AN IMPROVED APPARATUS OR VALVE. SUITABLE FOR THE ADMISSION OF AIR TO PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION TO FEEDING BOTTLES, AND FOR OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas George Fonnercau Dolby, of Forest Gate,
in the County of Essex, Goldsmith, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED APPARATUS OR VALVE. SUITABLE FOR THE ADMISSION OF AIR TO
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas George Fon-
nereau Dolby at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
bis Petition, on the 13th May 1869.
I, THOMAS GEORGE FONNEREAU DOLBY, of Forest Gate, in the
County of Essex, Goldsmith, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS OR VALVE SUITABLE FOR THE AD-
MISSION OF AIR TO FEEDING BOTTLES, AND FOR OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
My improved apparatus or valve consists of a tapered or conical piece
in metal or other suitable material, and of a piece of sheet or moulded

page_text: india-rubber or other elastic material fitted upon the said tapered or
conical piece, so that when the said piece of india-rubber is at the
thicker end of the tapered piece the valve is closed, and when the piece
of india-rubber is at the thinner end the valve is opened. The thin end
of the tapered picce may have a shoulder thereon to prevent the india-
rubber falling off. The tapered piece when in action is held firm, and
the india-rubber piece is held at or near its edge so as to assist in the
action of the valve, as hereafter explained.
The construction and action of the valve will be fully understood by
the following description of one way in which it may be applied to a
feeding bottle-I take a cone or taper in metal with a hole through
the centre for the ordinary tube to pass through. I fix this cone inside
a metallic screw cap, the larger end of the cone being outwards. I take
a piece of sheet india-rubber the diameter of the top of the neck of the
bottle, and with a hole in the centre of such size that it fits tightly
towards the thick end of the cone and loosely towards the thin end
thereof. I place the rubber upon the cone inside the cap, pierce an
air hole in the cap, and finally screw the cap on the bottle upon the
edges of the india-rubber. Upon drawing or sucking from the bottle the
pressure of the atmosphere forces the india-rubber down the cone to a
part sufficiently small to allow air to pass through between the cone and
the rubber; upon ceasing to draw the india-rubber from its own elasticity:
rises up the cone and prevents any liquid from the bottle passing through
between them.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas George Fonnereau Dolby in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 13th November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
GEORGE FONNEREAU DOLBY, of Forest Gate, in the County of Essex,
Goldsmith, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Thomas George Fonnereau Dolby, Her special licence
that I, the said Thomas George Fonnercau Dolby, my executors, nd-
ministrators, and assigns, or surch others as I, the said Thomas George.
Fonnereau Dolby, íny 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 "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS OR VALVE SUITABLE FOR THE ADMISSION OF AIR
TO FEEDING BOTTLES, AND FOR OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas George Fonnercau Dolby, 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 Thomas George Fonnereau Dolby,
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 thereof, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My improved apparatus or valve consists of a tapered or conical piece
in metal or other suitable material, and of a piece of sheet or moulded
india-rubber or other clastic material fitted upon the said tapered or
conical piece, so that when the said piece of india-rubber is at the thicker
end of the tapered piece the valve is closed, and when the piece of india-
rubber is at the thinner end the valve is opened. The thin end of the
tapered piece may have a shoulder thercou to prevent the india-rubber
falling off. The tapered piece when in action is held firm, and the india-
rubber piece is held at or near its edge so as to assist in the action of
the valve, as herein after explained.
The construction and action of the valve will be fully understood by
the following description of the said valve itself, and of some of the

page_text: various applications thereof, and by the annexed Drawings which
illustrate the same, similar letters of reference indicating similar, parts
in each of the Figures.
a is
Figure 1 represents my improved valve in its most simple form.
a cone or tapered piece of metal or other suitable substance fixed
on a valve seating k with its base or thicker end towards the pipe or
orifice which the valve is intended to close; d is a disc of vulcanized
india-rubber or other suitable elastic material with a hole in the centre
large enough to fit upon the cone, so that when the said piece of india-
rubber or other clastic material is near the thicker part or base of the
cone the valve is closed, and as it is drawn towards the thinner end of
the said cone the valve opens.
Figure 2 is a vertical section showing one way in which it may
be applied to a feeding bottle. I form the cone or taper a with
a hole through the centre for the ordinary tube b to pass through,
as shown. I fix this cone inside a metallic screw cap c, the larger
end of the cone being outwards. I take a piece of sheet india-
rubber d the diameter of the top of the neck of the bottle, and
with a hole in the centre of such size that it fits tightly towards the
thick end of the cone a and loosely towards the thin end thereof. I
place the rubber upon the cone, as shown, inside the cap c, pierce one or
more air holes in the cap, and finally screw the cap on the bottle upon
the edges of the india-rubber, as seen in the Figure. Upon drawing or
sucking from the bottle the pressure of the atmosphere acting through
the air holes in the cap c forces the india-rubber d down the cone a, as
shown by dotted lines, to a part sufficiently small to allow air to pass
through between the cone and the rubber. Upon ceasing to draw the
india-rubber from its own elasticity rises up the cone and prevents any
liquid from the bottle passing through between them. j is a shoulder at
the inner end of the cone to keep the disc d in place; this shoulder
may, however, be dispensed with.
In applying my improved valve to feeding bottles I do not limit
myself to the employment of° screw caps, whether of metal or other
material, as caps of other form may be employed if desired; and I may
further remark that I do not claim the employment of screw caps for
feeding bottles, because the manufacture of screw caps of metal, glass,
porcelain, and earthenware for the purpose of covering bottles is

page_text: described in the Specification of Jaques and Fanshawe's Patent of 18th
July 1861, No. 1813, and the manufacture of screw caps or capsules of
soft metal for the same purpose is described in the Specification of
Betts' Patent of 15th January 1859, "No. 133; nor do I claim the
employment of a disc or washer of india-rubber or other elastic material
to make a tight joint between a cap formed with a screw or equivalent
and the rim of a bottle neck, because the employment of an elastic
washer for this purpose is described in the Specification of Fox's Patent
of 9th June 1865, No. 1570, and in a Provisional Specification filed by
Francis Lanc on the 10th November 1864, No. 2787; nor do I claim
as part of my present Invention the employment generally of a self-
acting india-rubber valve in the cap of a feeding bottle, as such employ-
ment is described in the Specification of a Patent granted to me on the
20th January 1868, No. 192.
Figure 3 represents in vertical section on an enlarged scale the
manner in which my improved valve may be applied to the lower end of
the tube of a feeding bottle for controlling the passage of the food. My
valve in this form may also be applied to enemas, spray producers,
and other like articles. a is the cone formed on a plate , which is
pierced with holes; d is the rubber disc held between the plate k and a
part i, to which the ordinary glass tube is connected. The plate k is
flanged, as shown, and the flange is burnished over upon the part i, as
shown, so as to keep the whole in place.
Figures 4 and 5 represent the manner in which my improved valve
may be applied to a breast exhauster. For this purpose the valve is
fitted in a box e, interposed between two parts of the tube b, which leads
from the exhauster f to the teat or mouth picce g. This valve box e is
shown in section on an enlarged scale in Figure 5; it consists of two
parts h, i, the part i fitting into the part 1, the edges of which are
burnished over, or which may be screwed upon the part i after the valve
has been inserted. The valve is composed as before of a rigid cone a and
a disc of india-rubber d with a hole in the centre to fit upon the cone. The
cone is formed on a metallic disc k provided with one or more air holes,
and this disc and the rubber disc d are held at their edges between
the edges of the part i of the box and the inner face of the part h, as
seen in the Figure. When suction is applied to the tube & the disc d
rises on the cone a and air passes through the air holes in the disc k

page_text: and through the central aperture of the disc d; when the suction ceases
the disc d returns by its own clasticity to its seat, and the valve is thus
closed.
Figure 6 represents in vertical section the application of my
improved valve to a vent peg. The vent peg consists of two parts h, i,
which are screwed together and form a box to contain the valve.
The valve is constructed in the same manner as that shown in
Figures 1 and 5, d being the rubber disc, and a the cone formed on a
metal disc, which has one or more air holes pierced therein; the top
of the portion i is also formed with one or more air holes, while the
portionis tubular to allow air to pass to the cask or other vessel to
which the vent peg is applied.
Figure 7 represents in section the application of my improved valve
to the nozzle or mouth piece of an air cushion. d is the rubber disc,
held at its edges between two pieces h, i, which are screwed to each other,
and a is the cone carried on the lower end of a piece l, which screws
into the piece. The piece has holes at the side for the passage of air,
is indicated by the arrows. The piece is fitted hermetically to the
corner or other part of the air cushion. In order to inflate the cushion
it is only necessary to blow into the piece 7, and the current of air forcing
the rubber disc d down the cone will pass into the cushion; on ceasing
to blow the disc d will return to position, so that no air can escape.
When it is desired to force the air from the cushion the piece / must be
partly unscrewed so as to draw the cone a from the disc d.
My improved valve can be applied with great advantage to inhalers.
The valve which communicates between the vase and the mouth piece
of these articles, and the valve communicating between the mouth
piece and the atmosphere, may both be made according to my
Invention.
The mode of applying my improved valve to other purposes than
those herein-before described will be readily understood without further
explanation.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, the
improved valve consisting of a tapered or conical piece and a piece or
disc of india-rubber or other suitable elastic material fitted upon the said

page_text: tapered or conical piece, substantially as herein-before described, so that
the two pieces act in the manner herein-before explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas George Fonnercau Dolby,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of
November Qne thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
J. C. MEWBURN,
Patent Agent,
172, Fleet Street,
London,
T. G. F. DOLBY. (L.S.)