IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO COCKS FOR CASKS AND OTHER LIKE RECEPTACLES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francisco Prudencio, Frank Cooper, and Joseph
Francis Cotterell, all of the City of Bath, Aerated Water Manufacturers,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES, WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO COCKS FOR CASKS AND OTHER LIKE
RECEPTACLES."
Sealed the 15th April 1868, and dated the 18th October 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francisco Prudencio,
Frank Cooper, and Joseph Francis Cotterell at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 18th October
1867.
We, FRANCISCO PRUDENCIO, FRANK COOPER, and JOSEPH FRANCIS
COTTERELL, all of the City of Bath, Aerated Water Manufacturers, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS
FOR BOTTLES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO COCKS FOR CASKS AND
OTHER LIKE RECEPTACLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to that class of stoppers for bottles and other like
receptacles which are self-closing, and in which the valve or stopper itself is
contained inside the bottle or other receptacles; the same arrangement may
be used as a self-closing cock for casks and similar vessels.
According to our Invention we construct a self-closing stopper which does
not necessitate any special form of bottle neck, but may be applied to ordinary
bottles. Our improved stopper cousists of a tube of glas, porcelain, metal,

page_text: or other suitable material, which is free to slide through a collar or cap which
rests upon the top of the neck, an india-rubber or other packing ring serving
to keep the tube in a central position as well as to prevent any leakage at
that part. The inner end of this sliding tube carries a disc valve of india-
rubber or other suitable material, which closes against the inner shoulder of
the neck of the bottle or against the inside of the aperture in a cask, a helical
spring surrounding the outer portion of the tube, and confined between the
collar and a cap or dome on the extreme outer end of the sliding tube, serving
in conjunction with the internal pressure to keep the valve perfectly tight.
When it is required to draw off the contents of the vessel it is simply necessary
to depress the dome or cap, whereupon the valve is opened, and the liquid
passes through one or more lateral openings in the tube, and is discharged at
the outer end thereof.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Francisco Prudencio, Frank Cooper, and Joseph
Francis Cotterell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th April
1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FRANCISCO
PRUDENCIO, FRANK COOPER, and JOSEPH FRANCIS COTTERELL, all of the City
of Bath, Aerated Water Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Francisco Prudencio, Frank Cooper, and Joseph Francis Cotterell,
Her special license that we, the said Francisco Prudencio, Frank Cooper,
and Joseph Francis Cotterell, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said Francisco Prudencio, Frank Cooper, and
Joseph Francis Cotterell, our executors, administrators, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO
COCKS FOR CASKS AND OTHER LIKE RECEPTACLES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Francisco Prudencio, Frank Cooper, and Joseph

page_text: Francis Cotterell, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us,:
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 we, the said Francisco Prudencio, Frank
Cooper, and Joseph Francis Cotterell, do hereby declare the nature of our
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 :-
Our said Invention relates to that class of stoppers for bottles and other
like receptacles which are self-closing, and in which the valve or stopper
itself is contained inside the bottle or other receptacle; the same arrange-
ment may be used as a self-acting cock for casks and similar vessels.'
According to our Invention we construct a self-closing stopper which does
not necessitate any special form of neck, but may be applied to ordinary
bottles. Our improved stopper consists of a tube of metal or other suitable
material, which is free to slide through a metal or other collar which rests
on the top of the neck of the bottle or end of the cock, an india-rubber or
other packing ring serving to keep the tube in a central position, as well as
to prevent any leakage at that part. The inner end of this sliding tube carries
a disc valve of india-rubber or other suitable material, which closes against
the inner shoulder of the neck of the bottle, or against the inside of the
aperture in the case of a cock. A helical spring surrounding the outer portion
of the tube, and confined between the collar and a cap or dome on the
extreme outer end of the sliding tube serves in conjunction with the internal
pressure to keep the valve perfectly tight. When it is required to draw off
the contents of the bottle or vessel it is simply necessary to depress or force
inwards the dome or cap, whereupon the valve is opened, and the liquid passes
through the tube and is discharged at the outer end thereof.
And in order that our said Invention may be fully understood we shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall
refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a side elevation of our improved self-
closing stopper as applied to a bottle; Figure 2 is a vertical section of the
same; and Figure 3 is a similar section showing the stopper open.

page_text: A is a tube of metal or other suitable material capable of sliding freely in
a metal or other collar or washer B, which rests upon the india-rubber packing
ring C fitting inside the neck of the bottle, and serving as a guide for keeping
the tube A central. To the lower or inner end of the tube. A there is secured
a disc valve D of india-rubber or other suitable material. This valve is so
constructed as to admit of it being inserted with comparative ease into the
bottle neck, whilst it offers considerable resistance to its withdrawal again. To
obtain this result the valve is provided with an internal stiffening disc a of
metal or other stout material, which should be so imbedded in the india-
rubber of the valve as to leave a greater thickness of the india-rubber above
the disc than below it, as is clearly shown in the sectional view, Figure 2.
E is a helical spring which surrounds the tube A, and tends to keep it
elevated by pressing against the under side of the cap or dome F, which is
fixed on to the upper end of the tube, and encloses or surrounds the outside
of the neck of the bottle. This cap may be more or less ornamented, and
may be composed of metal, hard india-rubber, or any other suitable material.
In order to discharge the contents of the bottle it is simply necessary to
depress the cap or dome F, when the spring E will be compressed and the
tube A and valve D lowered, the liquid being then free to escape through the
tube A, as shown in Figure 3. On releasing the cap F the valve will instantly
close upon the inner shoulder or orifice of the bottle neck, and preserve
the remainder of the liquid in the bottle, if there be any left, perfectly air-tight.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, we would observe in conclusion that what we consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the berein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, the combination of the sliding tube A,
valve D spring E, and external dome or cap F, arranged an operating sub-
stantially as and for the purpose herein-before described and illustrated by the
annexed Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Francis Cotterell, on behalf of
myself and the said Francisco Prudencio and Frank Cooper, have to
this our Specification set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of
April, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
J. FRANCIS COTTERELL. (L.S.)