Improvements in Devices for Retaining Stoppers in Bottles and other Vessels.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 7th May, 1889
Specification Accepted, 8th June, 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Devices for Retaining Stoppers in Bottles and
other Vessels.
1, JOSIAS JONES SANDS of Merton, Waukesha County Wisconsin, United States of
America, 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 an improvement in devices for retaining stoppers in bottles
and other vessels and it consists primarily in a cork or stopper holding-bar engaged
with shoulders in the bottle neck and having a central arch by which the holding-bar
is adapted to expand or to be expanded into tull engagement with the shoulders of the
bottle neck in order to more perfectly insure its retention in place.
my invention
Figure 1 is a sectional view of a bottle neck having my improved holding-bar
inserted then ein over a cork and a top plate resting upon the latter
In the accompanying drawings which illustrate several forms in which
may be embodied,
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the holding-bar removed from the bottle neck.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the top plate shown in Figure 1.
Figure 3 illustrates a preferred construction of said top plate.
Figure 4 is a side view of the holding-bar before insertion, when made of flexible
and non-elastic material.
Figure 5 is a side view showing the shape of the holding-bar of Figure
bas been inserted and expanded
after it
Figure 6 is a sectional view of a bottle neck and arched holding-bar without the
plate shown in Figures 1 and 3.
Figure 7 is a side view of a holding-bar made of spring metal, illustrating its shape
before insertion
Figure 8 is a side view of the holding-bar of Figure 7 showing its shape after
insertion in the bottle neck.
Figure 9 is a sectional view showing an S-shaped holding-bar inade of wire and
containing the distinctive feature of my invention.
Figure 10 is a perspective view of the wire holding-bar detached.

page_text: Figure It is a perspective view of a wire holding-bar of different form from that
shown in Figures 9 and 10.
Figure 12 is a plan view of a holding-bai contang my invention and having four
arms for engaging the shoulders in the bottle neck instead of two
Figure 13 is a side view of the holding-bar of Figure 12
Figure 14 is a perspective view of the two-arm form of holding-bar made from
sheet metal and provided with a slot in the arch thereof adapting it to be rotated from
beneath short shoulders in the bottle neck to remove it from the latter.
Figure 15 is a central, vertical section of a bottle neck having short opposite
shoulders and having the slotted form of holding-bar applied to retain the cork
therein.
°
Figure 16 is a top or plan view of the construction shown in Figure 15.
The invention is herem illustrated in its application to bottles, but obviously it may
be applied to stopped orifices of other vessels of various kinds.
Fust describing the invention as illustrated in Figures 1 to 6 mclusive -A is a
hottle neck of which a¹ is the orifice to be stopped Near the top of the orifice 15
located a shoulder or shoulders a which may be the upper wall of an annular groove a
or the under surface of an annular projection standing out from the wall of the orifice.
While a continuous shoulder a 1s preferable short shoulders inay be employed
in proper position to engage with the ends of the stopper-holding device to be
described.
L
B is a stopper inserted in the bottle neck with its top somewhat below the
shoulders a. Cis a flexible sheet metal holding-ban having flat ends and adapted
to engage the shoulders a at opposite sides of the bottle neck, and also having
central aich or inverted U-shaped bend ' D is a circular plate which may sometimes
be advantageously applied to the top of the stopper beneath the holding-bar when
the stopper is of cork. The plate D may be Hat, as shown in Figure 3, but it is
preferably flanged at its edge or about a cential hole theicin, as shown in Figure 3*
This flange or other equivalent projection on the under side of the plate. by entering
the stopper, holds the plate from lateral displacement
In applying the invention, the stopper is forced into the office a' until its top is
below the shoulders a, the plate D, when used, being inserted with the stopper or
placed upon it afterwards The holding-bar is then inserted with its arch upward
and its ends engaged with the shoulders a to retain the stopper in place. Said holding-
bar af flexible and non-elastic, is preferably made of the shape shown in Figure 4
with its ends downwardly inclined, being noimally contracted lengthwise'sufficiently
to enter the bottle neck freely Its ends will then be readily engaged with the
shoulders a by pressing downwardly upon its central, arched part with sufficient
force to more or less flatten the same and thus lengthen the bat beneath the
shoulders.
The
I next describe the invention as illustrated in Figures 7 and 8 In these figures
the holding-bar is understood to be made of elastic metal In this case the bar is
forcibly compressed at the central bend or arch in carrying its ends below the
shoulders a and upon its release it expands lengthwise to engage the shoulders
normal shape of the elastic bai C when disengaged, is shown in Figure 7, where its
ends are upwardly incl.ned, and this upward inclination should be such that when fully
expanded beneath the shoulders a they will stand in the same plane, as illustrated in
Figure 8
Next referring to other modifications of the holding-bar herein shown; Figures 9
and 10 show the holding-bar made of wire instead of sheet metal. In this case the
bar is bent into S-shape and is made of such size that its curved ends c c will fit
beneath and engage with the shoulders a of the bottle neck. At its center the bar 15
provided with a U-shaped bend-c as in the forms hereinbefore described and the wire
bar may be made of either flexible and non-elastic or of spring metal. It of spring
metal the curved ends c c will yield in inserting the same beneath the shoulders a
while in withdrawing it the bar will yield upwardly at its middle and thus allow the
ends to escape from the shoulders in extracting it It made of non-resilient metal

page_text: the ends of the bar will desirably be bent downwardly before insertion and it will be
expanded and engaged by a downward pressure on the middle or arch of the bar, in
the same manner as before described in connection with the sheet metal form of the
bar shown in Figures 1 and 2
In Figure 111 have shown a holding-bar C also made of wire but having the general
outline of the sheet metal bar C shown in Figure 1 It is made of a single piece of
wire bent into proximately rectangula form, as viewed from the top or bottom, and
having the ends of the wire meeting in one of the end pieces ce
The side pieces c² c³
are centrally bent upward to form the arch c'. This form of the wire bar may
also be made either of elastic or of flexible and non-elastic metal.
In Figures 12 and 13 I have shown the holding-bar made of sheet metal but
having more than two arms or flat ends c c for engagement with the shoulders of the
bottle neck A desirable form of the central arch in this construction is shown in
side view in Figure 13.
In Figures 14, 15 and 16 the holding-bar is of sheet metal and provided with
a slot arranged lengthwise of the bar or crosswise of the arch. This will admit a
screw-driver or similar instrument to rotate the bar into or out of engagement with
short opposite shoulders in the bottle neck illustrated in Figures 15 and 16, or if made
slightly longer than shown, it will allow an expanding instrument to be inserted therein
for lengthening the bar beneath the shoulders. The holding-bar in this case may
also be made either of elastic or of flexible and non-elastic metal as desired.
A special advantage in the centrally arched form of holding-bar is that it may be
easily and quickly removed by inserting a hooked or stiff, pointed instrument beneath
the central elevated part of the bar and pulling or prying outwardly thereon, which
obviously draws its ends towards, each other and out of engagement with the shoulders.
Another advantage of this form of the bar is that when inserted in direct contact with
the cork, or without the intermediate plate D, the cork will bear against the holding-
bar principally near its ends and will therefore not tend in the same degree to push
the holding-bar centrally upward and so disengage it from the shoulders a
The plate D, it employed, may have a central hole to permit a corkscrew to be
inserted therein and desirably the plate will have a flange or other form of inward
projection entering the cork to prevent displacement of the plate. Such a plate is
desirable when the stopper is of cork because of the yielding nature of that material
and its consequent tendency to bulge upward at its middle when the liquid contained
in the vessel exerts an outward pressure thereon.
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 The combination, with the walls of a vessel orifice having internal shoulders,
and with a stopper in the orifice, of a flexible metal holding-bar inserted over the
stopper and engaged at its ends with the said shoulders, the said metal holding-bar
having a central arch or U-shaped bend, substantially as described.
2. In combination with a vessel the orifice of which is provided with opposite
shoulders, and with a stopper in said orifice, of a flexible metal holding-bar C having
a central arch in which is formed a slot running lengthwise of the holding-bar,
substantially as described
Signed at Chicago. Illinois. this 15th day of March 1889