46

Mechanical

Joseph Pitt, a subject of the Queen of Great

Britain, was residing in New York when he

applied for his corkscrew patent on July 6, 1892.

He had already received British Patent No. 4,463

on October 13, 1881 U. S. Patent No. 262,613 was

granted August 15, 1892. One half interest in the

patent was assigned to Truman P. Doane, formerly

a resident of Chicago. The corkscrew is marked

“Imperial Mfg Co, Chicago, Patd Aug. 15, 82.”

To use Wilson’s “Cork Extractor”, the grooved blade is inserted

between the cork and the inside of the bottle neck, turning the

collar will tighten the clamp on the bottle, and turning the handle

will draw the cork. Wilson notes “… as the device is turned and

drawn outwardly, the cork will be drawn therewith, and if not

totally withdrawn from the neck, it will be appreciated that the

device may be removed and said cork totally removed by hand.”

Robert L. Wilson of Chicago filed his patent application January

27, 1912.

U. S. Patent No. 1,030,698 was granted June 25, 1912.

One of the most popular style corkscrews

since the late 1920’s is this double lever

often referred to as a “Wing Corkscrew.”

The worm is turned into the cork using the

top handle. As this is turned down the

levers rise. Pushing down on the levers

extracts the cork. Dominick Rosati of

Chicago filed for his “Cork Extractor”

patent on October 29, 1928. U. S. Patent

No. 1,753,026 was granted April 1, 1930.