IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CORKING BOTTLES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Edward Sharp, of 8, Gloucester Terrace,
Blackheath, in the County of Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR CORKING BOTTLES"
Sealed the 22nd September 1859, and dated the 24th March 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Edward Sharp
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th March 1859.
I, FREDERICK EDWARD SHARP, of 3, Gloucester Terrace, Blackheath, in the
County of Kent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CORKING BOTTLES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to cork wine, beer, and such like other
bottles of unequal heights in a more certain, speedy, and efficient manner than
by the means hitherto adopted for that purpose, and is capable of being
worked either by steam, hand, or other power.
I propose placing a circular metallic slab or table upon a suitable framing,
upon which it moves, having a centre axis, said slab or table having teeth
around its periphery into which takes a pinion having teeth only on one side of
its periphery for the purpose of partially turning the table at intervals, wells are
formed in the table all round, diverging from the centre to the periphery in
which to place bottle holders. These holders (with the full bottles) alternately

page_text: arrive under a cross bridge, which carries vertical tubes, holding the corks and
piston rods or drivers, so that by the time the bottles arrive the corks have
been released, one by one, into a hollow cone, and are forced by the piston rod
or driver into the necks of the bottles; by certain mechanism the bottles
(although of unequal beights), are simultaneously raised to meet the bottom
of the cones by means of "risers" or "lifts" beneath, which are placed in
vertical cylinders, having spiral springs attached of sufficient strength to resist
the downward pressure of the piston rods or drivers. Immediately upon the
hollow cone receiving a cork, it slides from under the bottom of the tube,
which is covered by an incline, thereby preventing the escape of another cork
until the cone comes back to receive it. The whole being self-acting, by means
of certain wheels and levers, when put in motion by steam, hand, or other
power, being attached to the main driving shaft.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Edward Sharp in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th September 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
EDWARD SHARP, of 3, Gloucester Terrace, Blackheath, in the County of. Kent,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Frederick Edward Sharp, Her special licence that I, the said Frederick
Edward Sharp, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Frederick Edward Sharp, 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 MACHINERY FOR CORKING BOTTLES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick Edward Sharp, 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

page_text: 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 Frederick Edward Sharp, do hereby declare
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:-
The object of this Invention is to cork wine, beer, and such like other
bottles of unequal heights in a more certain, speedy, and efficient manner than
by the means hitherto adopted for that purpose, and is capable of being worked
either by steam, hand, or other power.
I propose placing a circular metallic slab or table upon a suitable framing,
upon which it moves, having a centre axis, said slab or table having teeth
around its periphery into which takes a pinion having teeth only on one side of
its periphery for the purpose of partially turning the table at intervals, wells are
formed in the table all round diverging from the centre to the periphery in
which to place bottle holders. These holders (with the full bottles),
alternately arrive under the crosshead, which carries vertical tubes holding
the corks and piston rods or drivers, so that by the time the bottles arrive
the corks have been released, one by one, into a hollow cone, and are forced
by the piston rod or driver into the necks of the bottles; by certain inechanism
the bottles (although of unequal heights), are simultaneously raised to meet
the bottom of the cones, by means of "risers" or "lifts" beneath, which are
placed in vertical cylinders having spiral springs attached of sufficient strength
to resist the downward pressure of the piston rods or drivers. Immediately
upon the hollow cone receiving a cork it slides from under the bottom of the
tube, which is covered by an incline, thereby preventing the escape of another
cork until the cone comes back to receive it, the whole being self-acting, by
means of certain wheels and levers, when put in motion by steam, hand, or
other power, being attached to the main driving shaft.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same
into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference marked
thereon respectively as follows:-
Figure 1 is a front view of my machine as it would appear when ready for
use; Figure 2, side view of parts of said machine; Figure 3, plan view of table;
Figures 4, 5, and 6 are detached portions drawn to an enlarged scale; and

page_text: Figures 7 and 8, detached portions drawn full size. Similar letters of referenco
denote corresponding parts where such parts appear or can be seen at each of
such said Figures respectively.
At Figures 1 and 2 will be seen two band wheels or drums a, a, one loose and
the other fixed on to the shaft b, b, working in suitable bearings; on the centre
of this shaft is secured a small spur wheel c, which takes into another larger
wheel d, fixed to another shaft behind the one b; at the end of this back shaft
is a bevilled wheel, which works into another similar wheel secured to tho
vertical shaft e, at the upper end of which is placed a toothed wheelf, having
teeth on its periphery about one-third of the circumference, as shewn at
Figure 3; the teeth on this wheel take into teeth around the slab or revolving
table g, g, so it will appear evident that the slab or table g will only move a
certain distance while the wheelf is in gear with it, and then remain stationary
until the teeth thereon again come round. To prevent the table going round
further than required it is furnished with raised stops, as shewn, upon which
drops a spring with a hole therein, said spring being released by an incline
fixed to the top of the wheel f. On the upper surface of the table g are
formed a number of wells or receptacles for placing in the bottle holders h, h,
(Figures 1 and 5.) The table being supplied with the holders, and these with
the bottles to be corked, the machine is set in motion, and the bottles on each
side the table come immediately beneath the cones i, i, (Figures 1, 7, and 8),
containing the corks to be driven; the corks are supplied to the cones from
tubes j.j, which may pass up into a separate apartment, and there be fed;
through the middle of the cones i, i, pass plungers k, k, (Figures 1, 7, and 8,)
and are secured firmly to crossheads 1, 1, (Figure 1), an up-and-down motion
being imparted hereunto by excentrics and connecting rods, as shewn, so that
immediately upon the arrival of the bottles under the cones the plungers
simultaneously commence driving, and having done so retire upwards as the
corked bottles pass on to be removed. The table moving the way of the sun,
it will be seen at Figure 1 that the back view of the plungers and feeding
motion is scen on the left hand, while a front view of the same is seen on the
right, or vice versa, on looking from the other side of the machine. The
bottles on arriving beneath the cones are forced upwards by cams on the hinder
shaft, lifting the cylinders m, m, until the ends of the necks thereof pass into
conical recesses, and come into contact with the bottom of the cones i, i, which
hold the corks, which on passing through the opening at the bottom of the
cones, become compressed, and enter the bottles easily, when by their elasticity
they resume their former shape, and fit tightly in the necks of the bottles;

page_text: should the bottles be of unequal lengths on reaching the bottoms of the cones
instead of being crushed or broken, they are merely held in position, as within
the cylinders m, m, are spiral springs, which are depressed when one bottle is
longer than another, and raise the shorter ones into the required position. To
prevent more than one cork at a time being inserted in a bottle an inclined
tongue n (Figure 8), with a receiver o in front is made to travel from under
the tubej, which pushes the next cork up into the tube until it returns, when
the cork next required falls into the receiver o, and is pushed along until it
falls into the cone i; the mechanical action of this will be seen at Figure 1,
and also at the enlarged side view, Figure 6, where p is a lever working on a
pin at q, said lever actuating other shorter levers below, the end of one of
which is attached to a bar r, Figure'l, which moves a toothed quadrant 8,
taking into a dovetailed rack, above which being attached at each side to the
inclined tongues n and receivers o alternately draw them backward and
forward as required, a vertical rod t, Figure 6, is firmly secured to the end of
the bar r, having a weight at its upper end, for the purpose of carrying the
quadrants to its destination, either forward or backward; the whole of this
notion is effected by the up-and-down movement of the excentric rod, the
corners of the end of the crosshead alternately pushing the top part of the
lever p so as to give the required motion to the other parts.
At Figure 4 will be seen the top of one of the piston rods connected with
the cylinders m, m, having a flat cap u on its upper end, for the purpose of
raising the bottle holders h, Figure 5. Figure 7 is a back view of one of the
cones i, with the plunger k passed through its centre; and Figure 8, side view
of the cone i and receiver o with inclined tongue n as it would appear when
having just brought the cork forward and the plunger k passed it into the
neck of the bottle.
Having now fully described the nature and object of my said Invention of
"Improvements in Machinery for Corking Bottles," together with the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I would remark in conclusion, that I do
not confine or restrict myself to the precise details herein described and shewn
in the Drawing hereunto annexed, as many slight modifications may be made
therein without in any way departing from the principle of my Invention; but
what I claim as my Invention, intended to be secured to me by the herein in
part recited Letters Patent, is,-
Firstly, the rotating table marked g.

page_text: shewn in the accompanying illustrative Sheet of Drawings, for the purposes
herein fully described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Edward Sharp, have hereunto
set- my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
FREDERICK EDWARD SHARP. (L.S.)
ALEX. PRINCE, Agent for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross.