Improvements in or relating to Bottles, to Prevent them being Fraudulently Refilled.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Apr., 1896-Accepted, 30th May, 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Bottles, to Prevent them being
Fraudulently Refilled..
I, GEORGE WASHINGTON JOHNSON, of 302 Jarvis Street, in the City of
Toronto, in the County of York, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, College
Professor, do hereby declare the nature of my invention and in what mannor the
Bame is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My invention relates to improvements in bottles and the object of the invention
is to design a bottle of this class with such a stopper that will absolutely prevent
the bottle from being filled again without the consumer being apprised very clearly
of such fact and it consists essentially of providing at the lower interior portion of
the neck of the bottle a ledge upou which is fitted a stopper with peripheral
vertical openings, conical central recess, and a conical plug and in superimposing
upon such stopper a supplemental glass sleeve of peculiar form and provided with
bottom openings, such sleeve being secured within the neck by plaster of Paris or
other suitable cement in a peculiar manner and further in preferably providing for
the bottom of the bottle a supplemental neck and capsule peculiarly connected
thereto by plaster of Paris, corks also being provided for both necks and the parts
being otherwise constructed as hereinafter more particularly explained.
Fig. 1, is a sectional perspective view of a bottle constructed in accordance with
my invention.
Fig. 2, is a detail of the stopper.
Fig. 3, is a detail of the conical plug designed to fit within the conical recess in
the stopper.
Fig. 4, is a detail of the retaining sleeve.
Fig. 5, is a detail of an alternative form of closing the bottom of the bottle
showing such form reversed.
In the drawings like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each
figure.
A is the bottle of any suitable form, which is provided with a neck B having
an annular ledge b in the interior at the bottom of the neck. The top of the
ledge b is preferably ground. C is a conical plug preferably of glass having the
bottom also ground and designed to rest upon the ledge b over the central
opening 6. is a stopper having a conical recess, which substantially corresponds
in interior shape to the conical plug C with the exception that the apex is made
preferably slightly more obtuse or of a greater angle. The stopper D is also
made preferably of glass and rests upon the inner portion of the ledge b and has
a series of vertical openings d extending around the periphery at desired distances
apart.
E is a glass sleeve provided with the top flange e and a bottom aunular shoulder e
and bottom openings e. The neck B is provided above the shoulder e¹ with an
annular groove b³.
F is a packing of plaster of Paris or other suitable cement. The glass sleeve E
is placed in the neck. The plaster of Paris is fitted in between the flange e and
shoulder e and when the sleeve is placed sufficiently far in the neck, so that the
top of the shoulder e' comes level with the top of the groove the plaster is
packed tight as possible and the glass sleeve is forced down into the position shown
in the drawing, so that the plaster of Paris or cement will completely fill up the
space in the groove 6 and above the shoulder e'..

page_text: As the plaster of Paris hardens it will readily be seen that the glass sleeve F
will be locked in position and incapable of being withdrawn. It is preferable, and
I may say necessary, however, in placing the sleeve in position, that the openings e
are so placed as to come between the tops of the openings d.
It will now be understood that once the plaster of Paris is hardened that the
sleeve F and stopper D are absolutely secured in position free from any movement
whatsoever.
The conical recess in the stopper D, however, being larger than the conical
plug C permits of a limited movement of such plug C. I of course provide the
usual cork G to close the bottle from the air.
At the bottom of the bottle I preferably bave the usual raised portion H but
also have in the centre a downwardly extending neck 1 with an annular shoulder i.
1 also provide a capsule J preferably of glass, which is made with an inwardly
extending shoulder or flange j. In closing the neck I, I use a cork K and partially
fill the capsule with plaster of Paris J', which when the capsule is placed under
the neck will fill up the entire space between the shoulder i and inwardly extending
flange. When the plaster of Paris hardens the capsule is securely retained in
position and can only be removed by breaking.
In Fig. 5, I show an alternative form of securing the lower capsule in position,
Buch figure showing the bottom neck turned upside down. The capsule is
provided with au inwardly extending flange i¹ in this case. Instead of the plaster
of Paris in this case I use spring loops J' secured around an annular groove in
the neck and as the outer ends of the loops extend within the flanges it will be
readily seen that once the capsule is pushed inwardly over the loops that it will be
impossible to remove such capsule again.
Having now described the peculiar construction of my bottle I shall briefly
describe its utility. Upon the bottle being filled with liquor or other liquid the
conical plug and stopper D are first inserted and then the sleeve with the plaster
of Paris which is allowed to set, and thereby hold the stopper in position. The
cork G is then to be put in.
.
Upon opening the bottle the cork is withdrawn and by tilting the bottle up side
down or nearly so the conical plug C will slide to the then lower side of the
conical recess, thereby leaving an annular opening above the opening b. The
liquor will pass through the opening and the annular opening down through
the peripheral openings d and out through the openings and sleeve E. The
openings d and may be of any desired size.
When the bottle is empty it will be seen that if it is placed in the normal
position shown in the drawing it will be impossible to pour any liquor into it as
the base of the cone-shaped plug completely covers the opening b. It will also
be noticed that into whatever position the bottle may be tipped still the base
of the cone-shaped plug will cover the opening &', and as the conical recess in
the stopper D has its apex slightly wider than the apex of the cone, the base of
such cone will when tipped be always wedged or held very firmly against the
ledge b, so as to cover the opening . If the bottom of the bottle is made plain
it will readily be understood that as soon as the bottle is emptied as it cannot be
refilled it will be of no use seeing that all the parts are locked securely in position
in the neck.
On reference to Fig. 1, it will be seen that I have provided for the use of the
bottle again by the closing device for the bottom of the bottle. After the bottle
has been emptied it may be returned to the manufacturer who will of course have
a number of capsules Jon hand. By breaking the capsule J and withdrawing the
cork K the bottle may be then filled from the bottom and a new cork and capsule
substituted. It will of courso be understood in this connection that the capsule as
well as the sleeve would have to bear the name and trade mark of the manufacturer
and that it would have to state on the bottle that the contents are not guaranteed
by the manufacturer if the capsule or sleeve is broken.
lustead of grinding the top of the ledge 6 and the bottom of the conical

page_text: plug C it will of course be understood that a layer of any suitable material
might be attached to the bottom of the plug, so that it will fit closely upon the
ledge.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is.
1. A bottle having a neck with a botton ledge and central opening, a conical
plug designed normally to cover such opening, a stopper with a conical recess of
greater size than the plug and having peripheral openings and undetachable means
for securing the stopper in the neck and allowing of the free passage of the liquor
from the openings when the bottle is tipped up side down and plug removed from
closing the opening as and for the purpose specified.
2. A bottle having a neck with a bottom ledge and central opening, a conical
plng designed normally to cover such opening, a stopper with a conical recess of
greater size than the plug and having peripheral longitudinal openings and a
sleeve provided with an upper flange aud lower shouldor, an annular groove in the
neck between the flange and shoulder of the sleeve and plaster of Paris designed to
be inserted and fill the space between the flange and shoulder and the groove and
openings in the bottom of the sleeve set intermediate of the peripheral openings
in the stopper as and for the purpose specified.
3. The combination with the neck, ledge, conical plug, stopper and sleeve and
plaster of Paris for locking the sleeve as described, of a raised bottom with down-
wardly extending neck and a capsule and means for hermetically sealing and
locking such capsule to the neck as and for the purpose specified.
4. In a bottle the combination with the raised bottom provided with downwardly
extending neck having an annular outwardly extending rim or shoulder at the
lower end of the neck, and a cork for such neck, of a glass capsule having an
inwardly extending flange and means between the shoulder and flange for locking
the capsule and neck together as and for the purpose specified.
5. In a bottle the combination with the raised bottom provided with downwardly
extending neck having an annular outwardly extending rim or shoulder at the
lower end of the neck and a cork for such neck, of a glass capsule having an
inwardly extending flange and plaster of Paris filling the space between the
shoulder and flange of the capsule as and for the purposo specified.
11000
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Fiusbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.