Brown is Back

Newport News, Virginia, April 2, 1935 - In 1925 Thomas Hamilton of Boston, Massachusetts was granted a United States Patent for a wall-mounted bottle opener entitled "Bottle-cap puller." In 1929 Newport News resident Raymond Brown added a corkscrew to the Hamilton design under United States Patent Number 1,702,149

Brown came up with another corkscrew and cap puller wall-mount design in 1931 but has now he has returned to further develop the first design. Brown's 1929 patent included a corkscrew hinged near the middle of the opener and folding down when in use. His latest patent (Number 1,996,696) issued today finds the corkscrew hinged at the top and fitting in a slot above the cap lifter. Brown says "the cork remover is held by gravity always in the inoperative position, and out of the way of the crown cap remover."

Brown says "The invention is designed for use in hotels and similar places to avoid the constant marring of furniture by the attempts of guests to remove corks and caps from bottles by applying them to the edge of furniture, radiators, etc."

Wirtz, Virginia - Editor's note: See the February 12, 2003 issue of The Daily Screw for Brown's 1929 patent and compare his patent claim comments.

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It Can Open Cans

April 2, 1935, New York, New York - American Can Company, a New Jersey corporation headquartered in New York, has been assigned a new "container opener" patent. Dewitt Sampson of Elmhurst, New York and John Hothersall of Brooklyn, New York teamed up to develop an opener to pierce a hole in the top of cans.

The end of Prohibition two years ago has cleared the way for a whole new rash of ideas on dispensing beer and other beverages. A significant development came in January of this year (1935) when the Krueger Brewing Company of Newark, New Jersey started market testing beer canned in American Can Company's trademark "Keglined" cans. Sampson and Hothersal presented their can piercer idea in less than a month after the end of Prohibition and when models of flat-top beer cans were completed in early 1934, can openers were ready.

The new patent (#1,996,550) calls for a "Container Opener" which "at one stroke or turning movement produces a substantial pouring opener in the wall of the container through which the contents, be they fluid or granular, may be readily dispensed." The patent describes in detail the operation of the tool with drawing depicting it having this "can punch" on one end and a bottle cap lifter on the other.

The Vaughan Company of Chicago has been licensed to manufacture the can opener. Vaughan is already incorporating the idea into some of their tools that not only have a tin top cutter and a bottle cap lifter but can uncork a bottle as well.

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