Improvements in Bottles that cannot be Refilled.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bottles that cannot be Refilled.
I, JOHN GILBUT SURMAN, of The Rectory, Healing, in the County of Lincoln,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention consists of a bottle and stopper of the following construction:-
The stopper contains a ball or sphere, which, when the bottle is in its normal
position, rests upon a bed containing an apperture, which however is both air
tight and water tight. The interior of the stopper is of a cylindrical shape, of
exactly the same diameter as that of the ball, in which the ball can roll freely
from one end of the stopper to the other, but yet no liquid can pass between
the two. At the top of the stopper four holes are cut, and that part of the
stopper at the bottom of these holes are bevelled towards the holes, so as to give
room for the liquid to flow out of the bottle, when the ball rests upon an hemi-
spherical bed which is constructed at the top end of the stopper. The exterior
of the top of the stopper is also of an hemispherical shape. In the lower bed
of the stopper a circular aperture is cut to allow the liquid to flow out of the
bottle.
In the exterior surface of the stopper where it is in contact with the funnel
of the bottle either cavities are cut to hold the cement, or a canalure is cut round
the interior of the stopper for the same purpose, and the object of this is that
if heat be applied with the object of withdrawing the stopper from the bottle.
the cement expanding rapidly, will break both the bottle and the stopper.
The bottle is constructed in the following manner:-The top of the funnel
tapers inwards, that is towards the interior of the bottle.
When the bottle is filled, the above stopper, the sides of which being pre-
viously coated with cement is plugged into the funnel of the bottle, and the
bottle can then be corked, and is now fit to be sold to the public.
The object of the stopper is that although it freely allows the liquid to flow
out, none can by any means be poured into the bottle again, thus giving an
absolute guarantee both to the manufacturer that his products cannot be adul-
terated, and to the public that they really obtain what they pay for.
I therefore claim the invention both of the bottle, the stopper, as well as of
the contrivance to break the bottle, by means of the cement contained in the
cavities or canaloure, when heat is applied, and a stopper which by means of a
ball, working in a cylinder and resting upon a bed, closing an aperture cut
therein, air tight and water tight, and which by means of pneumatic and
hydraulic principles prevents the bottle being refilled, either by liquid being
poured into the funnel or by the bottle being inserted in a vessel of fluid.
January 25th 1898.

page_text: improvements in Bottles that cannot be Refilled.
JOHN GILBUT SURMAN, of The Rectory, Healing, in the County of Lincoln,
Clerk in Holy Orders, 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 by which I render any bottle unrefillable, although the contents
of the bottle can be readily poured out is as follows:-The bottle may be of any
shape or size or made of any material and constructed as any ordinary bottle
with this single exception, that the internal surface of the neck of the bottle
must taper from the mouth towards the body of the bottle for about an inch and
a half KL Fig. 1.
When the bottle is filled with the liquid it is intended to protect, a stopper A
Fig. 1 constructed as described hereafter, is plugged into the neck of the bottle,
which stopper when once plugged into the neck of the bottle cannot be removed,
and the said stopper whilst it allows the liquid contained in the bottle freely
to flow out, will not allow any to enter the bottle again.
The stopper A Fig. 1 which is made of any material is constructed in the
following manner. The inside of the stopper is hollow and has two orifices B
&C Fig. 3 one at the top and one at the bottom. The internal wall of the
stopper which is perpendicular to these orifices has three or more guides G
G, G, Fig. 4 upon which a spherical ball made of any material S Fig. 3, which
exactly fills the space between the inner edges of these three guides, works, which
said ball, when the bottle is in its normal position, rests upon a bed FF Fig. 3
thus forming a joint, into which it exactly fits, thus covering up the lower
orifice which is about the same size as the upper orifice, which is made in the
middle of this bed at the lower end of the stopper. Through this orifice the
liquid contained in the bottle passes. When the specific gravity of the liquid
is less than that of the substance of which the ball is made, a spring P Fig. 3
made of any material or shape is placed above this ball, and retained in its
place, by means of a disc E Fig. 3 which is plugged between the guides, and
prevented from covering up the upper orifice of the stopper, by means of
notches N Fig. 3 made in each of the guides, about one eighth of an inch, from
their upper extremities. This spring is of such strength that it is compressed
by the weight of the ball, when the full weight of the ball is brought upon it,
that is when the bottle is turned upside down, but is of sufficient strength to
bring the ball back into the bed, when the axis of the bottle is within fifteen
degrees of the horizontal position. This spring is not necessary when the specific
gravity of the substance of which the ball is made is less than that of the liquid,
and also when it is equal to or a very little greater than that of the liquid. The
object of the said disc is to prevent both the ball and the spring being tampered
with.
The external walls of the stopper is slightly tapering, but not tapering so
much as the internal walls of the neck of the bottle, and by this arrangement
the greatest mechanical advantage can be obtained in plugging the stopper into
the neck of the bottle so that it cannot be removed, since the top of the stopper
is made perfectly plain, and of substance which cannot be bored.
In the external wall of the stopper there are made one
cavities, HH' Fig. 2, the object of which is
or more small
which
to contain the cement,
is usually employed for fixing the
of the bottle, and is smeared round the side of the stopper.
stopper into the
neck
This

page_text: cement which expands greatly by heat would by expanding in these cavities,
shatter both the neck of the bottle, and also the stopper itself, if any fraudulent
attempt was made to remove the stopper by means of heat.
The three guides in the stopper, slightly protrude within one eighth of an
inch of their upper extremities, so as to form the notches N Fig. 3 above
refered to, which prevents the disc and the spring, and the ball falling through
the upper orifice of the stopper. Fig. 4 is a transverse section of stopper on
line M M Fig. seen from above.
Now suppose the bottle is filled with the liquid it is intended to protect and
the stopper is plugged into the neck of the bottle, when the bottle is tilted in
the ordinary position for pouring out the liquid, the ball will roll along the
guides, thus opening the lower orifice, which will allow the liquid contained in
the bottle to flow out, and the bottle can in this manner be emptied of its con-
tents. But suppose an attempt is made to refill the bottle by pouring liquid
into it, the lower orifice being closed by the ball, will prevent any liquid enter-
ing the bottle. Suppose the attempt is made by plunging the bottle below the
surface of the liquid, with which it is wished to refill the bottle, and the mouth
of the bottle is turned downwards, now, although the lower orifice is now open,
the liquid contained in the vessel cannot enter the bottle, because the air con-
tained in the bottle cannot escape, and therefore the liquid cannot enter. Sup-
pose the mouth of the bottle is turned upwards until it comes into a horizontal
position, the ball actuated by the spring, or the pressure of the liquid, closes
the orifice when the bottle is turned within fifteen degrees of the horizontal
position, thus preventing any liquid entering. It the bottle is continued to be
turned upwards, the ball will continue to cover the orifice, and thus prevent any
liquid entering the bottle. This will continue until the axis of the bottle
reaches a position fifteen degrees below the horizontal position, but now the
air in the bottle not being able to escape will prevent the liquid entering the
bottle. In this manner my invention entirely prevents any liquid entering the
bottle, by any means short of distroying some portion of either the bottle or the
stopper.
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. The method of rendering bottles unrefillable by means of a stopper plugged
into the neck of the bottle.
2. The method of rendering the said stopper impossible to be removed, when
once plugged into the neck of the bottle, by making the internal surface of the
neck of the bottle tapering from the top downwards towards the body of the
bottle and by making the sides of the stopper taper a little less than the
internal surface of the neck of the bottle, but in the same direction from top to
bottom, thus making the plugging, according to the laws of statics, the greatest
possible, and by making the upper surface of the stopper perfectly plain, and of
material which cannot be bored, there will be no means by which it can be
removed by mechanical force.
3. The method of rendering the stopper impossible to be removed by heat, by
means of employing cavities in the external surface of the stopper, which being
filled with cement which expands greatly by heat, would, when heat were applied
to it, break both the neck of the bottle and the stopper itself.
4. The invention of a siopper made of any material, which will allow the
liquid to flow out of the bottle, but none to flow into the bottle, by means of the
following contrivances; a spherical ball made of any material, which when the
bottle is in its normal position rests upon a bed into which it exactly fits, and
covers an orifice which is made in the centre of the said bed. There is another
orifice at the top of the stopper of about the same size. This ball works upon
three or more guides, between which it exactly fits, which are placed perpen-

page_text: dicularly to these two orifices of the stopper, by means of which the lower orifice
is opened and closed. Each guide, at about one eighth of an inch of the upper
orifice of the stopper has a notch, the object of which is either to secure a disc
made of any size or material, or to prevent the ball rolling further than this
distance towards the upper orifice of the stopper. The ball is moved into the
bed, and covers the lower orifice, either by means of the pressure of the liquid
entering the bottle, or by means of a spring made of any size or material, when
the axis of the bottle comes within fifteen degrees of the horizontal position. By
this contrivance the lower orifice is opened when the bottle is in such position
when the liquid contained in the bottle can flow out, but closed when it can flow in.
5. The method of closing the lower orifice of the stopper, by means of a ball
working in the stopper constructed as above described, but using the pressure of
the liquid into which the bottle is submerged, instead of a spring, as above
described.
6. The method of employing a disc, fixed into guides as above described, to
prevent either the spring or the ball being tampered with.
Dalad this 21 1
ī 1000
J. GILBUT SURMAN.