CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN RENDERING BOTTLES, JARS, AND OTHER LIKE RECEPTACLES AIR AND WATER TIGHT, AND FOR RAISING AND MEASURING THE LIQUID CONTENTS THEREOF
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Stewart Duncan, of Charing Cross,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN RENDERING BOTTLES, JARS, AND OTHER
LIKE RECEPTACLES AIR AND WATER TIGHT, AND FOR RAISING AND
MEASURING THE LIQUID CONTENTS THEREOF."
Sealed the 9th July 1858, and dated the 10th January 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Stewart
Duncan at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 10th January 1853.
I, CHARLES STEWART DUNCAN, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN RENDERING BOTTLES, JARS,
AND OTHER LIKE RECEPTACLES AIR AND WATER TIGHT, AND FOR RAISING AND
MEASURING THE LIQUID CONTENTS THEREOF," to be as follows:-
The nature of this Invention consists in the use and application
of certain mechanical and other arrangements to vessels or receptacles
intended to contain liquids, such as glass bottles generally, and particu-
larly such as are used by chemists for containing liquid chemicals and
médicine,. inkstands composed of glass or other materials, earthenware
jars, and other like receptacles; and I cause the liquid contents of such

page_text: said receptacles to be raised, measured, and discharged therefrom, upon
the principle of hydro-pneumatics, in combination with mechanical and
other arrangements, actuated in the following manner and by the
following means.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
At the Drawing, Sheet 1, hereunto annexed, Figs. 1, and 2, exhibit
sections of my Invention as applied to bottles used by chemists. Fig. 3,
(in section,) exhibits a phial with my Invention applied thereto. Fig. 4,
(in section,) exhibits my Invention as applied to a jar; and Fig. 5, is
an outside view of the upper part of the jar shewing the groove here-
after referred to. Fig. 6, exhibits the upper portion of a bottle, such
as is used by chemists, shewing a mode of measuring the quantity of
liquid to be raised therefrom. Fig. 7, (in section,) exhibits my Inveu-
tion as applied to a wine or beer bottle. Fig. 8, is an outside view of
the upper portion of Fig. 7.
At Sheet 2, Figs. 9, 10, 11, exhibit several views of my Invention as
applied to an inkstand.
At Fig. 1, Sheet. 1, of the Drawings, A, A, mark the body of the
bottle; B, B, a metal collar cemented to the neck of the bottle. Said
collar has a square threaded screw formed around it for the
purpose of
connecting thereto a cover C, which has a corresponding thread or
screw formed therein. The said cover has a piece f, fixed to or formed
thercon, around which a ring or collar of gutta percha, caoutchouc, or
cork, g, is placed and securely fixed, said collar being in fact the stopper
of the bottle. There is a screwed hole formed through the cover C, into
which a fountain D, is screwed, and to the bottom of said fountain a
piece of cork, gutta percha, caoutchouc, or other suitable elastic sub-
stance or material E, is affixed. Now assuming the relative positions
of the several above-mentioned parts to be as exhibited, and the
fountain D, to be empty, and the cork or other substance or inaterial
E, to be in close contact with the bottom of the said bottle, it will'
appear evident that the liquid contents thereof could not come out, even.
if the bottle were turned upside down, assuming all the parts to be
perfectly watertight.. In this state the pressure of the atmospheric air

page_text: contained in that part of the bottle above the surface of the liquid (as
denoted by the. letter would be balanced, or, in other words, in
equilibrio with the pressure of the external atmospheric air; but if the
cover C, be unscrewed, then the space between the under side of said
cover and the surface of the liquid will be increased, and thereby cause
a partial vacuum; and the effect of such unscrewing of the said cover
being to elevate the part E, from the bottom of the bottle, the external
atmospheric air will then pass down the fountain, and through the
liquid, into space marked a, until the balance is restored; and by
screwing down the cover C, the air within the bottle will be compressed,
and exert its force upon the surface of the liquid, and thereby force it
up the tube of the fountain; and should the quantity of liquid thus
raised be more than is required; the surplus may be returned into the
bottle by partially unscrewing the fountain D, which must be again
screwed down to prevent the escape or evaporation of liquid, except at
will, as before stated. Fig. 2, exhibits another mode of connecting and
actuating the cover C, and fountain D, to the neck of the bottle..
C', marks the stopper, which may be entirely of glass or other anti-
corrosive substance or material. G, marks a collar of vulcanized india-
rubber, caoutchouc, gutta percha, or other suitable elastic substance or
material. The upper part of said collar is securely fixed to the cover C,
in any convenient manner, as also the lower part of the said collar to
the neck of the bottle. By this arrangement, in order to charge the
fountain D, with liquid, it is only necessary to raise the stopper, and the
clastic force of the material of which the collar G, is composed will
have the same effect as the screwing down of the cover C, at Fig. 1.
Fig. 3, exhibits the collar G, (shewn at Fig. 2,) as applied to a phial;
and the construction of the fountain D, differs from that before described
with reference to Fig. 1, in the following respects:-It will be seen, upon
referring to Fig. 3, that the fountain D, stopper C¹, and cover C, are
formed of one and the same piece, so that by lifting up the cover C, the
fountain becomes charged with liquid; but as this fountain cannot be
lifted independent of the cover, the liquid caunot again be returned into
the bottle, as by the arrangement at Figs. 1, and 2. At Fig. 4, H
marks a jar, the upper part whereof has an inclined groove or recess

page_text: formed therein as at b, Fig. 5; and the cover C, instead of being
formed with a screw as at Fig. 1, has a pin or stud c, affixed thereto,
which takes into the groove b, and thereby produces the same effect as
the screw at Fig. 1. The other arrangements are the same as those before
described and represented at Fig. 1. The arrangements I propose to
employ for measuring the quantity of liquid to be raised is as follows:
Fig. 6, exhibits the neck of a bottle, the extreme upper edge whereof
is formed bevilled as at d, as also the cover I, which in other respects
is the same as that before described with reference to Figs. 1, and 4.
e, marks an index, and 0, 1, 2, 3, &c. divisions marked upon the neck of
the bottle. The effect of this arrangement upon the fountain D, is as
follows-Assuming the index hand e, to be at zero when the fountain is
in contact with the bottom of the bottle, it will appear evident that as
the cover is turned from right to left the fountain will be raised and
charged with a greater or lesser quantity of liquid, according as the
index-hand points to one or other of the numbers on the neck of the
bottle, and in this manner and by these means any small given quantity
of liquid may be measured and raised. At Figs. 9, 10, 11, of Sheet 2,
A; marks an inkstand, which may be of glass or other material, shewing
tlie application thereto of the fountain cover and stopper, exhibited at
Fig. 1, of Sheet 1; and Figs 12, and 13, exhibit the construction of the
cover C, when intended to be used for the purpose of hermetically
sealing jars, bottles, and other like receptacles containing solid sub-
stances or liquids not required to be measured or raised.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Stewart Duncan in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th July 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
CHARLES STEWART DUNCAN, of Charing Cross, Westminster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and

page_text: grant unto me, the said Charles Stewart Duncan, Her special licence
that I, the said Charles Stewart Duncan, my executors, administrators,.
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Stewart Duncan, 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 RENDERING BOTTLES, JARS, AND OTHER LIKE RECEPTACLES, AIR AND WATER,
TIGHT, AND FOR RAISING AND MEASURING THE LIQUID CONTENTS THEREOF,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Stewart
Duncan, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,.
and in wliat 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 Charles Stewart Duncan, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, and by reference
to the illustrative Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, and forming:
part of this my Specification, and to the numeral figures and letters.
of reference marked thercon respectively, as follows, that is to say:
My Invention consists in the use and application of certain mechani-
cal and other arrangements in and for the construction of vessels or
receptacles intended to contain liquids, such as glass bottles generally,
and particularly such as are used by chemists for containing liquid
chemicals and medicine; inkstands composed of glass or other materials,
earthenware jars, and other like receptacles. And I cause the liquid
contents of such said receptacles to be raised, measured, and discharged:
therefrom upon the principle of hydro-pneumatics, in combination with
mechanical and other arrangements, which may be actuated in the fol-
lowing manner, and by the following means. And in order to explain my
said Invention as completely as possible, I will proceed to describe the
best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same into practical

page_text: effect, reference being had to the Sheets of Drawings illustrative thereof,
and to the numeral figures and letters of references marked thereon
respectively as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 3 (in section)
Figuro 4 (in section)
At Sheet 1, Figures 1 and 2, exhibit sections of my Invention as
applied to bottles such as are used by chomists.
exhibits a phial with my Invention applied thereto.
exhibits my Invention as applied to a jar; and Figure 5 is an outside
view of the upper part of the jar shewing the groove hereafter
referred to. Figure 6, exhibits an elevation of the upper part of a
bottle such as is used by chemists, shewing a mode by which to measure
and raise any given quantity of the contents thereof. Figure 7, (in
section) exhibits my Invention as applied to a bottle intended to contain
wine or beer. Figure 8, is an outside view of the upper portion of
Figure 7.
At Sheet 2, Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, exhibit several views of my
Invention as applied to an inkstand. Figure 9, is an elevation
of the inkstand as it would appear when ready for use. Figures 10,
and 11, are transverse and vertical sections taken through the line A, B,
at Figure 9. The Drawing at Figure 10, exhibits the inkstand as it
would appear when in use; and Figure 11, illustrates the mode of dis-
charging the contents of the reservoir, so as to exclude the atmospheric
air from the ink when the inkstand is not in use. Figure 12, is a
transverse and vertical section, and Figure 18, is an outside view of the
top of the inkstand, shewn detached from the other parts thereof.
At each of the Figures of these Sheets of Drawings, the same
letters of reference are employed to denote corresponding parts,
in so far as such parts appear or can be seen at each of the figures
respectively.
At Figure 1, of Sheet 1 of my Drawings, A, A, marks the body of
the bottle; B, B, a metal collar cemented to the neck of said bottle.
Said collar has a square threaded screw formed around it, for the
purpose of connecting thereto a cover C, which cover has a corres-
ponding thread or screw formed therein, and there is a piece f, fixed

page_text: o or formed upon said cover, around which a ring or collar 9, of
gutta percha, caoutchouc, cork, or other suitable elastic material is
placed, and securely affixed thereto, said collar being in fact the stopper of
the bottle. There is a screwed hole formed through the cover C, into
which a fountain D, is screwed; and to the bottom of said fountain, a piece
E, of cork, gutta percha, caoutchouc, or other suitable elastic material or
composition is affixed. Now, assuming the relative positions of the
several above-mentioned parts to be as exhibited, and the fountain D,
to be empty, and the cork or other substance or material E, to be in
close contact with the bottom of said bottle, it will appear evident that
the liquid contents thereof could not come out, even if the bottle were
turned upside down, and provided that all the parts are perfectly water-
tight. In this state the pressure of the atmospheric air contained in
that part of the bottle above the surface of the liquid (as denoted by
the letter a) would be balanced, or, in other words, in equilibrio with
the pressure of the external atmospheric air; but if the cover C, be un-
screwed, then the space between the under side of said cover and the
surface of the liquid will be increased, and thereby cause a partial
vacuum therein; and the effect of such unscrewing of the said cover
being to elevate the part E, from the bottom of the bottle, the ex-
ternal atmospheric air will then pass down the fountain, and through
the liquid into the space marked a, until the balance of pressure is
restored; and by screwing down the cover C, the air within the bottle
will be compressed, and exert its force upon the surface of the liquid,
and thereby force it up the tube of the fountain; and should the
quantity thus raised be more than is required, the surplus may be re-
turned into the bottle by partially unscrewing the fountain D, which
must be again screwed down to prevent the escape or evaporation of
liquid, except at will, as before stated. Figure 2, exhibits another
mode of connecting and actuating the cover C, and fountain D, (at
Figure 1,) to the neck of the bottle. C', marks the stopper, which may
be entirely of glass or other anti-corrosive substance or material. G,
marks a collar of vulcanized india-rubber, caoutchouc, gutta percha, or
other suitable elastic substance or material; the upper part of said
collar is securely fixed to the cover C, in any convenient manner, as

page_text: also the lower part of said collar to the neck of the bottle. By this
arrangement, in order to charge the fountain D, with liquid, it is only
necessary to raise the stopper, and the elastic force of the material, of
which the collar G, is composed, will have the same effect as the screw-
ing down of the cover C, at Figure 1. Figure 8, exhibits the collar G,
(shewn at Figure 2,) as applied to a phial; and the construction of the
fountain D, differs from that before described with reference to Figure 1,
in the following respects:-It will be seen, upon referring to Figure 3,
that the fountain D, stopper C, and cover C, are formed of one and the
same piece, so that by lifting up the cover C, the fountain becomes
charged with liquid; but as this fountain cannot be lifted independent
of the cover, the liquid cannot be again returned into the bottle, as
by the arrangements exhibited at Figures 1, and 2. At Figure 4,
H marks a jar, the upper part whereof has an inclined groove or recess
formed therein, as at b, Figure 5; and the cover C, instead of being
formed with a screw, as at Figure 1, has a pin or stud c, affixed thereto,
which takes into the groove b, and thereby produces the same effect as
the screw exhibited at Figure 1. In other respects the arrangements
are the same as those before described and represented at Figure 1.
The arrangement which I propose to employ for measuring the
quantity of liquid to be raised, is as follows:-Figure 6, exhibits the
neck of a bottle, the extreme upper edge whereof is formed bevilled as
at d, as also the cover I, which in other respects is the same as that
before described with reference to Figures 1, and 4. e, marks an index,
and 0, 1, 2, 3, &c., divisions marked upon the neck of the bottle. The
effect of this arrangement upon the fountain D, is as follows:-Assuming
the under hand c, to be at zero when the bottom of the fountain is in
contact with the bottom of the bottle, it will appear evident that as
the cover is turned from right to left, the fountain will be raised and
charged with a greater or lesser quantity of liquid, according as the
index hand points to one or other of the numbers on the neck of the
bottle, and in this manner and by these means any small given quantity
of liquid may be measured and raised.
At Figures 9, 10, 11, of Sheet 2, A, A, marks an inkstand of glass or
other anti-corrosive material, by preference, shewing the application

page_text: thereto of the fountain cover and stopper exhibited at Figure 1, of Sheet
1; and Figures 12, and 18, exhibit the construction of the cover C, de-
tached from the other parts of the inkstand. And I propose to employ
this form of construction of cover for the purpose of hermetically sealing
jars, bottles, and other like receptacles, containing solid substances or
liquids not requiring to be measured or raised. The effect of the above
arrangement upon the fountain, when applied to an inkstand, is as fol-
lows:-Assuming the reservoir to be filled with ink up to a, a, which may
be effected either by taking out the fountain, or detaching the screwed
cover from the reservoir, and the cover or fountain. to be again replaced,
and in the position exhibited at Figure 10, excepting that the fountain
should be empty, as,would be the case when the inkstand was not required
for use. In order to fill or charge said fountain with ink, I proceed in a
precisely similar manner to that before mentioned with reference to the
bottle exhibited at Figure 1, of Sheet 1, that is to say, the pressure of the
atmospheric air contained in the space between the surface of the ink in
A, and the under side of the cover C, would be in equilibrio with the pres-
sure of the external atmospheric air; but upon unscrewing and raising the
said cover from the surface of the ink, the space which contains air
becomes increased, and thereby causes a partial vacuum; at the same
time the bottom of the fountain is raised from the bottom of the reser-
voir, which allows the external atmospheric air to pass down the fountain
and through the ink into the space above it, by which the balance of pres-
sure of air within and without the inkstand will be restored; and by
screwing down the cover C, the air within the inkstand will be com-
pressed, and exert its force upon the surface of the ink, and thereby
force it up the tube of the fountain, when the inkstand will be ready
for use; and by partially unscrewing the fountain D, the contents
thereof will be discharged into the reservoir A, after which the fountain
should be screwed close down so as to exclude the atmospheric air
from the ink, and thereby to prevent the escape or evaporation of the
ink, except at will.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be and may be performed, I desire it to be
distinctly understood that I do not claim the exclusive use of any of the

page_text: separate parts above mentioned and referred to, except in so far as the
same may be employed in combination and for the purposes of my said
Invention, which I hereby declare to consist in, and I claim as of my In-
vention of "Improvements in rendering Bottles, Jars, and other like Re-
ceptacles Air and Water tight, and for Raising and Measuring the Liquid
Contents thereof," the mode set forth of raising, measuring, and discharg-
ing the liquid contents of bottles, jars, and other like receptacles, upon.
the principle of hydro-pneumatics in combination with mechanical:
arrangements, as herein-before particularly described and represented by
the illustrative Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whercof, I, the said Charles Stewart Duncan, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of July in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
Witness, CHARLES DALTON, Lt.-Col.
Ballincolliz,
nr. Cork.
CHAS S. DUNCAN. (L.s.)