Improvements in or relating to Valve-stoppered Bottles.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application 9th Dec., 1895
Complete Specification Lott Rib Sent 1806 Accented
10th Oct 1896
Improvements in or relating to Valve-stoppered Bottles.
A communication from FREDERIC ROBERT HIDE THOMAS, Manufacturer,
of Catskill, in the County of Greene, State of New York, United States of
America.
1, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
:―
This improvement relates to bottles having interiorly, ball-valves closing against
seats in the neck of the bottle by the outward pressure of the gas contained in the
bottled liquid, such as the carbonic acid gas of ordinary soda water, so called,
ginger ale, etc. In relation to the ball-valves used, such bottles may be divided
into two classes; those having heavy or sinking valves, and those having light or
floating valves. In order to prevent the valve of the former class from rolling to
its seat and shutting off the flow, when pouring out the liquid, the bottles are
provided, in the neck, or in the side near to the bottom, with pockets, formed in the
moulding to receive and retain the ball-valve while emptying.
Besides the inconvenience of manipulating the bottle so that the ball will reach
and lodge into one of the said pockets, the pockets gather dirt and gum which not
only causes the ball to stick there when not wanted to do so, but makes cleaning
difficult and tedious. Moreover, the location of the valve-seat too far below the
mouth of the bottle makes the valve inconvenient of access in opening, and the long,
narrow, cylindrical, or too slightly conical neck makes it necessary to use special
means, beside the fingers, to push the ball so far down as to prevent its being
pushed back toward the seat by the outward rush of the liquid impelled by the gas-
pressure. In bottles having floating ball valves and improved by having no pockets,
another objection exists, namely that the very light ball jumps back to its seat,
time and again, when opening, thereby causing the gas-charged liquid to spatter
over the person who opens it, and sometimes it lodges on the foam and is slow to
recede from the neck, even though the bottle is inverted. Again at times, when,
after emptying, a small portion of the liquid remains, the sweet or gummy
ingredients therein will cause the light ball to adhere to the inner surface of the
bottle so hard as to impede considerably the process of washing. The usual length
of the necks of bottles of both classes makes them all very liable to be broken. In
those having sinking ball-valves and pockets at the bottom the bottle must be held
upright until the ball has lodged in the said resting-place. In the meantime, the
liquid foams out of the bottle, without getting into the drinking glass and is wasted.
If the bottle is inclined before the ball has thus lodged, the ball immediately rolls.
into the neck and stops the flow of the liquid.
pressure to
The valve seat of the ring in the bottle-neck, as heretofore constructed, has an
unnecessarily large surface requiring proportionately too high a
tighten the valve and requiring larger depression to remove it from its seat, in
opening.
In order to obviate the aforesaid objections, this improvement comprises a bottle
whose breast forms a square shoulder at the junction of the body and neck, of a
depth not less than the semi-diameter of the ball, to form a retaining ledge, a very
short, downwardly abruptly flaring or widening neck, narrowest at its upper end,
where it meets the square cut groove, and of a length substantially the same as its

page_text: width at the said narrowest point, and a valve-ring seated in a groove, so as to
project therefrom, presenting a sharp edge for contact with the valve and located so
near to the mouth of the bottle as to bring the ball within say one-fourth of an inch
below the same and thus easily accessible to be depressed by the thumb to drop
from its seat when desired to empty the bottle.
Thereby is gained the advantage that, in opening, the valve drops instantly,
there being plenty of space, between the valve and the inner surface of the neck,
for the liquid to pass without carrying the valve with it, and the contents are never
spattered. The extra shortness of the neck saves breakage and the bottle is
much easier cleaned than bottles heretofore used for gaseous beverages.
Another great advantage of the shortness and increasing width of the neck is,
that, after filling the bottle, the ball will take its seat upon the ring quickly thereby
saving largely in gas, gas-water, flavour etc., otherwise spilled and wasted. The
valve-seat is formed by a rubber-ring inserted in a groove in the bottle-neck as
usual, but the seat proper is not bevelled, the hole in the ring being cylindrical,
or tapering inward, in either case leaving a sharp corner or annular edge to
receive and scat the ball-valve. The ball is of the heavy or sinking kind.
Dated this 9th day of December 1895.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.
improvements in or relating to valve-stoppered DS.
A communication from FREDERIC ROBERT HIDE THOMAS, Manufacturer,
of Catskill, in the County of Greene, State of New York, United States of
America.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, formerly of 323 High Holborn, but now
of 111 Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex, Chartered Patent Agent,
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 improvement relates to bottles having interiorly, ball-valves closing against
seats in the neck of the bottle by the outward pressure of the gas contained in the
bottled liquid, such as the carbonic acid gas of ordinary soda water, so called ginger
ale &c. In relation to the ball-valves used, such bottles may be divided into two
classes; those having heavy or sinking valves, and those having light or floating
valves. In order to prevent the valve of the former class from rolling to its scat
and shutting off the flow, when pouring out the liquid, the bottles are provided, in
the neck, or in the side near to the bottom, with pockets, formed in the moulding,
to receive and retain the ball-valve while emptying.
Beside the inconvenience of manipulating the bottle so that the ball will reach
and lodge into one of the said pockets, the pockets gather dirt and gum which not
only causes the ball to stick there when not wanted to do so, but makes cleaning
difficult and tedious. Moreover, the location of the valve-seat too far below the
mouth of the bottle makes the valve inconvenient of access in opening, and the long,
narrow, cylindrical, or too slightly conical neck makes it necessary to use special
means, beside the fingers, to push the ball so far down as to prevent its being pushed
back toward the seat by the outward rush of the liquid impelled by the gas-
pressure. In bottles having floating ball-valves and improved by having no pockets,
another objection exists, namely that the very light ball jumps back to its seat, time
and again, when opening, thereby causing the gas-charged liquid to spatter over
the person who opens it, and sometimes it lodges on the foam and is slow to recede

page_text: from the neck, even though the bottle be inverted. Again at times, when, after
emptying, a small portion of the liquid remains, the sweet or gummy ingredients
therein will cause the light ball to adhere to the inner surface of the bottle so hard
as to impede considerably the process of washing. The usual length of the necks of
bottles of both classes makes them all very liable to be broken. In those having
sinking ball-valves and pockets at the bottom the bottle must be held upright until
the ball has lodged in the said resting-place. In the meantime, the liquid foains out
of the bottle, without getting into the drinking-glass, and is wasted. If the bottle
is inclined before the ball has thus lodged, the ball immediately rolls into the neck
and stops the flow of the liquid.
The valve seat of the ring in the bottle-neck, as heretofore constructel, has an
unnecessarily large surface, requiring proportionately too high a pressure to
tighten the valve and requiring larger depression to remove it from its seat, in
opening.
In order to obviate the aforesaid objections, this improvement comprises a bottle
whose breast forms a square shoulder at the junction of the body and neck, of a
depth not less than the semi-diameter of the ball, to form a retaining ledge, a very
short, downwardly abruptly flaring or widening neck, narrowest at its upper end,
where it meets the square cut groove, and of a length substantially the same as its
width at the said narrowest point, as shown in the drawings, and a valve-ring seated
in a groove, so as to project therefrom, presenting a sharp edge for contact with the
valve and located so near to the mouth of the bottle as to bring the ball within say
one-fourth of an inch below the same and thus easily accessible to be depressed by
the thumb to drop from its seat when desired to empty the bottle.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 represents a bottle embodying this improvement and in upright position,
with valve closed.
Figure 2 shows the same inverted and with valve open as when just emptied.
The body A of the bottle is preferably cylindrical. The breast forms a square
shoulder B with the body, the line b-b being at right angles to the side of the
bottle. When the bottle in emptying is held at an inclination, even as steep as
that shown in Figure 2, the ball-valve E rests upon the said shoulder B and does
not fall to its seat until the bottle is placed vertical.
The Deck C is very short and abruptly flaring or widening inward from its
narrowest point c, to c¹, the width at c¹ being at least 40% greater than that at c
and considerably greater than the length of the neck from the valve seat d to the
shoulder B, said length being substantially the same as the diameter at the narrowest
point, as shown in the drawings.
Thereby is gained the advantage that, in opening, the valve drops instantly,
there being pleuty of space between the valve and the inner surface of the neck, for
the liquid to pass without carrying the valve with it, and the contents are never
spattered. The extra shortness of the neck saves breakage and the bottle is much
easier cleaned than bottles heretofore used for gaseous beverages.
Another great advantage of the shortness and increasing width of the neck is.
that, after filling the bottle, the ball will take its seat upon the ring D quickly
thereby saving largely in gas, gas-water, flavor etc., otherwise spilled and wasted.
The valve-seat is formed by a rubber-ring D inserted in a groove in the bottle-
neck as usual, but the seat proper is not bevelled, the hole in the ring being
cylindrical, as in Figure 1, or tapering inward, as in Figure 2, in either case leaving
a sharp corner or aunular edge d to receive and seat the ball-valve. The ball is of
the heavy or sinking kind.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said inven-
tion, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
A cylindrical bottle having an interior sinking ball-valve closing outwards, an
annular internal groove close to the mouth of the bottle, an elastic valve-ring

page_text: inserted in the said groove and having a sharp projecting annular seat, a short
inwardly flaring neck whose length is substantially the same as its minimum width
at the valve-ring groove, and a breast forming a square shoulder at the junction
between the flare of the short neck and the body of the bottle, of a depth not less
than the semi-diameter of the ball, whereby the valve is supported in any inclined
position of the bottle, and kept from entering the neck while the bottle is being
emptied, substantially as specified.
Dated this 7th day of September 1896.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.