New or Improved Device or Apparatus for Preventing the Refilling of Bottles.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Apr., 1893-Accepted, 10th June, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Device or Apparatus for Preventing the Refilling
of Bottles.
I, ERNEST MAURICE GUERBOIS, of Plaisance, (Loiret) in the Republic of
France, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying sheet
of drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The object of this invention is to provide a device or apparatus for preventing
the refilling of all kinds of bottles after they have been once wholly or partially
emptied, so that a bottle of superior liquor, for example, when furnished with the
said device or apparatus, cannot be filled up with liquor of an inferior quality
after it has been partially emptied, or be used again when it has been quite
emptied; such a bottle therefore cannot be used a second time.
In the drawings hereto annexed,
Figure 1 is a vertical section through the axis of the neck of a liquor bottle
with my device or apparatus applied thereto; Figure 2 is an external view of the
same;
Figure 3 shows, separated from one another, the two parts composing a valve
box to be inserted into the neck of the bottle; Figure 4 a view of the interior of
one of these parts, and Figure 5 a plan corresponding to Figure 3.
Figures 6 and 7 are respectively an elevation and a plan of one of the valves
contained in the aforesaid valve box, and
Figures 8 and 9 are respectively an elevation and a plan of a safety grating to
prevent access to the aforesaid valves.
The neck a of the bottle is of nearly the usual construction; it is furnished with
the usual fillet or ring a¹ and with the rim a² terminating the neck. Internally
the neck is perfectly cylindrical but slightly enlarged at the top above the
shoulder a³.
In the neck of the bottle thus formed is fitted the valve box made of glass or
other suitable material in two parts c d similar to each other and fitting together
so as to form a perfect joint in the plane of the vertical axis of the neck of the
bottle. One of these parts, e for example, is moulded with recesses c¹ c¹ and the
other part d with projections or dowels d' d' which fit into the corresponding
recesses c¹ c¹.
The parts c and d, when placed together, form a cylinder which fits exactly into
the neck of the bottle. A flange or shoulder a fits into the larger part of the neck
of the bottle and rests on the above mentioned shoulder a³.
The box cd has three compartments f g h separated from one another by the
partitions f¹gh, the first two f¹g of which form seats for two valves s si and the
third the seat for a kind of grating k.
The valves ss are hollow, preferably of glass and very light. Each valve
consists of a cone which fits accurately to its seat and of three, more or less, guide
wings which fit against the sides of the compartments f g and guide the valve
when it leaves or returns to its seat so that the valve cannot get out of place.
The valves s s are hollow so as to become charged immediately with liquid,
whereby they are pressed against their seats whenever an attempt is made to refil
the bottle.
The lift of the valves is limited by their guides s² coming against the shoulders
of the seats g¹ h¹.
On the seat rests freely the grating & composed of a disc the sides of which
are cut away between the supporting points k¹ so as to form openings through

page_text: which the liquid can flow easily out of the bottle when it is tilted. This grating k,
which is held in place by the cap b, prevents the introduction of any tool for the
purpose of tampering with the valves s s'.
The cap
covers the mouth of the bottle and is cemented or otherwise
permanently secured thereto. The valve box cd is also retained in the neck of the
bottle by cementing or otherwise, so that when the device or apparatus is once put
in place, it cannot be removed without breaking or damaging the bottle, or at all
events without leaving evident traces of the operation. The cap is provided
with a hole through which the contents of the bottle can be poured out.
The action of the device or apparatus is as follows:-
When the contents of a bottle, provided with the above described device or
apparatus after it has been filled, are poured out by tilting the bottle, the liquid
presses the valves s s outwards away from their seats and runs out through the
spaces left free at the seats f¹ g', then through the spaces round the grating and
finally through the hole in the cap b. Supposing now that the bottle wholly or
partially empty is placed in a vessel containing some liquid with which it is desired
to refil the bottle, the said liquid enters round the grating k and reaches the first
valve which it fills and thereby pushes against its seat gl; if perchance a little
liquid also enters the compartment f, it fills the second valve s and pushes it in like
manner against its seat f¹, so that after the liquid has filled the valve compartments
the valves s s are closed against their seats gl and prevent the refilling of the
bottle. If, when the bottle is empty, it is turned with its neck downwards for the
purpose of refilling it, the valves s¹ leave their seats but return to them again
directly if the bottle is plunged, in that position, into a vessel of liquid, because the
valves form floats and are too light to resist the pressure of the liquid tending to
close them.
8
The grating effectually prevents the introduction of any tool whatever for
raising the valves from their seats or for holding them raised therefrom. But
if even it were possible to hold up the first valve s¹ it would appear to be impossible
to get at the second one s in order to raise it, or to keep it raised from its seat.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
First The new or improved device or apparatus for preventing a bottle from
being wholly or partially refilled, which consists of a valve box formed of glass, or
other suitable material, in two parts c d which, when placed together; fill the neck
of the bottle and are secured therein, the said valve box containing two valves s s
placed one above the other in two separate compartments f g substantially as
hereinbefore described, and illustrated in the drawings.
Second-In combination with the device or apparatus forming the subject of the
first claiming clause hereof the grating which prevents access to the valves s s¹
but allows the liquid to run out of the bottle when the same is tilted, the said
grating being secured in the mouth of the bottle by a perforated cap cemented or
otherwise secured thereto, substantially as hereinbefore described, and illustrated
in the drawings.
Third The new or improved device or apparatus for preventing a bottle from
being wholly or partially refilled, constructed and operating substantially as
herein before described, and illustrated in the drawings.
E. M. GUERBOIS,
Per W. H. Beck,
115, Cannon Street, London, E.C., Agent.