IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CORKSCREWS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Chinnock, of Brooklyn, in the State of New
York, United States of America, but now residing at Queen's Road
West, Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex, Merchant, for the
Invention of" IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CORKSCREWS."
=
Sealed the 11th March 1868, and dated the 19th September 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Chinnock at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
September 1862.
I, CHARLES CHINNOCK, of Brooklyn, in the State of New York, United
States of America, but now residing at Queen's Road West, Regent's Park,
in the County of Middlesex, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CORKSCREWS," to be
as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to simplify the construction and operation of
corkscrews. For this purpose I mount the screw in an open frame, .the
upper end or neck of which forms a guide for the stem of the screw and
serves also as a fulcrum for receiving pressure which is applied in the act of
withdrawing a cork from a bottle. The neck of the frame I prefer to form

page_text: with a snail face, and to mount loosely on the stem of the screw, a short tube
having on its under edge a corresponding snail face to work against the fixed
one on the frame like inclined planes. The upper edge of this tube I provide
with ratchet teeth into which take the teeth of a ratchet fixed to the screw
stem or to the handle thereof. Over the neck of the frame I drop a loose
collar to which I attach the lower end of a coiled spring that surrounds the
screw stem, and the upper end of the spring, I secure to the ratchet before-
mentioned. By this construction of corkscrew I am enabled to pierce the
cork to any given depth (dependent on the length of the screw), and by
continuing to turn the screw to withdraw the cork from the bottle, the snail
cams serving when brought into contact, and one caused to move over the
face of the other to lift the screw together with the cork out of the neck of
the bottle. This movement is assisted so soon as the pressure of the operator
is removed from the handle of the corkscrew by the recoil of the spring,
which is compressed to allow of the snail cams coming together, and which
is intended to act when the snail cams have fairly started the cork. In order
to remove the cork from the screw, it is only necessary to grip it between the
thumb and finger (an open frame being used to allow of this) and to turn
the screw in an opposite direction. I would remark that an efficient cork-
screw for common use may be made without the snail-faced cams and the
coiled spring, but in this modification the screw thread must be sufficiently
long to pass through the cork and allow of the cork rising up the thread as
the screw continues to be turned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Chinnock in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th March 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
CHINNOCK, of Brooklyn, in the State of New York, United States of America,
but now residing at Queen's Road West, Regent's Park, in the County of
Middlesex, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Charles Chinnock, Her special licence, that I, the said

page_text: Charles Chinnock, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Charles Chinnock, 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
THE CONSTRUCTION OF CORKSCREWS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Charles Chinnock, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, should particularly 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 Charles Chinnock, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention consists in simplifying the construction and facilitating
the operation of what are known as mechanical corkscrews. It is well
known that this class of corkscrews as at present-constructed (which remove
corks-from-bottles by the lifting power of a screw), besides being complex in
construction, are not easily managed by inexperienced persons, but by my
Invention these inconveniences are avoided.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shows my improved corkscrew in side
elevation applied to the neck of a bottle, and Fig. 2 shows the same in the act
of withdrawing a cork therefrom. The screw a by which the cork is pierced,
I mount in an open frame b, the lower end of which receives (as is usual) the
neck of the bottle to which it is applied. The upper end or neck of the
frame, which neck forms a guide for the stem of the screw a, serves also as a
fulcrum for receiving the pressure which is applied in the act of withdrawing
the cork from the bottle. The upper end of the stem of the screw a is squared
and attached to the handles c in the ordinary manner. The neck * of the
frame b, I construct of a helical form which presents a snail face to a
loose helical or tubular piece d, the contact or acting surface of which tube
presents a corresponding snail face to the fixed helix or snail face on the frame.
The upper edge of this tube I provide with ratchet teeth into which take the
ratchet teeth of a disc e fixed to the screw stem immediately below the handle
thereof for the purpose of locking the handle c and the loose tube together

page_text: when the handle is turned in the direction for piercing the cork by the
screw .a.
This construction of corkscrew enables me to pierce the cork to any given
depth (dependent on the length of the screw a) and then by continuing to
turn the handle in the same direction to withdraw the cork from the neck of
the bottle as shewn at Figure 2. This withdrawal of the cork is effected by
the loose helical piece or tube d, moving over the inclined face of the fixed
helix. The handle therefore as it is turned is thrust away from the frame b,
and the screw a is therefore caused to draw the cork out of the neck of the
bottle. The cork is now received into the frame a, and by reason of its being
an open frame and the screw a being rigidly affixed to the handle, the cork
may be removed from the screw as readily as from that of a common corkscrew.
For the purpose of easing the action of the corkscrew, I may in some cases
find it desirable to employ the pressure of a coiled spring for drawing the cork:
In this case I drop over the neck of the frame a a loose collar to which I
attach the lower end of a coiled spring that surrounds the screw stem, the
upper end of the spring being secured to the upper or ratcheted end of the
tube d before mentioned.
This modification is shewn in Figures 3 and 4, Figure 3 representing the
corkscrew as applied to a cork with the coiled spring contracted, and Figure 4
(which is partly in section) the corkscrew withdrawing the cork under the
action of the expanding spring. In these Figures f is the loose collar to which
the lower end of the coiled spring g is attached, the upper end of the spring is
attached to a flange or collar h carried by the tube d at its upper or ratchet
end. When using this modified form of the improved corkscrew so soon as
the operator has started the cork and his pressure is removed from the handle
of the corkscrew the recoil of the spring (which is compressed in the act of
bringing the snail or inclined surfaces together) will complete the withdrawal
of the started cork.
I would remark that an efficient corkscrew for common use may be made
without the snail-faced parts and the coiled spring, but in this modification the
screw thread must be sufficiently long to pass through the cork and allow of
the cork rising up the thread as the screw continues to be turned. The open
frame will in this case also allow of the facile removal of the cork from the
screw, it being only necessary to grip it with the thumb and finger, and to
turn the screw in the opposite direction.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in the
Construction of Corkscrews," and explained the manner of carrying the same

page_text: into effect, I wish it to be understood, that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent I claim, simplifying the construction and facilitating the opera-
tion of mechanical corkscrews as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Chinnock, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Seventh day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
CH. CHINNOCK. (L.S.)