Improvements in Machines for Filling and Corking or Stoppering Bottles.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 26th May, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 26th Mar., 1889
Complete Specification Accepted, 4th May, 1884
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Filling and Corking or Stoppering
Bottles.
I, HENRY HEARTFIELD, of Handcroft Road, Croydon, in the County of Surrey,
Foreman of Mineral Water Works, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
My invention relates to machinery for filling bottles for containing aerated and
other liquids and for closing such bottles when they are adapted to receive plain corks.
The chief objects of my invention are, to provide a machine by means of which a
larger number of bottles can be filled and corked in a given time. with a certain amount
of labor, than with a machine of the kind heretofore constructed, and which is less
costly to manufacture.
According to my said invention the bottles are held in clips, projecting from a
supporting shaft, during the filling and corking operations. Two or more of these
clips are employed so that while the filling and corking of a bottle in one clip is being
effected, the removal of the bottle previously filled and carried by another clip or clips
can be effected, and an empty bottle substituted for it.
The shaft carrying the clips is supported in a suitable frame, and is adapted to be
partially rotated, after each filling and corking operation, to move the full bottle from
beneath the filling and corking devices and place an empty bottle in position. This
movement of the bottle-carrying shaft is advantageously effected by means of a spring
which is more or less coiled at suitable intervals from the main shaft of the machine
through suitable gearing. A catch is provided for limiting the movement of the
bottle-carrying shaft, so that the bottle to be filled will come to rest immediately
beneath the filling aperture.
Instead of using clips for carrying the bottles I may arrange a box to carry several
bottles, the box being removed bodily with its contents when the bottles are filled.
The filling is effected through a valve which is operated at proper intervals by the
impingement of a lug on a rotating bush. The rotation of the said bush is effected by
the gearing which serves to coil the spring hereinbefore described.

page_text: During the filling the bottle is forced tightly against a packing piece around the
filling opening. The pressure is produced by means of a small table or pusher which
is caused to bear against the bottom or base of the bottle being filled by means of a
screw which is driven from the main shaft by gearing. The pinion on the said screw
is connected thereto by means of a spring, so that the said pinion can rotate indepen-
dently of the screw, thus providing for variations in the lengths of bottles.
In order to prevent injury to the operatives during the filling of the bottles, owing
to the bursting of the same I arrange wire guards on the shaft carrying the bottles,
the said guards being adapted to turn with the shaft and the bottles carried thereby.
The corking is effected through a cone, but in the present machine this cone is
arranged within the bush herein before described, the cork being forced therethrough
by means of a pusher operated by a screw on the main shaft, the said pusher being
carried by a nut or plate working on the said screw.
This
The pinion through the medium of which the motion of the main shaft is communi-
cated to the gearing for operating th bottle carrying shaft and the filling bush is
connected to the said main shaft by ratchet teeth or a spring clutch, so that motion
will only be communicated to it when the shaft is rotated in one direction.
arrangement permits the return of the nut or plate carrying the cork pusher and the
return of the bottle carrying table to their normal positions after they have been moved
to cork and hold a bottle, without operating the filling vaive and bottle-carrying shaft.
The corks may be fed to the compressing cone from a magazine. This magazine
can be in the form of a tube, the lower end of which is shaped to serve as a carriage
for coveying the corks, one at a time, from the base of the magazine to the cone, the
said lower end being reciprocated-by any suitable-means...
Although I have only described one set of filling and corking mechanism as being
operated from the main shaft, it is to be understood that two or more sets may be
driven therefrom simultaneously.
An air vessel or chamber is arranged to receive the expelled air from the bottles,
which vessel is made adjustable-so as to provide for different sized bottles; by this
means the bottles can be filled to any given point.
My improved machine can also be used for filling internally stoppered bottles.
This can be effected by removing the cork pushers and the hollow cones, and varying
the shape of the filling aperture. Or the bottles could be filled with the mouths
downwards by placing the filling valves at the bottom and providing means for
exhausting the air therefrom.
D
1000
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: OMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Filling and Corking or Stoppering
Bottles.
I, HENRY HEARTFIELD of Handcroft Road, Croydon, in the County of Surrey,
Foreman of Mineral Water Works, 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 :—
My invention relates to machinery for filling bottles for containing aërated and
other liquids and for closing such bottles.
The chief objects of my invention are, to provide a machine by means of which
a larger number of bottles can be filled and corked in a given time with a certain
amount of labor, than with a machine of the kind heretofore constructed and
which is less costly to manufacture.
In order to enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which,
Figure 1 is a front sectional elevation of a machine constructod according to my
invention for filling and corking two ordinary bottles at once.
Figure 2 is a side view of the same.
Figures 3 and 4 are horizontal sections on the lines A, B and C, D respectively
of Figure 1.
Figure 5 is a view of a detail and figures 6 to 10 are views of details of modifications
to be hereinafter described.
Similar reference letters indicate similar or corresponding parts throughout the
several figures of the drawing.
Referring to figures 1 and 2, the frame of the machine comprises principally a base
plate A and a standard B, the latter being provided with a table or shelf C.
The bottles to be filled and corked are held in clips a which are of the shape shewn,
and of an elastic or spring-like nature to enable the said bottles to be easily inserted
between and withdrawn from them. The said clips are attached to the upper ends of
vertical rods al capable of sliding in and being withdrawn from bearings b at the
ends of brackets, two of which are connected together by a cross shaft carrying
a bevil gear wheel 6 and journalled in a horizonal bearing e in a vertical supporting
shaft c', two of which are shewn.
A set screw is provided which serves to fix the shaft when filling and corking
bottles in order to hold the brackets in a vertical position as shewn, but when filling
and stoppering bottles, such as those known as Codd's, the set-screw c² is loosened
so that the brackets b' can revolve as hereinafter described.
Two or more of the clips a are employed in conjunction with each shaft c¹ so that
while the filling and corking of a bottle in one clip is being effected, the removal of

page_text: the bottle previously filled and carried by another clip can also be effected and an
empty bottle substituted for it.
Each of the shafts c' is supported at its lower end in a bracket d and at its upper
end passes through the table and is adapted to be partially rotated, after each filling
and corking operation, to move the full bottle from beneath the filling and corking
devices and place an empty bottle in position. This movement of each bottle-carrying
shaft is advantageously effected by means of a coiled spring e which is arranged in
a recess e¹ in a gear wheel mounted on the table one end of the said spring being
attached to the said wheel while the other end is attached to the shaft c. The gear
wheel gears with one row of teeth on a double gear wheel f¹ while the other row
of teeth on the said gear wheel gears with a pinion g loosely arranged on a
vertical main shaft g' for the purpose hereinafter described.
Catches or stops h are provided on wire guards h' which partly surround
the bottles for the purpose hereinafter described. These catches or stops serve to
limit the movement of each bottle-carrying shaft c', so that the bottle to be filled
will come to rest immediately beneath the filling aperture, by reason of the said
stops coming against and forcing back spring stops attached to a bar. * as
shewn in figure 3.
Instead of using clips for carrying the bottles I may arrange a box to carry
several bottles, the box being removed bodily with its contents when the bottles
are filled.
The filling of the bottles carried by each shaft c¹ is effected through a spring
filling valve the spindlo of which is operated by the impingement of a lug
figure 4, on a rotating bush or hollow.cono attached to the double gear wheel,
the rotation of the said hush being effected when the said wheel -is-revolved.
An ordinary stop cock is also arranged in the supply pipe for regulating the quantity
of liquor passing through the filling valve i in a given time.
During the filling operation the mouth of each bottle is forced tightly against a
packing piece k around the filling opening by means of a small table or pusher 7
which is caused to bear against the bottom or base of the bottle being filled, by means
of a screw which is driven from the main shaft g' by a spur wheel and pinion
The pinion is arranged on the said screw and is connected thereto by means of a
coiled spring so that the said pinion can rotate independently of the screw, thus
providing for variations in the lengths of bottles.
In order to prevent injury to the operatives during the filling of the bottles, owing
to the bursting of the same, I arrange the wire guards / hereinbefore described on the
vertical rods a³, and a wire guard h³, extending across the lower part of the machine,
of the shape shewn clearly in Figure 3.
The corking is effected through each of the bushes or cones j¹, the cork being forced
there-through by means of a pusher m operated by a screw n on the main shaft g¹ both
the pushers being carried by a nut or plate n¹ working on the said screw.
and which
o is a clutch provided with two sets of teeth and capable of sliding on a spline on a
horizontal shaft o journalled in bearings o' on the standard B and driven by a pulley o
or by other suitable means. p, pare bevel wheels mounted loosely on the shaft o'
gear
with a bevil pinion p² on the upper end of the main shaft g'. The
wheels P, pare each provided with a set of clutch teeth, with which each set of teeth
on the clutch o are caused to engage as required, by means of a cam 9 so as to drive
the pushers m up and down. The cam y engages with a groove of in the clutch a and
is mounted on a shaft q' journalled in hearings q' on the standard Band driven by
means of gear wheels q³, q' from the shaft o'. Figure 5 represents a development of
the edge of the cam 9.,
The pinion g through the medium of which the motion of the main shaft g' is com-
municated to the gearing for operating the bottle-carrying shafts c¹ and the filling
bushes is provided with ratchet teeth on its under side (or a spring clutch can be
used) with which engages a pawl r so that motion will only be communicated to the
said pinion when the shaft is rotated in the direction of the arrow figure 1. This
arrangement permits the return of the nut or plate n' carrying the cork pushers m and
)

page_text: the return of the bottle-carrying tables to their normal positions after they have been
moved to cork and hold two bottles, without operating the filling valves i and bottle-
carrying shafts c¹.
The corks are fed to the bushes or cones j¹ from magazines s supported by brackets st
on the standard B. These magazines are in the form of tubes, the lower ends of
which are provided with grooves s in which slide short pieces of tube s¹ of the same
diameter as the tubes but open in the front, serving as carriages for conveying by
means of springs & the corks, one at a time from the base of the said magazines to the
cones, the said tubes s¹ being moved in a backward direction by means of a lever s²
which is operated by a backward extension n' on the nut or plate n', which extension
is forked and engages with and slides upon a web n³ on the standard B, so as to
prevent the said nut or plate n' from revolving when operated up or down by the
screw n on the shaft g¹.
is a plate arranged beneath each of the tubes s¹ so as to prevent each cork from
dropping through until it has arrived over the opening in the cone it has to pass
through. are projecting portions of the tubess to prevent the corks from falling
forward and s are slits in the fronts of the tubes s so as to enable the corks contained
therein to be seen.
Although I have only described two sets of filling and corking mechanism as being
operated from the main shaft g¹,-it is to be understood that one only or more than
two sets may be driven therefrom simultaneously.
An air vessel or chamber t is arranged to receive the expelled air from the bottles
through pipes t connected to each of the filling openings A, which vessel is provided
with a spring piston t having an adjustable collar on its rod which collar when
the piston is raised is adapted to strike against a bracket to whereby the motion of the
piston is arrested. Any other suitable means may however be provided for regulating
the capacity of the air vessel.
It is obvious by adjusting the position of the collar ³ upon its rod t that I am
enabled to regulate the extent which the piston can move and consequently also the
capacity. By this means I can control the quantity of liquid entering the bottles by
regulating the capacity of the air vessel so that when a given quantity of liquid has
entered the bottle, the air forced therefrom into the air chamber will be at the same
pressure as that in the aerating cylinder. By the use of the said air vessel I can
dispense with the ordinary snitt.
The pipes are arranged at a slight angle as shewn so that any liquor that may be
forced into the chamber t when the bottles are being filled, will run out directly the
said bottles are removed from the filling openings k¹.
I sometimes dispense with the use of the air vessel for regulating the quantity of
liquor introduced into the bottles and employ it for regulating or reducing the pressure
in such bottles. In this case the regulation of quantity is effected by means of the
stop cock berein before referred to which is adjusted to allow the required quantity
of liquid to pass while the filling valve is open. The pressure in the bottles is reduced
by regulating the capacity of the air vessel so that the gas introduced with the liquid
can expand sufficiently to lower its pressure to the desired point.
The operation of the machine is as follows, that is to say, assuming the parts of the
machine to be in the position shewn in figures 1 and 2, and each of the clips a
provided with a bottle to be filled and the tubes & having deposited a cork in each
conej if the pulley o be revolved by a belt in the direction of the arrow figure I the
part of the cam 9 will cause the clutch o to engage the clutch teeth of the bevil
wheel p, thereby revolving the said bevil wheel and causing the screw n of the shaft g¹
to move down the pushers m about two thirds of their whole movement thereby forcing the
corks just described tightly into the cones; at the same time the tubes will be moved
partly back, their open fronts allowing them to so move without the corks which are
being pressed into the cones by the pushers m. The tables or pushers are also
caused by the revolution of the main shaft g' to move up and force the bottles which
are above them against the packing piece k round the filling opening &¹ the vertical
rods a sliding in their bearings b to allow of this movement, and the coil spring e.is.

page_text: also wound up by means of the gear wheels ef and g. This upward movement of
the tables will cause the stops to move above and release the spring stops h³ which
will then move into the position shewn by the dotted lines in figure 3.
At about the time that the pushers finish the movement described the valve
spindles are impinged upon by the lugs ; on the cones ; thereby opening the
valves and admitting the aërated water or other liquid to the bottles; the part of
the cam q
will then engage with the clutch o and move it out of engagement with the
bevil-wheel thereby allowing the bottles to fill with the liquid admitted through
the valves, the air expelled by the in-rush of the said liquid, passing into the air
vessel t. After the bottles are full the part q' of the cam 9 will move the clutch o
again into engagement with the bevil wheel p thereby allowing the valves to close and
causing the pushers m to force the corks into the bottles and further wind up the
springs e and and also further move back the tubes & to beneath the magazines & to
receive each another cork. The part of the cam y will then cause the clutch to
engage with the bevil wheel p¹ thereby reversing the movement of the main shaft gl
and causing the pushers m to move up to their first position. The tables or pushers
will at the same time move down together with the filled bottles, which directly their
mouth get clear of the filling openings k¹, will, by reason of the tension of the
springs e and their stops h being out of engagement with the stops ³, be caused to
move round in the direction of the arrows figure 3 and change places with the empty
bottles, the stops of which will by reason of their lower position than those just
mentioned, he caused to come against the stops h³. While the movements just
described have been taking place, fresh corks will have been fed into the cones j'. The
filled bottles can then be replaced by-empty-ones and the cycle of operations repeated.
My improved machine can also be used for filling internally stoppered bottles such
as those known as Codd's. This can be effected by removing the cork pushers m and
the hollow cones j and replacing them with solid cones one of which is shewn in
section at figure 6-and is provided with a short projection 3. Bevil wheels d' are
also provided, fixed by set-screws.d² in the brackets d so that by loosening the said
screws and moving and fixing the said wheels in gear with the bevil wheels
loosening the set screws c³, when the vertical shafts rotate, the bottles will be caused
to turn upside down to allow the stoppers to fall onto their seats.
and
For holding the bottles, I make use of a modified form of rod a', in combination
with the parts 61, 6 and 63 hercin before described. This arrangement is shewn at
figures 7 and 8 which represent a sectional elevation and plan respectively of the same.
The rods a are arranged, as shewn to hold the bottles in reverse positions. Each
rod a' is provided with clips a and with extensions u, u¹ at its ends, the extension u
being removable as shewn, to enable the said rod to be inserted in or withdrawn from
the bearings in the brackets b¹. The extension u has an opening in its centre
through which passes a spring rod having ratchet teeth 1 on one edge with which
engages a spring pawl 2, as shewn clearly in figure 9 which represents a section on
the line E, F of figure 7. The rod u is provided with a table or flange at its upper
end upon which the bottle to be filled rests as shewn at y figure 7. and when the table
or pusher over which it is situated moves upwards, as described with reference to
figures 1 to 5, the table is caused to move the bottle in the same direction and press
its mouth against a packing piece to at the base of a chamber w¹ in the extension u¹
the pawl ² serving to hold the bottle in that position. This chamber has an opening
in the top normally closed by a spring valve having a stem which projects
through the said opening, so that when the bottle is moved up as just described and
has come into contact with the packing piece wo, the table or pusher still continuing
to move will cause the rod a¹ to move in its bearings and press the exterior part of
the chamber w¹ against the packing piece k in the machine and at the same time the
stem of the valve will come against the projection on the solid cone and open
the said valve, so that the bottle can be filled.
v2
When the shaft c¹ rotates, the bottle which has been filled will be caused to turn
upside down, as hereinbefore described and shewn at y¹, and can be taken away by
releasing the spring päwl o³ and an empty bottle put in its place.

page_text: The bottle which has previously been placed in the apparatus will at the same time
turn into the upright position ready for filling, thus completing the operation and so
on. Springs y are provided on the rods a' so as to return the rods a¹ to their normal
position after having been acted upon by the tables or pushers l.
Instead of filling the bottles in the upright position and reversing them as described,
I can fill them with their mouths downwards by placing the filling valves i and air
vessels at the bottom, as will be well understood.
In some cases I prefer to dispenso with the arrangements shewn in figures 1, 2, 3
for holding ordinary bottles and substitute therefor the arrangement shewn in figure 10
which consists of two brackets & attached to the shaft and provided with the
bearings 6 in which slide the rods a¹.
shaft and bevil wheels b' and d¹.
In this case I dispense with the use of the cross
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
(1.) In a bottle filling machine, a holder for containing two or more bottles to be
filled, the said holder being so arranged that the bottles will be automatically and
successively placed beneath and removed from the filling nozzle, substantially as
described.
(2.) The arrangement of gearing and coiled springs in combination with the bottle
holders for effecting the automatic movement of the same and the stops for limiting
such movement, substantially as described.
(3.) The combination with the bottle holders of the vertically moveable pushers or
tables for holding the hottles in position against the filling openings substantially as
described.
(4.) The combination with the bottle holders of cones such as j¹ which serve for
the introduction of the corks and also for operating the filling valves, substantially as
described.
(5.) The combination with the corking cone of the cork magazine and the carrier
for conveying the corks from such magazine to the cone, substantially as described.
(6.) In a bottle filling machine the use of a chamber adapted to receive the air
forced from the bottles when filling the same, and provided with means for regulating
its capacity to correspond with that of the bottles or portions of the bottles being filled
substantially as, and for the purpose described.
(7.) In a bottle filling machine the means herein before described for enabling the
pressure in the bottles to be regulated or reduced substantially as set forth.
(8.) in a bottle filling machine provided with a holder as herein before described
rranging the said holder in such a manner that it can be reversed, substantially as,
nd for the purpose described with roference to figures 7 to 9 of the drawing.
(9.) The manufacture and use of the improved machine substantially as hereinbefore
escribed and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Dated the 26th day of March 1880.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London.
Agents for the Applicant.