IMPROVEMENTS IN CAPSULES OR COVERS FOR THE NECKS OR ENDS OF JARS, BOTTLES, AND OTHER VESSELS, AND HOLLOW TUBES OR BODIES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Josiah George Jennings, of Holland Street, Black-
friars, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CAPSULES OR COVERS FOR THE NECKS OR ENDS OF JARS, BOTTLES, AND OTHER
VESSELS, AND HOLLOW TUBES OR BODIES."
Sealed the 23rd July 1861, and dated the 9th February 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Josiah George Jennings
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 9th February 1861.
I, JOSIAH GEORGE JENNINGS, of Holland Street, Blackfriars, in the County
of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CAPSULES OR COVERS FOR THE NECKS OR ENDS OF JARS, BOTTLES, AND
OTHER VESSELS, AND HOLLOW TUBES OR BODIES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in capsules or covers for jars,
bottles, cannons, mortars, rifles, and other fire-arms, and for closing apertures
generally, and consists of employing metallic or other suitable covers, to which
piece of tube of vulcanized india-rubber is firmly and securely attached, so
as to admit of being readily "turned back," and thus allow of the capsule or
cover being put on to a jar, bottle, or other vessel with great facility, and by
turning the piece of vulcanized india-rubber tubing down, it is made to
instantly embrace that part of the jar, bottle, or aperture to which the capsule
or cover has been applied; and the binding or grip of the piece of vulcanized

page_text: india-rubber tube will be tight or slack upon the jar, bottle, or aperture in
proportion as the tube is less in diameter than that part of the jar, bottle, or
aperture to which it is applied, and in proportion to the thickness of the
rubber employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Josiah George Jennings in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th August 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSIAN
GEORGE JENNINGS, of Holland Street, Blackfriars, in the County of Surrey, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of February, in the year of our Lord:
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Josiah George Jennings, Her special licence that I, the said Josiah
George Jennings, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Josiah George Jennings, 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 CAPSULES OR COVERS FOR THE NECKS OR ENDS OF
JARS, BOTTLES, AND OTHER VESSELS, AND HOLLOW TUBES OR BODIES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Josiah George Jennings, 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 Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Josiah George Jennings, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in capsules or covers for jars,
bottles, cannons, mortars, rifles, and other fire-arms, and for closing apertures

page_text: generally, and consists of employing metallic or other suitable covers, to which.
a piece of tube of vulcanized india-rubber is firmly and securely attached; so
as to admit of being readily "turned back," and thus allow of the capsule or
cover being put on to a jar, bottle, or other vessel with great facility, and by
turning the piece of vulcanized india-rubber tubing down, it is made to
instantly embrace that part of the jar, bottle, or aperture to which the capsule.
or cover has been applied; and the binding or grip of the piece of vulcanized
india-rubber tube will be tight or slack upon the jar, bottle, or aperture in
proportion as the interior diameter of the tube is less than that part of the jar,.
bottle, or aperture to which it is applied, and in proportion to the thickness of
the rubber employed.
'
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe some of the ways in which I prefer to make the capsules or covers..
When I want capsules or covers for jars I take sheets of tinned iron, and
with a pair of cutting-out tools set in a press, as is well understood, I cut out
circular "blanks" or discs, say, 4 inches diameter. I then submit theso
blanks to a well-known fly-press process of pulling through, by which I
raise an edge about th of an inch diameter all round the "blank," as shewn
at Figure 1, and it is then called a "shell." I now proceed to dish and stamp
any suitable device upon it, both of which processes I do at the press with
suitable dies and tools, as is well understood. The shell then appears in
section, as shewn at Figure 2. I then cut from a piece of vulcanized india-
rubber tubing a slice of about the 3nd of an inch thick, the exterior diameter
of the tube being the same as the inside diameter of the raised edge of the
shell C. The thickness of the tube from which the slices are cut may vary
from th to ths of an inch, according to circumstances, but I prefer it to be
about -inch. The slices cut from the tubes will thus form a number of rings
or short tubes, such as are shown at Figure 8. In place of these rings or short
tubes being made as above described, they may be cut from sheets of vulcanized
india-rubber, but I prefer to cut them from tubes, as above described. A
piece of india-rubber of the form above described is then placed into the shell,
and the outer edge is closed over so far as may be safely done at one operation
under the press; and at the next and last operation, which I also perform at
the press, I close down the outer edge of tinned iron upon the vulcanized
india-rubber, as shewn at Figure 4, by which means the india-rubber is firmly
held. The capsule or cover is then complete.
Figure 5 shews a capsule or cover thus made applied to the mouth of a jar,
the inner edge of the india-rubber ring being extended and drawn over the
mouth as shewn, so that the ring or short length of thick tube becomes a con-

page_text: paratively tbin tube of increased length. By varying the size of these capsules,
I make them suitable for being used as covers for bottles, also as covers for
the muzzles of cannon, mortars, rifles, and other fire-arms, and also for closing
apertures generally.
Sometimes I employ a ring of tinned iron to go with the vulcanized india-
rubber into the shell. A capsule made in this manner is shewn at Figure 6.
I prefer to construct a capsule of this kind by placing a ring or short tube a'
of india-rubber, such as is shewn at Figure 3, in a die b, as shewn at Figure 7;
the tinned iron ring c is then placed over the ring and pressed down into the
position shewn at Figure 8; a shell, such as is shewn at Figure 2, is then
placed over the ring c and the india-rubber tube around it, and is forced down
by the upper die or presser d, and the rim or raised edge around the shell
being thus forced into the inclined portion a' of the lower die, the edge is
turned over, and the india-rubber is thus nipped between the shell and the
ring c.
When I want to see the contents of the jar or other vessel through the
capsules, I make them partly of glass or any other suitable transparent
material. I cut away the centre of a "shell," leaving a margin or frame
around of about th of an inch, more or less, into or upon which I drop a ring
of india-rubber as a bed, and on this I place a disc of glass or other suitable
transparent material. I then lay over the glass a broader ring of india-rubber,
and close over the shell, thus firmly imbedding the glass or other suitable trans-
parent material between layers of india-rubber; the india-rubber on the top of
the glass being broad enough to form the tube necessary to the capsule.
A section of a capsule made in this way is shewn at Figure 9.
Sometimes I employ a lining to the capsule to prevent the tin being acted
upon by acids. For this lining I employ "blanks" or discs of thin sheet
gutta percha, sheet lead, or other acid-proof material. These blanks are
placed between the india-rubber ring and the shell that is to form a capsule,
and are held in with the ring by the turning over the edge of the shell.
And if I want a very ornamental capsule, I solder or otherwise fasten over the
tin shell a pierced, chased, or enibossed outer shell or covering of silver or
plated metal, and take care that the outer shell does not touch the vulcanized
india-rubber. And I also form an elastic top to the capsule, when desired, by
cutting away the shell from the centre and dropping into the edge or frame,
which I leave for the purpose, a disc of vulcanized india-rubber, and with the
band or piece of tube close them in together.
In case I want a raised top so as that a cork may go up into it without its
being of au elastic character, then I raise the metal shell accordingly, and close

page_text: in the rubber at the top edge of it. A capsule made in this way is shewn at
Figure 10.
When I require very large capsules, say, from 6 inches diameter upwards,
I make a groove on the edge of the metallic shell and wire or tie on the
rubber tubing.
Covers made as above described may advantageously be employed for closing
the ends of glass shades or large glass jars which are to be used as fern stands
or Wardian cases, or wherever it is desired to exclude dust and moisture
from glass shades, as the india-rubber ring will make a perfectly air-tight joint
around the glass.
It will be evident that if I employ india-rubber rings cut from a piece of
tubing, having a small bore compared with the exterior diameter of the
tube, or with the diameter of the capsule, I shall have the effect of a very
tight-fitting capsule as the rings cut from the tube will be comparatively
broad, and the inner portion of the ring will have to be considerably extended
to be passed over the neck or end of the article to which the capsule is to be
applied; and if I employ a thick slice of tubing instead of a small bore, some-
what the same effect will be produced.
In witness whereof, I, the said Josiah George Jennings, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
JOSIAH GEORGE JENNINGS. (L.S.)
JOSIAH GEORGE JENNINGS. (r.S.)