Improvements in Stoppering Bottles.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Aug.. 1394-Accepted, 22nd Dec., 1894
[Communicated from abroad by CHARLES NATHAN BRISCOE, of 125, Dearboru
Street, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States of America, Merchant.]
Improvements in Stoppering Bottles.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 present invention relates to that class of automatically operating stoppers
for bottles which permits the contents of the bottle to be discharged and yet
effectually prevents the refilling of the bottle, and the object of said invention is to
provide an improved stopper of this class.
The invention consists in certain features of novelty hereinafter set forth, and in
order that it may be fully understood I will describe it with reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a vertical central section of a bottle showing a stopper embodying
some features of the invention, applied thereto.
Figures 2, 3 and 4 are vertical central sections of the neck of a bottle and the
improved stopper in place therein, the parts being shown by Figure 2 in the
positions that they occupy when the bottle is in upright position, and by Figures 3
and in the positions that they occupy when the bottle is inverted, Figure 3,
showing it before and Figure 4 after it has reached the point where the valve
is unseated.
Figure 5 is a transverse section on the line 5-5, Figure 4.
Figures 6 to 8, inclusive, are views showing the improved stopper, or parts
thereof, under modifications.
Figure 9 is a vertical central section of the upper portion of a bottle and of the
improved stopper in its preferred form applied thereto.
Figures 10, 11 and 12 are detail views of parts thereof.
Similar reference letters indicate corresponding parts in all figures of the
drawings.
Referring first to Figures 1 to 8 of the drawings A represents the neck of the
bottle, which is provided on its interior with an annular flange or shoulder B, and
Crepresents the improved stopper, which is located within the neck A, and a
sufficient distance from the mouth thereof to permit the use of the customary cork
or other stopper. D. The improved stopper C, as here shown consists of a
ring E, a valve F, a weight G suitably connected with the valve, and a cap H for
concealing the valve, each of which parts has the characteristic hereinafter
described.
The ring E is of such diameter that it fits snugly the opening left by the internal
shoulder or flange B, and it is provided on its exterior, some distance from its
opposite ends, with a radial flange I, which rests upon the flange B, and is secured
thereto so that it cannot be removed without breakage. It is the intention that the
parts E, F, G and H shall be made of glass, in which case a glass cement may be
used for securing the stopper in place. When the ring is in place, communication
between the interior of the bottle and the atmosphere can only be had through the
opening of the ring and around the opening the margin of the ring is dressed off to
form a suitable seat for the valve F, and from this seat the valve flares outward.

page_text: Preferably, the part of this valve which comes in contact with the seat is of
spherical shape, so that the valve may be tilted from side to side without in the
least unseating it. In Figures 2, 3 and 4 the ring is shown as flared outward from
the valve-seat, but this construction is not absolutely essential to the proper
operation of the stopper. The advantage of it is that it directs the movement of
the valve and causes it to find its seat when it is attempted to force liquid into
the bottle for the purpose of refilling it. In Figure 7 I have shown the ring without
this flaring portion. In Figures 2, 3, 4 and 7 the ring is shown as provided on its
under side with a downward flaring portion e.
The weight G, which is of such a size that it cannot pass through the opening
of the ring E, is located beneath the valve-seat, and is connected with the valve F
by any suitable means. In Figures 2 and 3 they are shown connected by a silken
thread J, for which purpose each of them is provided with a perforated ear or lug
through which the thread is passed and tied'; or, instead of a silken thread, they
may be connected by a piece of wire passed through their perforated lugs and
secured in such manner as to permit the weight to move relatively to the valve as
shown in Figure 4; or, they may be connected by a piece of wire J' having its
ends embedded in them, respectively, as shown in Figure 6, or, they may be
connected by a rigid stem J, as shown in Figure 7. I prefer, however, to use a
connection of such a nature that the weight is capable of a movement independent
of the valve, so that when the bottle is moved far enough from an upright position
the weight will come in contact with the flaring portion e of the ring without
shifting the valve. In Figure 3 the bottle is in such position that the (for the
time being) bottom side of the flaring portion e of the ring (upon which the weight
is resting) is about in a horizontal position. It will of course be seen that the
tendency of the weight is to roll toward the lowest point of this flaring portion,
and hence it will be seen that so long as the bottom side of the larger end of the
flaring portion is at a lower level than the bottom side of the smaller end, the weight
will tend to fall inward, and will thereby hold the valve upon its seat.
As soon,
however as the bottom side of the flaring portion is inclined in the opposite direction
the weight will roll outward, toward the valve-seat, and into the position shown in
Figure 4, permitting the valve to fall away from its seat and open the neck of the
bottle for the passage of the liquid.
It will be seen that if the flaring portion e of the ring and the weight are of the
same cross-sectional shape, when the weight comes to the position shown in
Figure 4 it would stop. the passage through the ring and cut off the flow of liquid.
But when the flaring portions of the ring and the weight are of different shapes in
cross-section, a channel or channels is left between them when the weight comes to
the position shown in Figure 4. There are a number of ways in which such a
channel, or channels, may be formed. As shown in Figures 2, 3, 4 and 7, the
weight is smooth on its exterior, while the flaring portione of the ring is provided
with a number of grooves e¹, as shown more clearly in Figure 5; or, instead of
forming these channels by grooves in the ring E, they may be formed by grooves
in the external surface of the weight, as shown at g in Figure 8, the effect in either
instance being the same. It is only necessary, in order to form the desired
channels, to make the flaring portion e and the weight of different shapes in cross-
section. Any channel, however formed, that will permit the fluid to pass the
weight is within the scope of my invention.
In Figures 2, 34 and 7 of the drawings the weight is shown as consisting of a
hollow shell partially filled with shot 9 or with some other movable weighting
substance, the advantage being that the centre of gravity of the weight shifts as
the bottle is tipped, and the movement of the weight which liberates the valve is
thereby postponed.
It will be seen that whenever the bottle occupies such a position that liquid will
flow into it, the neck is effectually closed by the valve F, so that when the bottle
has been once emptied of its contents it is not possible to refill it, and thereby
perpetrate a fraud upon the original bottler and the public.

page_text: It is of course manifest that unless access to the valve be prevented it would be
possible to so manipulate it as to permit the refilling of the bottle. Hence I
employ the cap H, which completely conceals the valve and prevents the admission
of a wire or any other implement by which it can be manipulated. In order to
permit the escape of the liquid from this cap, it is provided with a number of
notches extending from its margin a sufficient distance to leave openings h around
the top of the ring E after the cap is secured in place thereon. The cap is
permanently secured in place by a suitable cement, and is of sufficiently less
diameter than the interior of the neck A to leave around it a space for the discharge
of the liquid and the admission of air.
It will be seen that in all the several forms shown in the drawing, the cap and
ring form between them a chamber X in which the valve is located.
Referring now to Sheet 2 of the drawings I will describe some further modifica
tions of which the parts are capable.
The ring E is without a flange, and is made tapering on its exterior to fit the
tapering neck of the bottle.
Instead of the cap H a ring K and a disk L are used to prevent tampering with
the valve.
The ring K is provided upon its under side with a number of annular ribs or
corrugations k, whose inner sides are substantially perpendicular to the plane of
the ring, and the disk L is provided on its top side with similar ribs or corrugations l.
The disk is of less diameter than the interior of the neck of the bottle, and is
sustained by means of three posts ", preferably of such length that they extend
from one ring to the other, and form guides for properly locating the rings
relatively to each other. The disk is so located with relation to the ring K that
sufficient space is left between them for the passage of the fluid. The disk being of
greater diameter than the opening of the ring, it will leave only a tortuous passage
through which it will be impossible to reach the valve with any instrument that is
not flexible, and if it be attempted to use a flexible instrument its end will come
against one of the corrugations and its insertion will thereby be prevented. If its
ends should be disengaged from the straight edge of a corrugation of the disk, it
will be deflected upward by said corrugation and will come in contact with a
corrugation of the ring. By the use of corrugations appropriately arranged, it is
possible to absolutely prevent any instrument inserted in the neck of the bottle from
reaching the valve.
As shown in Figure 9, the bottle is provided with an inward flaring portion a
the surface of which forms a continuation of the surface of the flaring portion e of
the ring E. When the bottle is tipped to a sufficient extent, the weight comes in
contact with this inward flaring portion and holds the valve upon its seat until the
bottle has been tipped to such an extent that the lowermost side of said flaring
portion has passed a horizontal position, and reached such an inclination in the
opposite direction that the weight will slide by gravity toward the valve-seat,
whereupon the valve will fall away from its seat and permit the escape of the
contents of the bottle. As shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 the inward flaring portion
with which the weight has contact is formed entirely upon the ring E, but where it
is desired to give a free egress to the contents of the bottle it is necessary to
provide a greater movement of the weight and valve than can be provided for
where this flaring portion is formed entirely upon the ring. It is for this reason
that in some cases I form it upon the interior of the bottle, as above described, and
when so formed it can be made of any desired extent. In Figure 10 I have shown
it as formed partly upon the ring and partly upon the bottle, but an inspection will
show that, as a matter of fact, with a connection J of the length shown in this
figure it is only that part which is formed upon the bottle that is instrumental in
holding the valve seated, and I therefore desire to have it understood that so much
of it as is formed upon the ring may be dispensed with entirely, and the ring made
flat on its under side, as indicated by the dotted line, or of any other desired
shape. As shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6, the weight is curved from end to

page_text: end so that when the bottle is tipped to the necessary extent the weight rolls
to vard the valve-seat, but as shown in Figure 9 the sides of the weight are
straight from end to end, and this is preferable as it confines the weight to a
sliding movement.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be perforined, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A combined bottle and bottle-stopper as described with reference to Figs. 1
to 8, or to Figs. 9 to 12 of the drawings.
2. The combination with a bottle having in its neck a contracted passage, and
having a portion flaring inward from said contracted passage and formed directly
on the interior of the bottle, of a valve and weight located upon opposite sides of
said contracted passage, and a connection between the valve and weight of such
length that when the bottle is tipped the weight will come in contact with said
flaring portion of the bottle, substantially as set forth.
3. The combination, with a bottle having an automatically operating valve
located in its neck, of a ring secured in the neck above the valve, and a disk located
opposite the opening of the ring, said disk and ring having upon their adjacent
faces ribs or corrugations, substantially as set forth.
4. The combination with a bottle having in its neck an automatically operating
valve, of a ring secured in the neck above the valve, and a disk located between
the ring and valve, the under side of the ring being provided with corrugations,
substantially as set forth.
5. The combination, with a bottle having an automatically operating valve in its
neck, of a ring secured in the neck above the valve, and a disk located between the
ring and valve, said disk having upon its top side corrugations, and said ring having
upon its under side corrugations, substantially as set forth.
Dand thin oth do of A
1001
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.