IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF RETAINING FLUIDS IN BOTTLES
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BROCKEDON, of Queen's Square, in the County of Middlesex, Esquire, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Thirty-first day of January, in the third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Brockedon, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said William Brockedon, my exors, admors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Brockedon, my exors,
admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of the therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF RETAINING FLUIDS IN BOTTLES;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said William Brockedon,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Brockedon, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon
(that is to say):-
My Invention consists of a mode of constructing and applying discs or
capsules which are fastened on the top of the stoppers (which enter or cover
the mouths of the bottles) and serve when tied or wired on to keep the
stoppers firmly in their places and retain them against the pressure from
within the bottles. In order to present the greatest resistance with the least
thickness of the copsule or disc, they are dished or hollowed and struck into
their form in a die by the fly press or other convenient means, the part A in
some cases being when fastened on pressed a little into the mouth of the
bottle; the surface at B, B, will be in contact with the mouth of the bottle,
and the pressure, by being more extended, offers greater security. In
order to fasten the disc upon the cork or stopper, I form by means of the
die or otherwise grooves across. the disc or capsule, in which the wire lies
extended, and thus present wider and more secure points of bearing over
the top of the bottle or vessel. In order to secure an equal pressure and
contact of the flat stopper, composed according to my former Patent, of
woven or felted wool or fibrous elastic materials faced with india rubber,
I adopt among other forms one very well fitted for my purpose. Instead
of sinking grooves in the upper face of the disc or capsule, I raise bosses
or ridges, which serve as guides to the wires or ties to keep them apart and
distribute their force of resistance and securely hold the wire or string from
slipping off the edge of the disc in fixing the discs to the mouths of the
bottles. In making such discs or capsules, I usually form them of iron
tinned, but do not confine myself thereto, circular blanks being cut out of
the sheet of iron or other metal; it is then placed in a die of the desired
form and size, and by means of a fly press or stamping press, and dies, the
required form is obtained.
Figure 1 represents a plan and edge view of a disc or capsule, and
Figure 2 shows their application by a section and outside view of the
neck of a bottle, the disc or capsule having a groove sunk in it for
wire or string, by which it is fastened over the cork or stopper, which
enters into the neck of a bottle. Figure 2 shows the Invention applied
to stoppers which are made according to my former Patent. Figure 3
shows an under side view. Figure 4, a plan or upper surface view of a disc

page_text: or capsule of a somewhat different form to that at Figure 1, and in place of
the wire or string being held in a groove, it is held between projecting surfaces
sunk in the disc, as shewn at a, a. Figures 5 and 6 show such capsule or
disc applied to the neck of a bottle having a flat stopper made according to
my former Patent. Figure 7 shows an edge view and plan of a similar disc
or capsule and an ordinary cork. Figures 7 and 8 show the application of
such disc or capsule with an ordinary cork to the neck of a bottle.
I would remark, that I do not confine myself to the precise form of the discs
or capsules, nor to the material of which they are described to be made; and
the capsules or discs may be made by other means than what I have described
without departing from my Invention. And although I have shown particular
modes of stopping bottles by my patent stoppers and by ordinary corks, they
form no part of my present Patent, excepting so far as the using therewith
the discs or capsules; but what I claim is, the mode of employing capsules or
discs as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Brokedon, have hereunto set
my hand and seal this Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty.
ILLIAM (L.S.)
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirty-first day of July, in the
year of our Lord 1840, the aforesaid William Brockedon came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty.