CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN INSTRUMENTS FOR WITHDRAWING CORKS AND IN UNCORKING BOTTLES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Burke, of Upper Thames Street, in the
City of London, Gentleman, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN INSTRUMENTS FOR WITHDRAWING CORKS AND IN UNCORKING BOTTLES."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Edmund Burke at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declara-
tion, on the 29th July 1854, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent
Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDMUND
BURKE, of Upper Thames Street, in the City of London, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN INSTRUMENTS FOR WITHDRAWING CORKS AND IN UNCORKING BOTTLES," and
have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn
declaration that I verily believe myself to be the true and first Inventor
thereof:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edmund Burke, do hereby declare that
the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal, fully describes
and ascertains the nature of my said Inventions, and the manner in which the

page_text: same is to be performed, (reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed,) that is to say:-
The first part of my Invention relates to a substitute for the ordinary forms
of corkscrew at present in use, and consists in the peculiar combination of the
spiral screw which is inserted into the cork, and a lever of the first order, by
which the cork is withdrawn, as shewn at Figs. 1, 2, and 3.
The second part of my Invention, as shewn at Fig. 4, relates to a variation
of Figs. 1, 2, and 3, by which the spiral screw is held firmly, although capable
of turning freely in a bearing in the end of lever; and, by means of the double
jointed fulcrum, the position of the lever will compensate for the varying
position of the screw, and maintaining it truly in the centre of the neck of
bottle, and so lift or draw the cork perfectly perpendicular.
The third. part of my Invention relates to instruments for cutting the wires
or other bindings, and also drawing the corks of champagne and other similar
bottles; Figs. 5 and 6 being views of such an instrument; the Fig. 7 being
a view of a different arrangement of the cutting part of instrument; and
Figs. 8 and 9 are views of another form of instrument for cutting the bindings
and drawing the cork of a bottle. The Fig. 10 is a view of a simple cutting
instrument for a similar purpose.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is an elevation of the lever corkscrew;
a being a lever, at the one end of which is an eye or socket 6, to rest upon
the mouth of bottle, and allow of the cork, upon being withdrawn, passing
up through it; c, a brush affixed to the lower part of lever a; d, a second or
upper lever, jointed on to the lower lever a, and moving freely on the pin e of
the single and double or other similar kind of joint. The spiral-threaded
screw has a plain upper end, working through an elongated and well-rounded
opening in the end of lever d, and a T headed piece is affixed to the screw,
to enable the operator to screw it into the cork with his thumb and finger.
Fig. 2 is a side view of the same instrument, the screw having been driven
into the cork in the neck of bottle h, and the lever d is correspondingly
depressed at the screw end.
Fig. 3 is a view of the same instrument after the pressure of the hand has
been applied to the outer end of lever d, and thereby the cork g has been with-
drawn from the neck of bottle h..
Fig. 4 is a side view of an instrument for drawing corks, differing from
Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the eye or socket 6 being shewn in section, and is lined with
vulcanized india-rubber, or other suitable material, to form a cushion upon the
mouth of bottle, and prevent the metal chipping or breaking it; or the eye
piece may be served round with a narrow tape, rush, cane, or other suitable

page_text: material. The upper lever d is connected with the lower lever a by a double
pin or flexible joint, with a middle link e; this flexible joint is to compensate
for the motion of the spiral screw, and enable the operator to draw the cork
out of the bottle perpendicularly, without straining it to one side or the
other.
Fig. 5 is a side view of an instrument for cutting the bindings of the cork
of a champagne or other such bottle, and also for drawing the cork a, the lever,
as before, with a half socket or eye piece b at one end; the other half of socket
or eye piece is shewn better on plain view, Fig. 6, and lettered i; it is
hinged to one side of 6, and opens freely to admit the enlarged end or head of
the cork to pass, and is closed and held close and tight by a binding or thumb
screw h, a toggle piece, or in any more secure or facile manner. Upon the
upper edge of the halves band i of socket or eye pieco b, thin steel plates with
a bevilled cutting edge are screwed, so as when closed together to cut the bind-
ings around the cork. When the wire or other bindings are cut, the end of
lever d is brought down upon the cork and the claws f,f,f, &c., of which there
may be three or four, somewhat of the form shewn at Fig. 5, having their
points inserted under the shoulder of the cork; pressure being applied to the
outer end of lever d, the cork is readily drawn.
Fig. 6 is a plan of Fig. 5, shewing three claws f.f.f, but not in use.
Fig. 7 is a plan of an arrangement for working the half jaw of socket piece
for cutting; it may be applied to the side of lever a of Figs. 5 and 6. In this
Figure, a is the lever, as before; b, one half of the eye or socket piece, with a
cutting plate on its upper edge; a lever a, having a short tail piece, with a stud
pin at its end, as shown, is affixed to lever b by a joint, with a pin projecting
from one side; the moveable jaw c of socket eye piece b has a tail picce also,
which has a curved groove, as shown, and into which the pin in short end of
lover d works. The moveable jaw c being extended open as far as possible to
admit of its going over the cork, the lever d is removed from the side of
lever a into the position shewn by the blue lines in Fig. 7 of Drawing, and
upon pressure being applied to the lever d to bring it close to lever a, it closes
the moveable jaw c and cuts the bindings of cork.
Fig. 8 is an elevation of an instrument for cutting the binding wires, &c. of
the corks of champagne and other such bottles, and for drawing the corks of
such bottles with facility. a, a lever, as before, but of the second order,
having at one end one half of the socket b, as shewn; the other half of socket
is hinged or jointed thereto, so as to work on one side of lever a, as shewn
also in plan, Fig. 9.
Mounted above and on a jointed standard of lever a is a lever d, of the first

page_text: order, working on the pin e. The one end of this lever d has an half socket f
with an obtusely beviled or wedge-like edge on its under side; the other half
or moveable jaw fx is hinged or jointed, as shown; and the lever d* of the
second order, upon being brought alongside the lever d, drives the wedge-like
edge of the jaws fand f* under the shoulder of the cork, and upon pressing
the levers and d* downward, the cork is raised from out of the neck
of the bottle, the bindings having been previously cut by the jaws b and b*.
Fig. 10 is a view of a pair of cutting pliers, of a construction suitable for
cutting the bindings of corks of bottles, the. inner edge of the jaws being
bevilled and sharp.
Having now described the various Figures in the Sheet of Drawings here-
unto annexed, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim generally as novel
the combination of a lever of the first order with a spiral-threaded screw for
the purpose of drawing corks, nor do I confine myself to the precise configura-
tion or arrangement of the parts; but I claim the general arrangement, as
shewn at Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Drawing, and described herein, as the first
and second parts of my Invention.
I claim the instruments, described as the third part of my Invention, for the
joint purposes of cutting the wire or other bindings and opening or uncorking
bottles containing champagne or other sparkling wines or aerated fluids.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Burke, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
EDMUND BURKE. (L:S.)