AN IMPROVED BIDON AND
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Philippe Picri, Retired Officer of the. French
Imperial Army, and William Smith, Consulting Engineer, both of
19, Salisbury Street, Strand, London, and 3, York Buildings, Dale
○ Street, Liverpool, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED BIDON AND
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Philippe Pieri and
William Smith at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 29th January 1875.
We, PHILIPPE PIERI, Retired Officer of the French Imperial Army,
and WILLIAM SMITH, Consulting Engineer, both of 19, Salisbury. Street,..
Strand, London, and 3, York Buildings, Dale Street, Liverpool, do..
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
BIDON AND DRINKING BOTTLE FOR MILITARY AND TOURIST PURPOSES," to be as
follows

page_text: dram or drinking bottle, "bidon," or other vessel carried by tourists, by
means of a sling or strap over the shoulder or otherwise attached to the
person, we form a vessel suitable for personal use and wear, preferen-
tially in metal, and of the Dutch or round and full bodied bottle
shape, suitably formed as to rest conveniently against the body of the
wearer, and it has a projecting neck within which is an inverted
truncated conc or funnel-shaped lining which (preferentially) is canted
or angularly disposed, so that the apex abuts on or against one side (of
the interior) of the projecting ring or cylindrical projection forming the
neck above the body of the vessel; at the apex forming the bottom of
the cone is a small hole for the purpose of filling the vessel, whilst at or
near to the top of the inner and upper part of the cone is a hole for
drinking from, or for emptying, the fluid contents of the vessel. A
metal loop should be attached to each side or shoulder of the vessel for
receiving a sling or strap, and there may be another such loop at the
bottom.
1
A drinking cup, with or without a handle, should be fitted over
the projecting neck or, mouth-piece, so that when it is inverted over the
mouth-piece it forms a close fitting cover, and serves as a drinking cup,
or as a means of fitting the bidon or vessel, and the sling or strap
may pass through a loop which may be formed thereon for that
purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed. by the said Philippe Pieri and William Smith in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 28th July 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, PHILIPPE
PIERI, Retired Officer of the French Imperial Army, and WILLIAM
SMITH, Consulting Engineer, both of 19, Salisbury Street, Strand,
London, and 3, York Buildings, Dale Street, Liverpool, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said Philippe Pieri and William

page_text: T
A drinking cup, with or without a handle, should be fitted over the
projecting neck or mouth-piece, so that when it is inverted over the
_mouth-piece it forms a close fitting cover and serves as a drinking cup,
and as a means of filling the "bidon" or vessel, and the sling. or strap
may also pass through a loop or loops which may be formed thereon for
. that
purpose.
In the accompanying Drawing we have shown 10 Figures which
I relate to this Invention.
Figure 1 is an elevation or external view of an improved "bidon,"
having the drinking cup inverted over the neck thereof.
Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section taken through the belly of the
bottle, the drinking cup being removed from off the neck of the "bidon;"
the coned filler (6) which at the top is circular, and of the same
diameter as the interior of the neck, is in this Figure shown as
soldered into the neck. The body of the "bidon" is lettered (a), there
being a fan-like plate (c) for strengthening the cone (6) inside the neck,
and guarding the upper hole (e); the lower hole at the bottom of the
cone (d) is shown in the right side of Figure 2.
In Figure 1 the fan-like plate is shown dotted in, and the hole at the
bottom of the cone (d), as well as that near the top of the neck (e), is
shown in both views, but better seen in Figure 2. The drinking cup fis
shown with a handle but without any strap loops at the side thereof.
Figure 4 is a similar view to Figure 1, and the letters a, f, and 9 cor-
respond to those on Figure 2, but the drinking cup or cover is not shown
with a handle or other extraneous exterior fitting.
Figure 5 is a vertical transverse section of Figure 4. In this view
'the neck containing the cone fitting is screwed on to the shoulder of the
" bidon "
or bottle, so that when it is unscrewed and removed access
may be given to the inside for the purpose of cleaning, &c. The body
of the bottle (a), the conc (b), the fan-like guard plate (c), the bottom
or filling hole (d), and the upper or drinking hole (e) are respectively.
shown.

page_text: Figure 6 is the cone (6) with the lower hole (d) and the upper hole (e)
shown more clearly.
Figures 7 and 8 show modifications, 1st., in the shape of the "bidon"
or bottle, and next in the cone piece fitted within the neck, which latter
will be better understood by Figure 8.
Figures 9 and 10 are similar views to Figures 7 and 8, but in this case
the cone fitted within the neck is screwed into it at the top, whilst in
Figures 7 and 8 the neck may, like in Figures 4 and 5, have the screw
joint at the shoulder.
7t
•
Figure 11 is a drinking cup, for Figures 7, to 10, without handle or
loops.
We prefer to make these vessels of tinned metal, and to stamp them
up in the ordinary manner instead of by hammering, and the screw rings
or joints may be of brass, tinned, or by preference in nickel, but thin
sheet tin stamped up and soldered around the edge will generally be
found the most convenient way of constructing them. In some cases
it may be preferred to form the flatter side of the "bidon" more curved
than flat, so as to sit against the side or body of the person using the
same. They may also be made in glass or porcelain and their exterior
protected by a suitable covering to prevent their being easily broken, or
the body may be of glass, porcelain, or other non-oxdizable material, and
the neck, fitted as described, may be of tin or other metal and be
screwed or otherwise attached to the shoulder. The whole or part may
be made of silver or of other thin metal plated.
We wish it to be understood that we do not intend to claim the shape
or shapes of the body of the bottle as described and as illustrated in the
Sheet of Drawings hereto annexed, but what we claim is,--
First. The mode of constructing and forming the necks of
and such like bottles, as herein described.
"bidons"
Secondly. The construction and arrangement of the coned fittings,
as herein described, having two holes or openings therein, as set forth
and illustrated, whether applied to bottles of the shape and configura-
tions shown, or to any other drinking bottle, "bidon," or such like
article.
Thirdly. The mounting of metal bottle necks with coned interiors

page_text: fitted to "bidons," bottles, and such like article formed of glass, porcelain,
and such like materials.
.
"In witness whereof, I, the said. William Smith, on behalf of
Philippe Pieri, and myself, have hereunto set my hand and seal, 5
this Twenty-sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord 1875.
Witness,
W. H. BEVAN,
19, Salisbury Street,
Strand, W.C.
WILLIAM SMITH, C.E. (L.S.)