New or Improved Means for Preventing the Fraudulent Refilling of Bottles or like Receptacles for Fluids.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 13th June, 1895
Complete Specification Left, 11th Mar., 1896-Accepted, 11th Apr., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Means for Preventing the Fraudulent Refilling of
Bottles or like Receptacles for Fluids.
I, JOSEPH THACHER CLARKE, of College Terrace, Harrow, Middlesex,
Architect, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its purpose to provide a bottle, or like receptacle for
fluids, which is of such a conformation that it, after having once been emptied
of its original contents, shall be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to refill.
Such bottles are intended to prevent the fraudulent practice of introducing
through the customary open neck an imitation intended to be palmed off as the
original fluid.
'
My invention is based upon the formation of the outlet of the bottle as a
number of small apertures, instead of as the customary large and single neck
orifice. The multiplicity of these apertures, which are pierced around and near the
top of the otherwise closed neck, permits a sufficient flow or drip of the contained
fluid (which may be originally introduced by an alternating vacuum and supply
pump, or by any other suitable means); while their minuteness and location
effectually prevent the inpouring of any replacing fluid, in the absence of elaborate
and expensive appliances for this purpose.
In carrying my invention into practice I preferably pierce the small apertures
in a circle around the vertical surface and near the upper end of a protruding
cylindrical cap or thimble which occupies the usual neck opening, and which may
be conveniently and inconspicuously covered, in stoppering, by a hollow bored
cork or equivalent capsule. The said perforated cap or thimble may be made
of one piece with the bottle itself, (thus rendering it necessary for the filler of
the original liquid to employ special means, such as the alternating pump above
mentioned); or it may be applied to the bottle as a separate adjunct, formed of
glass, porcelain, or other suitable material, after the receptacle has been filled in
the usual way, and be thereupon so securely cemented or otherwise sealed into
its seat in the bottle neck that it is not liable to be removed for the purpose
of fraudulent refilling.
Dated this 13th day of June 1895.
New or Improved Means for Preventing the Fraudulent Refilling of
Bottles or like Receptacles for Fluids. ·
I, JOSEPH THACHER CLARKE, of 3 College Terrace, Harrow, Middlesex,
Architect, 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 has for its purpose to provide a bottle, or like receptacle for

page_text: fluids, which is of such a conformation that it, after having once been emptied of
its original contents, shall be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to refill.
Such bottles are intended to prevent the fraudulent practice of introducing,
through the customary open neck, an imitation intended to be palmed off as the
original fluid.
My invention is based upon the formation of the outlet of the bottle as a
number of small apertures, instead of as the customary large and single neck
orifice. The multiplicity of these apertures, which are pierced around and near
the top of the otherwise closed neck, permits a sufficient flow or drip of the
contained fluid (which may be originally introduced by an alternating vacuum and
supply pump, or by any other suitable means); while their minuteness and location
effectually prevent the inpouring of any replacing fluid, in the absence of elaborate
and expensive appliances for this purpose.
In carrying my invention into practice, I preferably pierce the small apertures
in a circle around the vertical surface and near the upper end of a protruding
cylindrical cap or thimble which occupies the usual neck opening, and which may
be conveniently and inconspicuously covered, in stoppering, by a hollow-bored cork
or equivalent capsule. The said perforated cap or thimble may be made of one
piece with the bottle itself, (thus rendering it necessary for the filler of the original
liquid to employ special means, such as the alternating pump above mentioned);
or it may be applied to the bottle as a separate adjunct, formed of glass, porcelain,
or other suitable material, after the receptacle has been filled in the usual way, and
be thereupon so securely cemented or otherwise sealed into its seat in the bottle
neck, that it is not liable to be removed for the purpose of fraudulent refilling.
Figure 1 represents, in axial section, the top of a bottle provided with means for
preventing refilling, in accordance with my invention. In this form the ordinary
necking, 1, of a bottle or like receptacle for fluids, is prolonged above the
customary lip, 2, by a projecting thimble, 3, preferably of cylindrical shape,
which is circumferentially perforated, near its extremity, by a number of small
apertures, 4, 4. Through these apertures the liquid contained in the bottle will
readily flow out, air finding access through the holes above, while the liquid
trickles through the holes below, as the bottle is tilted in the act of pouring.
It is, on the other hand, excessively difficult to introduce fluids into the bottle
through these small apertures: even submersion of the entire receptacle causing
but a slow and inconsiderable inflow.
The projecting thimble, 3, may be conveniently covered, in stoppering, by a
hollow-bored cork, 5, or other equivalent capsule, and this may be sealed in any of
the various ways at present in usage, as for instance, by wax, or strips of
gummed paper, applied around the junction between the bored cork, 5, and
the lip, 2.
Figure 2 represents, likewise in axial section, a form of my invention in which the
projecting thimble, 3, provided as before explained with the small apertures, 4, 4,
is manufactured in a separate piece from the bottle neck, 1. In this case the
thimble, 3, is securely fixed into its seat in the neck, 1, by any suitable insoluble
cement, in such wise that, once attached, it is not liable to be removed for the
purpose of fraudulent refilling.
My improved means for preventing the refilling of bottles, or like receptacles
for fluids, may be employed conjointly, without departing from the spirit of this
invention, with other devices adapted to secure its efficacy. For example, the
neck of the bottle may be provided with a funnel-shaped constriction, in which
a glass ball or the like may be made to play as a valve, acting by gravity in a
manner similar to that generally adopted for the sealing of bottles for the
reception of aerated liquids. This ball, by falling back upon its seat, and thus
closing the neck of the bottle, will tend to render refilling by immersion still
more difficult. Such supplementary devices form, however, no part of my present
invention, and are not included within its claims.

page_text: 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 :
The improved means for preventing the refilling of bottles, or like receptacles
for fluids, consisting of the combination with the bottle neck, 1, of the thimble, 3,
provided with the circumferential apertures, 4, 4, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
Dated this 11th day of March 1896.