AN IMPROVED STOPPER FOR OIL CANS AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1884

page_text: I HENRY WEBSTER of Long Row Town Street in Horsforth in the county of
York Tinner do hereby declare the nature of my invention for AN IMPROVED
STOPPER FOR OIL CANS AND OTHER PURPOSES and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention is more particularly designed in reference to and relates to that
part of an Oil Can through which the oil is poured into the can and to the method
employed for closing the aperture through which the oil is poured in. But the
invention is equally applicable to and I claim the use thereof in connection with
oil lamps bottles casks barrels, cisterns and other articles of any material and
whatever their size or use wherein a stopper is required.
:
My invention consists in employing a hollow or funnel shaped stopper which
stopper being screwed on its outer circumference screws into a ring or neck fitted
(in the case of an oil can) into the top of the can. The oil is supplied through the
hollow part of the stopper and in order to close the aperture through which the oil
is poured the stopper screws down upon a plate or disc fixed underneath it and
inside the can. When the stopper is screwed back the aperture is open but when
it is screwed up the aperture is closed and all ingress or egress is thereby prevented.
The stopper with its accompanying parts may be made of any required size.
When I say that the stopper and the ring or neck in which it works are screwed
I do not mean to confine myself to the ordinary threaded screw shown in my
drawings (figures 1. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 and 10) nor to screws of any particular pitch or
size of thread nor to a screw the thread of which should go the whole circumference
of the stopper.
A short inclined plane or twisting slide terminating with a
straight stopping place may be used instead of the all round screw or if preferred
the parts A and B may be used without any screw or its equivalent and be plain
and smooth on their contact surfaces and in that case the stopper A may be held
in position by means of a spring and a spring may also be used in connection with
the screwed stopper for the purpose of retaining it in its closed position. The
accompanying drawing will more fully illustrate and explain the nature of
invention and the manner in which it is to be performed. The same letters in the
different figures refer to the same parts. Figure 1 is a side section of an oil can
fitted with my stopper. A is the stopper made of brass or other suitable material
B is a ring or neck made also of brass or other suitable material which is soldered
my

page_text: into the top of the can and is screwed on the inside so as to fit upon and allow A
to work within it. C is the plate or disc which may be made of tin brass or other
material against or upon which the stopper A screws tightly down. The diameter
of the plate or disc must be equal to or somewhat larger in size than that of the
stopper. The plate or disc may be either flat as shewn in figure 4 or have bevilled
sides so made as that the upper surface shall fit within the stopper as shewn in
figure 5 or be rounded upon its upper side as shown in figure 6. If the forms
shewn in figure 5 or figure 6 be used the stopper A and the disc C may be bedded
or fitted to each other in the manner usual in valve seats stopcocks and similar
things. To prevent the stopper being screwed out of the can I use a collar round
its lower end as shewn in figures 1. 4. 5. 6. 9 and 10 or else a stop pin as shown in
figures 7 and 8 or similar contrivance. Figure 2 is a plan of an oil can fitted with
my stopper. Figure 3 is a sectional plan of a can across the line D. E. in figure 1
showing one method of fixing the plate or disc C.-F. F. being strips of tin or iron
or pieces of wire. Another method of fixing the plate or disc is to suspend it from
the ring or neck B by wire bearers or strips of suitable metal as shown at G in
figures 7 and 8. Other methods of suspending the plate or disc are shewn in
figures 9 and 10. In figure 9 the suspending wires G are bent upward underneath
the plate or disc so as to form a sort of spring and give some elasticity or power of
adaptation to the surface of the plate or disc C when brought into contact with
the stopper A. In figure 10 I shew the same method of adaptation in combination
with a pad or cushion in the plate or disc. In this latter method of construction
I by preference form the plate or disc with two metallic surfaces and the pad or
cushion which may be of leather or any suitable material is placed between them.
But I do not confine myself to this method of construction. The upper surface
may be dispensed with and the stopper allowed to screw down upon and in contact
with the pad or cushion. A padding ring of suitable material or any equivalent
method may also be employed as shown in figures 9 and 10 between the flange of
the stopper A and the rim of the neck B to prevent any possible escape of oil or
other fluid in case of wearing away of or of any looseness between the contact
parts of A and B.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
1 The use of a hollow screw stopper in combination with the plate or disc
substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore described and as shewn in
the accompanying drawing.
2 The use of a hollow stopper in combination with a plate or disc actuated or
held in position by means of a screw or some equivalent of a screw or
by means of a spring substantially as and for the purpose berein before
described.
3. The application and use of any such stopper to and in connection with Oil
cans, Oil lamps, bottles, casks, barrels cisterns and other articles for the
purposes and in the manner herein before described or similar thereto.
Dated this Sixth day of February One thousand eight hundred and eighty
four