AN IMPROVED TAP OR FAUCET FOR BOTTLES AND SIMILAR VESSELS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED TAP OR FAUCET FOR BOTTLES AND SIMILAR
VESSELS." A communication from abroad by William Carlton
Ireland, of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Sealed the 5th September 1871, and dated the 23rd March 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 23rd March 1871.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED TAP OR FAUCET FOR BOTTLES
AND SIMILAR VESSELS," a communication, to be as follows:-
The principal object of this Invention is the drawing off of champagne
and other sparkling wines, spring or mineral waters, and other liquids
from bottles, more especially in such quantities from time to time as

page_text: may be required for immediate use, without necessarily exposing the
remaining contents to the air, thereby insuring their preservation
intact.
Taps or faucets have already been provided for this purpose, but they
have been all more or less defective for many reasons, among which
are the following:-It was impossible to prevent leakage of the gases
about the spigot or pipe leading to the interior of the bottle; more or
less of the devices, such as wires, cords, and the like ordinarily employed
to hold the cork in the bottle against the pressure of the gases within
were obliged to be removed, thereby endangering the retention of the
cork; and in inserting the tap or faucet there was danger of clogging
the passage through the faucet for the liquids with particles of cork,
and also of dropping particles of cork into the liquid, deteriorating more
or less its flavour and other qualities.
By the present Invention the defects above stated are entirely over-
come. The said Invention consists in a tap or faucet constructed with
a gradually tapering spigot or pipe provided with a detachable pointed
piston or plug at its open end. This piston or plug forms a continuation
of the said spigot, and is extended through the same and adapted to be
screwed on and off the tap, so as to close or open the tap for the passage
of the liquid contained in the bottle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,

page_text: 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 "AN IMPROVED
TAP OR FAUCET FOR BOTTLES AND SIMILAR VESSELS," a communication to me
from abroad by William Carlton Ireland, of Boston, Massachusetts,
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Robert Lake, 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 Robert Lake, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification:-
The principal object of this Invention is the drawing off of champagne.
and other sparkling wines or liquors, spring or mineral waters, and other
liquids from bottles, more especially in such quantities from time to
time as may be required for use, without necessarily exposing the
remaining contents to the air, thereby insuring their preservation
intact.
Taps or faucets have already been provided for this purpose, but they
have been all more or less defective for many reasons, among which are
the following It was impossible to prevent leakage of the gases about
the spigot or pipe leading to, the interior of the bottle; more or less of
the devices, such as wires, cords, and the like, ordinarily employed to
hold the cork in the bottle against the pressure of the gases within were
obliged to be removed, thereby endangering the retention of the cork;
and on inserting the tap or faucet there was danger of clogging the
passage through the faucet for the liquids with particles of cork, and also
of dropping particles of cork into the liquid, deteriorating more or less
its flavour and other qualities.
By the present Invention the defects above stated are entirely over-
The said Invention consists in a tap or faucet constructed with a
come.

page_text: detachable pointed piston or plug at its open end; this piston forms a
continuation of the said spigot, and is extended through the same, and
adapted to be screwed on and off of the tap, or otherwise to close and
Figures 1 and 2 are views of different sides of the said tap; Figure 3
is a transverse vertical section, and Figure 4 a plan of the same;
Figure 5 is a horizontal section on the line x, x, Figure 1.
A represents a tap or faucet, consisting of a body B, having a piston
or plug C arranged to be turned for opening and closing the passage a,
and a pipe or spigot D communicating with the passage a when the
plug C is turned to bring its hole in line therewith, forming a con-
tinuous opening from end to end of the tap. The outside of the pipe or
spigot D is made of a gradual plain or smooth taper from its end E to
(or nearly to) the body B of the tap, terminating at the end E (which is
open) in a very fine edge c. F is a piston or stem, taper at its end G to
correspond with and to form a continuation of the taper spigot or
pipe D, and terminating in a point d. This piston or stem F is of a
length greater than that of the passage through the tap, and by its taper
and pointed end G closes the open end of the spigot D to the entrance
of liquid or gas thereat; and for convenience of fastening the same to
the tap it is provided with a screw cap I screwing over the nozzle or
delivery end J of the tap. With the piston or stem F in the tap, as
above described, it is obvious that the spigot D at its end E is entirely
closed to the entrance of any substance, either liquid, solid, or gaseous,
while by its pointed end the tap is forced into and through the cork in a
bottle or other vessel, and that as the spigot is pointed and taper, in
entering the cork its particles are only displaced, not detached, the cork,
from its well-known elasticity, consequently adapting and packing itself
thoroughly and tightly about the spigot, preventing all escape of gas
from the interior of the bottle. The spigot thus having been inserted
till its end E is beyond the inner end of the cork of the passage through
the spigot can then be opened by simply unscrewing the cap and with-
drawing the stem F, and closed by reinserting it, and so from time to
time, until the liquid in the bottle is entirely used; thus the liquid
may be drawn off from time to time in any desired quantities without
exposing the remaining contents to the air, which would cause its

page_text: deterioration. It is preferable, however, to entirely withdraw the stem F
and to depend upon the plug or piston C for closing and opening the
passage through the tap, as less time would be required to open and
close it than with the stem, as is obvious. L is a spiral spring arranged
on the outside and around the body B of the tap to bear between a
shoulder thereof and the shouldered head of the stop cock C, so as to
always maintain a tight and close joint between the cock C and its seat
within the tap. In lieu of a stop cock C arranged to be turned to open
and close the passage through the tap, after the stem F is removed a
valve may be employed, constructed to be self-closing and to be opened
by pressing on a thumb-piece properly connected therewith.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I claim, a tap constructed with a taper
spigot or pipe D in combination with a pointed stem F arranged within
it, substantially as and for the purpose described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.
Witness,
EDWARD CLARK JACKSON.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)