IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR INFANTS FEEDING AND OTHER BOTTLES, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE, CONSTRUCTION, COMBINATION, AND EMPLOYMENT OF THE WHOLE OR PART OF THE ARTICLES TO BE USED
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Richmond Stocker, of Thomas Street,
☑Horsleydown, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STOPPERS FOR INFANTS FEEDING AND OTHER BOTTLES, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE,
CONSTRUCTION, COMBINATION, AND EMPLOYMENT OF THE WHOLE OR PART OF
THE ARTICLES TO BE USED."
Sealed the 14th June 1870, dhd dated the 17th December 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Richmond
Stocker at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 17th December 1869.
I, ALEXANDER RICHMOND STOCKER,, of Thomas Street, Horsleydown,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR INFANTS FEEDING AND OTHER BOTTLES, AND IN
THE MANUFACTURE, CONSTRUCTION, COMBINATION, AND EMPLOYMENT OF THE WHOLE
OR PART OF THE ARTICLES TO BE USED," to be as follows:-
These improvements consist in producing stoppers, capsules, or covers,
one of their parts being made, by preference, of glass plain in its inside,
and the other of metal, the latter having a screw or its equivalent first

page_text: provided thereon or therein, after which it is to be fixed in the glass or
other caps or stoppers previously mentioned, rendering them capable of
being applied to bottles having screws or their equivalents provided on
the necks thereof for their roception, these caps or stoppers having holes
made through their crowns, and other necessary provisions also made aro
especially adapted to the use of and to be compounded with, and the
appendices of infants' feeding bottles as well as for other purposes. Other
stoppers, capsules, or covers when made out of materials of their proper
configuration and produced by the process or processes I intend to use
will also be found peculiarly applicable to infants' feeding bottles.
The kinds of materials and the process or processes I intend to employ
for their production are in most respects similar to those described in
the Specification of a Patent granted to John Rand on the Twenty-
ninth day of September 1842, No. 9480, and consists in employing a
soft metal that will yield to the required configuration of the cap er
stopper intended to be produced, and the process for the manufacture
thereof as therein set forth. I also produce hollow glass or other stoppers,
by preference, having screws or their equivalents provided on the upper
parts thereof for the reception of caps or covers to close their orifices,
the other parts fixed into or on to the neck of the bottle in any con-
venient manner, by preference, is made plain; these stoppers I press in
glass by the aid of a matrix cut, sunk, turned, or engraved in such
manner as may render them suitable to the configurations of the articles
I intend to produce, or they may be cast, turned, or otherwise, but I
prefer to make them by pressure as first described. These stoppers and
their modifications will be found convenient for many uses to be
employed with bottles, such, for instance, as when they are shaped
slightly different in their configurations they will be suitable for unions
and shields as well as for the reception of elastic india-rubber or other
rings to be employed for the purpose of closing the orifices of bottles
& stoppers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Richmond Stocker in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 17th June 1870.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in
the thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Alexander Richmond
Stocker, Her special licence that I, the said Alexander Richmond
Stocker, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Alexander Richmond Stocker, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR INFANTS'
FEEDING AND OTHER BOTTLES. AND IN THE MANUFACTURE. CONSTRUCTION, COM-
BINATION, AND EMPLOYMENT OF THE WHOLE OR PART OF THE ARTICLES TO BE
USED," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander
Richmond Stocker, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Alexander Richmond Stocker, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement →
My said improvements relate partly to the production of stoppers or
covers consisting of two parts, one being made of either glass or porce-
lain plain in its inside, and the other of metal, the latter having a screw
or its equivalent first provided thereon or therein, after which it is to
be fixed in the glass or porcelain stoppers or covers, thereby rendering
them capable of being applied to blow or burst off bottles having screws
or their equivalents provided on the necks thereof for their reception.
These stoppers or covers when made in accordance with my Invention
have holes made through their crowns, and other necessary provisions
are also made so as to render them especially adapted suitable to be
combined with feeding bottles and their appendices. When this species
of stopper or cover has been somewhat modified in its construction it

page_text: will be equally applicable to other bottles and vessels. Other stoppers,
capsules, or covers when made out of suitable materials, and of their
proper configuration, and produced by the process or processes I intend
to use, will also be found when the necessary parts have been added
thereto peculiarly applicable to infants' feeding bottles. Some of the
kinds of materials and the process or processes I intend to employ for
the production of some of these stoppers, capsules, or covers are similar
to those described in the Specification of a Patent granted to John
Rand on the 29th day of September 1842, No. 9480, that is to say, as
regards the material a soft ductile metal, such as when operated upon
by compression according to the process therein described will yield to the
required configuration of the cap or stopper intended to be produced.
I also produce hollow glass or other stoppers by preference having
screws or their equivalents provided on the upper parts thereof for the
reception of caps or covers to close their orifices, the other parts fixed
into or on to the neck of the bottle in any convenient manner by pre-
ference is made plain. The manufacture of these stoppers I effect by
dies and matrixes constructed according to my Invention, which are
fixed into and worked by the aid of an apparatus or machine now in every
day use and to which I make no claim. I press therein glass by these
means, the matrixes being first cut, sunk, turned, engraved, or fashioned
in such manner, rendering them suitable to the articles I intend to pro-
duce (the cap thereon may be cast or produced in the manner as herein-
after described). These stoppers and their modifications will be found
convenient for many uses in connection with bottles, for instance, by a
slight alteration in their form they will be suitable for unions and shields
to be employed with infants' feeding bottles.
Having set forth generally the nature of my said Invention, I will
now proceed more particularly to describe the same and the mode of
practically carrying it into effect, reference being made to the explanatory
Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed.
propose
Fig. represents a vertical section of an apparatus which I
to apply to the manufacture or construction of some of the stoppers,
capsules, or covers which I shall hereafter describe or refer to, and Fig. 2
is a corresponding plan of the said apparatus with the upper portion
removed.
This apparatus consists generally of a bed or bottom plate A to which
a top plate B is hinged at «, the two contiguous surfaces of which plates

page_text: "
my
have a circular recess b, b, and c, c, formed therein for the reception of
the top and bottom faces of a divided matrix C, the two halves of such
matrix being hinged together at d so as to admit of its opening and
closing when required, which is facilitated by the two handles e, e. The
matrix C is here represented as being intended for forming the peculiar
stopper as shewn at Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6, but it may obviously be adapted
for forming other shaped articles, such, for example, as the glass portion
of the caps shewn at Figs. 9, 10, and 11, the infants' feeding bottle
stopper Fig. 12, and the unions Figs. 13 and 14 for use in infants' feeding
bottles, or the combined union and shield as shewn in Fig. 15, it being
simply requisite to give the required internal configuration to the said
matrix to produce any article wished for in conformity with Invention.
In the upper surface of the said matrix there is formed a "gate" or
cavity into which the molten glass is first introduced, and into this
gate" enters the lower end of a small plunger D jointed at g to a hand
lever E working on a fulcrum attached to the top plate B. The
lever E works through a slotted guide i, and is forced upwards by a
halical spring at k so as to keep the plunger elevated except when it is
required to be forced into the "gate; " F is a locking lever or catch for
holding the top and bottom plates B and A firmly closed against the
matrix. The whole of these articles it will be seen are moulded with
perforations therein or therethrough, it will be clear therefore that
this is accomplished by the aid of pins or cores (see 1, Figure 1),
which may be a fixture in the apparatus or more conveniently remove-
able with a weight m suspended thereto, as shewn in Figure 1, so that
by being repeatedly and necessarily subject to being surrounded and
entirely enveloped with masses of molten glass at that tender part of the
apparatus if injury to any one of the core pins should arise facility will
be afforded for more speedily removing the damaged one and replacing
it by another. To use this apparatus for the purpose of producing any
one of the glass articles already indicated I first adjust the matrix C
with its two halves closed together on to the bottom plate A, so as to
enclose or surround the core pins i; I then introduce sufficient molten
glass into the "gate or cavity to form the said article and to leave a
slight surplusage. The top plate B is then quickly turned down and
locked over the matrix in the position shown in Figure 1, and the
plunger D is depressed by the lever handle E so as to force the glass or
other material down into the matrix and consolidate it therein, the super-
fluous glass or material rising up the sides of the plunger in the "gate."
"

page_text: The top plate B is then unlocked and thrown open, the matrix C is
lifted off the plate A and opened by means of the handles e, e, when
the moulded compressed article may be readily released and the operation
repeated. If this article has been, say, a stopper like that shewn at
Figure 5, or a union such as shewn at Figure 14, it will present on
leaving the matrix the appearance shewn at Figures 3 and 13, where
represents the waste or surplusage which is nipped off along the dotted
Ine 1-2. In those Figures the stopper or union after having been cut
and finished at the severed portion then presenting the appearance shewn
in Figures 5 and 14, I have found the above to be a most expeditious
and economical mode of making articles of the description referred to
above. And I claim as a portion of my said Invention the application of
such a contrivance, and more especially the adaptation and employment
of the core or pin for their manufacture, but I lay no claim to the
construction or arrangement of the said apparatus itself apart from its
application and use as aforesaid.
The peculiarity of the stopper represented by Figures 5 and 6 is the
combination of a central perforation with a screwed portion o (for the
reception of a cap or cover p) and a plain portion y fitting into a lining
of cork let into a bottle neck, the said stopper being made by com-
pression in a matrix as described in reference to Figures 1 and 2. The
cork lining may be concealed from internal view by a ring or ferrule
of metal fixed on to the bottle neck, as in Figures 5 and 6. In
some cases this stopper may be made to screw outside of a bottle neck or
to fit thereon with a cork lining therein or otherwise, or the part shewn
screwed in Figure 5 may be left plain. This stopper will be found
specially applicable to what are known as perfume sprinklers, and a
modified form of it may be used with advantage for stopping infants'
feeding bottles, as shewn at Figure 12, the central perforation being
made sufficiently large to receive the tube . The cork ring may be
held in position on the said stopper by a small shoulder or enlargement
formed on the end of the stopper, as is clearly shewn in the Drawing.
The manufacture of unions and of combined unions and shields in
one piece for infants' feeding bottles, as shewn at Figures 14 and 15,
by moulding and pressure in the apparatus herein-before described and
illustrated by Figures 1 and 2 constitutes another of the essential
features of my said Invention.

page_text: Figures 7 and 8 represent respectively a section and internal plan
of a moulded glass cap or cover. Such cap has a smooth-sided circular
recess formed therein for the reception, according to my Invention, of
a previously screwed metal cap. This metal cap s may be fixed to the
glass by small projections and recesses t, t, aided by cement or otherwise.
I would here observe that I am aware glass caps have been moulded
with screws threads direct upon them, but they were found not to
I claim the combination with a glass cap the contrivance
herein before set forth, or with a porcelain cap of a previously screwed
metal cap or ring. The previously scrowed metal caps or rings in
question are composed by preference of soft ductile metal, such as lead,
tin, pewter, or other metal or alloy of such category as will conform
readily to and fit smoothly round the screwed neck of a blow or burst-off
screwed neck bottle when my compound cap is applied thereto.
answer.
I also specially claim as my Invention the making by moulding and
pressure as described of a similar combined glass and screwed metal cap
having a central opening t' for the reception of the suction tube of an
infants' feeding bottle, as shewn in section and plan at Figures 9 and 10,
also the substitution in such caps when so made of a cork lining u for the
screwed cap s, as shown in Figure 11. In cases where the said cap is
intended for smooth-necked bottles the central opening or perforation
for the reception of the suction tube aforesaid may be made by means
of suitable core or pins substantially the same as shewn in Figures 1
and 2, but adapted of course to the larger opening to be made in the said
caps or stoppers; or this cap may be moulded in the ordinary manner well
known, having added to such old method of working the pin or core
which will produce the hole in the crown thereof for the purpose of
holding the appendages of a feeding bottle simultaneously with the
manufacture of the cap. And I specially claim the manufacture, com-
bination, use, and employment of such contrivance with feeding bottles.
Figures 16 and 17 represent a section and plan of a screwed cap
or cover for infants' feeding bottles composed of soft ductile metal,
and made in a somewhat similar manner to that described in the
Specification of Letters Patent granted to John Rand, bearing date on
or about the Ninth day of September One thousand eight hundred and
forty-two, Number 9480, the process employed being adapted as will be
readily understood by those conversant with the trade to produce the
central opening in the cap for the suction tube simultaneously with

page_text: the internal screw thread therein when it will receive the articles therein,
rendering the whole together in readiness to be applied to blow or
burst of screw necked bottles, and completing thereby this part of my
Invention.
Figure 18 represents in a modified form of cap made in a similar
manner to the preceding one, but having an internal concentric collar
or projection formed therein, the object of such collar being to receive
and partly suspend an india-rubber disc and perform all the advantages
referred to in this particular which will be found upon referring to the
Specification of a Patent granted to me, and dated the Eighth September
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, "2763."
Figure 19 represents in vertical section a mold which I employ for
casting metal stoppers or covers similar to that shewn in Figure 16. A
is a metal core having a screw thread formed thereon, and is otherwise
¹ is a
shaped to conform to the interior surface of the cap to be cast.
projection or pin which may be formed in one with the core, or if
desired it may be screwed or otherwise fitted therein. This pin or
projection is provided for the purpose of forming the hole in the crown
of the cap, the metal being cast around it, as will be clearly seen on
referring to the Drawing. B is a box which surrounds the pin or core,
a sufficient space being left between the surface thereof and the pin or
core A for the metal to form the stopper or cover. This box is made in
two parts hinged together at one side and is opened and closed by
handles similar to those shewn at e, e, in Figure 2; b, b, are lips or
projections which when the box is closed forms a funnel mouth for the
introduction of the liquid or molten metal of which the stopper or cover
is to be formed when the metal which has been poured into the mold
has sufficiently cooled the box is opened when the stopper may be
removed by simply unscrewing it from the pin or core, and the operation
so on repeated, or it may be screwed off along with the box when the
latter is opened allowing the stopper or cover to be released.
In some
cases the box B may be made in the form of a ring and made to lift off
the pin or core bodily in place of opening by the aid of a hinge.
I am aware that soft metal caps for infants' feeding bottles have been
made by molding without any internal screw threads, therefore I lay no
claim thereto, but what I consider the essential feature of this part of
my Invention is, the casting of screwed soft metal stoppers or covers by
the use of a mold box combined with a central core having a screw

page_text: thread formed thereon and rendering them also capable of receiving and
carrying therein the appendages used generally with blow or burst off
screwed neck feeding bottles and the employment therewith according
with my Invention as herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, 1, the said Alexander Richmond Stocker,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of
June, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundrod and
seventy.
ALEXANDER RICHMOND STOCKER. (L.S.)