IMPROVEMENTS IN COVERS FOR THE TOPS OF BOTTLES, JARS, AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Dredge Player, of the Firm of Player,
Brothers, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COVERS FOR THE TOPS OF BOTTLES,
JARS, AND OTHER VESSELS."
Sealed the 6th September 1867, and dated the 21st March 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left. by: the said William Dredge Player
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st March 1867.
I, WILLIAM. DREDGE PLAYER,, of the Firm of Player, Brothers, of Bir-
mingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COVERS FOR THE TOPS OF
BOTTLES, JARS, AND OTHER VESSELS," to be as follows:-
My.said Invention consists in making in the manner herein-after explained
covers for the tops of bottles, jars, and other vessels, which said covers are to
be used for covering or fixing down the corks or other stoppers or lids of
bottles, jars, and other vessels, or for covering the open mouths of the said
bottles, jars, or other vessels in place of the leather, paper, or bladder
ordinarily used for that purpose.
In making covers for bottles, jars, and other vessels according to my Inven-
tion I proceed as follows:-I take a disk made of sheet brass or other hard
substance, and by means of a flat ring of brass or other hard substance I

page_text: attach the said disk to the leather, paper, linen, or other flexible material to
be tied over the top of the bottle, jar, or other vessel. The diameter of the
disk is somewhat greater than the inner diameter of the ring, and somewhat
less than the outer diameter of the ring. I fix the disk to the leather, paper,
or other flexible material by means of the ring in the following manner :-
I place the disk on the middle and front of the said leather, paper, or flexible
material and draw the edges of the said leather, paper, or flexible material
together and through the ring, and pass the ring up to the disk. The edges
of the leather, paper, or other flexible material are next opened out. There
is thus produced a flexible covering having at its middle a metallic or other
hard disk fixed thereto by the ring. In using a covering made in the manner
described it is placed on the top of the bottle, jar, or other vessel with the
uncovered side of the disk upwards. The flexible material is pressed or folded
around the top or neck of the bottle, jar, or other vessel and tied thereon in
the usual manner. The metallic or other disc may have any required label,
inscription, or device impressed or otherwise made upon it. Where paper or
other material is employed, the edges of which cannot be conveniently drawn
together to pass it through the ring without crumpling or injuring it I attach
the disk and ring in the following manner:-On the periphery of the disk I
form a series of four or other number of points, which are passed through the
paper from the front side, or the side which in the finished cover is uppermost.
The ring being placed on the under side of the paper, so that the points are
situated within it, the said points are turned outwards, or clenched upon the
ring, which thus fixes the disk in its place.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Dredge Player in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 13th September 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
DREDGE PLAYER, of the Firm of Player, Brothers, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters,
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth' year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Dredge Player, Her special licence that I, the said
William Dredge Player, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such

page_text: others as I, the said William Dredge Player, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COVERS FOR THE TOPS OF BOTTLES, JARS, AND
OTHER VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Dredge Player, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner.
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Dredge Player, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:
My said Invention consists in making in the manner herein-after explained
covers for the tops of bottles, jars, and other vessels, which said covers are to.
be used for covering or fixing down the corks or other stoppers or lids of
bottles, jars, and other vessels, or for covering the open mouths of the said
bottles, jars, or other vessels in place of the leather, paper, or bladder ordinarily
used for that purpose..
In making covers for bottles, jars, and other vessels according to my Inven-
tion. I proceed as follows:-I take a disc of sheet brass or other hard sub-
stance and by means of a flat ring of brass or other hard substance I attach
the said disc to the leather, paper, linen, or other flexible material to be tied.
over the top of the bottle, jar, or other vessel. The diameter of the disk is
somewhat greater than the inner diameter of the ring, and somewhat.less than
the outer diameter of the ring. I fix the disk to the leather, paper, or other
flexible material by means of the ring in the following manner: I place the
disk on the middle and front of the said leather, paper, or other flexible
material and draw the edges of the said leather,, paper, or flexible material
together and through the ring, and pass the ring up. to the disk. The
edges of the leather, paper, or other flexible material are next opened out.
There is thus produced a flexible covering having at its middle a metallic or
other hard disk fixed thereto by the ring. In using a covering made in the
manner described it is placed on the top of the bottle, jar, or other vessel with
the uncovered side of the disk upwards. The flexible material is pressed or

page_text: folded around the top or neck of the bottle, jar, or other vessel and tied
thereon in the usual manner, The metallic or other disk may have any
.required label, inscription, or device impressed or otherwise made upon it.
Where paper or other material is employed, the edges of which cannot be
conveniently drawn together to pass it through the ring without crumpling or
injuring it, I attach the disk and ring in the following manner :-On the
periphery of the disk I form a series of four or other number of points, which
are passed through the paper from the front side, or the side which in the
finished cover is uppermost. The ring being placed on the under side of the
paper, so that the points are situated outside it, the said points, are turned
inwards, or clinched upon the ring, which thus fixes the disk in its place.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in elevation a bottle provided with a cover made
according to my Invention, the said cover being represented in section;
Figures 2 and 3 represent the cover in course of manufacture; and Figures
.4 and 5 are parts of the same.
In making the cover of the bottle, Figure 1, I take a disk of sheet brass or
other hard substance, represented in Figure 4, and marked a, and I attach it
to the leather, paper, linen, or other flexible material to be tied over the top
of the bottle by means of a ring of brass or other hard metal or material,
represented in Figure 5, and marked b. The diameter of the disk a, Figure 4,
is somewhat greater than the inner diameter of the ring b, Figure 5, and
somewhat less than the outer diameter of the said ring. I place the disk a
<on the middle of the leather or flexible material c, Figure 2, with which the
top of the bottle is to be covered, and I draw the edges of the said leather
together and through the ring b in the manner represented in the section,
Figure 2, and I pass the said ring up to the disk a and open out the edges of
the leather c, as represented in the plan, Figure 3. The disc a is, thus fixed
to the leather c by the ring b, binding the said leather between itself and the
said disk a. A flexible covering having a disk fixed thereto is thus produced.
The disk a has the required label, inscription, or device impressed or otherwise
made upon it. The covering, Figure 3, is inverted, so as to bring the uncovered
and inscribed side of the disk a uppermost, and in this position the covering is
placed on the top of the bottle. The leather c is pressed or folded around the
top or neck of the bottle, and tied thereon in the usual manner, as represented
in Figure 1. The manner in which the disk a is secured to the leather
when the cover is fastened on the neck of the bottle will be readily seen by

page_text: reference.to Figure 1, where the disk with its uncovered and inscribed side
uppermost is marked a, the holding ring b, and the leather c. In place of
making the disk and ring described of metal, they may be made of other hard
substance, and in place of leather other, flexible material may be employed.
In attaching the disk and ring to paper or other material, the edges of which
cannot be conveniently drawn together to pass it through the ring without
crumpling or injuring it, I.employ the arrangement represented in Figures
6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of the Drawing, Figure 6 representing the upper side
of a covering made according to my. Invention; Figure 7 is a cross section of
the same, and Figure 8 is an under side view of the same; Figures 9, 10,
and 11 represent the disk and ring employed. The disk d, Figure 9, provided
with the required label, inscription, or device has on its periphery a series of
points e, e; these points are bent at right angles to the said disk, as represented
in Figure 10. The points e, e, of the disk d, Figure 10, are passed through the
paper 9 from the front side, or the side which is to be uppermost in the finished
cover. The ring f, Figure 11, is next placed on the under side of the paper,
as illustrated in Figure 8, so that the points e of the disk d are situated at the
edge of the said ring f; by then turning inwards or clinching the points e
upon the ring the disk d is securely fixed to the paper g, as illustrated in
Figures 7 and 8. The cover thus made is tied to the top of the bottle in the
ordinary way. The improvements described as applied to the covers of bottles
are equally applicable to the covers of jars and other vessels.
Figure 12 represents a section and Figure 13 a plan of under side of a
modification of the last-described form of my Invention to be applied to the
covering of the corks only of bottles or vessels.
In making this cover I take
the disk of metal h, Figure 14, having the required inscription or device upon
it, and provided with points i on its edge similar to those on the disk of the
cover last described, and I take a second and smaller disk, represented in
Figure 15, and marked k, the said disk having a hole in its middle. I fix
this disk k to a pointed pin 1, Figure 12, by passing the said pin through the
said hole in the disk and expanding the head of the pin upon the said disk;
by then placing the disk h, Figure 14, upon the disk k, and clinching the
points i upon the under side of the said disk k the two disks are fixed together
and to the pin l, and the cover, Figures 12 and 13, thus produced. Instead
of points on the edge of the inscribed disk for fixing it to the under disk on
the pin, as described, the edge of the inscribed disk may be turned over the
edge of the under disk through its whole circumference. The pin or stem
of this cover is provided with screw threads or depressions for increasing its
holding power.
In using this cover the pin is driven into the cork of the

page_text: bottle or vessel and its head made to lie flat upon the said cork.
cover provided with a label, inscription, or device is thereby fixed to the cork.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I
claim as my Invention, the improvements in covers for the tops of bottles, jars,
and other vessels, herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing, that is to say, making the said covers by placing in the middle of
the leather, paper, or the other flexible material employed a disk of metal or
other hard material, and fixing the said disk to the leather or material by
means of a ring of metal or other hard material, or by points on the metal
disk being clinched upon the ring, substantially as described and illustrated.
Also the modification described and illustrated for covering the cork only of
bottles and vessels.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Dredge Player, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
WILLIAM DREDGE PLAYER. (L.S.)
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.