Determined to prevent beverages from being ruined, Painter invented the Crown Cork bottle cap. He was inspired by the increasing popularity of carbonated drinks, which were widely available in drugstores and pubs by the 1880s, but posed a packaging challenge for those who wanted to take these bubbly beverages home with them.
Called “crown corks,” the caps were made of metal, had corrugated edges(skirt), and were filled with thin cork discs for improving the seal and protecting the drink from the metal’s toxicity.
Painter’s process involved a sealing disc on the bottle and topping it with a metal holding cap crimped around the outside surface of the bottle’s mouth. It was designed to be easily removed with an opener or by hand.
He successfully launched the Crown Cork and Seal Company in 1892 to manufacture and market the cap. Crown Cork and Seal’s first factory was located at Guilford and Oliver streets and was the site where equipment was custom built for beverage companies.
As technology has advanced, the crown cap has been refined. The cork disc was replaced with PVC material, the cap's teeth were reduced from 24 to 21, and the skirt's height was shortened. It was the industry standard until 1955, when it was replaced by the plastic stopper.
Painter patented 85 inventions, including the common bottle cap, the bottle opener, a machine for crowning bottles, a paper-folding machine, a safety ejection seat for passenger trains, and also a machine for detecting counterfeit currency.
The invention of crown cork by William painter
