Year: 1887

page_text: 1, JAMES SCOPE DAVISON, of 15, St. Johns Street Road, Clerkenwell in the County
of Middlesex, Glass Manufacturer, 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 that kind of stoppers for bottles and
other vessels in which a worm or thread (or worms or threads) formed on the stopper
fits or fit into a helical groove or grooves or female screw formed in the neck of the
bottle or other vessel to be stopped, and in the act of screwing the stopper into its
place elastic material such as india-rubber is forced into close contact with the neck
of the bottle and the stopper; so as to form an air tight joint in the act of screwing
the stopper into its place.
Screw stoppers such as above referred to have been made with a loose ring or
washer of india-rabber that has been pressed between the stopper and the neck of
the bottle in the act of screwing the stopper in place as aforesaid but such an arrange-
ment is open to objection, the ring is liable to become displaced or lost, when in use
it is apt to form an imperfect joint owing to the liability of one part of its circum-
ference to be gripped in the neck of the bottle before another, in which case the
rotative movement of the ring during the screwing motion of the stopper is unduly
retarded and the ring becomes distorted frequently causing a bad joint or imperfect
stoppering.
Now according to my invention in order to obviate these defects I dispense with
the elastic ring and I construct my stoppers with a solid disc of a suitable elastic
material such as india-rubber that is held firmly between the upper and lower parts
of the stopper and itself forms a part of the body of the stopper which it will be

page_text: -
understood is according to my invention made of three separate parts joined together
by a wire or pin or wires or pins, the elastic disc constituting the intermediate part
and being slightly larger in diameter than the adjacent portions of the other parts, or
than that of the lower part.
This construction is clearly illustrated in the drawings annexed hereto in which
similar letters refer to similar parts throughout.
Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 shew (in elevation and detail) a stopper comprising an upper part or
head A a lower or screwed part B connected by a pin C and embracing between them
the elastic disc D which thus forms part of the body of the stopper.
It will be evident that according to this mode of constructing stoppers many
modifications both of the exact forms of the parts and the manner of attaching them
to one another may be adopted; as for example, the head may be round, or according
to other modifications it may be many sided and such sides may be straight or curved
or the head may be oval or in short of any suitable shape. Figs. 9, 10 show in
elevation and section and figs. 12 and 13 show in plan stoppers formed according to
my invention with hexagonal heads, and in figures 14 and 15 are shown heads only of
stoppers of othor convenient shapes.
When a single wire or pin is used to connect the three parts of the stopper together
I prefer to make the section of the said wire or pin rectangular or square (as shown
in the drawings) for a considerable part of its length and the holes in the head and
screwed part of the stopper through which the said wire or pin passes I make of the
same rectangular or square form and of a size to fit the wire or pin as nearly as may
be convenient, and for as long a distance in each as may be convenient as shown in
plan fig. 4 in order to ensure the necessary rigidity of the stopper against the
torsion or twist given to the head in the act of screwing the stopper into its place.
According to various modifications the wire or pin used to connect the three parts
of the stopper together may be screwed at both ends and fixed at each end by nuts
as shown in fig. 9 or it may be cast into the head of the stopper (when the head is
formed of a suitable material) and screwed at the lower or screwed part of the stopper
as shown in fig. 2 or it may be cast into the lower or screwed portion of the stopper
(when the lower or screwed portion is formed of a suitable material) and screwed at
the upper portion or head, as shown in fig. 6 or instead of being screwed at either or
both ends the wire or pin may in suitable cases be rivetted over at the ends as shown
in fig. 8 or at one end as is shown in fig. 7 or the wire or pin may be secured in any
other suitable manner.
In cases where the wire or pin is cast into the head or into the lower part of
the stopper I prefer to roughen the edges or to serrate or indent the edges of the wire
or pin where it is embedded in the material of the head or of the lower part of the
stopper as this tends to secure the wire or pin more firmly as shown in figs. 2, 6
and *7.
According to another modification two or more wires or pins may be used in lieu
of one wire or pin as shown in fig. 10.
When two or more wires are used I do not consider it necessary to make them of
rectangular or square section as by the fact of there being two or more of the wires
or pins the necessary rigidity is given to the stopper to resist torsion or twist and
where two or more wires or pins are used both the ends of both or all of them or
one end of both or all of them may be screwed or secured or rivetted in any other
suitable manner as in the case of a single wire or pin or the wires or pins may be
cast either into the head or into the lower part of the stopper as is described above
in the case of the single wire or pin. Fig. 10 illustrates a stopper made according
to my invention with two pins which are represented as cast into the lower or
screwed part of the stopper and rivetted into the head or upper part, in this case the
lower ends of the wires or pins are shown bent up into hooks for the purpose of
ensuring a good hold in the cast substance of the stopper.
I form the elastic disc of any suitable elastic material and for this purpose I prefer
India Rubber though I do not limit myself to its use, as any suitable elastic
impervious substance may be used as a substitute for india-rubber for this purpose.

page_text: The upper part or head of the stopper, and the lower or screwed part may be made
of any suitable material or materials such as hard-wood-composition-porcelain―
glass or metal. A very suitable arrangement is to make the lower or screwed part
of the stopper of pewter the disc of india-rubber and the upper part or head of hard
composition.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A screw stopper comprising an elastic disc forming part of the body of the
stopper and held between an upper and a lower part substantially in the manner
described and for the purpose specified.
2. My improved stoppers as described and illustrated respectively in Figs. 1, 2, 3
and 4, in fig. 6, in fig. 7, in fig. 8, in fig. 9 and in fig. 10 of the drawings annexed.
JAMES S. DAVISON.
W. Lloyd Wise,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C.,
Applicant's Agent.