IMPROVEMENTS IN CAPSULING BOTTLES AND OTHER LIKE RECEPTACLES, AND IN THE APPARATUS OR MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR.”
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edouard Belmer, of Cambridge Terrace, Islington, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CAPSULING BOTTLES AND OTHER LIKE RECEPTACLES, AND IN THE APPARATUS
OR MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edouard Belmer at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 31st August 1877.
EDOUARD BELMER, of Cambridge Terrace, Islington, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN CAPSULING BOTTLES AND OTHER LIKE RECEPTACLES,
AND IN THE APPARATUS OR MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
My Invention relates to an improved mode of applying capsules to the necks of
bottles and other like receptacles, and it consists essentially in the utilization for that
purpose of the property which exists in a compressible cylindrical hollow body when
subjected to end pressure, and so confined at its periphery as to be incapable of
expansion, of receiving an increase of thickness in proportion to the diminution in
length due to the end pressure, the internal diameter or bore being reduced
accordingly.
In applying this principle to the capsuling of bottles, (for example,) I employ an
india-rubber or other elastic tube, which may either be made in one piece or be
composed of any required number of rings, or washers, or segments of a tube; this
tube (which is to receive the neck of the bottle carrying the capsule to be secured
thereon) I enclose in a cylinder open at one end, and so arranged that one end of the
elastic tube shall be securely retained in position whilst the other end is free to be
acted upon by pressure, the periphery being also retained by the sides of the
cylinder, so that the tube shall be incapable of expansion.
At the opposite end of the cylinder to that which is to form the resistance under
the end pressure I fit a piston, which may be either hollow or solid, and which is
operated so as to exert the requisite end pressure upon the elastic tube by a lever or

page_text: otherwise, the parts being so arranged that the lever or other operating appliance
exerts either a direct thrust or a drawing action upon the piston.
In operating with this apparatus the neck of the bottle carrying the capsule is
introduced through the open end of the cylinder into the elastic tube, and end
pressure being applied, as before mentioned, the tube becomes contracted in its
interior, whereby it is caused to press the capsule firmly to the neck of the bottle,
and securely attach the same thereto.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said Edouard Belmer in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th February
1878.
EDOUARD BELMER, of Cambridge Terrace, Islington, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN CAPSULING BOTTLES AND OTHER LIKE RECEPTACLES,
AND IN THE APPARATUS OR MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR.'
"
My said Invention relates to an improved mode of applying capsules to the necks
of bottles and other like receptacles, and it consists essentially in the utilization for
that purpose of the property which exists in an elastic tubular body when sub-
jected to end pressure, and so confined at its periphery as to be incapable of
expansion, of receiving an increase of thickness in proportion to the diminution in
length due to the end pressure, the internal diameter or bore being reduced
accordingly.
In applying this principle to the capsuling of bottles (for example) I employ an
india-rubber or other elastic tube, which may either be made in one piece or be
composed of any required number of rings or washers, or segments of a tube; this
tube (which is to receive the neck of the bottle carrying the capsule to be secured
thereon) I enclose in a cylinder so arranged that one end of the elastic tube shall
be securely retained in position, whilst the other end is free to be acted upon by
pressure, the external periphery being also confined by the internal sides of the
cylinder, so that the tube shall be incapable of expansion.
At the opposite end of the cylinder to that which is to form the resistance under
the end pressure I fit a piston, which may be either tubular or otherwise, and which
is operated so as to exert the requisite end pressure upon the elastic tube by a lever
or otherwise, the parts being so arranged that the lever or other operating appliance
exerts either a direct thrust or a drawing action upon the piston.
In operating with this apparatus the neck of the bottle carrying the capsule is
introduced through one end of the cylinder (which is open for the purpose) into the
elastic tube, and end pressure being applied, as before mentioned, the tube becomes
contracted in its interior, whereby it is caused to press the capsule firmly to the neck
of the bottle, and securely attach the same thereto.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now proceed
more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to the several
Figures on the annexed Sheets of Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating
corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 (Sheet 1) of the accompanying Drawings represents a side sectional
elevation of one modification of apparatus for capsuling bottles constructed

page_text: according to my said Invention; Figure 2 is a corresponding plan of the same;
and Figure 3 is a similar view to Figure 1, shewing the apparatus in a different
position.
Figures 4, 5, and 6 (Sheet 2) are similar views to Figures 1, 2, and 3 (Sheet 1),
illustrating another modification; and Figure 7 (Sheet 2) represents a side sectional
elevation of an apparatus of a similar class to that shewn in Figures 4, 5, and 6
(Sheet 2), but simplified in its construction.
A is an elastic tube (either made in one piece or composed of any required number
of rings or washers, or segments of a tube) enclosed in an open hollow cylinder B,
in which cylinder is fitted a piston C (either annular, as shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, and 6, or with solid ends, as shewn in Figure 7), so arranged as to bear against
the end a of the tube A, the opposite end a of which is securely retained in posi-
tion, whilst its external periphery is also confined by the sides of the cylinder, so
that the tube is incapable of expansion. The neck of the bottle carrying the capsule
to be secured thereon is introduced into the interior of the tube A at the open end b
of the cylinder when the apparatus is in the position shewn in Figures 1, 2, 4, 5,
and 7; and on operating the piston C pressure is exerted upon the end a of the
tube A, and the tube being thus shortened its interior becomes contracted, as shewn
in Figures 3 and 6, whereby the capsule D is pressed firmly to the neck D' of the
bottle, and securely attached thereto.
The piston C may be operated so as to exert the requisite end pressure upon the
tube A by any suitable mechanical means, but I prefer to employ a lever E, as
shewn in my Drawings, the parts being arranged either so that the lever exercises
a drawing action upon the piston, as in the arrangement illustrated by Figures 1, 2,
and 3, or exerts a direct thrust thereon, as in the modifications shewn respectively
in Figures 4, 5, and 6, and Figure 7.
In the arrangement shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3 the lever E, which carries a
handle or treddle E¹ for the facility of operating it, is mounted on one end of a cross
bar or shaft F turning in bearings in the main frame G, on which the cylinder B is
supported, and the said lever is connected by a link H to a plate I, which is
attached to the annular piston C by rods K. By moving the lever E in the direc-
tion of the arrow from the position shewn in Figure 1 to that indicated in Figure 3
the requisite drawing action is exerted upon the piston C to produce the end
pressure upon the tube A, so as to cause the interior of the latter to contract and
press inwardly upon the capsule D, whereby it is securely attached to the bottle D¹.
A counterweight L is employed for the purpose of assisting in returning the parts
to their normal position, shewn in Figures 1 and 2, and a projection M, arranged in
connection with a corresponding portion M¹ of the frame G, is provided on the cross
bar or shaft F, so as to form a stop for the apparatus in its return motion, and a
support for the lever and its connections in their normal position. The inner end
of the lever E passes through the cross bar or shaft F, and is threaded for the recep-
tion of a nut a, which secures the lever in its place in such a manner as to admit
of its being readily withdrawn and reversed for the facility of operating the appa-
ratus by hand. The end of the neck of the bottle carrying the capsule takes its
bearing when being operated upon against an abutment piece N, which is adjustable
so as to admit of the position of the bottle longitudinally being slightly varied as
required.
In the modification illustrated in Figures 4, 5, and 6 (Sheet 2) the arrangement
of the lever E and its connections is generally similar to that herein-before described
with reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3, such alterations in detail only being made as
are necessary to cause the lever to exert a direct thrust in lieu of a drawing action
upon the piston; for example, the link H is attached to the cross bar or shaft F at
the opposite side of the centre to that at which it is connected in the arrangement
shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3, and the said link in the present case is bifurcated,
its two branches K, K, entering recesses formed in the end of the piston C. By
moving the lever E (which in this example is assumed to be a hand one) in the
direction denoted by the arrow from the position shewn in Figure 4 to that indi-

page_text: cated in Figure 6, the requisite thrust is exerted upon the piston C to produce the
end pressure upon the tube A, so as to cause the interior of the latter to contract
and press inwardly upon the capsule D in order to securely attach it to the bottlo
in the manner herein-before described with reference to the arrangement illustrated
by Figures 1, 2, and 3.
In the modification shewn in Figure 7, Sheet 2, the action is similar to that of
the modification last herein-before described, that is to say, the lever E exerts a
direct thrust upon the piston C, but the apparatus is greatly simplified in construc-
tion, the link Ĥ, which acts upon the piston, being pivotted directly to the lever,
which is itself pivotted at 6' to the frame G, and the piston itself forming the abut-
ment for the end of the neck of the bottle (covered with the capsule) during the
operation of capsuling.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and some modes of carrying the same into effect, I would observe in conclusion
that I do not confine myself to the precise arrangements herein-before described, as
the principle of the Invention may be applied in various ways and by the aid of
apparatus differing from those herein given as examples, but what I consider to be
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. Effecting the capsuling of bottles and other like receptacles by means of
the inward pressure due to the contraction of its interior of an elastic tube confined
at its external periphery and subjected to end pressure, substantially as herein-before
described.
Second. The general arrangement and combination of parts constituting an
apparatus for capsuling bottles and other like receptacles, substantially as hercin-
before described, and illustrated by Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Third. The general arrangement and combination of parts constituting apparatus
for capsuling bottles and other like receptacles, substantially as herein-before
described, and illustrated by Figures 4, 5, and 6, and Figure 7 of the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edouard Belmer, have to this my Specification
FL: T
EDOUARD BELMER.. (L.S.)