A CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT OR CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CORKSCREWS
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
OSBORNE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Corkscrew Manufac-
turer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Second day of July, in the third year of Her reign, and in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine, did, for Herself,
Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Osborne,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Charles Osborne, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as
I, the said Charles Osborne, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "A CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT OR CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CORKSCREWS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso obliging me, the said Charles Osborne, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and
to cause the same to be enrolled in Her 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, I, the said
Charles Osborne, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
My improvements in the construction of corkscrews consist in the adapta-
tion or application of springs to the corkscrew, for the purpose of starting or
drawing out the cork a short distance from the neck of the bottle, by the
elastic force or leverage of such springs when the worm of the corkscrew has
been sufficiently inserted into the cork. There are many modes of adapting
such springs, and many descriptions or forms of springs capable of being
applied to this purpose, all of which modifications it is not necessary for me to
describe, although they may be suitably applied to act upon what I consider to
be the principle of my Invention or improvement. I shall therefore exhibit
in the Drawings hereto annexed such forms and modes of adaptation as I have
found well suited to effect the object of my Invention, without confining myself
to the precise arrangement or construction of the parts therein shewn. Fig. 1
represents one of my improved corkscrews, having bow springs applied or
adapted thereto for the purpose above stated; Fig. 2 is a section of the
same; and Fig. 3 exhibit the several parts thereof detached. a is a conical
ring or collar, intended to fit on to the nozzle of the bottle; b is the worm,
shaft, or screw to be inserted into the cork. The upper end of this shaft is
affixed by a screw or otherwise to the stem c, which is made fast to the handle
d by a screw and nut or other fastening. A disc or cap plate e has a hole
through its centre in which the spindle turns freely, and below this plate a
tube f, embracing a spindle, acts as a washer or collar. The conical collar a
is connected to the tap plate e by bowed spring pieces of steel or other suitable
material 9, 9, 9, 9, firmly riveted or otherwise fastened at their ends to the
collar a and to the plate e, which bowed pieces when compressed act between the
neck of the bottle and the plate e as springs. In Fig. 1 it will be seen that
the improved corkscrew is represented as applied to the neck of a bottle, and
the worm inserted into the cork, which is done by turning the handle or lever
in the ordinary way. The introducing the worm into the cork a sufficient
distance necessarily compresses the bowed springs, as shewn in this Figure, and
thereby brings them into a state of tension, and when the elastic force of the
springs exceeds that of the friction of contact between the cork and the bottle,
it will cause the cork to be drawn up a short distance, as shewn by dots in
Fig. 1, and thus start the cork up out of the neck of the bottle, when it can
be easily drawn out in the ordinary way without exerting the physical force
necessary with a common corkscrew. The cork, after it has been removed

page_text: from the neck of the bottle, may be discharged from the worm or spindle by
hand in the ordinary way, or by any suitable mechanical means. I sometimes
apply a contrivance shewn at Fig. 4. In this instance the worm is continued
higher up the spindle than in the former Figures, and a block or piece h, having
a hollow screw within it, is placed so as to work upon the worm. Two side
pieces or ears extend from the block, having eyes which slide upon two upright
guide rods i, i. These guide rods are fastened below to the conical collar a,
their upper ends being placed in holes formed in the plate e, through which
they pass, when the springs are compressed. On the corkscrew having
been removed from the bottle, with the cork upon its worm, it is only neces-
sary to turn the handle d in the reverse direction to the coil of the worm,
when the block h will be caused to slide down between its guide rods, and
push the cork off the worm. Fig. 5 shews another modification of construc-
tion and adaptation of springs to a corkscrew, for effecting the objects of my
Invention, in which modification a helical, or what is commonly called a spiral
or coiled spring, is used instead of the bow springs shewn in the former Figures.
a is the conical collar intended to fit upon the neck of the bottle; this collar
is connected by two, three, or more rods b, to a plate or disc c, having a hole
in the centre, through which the spindle turns freely; d is the handle, con-
nected to the worm spindle or shaft e, e, in any convenient manner; f is a
plate or disc on the spindle, which has a collar or rim working against its
upper side; and between the two plates c and fare placed one or more open
coiled springs g, g, which springs may be enclosed or covered by a box or any
ornamental casing. On the worm being introduced into the cork a sufficient
distance, the force or resistance exerted between the neck of the bottle and the
plate will cause the springs g to be compressed, which will continue as the
worm is being introduced further into the cork, or until the elastic force of
the springs overcome the friction of contact between the cork and the bottle,
when the cork will be started, and can be easily drawn. Having shewn
different modes of adapting springs to a corkscrew, I again repeat that I do
not intend to confine myself to any particular mode of applying them, nor to
any particular form of springs, as the principle of my Invention (viz, that of
obtaining an elastic force for drawing up or starting the cork upwards in the
neck of the bottle by means of springs may be variously obtained, and the
application thereof to the purpose differently modified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Osborne, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty.
CHARLES (L.S.) OSBORNE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the First day of January, in the
third year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said Charles
Osborne came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknow-
ledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained
and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year of
the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Second day of January, One thousand eight hundred and
forty.