IM- PROVEMENTS IN CORKSCREWS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Hull, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer and Electro-plater, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN CORKSCREWS."-Partly a communication from abroad by
Scaled the 8th August 1864, and dated the 26th February 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Hull at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th February 1864.
I, CHARLES HULL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufac
turer and Electro-plater, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CORKSCREWS," to be as follows:-
The said Invention consists in constructing or arranging the parts of cork-
screws in the manner herein-after explained.
In one arrangement of the said Invention, that part of the corkscrew which
enters the cork is connected to the bottom of a rod which works loosely in a
hole in the top of the barrel of the corkscrew. The upper part of this rod is
split or divided and constitutes a fork, between which a heart-shaped plate
works, the lower part of the said plate being jointed to the said rol. By
means of the said joint the heart-shaped plate can be placed in a line with the
body of the corkscrew or at right angles thereto. The upper part of the
heart-shaped plate is rivetted to a rod provided with a handle. The bottom
of the last-mentioned rod has a projection, and the top of the rod to which the
screw is fixed has a recess made in it of a corresponding shape. When the

page_text: projection is engaged with the recess the two rods are rigidly connecte
together, and by turning the handle the screw can be turned in eithe
direction, and made to enter into or be withdrawn from the cork. The join
pin upon which the heart-shaped plate turns works in a slot in the said plate
the said slot allowing the plate some play both in a horizontal and vertica
direction. By raising the said plate by means of the handle of the fixed ro
the two rods can be separated, and the heart-shaped plate and handle place
at right angles to the rod carrying the screw.
The corkscrew is used as follows:-When the rods described have beer
engaged together in the manner before explained, they are turned by the
handle at top, and the scrow is thereby advanced into the cork in the usun
manner. The screw having been advanced the required distance into the
cork the two rods are disengaged from each other, and the heart-shaped plate
and handle brought at right angles to the rod carrying the screw. During
this motion the edge of the heart-shaped plate bears upon the top of the
barrel of the corkscrew, and acting as a lever raises the rod to which it is
jointed in the said barrel and withdraws the cork.
In another arrangement of the said Invention the rod which carries the
scrow is not divided as in the first-described arrangement, but consists of a
continuous piece of metal, having the screw at bottom and handle at top by
which it is turned. A curved lever is jointed to the said rod above the top of
the barrel of the corkscrew. The jointed end of the lever is forked, the fork
embracing and being jointed to a square boss or shoulder on the rod. The
said rod is capable of rotation in the said boss or shoulder. The forked part
of the lever has nearly the figure of a quadrant of a circle. A loop or guide
connected to a nozzle piece through which the rod works is fixed to the top of
the barrel, and in the said loop or guide the forked part of the lever
works. When the scrow has been driven home into the cork the jointed end
of the lever is carried down with the rod nearly to the top of the barrel, the
lever assuming a nearly vertical position. To withdraw the cork the freo end
of the lever is depressed, the curved jointed end is thereby raised, bearing in
its motion against the bottom of the loop or guide. The rod to which it is
jointed is thus lifted from the barrel of the corkscrew and the cork with-
drawn. Instead of making the curved end of the lever work against the
bottom of the loop or guide, an antifriction roller may be interposed between
the said end of the lever and loop or guide, against which roller the end of the
lever bears on withdrawing the cork.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Hull in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th August 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HULL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer and Electro-
plater, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Charles Hull, Her special licence that I. the said Charles
Hull, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Charles Hull, 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 Inveu-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CORKSCREWS," the result partly of a communication
made to me from abroad by Gustav Böhm, of Offenbach, Germany, and partly
of invention and discovery made by me, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Charles Hull, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to bec
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 Hull, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The said Invention consists in constructing or arranging the parts of cork-
screws in the manner herein-after explained.
In one arrangement of the said Invention that part of the corkscrew which
enters the cork is connected to the bottom of a rod which works loosely in a
hole in the top of the barrel of the corkscrew. The upper part of this rod is
split or divided, and constitutes a fork, between which a heart-shaped plate
works, the lower part of the said plate being jointed to the said rod. By

page_text: means of the said joint the heart-shaped plate can be placed in a line with the
body of the corkscrew, or at right angles, or inclined thereto. The upper
part of the heart-shaped plate is rivetted to a rod provided with a handle.
The bottom of the last-inentioned rod has a projection, and the top of the rod
to which the screw is fixed has a recess made in it of a corresponding shape.
When the projection is engaged with the recess the two rods are rigidly con-
nected together, and by turning the handle the screw can be turned in either
direction, and made to enter into or be withdrawn from the c..rk. The joint
pin upon which the heart-shaped plate turns works in a slot in the said plate,
the said slot allowing the plate some play, both in a horizontal and vertical
direction. By raising the said plate by means of the bandle of the fixed rod
the two rods can be separated, and the heart-shaped plate placed at right
angles, or inclined to the rod carrying the screw.
The corkscrew is used as follows:-When the rods described have been
engaged together in the manner beforo explained, they are turned by the
handle at top, and the screw is thereby advanced into the cork in the usual
manner. The screw having been advanced the required distance into the cork
the two rods are disengaged from each other, and the heart-shaped plate
inclined to the rod carrying the screw. During this motion the edge of the
beart-shaped plate bears upon the top of the barrel of the corkscrew, and
acting as a lever raises the rod to which it is jointed in the said barrel and
withdraws the cork.
In another arrangement of the said Invention the rod which carries the
screw is not divided into two parts, as in the first-described arrangement, but
consists of a continuous piece of metal having the screw at bottom and handle
at top, by which it is turned. A curved lever is jointed to the said rod above
the top of the barrel of the corkscrew. The jointed end of the lover is
forked, the fork embracing and being jointed to a square boss or shoulder on
the rod. The said rod is capable of rotation in the said boss or shoulder.
The forked part of the lever has nearly the figure of a quadrant of a circle.
A loop or guide connected to a nozzle piece through which the rod works is
fixed to the top of the barrel, and in the said loop or guide the forked part
of the lever works. When the screw has been driven home into the cork the
jointed end of the lever is carried down with the rod nearly to the top of the
barrel, the lever assuming a nearly vertical position. To withdraw the cork
the free end of the lever is depressed, the curved joined end is thereby raised,
bearing in its motion against the bottom of the loop or guide. The rod to
which it is jointed is thus lifted from the barrel of the corkscrew and the

page_text: ork withdrawn. Instead of making the curved end of the lever work agamse
he bottom of the loop or guide, an antifriction roller may be interposed
between the said end of the lever and loop or guide, against which roller the
end of the lover bears on withdrawing the cork.
Having explained the nature of the said Invention, I will proceed to
Jescribe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner in which
the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation, and Figure 2 in front elevation, a
corkscrew constructed according to one of the arrangements of the said
Invention, the parts of the corkscrew being in position for advancing the
screw into or withdrawing it from the cork; Figure 3 represents in front
elevation, and Figure 4 the same partly in vertical section, the said corkscrew
in the position which the parts assume after the cork has been withdrawn from
the bottle. The same letters are used to indicate the same parts.
In Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, a is tho screw which enters the cork connected to
the bottom of the rod b, the said rod working loosely in a hole in the top of
the barrel c of the corkscrew. The upper part of the rod b is split or divided,
and in the said split part a heart-shaped plate & works, the bottom of the
said beart-shaped plate & turning on the pin or centro e passed through the
said rod. The said pin or centre e works in a slot f in the plate d, indicated
in dotted lines, the said slot, allowing the said plate d some play, both in a
horizontal and vertical direction; g is a rod, the upper part of which is made
into a handle, the said rod being rivetted to the top of the plate d. By means
of the handle g the plate d can be moved in the manner berein-after explained.
In the top of the rod 6 carrying the screw a is a square recess h, and the
bottom of the handle g has a projection i of the same figure as the recess h.
By bringing the two parts b and g into the same line the projection i can be
made to enter the recess h, so as to engage the said parts rigidly together, as
represented in Figures 1 and 2. When in this position, by turning the
handle g the rod b and screw a can be rotated in one or other direction, so as
to advance the screw into or withdraw it from the cork. When the screw a
has been driven into the cork the required distance, as represented in Figures
1 and 2, in order to withdraw the said cork from the bottle the handlo
lifted vertically, so as to disengage it from the rod b. This lifting motion is
The handle g and heart-shaped plate d
5 permitted by the slot of the joint e.
are then depressed, first into a horizontal position, and afterwards into the
position represented in Figures 3 and 4. During this motion the plate d acts
as a lever, its lower edge bearing on the top of the barrel c, and raises the
g is

page_text: rod 6 to which it is jointed in the barrel, and withdraws the cork, as represented
in Figures 3 and 4. After the withdrawing of the cork the two rods b and g
are re-engaged together, and the screw removed from the cork.
Figure 5 represents in front elevation another corkscrew, the parts of which
are arranged according to the said Invention; and Figure 6 is a side elevation
of the same, the parts of the said corkscrew being represented in position for
advancing the screw into the cork; Figure 7 represents the same in side
elevation, the parts being represented in position for withdrawing the cork.
The same letters indicate the same parts in Figures 5, 6, and 7.
a is the screw, and b the rod, to the bottom of which the screw is connected.
The rod passes through and works loosely in an opening in the top of the
barrel or frame c. The upper part of the rod b is provided with a handle d.
by which the screw a can be rotated; e, e, is a lever having the figure
represented and jointed at to the square boss or shoulder f on the rod b.
The rod is capable of rotation in the said boss or shoulder f. The part e of
the lever e, e, is made into a fork, the said forked portion having nearly the
figure of a quadrant of a circle, as represented. On the nozzle piece g of the
barrel or case c is a guide or T-piece marked h, between which and the said
nozzle piece g the forked part e of the lever works, and by which it is retained
in its place. When the parts of the corkscrew are in the respective positions
represented in Figures 5 and 6, the screw a is ready to be advanced into the
cork to be drawn. When the screw a has been driven home into the cork by
the turning of the handle d, the quadrant part e of the lever e, e, is carried
down with the rod 6 nearly to the top of the barrel or case c, and the lever is
made to assume the nearly vertical position represented in Figure 7. The
cork can now be withdrawn by depressing the free end of the lever e, e², by
which motion the lower edge of the part e of the lever is made to bear upon
the part 9 of the barrel or case c, and to lift the rod from the said barrel or
case c into the position represented in Figures 5 and 6, and thus to withdraw
the cork from the bottle. Instead of making the lower edge of the quadrant
portion of the lever bear in its motion for withdrawing the cork against a fixed
surface, the said quadrant portion of the lever may work against an antifriction
roller on the top of the barrel or case. This modification of the said Invention
is illustrated in front elevation (partly in section) in Figure 8, and front
elevation of a portion of the same in Figure 9.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated in the

page_text: Drawings, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
the said Invention; but I claim as the said Invention,-
Firstly, arranging or combining the parts of corkscrews substantially in the
manner herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the
accompanying Drawings.
Secondly, arranging or combining the parts of corkscrews substantially in
the manner herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9
of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, 1, the said Charles Hull, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
CHARLES HULL. (L.S.)
Witness,
H. H. MURDOCHI.