IMPROVE- MENTS IN INSTRUMENTS OR APPARATUS. FOR DRAWING DRAWING CORKS CORKS FROM BOTTLES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Pollock, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Accountant Clerk, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN INSTRUMENTS OR APPARATUS. FOR DRAWING
DRAWING CORKS
CORKS FROM
BOTTLES."
Scaled the 3rd November 1868, and dated the 19th May 1868...
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Pollock at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
the 19th May 1868.
I, JOHN POLLOCK, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,.
Accountant Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN INSTRUMENTS OR APPARATUS FOR DRAWING CORKS FROM.
BOTTLES," to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists of the mechanical arrangements herein-
after described for drawing corks from bottles, by the use of which
the corks can be readily withdrawn from bottles by means of an ordinary
corkscrew without the necessity for holding the bottle between the
knees or applying the hand to the body of the bottle.. By the use of

page_text: my Invention the liability to the accidents so common in the use of a
corkscrew is obviated.
My Invention consists essentially of a curved rod or bar of metal or
other hard material of a nearly semicircular figure, on one end of which
a ring or collar is made, the said ring or collar being of a size and form
proper to fit on the mouth or top of the necks of bottles with which it
is to be used. The said ring may have a slot on one side to facilitate
the placing of it on the mouth of the bottle. The said ring is in a
plane at right angles to that in which the semicircular rod or bar is
situated, so that when the ring is placed on the bottle the said rod
or bar is situated vertically, its upper end terminating nearly over the
neck of the bottle.
In using my Invention a corkscrew is passed into the cork to be
drawn, and the ring is placed upon the top of the neck of the bottle.
The palm of the hand is then placed on the upper part of the curved
rod or bar which forms a support for the hand, and the fingers are
turned under the handle of the corkscrew. By now closing the hand
the fingers raise the handle of the corkscrew with great force and draw
the cork.
Instead of making the curved rod or bar of a nearly semicircular
figure it may be made double, that is of a nearly circular figure, and
joined to the ring at opposite sides.
Instead of making the instrument or apparatus separate from the
corkscrew it may be connected therewith by a swivel joint, and it may
in addition be provided with a hinge joint so that it may be turned
down from over the handle of the corkscrew.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Pollock in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
POLLOCK, of Birmingham, the County of Warwick, Accountant Clerk,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of May, in the

page_text: year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in
the thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Pollock, Her
special licence that I, the said John Pollock, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Pollock, 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 Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN INSTRUMENTS OR APPARATUS FOR DRAWING CORKS FROM
BOTTLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Pollock, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be 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 John Pollock, do hereby declaro
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 :-
My said Invention consists of the mechanical arrangements herein-
after described for drawing corks from bottles, by the use of which the
corks can be readily withdrawn from bottles by means of an ordinary
corkscrew without the necessity for holding the bottle between the
knees or applying the hand to the body of the bottle. By the use of
my Invention the liability to the accidents so common in the use of
a corkscrew is obviated.
My Invention consists essentially of a curved rod or bar of metal or
other hard material of a nearly semicircular figure, on one end of which
a ring or collar is made, the said ring or collar being of a size and
form proper to fit on the mouth or top of the necks of bottles with
which it is to be used. The said ring may have a slot on one side
to facilitate the placing of it on the mouth of the bottle. The said
ring is in a plane at right angles to that in which the semicircular
rod or bar is situated, so that when the ring is placed on the bottle

page_text: the said rod or bar is situated vertically, its upper end terminating
nearly over the neck of the bottle.
In using my Invention a corkscrew is passed into the cork to be
drawn, and the ring is placed upon the top of the neck of the bottle.
The palm of the hand is then placed on the upper part of the curved
rod or bar which forms a support for the hand, and the fingers are turned
under the handle of the corkscrew. By now closing the hand the
fingers raise the handle of the corkscrew with great force and draw
the cork.
Instead of making the curved rod or bar of a nearly semicircular
figure it may be made double, that is of a nearly circular figure and
joined to the ring at opposite sides.
Instead of making the instrument or apparatus separate from the
corkscrew it may be connected therewith by a swivel joint, and it may
in addition be provided with a hinge joint so that it may be turned
down from over the handle of the corkscrew.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation, and Figure 2 in side elevation
an instrument or apparatus constructed according to my Invention
for drawing corks, the said instrument or apparatus being represented
applied to a bottle and in combination with an ordinary corkscrew.
a is the curved bar or rod having a nearly circular figure, to the
end or bottom of which and at right angles thereto a collar or ring b
is made for fitting on the top or mouth of the neck of the bottle c,
from which the cork is to be drawn. The ring or collar 6 has a
slot 6 at one side to facilitate the placing of the said ring on the
mouth of the bottle.
In using my Invention the corkscrew d is passed into the cork to
be drawn, and the nearly circular bar a is placed upon the bottle in
the position represented in the Drawing. The palm of the hand is
then placed on the support or upper part a² of the said bar a, and
the fingers are turned under the handle of the corkscrew d. By
now closing the hand the fingers raise the handle of the corkscrew d
with great force and draw the cork.

page_text: Instead of making the curved bar of a nearly circular figure it may
be made of a nearly semicircular figure, as represented in Figure 3,
in which Figure 3 the parts are marked with the same letters of
reference as corresponding parts in Figures 1 and 2.
Figure 4 represents in front elevation, and Figure 5 in side elevation
an arrangement of my Invention in which the corkscrew is connected
with the instrument or apparatus instead of being separate from it as
in the arrangements last described. e, e, is the curved bar or rod, the
upper part e of which is jointed to the lower part e at e³, and the said
upper part is thereby made capable of being turned down into the
position represented in Figure 5. Across the part es is a bar e', through
a hole in which the corkscrew fis passed. In using this arrangement
of my Invention the curved bar e, e, is fixed upon the neck of the
bottle and the upper part e of the said curved bar is turned down,
as illustrated in Figure 5. The corkscrew fmay now be readily driven
home into the cork. The jointed upper part e of the bar e, c², being
raised into the position represented in Figure 4, the cork may be
drawn in the manner herein-before described.
Figure 6 represents in side elevation, and Figure 7 in plan
(partly in horizontal section) an arrangement of my Invention in which
the corkscrew is connected with the instrument or apparatus by a bar
turning on a swivel joint. g is a cross bar through a hole in which
the corkscrew is passed, the said cross bar being connected with the
curved bar h by a swivel joint. In using this arrangement the curved
bar his first placed at right angles to the bottle from which the cork
is to be drawn and the corkscrew is passed through the hole in the
swivel bar g and made to enter the cork a short distance; the curved
bar h is then raised, and its collar or ring h¹ made to clip the bottle,
the said bar turning on the ends of the now fixed swivel bar gas
a centre. The corkscrew is now driven home, and the cork is drawn in
the manner herein-before described.
Having now described the nature of my 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, as the same may be varied without departing from the
nature of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention, the improvements
in instruments or apparatus for drawing corks from bottles herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say,

page_text: an instrument or apparatus to be used with an ordinary corkscrew,
consisting essentially of a curved rod, or bar, or support provided at
bottom with a ring or collar, the said instrument or apparatus being
constructed, applied, and used substantially as described and illustrated,
whereby the necessity for holding the bottle between the knees or
applying the hand to the body of the bottle while drawing the cork is
obviated.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Pollock, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
JOHN POLLOCK.
(L.S.)
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.