AN IMPROVED LIQUID MEASURE
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Payne, of Wiveliscombe, in the County
of Somerset, Ironmonger, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED LIQUID
MEASURE."
Sealed the 16th February 1875, and dated the 17th August 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Payne at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th August 1874.
I, WILLIAM PAYNE, of Wiveliscombe, in the County of Somerset,
Ironmonger, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED LIQUID MEASURE," to be as follows, that is to say:-
The object of this Invention is to obviate the use of funnels when
pouring liquids into narrow or small necked vessels, thereby effecting
much saving of time and preventing waste.
The improved measure in form is somewhat like an ordinary water
can, and has a spout to insert into bottles, jars, cans, and other vessels
with small necks. The spout is tapered (like the tail of an ordinary
funnel) from the angle to the nose, and is made with a groove along the
same place to allow the passage of air,

page_text: I also provide a guard projecting in a sloping direction or angle from
the opposite side of the covered part of the measure, which guard serves
to prevent the frothing over and otherwise wasting of the contents,
and at the same time facilitates the rapid emptying of the liquid into a
large mouthed vessel when the spout is not wanted.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Payne in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th February 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PAYNE, of Wiveliscombe, in the County of Somerset, Ironmonger, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Payne, Her special license
that I, the said William Payne, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Payne, my exccutors,
administrators, or 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 " AN IMPROVED
LIQUID MEASURE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Payne, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Payne, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
-

page_text: indented groove for the purpose of freely allowing the air within tho
vessel that is being filled to escape as the fluid is poured in (in the act
of discharging the measure).
Although I have found the airway underneath the delivery pipe (as
here shown) to answer well, nevertheless the same object may be
attained by placing a small wire on the top, as exhibited at Fig. 24, and
indicated by the dotted line C, C, in the lower Figure 2. This wire
may be easily soldered on over the joint or otherwise, and as a matter of
course will always (from its projection) provide a sufficient space for the
air to escape. E is a cover made permanent and close with solder on
the front part of the top of the measure, curved inversely towards the
spout for the purpose of preserving a sufficient opening for ready filling,
and F is an angular or spreading fence around the otherwise unprotected
edge of the measure proper, which may be defined by the horizontal
line G, G, Figure 2. This fence F serves a double purpose; it prevents
spilling in handling the measure when full, and affords facility for
emptying its contents into a broad mouthed receptacle when so required,
thus using my improved measure in the ordinary way in which a
common measure may be emptied.
In applying my combined improvements to what are technically
known as copper "spirit measures" I simply prefer adopting the
common and ordinary shape now generally given to such measures, as
I have exhibited in a top and vertical section at Figs. 3 and 4, with the
exception that (as at Figure 2) I have not shewn the handle in section.
The line H defines the measure with the common funnel mouth I.
J is the funnel combined with K the delivery pipe, and L the air-
way.
This improved measure being made of copper permits (from its
ductility) of being spread or hammered to the shape shewn, not only
in the form of the vessel or measure but with the funnel and delivery
spout, which may be readily formed in one piece, as here exhibited.
And in like manner (as shewn at Figures 3 and 4, or any baro
modification as to shape) my improved measures may be so made of
pewter, in which case they would necessarily have to be cast in moulds
in the ordinary way in which pewter measures or vessels are now pro-
duced, as will be readily understood without illustration.

page_text: In cases where a preference may be given to glass, china, or earthen-
ware measures capable of receiving a vitreous glaze (as may be preferred
by some retailers from a sense of cleanliness, or the advantages of
perfectly cleaning the interior of the measure after measuring one fluid
before measuring another), such measure may be made in the ordinary
way in which molten glass or suitable plastic material is spun or
moulded to the shape and measurement required, as I have exhibited in
a top view at Fig. 5, and in vertical section at Fig. 6, which are simply
repeats of the other Figures, with the slight difference of shewing an
additional thickness required by change of material, the internal
measurement being regulated accordingly, the delivery spout being
grooved for the escape of air, as shewn in the end view, Figure 5º.
Having thus given a general description of my Invention, and
exhibited the manner in which the same may be practically realized, it
is evident that workers in tin plate, copper, pewter, earthenware, or
other suitable material may vary the shape as they would special size
or measure, according to taste or requirement, without departing from
the general character of my Invention, as herein exhibited and set forth,
and which I claim and desire to protect under these my in part recited
Letters Patent.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Payne, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
fires
Witness,
J. HEWS,
W. PAYNE. (L.S.)