IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES, JARS, VESSELS, AND TUBES, ALSO FOR ORDNANCE AND FIRE-ARMS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nathan Thompson, of Abbey Gardens, St. John's
Wood, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES, JARS, VESSELS, AND TUBES, ALSO FOR ORDNANCE AND
FIRE-ARMS."
Sealed the 27th June 1865, and dated the 4th January 1865,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nathan Thompson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his.Petition, on the
4th January 1865.
I, NATHAN THOMPSON, of Abbey Gardens, St.John's Wood, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM.
PROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES, JARS, VESSELS, AND TUBES, ALSO FOR ORDNANCE
AND FIRE-ARMS," to be as follows :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in stoppers for bottles,jars,
vessels, and tubes, also for ordnance and fire-arins. For these purposes in
constructing a stopper according to this Invention a soft yielding elastic
substance is placed between two plates or discs, an upper and a lower one,
which are connected together by a lever and a connecting link or projection
upon the lower one of the two parts or discs in such manner as to admit of the
upper and under plates or discs being brought towards or moved
away from
each other when they are acted on by the lever being turned on its axis. The
two discs or plates may be of metal, wood, or other suitable material. The

page_text: soft yielding elastic substance may be of vulcanized india-rubber, cork, or
other suitable material, which when pressed on between the two discs or
plates (by the discs or plates being drawn towards each other by means of
the lever), will protrude or bulge out in all directions, so as to enlarge the
diameter of the stopper. The lever, which, as before stated, is carried by the
projection or link on the lower plate, is capable of turning on this projection
as on a hinge; the hinge is cranked, or has a cam surface on its shorter end,
and when the lever is turned on its axis, such cam-shaped or cranked arm
presses on the top of the upper plate, and so causes the two plates or discs
to be drawn towards each other, by which the soft yielding elastic substance
is compressed,and is caused to bulge or protrude outwards in all directions.
When the lever has been turned down on its axis,so as to expand the stopper
by drawing the two plates or discs towards each other, as above described,
the plates or discs are prevented from again separating by reason of the
cranked arm or cam surface of the lever having then been brought into such
a position that the lever cannot be caused to turn on its axis by the pressure
produced by the compressed elastic substance pressing upwards the upper
plate or disc against the cranked arm or cam surface of the lever. When,
however, the longer arm of the lever is turned upwards, the plates or discs
are pressed away from each other by the compressed elastic ring, and the
stopper returns to its former diameter. The longer arm of the lever when
turned down is generally received in a recess in the upper plate or disc,and
the upper plate or disc is usually of larger diameter than the mouth of the
bottle, jar, or the opening which it is intended to close, and in some cases a
ring or loop is applied as a handle to a stopper.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Nathan Thompson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 4th July 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, NATHAN
THOMPSON, of Abbey Gardens, St. John's Wood, in the County of Middle-
sex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her inost Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent,bearing date the Fourth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Nathan Thompson, Her special licence that I, the said Nathan

page_text: Thompson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Nathan Thompson, iny executors, administrators, and assignus, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES, JARS, VESSELS, AND TUBES, ALSO FOR
ORDNANCE AND FIRE-ARMS" upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Nathan Thompson, any executors or adininistrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calender months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Nathan Thompson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in stoppers for bottles, jars,
vessels, and tubes, also for ordnance and fire-arms,and consists in constructing
a stopper of aring of a soft yielding elastic substance placed between two discs
or parts, au upper and a lower one, to one of which is hinged or jointed a
lever, which when turned on its hinge or axis is caused to act on the other
part in such manner as to move the two parts towards each other. When
the discs or parts are drawn towards each other by turning the lever, they
compress the elastic material between them, and cause it to bulge or protrude
outwards all around the discs or parts, and the lever is so formed as to retain
the parts from again separating until the lever is turned to allow them to
du so.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed I have shewn examples of stoppers
constructed as above described, but I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to constructing the stoppers as there shewn, as the parts of
which the stopper is composed may be variously constructed in carrying out
my Invention.
Figure 1 shews a plan view of a stopper constructed according to my
invention; Figure 2, a side view of the stopper inserted into the mouth of a
bottle, the bottle being shewn in section; Figure 3 is a transverse section of
the stopper.
In these Figures a is the ring of vulcanized india-rubber or other elastic

page_text: material placed between the upper and lower parts of the stopper; b, the lever
by which the parts are drawn towards each other in order to compress the
ring,and by which the parts are retained in this position. The lower part of the
stopper is composed of three pieces of metal c, d, and e, stamped in dies from
sheet metal to the form shewn in Figures 4, 5, and 6, tin plate being by
preference the sheet metal employed. The plate c is dished inwards, as
shewn in the section, Figure 4, in order that it may be of sufficient strength;
through the slot in the centre of this plate is passed the hooked portion of the
piece d, and the piece d is held there by a small portion of the metal at each
end of the slot being pressed into the small notches in the picce ; the
under side of the piece c is then covered over with the co ering disc or plate e,
at the same time the disc e is itself covered over with a disc of thin sheet tin,
and over this disc of fabric, or in place of this the covering plate e may itself
be composed of sheet tin, and this may be covered with enamel or otherwise
protected if desired, the so covering the under side of the stopper with tin
prevents the stopper being corroded if it be applied to bottles containing acid
substances. In place of so covering the under surface of the stopper it may
be otherwise covered or protected. The parts are put together, as above
described, by means of dies or instruments such as are used in the manu-
facture of buttons. When the bottom of the stopper is covered with a coating
of tin and of fabric this is done by placing a disc such as is shewn at Figure 7,
of the collodionized fabric in a suitable hollow die, and over this is placed a
disc of tinfoil or thin sheet tin; the piece is then placed above it, the
projecting ring being upwards, the edges of the discs of fabric and tin are then
by the tools or dies turned over the piece e, and the combined pieces caud
are placed above it (the edges of the piece c resting on the turned-over edges
of the discs); the flange of the piecee is then by the dies turned or thrown
over on to the flange of the piece c,and thus the pieces are connected together,
and the edges of the discs of sheet tin- and fabric also secured. The upper
part of the stopper is composed of three pieces f, g, and h, shewn separately
at Figures 8, 9, and 10; each of the pieces are stamped separately into the
form shown in these Figures; the pieces are then connected together, and
also connected to the lower part of the stopper in the following manner:
Theringfisplaced on the upper surface of the bottom part of the stopper, the
piece g, which is the piece upon which the thrust of the lever 6 is taken, is
placed into the ring, the book d of the lower part of the stopper passing up
through the slot in this piece; the lever is then hooked on to the hook a,
the covering plate is placed over the ring f, and the lever is turned down, so
as to lie within the recess in the plate h; the parts so put together are then

page_text: placed in a hollow die, the lever and plate being downwards; t::e edge of
this plate is then by the dies turned or thrown over the projecting ring or
flange at the top of the ring f; the stopper is then complete.
The manner of constructing the lever bis shewn at Figures 11, 12, and 13.
The Figures 11 shew views of the lever when completed; the lever is made
from a piece of sheet metal of the form shewn at Figure 12; the piece of
metal so formed is first bent over into the form shewn at Figure 13, and the
slot through which the hook d is to pass is then pierced through it, so
bringing the piece of metal to the form shewn at Figures 11.
A similar stopper to that above described is shewn at Figures 14, 15, 16,
and 17. The upper and lower parts of this stopper are, however, of wood
in place of being of metal, as in the stopper first described. a is the ring of
vulcanized india-rubber; b, the lever; c and c¹, the upper and lower parts
respectively between which the ring is compressed. Through the centre of
the lower part c¹ is a hole, through which is passed the piece d, similar to the
piece d in the stopper first described; this piece may be cemented into. its
place with a suitable cement. When the two parts c and c' of the stopper
are placed together the piece d which projects upwards from the part c¹ rises
up through an opening in the centre of the part o; the lever bis then hooked
ou to the hook on the top of the piece d, and into the end of the slot or recess
in the upper surface of the piece c is cemented a small strip of wood or other
material to prevent the lever 6 from coming off the hook. When this is
done the india-rubber ring e is stretched into its place around the part c¹,
when the lever is turned upwards, and the stopper is then complete.
At Figure 18 is shewn a stopper similar to the one last described,
applied as a tompion for stopping the muzzle of a cannon.
Figures 19, 20, and 21 shew views of another variation of stopper con-
structed according to my Invention, Figure 19 being a plau view, and
Figure 20 a side view of the stopper, and Figure 21 a transverse section of
the stopper applied to a bottle. a is the upper, and 6 the lower part of the
stopper; each of these parts is composed of stamped metal, as in the stopper
first described. c is the ring of vulcanized india-rubber or other elastic
material; and d, the lever hinged to the lower part b of the stopper.
Separate views of the lever dare shewn at Figures 22, from which
Figures it will be seen that the lever is composed of a semicircular flap,
having slots d' through it, by which it is hinged to the part b, and also
having two small projections a², which act on the surface or ring a¹ of the
upper part of the stopper.
At Figures 23 and 24 is shewn another example of a stopper constructed

page_text: according to my Invention, Figure 23 being a side view, and Figure 24 a
vertical section of the stopper. In this case the upper and lower parts of
the stopper are drawn closest together when the lever is in a vertical
position in place of being closest together when the lever is in a horizontal
position, as in the other stoppers before described. a is the upper, and
the lower part of the stopper; c, the ring of vulcanized india-rubber; and d,
the lever, which is connected to the lower part by a pin carried by it
passing through a slot in the part b.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nathan Thompson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
NATHAN THOMPSON. (L.S.)