IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Tapp, of Mexbrough, in the County of
York, Manufacturing Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES."
Sealed the 25th February 1873, and dated the 4th September 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Tapp at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th September 1872.
I, CHARLES TAPP, of Mexbrough, in the County of York, Manu-
facturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to an improved stopper particularly adapted for
bottles containing aerated or effervescent liquids.
The stopper consists of a conical or taper plug of glass, earthenware,
or other impervious material of such diameter at the base that it will
just pass through the neck of the bottle. On this plug or stopper is
placed an india-rubber ring, which is free to be rolled along the conical

page_text: plug, and serves to effect an air-tight closure and prevent the stopper
being forced out of the bottle after it has been inserted. The stopper is
passed into the bottle base first, the ring being at the smallest part of
the stopper to allow of its insertion, and the bottle may then be filled
with liquid. If the latter be aerated the pressure of the gases will
thrust the stopper outwards until a tight closure is effected by the com-
pression of the india-rubber ring between the stopper and the neck of
the bottle, the increased diameter of the inner end or base of the stopper
causing it to compress the ring tighter the more it is thrust outwards.
The plug may either have an enlargement or head applied to its outer
or smaller end to prevent it falling into the bottle and to enable it to be
thrust inwards and displaced by the hand to draw off the contents, or
the stopper may be attached to a cord connected to the mouth of the
bottle, which will prevent the stopper falling into the bottle, and if the
cord be elastic will serve to automatically tighten the stopper and close
the bottle after the stopper has been thrust inwards to fill the bottle or
draw off a portion of its contents.
~、
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Tapp in the Great Seal Patent Office, on
the 4th March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
TAPP, of Mexbrough, in the County of York, Manufacturing Chemist,.
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Charles Tapp, Her special licence that I,
the said Charles Tapp, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Charles Tapp, 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

page_text: Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Tapp, 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
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Tapp, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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 accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):
:—
My Invention relates to an improved stopper particularly adapted for
bottles containing aerated or effervescent liquids.
The stopper consists of a conical or taper plug of such diameter at
the base or thickest part that it will just pass through the neck of the
bottle. On this plug or stopper is placed an india-rubber ring, which
serves to effect an air-tight closure and prevent the stopper being forced
out of the bottle after it has been inserted. The stopper is passed into
the bottle base first, the ring being at the smallest part of the stopper to
allow of its insertion, and the bottle may then be filled with liquid.
the latter be aerated the pressure of the gases will thrust the stopper
outwards until a tight closure is effected by the compression of the india-
rubber ring between the stopper and the neck of the bottle, the increased
diameter of the inner end or base of the stopper causing it to compress
the ring tighter the more it is thrust outwards.
If
The plug may either have an enlargement or head applied to its outer
or smaller end to prevent it falling into the bottle and to enable it to be
thrust inwards and displaced by the hand to draw off the contents, or
the stopper may be attached to a cord connected to the mouth of the
bottle, which will prevent the stopper falling too far into the bottle, and
if the cord be elastic will serve to automatically tighten the stopper and
close the bottle after the stopper has been thrust inwards to fill the bottle
or draw off a portion of its contents.

page_text: DESCRIPTION Or
Figures 1 and 2 represent two forms of my improved stopper, with the
india-rubber ring in the position it should occupy before the stopper is
inserted in the bottle; Figures 3 and 4 show the same when applied to
stop a bottle, the neck of the latter being shown in section for the sake
of clearness. The same letters of reference apply to all the Figures.
a is the plug or stopper, made of glass, earthenware, cork, or other
impervious material, and 6 the india-rubber ring.
.. In Figure 1 the stopper a is of conoidal form, and provided with a
small head c, and b is a ring of india-rubber of rounded form in cross
section (as seen in Figure 1, in which part of the ring is broken away),
placed thereon as shown. This ring is about a quarter of an inch in
thickness more or less.
I am aware that stoppers of this form have been heretofore used with
an india-rubber ring thereon, but they have always been inserted in the
bottle neck with the small end of the stopper downwards, so that if
used for aerated liquids the internal pressure would be liable to push.
out the stopper. Now my Invention is the reverse of this, the base or
large end being inserted first, and as the base or largest part of the plug
is of such a size that it will only just pass through the bottle neck it
follows that when the thickness of the india-rubber ring is added to the
diameter of the plug at that part it is impossible for the stopper to be
forced out by internal pressure, in fact the greater the said pressure the
tighter the closure of the bottle will be. I do not therefore desire to
claim the Invention of a taper plug with india-rubber ring as a stopper
except when applied as herein shown and described.
d is a short cord or wire by which the plug is held' suspended in the
bottle whilst the latter is being filled. The stopper is passed into the
bottle with the ring at the smallest part, as in Figure 1, in which
position the stopper can be freely passed in and out. It is then held
suspended in the bottle by means of the cord or wire d (which may be
made fast to the bottle neck), whilst the ring 6 is pushed along the body
of the plug by means of a pair of tongs with hollowed or grooved bits,
or by a rod with a claw or forked end, or by a tube, until it is in such a
position about the middle of the plug a (as shown in Figure 3) that

page_text: when the stopper is pulled or forced up into the neck e of the bottle the
ring will be compressed tightly between the plug and the bottle, as
shown in Figure 4, and so make a tight closure, the india-rubber
adapting itself to any small irregularities in the neck of the bottle.
Figure 2 shows a modified form of plug and ring. In this case the
plug a is ellipsoidal or globular in form, and has a small head as before;
the ring 6 is a flat disc or washer of india-rubber, about a quarter of an
inch in thickness more or less, and with a small hole in the centre to
pass over the head c and fit close around the neck of the plug, as shown
in the Figure. When in this position the stopper may be easily passed
base first into the bottle, the disc collapsing or folding around the
head c, as shown in red lines, as it passes through the neck, and
The
springing out again to its normal position when inside the bottle.
stopper is suspended in the bottle before filling, as before, and forced or
drawn up into the neck, as shown in Figure 5.
Instead of placing the ring on the stopper, as herein-before described,
the bottle neck may be blown with a circular recess for groove inside to
contain a ring of india-rubber or cork, as shown in Figure 6. In this
case the plug is first inserted base first (without the ring) and suspended
in the bottle, and the ring is then placed in the recess when the bottle is
ready for filling. It is stoppered by drawing the plug up through the
ring until it is tight. If the plug be made of cork it will be floated up
into the neck, and be made tight by the internal pressure if the contents
of the bottle be aerated. In order to draw off the contents of the bottle
the plug is forced into the bottle either by hand or by the aid of
suitable device, such as forceps, one jaw of which is made forked
to embrace the neck of the bottle below the bead, and the other is
provided with a stud to bear on the top of the plug and force it into the
any

page_text: the purpose herein specified, whether the bottle has a recess in the neck
or not..
2ndly. The combination with the plug a and ring of the wire or
cord d, substantially as and for the purpose described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Tapp, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.