IMPROVEMENTS IN CAPS FOR FEEDING BOTTLES FOR INFANTS AND INVALIDS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Thompson, of No. 11, Aldersgate Street,
and James George Ingram, of Wilmer Gardens, Hoxton, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CAPS FOR FEEDING BOTTLES FOR INFANTS
AND INVALIDS."
Sealed the 12th January 1869, and dated the 14th July 1868...
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Thompson.
and James George Ingram at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 14th July 1868.
We, JOHN THOMPSON, of No. 11, Aldersgate Street, and JAMES GEORGE
INGRAM, of Wilmer Gardens, Hoxton, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CAPS FOR FEEDING BOTTLES FOR
INFANTS AND INVALIDS," to be as follows:-
According to this Invention we form the cap of a feeding bottle of
india-rubber moulded to form in dies by pressure and vulcanized, the
sides of the cap being made so that they will slip over and fit closely
against the mouth of a feeding bottle; and in order that the sides of
the cap may not be too elastic we combine cloth or fibre with the india-

page_text: rubber of which the sides are composed; a ring of metal may also be
imbedded in the india-rubber at the top of the cap if desired. In the
centre of the top of the cap a hole is formed, through which is to be
led the flexible tube through which the contents of the bottle are to be
drawn off. A number of fine perforations are also formed through the
cap to allow of air entering the bottle as fluid is withdrawn therefrom.
We prefer to form each of these perforations of three short straight
slits radiating from a point, thus Y, but the perforations may be other-
wise formed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Thompson and James George Ingram in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th January 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
THOMPSON, of No. 11, Aldersgate Street, and JAMES GEORGE INGRAM,
of Wilner Gardens, Hoxton, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most, Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said John Thompson and James George
Ingram, Her special licence that we, the said John Thompson
and James George Ingram, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said John Thompson and James George
Ingram, our 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 CAPS FOR FEEDING BOTTLES FOR INFANTS AND INVALIDS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John Thompson
and James George Ingram, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under
the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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

page_text: 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 John Thompson, on behalf of
myself and the said James George Ingram, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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, that is to say:-
According to this Invention we form the cap of a feeding bottle of
india-rubber moulded to form in dies by pressure and vulcanized, the
sides of the cap being made so that they will slip over and fit closely
against the mouth of a feeding bottle. In the centre of the top of the
cap a hole is formed through which is to be led the flexible tube through
which the contents of the bottle are to be drawn off. A number of
fine perforations are also formed through the cap to allow of air entering
the bottle as fluid is withdrawn therefrom. We prefer to form each of
these perforations of three short straight slits radiating from a point,
thus Y, but the perforations may be otherwise formed.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, we will proceed
to describe more fully the manner of performing the same.
Figure 1 of the Drawing hereunto annexed shows in section the
form to which we prefer to mould the cap of a feeding bottle; a
plan view of the cap is also shown at Figure 2. In Figure 1 is
also shown the ordinary flexible tube a of the feeding bottle passing
through the hole in the centre of the top of the cap; the outer
end of this tube has a nipple attached to it, and the inner end is con-
nected to a length of glass tube which passes down to the bottom
of the interior of the feeding bottle, as is usual. The cap is by preference
formed with a thickened rim around its lower edge, as is shown, to
increase its strength and rigidity. The vulcanizable compound of india-
rubber and sulphur of which the cap is to be formed is moulded to the
shape desired in dies, a disc or lump of the compound being placed in
the hollow die, and the plunger of the die then forced down upon it, by
which the compound is caused to fill all the parts of the mould, and is so
brought to the desired shape. If desired a thin sheet of pure india-
rubber may be placed above the disc or lump of the vulcanizable com-
pound before the plunger is forced down on to it, so that this piece
pure rubber may
form a lining to the inside of the top of the cap,
of

page_text: this being the only part of the cap which comes in contact with the
contents of the feeding bottle. When the cap has thus been moulded
to form it is subjected to heat to effect the vulcanizing process, as is
well understood, and after this has been completed the leech bite or
other perforations are formed through its top; we prefer, as above stated,
to form them of three straight slits radiating from a point; these are
produced in the top of the cap by a cutter or punch suitably formed
for the purpose of three radiating blades of thin steel. When using caps
of india-rubber thus moulded to form in dies and vulcanized we prefer
to form around the neck of the feeding bottle a narrow projecting ring
or beading slightly larger in diameter than the interior diameter of the
cap, so that after the cap has been drawn over this projecting ring the
sides of the cap spring inwards to their original diameter, and so the
cap holds firmly on the mouth of the bottle.
If desired cloth or fibre reduced to a powder may be mixed with the
india-rubber compound from which the cap is moulded; so as to reduce
the elasticity of the cap, but this we do not find to be necessary.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, we would have it understood that what we
claim is, the forming caps of feeding bottles, substantially as herein
described, from vulcanizable india-rubber compounds moulded to form
in dies by pressure, and subsequently vulcanized or changed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Thompson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.