AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF STOPPERING VESSELS AND BOTTLES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jean Alexandre Labat, junior, of Bordeaux, in
the Empire of France, and of 16, Castle Street, Holborn (City),
London, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF STOPPERING
VESSELS AND BOTTLES."
Sealed the 20th February 1854. and dated the 28th September 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jean Alexandre
Labat at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 28th September 1858.
I, JEAN ALEXANDRE LABAT junior, of Bordeaux, in the Empire of
France, and of 16, Castle Street, Holborn, (City,) London, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF
STOPPERING BOTTLES" to be as follows:-
The method of stoppering which I have invented has the advantage
of being entirely independent of the vessel to which it is adapted,
and thus the vessel is opened without danger of damage. A, represents
the neck of the bottle, furnished at the upper part with a rim or border.
The Drawings represent all the objects of a natural size. This stop-
pering apparatus is represented in plan, Fig. 2, and consists of a
capsule formed by a ring of tin or other metal B (of a fusible nature).

page_text: In this ring a circular piece C, is held, consisting of a plate of iron or
tin; the use of this piece is to prevent the capsule covering the vessels
from bulging. This capsule has besides two little nobs D, D, which
serve as holding points to screw and unscrew it.
Fig. 3, is an under view of the same capsule.
Fig. 4, represents a flat round piece of cork, soft wood, india-rubber,
or any other suitable substance; this is placed at the bottom of the
capsule, and serves as a pad. This round piece is then covered with a
piece of similar sized fine laminated pewter.
Fig. 5, is a plan of the rim that is adapted to the opening of the
vessel to be stopped; it is placed as indicated at E, Fig. 6, that is to
say, in such manner that the interior ring or the interior groove that
it has should be placed under the rim so as to prevent the collar from
separating from the bottle when the capsule is in place, as seen in
Fig. 6. The neck of the bottle projects a little above the collar so as
to enable these two to be fitted together exactly. This collar has
besides two holding points F, F, that serve to maintain it, and to
prevent it from turning when the capsule is screwed or unscrewed.
The screw threads with which the collar and the capsule are furnished
have this peculiarity, that in order to afford a greater resistance to any
strain that might be produced in the interior of the flask their interior
surfaces are perpendicular to the collar and to the capsule, while their
exterior surfaces are inclined so as to render the motion of the two
screw threads easier.
Fig. 7, is a vertical section of the capsule.
Fig. 8, is an iron key, having two holes to receive two nobs D, D.
This key is to facilitate the screwing and unscrewing of the capsules.
To adapt the collar on the opening of the vessels there is a small opening
G, Fig. 5, and the elasticity of the metal allows it to pass the edge of
the bottle, but this opening cannot be enlarged when the capsule is in
place. Should the key, Fig. 8, be missing, the capsule may be easily
unscrewed by means of a knife or any other suitable article.
These stoppers are not damaged by use, or at least they may be
employed a very long time. They are a plicable to the stoppering of
bottles, flasks, boxes, or any kind of vessels serving to contain liquids

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Jean Alexandre Labat in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th March 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JEAN ALEXANDRE LABAT junior, of Bordeaux, in the Empire of France,
and of 16, Castle Street, Iolborn, (City,) London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three,
in the seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Jean Alexandre Labat
junior, Her special licence that I, the said Jean Alexandre Labat
junior, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Jean Alexandre Labat junior, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF STOPPERING
VESSELS AND BOTTLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Jean Alexandre Labat junior, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Jean Alexandre Labat jun", do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer
tained in and by the following statement:
My Invention consists in an improved method of stoppering or

page_text: stopping bottles, flasks, or any vessels whatever containing alimentary
preserves of any kind, and liquids or solid bodies of any kind, in such
manner as to obtain an air-tight closing or joint, which method insures
a perfect preservation of the articles contained in the bottles, at the
same time preventing to a great extent the breakage of the vessels
when they have to be subjected to ebullition, and preventing the
breakage entirely so far as it may arise from the contraction of the
glass. The stopper which I use does not form part of the vessel, but
is fitted to any vessel whose neck has the required size and shape.
Figs. 1, and 2, represent an elevation and plan respectively of the form
of neck to which my stopper is applied. A, is the fillet or swelling at
the top of the neck to bold the stopper. The dotted lines in Fig. 1,
shew another form of neck, which offers a better hold for the stopper.
Figs. 3, and 4, shew in section and plan the collar or male part of the
stopper which adjusts itself to the neck of the bottle or vessel. It has
a fillet E, round its inside, which fits into a groove shewn in dotted
lines, Fig. 1, on the swelling of the neck, which is seen in dotted lines,
Fig. 3. This collar is chased with screw threads, which are perpendicular
on the under side, as shewn in Fig. 3, so as to offer a greater resistance
in the direction of the axis of the neck. The collar is also cut in G,
so as to allow to put it on the bottle or take it off. The bottle neck pro-
jects a little beyond the collar, as appears from Fig. 6, and the hollow
space thus left is used for luting. Two lugs F, F, serve, by means of a
key hereafter described, to hold the collar, and prevent it from turning
whilst the shell is screwed or unscrewed. Figs. 5, 6, & 7, represent a
vertical section and top and bottom views respectively of the exterior
shell or female part of the stopper. This part consists of a female
screw to fit on the collar, Figs. 3, & 4. It is closed at the top by a
round piece C, of sheet iron, which may be tinned or not, and has the
advantage of slightly bulging or giving way to the pressure arising from
the ebullition to which the bottle or vessel may be subjected without
being subject to any leakage. This top c, may also be made of any
other suitable metal, or even of wood. A round washer of a suitable
thickness is inserted between the shell top and the bottle so as to act as a
cushion between them. This washer may be made of any suitable mate-

page_text: rial, such as good cork hammered, rolled, or prepared with an infusion
of bees wax; and in case it is necessary to prevent the contact between
the contents of the vessel and the washer, which acts as a cushion, the
latter is covered by a second washer of the same diameter, made of tin
foil or any other convenient metal, or else of gutta percha, india-rubber,
parchment, &c. Two lugs D, D, on the circumference serve to screw
and unscrew the shell by means of keys described hereafter. The
shell, as well as the collar, may be cast or stamped of any suitable
metal, and may consist of one or several pieces, consisting of the same or
different metals treated each in the same or in different ways. Although
the stopper may be opened by means of the lugs D, D, with a knife,
or any lever-like instrument, I have devised the keys shewn in
Figs. 8, 9, & 10, in order to facilitate the operation. The keys,
Figs. 8, & 10, which are made of flat iron, may be used indifferently
for the shell, whilst the key, Fig. 9, serves to prevent the collar from
turning on the bottle.
I claim the method of stopping described above.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jean Alexandre Labat jun", have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of January,
in the year of our Lord (1854) One thousand eight hundred and
fifter four
J. A. LABAT, JUN'. (L.S.)