IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RETAINING AND DRAWING-OFF AERATED LIQUORS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Rogers, of Alfred Place West, Thurloe
Square, Brompton, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RETAINING AND DRAWING-OFF AERATED
LIQUORS." A communication.
Sealed the 16th November 1855, and dated the 29th May 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Rogers at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
May 1855.
1, GEORGE ROGERS, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RETAINING AND DRAWING-OFF AERATED LIQUORS"
to be as follows:-
In the ordinary valvular stoppers employed for vessels for containing aerated
liquors, the liquor divides and passes round the valve and its stem and again
unites, instead of flowing out in a compact unbroken stream; a portion of the
gas is disengaged during the passage and lost. In the present Invention, the
stem of the valve is inade with a passage through it with lateral openings, so
that when the valve is pressed in, one of the openings communicates with the
interior of the bottle and the other with the spout, and the liquor flows out in

page_text: a compact unbroken stream. I attach these and other valvular stoppers to
bottles in the following manner:-The bottle is made with a groove round its
neck, into which is fitted a ring of metal or other suitable material divided
into two or more segments, which ring forms a shoulder for securing a screwed
collar for the attachment of the stopper. This screwed collar is first slipped
over the neck of the bottle, and the segments are then placed in the
The collar is then raised so as to inclose and bear against the segments. The
valvular stopper, which has a screw on its exterior, is put into its place and
secured by screwing the collar on it. The joint is made good by the inter-
position of caoutchouc or other suitable material. This arrangement permits
of the easy removal and refixing of the valvular stopper.
groove.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Rogers in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
November 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
ROGERS, of Alfred Place West, Thurloe Square, Brompton, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Rogers, Her special licence that I, the said George Rogers,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Rogers, 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
APPARATUS FOR RETAINING AND DRAWING-OFF AERATED LIQUORS," communicated
to me from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
George Rogers, 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

page_text: Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Rogers, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, and to the figures
and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
In the ordinary valvular stoppers employed for vessels for containing aerated
liquors, the liquor divides and passes round the valve and its stem and again
unites, instead of flowing out in a compact unbroken stream; a portion of the
gas is disengaged during the passage and lost. In the present Invention, the
stem of the valve is made with a passage through it with lateral openings, so
that when the valve is pressed in, one of the openings communicates with the
interior of the bottle and the other with the spout, and the liquor flows out in
a compact unbroken stream. I attach these and other valvular stoppers to
bottles in the following manner:-The bottle is made with a groove round its
neck, into which is fitted a ring of metal or other suitable material divided
into two or more segments, which ring forms a shoulder for securing a screwed
collar for the attachment of the stopper. This screwed collar is first slipped
over the neck of the bottle, and the segments are then placed in the groove.
The collar is then raised so as to inclose and bear against the segments. The
valvular stopper, which has a screw on its exterior, is put in its place and
secured by screwing the collar on it. The joint is made good by the interposi-
tion of caoutchouc or other suitable material. This arrangement permits of
the easy removal and refixing of the valvular stopper.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is an elevation, and Figure 2 is a
section, of a portion of the neck of a bottle with one of my improved apparatus
attached thereto. The same letters refer to similar parts in each Figure.
A is the neck of the bottle, which is made of glass, stoneware, or other suitable
material, and is furnished with a groove, into which are inserted the two halves
of the ring B, which are shewn separately in plan in Figure 3; C is the
screwed collar, which has a shoulder at the lower end which bears against
the ring B, while the upper part is screwed on the body of the stopper D, at the
side of which is the outlet or spout E. At the lower part of the body D is a
circular cavity, which receives a disc or ring F, of vulcanized india-rubber or
leather, or other suitable elastic material, which forms the seat of the valve,
and is pressed into its place and confined by the socket G, which is cast upon
or cemented to the glass tube H, which descends nearly to the bottom of the

page_text: bottle. The socket G has a conical collar or flange, which rests upon a ring
of vulcanized india-rubber or other suitable elastic material placed on the top
of the neck of the bottle. By holding the piece D and screwing the collar C
upon it the parts are brought together, so as to compress the rings of elastic
material and forin an air-tight joint.
J is the valve, which is formed by a collar or circular projection at the end
of a cylindrical piece of metal K, which terminates in a cylindrical stem. L, the.
end of which is screwed into a knob or button M. This button M. rests upon
the top of a spiral spring contained in a cylindrical cavity in the top of the
piece D. The bottom of the spring rests upon a ring or collar, of leather or:
other suitable elastic material, which embraces the stem L; and serves as a
stuffing box to prevent the escape of any liquid. The part K of the valve, is
traversed by a passage having two lateral apertures. By pressing. on the
button M the valve J is depressed, and the aerated liquor in the bottle is
forced by the pressure of the gas up the tube H, and through the lower lateral.
aperture in the part K, and out at the other aperture and through the spout E.
On releasing the button M, the valve J is forced up to its seat F by the pres-
sure of the gas and by the action of the spring. The liquid thus flows out in.
a compact unbroken stream, instead of being divided by the stem of the valve,
as in ordinary valvular stoppers. The parts B, C, D, E, G, and M, may be
made of tin, and the valve may be made of brass tinned, or of silver, or other
materials may be used, provided they are not injuriously acted upon by the
liquor which is to be retained in the bottle.
The stopper can easily be removed from the bottle by unscrewing the collar
C. Thus, in the event of the bottle being broken, the stopper can be removed
and applied to another bottle. This mode of attaching valvular stoppers to
bottles may be employed for valvular stoppers of any of the ordinary construc-
tions, and valvular stoppers constructed with a passage with lateral apertures
in the valve stem, as herein-before described, may be attached to bottles by
any of the ordinary methods of attaching valvular stoppers. The arrangement
shewn in the Drawing is adapted for drawing-off the aerated liquor while
the bottle is standing upright. By omitting the tube H and directing the
spout E upwards, the apparatus becomes adapted for drawing-off' the aerated
liquor when the bottle is inverted.
Having now described the nature of the Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I claim is,―
Firstly, the constructing valvular stoppers for retaining and drawing-off
aerated liquors with a passage in the valve stem with two lateral apertures,

page_text: one of which communicates with the interior of the bottle, and the other with
the spout or outlet when the valve is opened, as herein-before described.
Secondly, the mode of connecting bottles with valvular stoppers adapted for
retaining and drawing-off aerated liquors, by means of the divided ring B and
screwed collar C, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Rogers, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
0 Witness,
WM. ROGERS,
Clerk to James Johnston, Esq",
57, Chancery Lane, Sol'.
GEORGE ROGERS. (L.B.)