AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR STOPPERING BOTTLES
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Georges Richards at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 14th February 1878. A communication from
abroad by Louis Teissier, of Limoges, France.
"
GEORGES RICHARDS, of Paris, France, at present residing at 8, Southampton
Buildings, London. AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR STOPPERING BOTTLES." [A
communication from abroad by Louis Teissier, of Limoges, France.]
This Invention relates to an improved bottle stoppering apparatus, which when
placed in the neck of a bottle will prevent the entrance of any liquid or other
substance into the said bottle, although the contents of the bottle may be readily
poured out as required.
The said apparatus is so fixed in the neck of the bottle to which it is applied that
it cannot be withdrawn or removed therefrom without breaking the bottle, and so
destroying it; and the said Invention is designed to provide simple and effectual
means for preventing fraud of various kinds, which may be readily committed with
respect to the contents of any bottles not provided with such an apparatus.
With all methods hitherto used of stoppering bottles there has been no guarantee
against the fraudulent practice known to exist of substituting an inferior liquid for the
superior one which the bottle originally contained, and thus leading a purchaser to
suppose that he is purchasing a well known and genuine article instead of the
inferior one which had been fraudulently substituted for it.
It is well known that this fraudulent practice is carried on to a large extent, and
that bottles bearing the labels or other distinctive marks of manufacturers who
have obtained a reputation for producing wines, spirits, liquers, chemical mixtures,
and the like are filled with inferior liquids, and then circulated and sold as con-
taining the genuine liquid which they originally contained.
By practising the said Invention this fraud is rendered impossible, for the reason
that when once the said apparatus has been inserted in its place in the neck of the
bottle, which would be done after the liquid has been put in the said stoppering
apparatus, cannot possibly be withdrawn or removed without breaking the bottle,
and thereby rendering the latter unfit to be used again, and therefore not capable of
being filled with an inferior article and circulated as above described. It is
Pavice A7

page_text: therefore obvious that the said Invention provides absolute protection for manu-
facturers and consumers against the possibility of the bottles that have been sent
out filled with the genuine liquid being re-used by fraudulent imitators.
It will also be seen that trade marks belonging to manufacturers, and placed upon
bottles fitted with the said improved stoppering apparatus, will thus have an
additional protection, and that consumers who have once ascertained the particular
mark used by the manufacturer whose articles they wish to purchase may always
be assured that they will obtain what they desire without any of the uncertainty
now existing.
A further advantage resulting from the use of the said Invention consists in the
fact that any person abstracting a portion of the contents of a bottle cannot intro-
duce anything into the said bottle, such for instance as water, to replace what they
have taken out, the said apparatus being so constructed that by the mere fact of
liquid being poured into the neck of the bottle the said apparatus closes auto-
matically, and thus renders it impossible to introduce anything.
It follows that it is impossible for any one to introduce into a bottle so protected
any substance injurious to health.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I provide a cylinder or circular
hollow case, which is designed to fit into the neck of a bottle, and which is so
constructed as to be capable of being inserted far enough in the said neck to leave
room above the upper part of the said cylinder for the insertion within the portion
of the neck above the said cylinder of an ordinary cork or other closing device. I
prefer to construct the said cylinder of glass, porcelain, or similar material. The
sizes of the said cylinder will vary to suit the bottles to which they are to be
adapted. The said case or cylinder is quite open at the bottom, and at the top
there is a head or cover through which there is a small circular aperture leading to
the interior of the said cylinder. Within the said cylinder I fit a smaller cylinder
open at both ends, and with a piece carried across the lower opening to serve as a
bearing for a small stem which passes through the said piece. To the upper end of
this stem is attached a circular disc, which forms a valve whose seat is in the upper
part of the said interior cylinder. This valve is so arrranged that when the bottle
is standing the valve is kept in its seat by the force of gravity, but when the bottle
is turned over for pouring out some of the contents the pressure of the same acting
on the lower part of the said valve will carry the latter forward, and thus the
contents of the bottle flow out readily from the bottle through the said interior
cylinder. Above the latter I fit a device consisting of two parallel circular discs,
united by means of a small pipe or tube placed at right angles to the planes of the
said discs. These three parts are united and form one piece. This device is so
placed that one of its discs is inside the said outer cylinder or case, and parallel to
the said valve; the small tube connecting the two discs passes through the aforesaid
circular aperture in the cover or head of the said outer cylinder, and the other said
disc is outside the said outer cylinder.
The lower or inner end of the said small tube is entirely open, but the upper or
outer end has a head or cover level with the disc, and which is perforated with
several small circular apertures. Between the said lower or inner disc and the
aforesaid valve a space is left for the movement of the said valve when it is forced
from its seat by the pressure of the contents of the bottle in the act of pouring out.
This space forms a chamber within the outer cylinder or case, into which chamber
the liquid passes when being poured out after coming through the said inner
cylinder. The liquid then passes from this chamber through the said small tube
into the upper part of the neck of the bottle (from whence the cork will have been
removed when it is desired to pour out the liquid) and thus escapes at the will of
the person who holds the bottle.
Immediately the bottle is turned up again into a standing position the valve falls
back upon its seat, and any liquid that might be poured inwards through the said
small tube would only have the effect of keeping the said valve more firmly upon
its sent, and thus preventing the ingress of any liquid into the bottle.

page_text: Within the said outer cylinder or case, around the inner surface thereof, grooves
are provided, one being to receive the periphery of the said inner disc, and the other
to receive a flange, provided upon the upper part of the said smaller inner cylinder,
so that these parts may be kept securely in position.
The said inner cylinder valve discs and tube may be constructed of any suitable
metal, or of glass, porcelain, or other suitable material.
I prefer the discs and small tube to be of metal, and the inner cylinder and valve
should also be of metal when the bottle is to contain syrups.
In applying the said improved stoppering apparatus to a bottle, it is pressed
tightly into the neck of the latter and cannot then be withdrawn.