AN IMPROVED STOPPER FOR BOTTLES FOR AGDAMED OF BASTATS TrourneATED OROUS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Howard Busby Fox, of Oxton, in the County of
Chester, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED STOPPER FOR BOTTLES FOR
AGDAMED OF BASTATS Trourne "
Sealed the 11th December 1874, and dated the 15th October 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Howard Busby Fox
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th October 1874.
I, HOWARD BUSBY Fox, of Oxton, in the County of Chester, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED STOPPER FOR
BOTTLES FOR CONTAINING AËRATED OR GASEOUS LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to that class of stopper which is fixed from the
inside of the bottle, and held in position by the force of the fixed air or
gas contained in the liquid in the bottle.
A stopper according to this Invention consists of a ball of metal or
other suitable heavy hard substance. This ball is coated over with or
incased in a lining of caoutchouc, india-rubber, cork, or other suitable

page_text: elastic substance. The ball thus made is inserted through the neck of
the bottle into the interior thereof.
The bottle is made with a tapered mouth, so that the ball can be
easily inserted by pressure into the bottle. Immediately below the
tapered mouth and the top of the neck of the bottle there is formed a
slight bevelled or concave provision, so that when the ball is forced by
the fixed air or gas into the neck of the bottle it will find a bearing and
seat against the said provision. Inside the bottle, and at the shoulder
or other suitable part thereof, there is provided a ridge, which may be
made V shaped, or zig-zag, or of corrugated shape, round the shoulder of
the bottle; or a name or trade mark may be placed round the shoulder
and inside the bottle, having the same utility, which is, that upon the
liquid being poured out of the bottle the said V or other shaped provision,
or name, or trade mark serve to hold the ball, and prevent it falling into
the neck of the bottle.
I am aware that india-rubber balls and glass balls have been pre-
viously used before my Invention as stoppers for bottles containing
aërated liquids, and worked from the interior of the bottle, but such
stoppers have heretofore failed in practice, firstly, on account of the
floatiness preventing the bottle from being filled without great difficulty;
secondly, where glass ball stoppers are used it is necessary to provide an
india-rubber or other suitable elastic seat for the said balls to bear on,
which entails additional cost in manufacture. Now my stopper being
formed of a weighty substance entirely covered by an elastic material,
and finding its bearing or seat against a provision in the neck of the
bottle, the difficulty of filling the bottle is overcome, as when the bottle
is full the ball sinks and finds its way into its position in the neck of the
bottle, and is held by the fixed air or gas in the bottle. The objection
also of having to provide an elastic seat in the neck of the bottle is over-
come, inasmuch as my ball stopper is covered with an elastic material,
which adjusts itself and finds its own bearing on the provision provided
for that purpose in the neck of the bottle. Moreover the cost of stoppers
constructed according to my Invention is much less than those now in
use effecting the same result, as the balls can be made at a very small
expense.

page_text: suitable instrument, as will be understood. The ball immediately sinks,
and on pouring the liquid out the ball is held in the shoulder of the
bottle by the provision formed by the V or other shaped ridge, and is
thus prevented from restoppering the bottle during the operation of
5 emptying.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Howard Busby Fox in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HOWARD
BUSBY Fox, of Oxton, in the County of Chester, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing dato the Fifteenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Howard Busby Fox, Her
special licenco that I, the said Howard Busby Fox, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Howard Busby
Fox, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time.
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the torm therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED STOPPER FOR BOTTLES FOR CONTAINING AËRATED OR
Gaseous Liquids,” upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Howard Busby Fox, my exccutors 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 tho said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Howard Busby Fox, 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 :-
This Invention relates to that class of stopper which is fixed from the

page_text: inside of the bottle, and held in position by the force of the fixed air or
gas contained in the liquid in the bottle.
A stopper according to this Invention consists of a ball, being a
sphere of metal, stone, or other heavy hard substance, coated over with
or encased in a lining of caoutchouc, india-rubber, cork, or other suitable
elastic substance. The ball thus made is inserted through the neck of
the bottle into the interior thereof.
The bottle is made with a tapered mouth, so that the ball can be
inserted by pressure into the bottle. Immediately below the tapered
mouth and the top of the neck of the bottle there is formed a slight
bevelled or concave provision, so that when the ball is forced by the
fixed air or gas into the neck of the bottle it will find a bearing and
seat against the said provision. Inside the bottle, and at the shoulder
or other suitable part thereof, there is provided a ridge, which may be
made V shaped, or zig-zag, or of corrugated shape, round the shoulder of
the bottle; or a name or trade mark may be placed round the shoulder
and inside the bottle, having the same utility, which is, that upon the
liquid being poured out of the bottle the said V or other shaped provision,
or name, or trade mark serves to hold the ball, and prevent it falling into
the neck of the bottle.
The before-going being the nature, object, and purposes of this Inven-
tion, I will now proceed to describe in detail how the same may be
carried out into practical effect, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, which are marked with letters and figures of reference
corresponding with those in the following explanation :—
Figures 1 and 2 are sections of stoppers constructed according to this
Invention; Figure 3 is an outside view of same.
Figure 4 is a section of a bottle stoppered with a stopper according to
this Invention.
Figure 5 is a section showing a bottle with stopper constructed 8
according to this Invention, and with rest or ridge for holding stopper
while the bottle is being emptied.
Figure 6 shows the bottle with stopper, and a modification of rest for

page_text: stopper.
BEST CADAVERS Doing made with a squat va
Figure 9 is a modification of bottle with a name indented thereon,
such name forming a rest to the stopper.
Figure 10 shows a stopper constructed according to this Invention in
section when passing into the bottle.
Figure 11 shows the method of driving the stopper into the bottle.
Figure 12 is an instrument for opening bottles stoppered according to
this Invention.
Upon reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3 it will be seen that the stopper
according to this Invention consists of a ball A, being a sphere of metal,
stone, or other suitable heavy hard substance, coated over with or
encased in caoutchouc, india-rubber, cork, or other suitable elastic sub-
stance C, the object being to have an elastic surface O between two hard
substances, namely, the elastic covering C between the sphere B and the
bottle neck D, as shown at Figure 4.
In the construction of the stopper the sphere B is encased in an elastic
cover C, so as to leave the cover by preference loose on the sphere, as
shown at Figure 1, the object being to allow sufficient play as to enable
the ball to be passed through the neck of the bottle, as shown at
Figure 10, also at Figure 11.
The bottle to be used is formed with a tapered mouth E, with a
bevelled or concave provision F, such provision forming a seat for the
stopper when the bottle is charged and the ball in position, as shown at
Figure 4. Inside the bottle, at the shoulder or other suitable part
thereof, I form a ridge or provision to hold the ball in position while the
bottle is being emptied, as will be understood upon reference to the
Drawings.
To insert the ball into the bottle I use a lever H with a plunger I
working in a taper fixed tube J, the tube J being tapered, and the
guage of the tube at its narrowest part being equal to the guage of the
bottle neck. At its upper or widest part the tube is of guage equal to
the diameter of the ball, thus the ball does not tend to break the bottle
when being inserted.
I am aware that india-rubber balls and glass balls have been pre-
viously used before this Invention as stoppers for bottles containing

page_text: aërated liquids, worked from the interior of the bottle, but such
stoppers have heretofore failed in practice, firstly, on account of the
floatiness preventing the bottle from being filled without great difficulty;
secondly, where glass ball stoppers are used it is necessary to provide an
india-rubber or other suitable elastic seat for the said balls to bear on,
which entails additional cost in manufacture. Now my stopper being
formed of a weighty substance entirely covered by an elastic self-
adjusting material, and finding its bearing or seat against a provision in
the neck of the bottle, as before described, the difficulty of filling the
bottle is overcome, as when the bottlo is full the ball finds its way into
the position in the neck of the bottle, and is held by the fixed air or gas
in the bottle. The objection also of having to provide an elastic seat in
the neck of the bottle is overcome, inasmuch as my ball stopper is
covered with an elastic self-adjusting material, and finds its own bearing
on the provision provided for that purpose in the neck of the bottle.
Moreover the cost of stoppers constructed according to my Invention
is much less than those now in use effecting the same result, as the
stoppers can be made at a very small expense.
In pouring out aërated liquids from a bottle stoppered according to
this Invention, the ball is forced from its seat into the bottle by any
suitable instrument, as shown at Figure 12, as will be understood. The
ball immediately sinks, and on pouring the liquid out the ball is held in
the shoulder of the bottle or by the provision formed by the V or other
shaped ridge, and is thus prevented from restoppering the bottle during
the operation of emptying.
Having now described and ascertained the nature, object, and pur-
poses of this Invention, and shown how the same may be carried out into
practical effect, I would have it understood that I do not claim as part
of my Invention the bottles as shown in the Drawings, nor do I claim
as my Invention forming a ridge or rill in the bottle as a rest for the
stopper, neither do I claim a plain solid ball stopper, either of india-
rubber, glass, or other substance, as the same have been long known as
internal stoppers for bottles; but what I claim as my Invention and
secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid is,―
Firstly. A ball stopper, being a sphere of metal, stone, or other
suitable hard heavy substance, coated over with or encased in a cover of
caoutchouc, india-rubber, or other suitable elastic substance, substan-
tially as set forth.

page_text: Secondly. Constructing a ball bottle stopper of a sphere of metal,
stone, or other heavy hard substance which is loosely covered by an
elastic material, so that the same will easily adjust itself into the neck of
the bottle, substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Howard Busby Fox, 'have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.