An Improved Device for Drawing or Extracting Corks from Bottles and similar Vessels.
Year: 1888

page_text: An Improved Device for Drawing or Extracting Corks from Bottles
and similar Vessels.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 :-
The cork extractor forming the subject of the present invention is an improvement
upon extractors of the kind shown in Loffier's United States Patent No. 59,241, dated
October 30th 1866 and Englesdorff's United States Patent No. 172,104, dated
January 11th, 1876; and the said invention consists of a piece of metal having a
lengthwise groove in the surface of the extractor and at one end a side-wise extension,
the lengthwise groove forming a passage for the escape of air and gas from the bottle,
whereby the cork is not only more easily pulled but the pent up air or gas is allowed
to escape, thus obviating the annoyance now caused by the popping and spurting in
opening champagne, cider and the like.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figure 1 is a central vertical section of a portion of a corked bottle with the
improved extractor in place.
Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1.
Figures 3 and 4 are views of the extractor shown separate.
The improved extractor is best made of a piece of wire a, one end of which is bent
to form a sidewise extension a' which is preferably flattended as shown. The air
passage consists in a lengthwise groove in the surface of the wire, the groove being
preferably, but not necessarily, opposite the extension a', as shown. The said extractor
is provided with a handle a² which may be made in various ways too well known to
need description. When the extractor is used the end of extension a¹ is inserted
between the cork and the neck of the bottle and is then forced below the inner end

page_text: of the stopper and turned to engage the stopper. A slight pull is then sufficient to
start the stopper, the air or gas rapidly escaping as soon as the bottom of the groove
is passed beyond the inner end of the stopper. It is very important that the air
passage should be a groove in the surface of the extractor because it is thereby rapidly
cleaned out if clogged and is not readily clogged. In those extractors in which the
air passage consists of a bore through the extractor, the passage is frequently clogged
and is cleaned out when clogged with considerable difficulty. The groove bis pre-
ferably diametrically opposite to the sidewise extension a¹ so that when the extension
is turned to engage the inner end of the stopper the inner surface of the neck of the
bottle forms a portion of the wall of the air-passage.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign Correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
The improved stopper extractor herein described made of a piece of metal a having
a lengthwise groove 6 and at one end a sidewise extension a substantially as and for
the purpose set forth.