Improvements in Bottle Stoppers."
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Jan., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 26th Oct., 1897-Accepted, 18th Dec., 1897
"Improvements in Bottle Stoppers."
I GEORGE DAVID HOWARD, of 38. Chancery Lane, in the County of London, Patent.
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication to me by
Henry Still, of No. 700. E. Monument Street, Baltimore, Md., U.S. America, President
of Standard Feed Box Company), to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to provide a closure for aërated beverages, that in
drawing the contents of the bottle will prevent the escape of free gas, thereby
preserving the purity of the contents and delivering the last drop as fresh and
sparkling as when first bottled.
According to my invention the closure is cylindrical and has three compartments;
the lower one being threaded, and fitting threads in the nozzle of the bottle. A
diaphragın separates the upper compartment from the middle compartment.
A hollow cylinder is provided which moves telescopically in the upper compartment
such cylinder having a thumb-piece or cap fixed to its upper end. Upon the outside
of cylinder and opposite each other are lugs extending downward from said thumb-
piece or cap about two thirds the length of cylinder, the remainder of said cylinder
being used to give steadiness to its movement within said chamber.
The middle chamber is between the upper diaphragm and a lower one which is
provided, and to the said chamber is connected a nozzle. The said lower diaphragm
also forms the valve seat of a valve. Lugs are provided which move in grooves, said
grooves being in the inside of the upper compartment. These grooves extend
downward the full length of the lugs and should lie in line with centre of nozzle.
Inclines of equal lengths are formed on the top of the body of the closure and
should be at an angle of 5°, having shoulders at their lowest points. These shoulders
form stops for the lugs aforesaid when rotating the cylinder.
A valve-rod is attached to the cap and passes downward through the diaphragm and
should be of sufficient length below lower diaphragm to attach thereto a valve, nut,
and spiral spring which surrounds the rod.
The nuts support the spring below the valve, which valve is mounted loosely on the
said rod. A spring is used to counteract another spring which surrounds the rod in
the cylinder and to force the valve to its seat, and to enable the cylinder to be
raised up in the operation of locking. The last mentioned spring rests in a gasket
and extends to the underside of the cap. The lengths of the two springs depend on
the length of the closure and must be adapted thereto. The said rod is also provided
with a valve-opening shoulder.
A gasket is placed in the bearing surface between the nozzle of the bottle and the
closure.

page_text: improvements in Bottle Stoppers."
I, GEORGE DAVID HOWARD, of 38. Chancery Lane, in the County of London,
Patent Agent, (do hereby declare the nature of this invention a communication to me
by Henry Still, of No. 700, E, Monument Street, Baltimore, Md., U.S. America,
President of Standard Feed Box Company), and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The object of my invention is to provide a closure for aerated beverages, that in
drawing the contents of the bottle will prevent the escape of free gas, thereby
preserving the purity of the contents and delivering the last drop as fresh and
sparkling as when first bottled.
I obtain this desirable end by the arrangement of parts hereinafter set forth and
claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this
specification.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts of the several figures.
Fig 1 is a vertical sectional view of the closure and nozzle of the bottle to
which the closure is attached.
Fig 2 is a plan view of the closure taken on line 9 q¹ of Fig: 1.
Fig 3 is a perspective view of the cylinder B showing lugs j j¹.
Fig 4 is a view of the upper part of the closure showing inclines i, ¹ and
stops n n upon its upper edge.
:
The closure is cylindrical having three apartments, the lower one being threaded
and fitting threads on the nozzle of the bottle. The diaphragm d separates the upper
compartment a from the middle compartment a². B is a hollow cylinder shown in
detail in Fig 3 which moves telescopically in the upper compartment a¹ having a
thumb-piece C fixed to its upper end. Upon the outside of cylinder B and opposite
each other are lugs jj extending downward from said cap C about two thirds the length
of cylinder B. The remainder of said cylinder B being used to give steadiness to its
movement within said chamber a¹.
The middle chamber a² is between the diaphragm d, and the lower one fand to the
said chamber is connected a nozzle 0. Diaphragm falso forms the valve seat s of
valve v. Lugs ¹ move in grooves g g¹, said grooves being on the inside of the
upper compartment a¹. These grooves extend downward the full length of lugs j j¹
and should lie in line with centre of nozzle O.
Inclines are of equal lengths formed on the top of the of the closure shown
more fully in Fig. 4 and should be at an angle of about 5°, having shoulders n n¹ at
their lowest points. These shoulders form stops for lugs j j¹ when rotating the
cylinder B.
The valve rod p is attached to cap C and passes downward through the diaphragms d
and fand should be sufficient length below diaphragm f to attach thereto valve v,
and nut m and spiral spring x which surrounds rod p.
The nut m supports spring x below the valve v. The valve vis mounted loosely on
rod p. Spring is used to counteract spring t which surrounds rod p in cylinder B
and to force valve v to its seat, and to enable cylinder B to be raised up in the
operation of locking. Spring t rests on gasket & and extends to the underside of
cap C. The lengths of spring t and x depend on the length of the closure and must
be adapted thereto.
Gasket is placed in the bearing surface between the nozzle of the bottle and the
closure A.
To lock the valve v raise the lugs jj¹ out of grooves g g' by the thum-piece C and

page_text: turn the cylinder to the right, which motion forces the said lugs ; 7 on the
inclines and prevents cylinder B from being depressed.
To unlock the valve turn the cylinder backward or to the left until lugs j j fall into
grooves g g when cylinder B can be depressed and open the valve by means of
shoulder y on rod p.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. In a bottle cap and stopper the combination of a cap provided with a diaphragm
closing the mouth of the bottle said diaphragm being provided with an aperture, a
reception chamber above the diaphragm which is provided with an opening for
pouring the liquid out and a valve for closing the aperture in the diaphragm mounted
on a rod which is provided with a spring for seating the valve and a locking device on
its upper end to lock the valve in its seat.
2. In. a bottle cap and stopper, the combination of a cap provided with a
diaphragm closing the mouth of the bottle, said diaphragm being provided with
an aperture, a reception chamber above the diaphragm which is provided with an
opening for pouring the liquid out and a valve for closing the aperture in the
diaphragm mounted on a rod which is provided with a spring for seating the
valve and having a thumb-piece secured to the top of the rod provided with projecting'
lugs and inclines upon the cap with which said lugs engage to lock the valve.
3. In a bottle closure, the combination of a cap provided with a diaphragm
closing the mouth of the bottle said diaphragm being provided with an aperture, a
reception chamber above the diaphragm which is provided with an opening for
pouring the liquid out, a valve for closing the aperture in the diaphragm mounted
loosely upon a rod and having a spring below it surrounding the rod, and
pressing the valve upward, and a locking device upon the upper end of the
closure to lock the valve on its seat.