Improvements in the Manufacture of Cork-screws.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Sept., 1889-Accepted, 2nd Nov., 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Cork-screws.
I, WILLIAM ALEXANDER WILLIAMSON, of 156 Orchard Street Newark, New Jersey,
United States of America, Manufacturer 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 :-
This invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of cork-screws and is
chiefly designed to produce a simple and compact folding cork-screw, which can be
manufactured at a very low cost, and which will be very convenient for attachment
to bottles containing medicine, ink, gum or other substances, so that the bottle can be
readily opened when required.
An important feature of my said invention is the construction of a folding cork-
screw with only two parts, viz.:-the handle and the worm or screw, each of these
parts being formed of a single piece of metal, and the said parts being united by
means of projections, eyelets or rivets formed on the said handle at one or both ends
thereof.
In carrying my said invention into practice I proceed as follows, that is to say, I
form the handle from a strip or, rod of metal of suitable dimensions. One end of
this strip or rod has a suitable hole bored therein; the other end of the said strip or
rod is provided with one or more projections or an eyelet or rivet formed by punching
stamping or in any other convenient manner, and adapted to enter the said hole, when
the strip is bent so as to form a loop and so that the two ends come together. The
screw or worm portion is formed of wire in any convenient manner and of suitable
dimensions. The shank or butt end of this worm is bent to form a loop or eye and
the cork-screw is completed by placing the said loop or eye between the ends of the
handle, passing the aforesaid projections, or the eyelet or rivet through the said loop
or eye of the worm and through the hole in the other end of the strip or rod and
then securing the parts together by rivetting or clinching or by bending over the
said projections till they engage with the edge of the strip or rod around the said
hole. The parts are thus securely united whilst the said projections or the eyelet or
rivet forms a centre or pivot around which the worm or screw may be turned to fold
the device.
In some cases, one or more projections or eyelets or rivets are formed at each end
of the strip or rod and are adapted to enter a hole at the opposite end of the said
strip or rod for the purpose of uniting the two parts.
'
A folding cork-screw constructed as above described, whilst it can be made very
cheaply, will be very strong and durable and the parts thereof will not be liable to
become loose or detached.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a plan, and
Figure 2 a longitudinal central section of a metal strip which is to form the handle
of the cork-screw.
Figure 3 is a section showing the said strip bent to form the loop or eye.
Figure 4 is a section drawn to an enlarged scale, illustrating the mode of uniting
the handle to the worm or screw.
Figure 5 is a plan, and
Figure 6 a central section, showing the cork-screw folded.
The remaining figures are hereinafter referred to and show various modifications of
the said invention.
In making a cork-screw such as that shown in Figures 5 and 6, I proceed as follows,
vis. I take a metal strip a Figures 1 and 2, and form therein at one end a circular
hole a and at the other end a projection, eyelet or rivet a² which is formed by

page_text: punching by means of any convenient apparatus. I then bend the strip a into the
form shown in Figure 3, thus completing the handle.
I bend the shank or butt end of the worm or screw a³ into the form of a loop or
eye a, as shown' more clearly in Figure 6, the internal diameter of which corresponds
with the external diameter of the projection, eyelet or rivet a². The said projection,
eyelet or rivet a² is then inserted into the said loop or eye of the worm and into the
hole a and riveted or clinched, as shown in Figures 4 and 5.
The worm or screw a³ can be readily turned upon or about the projection a² which
forms a convenient pivot. therefor, and the cork-screw can be folded up when not in
use as shown in Figures 5 and 6.
In the modification of my invention shown in Figures 7 to 10 the projection a².
instead of being in the form of an eyelet, is composed of a straight flat piece which
can be passed through the loop of the worm and inserted in a corresponding hole a¹
in the other end of the strip a and can be readily bent over to secure the parts
together.
In figures 11 to 13, I have shown another modification of my invention wherein a
projection a² and hole a¹ are formed at each end of the strip
a.
Figures 14 to 16 illustrate another modification in which the projection a³ consists
of a flat piece bent down from the extremity of the strip a as shown and adapted to
enter a correspondingly shaped hole a' in other the end of the said strip.
In Figure 17 I have shown a handle mado from a round rod a the ends of which
are flattened and provided the one with a hole a¹ and the other with a projection or
eyelet a adapted to enter the said holo and be riveted or clinched over to secure the
two parts of the cork-screw together.
In the modification of my invention shown in Figures 18 and 19, the projections a²
are formed at one end of the strip a and are inserted in the hole a' at the other end
thereof. In the modification shown in Figures 20 and 21, three projections a² are
formed at each end of the strip a and the necessary holes are formed in the operation
of stamping the strip to produce the said projections.
Figures 22 and 23 illustrate how the strip a may be stamped to produce other forms
of the said projections a².
By the above described improvements, the manufacture of cork-screws is greatly
simplified and facilitated, and the difficulty and disadvantage attending the use of
such articles when the parts are united by separate rivets or screws which are apt to
work loose and get lost is entirely obviated.
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
First. The manufacture of a cork-screw by first forming a strip or rod of metal
with one or more projections or an eyelet or rivet at one end adapted to enter a hole
in the other end thereof, bending the said strip to form a loop or eye, and securing
the ends of the said strip together, with the loop or eye of the worm or screw
between them, by means of the said projections or the eyelet or rivet, substantially as
herein before described.
Second. A folding cork-screw composed of only two parts or pieces united substantially
as herein before described.
Third. The improved folding cork screw constructed substantially as described
with reference to either of the forms or modifications shown in the accompanying
drawings.
Dated this 27th day of September 1889.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.