An Improved Apparatus for Extracting Corks from Bottles and the like.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Nov., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 15th July, 1890-Accepted, 16th Aug., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Apparatus for Extracting Corks from Bottles and
the like.
I, WILLIAM GEORGE CRAWFORD HUGHES, of 2 Victoria Mansions, Victoria Street,
Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, Student Institution of Civil Engineers do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to an improved apparatus for withdrawing or extracting
corks from bottles and the like.
My improved apparatus is constructed with a vertical spindle which is provided
at the lower end with a twisted portion or cork-screw, and which is fitted so as to
be capable of revolving, whilst prevented or restrained from end wise motion,, in
bearings in a suitable frame rotary motion being communicated to the said spindle
by means of mitre, bevel, or other wheels driven by a suitable handle or crank.
The said twisted portion or cork-screw is made considerably longer than, an
ordinary cork, preferably twice the length thereof, and works centrally in a short
tube or ring forming the lower part of the said frame, and adapted to bear against
the mouth of the bottle in the act of withdrawing the cork. The said cork-screw
portion, moreover, projects a distance equal to about half its length below the
aforesaid short tube or ring.
The gear for rotating the spindle is fitted in the frame and consists preferably of
two bevel wheels, one of which is keyed or otherwise secured to the vertical spindle,
while the other wheel, which gears into it, is keyed or otherwise fastened to one.
end of an independent horizontal shaft or stud, provided with a bearing in the
aforesaid frame, and having at its other extremity a suitable handle or crank for
causing its rotation and thereby operating the bevel gear.
...
A cylinder or sleeve encloses the spindle between its wheel and its upper bearing,
acting as a distance piece, for the purpose of keeping this wheel in its correct position
and preventing vertical motion of the parts in the said frame.
..
The vertical spindle preferably projects through the upper end of the frame and
is provided at its upper extremity with a knob, disc or cross-piece of wood or other
suitable material loosely connected thereto so as to be independent of or unaffected
by the rotary motion of the said spindle. This knob or cross-piece is used for
holding the apparatus in a vertical position prior to, and during the extraction of
the cork.
On applying the cork-screw to a cork and then pressing on the loose disc or knob
and revolving the aforesaid crank or handle, the said cork screw will enter the cork,
until the tube or ring at the lower end of the frame comes in contact with the mouth
of the bottle. On continuing to rotate the spindle in the same direction, the
cork will gradually rise on the cork-screw and will thus be wholly or partially
withdrawn from the bottle, passing up the cork-screw into the lower part of the main
frame.
Instead of arranging the spindle to project above the frame, I sometimes use a disc
or handle as part of the frame by which to keep the apparatus vertical, and which
on receiving pressure will allow the cork-screw to operate in the manner above
described when the spindle is rotated.
If the cork be only partially withdrawn from the bottle, then, by reversing the
direction of the handle, the cork-screw will be freed from the cork, leaving the latter
in the bottle so that it can be readily lifted out by hand.
I use either an ordinary twist cork-screw on the lower end of spindle, or I may

page_text: use any other form of cork-screw, such as, for instance, the more approved knife-
edge cork-screw.
Dated this 4th day of November 1889
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co., .
45. Southampton Buildings London Agents for the Applicant
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Apparatus for Extracting Corks from Bottles and
the like.
I, WILLIAM GEORGE CRAWFORD HUGHES, Assoc. M. Inst. C.E., of 2 Victoria
Mansions, Victoria Street, Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
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 an improved apparatus for withdrawing or extracting corks
from bottles and the like.
An important feature of my said invention is the employment of a twisted
spindle or cork-screw which is fitted to rotate in a suitable frame capable of being
• conveniently held in the hand, but is prevented or restrained from end wise motion
relatively to the said frame, and which is connected with a crank or other convenient
handle through the medium of suitable gearing, whereby it may be rotated about its
axis. The twisted portion of this spindle is of such length that by the continuous
rotation of the said spindle in the proper direction, a cork may he withdrawn from
the bottle, the said frame, in the first part of the rotation of the said spindle, being
drawn to the mouth of the bottle; and the cork being then extracted.
In the accompanying drawing I have shown how my said invention may be con-
veniently and advantageously carried into practice.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved apparatus and
Figure 2 is a vertical central section thereof, the cork-screw and other parts being
shown in side elevation.
A is the non-rotating portion or frame of the apparatus. B is a short spindle
which is supported in a suitable bearing A' in the frame A, and in the lower
end of which is firmly fixed the cork-screw C. Or the said spindle may be
formed integrally with the cork-screw it desired. The said spindle is adapted to
be rotated, through the medium of mitre or bevel wheels D, D', by means of a
crank-handle E, and the said spindle is restrained from endwise motion in its
bearing A by the bevel wheel D and by a collar B' formed on the spindle, or
it may be restrained from endwise movement by other suitable means.
The bevel wheel D is keyed or otherwise firmly secured upon the spindle B, the
other bevel wheel D₁ is geared with the bevel wheel D and is fixed upon one
extremity of an independent shaft D2, which is supported in a bearing A2 in the
frame A, and which is at a right angle to the cork-screw. On the other extremity
of the shaft D2 is secured the crank-handle E by which the said shaft may be
rotated.
The length of the screw is proferably considerably greater than that of an
ordinary cork, being usually twice the length thereof, that is to say, about three
and a half inches, and the said screw is so arranged that about one half of the
same projects below the part A³ of the frame, which bears upon the neck of the
bottle.
The frame A can be readily and conveniently grasped by hand in order to keep
the cork-screw vertical with regard to the cork, during the insertion of the screw in
the cork and the extraction of the latter from the bottle.
The operation of my apparatus is as follows, viz. :-The frame A being held in one

page_text: hand the point of the screw C is caused to enter the cork by pressing it thereon,
and the screw is then caused to rotate with the other hand by means of the handle E
through the medium of the bevel wheels D, D'. The screw C, when thus rotated,
continues to enter the cork until the portion A³ of the frame A bears against the neck
of the bottle, as indicated in Figure 2, the further entrance of the cork-screw into
the neck of the bottle being thus prevented, the continued rotation of the said cork-
screw in the same direction then has the effect, as will be readily understood, of
causing the cork to rise or travel upward upon the said screw, in the same manner as
a nut travels upon a screw-bolt, until the said cork is raised into the position shown
in Figure 1, when it can be easily removed from the bottle.
can, if desired, employ other means for connecting the shaft D2 with the cork-
screw, for instance I can connect them by means of a flexible shaft.
By constructing and arranging the parts of my apparatus as above described, I am
enabled to very conveniently apply the power required for inserting the cork-screw
and extracting the cork. Moreover, by the gearing shown, the speed of rotation will
be reduced and the power multiplied.
I prefer that the cork-screw shall be formed with a knife-edge or augur twist as
shown, instead of the common or ordinary twist, but I do not confine myself to any
particular form of cork-screw.
The cork may, if desired, be only loosened or partially withdrawn from the bottle
by my improved apparatus, and the direction of motion of the handle E would then
require to be reversed to withdraw the screw from the cork, the cork can then be
readily lifted from the bottle by hand.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I wish it understood that
I claim:
The improved apparatus for withdrawing corks from bottles and the like, wherein
a cork-screw capable of rotation but restrained from endwise movement in a suitable
frame is connected, by bevel wheels or by a flexible shaft or other suitable gearing,
with a shaft provided with a crank or other convenient handle, substantially as herein-
before described.
pared this 15th day of July 1890.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.