Year: 1898

page_text: CHARLES M'DONALD, 4 to 14, Dale Street, Middlesbro, Yorks, Aerated Water
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The rubber or ring to be thinned or rounded at lower edge so as to allow
stopper to enter the bottle freely or the stopper may be made with a groove of
suitable shape and depth for the rubber ring. The neck of the stopper immedi-
ately behind the ring to be slightly less in diameter than mouth of bottle and
1rming a ledge to force the rubber into position in bottle so as to make a per-
fectly tight joint.
The stoppers may be made of wood vulcanite or other suitable substance. The
rubber rings may be round flattened or other suitable shape.
1 1
M 1900
.
I, CHARLES MCDONALD, of 4 to 14, Dale Street, Middlesbrough-on-Tees, in
the County of York, Mineral Water Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the following statement: —
My invention relates to stoppering bottles and is especially applicable to that
class of stopper known as the screw stopper which consists of a plug of suitable
material which is screwed into the neck of the bottle, the screw stopper being
furnished with a rubber ring or washer to make a liquid and gas tight joint.
It has been found in practice that although bottles are made to standard sizes
and patterns in respect of the necks and pitch of thread yet there are considerable
irregularities in these respects and the great want of the mineral water trade is
a stopper which by its own adjustment will adapt itself to such irregularities in
bottles without the present difficulty which is experienced in getting the rubber
ring to slip into and wedge tight in the bottle neck, so that the rubber prevents
leakage and does not become ragged and bulged so that it will not go into the
bottle neck.
The object of my invention is to effect an improvement by which a perfectly
tight joint is obtained by giving the rubber ring a tapered or bevelled edge or
seating the rubber ring against a shoulder on the neck of the stopper by which
it is forced well into and wedged tight against in the bottle neck.

page_text: The novel features of my said invention as above referred to will be more
clearly understood and carried into effect, by reference to the accompanying
drawing in which Fig. 1 is a section of a bottle neck furnished with a screw
stopper constructed in accordance with my invention, and Fig. 2 is a similar
view illustrating a modification of my invention.
a is the ordinary screw stopper having a neck b formed thereon immediately
below the head c, the screw part fitting into the bottle in the usual manner.
d is a narrow washer or rubber ring sprung upon the stopper and fits closely
upon the neck b in Fig. 1. This rubber ring is tapered or bevelled at its lower
edge so as to allow the stopper to enter the bottle freely and to wedge tight
against the bottle neck as the stopper is threaded in. To ensure this the neck b
of the stopper immediately behind the rubber ring d is made slightly less in
diameter than the mouth of the bottle and forms a ledge e so that by screwing
down the stopper the lower edge of the rubber ring makes a perfectly tight
joint.
Fig. 2 illustrates a modification of my invention in which the neck b is of
sufficiently larger diameter than the screw stopper to form a seat e and d is a
round ring or washer which is seated against the shoulder and is retained in
position by tension. As the stopper is screwed up the shoulder forces the lower
edge of the ring d into the converging neck of the bottle and so forms a tight
reliable joint.
I am aware that rubber washers and rings have been used in connection with
screw plugs for stoppering bottles but I obtain advantages beyond the devices
hitherto used in the bottling trade in that the contact of the rubber with the
bottle is the result of direct pressure from the stopper neck on a tapered surface
in the modification shown in Fig. 1: and from the shoulder of the neck upon
the rubber ring in the modification shown in Fig. 2; it being understood that
the seat c which I have inadvertently called a groove in my Provisional Specifi-
cation is open on the under side except so far as a groove may be partially formed
by the thread, such partially formed groove being incidental to the formation
of the thread and not to the seat or stopper neck, and in some cases is altogether
absent.
The stoppers may be of the 'ordinary form with milled heads and may be made
of wood, vulcanite or other suitable material, and the rubber rings may be
round, flattened or of other suitable shape.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I 'declare that what I
claim is: :-
1. In the construction of screw stoppers, the combination with a flat rubber
ring tapered or bevelled at its lower edge of a neck having a shoulder or
ledge e to wedge the rubber tiglit against the bottle neck so as to 'effectually seal
same, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Fig. 1 of the
accompanying drawing.
2. In the construction of screw stoppers, the combination with a round rubber
ring of a neck b having a shoulder e the said shoulder forming a seat for the
rubber ring by which it is forced against the bottle neck so as to effectually seal
same, substantially as described with reference to Fig. 2.
Dated this 31st day of January 1899
G. J. CLARKSON,
Chartered Patent Agent, Stockton-on-Tees and Hull,
Agent for the Applicant.