235

Williamson

’

s Patent

On August 10, 1897 William A. Williamson of Newark was issued United States

Patent Number 587,900 for his corkscrew improvement. The New Jersey

manufacturer previously patented a corkscrew for small corks in medicine

bottles and the like (1889, No. 405,385) and, in June of 1897, he got a patent for a

roundlet corkscrew (No. 583,561). The June patent was made in bottle, bullet, and

cylinder shapes. It was available with advertising plates attached.

The August invention is a self-pulling design with a key element

solving a wear problem. Williamson described it as

“

...a corkscrew

having a washer of a hard metal arranged between the top of the yoke

and the lower edge of a tube on the shank of the corkscrew which

overcomes the danger of wearing-off or burring the lower part of said

tube or the upper portion of the yoke caused by the frictional contact

between the lower end of the tube with the yoke against which said

end rotates.

”

Instead of the washer, a flat one piece cutter could be used in the

design. It could include a cap lifter, a wire breaker, a Baltimore loop

seal lifter, or a combination of any of these elements.