IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES."
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Gilbert Stanton Fleming, of 481, Oxford Street,
in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Gilbert Stanton Fleming
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th June 1872.
I, GILBERT STANTON FLEMING, of 481, Oxford Street, in the County
3 of Middlesex, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention has for its object the adaptation and application to
bottles of a valve stopper in substitution for corks or screwed caps,
which stopper is specially suited for use in bottles or flasks containing
wine, spirits, or other liquids required to be consumed by travellers.
The valve stopper consists of two parts or tubes composed of metal or
other suitable material, one of which is fixed in the neck of the bottle,

page_text: and the other is capable of sliding within and through such fixed part
(in a manner similar to telescope tubes), so as to open and close the
valve or outlet for the contents of the bottle, as required.
When the stopper is made so as to admit of the valve being opened
by sliding the moveable part of the stopper inwards, apertures are
formed near the lower or inner end of such moveable part, which
apertures are closed when they are drawn into and covered by the fixed
part of the stopper, and are opened when they are pushed or slidden
inwards beyond the same, so as to admit of the contents of the bottle
passing out through the said moveable part of the stopper, which is in
the form of an open mouthed tube. The lower or inner end of such
moveable part is closed, and a wash leather disc secured by a metal disc
is applied to this end, in order to make an air-tight closing at the bottom
or inner end of the fixed part of the stopper.
And when the stopper is made so as to admit of the valve being
opened by drawing and sliding the moveable part outwards, suitable
apertures are formed in both parts of the stopper in such relative posi-
tions that when the moveable part is down on the neck of the bottle the
valve is closed by the apertures in each part of the stopper respectively
being covered by the other part, and when the moveable part is drawn
outwards the said apertures in both parts of the stopper are brought
into coincident positions, and the valve is thereby opened.
And the valve may also be opened and closed as required by adapting
the parts to cover and uncover the apertures by turning the inner tube
within the outer fixed one.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Gilbert Stanton Fleming in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th December 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GILBERT
STANTON FLEMING, of 481, Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-

page_text: fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Gilbert Stanton Fleming, Her special
licence that I, the said Gilbert Stanton Fleming, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Gilbert Stanton
Fleming, 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 STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Gilbert Stanton Fleming, 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 Gilbert Stanton Fleming, 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 Drawings here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say) :-
My Invention of "Improvements in Stoppers for Bottles" has for
its object the adaptation and application to bottles of a valve stopper
in substitution for cocks or screwed caps, which stopper is specially
suited for use in bottles or flasks containing wine, spirits, or other liquids
required to be consumed by travellers.
The valve stopper consists of two parts or tubes composed of metal
or other suitable material, one of which is fixed in the neck of the
bottle and the other is capable of being slidden or moved within and
through such fixed part (in a manner similar to telescope tubes), so as
to open and close the valve or outlet for the contents of the bottle, as
required.
The stopper is ordinarily made so as to admit of the valve being
opened by sliding the moveable part of the stopper inwards, in which case
apertures are formed near the lower or inner end of such moveable part,

page_text: which apertures are closed when they are drawn into and covered by the
fixed part of the stopper, and are open when they are slidden or moved
inwards beyond the same, so as to admit of the contents of the bottle
passing out through the said moveable part of the stopper, which is in the
form of an open mouthed tube. The lower or inner end of such moveable
part is closed, and a wash leather disc secured by a metal disc is applied
to this end, in order to make an air-tight closing at the bottom or inner
end of the fixed part of the stopper. And the stopper may also be
made so as to admit the valve being opened by drawing and sliding
the moveable part outwards, in which case apertures might be formed
in both parts of the stopper in such relative positions that when the
moveable part was down on the neck of the bottle the valve would be
closed by the apertures in each part of the stopper respectively being
covered by the other part, and when the moveable part was drawn
outwards the said apertures in both parts of the stopper would be
brought into coincident positions, and the valve would be thereby
opened.
And the valve may also be opened and closed as required by adapting
the parts to cover and uncover the apertures by turning the inner tube
within the outer fixed one.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention, I will proceed
to describe more particularly in what manner the same is to be per-
formed by the aid of the accompanying Drawings, in which are repre-
sented certain convenient forms of stoppers.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a stopper in which the valve is opened by moving
the internal tube downwards or inwards. In this Figure the valve is
shewn as closed; Fig. 2 shews the same stopper with the valve opened;
Fig. 3 is a plan view, and Fig. 4 an edge view of a socket piece
intended to be fitted into the neck of the bottle, and having an internal
screw into which is screwed the outer tube or fixed part of the stopper,
which is shewn detached in elevation and section at Figures 5 and 6;
Fig. 7 shews the inner tube or moveable part of the stopper detached;
Figures 8 and 9 represent a stopper with the valve closed and opened,
in which the outer tube or fixed part is covered with cork to insert and
fix it in the neck of the bottle; Fig. 10 represents a stopper constructed
so as to admit of the contents of the bottle being poured out by inclining

page_text: the neck of the bottle so as to cause the inner tube to drop a sufficient
distance to open the valve; Fig. 11 shews the inner tube detached;
Fig. 12 shews the stopper inclined and the valve thereby opened. In
these several Figures the same letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts.
A is the part of the stopper fixed in the neck of the bottle. This
part consists of a tube open at both ends, and fixed in its position by
its being screwed into a socket, as that shewn detached at Figures 3
and 4, or it may be fixed as required by screwing directly into the neck
of the bottle, or by its being covered with cork as in Figures 8, 9,
and 10. This fixed tube A. has in its interior a female screw a, in which
works a male screw or spiral incline 6 on the exterior of the inner or
moveable tube B (shewn detached at Fig. 7), by means of which the
tube B is moved as required within the fixed tube A. The tube B is
closed at the bottom and open at the top, and it has apertures C in it
near the bottom, through which when the tube is moved so as to carry
the apertures below the tube A, as shewn in Figures 2 and 9, the liquid
may pass from the bottle into the tube B, and be discharged at its mouth
or open top.
Fig. 10 represents a form of stopper which which is intended to admit
of liquid being poured from a bottle without drawing the cork or fixed
stopper. In this case the tube A. covered with cork is inserted in the
neck of the bottle as a fixture, and the tube B (shewn detached at
Fig. 11) slides therein. When the bottle is in an upright position the
flange of the tube B rests on the top of the tube A and closes it, but when
inclined or turned upside down the tube B is caused to drop so as to
uncover the apertures C, C, and allow the liquid from the bottle to pass
out through them; D is a slot formed in the tube B, and there is a fixed
stop on the inside of the tube A, by means of which the tube B is
prevented from dropping farther than is required when the neck of
the bottle is inclined or turned downwards.
Other forms of stoppers may also be made embodying the same
principle or feature of construction as that above described, that is to
say, the combination of two tubes, one fixed and the other moveable
within it in such a manner as to cover and uncover as required apertures
in the inner tube forming a communication between the interior of the
bottle and the open outer and fixed tube.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that what I claim
as of my Invention is,―
First. The construction of bottle stoppers composed of two tubes, one
fixed in the neck of the bottle and the other moveable in the fixed tube,
whereby apertures in the moveable tube are covered and uncovered as
required, so as to close or open a communication between the interior of
the bottle and the open inner and fixed tube, as described.
And secondly. The construction of bottle stoppers with the inner tube
capable of dropping a sufficient distance to uncover its apertures when
the bottle is inclined or turned downwards, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Gilbert Stanton Fleming, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
GILBERT STANTON FLEMING. (L.S.)
Witness,
WILLIAM SPENCE,
8, Quality Court,
Chancery Lane.