IM- PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CAPSULES."
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Betts, of Wharf Road, City Road, in the
County of Middlesex, Capsule Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CAPSULES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Betts at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th
August 1865.
I, WILLIAM BETTS, of Wharf Road, City Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Capsule Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for:
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OP CAPSULES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the manufacture of capsules for bottles wherein
it is intended that the cork shall protrude or extend beyond the neck.or rim.
of the bottle, and consists in the manufacture of capsules vertically corrugated
or indented in that portion of their surface which extends from the apex of
the cork to the rim of the bottle; the capsuletis also manufactured' of material
thicker than that ordinarily used, so that in combination with the corrugation
it affords great additional security to the contents of the bottle, whilst it retains

page_text: its original shape when on the bottle, and cannot be easily indented, either in
packing, transit, or in subsequent storing.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Betts in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th
February 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BETTS, of Wharf Road, City Road, in the County of Middlesex, Capsule
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the 29th year of Her
reign, did, for 'Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Betts, Her special license that I, the said William
Betts, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Betts, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CAPSULES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Betts, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, 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 Betts, 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 Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to the manufacture of capsules for bottles wherein
it is intended that the cork shall protrude or extend beyond the neck or rim
of the bottle, and consists in the manufacture of capsules corrugated or
indented longitudinally in that portion of their surface which extends from the
apex of the cork to the rim of the bottle. The capsule may if desired be

page_text: manufactured of rather stouter material than ordinary capsules, so that in
combination with the corrugation it affords great additional security to the
contents of the bottle, whilst it retains its original shape when on the bottle,
and cannot be easily indented either in packing; transit, or in subsequent storing,
the corrugations alone even with material of the ordinary strength greatly
increasing the strength of the capsule.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
I shall refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all
the Figures.
Fig. 1 of the Drawings represents an elevation (full size) of the improved
corrugated capsule as applied to a champagne bottle; Fig. 2 is a smaller
sized corrugated capsule detached; and Figs. 3 and 4 represent respectively
an elevation and section of the punch or tool and die for making these corru-
gated capsules. It will be seen in reference to Figs. 1 and 2 that the upper
portion of the capsule extending from a to b, or that part which extends from
the apex of the protruding cork or stopper to the rim of the bottle is con-
siderably strengthened, and at the same time improved in appearance by
having a number of longitudinal corrugations formed therein: These corru-
gations may be produced in any convenient manner, but the means herein-
after described will be found to answer well in practice; they consist simply
of a punch or plunger A (Fig. 8) and a die B (Fig. 4) both of which may
be made of hard wood, metal, or other suitable material. The end of the
plunger from a to b is reduced in diameter, and is corrugated as shown, and
the interior of the die B is correspondingly shaped and corrugated. The
capsule may be manufactured in the ordinary well-known manner up to the
operation of corrugating the end thereof. To accomplish this it is simply.
necessary to transfer the capsule to the end of the corrugated plunger A, and
to force it thereby into the corrugated die B. This operation may either be
effected in the capsule-making machine, or by hand, as found most convenient.
The top of the capsule may bear any desired ornamental or other device or
trade mark, and may be colored or left plain according to taste.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
5 Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in
part recited Letters Patent is, the manufacture of metallic capsules intended
for bottles having protruding corks or stoppers, with longitudinal corrugations

page_text: or indentations in that portion of their surface which extends. from the apex
of the cork to the rim of the bottle.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Betts, have to this my Specifi
cation hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twelfth day of February,
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.