AN IMPROVED STOPPER AND BOTTLE FOR CONTAINING AERATED LIQUIDS, SUCH BEING ALSO APPLICABLE TO ORDINARYLES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Edwards, of New Garden Street, Hull, in
the County of York, Professor of Music, for the Invention of “AN
IMPROVED STOPPER AND BOTTLE FOR CONTAINING AERATED LIQUIDS, SUCH
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Edwards at. the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th December 1873.
I, JOHN EDWARDS, of New Garden Street, Hull, in the County of York,
Professor of Music, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention for
"AN IMPROVED STOPPER AND BOTTLE FOR CONTAINING AERATED LIQUIDS, SUCH
IMPROVED STOPPER BEING ALSO APPLICABLE TO ORDINARY BOTTLES," to be as
follows:-
1

page_text: but to insure its being secured by wire in the ordinary way I provide it
on either side at the top with a flange, over which the wire is passed
in the usual manner, the base or stem of the stopper being formed
in the manner above described.
The advantages attendant upon the use of my improved stopper and
bottle are the great facility for casily and instantaneously hermetically
sealing the bottle, and as speedily opening it when desired, the simpli.
city of the operation rendering it easy of accomplishment by the most
inexperienced person. Also the economy in cost and great durability
of the stopper, one stopper lasting for several years, whether used in
conjunction with my improved bottle or adapted to bottles in ordinary
use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said John Edwards in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th June 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
EDWARDS, of New Garden Street, Hull, in the County of York, Pro-
fessor of Music, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of December, in the year.
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Edwards, Her special license
that I, the said John Edwards, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Edwards, 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 "AN IMPROVED STOPPER AND BOTTLE FOR
CONTAINING AERATED LIQUIDS, Such Improved STOPPER BEING ALSO APPLICABLE TO
ORDINARY BOTTLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Edwards, 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,

page_text: i
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 John Edwards, 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 :-
This Invention has for its object an improved stopper and bottle for
containing aerated liquids, such improved stopper being also applicable
to ordinary bottles.
In order to carry out my improvements I proceed as follows:-I make
the stopper of any suitable material in the following manner :-On each
side of the base thereof is a small boss or projection, and on the lower
part of the peg which enters the neck of the bottle I secure in any :
suitable manner a piece of mineralized or vulcanized india-rubber tube,
reaching a little below the base of the stopper.
In my Provisional Specification filed 13th December 1873, I have
described a means of securing such india-rubber to the base of the
stopper by forming a projecting ridge about the centre of such base, but a
I find a more preferable method is to form the peg of the stopper hollow
and of a circular form, having in its outer circumference the bosses or
projections before mentioned, and upon its inner circumference a series
of corrugations or teeth; I then insert the india-rubber tubing into this
hollow and secure it there by inserting a plug of suitable size and form, a
which when so inserted causes cach one of the corrugations to nip the
india-rubber tubing and act like a tooth to firmly secure it in its place,
and upon inserting the stopper into the bottle the loose part of such
india-rubber tube, which depends from the base of the stopper, is forced
against the sides of the bottle, and by such compression the bottle
becomes hermetically closed.
The bottle is made in the following manner:-A welt is formed on
the inside of the neck, and leading to such welt from the rim are two
grooves to permit of the insertion of the stopper, whilst in the upper
edge of the welt is a hollow space or notch, which acts as a stop, as a
presently described.

page_text: The operation of stopping and opening is performed as follows:-The
arm on each side of the stopper enters the groove formed for its reception
in the rim of the bottle, the stopper is then turned to the left and lodged
in the hollow space in the welt, and it is thus securely and instan-
taneously hermetically sealed by the upward pressure of the gases con-
tained within the bottle.
To prevent the stopper when it is inserted into the neck of the bottle
making an entire revolution or being turned round too far the welt is
provided with a knob or projection placed in a convenient position
therein, and such knob or projection acts as a stop upon the stopper
when turned round, as above described.
In order to remove the stopper when desired and avoid all danger of
any waste of the contents it is only necessary to apply a slight down-
ward pressure to the stopper, followed by a turn to the right in order
to cause it to move from the hollow space or notch provided for its
secured lodgment in the welt, as before mentioned, it is thus casily and
instantaneously opened without any of the unpleasant results which so
frequently attend the present methods of opening bottles containing
acrated liquids.
In order to adapt my improved stopper for use in ordinary bottles I
described in my Provisional Specification herein-before referred to a
method of forming it of a suitable size to enter the mouth of the bottle
to be closed, and without the arms or projections on the base thereof,
above described, but I have since discovered that it is preferable to
proceed in the following manner:-I first place in the bottle any;
ordinary and suitable internal stopper, and I provide a metal cap
furnished with three arms, and around the base of such metal cap I
place a piece of india-rubber tube, I then place this metal cap in the
neck of the bottle and secure the 3 before-mentioned arms by bending
them downwards and soldering them to a metal band passed around the
exterior of the neck of the bottle, which thus effectually secures the
india-rubber tube in the neck of the bottle. When the bottle is charged
with aerated liquid the internal stopper is forced up against the india-
rubber tube, and the bottle is thus hermetically closed.
In order to form an external stopper, which may be used either
separately or in combination with the internal one, I make a metal rim
on the top of the before-mentioned metal cap, such rim being formed in

page_text: Figure 1 shews a view of my improved stopper; a, a, are the bossess
or projections on each side of the outer circumference of the peg
thercof;
the line & indicates the termination of the metal base of the stopper; cis
the india-rubber tubing depending therefrom.
Figure 1 is a plan view of the bottom of the stopper shewing the
inner corrugated circumference of the peg a', the india-rubber tubing a²,
and the inner plug a³, securing such india-rubber tubing within such
corrugated circumference.

page_text: Figure 2 shews a sectional view of my improved bottle with the
welt d, groove e, and stop f, formed in the neck thereof; also the
opening formed therein to admit of the insertion of the stopper, as
before described.

page_text: In witness whereof, I, the said John Edwards, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.