IMPROVEMENTS IN CORK BRANDING MACHINES
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Jules Leclere, of Paris, France, but at present of
the Hop Exchange, Southwark, in the County of Surrey, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CORK BRANDING MACHINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Jules Leclere at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th January 1882.
CHARLES JULES LECLERE of Paris France but at present of the Hop Exchange
Southwark in the County of Surrey. "IMPROVEMENTS IN CORK BRANDING
MACHINES."
This Invention refers to a class of machines for branding corks either on the
side or end in which all the motions are automatic and in which the cork is not
guided by hand while passing through the machine.
The corks are thrown into a hopper or receiver and all the workman has to do
while the machine is at work is to keep the hopper supplied; a feed mechanism
carries the corks regularly and one by one down an inclined shoot and to a
marking appliance in the right position relatively thereto; a wheel forces the cork
against the marking or branding appliance whatever the size of the cork may be;
here it is branded as required and by the same wheel thrown out of the machine
and drops into a basket.
The hopper or receiver may be pyramidal in shape or of any other suitable
form such as half spherical as in a coffee mill. Below the hopper there is a slanting
shoot for the corks to slide down end for end one after the other and terminating
in a half round bottom piece or step which is arranged on the bed plate of the
machine. On this bedplate are mounted the acting mechanism of the machine and
also the plate for branding the cork on its side; the former consists of a pulley
worked by gut or otherwise and fixed on a spindle which is supported in plummer
blocks and also carries a tooth wheel gearing into a wheel on a spindle which also
carries a presser wheel formed with fine teeth on its circumference and constituting
the part which brings the cork against the branding plate and then throws it out
of the machine; its spindle is adjustable vertically in its bearings in order that

page_text: the presser wheel may be suitable for different size corks, there is a screw for
thus limiting the distance between the presser wheel and the surface of the
branding plate for branding the cork on the side; this distance is a little less than
the diameter of the smallest corks in order that none of them may escape the action
of the presser wheel.
The spindles are held in common cross bars.
The branding plate is heated by a spirit lamp or gas jet or other heating
appliance placed below it; this plate rests with feet in the bed plate which is cut
through below it.
The step at the bottom of the feed gutter has a flat curved spring which keeps
the cork parallel with the branding plate and gives way when the presser wheel
compresses and carries along the cork down against the branding plate the raised
type on which produces an impression into the cork; the presser wheel then throws
it down through an aperture in the bed plate and it then drops into a basket
placed below.
.
When the machine is arranged to mark the corks on the side only the aforesaid
step is at its forward end limited by a stop plate which is adjustable by means of
a screw for bringing it closer up or further away so as to cause the corks to be
marked in the right place length ways.
The feed mechanisin for bringing the corks down the inclined shoot may be as
follows. Near the upper end of the shoot is arranged a wheel having teeth shaped
somewhat like pawl teeth and mounted on a spindle across the shoot; between the
wheel and the bottom of the shoot there is a sufficient distance to allow the corks
to pass. The teeth coming in contact with the corks carry them down one by one
and thus prevent the shoot from getting stopped up. The teeth are by preference
arranged in say three rows whereby their action is rendered more efficient.
wheel spindle is turned by bevel wheels and endless chain and sprocket wheels
from the driving shaft. The pulley or fly wheel on the latter may be revolved by
a handle or from a treadle or from some motor.
The
When the machine is to be adapted to brand conical corks the hopper and shoot
may be omitted and replaced by a slanting platform in front of the branding stamp
and the corks are then placed thereon by hand.
An automatic mechanism may be added for marking the corks on the end.
The corks descending the shoot enter a horizontal angle frame which is
adjustable by its slotted side and screws therein according to the dimensions of
the corks to be branded. The stamp is by means of a screw with countersunk
head mounted freely on the end of a rod which slides horizontally in a frame or
carriage; the mobility of the stamp makes it applicable for branding corks even if
their ends are not square or true. On the stamp there is a collar or flange on
which the flame of a gas burner acts. The stamp rod receives its there and back
motion from a double armed or cranked lever, one horizontal arm of which carries
a plate or pedal slightly inclined and situated under the aforesaid presser wheel;
the other or vertical arm gears into the rod; each pressure exerted on the pedal
by the passage of a cork which has been branded gives the rod and stamp thereon
a forward motion. The rod has also a helical spring for forcing it forward and a
screw in its end serves to hold and regulate the action of the rod.
The presser wheel (after the cork has been marked on its end) presses it against
the lateral branding plate and then acts on the pedal producing the forward
motion of the stamping rod which is to brand the following cork.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Charles Jules Leclere in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th July 1882.
CHARLES JULES LECLERE of Paris France but at present of the Hop Exchange
Southwark in the County of Surrey. IMPROVEMENTS IN. CORK BRANDING
MACHINES."
"
This Invention refers to a class of machines for branding corks either on the
sides or ends in which all the motions are automatic and in which the cork is not
guided by hand while passing through the machine. The corks are thrown into a
hopper or receiver and all the workman has to do while the machine is at work is
to keep the hopper supplied; a feed mechanism carries the corks regularly and one
by one down an inclined shoot and to a marking appliance in the right position
relatively thereto; a wheel forces the cork against the marking or branding
appliance whatever the size of the cork may be; here it is branded as required
and thrown out of the machine and drops into a basket.
In order that the Invention may be completely understood I will now proceed
to describe the same with the aid of the accompanying Drawings.
Figure 1 is a general plan view of the machine Figure 2 is a side elevation of
that side of the machine where the corks are discharged. Figure 3 is a transverse
section through the line A B of the plan Figure 1, and Figure 4 is an end view of
that side of the machine on which the fly wheel is placed. Similar letters of
reference refer to like parts in all the Figures.
"
a is the hopper or receiver in which the corks are thrown pell-mell it may be
pyramidal in shape or of any other suitable form such as half spherical as in a
coffee mill. b is a slanting shoot below the hopper for the corks to slide down end
for end one after the other after being regulated by a rotating piece situated at the
bottom of the hopper; c is this rotating piece consisting of a wheel provided with
specially shaped teeth shown and placed at the lower part of the hopper at the
point of junction with the slanting shoot b. This wheel meets the corks as it
rotates and causes them to pass one by one and after having arranged them into
the shoot. d conical shaped socket or stop placed at the end of the slide b and the
position of which is regulated by the nut d' according to the length of the corks ;
e is a lever with serrated edge or the end of which is comb shaped and abuts on
the cork which leaves the slide so as to maintain it when it receives the first
impress on the end; f is a stop against which the cork abuts on leaving the slide;
g is the branding tool heated by gas and intended to mark or brand the cork at
its end or ends; h is the axle carrying the "brander g; it is provided at its end
with a helical spring ; ii are the levers for operating the shaft h; j is the
driving wheel or disc of the machine and communicating the motion to the corks
from their leaving the shoot b till their issue from the machine; kk' are the tooth
wheels for transmitting the motion to the wheel j; fly wheel which may be as a
rule driven by the hand; m m³ m¹¹ and m¹¹ are the wheels for transmitting
motion to the wheel c; n n' are levers oscillating on the fly wheel shaft and
carrying the shaft of the wheel j; p is a cross bar with handle for connecting the
levers n and n¹; q.(see Figure 3) brander also heated below by a gas jet to brand
the cork on the side or the circumference; q¹ is the support of the marker or
brander which should be made of some refractory material, is a tail piece which
lowers at the passage of the cork and under the action of the wheel j when lowering
it operates the shaft 8 by means of the lever r¹ Figure 3. 8 is the shaft which
regulates the movement of the branding mark by the levers it i, t is a tail or
finger piece for operating the counter or numberer t" by means of the levers t¹ ;

page_text: u inclined plane on which the corks roll before falling into a basket or other receiver;
v table supporting all the mechanism.
The corks which come down the inclined shoot b slide one by one after the
other and lengthwise so as to form a continuous file. This movement is produced
by the wheel c which revolves perpendicularly to the axis of the slide, it receives
motion from the shaft of the fly wheel 7 by means of the pulley wheels m m¹ and
'endless chains and the bevil pinions m¹¹ ml. The transmission may be otherwise.-
The wheel c is provided with teeth like the teeth of a ratchet wheel. There may
be one or several rows of teeth. During its rotation the wheel drives the corks
one after the other into the sliding shoot b. Arrived at the lower part of the
shoot the cork issues horizontally and abuts against a movable stop f, placed at
the end of a lever coupled on to the shaft 8. The stop descends in consequence
'of the motion of the shaft & which oscillates about its axis as I will explain; the
'end of the cork is disengaged and receives the shock of the branding apparatus g,
this is fixed to the extremity of the axis h having a to-and-fro horizontal move-
ment under the action of the shaft and by the intermediation of a set of levers i i¹.
A helical spring h¹ completes this arrangement. While the cork is thus marked
at the end it is held by the lever e also fixed on the shaft a the end of which lever e
is in the form of a claw or comb and presses itself upon the cork. A spring being
placed above or below the lever e tends to raise it. The cork thus marked at the
end the pieces e and frise; then the wheel j which is worked by the fly wheel
through the intervention of the wheels k and k or in any other manner; it has
been said that the wheel j causes the cork to turn and thus carries and brings it on
to the second branding mark q intended to mark the side. The marker or brander q
rests on a piece q¹ made of refractory materials and is heated by a jet of gas the
same as the mark q. In order to act well on the cork and to prevent it from
sliding by gripping slightly the top, the felly of the wheel is rounded and grooved
transversely. The circumference may be also furnished with a ring of bronze or
other metal: The motion of the wheel j continuing, the cork passes on to the lever
or tail piece which descends. It is this descending motion of the piece r under
the action of the cork being held between it and the wheel j which by the inter-
vention of the lever ¹ produces the oscillation of the shaft & and consequently that
of the dependent pieces as above indicated. The cork causes in the same manner
the piece t to descend the motion of which is transmitted to a counter t" by the
play of the levers t¹. The cork issues from the machine by sliding on the inclined
plane u and falls into a basket or other receptacle. The mechanism itself rests on
a table being itself supported in any convenient manner at the height of the
workman.
In practice the corks vary especially in length and diameter. To adapt the
mechanism to these lengths and varying diameters, the conical socket d by which
the cork issues has been made movable at the lower end of the slide or shoot-this is
displaced horizontally by unscrewing the the nut d'. In the second place the wheel j
is movable from bottom upwards and may be even completely removed by the
following arrangement. The shaft of this wheel is carried by two levers n and n¹
united by a stirrup and handle p and which oscillates about the fly wheel shaft,
the wheel being thus movable in a vertical direction admits between it and the
pieces qrt corks of varying diameter.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed I declare that I claim as my "Improvements in Cork
Branding Machines
First The application in a machine for branding corks simultaneously on the
circumference and on one or more of the sides or faces of a hopper provided with a
shoot or slide and at the bottom of which hopper moves a notched wheel or wheels
with ratchet shaped teeth which arranges the corks and causes them to enter in
line one after the other in the said shoot or slide which follows the hopper
substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings.

page_text: Second The application in the said machine of a branding tool intended to mark
the end of the corks, having a to and fro horizontal motion and combined with a
lever e abutting through the action of a finely toothed cutter on the cork while it
receives the impressions by the action of a set of levers substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompany Drawings.
Third. The application in the same machine of a wheel or disc acting by friction,
on the circumference of the corks to cause them to pass by rolling on a second
brander operating on the side or circumference substantially as herein before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Fourth The combination of the machine described and represented comprising
the hopper with its toothed wheel its slide or shoot bringing the corks in contact
with the branding die or tool acting on the end or ends of the cork the said
branding tool being carried by an axis having a to and fro motion imparted to it
by levers; the wheel or disc j' acting by friction to bring the cork on to the second
branding tool or marker for the lateral impression and from there on to the two
tooth pieces one of which operates the levers which drive the first marker and the
other of which operates a counter.
In witness whereof I the said Charles Jules Leclere have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Tenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty two.
CHARLES JULES LECLERE. (L.S.)