Improvements in Stoppers or Closing Devices for Bottles, Jars, and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 13th' Feb., 1897-4ccepted, 17th Apr., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Stoppers or Closing Devices for Bottles, Jars,
and the like.
1, OTTO LELM, of 12 Boulevard Poissonnière, Paris, in the Republic of France,
Manufacturer, 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 :-
This invention relates to improvements in stoppers or closing devices for bottles,
jars and the like and has reference more particularly to that class of stoppers in which
the closure of the bottle is effected by an elastic tube or body which can, after the
stopper has been inserted in the neck or mouth of the bottle be caused to expand and
press tightly against the inner surface of said neck by means of a movable. conical
plug or other equivalent means.
As heretofore generally constructed such stoppers have been liable to quickly get
out of order by reason of the wearing away of the screw-threads of the parts by which
the conical plug is operated. Now by my improved construction the amount of wear
and strain on the screw threads is reduced as far as possible, and is distributed over
a comparatively large surface.
According to my invention my improved bottle stopper or closing device carries
at its under part an elastic thimble adapted normally to enter freely into the neck
of the bottle and having an axial perforation into the lower end of which projects
the smaller end of the conical plug which serves, when moved upward, to expand!
the said thimble, so as to cause it to press tightly against the inner surface of the
bottle neck in the manner referred to.
The movement of the conical plug is effected through the medium of a rod or stem
to which it is secured and which is connected either with a screw-threaded spindle or
with a screw-threaded block working in the body of the device, the said body being
internally screwthreaded to receive such spindle or block. When a screw-threaded
spindle is employed, it is provided with a head whereby it may be turned to screw
it up or down, but in the case of a screw-threaded block a key is employed to turn
the same, and in each case the construction is such that the conical plug and its rod
or stem partake only of the vertical movement and not of the rotary movement.
In order that my invention may be readily understood I will proceed to describe
the same more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a vertical central section of one form of my improved closing device in
which the conical plug is connected with a screw-threaded spindle.
Figure 2 is a vertical central section of an arrangement in which a screw-threaded.
block is employed instead of the spindle.
Figures 3 and 4 are respectively a central section and a plan of the said
screw-threaded block.
·
The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
Referring more particularly to the arrangement shown in Figure 1, a is the
internally screw threaded. body of the improved stopper or closing device which may
be made for instance of a suitable white alloy and ornamented in any desired manner
on its exterior surface. is the elastic thimble which may be made of india-rubber,
and is secured in a recess a' in the under part of the body. The wall of this recess
is internally threaded, to receive a screw ring a², which engages with a shoulder b¹ on
the said ring and so holds it in position.
Between the body a of the device and the upper face of the thimble is interposed a

page_text: disc or washer a³. 2 is the axial perforation in the thimble, this perforation being
conical or tapered. is the conical plug which enters the said perforation and by
which the thimble is expanded. The greatest diameter of this plug approximates to,
but does not exceed, the outer diameter of the thimble when the latter is in its normal
or contracted state, so that no part of the plug projects beyond the outer surface_of
the thimble. is the rod to which the said plug is secured say by means of a
screw thread on the extremity thereof. e is the screw-threaded spindle which works
axially in the body a such body being correspondingly screw-threaded internally.
The engagement of the rod and the spindle may be effected by means of an
enlargement d² on the upper end of the said rod, which enlargement is surrounded by
a flanged collar d³ fitting loosely in a recess in the head e' of the spindle, being kept
in place therein by means of a disc e screwed into the said head, which latter may
be provided with a bezel to receive a crystal or jewel e³ to enhance the appearance of
the device.
The spindle is advantageously provided with a left handed screw thread, so that
when turned in the ordinary or right handed direction, that is to say the direction in
which it is turned to effect the closure, it comes out of the body of the device and so
raises the conical plug.
A device of this kind can be applied to any bottle or the like having a neck of
an internal diameter large enough to receive the thimble & when in its contracted
state, but not so large as the diameter of the thimble when fully expanded by the
plug.
Prior to using the device, the thimble if expanded is allowed to contract to its
smallest diameter which is effected by screwing the spindle e down into the body a
whereby through the medium of the rod or stem the conical plug e is moved
downward till it ceases to bear against the edge of the said thimble. The device is
now in a condition to be applied to the bottle neck, the body a resting on the edge
of the bottle mouth, and the thimble projecting downwardly into neck of the bottle.
The spindle e is then turned in the opposite direction, the plug is drawn up into the
thimble and the lower edge of the latter is thereby forced tightly against the surface
of the bottle neck and forms a hermetic closure therefor.
Obviously the stopper can be set free or disengaged by turning the stem in the
direction to move the plug downward.
11.
In the arrangement shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4 the mode of operation is the same,
but instead of the rod d and plug c being connected with a screw threaded spindle
the said rod engages with a screw-threaded block f, which is made short enough to
work the body
The construction of the block and the means whereby the rod
engages therein are shown more clearly in Figures 3 and 4, the said means being
similar to those whereby the rod shown in Figure 1 engages with the spindle; and
the block is provided with a disc which fulfils the purpose of the disc e² in the
previous arrangement In this case however the upper surfaces of the block and of
the disc are grooved or recessed to receive a key . This arrangement is designed
to prevent the contents of the bottle being tampered with, as it is practically
impossible to remove the device from the bottle neck when the .thimble is expanded
and compressed against the inside thereof and it is very difficult for anyone not
possessed of the key to turn the block owing to its position in the body a, to cause
the thimble to contract.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a bottle stopper, having a conical plug and an elastic thimble of the kind
herein referred to, a stationary body adapted to bear upon the edge of the bottle mouth
and internally screw-threaded to receive a correspondingly screw-threaded spindle or
rotary block to which the aforesaid conical plug is loosely connected the said spindle
or block serving to distribute the strain over a large surface, substantially as described
and for the purpose specified.

page_text: 2. My improved stopper or closing device for bottles, jars and the like, constructe:l.
and operating substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 1, or
with reference to Figures 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this th dow of Bahn 1207
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant...