IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF CONFINING CORKS OR SUBSTITUTES FOR CORKS IN BOTTLES AND OTHER VESSELS, WHETHER MADE OF GLASS, EARTHEN OR STONE WARE, CONTAINING LIQUIDS CHARGED OR NOT CHARGED WITH GAS
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HENRY
BEWLEY, of Lower Sackville Street, in the City of Dublin, Apothecary and
Chemist, and GEORGE OWEN, of the same place, Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twentieth day of July, in the eighth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said Henry
Bewley and George Owen, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that we, the said Henry Bewley and George Owen, our
exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Henry Bewley
and George Owen, our exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter, during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within that part of Her said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF
CONFINING CORKS OR SUBSTITUTES FOR CORKS IN BOTTLES AND OTHER VESSELS,
WHETHER MADE OF GLASS, EARTHEN OR STONE WARE, CONTAINING LIQUIDS CHARGED
OR NOT CHARGED WITH GAS;" in which said, Letters Patent there is contained a
proviso that we, the said Henry Bewley and George Owen, or one of us, shall

page_text: cause a particular description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, under our hands and seals, or under the
hand and seal of one of us, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Henry Bewley and George Owen, do hereby declare that the nature of our
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Whereas the ordinary mode of confiuing corks in bottles, namely, by
inserting them so far into the necks of the bottles, and making them fit with
such tightness, that they cannot be withdrawn without the aid of screws, and
the application of considerable force, is objectionable, as well on account of the
labor of corking and uncorking the same as of the disturbance which the
uncorking occasions to the liquids contained therein; and whereas corks are
extremely subject to the disease called the worm, and become frequently eaten
through, and thereby useless before their failure becomes externally manifest,
and can seldom be replaced without damage more or less to the liquid which
they were employed to enclose; and whereas corks when used for stopping
bottles containing effervescent or highly aerated liquors are further commonly
confined by pieces of wire or string, which is attended with much trouble and
difficulty both in fastening and unfastening, and is often insufficient for the
purpose; or sometimes by means of flat pieces of wood laid on the top of the
corks, and having side clasps of wire attached to them, which are brought
under the projecting rim or rings of the necks of the bottles, which mode of
fastening is also objectionable on account of the want of rigidity in the wooden
tops, their liability to split, and their disposition to absorb moisture, rot, and
finally give way; or sometimes by hoods or capsules, of tin or other metal,
which are broken up in the act of detaching the same, and can therefore be
used once only. Now the nature of our said Invention consists,-
Firstly, in confining corks in bottles. and other vessels, by combining with
the same certain caps and clasps. hercin-after described, which render it
unnecessary that the corks should be of such length, or inserted so tightly into
the necks of the bottles, as usual, and whereby the present laborious processes
of corking and uncorking will be wholly or to a great extent superseded, and
worn-out corks can be replaced by new with little or no disturbance to the
contents of the bottles.

page_text: And secondly, in conning corks of the length and form of those in ordinary
use, especially when applied to the stopping of bottles containing effervescent
ór highly aerated liquors by means of certain improved means, which are free
from the objections before stated to the contrivances heretofore employed for
that purpose, and possess besides several advantages peculiar to themselves.
And the manner in which the said Invention is performed is as follows:-
First, we make use of a combination of corks, caps, and clasps, such as is
represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the Drawings hereunto annexed;
Figure 1 being an elevation of the same, Figure 2 a section through the
middle, and Figure 3 a top view. A is a circular cap of metal of a slightly
concave form on the under surface thereof, having a rim all round of about a
sixth of an inch deep. B, B3, arc wire clasps of the peculiar stirrup-like form
shewn, the upper ends of which are bent inwards, and inserted in the holes
a, a, a, a, of the rim of the cap. C is the cork, which is of much less than the
usual length, and may be either of a conical form (as here shown), with the
apex pointing downwards, or of a conical form with the broadest part at
bottom, and that part larger than the mouth of the bottle, as represented in
Figure 4, or of a cylindrical form a little larger in its largest diameter than
the mouth of the bottle to which it is to be applied, and rounded off at
bottom, as shewn in Figure 5; or of the form represented in Figure 4, with a
circular groove in it to receive the top rim of the neck of the bottle, as shewn
in Figure 6, so that in each case on being applied with more or less pressure
to the mouth of the bottle, that mouth shall become completely stopped. The
cork is made to fit tight within the rim of the cap, and for further security is
cemented to the under surface of the cap by means of shell-lac, or some other
strong cement. The capped cork which has been thus described being inserted
loosely into the mouth of the bottle is pressed down by the hand (or otherwise),
which allows the clasps to be passed easily over the rim or ring of the neck at its
greatest diameter and brought under the same, as shewn in Figure 1. On the
hand or other means of pressure being withdrawn, the elastic resiliency of the
cork causes the clasps to be held tightly under the rim or ring of the neck of the
bottle; and the greater the pressure upwards of the cork from any cause may
be, the more securely the clasps, by their abutting against the rim or ring,
serve to retain the cork in its place. The rim or ring of the neck of the
bottle requires to be made a little deeper than usual, and also to be squared
off more to a right angle with the neck of the bottle, as represented in the
Drawings. To open the bottle, the capped cork is first pressed down on one
side by the thumb or otherwise, which releases the clasp on that side, and
then the other clasp is liberated in like manner, when a slight pull at the cap

page_text: and cork by means of the two clasps is sufficient to detach them from the
vessel, and leave it ready for decanting.
Second, instead of making the cap fast to the cork, as before mentioned, we
confine the cork by the simple superposition of the cap upon it, and making
the clasps fast under the ring or rim of the bottle; and this is the mode proper
to be followed wherever the cork is made of the usual length, or of such
length that on being forced into the neck of the bottle it cannot be readily
withdrawn without the aid of a screw and the application of considerable
force.
Third, instead of making the cap with a rim all round, we occasionally
make it with two lugs or cars on each side, in which the upper ends of the
clasps are inserted as before, as shewn in Figure 7, or we make it with a
single lug on each side, having two perforations in it for the reception of the
ends of the clasps, as shewn in Figure 8.
Fourth, instead of the metal cap being made either with a continuous rim
or with lugs or cars, as aforesaid, we sometimes make it with two curled wing
pieces, into which the ends of the clasps are inserted lengthwise, as represented
in Figure 9, and which wing pieces are either turned downwards as there
shewn or turned upwards as shewn in Figure 10.
Fifth, we make use also of caps composed of earthenware instead of metal,
of the forms herein-before directed to be given to metal caps.
Sixth, we occasionally make use of a cap of the form represented in
Figure 11. A is a piece of wood, metal, earthenware, or any other suitable
material, a raised rim a, a, at bottom. B is a metal ring, which is dropped
over the upper and smaller portion of the piece A, and rests in the rim a, a.
b, b, are clasps as before, which are attached by eyes to the metal ring B, or
may be secured to them in any other convenient way.
Seventh, we make use, for very common purposes, of a plain cap of wood
when cemented to the cork, as before directed.
Eighth, wo occasionally dispense with the use of the cap altogether, and
confine the cork by the means represented in Figure 12. B is a metal ring
which encircles the top of the cork, and C, C, side clasps attached to the
ring B, which being brought under the ring or rim of the bottle, as in the
other cases, hold the cork fast within the mouth of the bottle.
Ninth, instead of the caps having two clasps attached to them, each
dependant by two side pieces from two bearings in the cap or ring, as before
described, it may in some cases suffice to employ two clasps, each consisting of
a single piece ouly with inverted ends, and dependent from a single bearing in
the cap or ring, as represented in Figure 13, the upper ends of these single

page_text: piece clasps being attached to the cap or ring at the centre line thereof, and
the lower ends being turned up a little, as shewn.
And tenth, for the better confining of the corks of bottles containing
valuable liquors, when such corks are not made fast to the caps as aforesaid,
we cut out a circular piece from the centre of the cap, in order that when the
cap is superimposed on the cork, the vacant circular space so left, and the
portion of the cap immediately around it may be covered with wax and
stamped with the seal of the owner.
sent
In most of the varieties of caps before described, the caps are represented
as being circular, and also as slightly concave on the under side; but though
we consider that to be the preferable form, we desire it may be understood
that they may be made also of any other form or forms, so long as they pre-
a sufficient resisting surface to the top of the cork; as for example, they
may be square, oblong, or hexagonal, or they may be raised more or less in
the crown, or made perfectly flat, or of a concave form at top and convex at
bottom. We stamp cach metal cap with the name of the liquid contained in
the bottle to which it is to be applied, or with any other distinctive name, trade
mark, or device that may be thought advisable; and when the caps are of
earthenware they may have the like distinctive names, trade marks, or devices
impressed thereon when they are in the soft state, or printed upon them in the
usual way of printing such ware. When the caps of any of the forms afore-
said are of metal, we make them commonly either of sheet brass, of copper,
or zink, or tinned iron, or zinked iron, and they are produced of the desired
form by means of stamping presses in the same manner as ordinarily prac
tised in the manufacture of buttons and other like articles.
The modes of confining corks, which have been before described; will bo
found equally well adapted to the confining of all sorts of substitutes for
natural corks, as well as ordinary corks; as, for example, to the confining of
artificial corks made of caoutchouc and ground cork, or of gutta percha
and ground cork, or of fibrous substances matted or felted together, and
covered with sheet caoutchouc, or to the combining of such substitutes for corks
as bags of thin sheet caoutchouc or gutta percha, or any other liquid-proof
material filled with fibrous substances not matted or felted together.
The advantages resulting from the several improvements before described
(besides those herein-before incidentally mentioned) are:-First, that when
bottles are closed with short corks, cemented, or otherwise made fast to caps or
clasps in manner before described, the trouble and expence attending the use
of corks of the ordinary length are saved; that should the corks become
discased they can be readily replaced; that the bottles may be emptied wholly

page_text: or partially, not only with greater dispatch but with less disturbance and injury
to their contents than is the case with bottles corked in the usual way, and
that the corks are not injured, as in the ordinary mode of extracting by screws,
but may be used over and over again. Second, that by using caps of metal,
the metal being less yielding than wood, the wire clasps are not so liable to be
drawn out of them through the holes becoming enlarged or elongated from
continued pressure. Third, that metal caps are not liable to rot from moisture
or to split, and, therefore, will last a great length of time, and may be frequently
used. Fourth, that when the caps are made with rims, or lugs or cars as
aforesaid, and the clasps have their bearings in such rims, lugs, or cars, the
clasps hold much more securely than when attached in any other way. And
fifth, that the caps, when made of metal or earthenware, may have readily
impressed upon them by stamping, embossing, printing, or otherwise, any
distinctive name, trade mark or device which may be thought desirable, and
do not admit of such distinctive names, trade marks, or devices being easily
obliterated.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is,-
First, the confining of corks, or substitutes for corks, in bottles and other
vessels by cementing or otherwise making the same fast to caps of metal,
earthenware, or wood, having wire clasps attached thereto, which catch under
the rim or ring of the neck of the bottle, as before described, such corks or
substitutes for corks being shortened and shaped to suit this mode of confining
the same, as also before explained.
Second, the confining of corks or substitutes for corks in bottles and other
vessels, whether such corks or substitutes for corks are of the ordinary or any
other length by the superposition of caps of metal or of earthenware, having
clasps of wire attached thereto as aforesaid, and having occasionally open
spaces left in the centre of such caps to allow of the same and the portion of
the caps immediately around then being covered with wax and stamped with
the seal of the owner.
And third, the confining of corks or substitutes for corks by clasps attached
to rings, as before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bewley, on behalf of myself
and the said George Owen, have hereunto set my hand and scal,
this Twentieth day of January, One thousand eight hundred and
forty-five.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twentieth day of January, in
the year of our Lord 1845, the aforesaid Henry Bewley came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord Oue
thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
Enrolled the Twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-five.