corresponding to the said slot. These ends of the two lengths
having been bent over the top of the cork or stopper the tongue is passed through
the slot and is drawn tight over the cork, after which it is bent sharply over the
slot. It will be evident that in all the before described arrangements a wire might
be used in place of the cork strip, the wire being of sufficient strength to hold
firmly when bent sharply over, as described with reference to the metal strip.
According to another construction the neck strip and cork strip are formed of
one continuous length; having determined the length required for the neck strip
the remaining portion is folded over so as to assume a position at right angles to
the neck strip; the free end of the latter is then bent sharply over the cork strip
where it joins the other end of the neck strip, and the free end of the cork strip
having been drawn tight over the cork is bent sharply over the lower edge of the
neck strip.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said James Shanks in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th
September 1879.
JAMES SHANKS, of Townsend Street, in the City of Dublin, Ireland. "IMPROVED
FASTENINGS FOR SECURING THE CORKS OR STOPPERS OF BOTTLES."
My Invention relates to improved construction of fastenings consisting of metal
strips for securing the corks or stoppers in the necks of bottles, whereby such
fastenings are rendered readily adjustable if desired, so as to fit the neck of the
bottle closely and to be drawn tightly over the cork, while at the same time such
fastenings are of simple and consequently inexpensive construction, and are easily
undone when the bottle has to be opened.
According to one arrangement, of which Figs. 1 and 2 shew respectively a front
and side view, I employ a band or strip of metal A, shewn unfolded at Fig. 3, near
one end of which is cut a transverse slot, whilst the other end is narrowed to form
a tongue that can enter the said slot. The strip A is bent round the neck of the
bottle just below its projecting lip or ring, the tongue being passed through.the slot
and drawn tight, after which the tongue is bent back sharply over the edge of the
slot, and the strip, which may be termed the "neck strip," is thus securely fixed
round the neck of the bottle. A second strip B, which may be termed the "cork
strip," has its one end bent sharply over the lower edge of the neck strip; it is
then passed over the cork, and its free end being passed through between the neck
strip and the neck is drawn tight and also bent sharply over the lower edge of the
neck strip. The cork strip may secure on the top of the cork a disc C bearing a
name, trade mark, or device, for which purpose it is passed through slots cut in
such disc, as shewn at Fig. 4. For the cork strip may be substituted a wire
sufficiently rigid to hold securely when bent. The neck strip may be made as
shewn in Fig. 5, with two slots a, a, at such distance apart that when the strip is
bent round the neck of the bottle these slots are on opposite sides, and the ends of
the cork strip may be passed through these slots and bent sharply over, as shewn
at Fig. 6.
According to another arrangement the cork strip is made in two lengths, as
shewn in the side view Fig. 7, and plan Fig. 8, the one D having near its end a
slot through which is passed the end of the other E narrowed to form a tongue,
which is afterwards bent sharply over the edge of the slot. When this construction
is employed the neck strip with the two parts of the cork strip attached to it (by
bending them sharply over its edge, or passing them through slots, such as a, a,
Fig. 5, and then bending them) is secured on the bottle neck, and the two parts D, E,
of the cork strip are then brought over the cork; the tongue of the one is passed
through the slot of the other, drawn tight, and bent over. The neck strip and
cork strip may be made in one continuous length and secured on the bottle in the
following manner :-First, the strip is folded over, as in Fig. 9, at an angle of 45°,
and the part so folded brought over one side of the other part, so that the strip is,
as shewn in Fig. 10, with one limb F standing at right angles to the other limb G.
The limb G is passed round the bottle neck constituting the neck strip, and its end
is passed under the base of the strip F, drawn tight, and bent sharply over it, as
shewn in Fig. 11. The limb F constituting the cork strip is passed over the cork,
and its end is passed under the neck strip on the side opposite the fold, drawn
tight, and bent sharply over, the whole then being, as shewn, without the bottle or
cork in the perspective diagram, Fig. 12.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I claim,—
First. Securing a cork or stopper in a bottle by two metal strips or a metal strip
and a wire, constructed and applied as herein described with reference to Figs. 1, 2,
3, and 4 of the accompanying Drawings.

page_text: Second. Securing a cork or stopper in a bottle by a neck strip and a cork strip,
the latter made in two parts, as herein described with reference to Figs. 7 and 8.
Third. Securing a cork or stopper in a bottle by a single metal strip folded, bent,
and secured as herein described with reference to Figs. 9, 10, 11, and 12.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Shanks, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this 27th day of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy nine.
JAMES SHANKS. (L.S.)