Improvements in Alarm Bottle Stoppers.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Sept., 1889-Accepted, 2nd Nov., 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Alarm Bottle Stoppers.
A communication from abroad by ROBERT M. DEVERAUX and JAMES S. MC DONALD,
both of Chicago, in the County of Cook, and State of Illinois, U.S.A.,
Gentlemen.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON. F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bink Street, Manchester, both in
the County of Lancaster, and 323, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
1
This invention relates to improvements in alarm bottle stoppers in which heretofore
an alarm bell has been attached to the neck of the bottle, and provided with a bent
rod projecting over the stopper in such manner that in order to remove the stopper,
the rod must be shifted so as to operate the alarm devices.
Such a construction, however, is objectionable, primarily because of the obstruction
of the neck of the bottle by reason of the attachment thereto of the alarm bell and
operating devices, and also because of the uncertainty of operation of such a device,
which would be rendered wholly inoperative should the operating rod become acci-
dentally bent, or purposely tampered with to an extent that would permit the removal
of the stopper without engaging said rod, which at best can only have a slight
engagement with the stopper.
The prime object of this invention is to dispense with the necessity for attaching
the bell, or any part of the alarm mechanism to the bottle by attaching them directly
to, so that they will be removable with the bottle stopper.
Another object is to have a lock device for the stopper, operated by the alarm
mechanism in such manner that the winding up or setting of the alarm mechanism
operates said lock devices so as to unlock or release the stopper.
A further object is to have a lock device for the stopper connected with and operated
by the alarm mechanism in such manner that the stopper can neither be inserted in,
or withdrawn from, the bottle without the alarm mechanism being first wound up or
set; and to have the alarm mechanism of such a character that immediately upon
being released after being wound up, the alarm will sound, and simultaneously there-
with, automatically project the locking device.
These objects are attained by the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawing,
in which
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a bottle showing the neck portion thereof
broken away, and an alarm stopper inserted therein embodying the invention.
Figure 2 a side elevation of the stopper and alarm mechanism showing the bell in
central section.
Figure 3 a central vertical section through the stopper and alarm operating
mechanism.
Figure 4 a horizontal section on the line 4 4 of Figure 2, looking in the direction
indicated by the arrows, showing the alarm operating mechanism in inverted plan.
Figure 5 a detail horizontal section on the line 5 5 of figure 3.
Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the
drawing.
Referring by letter to the accompanying drawing
:-
A indicates a bottle; B the stopper thereof, and Can alarm bell mounted on, and
supported above said stopper by means of a bracket, consisting of an upper and
lower plate D E respectively, the latter of which is provided with legs F for attaching
the bracket to the stopper, both of said plates preferably being of less diameter than,

page_text: and concealed within the concavity of the bell, which has its sole support at, and
rests upon, a nipple G projecting upwardly from the centre of the plate D, as clearly
illustrated in the drawing.
The mechanism for ringing this alarm bell may be of any suitable character, but
should be spring controlled or rather operated by a spring, and for clearness of
description a simple form of mechanism for performing this operation is illustrated,
_ consisting of a convolute spring H, secured at its ends respectively to the plate D, in
which a circular recess is provided for its reception, and to a central rotatable arbor I,
passing axially through, and journalled loosely in, the nipple G, projecting from said
plate.
This arbor is cylindrical along its bearing surface, and squared throughout the
remainder of its length, and has loosely mounted thereon, just below said spring, a
cog wheel J, and rigidly mounted thereon immediately below said wheel, a ratchet
wheel K, rotatable with said arbor, and with which engages a spring pawl L, pivoted
to the cog wheel J, in such manner that when the arbor is rotated so as to wind up the
spring, the pawl will pass across, carrying with it the ratchet wheel, the teeth of said
wheel will pass freely by the pawl which, however, will engage the teeth immediately
the ratchet wheel is rotated in the opposite direction by the spring, thus carrying with
it the cog wheel J, which meshes with a pinion M, mounted upon a pintle to one side
thereof, upon which is also mounted an escapement wheel N for operating a vibrating
escapement lever O, to the outer free end of which is secured the bell clapper or
hammer P, the vibrations of which ring the bell and sound the alarm in the usual
inanner.
The lower end of the arbor I works freely through a central bore Q, in the stopper,
and has mounted on the lower end thereof a pinion R working in a recess S, provided
for its reception near the lower end of the cork, with which pinion engages a toothed
rack T guided and working in a slot U, also formed in the cork for the purpose of
holding said rack in engagement with the pinion, and causing it to reciprocate in a
horizontal line.
The slot U is of sufficient length to permit the entire withdrawal of the rack within
the stopper, but this rack when the end thereof is projected beyond the periphery of
the stopper, constitutes a lock bolt for preventing the insertion in, or withdrawal of,
the stopper from the bottle without the bolt being first withdrawn.
Thus the normal position of the bolt is that shown in all the Figures of the drawing,
that is, projecting from the stopper, in which position the spring for operating the
bell is run down and all the parts are at rest, and in order to withdraw the bolt it is
therefore necessary to rotate the arbor operating the pinion, simultaneously with which
movement the spring controlling the bell ringing mechanism is wound up, but will
unwind and cause the ringing of the bell immediately the stopper is set down, or the
milled head secured for convenience to the upper end of the arbor, released.
In the practical use of the bottle stopper, it is intended that the automatic projec
tion of the lock bolt shall prevent the possibility of either inserting the stopper in
the bottle or withdrawing it from the bottle without first operating the bell
mechanism, so that immediately it is released, the alarm will be automatically rung,
and the attention of the user thereby attracted, thus when it is desired to take any
portion of the contents out of a bottle provided with this stopper, the operator must
first wind up the alarm mechanism in order to withdraw the locking bolt, but imme
diately the stopper is put down, or the winding knob released, the bell will ring, and
the operator be thus notified at once that he is handling poison, or some compound of
an equally dangerous nature.
Then again, after removing the drug, when he desires to return the stopper to the
bottle, he must again wind up the bell ringing mechanism before the stopper can be
inserted in the bottle, and immediately after it is inserted and released the alarm will
sound, and the lock bolt be simultaneously and automatically projected, thus sub-
serving the double purpose of locking the stopper in the bottle, and again calling the
operator's attention to the fact that he has been using poison.
It is of course immaterial of what size or length the cork is made, or of what

page_text: material it is composed, so long as it subserves the intended purpose, and it is equally
immaterial as to the mechanism or devices employed for ringing the alarm bell so long
as they will cause the bell to ring whenever released after being wound up, and
simultaneously with such ringing to automatically project the locking bolt. Thus in
the drawing the stopper is shown of a sufficiently greater length than the neck of the
bottle to permit the locking holt to project under and engage the shoulder upon the
bottle so as to lock the stopper in position, and consequently necessitate the re-
winding of the alarm mechanism in order to remove the stopper from the bottle, but
it would obviously be no departure from the spirit of the invention to have the cork
of the same or less length than the neck of the bottle, in which case the alarm
mechanism, after being wound up, and the stopper inserted in the bottle, would
remain wound up until the stopper was again drawn out, but the construction herein
shown and described is preferred by reason of the double security afforded thereby,
in giving two alarms to the operator, and locking the stopper in the bottle whenever
it is inserted in position.
The foregoing construction obviates all danger from the accidental upsetting of a
bottle, for the reason that although a hottle may be accidentally upset, the stopper is
so securely locked as to prevent the contents of the bottle escaping, and furthermore,
the liability to upset the bottle is substantially reduced because of the absence of all
projections or mechanism upon which a dust brush or cloth is apt to catch when
dusting or cleaning the bottles, and the importance of these advantages is obvious
when it is remembered that the contents of bottles to which the invention is designed
to be applied, are not only dangerous to the attendant but to others, when from any
such accident they may be introduced into substances otherwise harmless.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is
1. The combination with a bottle stopper and a locking bolt working therein and
engaging the bottle, of an alarm bell mounted on said stopper, and a connecting and
actuating mechanism simultaneously operating said bell and lock, substantially as
described.
2. The combination with a bottle stopper and a lock bolt working therein, of an
alarm bell mounted on said stopper, and spring controlled mechanism connected with
and simultaneously operating said bell and lock bolt, whereby said mechanism will
simultaneously withdraw said bolt, and set the bell ringing mechanism, and which,
when released, will automatically and simultaneously ring said bell and cause the bolt
to project, substantially as and for the purpose described.
3. The combination with a bottle stopper provided with a central bore, a bell
mounted thereon, and a lock bolt working therein, of a spring controlled arbor
working the bore of the stopper, bell ringing mechanism, and connections between
said arbor and bolt, and between said arbor and the bell ringing mechanism, whereby
the rotation of said arbor in either direction will cause a simultaneous operation of
said mechanism and bolt, substantially as and for the purpose described.
4. The combination with a stopper provided with a central bore, a bell mounted
thereon, and a lock bolt working in said stopper, of an arbor working in the bore of
said stopper, a bearing therefor, a pinion mounted thereon for engaging and operating
said bolt, a winding knob secured thereto, bell ringing mechanism operated by said
arbor, and a spring fixed at one end, and attached at its opposite end to said arbor,
substantially as described.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.