A NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR REMOVING WAX AND DIRT FROM THE TOPS OF CORKS IN BOTTLES, AND THE COMBINATION OF SUCH APPARATUS WITH AN APPLIANCE FOR DRAWING THE CORKS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Schäfer, of the Firm of P. and F.
Schäfer, of Golden Square and Piccadilly, both in the County of
Middlesex, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR REMOVING WAX AND DIRT FROM THE TOPS OF CORKS IN
BOTTLES, AND THE COMBINATION OF SUCH APPARATUS WITH AN APPLIANCE FOR
DRAWING THE CORKS."
Sealed the 1st December 1868, and dated the 2nd June 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Schäfer
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 2nd June 1868.
I, FREDERICK SCHÄFER, of the Firm of P. and F. Schäfer, of Golden
Square and Piccadilly, both in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR REMOVING WAX AND DIRT FROM THE TOPS OF CORKS
IN BOTTLES, AND THE COMBINATION OF SUCH APPARATUS WITH AN APPLIANCE FOR
DRAWING THE COвкS," to be as follows:--
The object of my Invention is to obviate the inconvenience of the
present mode of removing wax from the corks of sealed bottles before

page_text: drawing the corks; by this mode the pieces of wax fall on to the table
or floor, and frequently some dust or wax gets into the wine.
Now
my Invention consists of an apparatus for removing and at the
same time receiving the wax and any dirt or dust upon the cork. My
apparatus consists of a circular box or cylinder, the cover of which
is free to be rotated by a suitable appliance at the top, while the under
side of the cover is provided with one or more cutters and one or more
brushes. The lower end of the box is open and has screwed or passed
over it a ring which carries a number of spring plates or tongues;
these plates or tongues overlap each other and form a hollow cone
inside the box. To use the apparatus it is placed over the neck of a
bottle until the cutters and brushes come upon the seal, the spring
plates accommodating themselves to the diameter of the bottle neck;
the cover of the apparatus is then rotated so that the cutters and
brushes remove the wax and all dust and dirt from the top of the cork;
the pieces of wax and all dirt and dust fall into the annular space
between the cylinder and the cone from which they can be removed as
required by taking off the ring with the cone.
To combine my apparatus with an appliance for drawing corks I make
the corkscrew or appliance the means of rotating the cover, so that
while the cutters and brushes are removing the wax the corkscrew is
entering the cork, and if tlie corkscrew be one of those which is rotated
in order to extract the cork the brushes and cutters continue to act
until the cork is quite out of the bottle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Frederick Schäfer in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 2nd December 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
SCHÄFER, of the Firm of P. and F. Schafer, of Golden Square and
Piccadilly, both in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the 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 Frederick Schäfer, Her special licence that

page_text: I, the said Frederick Schäfer, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Frederick Schäfer, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR REMOVING WAX AND DIRT FROM THE TOPS OF CORKS IN BOTTLES
AND THE COMBINATION CF SUCH APPARATUS WITH AN APPLIANCE FOR DRAWING THE
CORKS, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick
Schäfer, my executors. or administrators, by an instrument in writing,
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar months, next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick Schäfer, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
The object of my Invention is to obviate the inconvenience of the
present mode of removing wax from the corks of scaled bottles before
drawing the corks; by this mode the pieces of wax fall on to the
table or floor, and frequently some dust or wax gets into the wine.
Now my Invention consists of an apparatus for removing and at
the same time receiving the wax and any dirt or dust upon the cork..
My apparatus consists of a circular box or cylinder the cover of which
or a plate below the cover is free to be rotated by a suitable appliance
at the top, while the under side of the cover or of the plate below the
cover is provided with one or more cutters and one or more brushes..
The lower end of the box is open and has screwed or passed over, it a
ring which carries a number of spring plates or tongues; these plates
or tongues overlap cach other and form a hollow cone inside the box,
or instead of the spring plates or tongues I employ a hollow cone of,
india-rubber or other flexible material. To use the apparatus it is placed
over the neck of a bottle until the cutters and brushes come upon the
scal, the spring plates or hollow eone accommodating themselves to tho

page_text: diameter of the bottle neck; the cover of the apparatus is then rotated
so that the cutters and brushes remove the wax and all dust and dirt
from the top of the cork; the pieces of wax and all dirt and dust fall
into the annular space between the cylinder and the cone, from which
they can be removed as required by taking off the ring with the cone.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is an exterior view, and
Figure 2 a central vertical section of an apparatus constructed according
to my Invention.
a is a circular box; and b, the cover thereof; c, is a plate below this
cover, from the centre of which a spindle d is carried up through a
hole in the cover; e is a crank handle on the spindle 6 to impart
rotary motion to the plate c. The under side of the plate c is provided
with cutters and brushes g. The lower end of the box a is open
and has passed over it a ring h, which is secured by bayonet joints i.
This ring carries an india-rubber cone k, which is held securely
between two collars 1, m; the collar is formed in a piece with or
brazed to the inside of the base of the ring h, while the collar m which
is. narrowed at its upper end is screwed at n to the collar 7. On passing
the apparatus over the neck of the bottle until the cutters fand
brushes g come upon the top of the cork the rubber cone k accommodates
itself to the diameter of the bottle neck, and makes a tight joint so
that no dust can pass between the cone and the neck. By then
rotating the plate e by means of the handle e, the cutters and brushes.
remove all wax and dirt from the top of the cork; the wax and dirt
fall into and are retained in the annular space p, between the box a
and the cone k.
Figure 3 is a view of the under side of the plate c carrying the
brushes and cutters.
To combine my apparatus with an appliance for drawing corks
I make the corkscrew or appliance the means of rotating the cover.
Figure 4 is an exterior view; and Figure 5 a central vertical section
showing the combination of a corkscrew, and my apparatus for re-
moving wax and dirt from the corks. Similar letters refer to
corresponding parts.
The box a is prolonged and also the spindle d which is made hollow
or tubular for the screw o to pass through. The upper end of the
spindle d is enlarged, as seen at q, and is provided with a spring pin r,
which takes into a slot in the stem s, of the screw o, as seen in

page_text: Figure 5. t is a cross pin fitted loosely in bearings in a guide piece u,
through which the stem works; when the pin t is in place it prevents
the spindle d moving upwards; is one of two side levers hinged at
their upper ends to the box a, and passing into vertical slots wo therein.
The action of this apparatus is as follows:-Pass the lower end of
the box over the neck of the bottle, as seen in Figure 5, until the
cutters and brushes g come upon the cork. Rotate the cutters and
brushes by turning the handle e, and thereby clean the cork and remove
the wax therefrom. Then remove the pin t, press in the spring pin r
to release the stem 8, then push the box a to cause it to slip down
the neck of the bottle, as shewn in Figure 6, until the shoulders x of
the levers rest upon the top of the bottle, and draw the spindle d
with the brushes and cutters up the stem 8 to the top of the box a.
By then pressing in the levers with one hand to grip the bottle and
turning the screw o by the handle e with the other hand the screw is
caused to enter the cork, and by continuing to turn the cork will rise
out of the bottle up the screw.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First. The apparatus for removing wax and dirt from the tops of
corks in bottles constructed and acting substantially as herein-before
described and represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Second. The combination with the said apparatus of a corkscrew or
an appliance for drawing the corks substantially as hercin-before
described and represented in Figures 4, 5 and 6 of the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Schafer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.