IMPROVEMENTS IN TOMPIONS FOR ORDNANCE AND SMALL-ARMS, AND IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TOMPIONS FOR ORDNANCE
AND SMALL-ARMS, AND IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES AND OTHER VESSELS."-A
communication from abroad by George Richard Willmot, of Meriden,
in the State of Connecticut, United States of America.
Sealed the 6th March 1866, and dated the 13th October 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 13th October 1865.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents; 66; Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TOMPIONS FOR ORDNANCE
AND SMALL-ARMS, AND IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES AND OTHER VESSELS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to elastic tompions or stoppers, which in their
normal condition fit loosely into the muzzle of the gun or mouth of the
bottle or other vessel; but which after being inserted therein are expanded

page_text: circumferentially, and made to fit tightly by being compressed in a longi-
tudinal direction.
In tompions for ordnance and small-arms the expanding packing of
such tompions has heretofore been made of vulcanized india-rubber or
other gum, and the free sulphur which remained in the gun, or on
the surface thereof after vulcanization, has produced the corrosion of the
muzzle of the piece of ordnance or fire-arm to which it has been applied.
One object of the Invention is to prevent this corrosive effect, and to this
end one part of the Invention consists in the application to the vulcanized
gum packing of a covering of chamois or other leather, cloth, felt, velvet,
plush, or other suitable material of similar character which is neither
sticky nor contains any substance by which the corrosion of metal can be
produced, and interposition between the vulcanized gum and the said
covering of unvulcanized india-rubber or other material possessing a
similar quality of being impervious to sulphur.
Another object of the Invention is to prevent the elastic packing from
being compressed tightly around the screw, and to this end another part of
the Invention consists in surrounding the screw within the expanding
packing with a tube of metal or other hard unyielding material. This
part of the Invention is also applicable to stoppers for bottles and other
vessels.
The essential features of novelty of the Invention are, the employment
in a tompion, in combination with an expanding packing of vulcanized gum,
of an outer covering of leather, cloth, felt, velvet, plush, or other soft
unadhesive material which contains no substance that can corrode metal,
and an interposed flexible material, such as unvulcanized india-rubber or
other gum which is impervious to the sulphur of the vulcanized
gum.
Also the use in an expansible tompion of a tube in combination with
the tightening screw, the elastic packing ring and the plates between which
the elastic packing ring, is compressed. There is also a tube attached to
or formed in the same piece with the collar or washer for the purpose of
protecting the compressing screw; and also a stop applied in combination
with the compressing screw and nut of the stopper in order to prevent the
screw from being turned too far.
'
:
The exterior of the plug is to be coated with flock, and the upper and
lower parts of the elastic plug of the stopper are made of two different
degrees of hardness.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th April 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the
said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 TOMPIONS FOR ORDNANCE AND SMALL-
ARMS, AND IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES AND OTHER VESSELS," being a communica
tion from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors or administrators, by an instru
ment 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 William Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to elastic tompions or stoppers, which in their
normal condition fit loosely into the muzzle of the gun or mouth of the
bottle or other vessel, but which after being inserted therein are expanded
circumferentially, and made to fit tightly by being compressed in a longi-
tudinal direction.
In tompions for ordnance and small-arms the expanding packing of such
tompions has heretofore been made of vulcanized india-rubber or other

page_text: gum, and the free sulphur which remained in the gun or on the surface
thereof (after vulcanization) has produced the corrosion of the muzzle of
the piece of ordnance or fire-arm to which it has been applied. One object
of this branch of the Invention is to prevent this corrosive effect, and to
this end one part of the Invention consists in the application to the
vulcanized gum packing of a covering of chamois or other leather, cloth,
felt, velvet, plush, or other suitable material of analogous character which
is neither sticky nor contains any substance by which the corrosion of
-metal can be produced, and interposition between the vulcanized gum and
the covering of unvulcanized india-rubber or other material possessing a
similar quality of being impervious to sulphur. Another object of the
Invention is to prevent the elastic packing from being compressed tightly
around the screw, and to this end another part of the Invention consists
in surrounding the screw within the expanding packing with a tube of
metal or other hard unyielding material. This part of the Invention is
also applicable to stoppers for bottles and other wessels.
The two above-recited parts of the Invention are illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section, showing
the application of a tompion within the muzzle of a rifled cannon, and
Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section
of a tompion for small-arms, and Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the
same.
A (Fig. 1) is the head of the tompion, made with a flange a broad
enough to cover a portion of the face of the muzzle M of the piece, and
B is the compressing plate or disc, having its largest part of smaller
diameter than the bore of the piece. C is the screw for expanding the
tompion ; it passes freely through a hole in the centre of the head and
screws into a hole in the centre of the plate B. At its outer end is a
knob b, to serve as a handle by which to turn it for the purpose of
drawing the compressing plate toward the head, and so compress the elastic
packing D in a direction parallel with the axis of the tompion, and thereby
expand it circumferentially for the purpose of making it fit tightly within
the muzzle of the piece. The packing ring D is fitted into a suitable
groove or recess formed between the head and compressing plate. The elastic
packing. D (Figures 1 and 2) is composed principally of a hollow cylinder
or ring d, of vulcanized india-rubber or other elastic gum, fitting the recess
e, f, g, formed between the head A and compressing plate B of the tompion;
and has its exterior periphery first coated with unvulcanized india-rubber
or other flexible gum or material ; which is impervious to the free sulphur

page_text: of the vulcanized gum, and afterwards covered with soft leather, cloth,
felt, velvet, plush, or other material which is not sticky like the
unvulcanized gum, and does not contain any substance by which. the
corrosion of metal will be produced. The coating h may be composed of
a thin band of pure india-rubber or other gum wrapped round the ring d;
and cemented to the ring by a cement composed of a solution of such
gum; and the outer covering i may be secured by means of the cement or
solution above mentioned. The packing thus produced and prepared
should in its normal condition be of such circumference that it will pass
easily into the muzzle of the gun, but that after the insertion of the
tompion into the muzzle it may, by turning the screw C to compress it in
a direction parallel with the axis of the tompion, be expanded circum-
ferentially to fit tightly into the muzzle, and also to fill up the grooves j,j;
as shown in Fig. 2, when the piece is rifled. In tompions for small-arms,
instead of providing a recess e,f,g, in the head A and compressing plate B,
the head and plate are made with their opposite faces flat, and between
them and around the screw C is placed a metal tube k, as shewn in Figures
3 and 4, around which the ring d fits snugly; the tubek serves to prevent
the ring d from being compressed tightly around the screw, so that its
compression in a direction parallel with the axis of the tompion may not
be interfered with. In other respects the tompion represented in Figures
3 and 4 is like that represented in Figures 1 and 2.
I will now proceed to describe the Invention so far as it relates to
stoppers for bottles and other vessels. For this purpose the same tube k
as is described with reference to Figures 2 and 3 is employed, but instead
of making it detached I attach it to a washer of metal or other hard
material similar to that of which it is itself composed. In these stoppers
a stop on the screw is adapted to prevent the nut which is used on the
screw for compressing the elastic packing ring (in a direction parallel with
the axis of the stopper) from being unscrewed further than is necessary.
In these stoppers, in place of the covering of leather, cloth, felt, velvet, or
plush used in the tompion on the elastic packing ring, a coating of woollen
flock is employed, as in such stoppers it is generally merely the prevention
of the sticking of the ring in the mouth of the bottle or vessel, and not
corrosion which has to be provided against. For these stoppers the upper
and lower parts of the elastic packing ring are made of two different
degrees of hardness, the inner part which enters furthest into the vessel
being harder than the other part where the greatest degree of expansion-is

page_text: s
are
The application of the Invention to stoppers for bottles and other
vessels is illustrated in Figures 5; 6, and 7 of the, Drawing. Fig. 5
represents a longitudinal vertical section of a bottle with a stopper con÷
structed according to the Invention; Fig. 6 is a similar. section of a
modification of the bottle stopper; and Fig. 7 is a similar section of another
modification of the stopper to adapt it to spirit flasks, cans for petroleum
and other oils, and other vessels in which caps fitting over the mouth and
neck used. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts
in these Figures. In Fig. 5, A is the elastic packing ring, or as it may be
called in this case the hollow plug, the external form of which is that of
an inverted frustum of a cone of very slight taper. The central opening
is more than large enough for the free passage of the central screw B,
which is inserted directly through it, the screw liaving a circular head b,
which.abuts against and is large enough to nearly cover the bottom of the
plug, but not so large but that it passes into the neck of the bottle G
without touching it; the screw projects above the top of the plug, where it
is fitted with a nut C, of proper form to enable it to be turned easily with
the thumb and fingers. Between the nut and the top of the plug there is
a loose washer or collar d of metal or other hard material, which forms a
bearing for the nut. The exterior periphery of the hollow plug A may
be covered with woollen cloth, felt, plush, or flock to prevent it from
sticking in the mouth of the bottle. The exterior diameter of the plug is
such that when it is not compressed between the head of the screw and the
nut c and washer d, it will pass freely into and out from the neck of the
bottle, but a slight compression between the head of the screw and the
washer d, produced by screwing down the nut, will cause it to expand circum-
ferentially in a sufficient degree to make it fit tightly to the interior of the
neck of the bottle, and to make its central hole contract around the screw
B sufficiently to prevent leakage. The plug A may be made of any
elastic substance, but by preference of elastic vulcanized india-rubber, and
the upper and lower parts should be made of different degrees of hardness,
the lower part being made harder than the upper part, the latter being
soft enough to expand under a comparatively light pressure of the nut,
and the former being sufficiently hard to prevent the head of the screw
from indenting itself deeper into it than is desirable. By this means the
plug is made more durable. The exterior periphery of the plug may be
covered with woollen flock, which may be applied to the surface of the
india-rubber before subjecting it to the heat required for vulcanization, or
it may be applied after vulcanization by the aid of a solution of india-

page_text: .
rubber or any suitable adhesive varnish; or cement. The washer or collar
d has firmly attached to it a tube e, like the tube k described with reference
to Figures 3 and 4, and forming a lining to that part of the interior of the
central hole in the plug A which receives the thread of the screw, and
thereby prevents the abrasion of the hole by the thread or its contraction
around the screw so as to interfere with the compression of the plug in a
direction parallel with its axis. The attachment of the tube e to the
collar or washer d makes the stopper firmer than when the tube is detached
like-k. This feature of the Invention is also applicable to tompions, the
tube / of a tompion being in such case attached to the tube A or plate B.
On the upper end of the screw is applied the stop f, to prevent the nut
from being unscrewed, higher than is necessary to relieve the plug"
A from compression, and to allow it to contract circumferentially in. a
sufficient degree to loosen it in the neck of the bottle. This stop may
consist of a cap or nut screwed tightly on to the end of the screw, as
represented, or of a collar rivetted on to the end of the screw.
The nut c,
collar or washer d, and tube e may be made of metal, hard vulcanized
india-rubber, or other suitable material. The stopper, shewn in Fig. 6
only differs from that shewn in Fig. 5, and herein-above described, in
having the nut c made in the form of a broad head to cover the mouth of
the bottle. The stopper shewn in Fig. 7 only differs from that shewn in
Fig. 6 in having a rim around the nut to make the latter form a cap to
fit over the neck s of a metal flask or can.
Having now described the Invention of" Improvements in Tompions for
Ordnance and Small-arms, and in Stoppers for Bottles and other Vessels,"
and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect as com-
municated to me by my foreign correspondent, I claim as the Invention
secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid,-
First, the employment in a tompion in combination with an expanding
packing of vulcanized gum of an outer covering of leather, cloth, felt,
velvet, plush, or other soft unadhesive material which contains no sub-
stance that can corrode metal, and an interposed flexible material, such as
unvulcanized india-rubber or other gum which is impervious to the sulphur
of the vulcanized gum.
Second, I claim the use in an expansible tompion of the tube k in com-
bination with the screw C, the elastic packing ring d, and the plates A and
B, as and for the purpose described and shewn in Figures 3 and 4.
Third, the use of the tube e attached to or formed in the same piece
with the collar or washer d, as herein described and shewn in Fig. 5.

page_text: Fourth, the stop fapplied in combination with the screw B and nut c of
the stopper, as and for the purpose herein specified with reference to
Fig. 5.
Fifth, I claim coating the exterior of the plug A with flock, as herein
described.
Sixth, I claim making the upper and lower parts of the elastic plug A
of the stopper of two different degrees of hardness, as and for the purpose
herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twelfth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.s.)