An Improved Device for Spreading Gum, Paste, and like Liquids, and for Closing or Stoppering the Bottles Containing such Liquids.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Apr., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 25th Jan., 1890-Accepted, 1st Mar.,
1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Device for Spreading Gum, Paste, and like Liquids,
and for Closing or Stoppering the Bottles Containing such
Liquids.
I, ADOLPH BÜHLER of Reichenhall in the Kingdom of Bavaria, late Captain in the
Bavarian Army, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to an improved device for enabling gum paste and similar
liquids to be evenly spread, the said device serving also the purpose of an efficient.
stopper for the bottles containing such liquids.
It is well known that when spreading gum or similar liquids by the use of a brush
in the ordinary manner the brush at first usually contains too much of the liquid and
therefore lays it on too thickly and unevenly, and if the brush be wiped against the
bottle neck to free it from a superfluity of liquid, the cork of the bottle is liable to
stick.fast in the neck thereof. To avoid the latter difficulty loose covers, such as
metallic capsules are used which have the objection that the liquid in the bottle
through exposure to the air thickens in a very short time. Even the recently proposed
elastic gum bottles which terminate in a slit conical tube and which are used directly
for spreading the gum by giving the bottles a slight pressure, do not well answer
the purpose as the gum soon hardens at the outlet and.clogs it up.
By my invention the herein before described objections aro overcome.
My improved device comprises a tube which is so fitted in the corks of the bottle
that it can be easily removed therefrom and replaced...
The tube is advantageously of cylindrical form pointed at its lower end where it is
provided with several small perforations. The tube is preferably fitted with a collar
at the upper end in order to prevent the point from coming into contact with the
bottom of the bottle.
The upper end of the tube which is open has an india rubber cap which serves,
firstly, to suck a quantity of the liquid into the tube and secondly when softly pressed
to cause the liquid to issue through the perforations in the tube and become evenly
and slowly spread.
Instead of employing an india rubber cap the tube may be constructed with a
piston similarly to a syringe or the tube itself may be made in the shape of a
plunging-siphon. As the hole in the cork is made to just fit the tube, all the gum
which may be on the outside of the tube is removed by the cork when drawing the
tube out for use.
The tube can however be fastened to the cork and as it is not necessary to
scrape or wipe the tube against the bottle neck, the cork will not be liable to
stick.
After the tube has been used for spreading the liquid it is pushed down again
through the cork into the bottle until the collar rests tightly on the cork thus forming
a secure stopper and preventing the drying up and thickening of the liquid. If the
india rubber cap of the tube when pushing the latter back into the bottle be com-
pressed by the fingers the liquid will enter the tube as soon as the pressure of the
fingers is removed and the tube will thus be always ready for use.
Instead of using the conical point of the tube for spreading the liquid this may be
more evenly effected by adapting special spreading devices to the latter such as a
brush, a piece of elastic attached to a spring wire, a piece of sponge or a rubber roller,
it being necessary for this purpose to somewhat modify the shape of the end of
the tube.
The 37th
A1000

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Device for Spreading Gum, Paste, and like Liquids,
and for Closing or Stoppering the Bottles Containing such
Liquids.
I, ADOLPH BÜHLER, of Reichenhall, in the Kingdom of Bavaria, late Captain in the
Bavarian Army, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be perforined to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
My invention relates to an improved device for enabling gum, paste and similar
iquids to be evenly spread, the said device serving also the purpose of an efficient
stopper for the bottles containing such liquids.
It is well known that when spreading gum or similar liquids by the use of a brush
in the ordinary manner the brush at first usually contains too much of the liquid and
therefore lays it on too thickly and unevenly and if the brush be wiped against the
bottle neck to free it from a superfluity of liquid the stopper of the bottle is liable to
stick fast in the neck thereof. To avoid the latter difficulty loose covers, such as
metallic capsules are used which have the objection that the liquid in the bottle
through exposure to the air thickens in a very short time.
Even the recently proposed elastic gum bottles which terminate in a slit conical tube
and which are used directly for spreading the gum by giving the bottles a slight
pressure do not well answer the purpose as the gum soon hardens at the outlet
and clogs it up.
By my invention the hereinbefore described objections are overcome and for this
purpose I provide the bottles containing the adhesive liquid with a stopper or plug
with a hole therein through which is passed a rigid suction tube which is scraped or
cleaned each time it is removed from the stopper or plug and which serves both for
spreading the liquid and for stoppering the bottle.
In order to enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe how it can be
carried into practice by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a vertical section of a gum-bottle provided with a device for
spreading the gum and for closing or stoppering the bottle constructed according
to my invention.
Figures 2 to 11 are vertical sections of slightly modified forms of my spreading
device.
Figures 12, 13, 14 and 15, are sections of the mouths of bottles shewing modified
forms of stoppers or plugs used in connection with my improved devices.
Figures 13 and 16 are sections of the mouths of bottles illustrating the means 1
employ for stoppering a bottle provided with my improvements when required to be
packed for transport.
Figure 16 is a similar view but shewing the bottle and spreading device ready
for use.
My improved device comprises a rigid suction tube a (figure 1) which is so fitted
in the stopper c of the bottle d that it can be moved up and down therein as in a stuffing
box. The tube a is provided with a collar in order to prevent the lower end from
coming into contact with the bottom of the bottle.
The upper end of the tube a which is open is fitted with an india rubber b which
cap
serves to suck a certain quantity of the liquid into the tube and to spread it evenly
and slowly when pressed.
Instead of employing an india rubber cap the tube may be provided with a piston
similarly to a syringe, or the tube may be made in the form of an ordinary syphon
but I have found an elastic cap to answer best in practice.
The hole in the stopper c is made to fit fairly tight round the tube, at the same time
allowing it to be easily withdrawn in order to remove or scrape the gum from the
outside of the tube and cause it to drip back into the bottle. The suction tube can at
once be used for spreading the liquid. For that purpose it is made at its lower end

page_text: as shown in Figure 1 into a conical form with a round or flat point having a narrow
opening through which the liquid is slowly and evenly pressed out and spread by
means of the conical surface. As shown in Figure 2 the conical part of the tube may
be perforated to allow the liquid to run out. To spread the liquid more evenly than is
possible with the point of the tube a spreading device may be adapted to the lower end
of the tube which when fed with the liquid in a suitable manner will spread it quite
evenly.
Figures 3 to 11 illustrate a number of devices suitable for this purpose, the
shape of the end of the tube being somewhat modified in each case in order to provide
means for holding the spreader.
In Figure 3 the tube a is slightly narrowed at the lower end and is provided with a
brush which only partly fills the opening of the tube and is carried upon a thin stem
or wire.
Or the brush can be replaced by a flexible tongue g as shown in Figure 3ª.
Figure 4 shews how the holder of the brush for elastic tongue g can be cemented to
the inside of the tube a the cement being of course insoluble in the gum or other
liquid. In these cases the liquid on passing out through the opening in the tube runs
down the brush or the flexible tongue and is evenly spread thereby.
In Figure 5 the tube a is shown made with a narrow neck round which the brush-
hairs are fastened. Or, as shown in Figure 6, a ring or collar can be fitted on the
said neck and carry an inclined brush on one side.
For larger devices the ring can be fitted with a small india rubber roller h (as
illustrated in Figure 7) which is located in front of the opening in the tube and
spreads the gum or other liquid evenly.
In Figure 8, the neck of the tube a is shewn made with a bead on the mouth and
is provided with an india rubber cap having perforations at the sides and at the point.
Or, as shewn in Figure 9, the tube a may terminate in a short open neck in which is
cemented a brush or sponge the feeding of the liquid to which is effected through
small holes in the sides of the neck. Or the feed could be effected by means of a small
tube or quill e inserted in the middle of the brush as represented in Figure 10. As
shown in Figure 11 the tube a can be made of uniform diameter throughout and have
its lower end fitted with a stopper carrying a brush and with a small separate feeding
tube e.
In order to make use of my improved devices the elastic cap 6 must be first
compressed by the hand in order to expel part of the air inside. Upon the hand being
removed a quantity of liquid will be sucked up into the tube a and be retained thereby.
Upon taking the tube out of the stopper all the gum or other liquid on its outer surface
will he wiped off by the stopper and will return into the bottle. The greater the
pressure of the stopper upon the tube the more effectually it will be cleaned.
The contents of the tube thus cleaned can now by a slight pressure on the elastic
cap be fed to the pointed end of the device or to the brush, sponge, roller, india rubber,
tongue or cap so that it can be thereby spread over and entirely cover the desired
surface or be laid thereon in separate lines or patches.
After the tube has been used for spreading the liquid it is again introduced into
the hole in the stopper and pushed down into the bottle as far as the collar will allow
thereby forming a secure stopper and preventing the liquid from becoming dried up.
If the india rubber cap b be compressed by the fingers while replacing the tube a
in the stopper, the tube will fill with liquid as soon as the fingers are removed and
will thus be ready for use at any time.
Through constant use, the gum or other adhesive liquid usually will stick or
accumulate upon the mouth of the bottle where it will gradually becomes hard and
prevent the bottle from being properly used unless such adhesion of the liquid is
prevented. For that purpose I find it advantageous to impregnate the stopper c with
à fatty substance such as paraffine oil, vaseline, or the like or to cover it with a
compact perforated fatty ring made of paraffine, wax, tallow or the like, as
illustrated in figure 12, or to make the entire stopper from a fatty substance such as

page_text: paraffine (as shewn in Figure 13") the opening of which when exporting the filled
bottles can be closed by a stopper c¹ (figure 13).
For the protection of these stoppers made from a fatty substance I provide a metal
cover s adapted to fit over the bottle-neck and keep the stopper in position but
leaving a passage for the tube. The hole in the stopper may be made conical so as to
facilitate the entrance of the tube as shewn in Figures 12, 13ª and 13b.
In this form of my improved device the stopper serving also to clean the outside
of the tube or brush is fixed in the neck of the bottle. To prevent the stopper
from becoming damaged when re-filling the bottle I prefer to use bottles with
screw-threade: necks, the covert being screwed on over the exterior, a stopper c
being provided which, when screwing the cover down, is pressed tightly over the
mouth of the bottle as shewn in Figure 14.
As before described the stopper c is simply made of cork, wood, felt, leather,
cardboard, india rubber, linoleum or the like impregnated with a fatty substance
(figure 14) or a perforated washer or ring r of fatty substance is provided (Figure 15).
In this case the stopper need not be impregnated. Bottles of this kind are packed
with the tube introduced.
I sometimes make the stopper entirely of a perforated fatty substance r such as
paraffine, stearine or the like. In the latter case the bottles are fitted with a non-
perforated washer made of cork, cardboard or the like. The screw cover with the
fatty washer inside it is screwed tightly onto the bottle neck and the brush is
packed by the side of it (figure 16"). The bottle is then made ready for use by
simply taking out the washer c² and putting the tube or brush into the perforated
stopper figure 16. Or the filled bottle may be covered with a plain washer only
which can be made of cork or the like and screwed up and the tube or brush with its
stopper of fatty substance can be packed separately.
To render the bottle ready for use, the washer is taken off and the perforated
stopper is put in its place and the tube or brush passed in afterwards.
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 combination with a vessel or bottle containing adhesive or other liquid of
a stopper or plug with a hole therein through which is passed a rigid suction
tube which is scraped or cleaned automatically each time it is removed from the
stopper or plug and which serves both for spreading the liquid and for stoppering
the bottle.
(2.) Impregnating the perforated stoppers or plugs of vessels containing adhesive
and other liquids and having movable suction tubes therein with grease or fat; or the
use of a body of fatty substance in connection with the said plug; or the use of a
perforated plug made entirely from a fatty substance, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
(3.) The combination with a suction tube adapted to be used for the purpose herein
described of a brush, sponge, india rubber tongue, cap or roller which is regularly
fed with liquid contained within the tube through side or end perforations made in
the tube itself, or through a separate feed tube substantially as hereinbefore described.
Dated the 25th day of January 1800.
C F REDFERN & C
GF REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.