IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR PHIALS, BOTTLES, AND OTHER VESSELS."
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick William Durham, of New Barnet, in the
County of Hertfordshire, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS
FOR PHIALS, BOTTLES, AND OTHER VESSELS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick William Durham
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st April 1880.
FREDERICK WILLIAM DURHAM, of New Barnet, in the County of Hertfordshire.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR PHIALS, BOTTLES, AND OTHER VESSELS."
My Invention relates to a construction of stoppers for phials, bottles, and other
vessels, in such a manner that they serve for measuring out definite quantities of
the contents, as for example, for doses of medicine. For this purpose I make the
stopper of such length that it extends some distance down the cylindrical throat of
the vessel, fitting or nearly fitting thereto, and in this extended part of the stopper
I form a cavity of such capacity as to hold the required measure, one side of the
cavity being left open or partly open. When the contents of the vessel are in the
form of a powder, the cavity of the stopper is made as a scoop, so that by inverting
the vessel a portion of the contents can be shaken into the cavity so as to fill it,
whereupon the stopper can be withdrawn and emptied. For dealing with.liquids,
the cavity in the stopper is of tubular form, closed at the bottom, and having a
lateral orifice at its upper end, so that on inverting the vessel the tubular cavity of
the stopper becomes filled, and then on re-inverting the vessel the stopper can be
withdrawn and emptied. The stopper may be made double ended, the one end
having a cavity of one capacity, and the other having a cavity of a different
capacity, either end being introduced into the throat of the vessel according as the
one or the other measure is required; or one of the ends might be simply a plug
employed for ordinarily stoppering the vessel, the other end being used to measure
out a portion of the contents as above described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Frederick William Durham in the Great Scal Patent Office on the
29th September 1880.
FREDERICK WILLIAM DURHAM, of New Barnet, in the County of Hertfordshire.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPERS FOR 'PHIALS, BOTTLES, AND OTHER VESSELS."
My Invention relates to a construction of stoppers for phials, bottles, and other
vessels, in such a manner that they servo for measuring out definite quantities of the
contents, as for example, for doses of medicine. For this purpose I make the stopper
-of-such-length-that-it-extends..some_distance_down the cylindrical throat of the
vessel, fitting or nearly fitting thereto, and in this extended part of the¯stopper-I-
form a cavity of such capacity as to hold the required measure, one side of the
cavity being left open or partly open.
When the contents of the vessel are in the
form of a powder, the cavity of the stopper is made as a scoop, so that by inverting
the vessel a portion of the contents can be shaken into the cavity so as to fill it,
whereupon the stopper can be withdrawn and emptied. For dealing with liquids,
the cavity in the stopper is of tubular form, closed at the bottom and having a
lateral orifice at its upper end, so that on inverting the vessel the tubular cavity of
the stopper becomes filled, and then on re-inverting the vessel the stopper can be
withdrawn and emptied. The stopper may be made double ended, the one end
having a cavity of one capacity, and the other having a cavity of a different
capacity, either end being introduced into the throat of the vessel according as the
one or the other measure is required; or one of the ends might be simply a plug
employed for ordinarily stoppering the vessel, the other end being used to measuro
out a portion of the contents as abovo described.
•
Fig. 1 of the Drawings shews a bottle or other vessel provided with a stopper A
constructed according to my Invention. The stopper has an extension A' formed
with a cavity of the required size for containing a definite measure of the substanco
in the bottle, so that on tilting the bottle so as to fill the cavity and then
withdrawing the stopper in the position shewn in the perspective view at Fig. 2,
a definite measure of the substance will be withdrawn at the same time. Fig. 3
shews a side view of a stopper having a cavity or scoop A² of smaller sizo, in
addition to the scoop A', so that the stopper serves for withdrawing either a large
or a small measure of the substance; Fig. 4 shows a stopper with an ordinary
plug B on the one side for closing the bottle when not in use, the scoop A' on the
other side being only inserted when it is desired to withdraw a quantity of the
contents of the vessel; Fig. 5 shews a stopper with a scoop of somewhat different
form; Fig. 6 shews an arrangement moro particularly applicable for withdrawing
a quantity of a liquid. In this case the cavity A' of the stopper is entirely closed,
with the exception of an opening a near the upper end, so that on bringing tho
bottle into an inclined or horizontal position with the hole a uppermost, the liquid
will run in and partially fill the cavity, and on then bringing the bottle into the
vertical position shewn the stopper with its charge contained in the lower part of
the cavity can be withdrawn, and the charge emptied through the hole. Or
instead of making the hole as shown at a, it may be as shown in dotted lines at a',
that is to say, about the middle of the length of the cavity, so that on inverting the
bottle the part of the cavity next the stopper will become filled, and on then again
bringing the bottle into the position shown the charge will flow down into the
other end of the cavity, and can then be withdrawn with the stopper.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I claim,—
First. Constructing stoppers for phials, bottles, and other vessels, with a cavity
extending inwards beyond the part where it fits the neck of the vessel, the cavity
being so formed that on bringing the stopper into an inclined or horizontal position
a definite quantity of the substance in the vessel will enter the cavity and can then
be withdrawn with the stopper, substantially as herein described.
Second. Constructing stoppers for phials, bottles, and other vessels, with two
cavities of different capacities, substantially as herein described with reference to
Fig. 3 of tho Drawings.
Third. Constructing stoppers for phials, bottles, and other vessels, with a cavity
for measuring at one end, and a simple plug at the other end, substantially as
described with reference to Fig. 4 of the Drawings.
Fourth. Constructing stoppers for phials, bottles, and other vessels, with a
cavity adapted for liquid measurement, substantially as herein described with
reference to Fig. 6.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick William Durham, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty second day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
FRED. W. DURHAM. (L.S.)