The Frame-and-Crank Corkscrew: Once the Shoulder Stops the Screw, the Cork Climbs It

"When used, the frame a is placed on the top of the bottle, the shank and screw b is pressed down to enter the cork, and the crank d is then turned around, forcing the screw into the cork till the shoulder c strikes the top of the frame a. As the downward motion of the screw b is then stopped, the cork rises on the screw till it is drawn, as in Fig. 2." "What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is— The combination of the frame a with the screw b and shoulder c, substantially as and for the purpose specified."

**Frame.** Cut two 60 mm hardwood discs. Drill the lower one with a hole the bottle's lip fits into, and the upper one with a clearance hole for the shaft. Join them 9 cm apart with three lengths of threaded rod and nuts. **Screw and shoulder.** Cut 16 cm of 6 mm mild steel rod. Wind 2 mm steel wire tightly round its lower 5 cm with 8 mm between turns, file a point, and silver-solder the wire along the rod as a coarse thread. Silver-solder a washer round the rod 9 cm up as the shoulder, so it strikes the upper disc when the screw is deep in the cork. **Crank.** Drill a 10 cm length of flat bar at both ends, fix one end to the shaft's top with a nut on a filed thread or with silver solder, and fit a hardwood knob on a bolt at the other. **Test.** Cork several bottles of water with the corking kit. Set the frame on a bottle, press the screw into the cork and turn the crank: count the turns until the shoulder stops the screw, then the turns until the cork is out.

**Charles Chinnock** of Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, received US 35,362, dated 27 May 1862. His frame a was a pair of plates joined by posts, and the screw and shaft b were in one piece with the shoulder c and the crank d. His claim is the frame combined with the screw and shoulder. **Honest limits.** Hardwood discs and threaded rod stand in for his frame, and a wire thread soldered to a rod for his screw. The notebook ignores friction, which takes much of the effort in practice; its forces and lengths are examples. Your turn counts are the result.