196
Unique U-Neek
On January 23, 1917, Wilson M. Brady of Baltimore, Maryland was granted
United States Patent Number 1,213,452 for his
“
Stopper-Extractor
”
invention.
Brady had applied for the patent in January, 1915 when he was twenty-three
years young. His goal was to
“
provide an improved construction of stopper
extractor that will not mutilate the stopper during the extracting operation but
will leave the stopper in practically as good condition ... as prior to its removal
from the bottle.
”
Brady
‟
s patent was rather complicated detailing several parts that were not used
in the final product known as the
“
U-Neek.
”
The drawing shows four pins with
their heads sandwiched between two plates. A third plate has four holes through
which the pins are driven into the cork by pushing down on the top plate which
slides up and down the stem. There is also a guide pin on the underside of the
bottom plate. A spring in the stem retracts the upper plates and pins when not in
use.
Once the pins are driven at their angle into the cork, the assembly is turned (or
the bottle as Brady points out) breaking the adhesion between the cork and
bottle. The cork can then be lifted out.
The production U-Neek is much simpler. The body is one cast piece. Three pins
with heads are secured by a retaining ring. The pins are pushed individually into
the cork. The handle has a crown cap lifter added.
