IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES CON- TAINING AËRATED WATERS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Wadsworth, of St. Ives, Huntingdonshire,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES CON-
TAINING AËRATED WATERS."
Sealed the 2nd April 1875, and dated the 4th February 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Wadsworth at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 4th February 1875.
I, JOHN WADSWORTH, of St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR
BOTTLES CONTAINING AERATED WATERS," to be as follows:-
'
According to my Invention I make the stoppers for bottles containing
aerated waters of pipe-clay or of a composition thereof. The stopper is
preferably made of a round or cylindrical piece of pipe-clay of such size
that it may be freely inserted into neck of bottle. At or about the
middle of this round or cylindrical pipe-clay stopper I cut a groove or
nick to receive an india-rubber or other washer which will not pass
through the neck of bottle without pressure.

page_text: The pipe-clay being of greater specific gravity than water, consc-
quently when the bottle is inverted or partially so, it, the stopper,
remains at the bottom or back from the neck. To fill with this stopper
I place the bottle on the filling frame in upright position, aerated water
is run in as usual, as soon as full the frame with bottle is inverted, and
the stopper immediately falls into the neck, the washer on stopper
becoming pressed against the inside or throat of the neck of bottle
while that part of the stopper above washer fills up or nearly so the
neck of bottle, and dirt, flies, and other extraneous matter or matters aro
excluded.
•
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Jolin Wadsworth in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th August 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WADSWORTH, of St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Wadsworth Her
special licence that I, the said John Wadsworth, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Wadsworth,
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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES CONTAINING AERATED WATERS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Wadsworth, my
executors or administrators, 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
Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: 5
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Wadsworth, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 accom-
panying Drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that is
to say :-
My said Invention, which relates to improvements in stoppers for
bottles containing aërated waters, consists in forming the stopper of pipe-
clay or of a composition thereof. The stopper is preferably made
cylindrical in shape, and of such a size that it shall easily pass through
the neck of the bottle. An india-rubber ring or washer is let into a
recess or groove formed for its reception in the stopper, the said ring or
washer being of such a diameter that when slipped upon the stopper the
same will not pass through the neck of the bottle except under excessive
pressure.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood
I now proceed more particularly to describe and set forth the system,
mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be used or
carried practically into effect, reference being had to the annexed
Sheet of Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a vertical section of a bottle suitable for containing
aërated water, showing one form of stopper made' according to my
Invention applied thereto. The body of the stopper A is composed of
pipe-clay or of a composition thereof, and is of greater specific gravity
than the liquid contained in the bottle. An india-rubber ring or washer
B is slipped upon the stopper A, and is retained by a groove or recess
formed for its reception in the stopper A, as seen more particularly at
Figure 2, which is a vertical section of the stopper A and ring or washer
B, although that part of the stopper A. above the ring B is on the Draw-
ing shewn elongated so as to project slightly out of the bottle; it may
be flush therewith or may be cut shorter if desired, as for example at
the dotted line marked a, Figure 1.
When it is desired to pour out the contents of the bottle the stopper
is pressed in a downward direction until it is forced away from the neck
and falls to the bottom of the bottle, in which position it is shewn in
Jatted lines of Tigure 1

page_text: part of the stopper A filling up the neck of the bottle and thereby
preventing dirt, flies, and other extraneous matters from entering the
neck.
When the neck is not quite filled up by the stopper I cover the neck
by a label a capsule which though may of course be used even if the
stopper is not long enough to fill the neck. To release the stopper and
allow the contents of the bottle to be poured out the stopper is pressed
away from the neck of the bottle by hand or otherwise, whereupon it
falls to the bottom and allows the aërated water to be discharged..
Figure 11 is a vertical section of an aërated water bottle held in a
position suitable for the discharge of its contents. One of the herein-
before described stoppers A is shewn in the position it would naturally
occupy under these conditions and as previously described.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the
manner in or under which the same is or may be used or carried
practically into effect, I would observe in conclusion that 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. The employment of pipe-clay or a composition thereof in and
for the manufacture of stoppers for bottles containing aërated liquids.
Second. The construction and employment of stoppers for bottles
containing aërated liquids, substantially as herein described and set
forth, the said stoppers being made of pipe-clay or of a composition
thereof of greater specific gravity than water.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Wadsworth, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
fixes