Improvements in Stoppering Bottles and in the Stoppers Employed for this Purpose.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Aug., 1887.
Specification Accepted, 30th Sept., 1887.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Stoppering Bottles and in the Stoppers Employed
for this Purpose.
We CHARLES LEWIS MOREHOUSE Physician of Putnam Avenue and HENRY
WALTER ROZELL Merchant of 208 Clermont Avenue both in Brooklyn in the County
of Kings State of New York U.S.A. 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 relates to improvements in stoppering bottles and to that class of
bottle stoppers known as internal bottle stoppers which have a bottle closing device
within the bottle which device is held by its buoyancy or by the pressure of gas
against the neck of the bottle or a packing ring in said neck.
Heretofore such stoppers have been made of metal, hard or soft rubber, glass, wood
or the like materials, but have all proved to be more or less objectionable. The
hollow hard rubber balls and glass balls have no good seating and drop off when
the bottle is placed into an ice-chest. The soft rubber has a bad odour and gives
the contents of the bottle a bad taste. Cork has also been used, but the great pressure
of the gas in the bottle is apt to compress the cork out of shape so that it does not
fit and causes a leakage of the gas.
The object of this invention is to provide a new and improved bottle stopper, which
cannot be pressed out of shape, always fits true and snugly and has a perfect seating,
which does not deteriorate in any manner whatever the contents of the bottle and
which at all times floats in the proper position in the liquid in the bottle.
This invention consists essentially in a cork stopper loaded or weighted at its lower
end to float vertically and provided on its upper end with a protective cap of hard
rubber.
In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a cross sectional view of a bottle-head
and our improved bottle stopper therein.
Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of a bottle-head and of a modified construction of
the stopper.

page_text: Figures 3, 4 & are cross sectional elevations of modifications of the stopper shown
in Figure 1.
Figures 6 & 7 are cross sectional views of another modification of our improved
stopper.
Figure 8 is a cross sectional view of the screw casing for the weight shown in
Figure 6.
Figure 9 is a bottom view of the same.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
The stopper A is in all cases made of cork and is provided in its lower end with a
weight to cause it to float vertically in the liquid in the bottle. On the upper end of
the stopper a cap is secured which is advantageously made of hard rubber.
The various slight modifications will now be described. In Figure 1 the hard
rubber cap B embraces the upper end of the cork stopper the upper half of the cap
being beveled or tapered upward externally to fit against the inside bottom bevel of
the soft rubber packing ring D in the annular groove D₁ in the inside of the bottle
neck E. In the bottom of the stopper A the inverted hard rubber casing or cap F is
inserted which is filled with metal F.
In the stopper shown in Figure 3 the cap B does not embrace the upper parts of
the outer sides of the stopper A but rests upon the top of the stopper, the underside
of the cap being slightly beveled upward and inward. The cap B has a downwardly
projecting central stem B₁ the lower end of which rests upon the top of the metal F¹¹
in the cap or casing F said stem serving to hold the cap in place on the stopper.
As shown in Figure 4, the stem B₁ and the bottom casing F are made of a single
piece that is, the bottom casing is a continuation of the stem and is a very advantageous
method of carrying out this invention.
As shown in Figure 5 the cap A2 is forced into the upper end of the cork stopper,
the upper part of the sides of the stopper being tapered or beveled.
As the only metal in the stopper is the weight F' and as this is fully covered by
the hard rubber F, the liquid in the bottle can only come in contact with the cork and
hard rubber and thus cannot be contaminated.
In the construction shown in Figure 2 the weight F1 is held in a metal screw
casing G which is screwed into the bottom of the cork stopper. A layer H of cork
is placed into the bottom part of said casing G to cover the metal F and the bottom
edges of the casing are bent over on the underside of the cork layer to hold the
same in place thus preventing the liquid from coming in contact with the metal
weight Ft.
The casing G is shown in Figure 8 in cross section and a bottom view of the same
in Figure 9. As shown in Figure 2 a rod M. extends from the weight F¹ up through
the cork stopper A and cap B and is provided at its upper end with an eye or ring M¹
to facilitate pulling the stopper up against the packing ring D. A cord or wire N is
secured to the eye M' and fastened around the bottle neck.
As shown in Figure 6 the solid metal weight F' may be screwed into the bottom of
the stopper, and as shown in Figure 7 it may be secured to a rod O screwed into the
bottom of the cork stopper.
A sheet metal cap Pas shown in Figure 2 or a cardboard disk R as shewn in
Figure 1 may be placed into the bottle mouth to prevent dirt or other matter
accumulating on the top of the stopper.
The stoppers are pressed by the great gas pressure in the bottles against the rubber
ring D and are thus held in place. If the stoppers were not provided with the hard
rubber top caps the great pressure in the bottles would force the edge of the rubber
ring D into the sides of the upper part of the cork and render the stoppers useless
after a short time and it is to prevent this that said caps are provided.
To open the bottle it is only necessary to force down the stopper by means of a
suitable implement. In case the bottle is filled with a non-effervescent liquid such as
beer the stopper must be pulled up against its seat where it remains until forced down.
For this reason the construction shown in Figure 2 has been provided.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we claim is :-
1. A bottle stopper composed of a cork stopper provided with a hard rubber cap
substantially as set forth.
2. The combination with a bottle having a rubber ring on the inside of its neck of
a cork stopper having a hard rubber cap substantially as herein shown and described.
3. The combination, with a cork stopper, of a weighted plug in the lower end of
the same and a hard rubber cap on the upper end of the said stopper substantially as
herein shown and described.
4. The combination with a cork stopper, of a rubber casing in the bottom of the
same and a metal weight in said casing substantially as herein shown and described.
5. The combination with a cork stopper provided on its upper end with a hard
rubber cap, of a rubber casing in the bottom of the stopper, and a metal weight in
said bottom casing substantially as shown and described.
6. The combination with a cork, of a hard rubber cap on the top of the same which
cap has a stem projecting downward into the cork stopper substantially as herein
shown and described.
7. The combination with a cork stopper, of a hard rubber cap on the same which
cap has a downwardly projecting hollow stem closed at its lower end, and of a metal
weight in the lower end of said stem substantially as herein shown and described.
8. The combination with a cork stopper of a cap on the top of the same, a weight
in the lower end of the stopper, and a rod extending from said weight up through the
stopper and cap, substantially as herein shown and described.
9. The combination with a cork stopper, of a rubber cap on the top of the same a
metal casing screwed in the bottom of the stopper, a metal weight in the said casing
and a piece of cork in the casing and below the metal weight substantially as herein
shown and described.
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