IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES USED TO HOLD AERATED LIQUIDS AND OTHER LIQUIDS UNDER PRESSURE
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Edmonds and Edwin Edmonds, both of Bir-
mingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES USED TO HOLD AERATED LIQUIDS
AND OTHER LIQUIDS UNDER PRESSURE."
Sealed the 5th April 1878, and dated the 12th January 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Edmonds and Edwin
Edmonds at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th January
1878.
GEORGE EDMONDS and EDWIN EDMONDS, both of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Manufacturers. "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES USED TO
HOLD AERATED LIQUIDS AND OTHER LIQUIDS UNDER PRESSURE."
Our Invention relates to those kinds of stoppers for bottles used for holding
aërated liquids and other liquids under pressure, which consist of three bulbous or
nearly spherical parts joined together in a right line, a tube of vulcanized india-
rubber being placed upon the stopper so as to cover the middle and partially cover
the two outer bulbs. This stopper is forced into the bottle before it is filled, and
after the aërated liquid or liquid under pressure has been introduced into the bottle,
and while the pressure is still maintained, the bottle is inverted. The stopper falls
into the neck of the bottle, one of the outer bulbs coming against a shoulder near
the mouth of the bottle, that part of the bulb covered with india-rubber seating
itself upon the said shoulder. The pressure being removed from the mouth of the
bottle, the pressure within the bottle forces the bulb tightly to its seat, and thereby
securely closes the mouth of the bottle. These bulbous stoppers as ordinarily
manufactured are made of glass or earthenware, and when the empty bottle is
moved, the falling of the stopper from one part of the bottle to another frequently
occasions the cracking or breaking of the bottle.
Our Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in the said
stoppers, whereby the risk of fracturing the bottle by the stoppers is wholly
obviated.

page_text: In making the said stoppers according to our Invention we employ discs of thin
sheet metal, preferably the alloy called Britannia metal. From these discs we make,
by the process commonly called the drawing-through process, short tubes closed at
one end, the closed end being hemispherical.
By means of the turning process commonly called "spinning," we make a neck
or contracted part in each of the short tubes, thus forming blanks consisting of
a nearly complete sphere joined by a neck of small diameter to the open mouth of
the tube. We make these blanks in pairs, the open end of one being somewhat
less in diameter than that of the other, so that the open end of one blank will fit
in the open end of the other. By fitting pairs of these blanks together by their
open ends, and fixing them together, either by the spinning or burnishing process
conducted in a lathe, or by the pressure of dies worked by a press, a light hollow
metallic stopper of the required shape is produced.
The stopper is fitted with a tube of vulcanized india-rubber in the ordinary
way.
Stoppers made according to our Invention may be used with bottles in which a
ring of india-rubber is fixed, in the neck. In this case our improved stopper is
used without the india-rubber tube described.
Stoppers made according to our Invention are exceedingly light, and however the
empty bottle may be moved, do not strike it with a sufficiently sharp blow to
crack or fracture the bottle.
Although we prefer to employ Britannia metal in carrying our Invention into
practice, we do not limit ourselves thereto, as various metals and metallic alloys
may be used instead of Britannia metal.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said George Edmonds and Edwin Edmonds in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th June 1878.
GEORGE EDMONDS and EDWIN EDMONDS, both of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturers. "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES USED TO
HOLD AERATED LIQUIDS AND OTHER LIQUIDS UNDER PRESSURE."
Our Invention relates to those kinds of stoppers for bottles used for holding
aërated liquids and other liquids under pressure, which consists of three bulbous or
nearly spherical parts joined together in a right line, a tube of vulcanized india-
rubber being placed upon the stopper so as to cover the middle and partially cover
the two outer bulbs. This stopper is forced into the bottle before it is filled, and
after the aërated liquid or liquid under pressure has been introduced into the bottle,
and while the pressure is still maintained, the bottle is inverted. The stopper falls
into the neck of the bottle, one of the outer bulbs coming against a shoulder near
the mouth of the bottle, that part of the bulb covered with india-rubber seating
itself upon the said shoulder. The pressure being removed from the mouth of the
bottle, the pressure within the bottle forces the bulb tightly to its seat, and thereby
securely closes the mouth of the bottle. These bulbous stoppers as ordinarily
manufactured are made of glass or earthenware, and when the empty bottle is
moved, the falling of the stopper from one part of the bottle to another frequently
occasions the cracking or breaking of the bottle.
Our Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in the said
stoppers, whereby the risk of fracturing the bottle by the stoppers is wholly
obviated.
In making the said stoppers according to our Invention we employ discs of thin
sheet metal, preferably the alloy called Britannia metal. From these discs we make
by the process commonly called the drawing-through process short tubes closed at
one end, the closed end being hemispherical.
By means of the pressing process commonly called "spinning," we make a neck
or contracted part in each of the short tubes, thus forming blanks consisting of a
nearly complete sphere joined by a neck of small diameter to the open mouth of
the tube. We make these blanks in pairs, the open end of one being somewhat
less in diameter than that of the other, so that the open end of one blank will fit
in the open end of the other. By fitting pairs of these blanks together by their
open ends and fixing them together, either by the spining or burnishing process
conducted in a lathe, or by the pressure of dies worked by a press, a light hollow
metallic stopper of the required shape is produced.
The stopper is fitted with a tube of vulcanized india-rubber in the ordinary
way.
We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing
the manner in which our Invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents an elevation, and an elevation partly in section, and a plan of
a hollow metallic stopper constructed according to our Invention.
The said stopper consists of three bulbous parts marked respectively a, b, and c,
joined together in a right line, a tube d of vulcanized india-rubber being placed upon
the metallic stopper so as to cover the middle bulb 6 and portions of the bulbous
parts a, o, as seen in the sectional view of Figure 1. This metallic stopper is used
in the same way as the ordinary glass or earthenware stoppers as before explained.
In making our improved hollow metallic stopper, Figure 1, we proceed as
We take thin discs, by preference of Britannia metal, of the kind
represented in Figure 2, and by the process, commonly called the drawing-through
process, each of the said blanks is first made into the cup represented in Figure 3,
and afterwards into the short tube closed at one end represented in Figure 4, the
said closed end being hemispherical as represented. We take the short tube,
Figure 4, and by the pressing process commonly called "spinning," we make a
follows: :-

page_text: neck or contracted part near the mouth or open end of the said short tube as
represented in section in Figure 5 and elevation in Figure 6. There is thus formed
a nearly spherical blank having a neck e of smaller diameter at the open end or
mouth of the blank.
We make blanks similar to the blank, Figures 5 and 6, in pairs, the open end
of one blank being somewhat less in diameter than that of the other blank, so that
the open end of one blank will fit in the open end of the other.
Figure 7 represents in section a pair of blanks of the kind described, which we
use to form a hollow metallic stopper. The blank marked ƒ has the shape of and
is made in the manner described with respect to the blank, Figures 5 and 6, but
the other blank marked g, although made in the same way as the blank f, has a
somewhat different shape, that is to say, its mouth or open part is of greater
diameter than the mouth or open part of the blank f, and its closed end or spherical
part is shorter than that of the said blank f, as represented. Having produced
in the manner described pairs of blanks of the kind shown in Figure 7, the open
end or mouth of the blank g is fitted upon the open end or mouth of the smaller
blank f, and by a spinning or burnishing process conducted in a lathe the mouth
or open end h of the larger blank g is closed upon the neck or contracted part of
the smaller blank f, and the two blanks are thus securely fixed together as illus-
trated in section and elevation in Figure 8.
Instead of fixing the two blanks f, g, together by closing the mouth of the larger
one on the neck of the smaller one by the spinning process as described, the same
result may be obtained by the pressure of a pair of dies worked in a press.
After the two blanks have been connected together so as to form a hollow metallic
stopper consisting of three bulbous parts, the said stopper is finished by fitting upon
the middle bulbous part, and partly over the outer bulbous parts, a tube d of
vulcanized india-rubber as represented in Figure 1.
The tube of india-rubber d, before it is expanded over the stopper, is represented
in section and elevation in Figure 9.
Stoppers of the kind to which our Invention has reference are sometimes made
with two bulbous parts with a contraction between them instead of with three of
the said parts as in the stoppers herein-before described.
Our Invention is applicable to the said bulbous stoppers, having only two bulbous
parts instead of three.
A stopper made according to our Invention, having two bulbous parts, is repre-
sented in section, partly in elevation in Figure 10, and in elevation in Figure 11.
The said stopper, Figures 10 and 11, is composed of two parts, made and connected
together substantially in the way already described with reference to the stopper,
Figure 1, but the said two parts are somewhat different in shape from the parts of
the stopper, Figure 1. In the said Figures 10 and 11, i represents the larger of the
two raised blanks of which the stopper is composed, and k, the smaller of the two
blanks, the smaller one k being closed upon the open necked or contracted end of
the larger blank i, the closed end of the stopper being covered by the india-rubber
cap 1.
In making the stopper, Figures 10 and 11, we take a blank of Britannia metal of
the kind represented in Figure 12, and by a series of drawing-through processes,
the said blank is successively operated upon in the manner illustrated in Figures 13,
14, 15, and 16, so as to form the raised blank represented in Figure 16. By the
spinning or pressing process we form at the open end of the raised blank, Figure 16,
a neck, as represented in section in Figure 17 and elevation in Figure 18. We next
take a short raised blank marked k, represented in Figure 18, and by a spinning or
closing process compress or close the edges of the blank k upon the open end of the
blank i, and thereby close the said blank i and form a light hollow metallic stopper,
as represented in section and elevation in Figure 19. This stopper is finished by
fitting the cap of vulcanized india-rubber l, represented in Figure 20, upon the
bulb of the metallic stoppers, as represented inFigures 10 and 11.
It will be observed that the bulbous part b, Figure 1, on which the india-rubber

page_text: tube d fits, and the bulbous part k, Figures 10 and 11, on which the india-rubber
cap fits, are of larger diameter than the other parts of the stoppers.
Stoppers made according to our Invention may be used with bottles in which a
ring of india-rubber is fixed in the neck. In this case our improved stopper is
used without the india-rubber tube or cap described and represented.
Stoppers made according to our Invention are exceedingly light, and however the
empty bottle may be moved, do not strike it with a sufficiently sharp blow to crack
or fracture the bottle.
Although we prefer to employ Britannia metal in carrying our Invention into
effect, we do not limit ourselves thereto, as various metals and metallic alloys may
be used instead of Britannia metal.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we claim as our
Invention,―
The improvements in stoppers for bottles used to hold aërated liquids and other
liquids under pressure herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing, that is to say, making stoppers consisting of three bulbous parts of thin
sheet metal by fitting pairs of bulbous blanks of the kind described and represented
upon one another, and fixing them together so as to form light hollow metallic
stoppers, substantially as described and illustrated in Figures 1 to 9, both inclusive,
of the Drawing.
Also making light metallic stoppers from two blanks of the kind, and substan-
tially in the manner described and illustrated in Figures 10 to 20, both inclusive,
of the Drawing.
In witness whereof, we, the said George Edmonds and Edwin Edmonds, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-first day of June, in the
year of Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
0 Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
GEORGE EDMONDS. (L.S.)
EDWIN EDMONDS. (L.S.)