IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR BOTTLING NON-AERATED LIQUIDS
Year: 1884

page_text: I FREDERICK GEORGE RILEY of Vauxhall Cross in the County of Surrey
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR BOTTLING NON-AERATED LIQUIDS" to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to improvements on a former invention in respect of which
I obtained Letters Patent dated the 7th February 1881 No 524, but it is also partly
applicable to apparatus of other types for filling, or filling and corking bottles.
According to one mode of carrying out my present Invention I construct the
apparatus generally in the manner described in the specification to my said former
Letters Patent, that is to say I employ a rotatory disc wheel or pulley carrying
cams for working the different parts of the apparatus, there being but one set of
operating devices actuated by the said cams and operating on one bottle (or what
is the same thing one set of bottles) only at a time, in lieu of a number of sets of
operating devices being employed acting simultaneously on a number of bottles in
different successive stages of the complete series of operations, but I employ in the
construction of or in combination with such apparatus the improvements hereinafter
described.
In order to facilitate the introduction of the non-aerated liquid into the bottle
I elimintate the air or a portion of the air contained within the same by the
employment of a vacuum pump communicating with a vacuum chamber which is
connected with a vacuum valve communicating with the funnel for the mouth of
the bottle. The vacuum valve is arranged above the liquid supply valve so as to
obviate liability of the liquid being conducted into the vacuum passagos whilst
providing an air space around the bottle which practically increases the air capacity
of the bottle itself.
The passages leading from the liquid supply valve to the funnel are also so
arranged that the liquid in its traverse from the valve to the bottle is caused to
pass over the top of an annular lip extending up above the level of the outlet and
which when the valve is shut off traps the liquid and prevents waste. An annular
trough or gutter may however be provided round the mouth of the bottle guide to
catch or intercept any liquid which may escape and conduct the same into a vessel
where it may accumulate for withdrawal at intervals as required, to be returned to
the main vessel containing the liquid. This main vessel for the liquid is arranged

page_text: below the level of the bottle with its inlet valves (which communicate with the
supplying-vessels) and its outlet valve, at the lower part of such main vessel, that
is to say at a sufficient distance below the level of the liquid to prevent frothing,
which level is maintained constant by means of balls or floats connected to the said
valves, a suitable strainer and retaining valve being also provided on the supply
pipe leading to the bottle. For the supply of the cork to the bottle, I employ a
feeder consisting of a socket in which the cork is placed when the feeder is in one
of two positions; the feeder then being released by a cam which had moved it into
such position slides or moves forward under the action of a spring so as to deliver
the cork over the funnel ready for the operation of the cork compressor after which
the feeder returns under the action of its cam for the reception of another cork.
The movable stand for the bottle is operated by a cam-quadrant or lever mounted
on an axis and which operates on a stud or projection carried on a spindle to which
is attached the rest for the bottle. This cam-quadrant which is provided with
a weight receives a motion round its axis by a connection from a rising block which
is operated by the rotatory disc wheel or pulley of the machine raising or bringing
the cam-quadrant into such a position as to allow the rest to fall to its lowest point
and raising the weight. This is the position which the parts assume after a bottle
has been operated upon. The bottle is then removed and another bottle placed in
position, and the cam-quadrant descending under the gravitation of its weight
forces the mouth of the bottle against its guide. This arrangement admits of the
requisite yielding pressure being applied notwithstanding any slight variations in
the sizes of the bottles acted on whilst the stud or projection is itself made adjust-
able for adaptation to increased range in the sizes of the bottles.
In operating the machine, a cork having been placed in its feeder and the
movable stand being in its lowest position, the bottle is compressed and the feeder
brings the cork within the range of the cork compressor, when the cork is partially
driven in. The vacuum valve is then opened for a brief period and then closed,
after which the liquid supply valve is opened for a sufficient length of time for the
bottle to be filled. The cork is then driven the remainder of its stroke and the
bottle released and another bottle introduced. During the time the bottle is filling
the cork feeder returns to its original position in readiness for the reception of
another cork, after which the operations herein before described are repeated.
If desired I may interpose in the vacuum pipe an intermediate vessel for the
reception of any liquid which may gain access to the pipe. This auxiliary vessel
is more particularly applicable when the valves are opened more than once for a
single operation as in some cases it is desirable to only partially fill the bottle after
the operation of the vacuum valve, and again open the vacuum valvo and liquid
supply valve.
I further in some cases introduce in the vacuum pipe a check valve opened and
closed respectively by the act of introducing and removing a bottle from the
machine, so as to prevent the destruction of the vacuum by neglecting to insert a
bottle while the machine is running.
When it is required to operate on two bottles at a time, the corking and
compressing devices are duplicated and a lever is provided for throwing the bottles
out when filled.
In applying my Invention to a machine of the ordinary hand type I provide
a standard on which is placed the cork funnel, cork feeder, and compressor, valves
and bottle compressor herein before described. The feeder, cork compressor and
bottle compressor are operated by a main lever having suitable connections, and the
valves are operated by preference by another lever. The vacuum may be obtained
from any suitable source, as for example from a chamber connected with a pump
which may be placed at any convenient distance from the apparatus.
The machine operates in the following manner videlicet.
The lever first mentioned being raised causes the bottle seat to descend and the
cork feeder (in which a cork has been introduced) to place a cork over the funnel.

page_text: The lever then drives the cork a portion of its stroke allowing the weight on the
bottle compressor to fall and throwing the cam-quadrant over to raise the bottle
and brings the cork feeder back to its normal position for the reception of another
cork. The valves are then operated as many times as desired by acting on the
other lever, and the cork is driven the remainder of its stroke the main lever is
then raised releasing the bottle and bringing the cork feeder with another cork
within range of the cork compressor.
When it is not required to cork the bottles the whole of the devices relating to
that operation are dispensed with.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
.I FREDERICK GEORGE RILEY of Vauxhall Cross in the County of Surrey
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR BOTTLING NON-AERATED LIQUIDS" and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My Invention relates to improvements on a former invention in respect of which
I obtained Letters patent dated the 7th February 1881 N° 524, but it is also
partly applicable to apparatus of other types for filling or filling and corking
bottles.
According to ono mode of carrying out my present Invention I construct the
apparatus generally in the manner described in the specification to my said former
Letters patent, that is to say, I employ à rotatory disc, wheel or pulley carrying
cams for working the different parts of the apparatus, there being but one set of
operating devices actuated by the said cams and operating on one bottle (or what
is the same thing one set of bottles) only at a time, in lieu of a number of sets of
operating devices, being employed acting simultaneously on a number of bottles
in different successive stages of the complete series of operations, but I employ
in the construction of, or in combination with such apparatus the following
improvements.
The air or a portion of the air contained within the bottle is eliminated by the
employment of a vacuum pump or exhausting apparatus and vacuum chamber.
The vacuum valve is arranged above the level of the filling valve and an annular
lip is employed over the top of which the incoming liquid is caused to traverse in its
passage from the filling valve to the bottle, such annular lip extending above the
level of the liquid outlet, for trapping the liquid when the filling valve is shut off;
and a trough or gutter may also be provided around the mouth of the bottle guido
for catching or intercepting any liquid that may escape. I may interpose an
interinodiate vessel in the vacuum pipe for the reception of any liquid which may
gain access to the pipe, and further may employ in the vacuum pipe a check
valve opened and closed respectively by the act of introducing and removing a
bottle from the machine.
A cam-quadrant is used in combination with an opposing weight or spring for
operating the bottle compressor. I also employ a cork feeder or device for
supplying the corks to the machine, consisting of a socket having a reciprocating
motion for the reception and delivery of the corks. The invention also embraces
in the general construction, arrangement and combination of the parts constituting
the entire apparatus, certain subsidiary improvements, all as hereinafter fully
described.
And in order that the said Invention may be perfectly understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer
to the several figures on the accompanying sheets of drawings the same letters of
reference indicating corresponding parts in all the figures.

page_text: Figure 1 (sheet 1) of the accompanying drawings represents a front elevation of
an apparatus for bottling non-nerated liquids, constructed according to my
Invention.
Figure 2 (sheet 1) is a vertical section of the apparatus taken at right angles to
Figure 1. Figures 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 (sheet 2) are details drawn to a larger scalo of
the vacuum and filling valves, cork feeder, bottle guide or funnel, and their
appurtenances, Figure 3 being a vertical section. Figures 4 and 5 elevations taken
respectively at right angles to and in the same plane as Figure 3, and Figure 6 a
horizontal section and Figuro 7 a plan corresponding respectively to Figures 3.
and 4. Figures 8 and 9 (sheet 2) illustrate in sectional plan and clevation
respectively an arrangement of check valve for preventing the destruction of the
vacuum by neglecting to insert a bottle while the machine is running. Figure 10
(sheet 2) represents a vertical section of the main vessel for the liquid shewing tho
arrangement of its inlet valves and outlet. Figure 11 represents a vertical section
of the auxiliary vessel interposed in the vacuum pipe for the reception of any
liquid which may gain access to the pipe.
A is the rotatory disc wheel or pulley mounted on a stud centre a supported by
the standard B of the machine, and carrying cams (hereinafter more particularly
referred to) for working the different parts of the apparatus, the said disc, wheel
or pulley in the example illustrated, being provided with teeth b on its periphery
with which engages a pinion e fast on a shaft & which is supported in a bearing
at e on the top of the standard B and carries the driving pullies C C whence
motion is derived from any suitable prime mover and thus transmitted to the said
disc, wheel or pulley A.
The apparatus as thus described is of the general type of the apparatus which
forms the subject of my said former Letters patent, and it will be convenient to
describe my present Improvements in that connection although applicable to
bottling machines of other constructions.
In order to facilitate the introduction of the non-acrated liquid into the bottle
I eliminate the air or a portion of the air contained within the same by the
employment of a vacuum pump D which may be worked by a connection from
a crank disc E on the shaft d and communicates with a vacuum chamber F. From
this chamber extends a pipe g which is connected with a vacuum valve G (shewn
in detail in Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6) communicating with the bottle guide or funnel h
for the mouth of the bottle. The vacuum valve G is arranged above the liquid
supply or filling valve I as shewn so as to obviate liability of the liquid being
conducted into the vacuum passages, whilst at the same time by this arrangement
an air space is secured at i between the vacuum valve and the filling valve, which
air space practically increases the air capacity of the bottle itself, as the exhausting
process necessarily extends to such additional air space, and a higher per-centage
of effective vacuum is obtained in the bottle.
The passages leading from the filling valve I to the funnel h are also so arranged
that the liquid in its traverse from the valve to the bottle is caused to pass over the
top of an annular lip & extending up above the level of the outlet / as shewn and
which annular lip when the valve I is shut off traps the liquid and prevents waste.
An annular trough or gutter m may, however, be provided round the mouth of the
funnel h to catch or intercept any liquid which may escape and conduct the same
into a vessel where it may accumulate for withdrawal at intervals as required, to
be returned to the main vessel containing the liquid.
This main vessel, which is shown detached at K Figure 10, is arranged below the
level of the bottle with its inlet valves n n (with which the supplying vessels
communicate by pipes o o) and its outlet orifice p (or the orifice of the pipe q
leading to the filling valve I) at the lower part of such main vessel, that is to say
at a sufficient distanco below the level 8-9 of the liquid to prevent frothing,
which level is maintained constant by means of balls or floats rr connected to the
said inlet valves, a suitable strainer and retaining valve 8 being also provided on
the orifice of the pipe q.

page_text: For the supply of the cork to the bottle I employ a feeder (shewn in detail in
Figures 3, 4, 5 and 7) consisting of a socket L in which the cork is placed when
the feeder is in the position shewn most clearly in Figure 7, into which position it
has been moved by a cam acting on the end of a rod or bar t which is attached
to the socket and works through suitable fixed guides u, the movement of the rod
or bar & under the action of the cam having the effect of compressing a helical
spring the recoil of which when the rod or bar t is released by its cam inoves
forward the feeder to its original. position indicated by dotted lines in Figure 7 and
by full lines in Figure 4 so as to deliver the cork over the funnel ready for the
operation of the cork plunger or compressor R, after which the feeder returns under
the action of its cam for the reception of another cork.
The bottle compressor or movable stand AL for the bottle is operated by a cam-
quadrant or lever N mounted on an axis w in an attachment to the base of the
machine, which cam-quadrant or lever acts on a stud or projection a carried on a
stem or spindle O to which the rest M is attached. This cam-quadrant which is
provided with a weight, or (as shewn in the drawings) with its equivalent a
torsional spring P receives a motion round its axis in the direction indicated by
the arrow in Figure 2 by a connection y from a rising block Q which is operated
by the rotatory disc, wheel or pulley of the machine raising or bringing the cam
quadrant into the position indicated by dotted lines in Figure 2 so as to allow the
rest to fall to its lowest point and raising the weight when such is employed, or
twisting the spring P. This is the position which the parts assumo after a bottle
has been operated upon. The bottle is then removed and another bottle placed in
position and the cain-quadrant descending under the gravitation of its weight
(when employed) or the recoil of its spring P forces the mouth of the bottle against
the funnel . This arrangement admits of the requisite yielding pressure being
applied notwithstanding any slight variations in the sizes of the bottles acted on,
whilst the stud or projection is itself made adjustable, a series of holes = being
provided in the stem or spindle O into any one of which the stud or projection 2
may be fitted for adaptation to increased range in the sizes of the bottles.
As before stated the different parts of the apparatus are worked by means
of cains all carried on the rotary disc, wheel or pulley A. These cams are as
follows:-
1 Cam for operating through the intervention of a roller ¹ the cork plunger R
to compress the cork, the plunger sliding between vertical guides at s².
2 Cam for operating the cork plunger R so as to drive the cork home.
3 Cam for raising the cork plunger R.
4 Cam for acting on the rising block Q to lower the bottle rest M and release
tho bottle.
5 Cam for acting on the rod or bar ₺ of the cork feeder L in opposition to its
operating spring v.
6 Cam for operating the vacuum valve G by acting on its protruding spindle g¹.
7 Cam for operating the filling valve I by acting on its protruding spindle 2.
In operating the machine a cork having been placed in its feeder L and the
bottle rest M being in its lowest position, the bottle is compressed and the feeder L
brings the cork within the range of the cork plunger R when the cork is partially
driven in. This is the position of the parts indicated in the drawings Figures 1
and 2. The vacuum valve G is then opened for a brief period and then closed,
after which the filling valve I is opened for a sufficient length of time for the bottle
to be filled. The cork is then driven the remainder of its stroke and the bottle
released and another bottle introduced. During the time the bottle is filling the
cork feeder L returns to its original position in readiness for the reception of
another cork, after which the operations herein before described are repeated.
If desired I may interpose in the vacuum pipe y an intermediate vessel S
Figure 11 for the reception of any liquid which may gain access to the pipe and
where it may be allowed to accumulate to be drawn off as required through a

page_text: cock T. This auxiliary vessel is more particularly applicable when the valves are
opened more than once for a single operation, as in some casos it is desirable to
only partially fill the bottle after the operation of the vacuum valve, and again
open the vacuum valve and filling valve.
I further in some cases introduco in the vacuum pipe g a check valve U Figures 8
and 9 opened and closed respectively by the act of introducing and removing a
bottle from the machine When there is no bottle in the machine the valve is
maintained closed by a spring u¹ which also holds the lever V in the position
indicated by the full lines in Figure 8 whilst the act of inserting a bottle moves
the lever V into the position shewn by dotted lines in Figure 8. and opens the
valve. By these incans 1 prevent the destruction of the vacuum which ordinarily
ensues on neglecting to insert a bottle while the machine is running.
When it is required to operate on two bottles at a time, the corking and com-
pressing devices are duplicated and a lever is provided for throwing the bottles out
when filled.
Although I bave shewn in the accompanying drawings my Invention applied to
a machine adapted to be driven by power yet the Invention is equally applicable
to machines of the ordinary hand type. I have not, however, considered it neces-
sary to give in my drawings an example of a hand machine, as the modifications
in detail required to adapt the Invention to such a machine will be readily under-
stood by those skilled in this particular art from the description herein before given
of its use in a power machine, without further explanation. It may, however, be
mentioned that the cam-quadrant or lever N may conveniently be worked by a
foot lever whilst the cork feeder and cork plunger may be worked by a hand lever,
the vacuum valve and filling valve being opened by another hand lever. The
vacuum may also be obtained from any suitable sourco as for example from a
chamber connected with a pump which may bo placed at any convenient distance
from the apparatus.
When it is not required to cork the bottles the whole of the devices relating to
that operation are dispensed with.
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* In apparatus for bottling non-aerated liquids, the employment of a vacuum
pump or exhausting apparatus and vacuum chamber for the elimination of the
air or a portion of the air contained within the bottle, substantially as hercinbefore
described.
2nd The combination in apparatus for bottling non-aerated liquids of a vacuum
valve arranged above the filling valve and an annular lip over the top of which the
incoming liquid is caused to traverse in its passage from the filling valve to the
bottle, in conjunction or not with a trough or gutter around the mouth of the bottlo
guide substantially as herein before described.
3rd The Annular lip extending up above the level of the liquid outlet for
trapping the liquid when the filling valve is shut off, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
4th The employment of a cam-quadrant in combination with an opposing weight
or its equivalent for operating the bottle compressor substantially as hereinbefore
described.
5th The use of a cork feeder or device for supplying the corks to the machine
consisting of a socket having a reciprocating motion for the reception and delivery
of the corks, substantially as herein before described.
6th In combination with the subject matter of the 1*t claiming clause, the employ-
ment of an intermediate vessel interposed in the vacuum pipe for the reception
of any liquid which may gain access to the pipe substantially as hereinbefore
described.

page_text: 7th In combination with the subject matter of the 1" claiming clause, the use of
a check valve arranged in the vacuum pipe and opened and closed respectively by
'the act of introducing and removing a bottle from the machine, substantially as
and for the purpose herein before described..
8th The general construction, arrangement and combination of parts consti-
tuting apparatus for bottling non-aerated liquids substantially as hereinbefore
described.