Improvements in or relating to Appliances for Placing in the Necks of Bottles to Prevent their being Re-filled.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Feb., 1899-Accepted, 4th Mar., 1899
Improvements in or relating to Appliances for Placing in the Necks
of Bottles to Prevent their being Re-filled.
A communication by DUNCAN ALLAN MCINTYRE, of Inverell, in the Colony of
New South Wales, Solicitor, and ALEXANDER YOUNG DICKINSON, of Manilla,
in the Colony of New South Wales, Watchmaker.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Manchester, both
in the County of Lancaster, 118, New Street, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, and 322, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, 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:-
The object of this invention is to prevent bottles whose contents have been
poured out from being refilled for fraudulent purposes.
This apparatus for this purpose consists of a hollow block of glass, or other
suitable substance (the internal) parts of which are hereinafter fully described)
fitted into the neck of the bottle. The bottle neck may be cylindrical, square
or conical in shape as considered desirable and the external surface of the block
is made to correspond. The internal mechanism of the said block consists of a
ball moving freely in a dome-shaped chamber with a passage leading from the
body of the bottle into the said chamber and one or more apertures leading from
the said chamber into the bottle neck.
To clearly explain this invention the accompanying drawings will now be
referred to which represent a sectional view of the bottle neck with this appliance
fixed therein.
A is the bottle neck.
B the cork.
C is the body of this appliance and D the interior chamber in which the valve-
ball E moves.
C¹ C¹ are apertures leading from the chamber D into the neck of the bottle these
passages may be made to pass diagonally through the walls of the chamber so as
to prevent the action of the ball E from being interfered with from the outside.
C2 is passage leading from the bulb of the bottle into the chamber D. The top
of this passage way is constructed so as to form a seat for the valve-ball. When
the bottle has been filled this appliance is placed in position in the neck and the
bottle corked in the ordinary way. On drawing the cork and holding the bottle
mouth downwards as shown in Figure 2 the valve-ball rolls away from its seat in
the top of the passage into the chamber D and the liquid flows freely from the
bottle through the passage (2 into the chamber D and thence through the aper-
tures CC into the neck and out of the mouth of the bottle. But if the bottle
be placed mouth upwards for the purpose of refilling as shown in Figure 1 the
valve-ball E rolls into its seat and effectively closes the passage C². As regards

page_text: the construction of this appliance the ball E may be either blown in the chamber or
the block may be made in two pieces and joined together after the ball has been
inserted. There are many methods by which the appliance may be inserted in the
bottle neck but the one preferred is the simple method of forming the bottle neck
slightly conical so that at the lowest point the apparatus will when inserted fit
tightly. If the inner surface of the bottle neck and the outer surface of the
glass block be both roughened by an emery wheel or other method as soon as the
latter is inserted the two rough surfaces will "knit" and form a perfect joint.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondents I declare that what I claim is:-
In an appliance for placing in the necks of bottles to prevent their being re-
filled, the combination and arrangement of an internal chamber such as 1) and
passage ways such as C and C2 with a moving valve-ball such as E for the purpose
and of the nature herein set forth and as illustrated.