Improvements in Means for Securing the Corks or Stoppers of Bottles or other Vessels.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Jan., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 16th Nov., 1895-Accepted, 21st Dec., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means for Securing the Corks or Stoppers of
Bottles or other Vessels.
HERBERT WYKEHAM WICKHAM of No. 4 Bennett Street Saint James's in
the County of London Esquire Barrister-at-Law. I do hereby declare the nature-
of this invention to be as follows:-
And by means of which bottles and vessels may be locked and corks and
stoppers secured.
Take a sample bottle of the description it is desired to secure and measure
its circumference immediately under the thick projecting rim at the top of the
neck. Construct a flat rim of a certain width and circumference of any hard metal
material or composition to stand out at right angles from the bottle or vessel under
the projection and on and round this rim having taken the height desired to the top
of the cork or stopper fix a grooved conical shaped apparatus graduated so that it
is smaller at the top which may be covered. The whole apparatus must be
divided right through so as to open and shut to admit of its being placed on the
bottle or vessel and for pressure. Now fit this with a grooved cap to screw on to
give the requisite pressure to the underneath part and then if it is desired to lock
this cap to the other part to prevent its being unscrewed and so to prevent the
bottle or vessel being opened this can be done by means of rings being attached to
each part which can be united by means of a padlock. Or a rim at right angles.
outside the bottom of one or both parts of the apparatus fitted with slots to admit
a padlock or chain fixed to the bottom being pulled through and put over a staple
on the cap which can then be secured by a padlock or the top part may be secured
in the requisite manner to the bottom by a combination of these.
Dated this Sixteenth day of January 1895.
HERBERT WYKEHAM WICKHAM
Improvements in Means for Securing the Corks or Stoppers of
Bottles or other Vessels.
"!
1, HERBERT WYKEHAM WICKHAM, of 4, Bennett Street, Saint James's, in
the County of London, Barrister-at-Law, 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 object of this invention is to provide simple and efficient means for securing
corks or stoppers in bottles or other vessels, it may be for the purpose of preventing.
the fraudulent abstraction of the contents thereof.
And in order that the nature of my invention may be fully understood, I will
proceed to describe the construction of a cork securing device according thereto,
and its application to securing the cork of an ordinary wine-bottle, referring for
these purposes to the accompanying drawings, in which
Figs. 1 and 2. show the device-respectively in elevation and central vertical
section as applied to a bottle neck with cork, which is shown in outline...
.
f.

page_text: "
Fig. 3 shows, half in elevation and half in central vertical section, a modified
form of this device.
Figs. 4 & 5 show respectively in side elevation and sectional plan, another
modification.
The cork-securing device in each case comprises two main parts or caps a and b
made of suitable material, such as sheet or cast metal. The part a is made in two
similar halves preferably hinged together along two of their adjacent vertical
edges as shown at a'. Its upper portion is adapted to extend upward beyond the
bottle neck so as to enclose a cork or stopper therein, and its lower portion is
provided with an internal rib or flange a², which, in the position shown, stands out
approximately at right angles to the bottle and fits closely around the bottle-neck d
immediately under the annular projection d' thereof. The said part a, which may
be shaped as a frustum of a hollow cone, may be furnished or not, at a sufficient
height to clear the cork or stopper e that is to be secured, with a cover a³, and is
provided with an externally screw-threaded part at that may advantageously be
formed in the metal of which the part a is made, and be of conical form and
considerable length, as shown, so as to render the part a applicable to bottle necks
of various diameters. If, however, the necks of the bottles for which the device is
to be used, are of practically the same dimensions and shape, the screw-threaded
projection a' may be made comparatively short and cylindrical instead of conical.
The part or cap is made of cup-shape so that it can if desired be also used as a
drinking-vessel. It is formed or provided with a screw-threaded portion b
adapted to screw upon the screw-threaded portion at of the part a after the manner
of a nut, and thereby secure the flange a under the projection d' and prevent the
device from being drawn off the bottle-neck d.
Various arrangements may be provided for locking the parts or caps a and b
together so as to prevent the cap 6 from being unscrewed from the part a and
consequently to prevent the bottle from being opened except by a person in
possession of the key of the lock. In Figs. 1 and 2 the part a is for this purpose
shown provided with a number of rings adapted to turn upwards, being hung in
eyes attached to the edge of the part a, and the part 6 is provided with a single
ring g similarly secured thereto, the arrangement being such that in practically
whatever position the ring g may stop after the cap 6 has been screwed upon the
part a to the requisite extent, it will be easy to connect the said ring to one of the
rings f, as by passing the latter through the former, and securing it by means of
the padlock c as shown. In the example illustrated in Fig. 3, which is the one I
prefer on account of its greater simplicity, the part a is provided with a rim or
flange a, or it may be with a series of projections, extending outwardly approxi-
mately at right angles to the axis of the bottle and formed with a number of slots
or holes at a, and the cap bis provided with a staple or eye g so that wherever
the said staple or eye may arrive when the cap b is screwed up, the shackle-bar of
a padlock c can be passed through the hole therein and one of the slots or holes a
in the rim or flange a³. The modification Figs. 4 & 5 is similar. Or the free end
of a chain c', shown in dotted lines on the left hand side of Fig. 3, may be passed
through the said holes and be then secured by the padlock e to the main portion of
the chain, which may conveniently be attached to the part a as shown.
If desired, the part 6 may, instead of being made of cup-shape, be formed simply
as a ring of sufficient strength to serve as a nut to screw on the part a, arrange-
ments such for example as those hereinbefore described being provided for locking
the two parts a and b together. In this case, as is obvious, the part a must be
provided with a complete cover a³, or with a partial cover consisting of a pro-
jecting flange, cross-pieces, or the like, sufficient to prevent the cork from being
extracted whilst the part a is secured in the position shown.
A device constructed as herein before described, with or without the padlock,
can advantageously be used for holding corks or stoppers in bottles during traus
port, and also for holding corks in aerated water bottles that have been opened but
the contents of which have not been wholly removed..

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-.
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that I am
aware that it has been proposed to use a divided ring in conjunction with a capsule
for securing or holding in position the cork or other stopper of a bottle or the like,.
therefore I do not claim such an arrangement, but what I do claim is : -
1. The improved means for securing the corks or stoppers of bottles or other
vessels, comprising the internally flanged cap or cover a in two parts made with
external screw threads and hinged together, or not, the outer cap b arranged to
screw on the inner one and adapted to form a drinking cup or not, and the rings
for enabling these parts when in position on the neck of a bottle or the like to be
secured together by a padlock or otherwise, the whole constructed and arranged as
hereinabove described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.
b
2. The improved means for securing the corks or stoppers of bottles or other
vessels, comprising the cap or cover a in two parts made with external screw
thread and with internal flange a³ and external perforated flange a' (or perforated
projections in lieu thereof), the outer cap 6 arranged to screw on the inner one and
adapted to form a drinking cup or not, and provided with a staple or eye g, or its
equivalent, whereby through the medium of a padlock or otherwise the outer cap b.
can be fastened onto the inner cap or cover a as described with reference to and
shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, or modified according to Figs. 4 and 5.
3. The construction as hereinabove described of the improved means for securing
the corks or stoppers of bottles or other vessels substituting an internally screw-
threaded ring in lieu of the cap b.
Dated this 16th day of November 1895
W. Lloyd Wise,
H. W. WICKHAM.
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant..