Improvements in Bottle Stoppering Appliances.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Jan., 1895-Accepted, 16th Mar., 1895
[Communicated from abroad by MARTIN LOEWE, of 6, Sigismundstrasse, Berlin,
in the German Empire, Merchant.]
Improvements in Bottle Stoppering Appliances.
I RIDLEY JAMES URQUHART of 57 Barton Arcade, Manchester in the County
of Lancaster, Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
"
This invention relates to the known appliance for forcing in and holding stoppers
on bottles by means of links forming a doubled back knuckle joint, and consists in
improvements of the same having for their object to simplify this kind of appliances
and to render them more easy to manipulate. To attain these objects I pivot the
how or bridle carrying the stopper hereinafter called bridle at its loose ends upon
pivots rivetted to the bow shaped locking lever outside or inside of the same near
to its upper end or fulcrum, or upon pivots formed at the ends of the bridle
entering holes in the locking lever, so that in moving the bridle canting
and binding of the same in the locking lever is obviated, and I lengthen and shape
the locking lever so that the manipulation of the same is rendered much casier and
the appearance of the device improved in consequence of the bridle and locking
lever fitting more closely to the bottle neck than is the case with the appliances
hitherto used where the connection is made by means of coiled or twisted wires.
On the drawings appended hereunto Figs. 1 to 3 show a bottle stoppering
appliance in which the free ends of the bridle a are hinged upon rivets or pivots b
in the forked sides of the locking lever c, Fig. 1 showing the appliance in front view
partly in section, Fig. 2 in side view in the locked position and Fig. 3 in side view
in the opened position.
Figs. 4 and 5 represent the stopper in outside view and section, showing the
passage made therein for the bridle.
The bridle a in this case consists of a flat bar bent into the required form which
by passing through the rectangular opening d in the stopper holds the latter in a
vertical position relatively to the bridle for the purpose of facilitating the placing
of the stopper into the bottle mouth.
When the locking lever c is moved from the position shown in dotted lines on
Fig. 2 in the direction of the arrow towards the neck of the bottle, the rivets
or pivots b on which the bridle oscillates are pulled down and moved beyond
the centre line of the bottle neck or the stoppering appliance, so that the
stopper A with its elastic packing e is firmly drawn into the orifice of the bottle
and forms a tight joint, and an opening of the bottle can be effected only by
lifting the locking lever c off the bottle neck and cannot take place accidentally or
self-actingly.
The advantage of this novel connection of the bridle and locking lever of
stoppering appliances consists as mentioned above not only in producing an
accurate motion of the parts but also in allowing them to lay themselves more
closely to the bottle mouth and neck, than is the case with the stoppering
appliances hitherto used.
Figs. 6, 7 and 8 show a stoppering appliance of the same kind which differs from
that hereinbefore described only by the bridle being formed of a wire of round
section the ends of which are bent inwards to form pivots which enter holes in

page_text: the locking lever c and replace the rivet or pivot 6 in the former arrangement..
The action of this arrangement is the same as that of the former, except that the
stopper has a round bore and can turn round on the wire.
By the comparatively great prolongation of the locking lever e downwards in
both cases the manipulation of the stoppering appliance is not only rendered very
easy compared with those previously used, but the pressure exerted is greater and
the stopper forced more tightly into its seat, whereby the numerous complaints
caused by the hitherto used frequently leaking stoppers are obviated, so that the
new arrangement is much preferable.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. In appliances for stoppering bottles by means of links forming a knuckle
joint the arrangement of connecting the bridle and locking lever by means of pivots
fixed in or formed on one of said parts and entering holes in the other combined
with the formation of said parts in the manner as hereinbefore described and
illustrated by the drawings.
2. In appliances for stoppering bottles the formation of the bridle with
rectangular section and of the stopper with a rectangular passage for the same as
herein before described and illustrated by the drawings.
Dated the 30th day of January 1895
R. J. URQUHART,
57, Barton Arcade, Manchester, and 5, Clayton Square, Liverpool,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent.