Williamson's Patent

Newark, New Jersey, August 11, 1897 - Yesterday William A. Williamson was issued United States Patent Number 587,900 for his latest 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 this year, he got a patent for a roundlet corkscrew (No. 583,561). The June patent is made in bottle, bullet and cylinder shapes. It is available with advertising plates attached.

The current invention is a self-pulling design with a key element solving a wear problem. Williamson describes 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 can be used in the design. It can include a cap lifter, a wire breaker, a Baltimore loop seal lifter, or a combination of any of these elements.

Editor's Note: For more on Williamson see: The Williamson Story by Ron MacLean.

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