IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS MAR An LARG Crearne Dommen AXED ATVED GTMTTAD CONTO FOR STOPPERING OR CLOSING BOTTLES, JARS, AND OTHER SIMILAR VESSELS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jeremiah Clark, of 13, Moorgate Street, in the
City of London, Stationer, and James Austin, of the same Place,
Stationers Assistant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
MAR
An
LARG
Crearne Dommen
AXED ATVED GTMTTAD CONTO "
Sealed the 1st August 1856, and dated the 20th February 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jeremiah Clark and
James Austin at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 20th February 1856.
We, JEREMIAH CLARK, of 13, Moorgate Street, in the City of London,
Stationer, and JAMES AUSTIN, of the same Place, Stationers Assistant, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR STOPPERING OR CLOSING BOTTLES, JARS, AND OTHER SIMILAR
VESSELS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved construction and arrangement of
covering or stoppering apparatus applicable to bottles, jugs, jars, and other
similar vessels, whereby an effective and air-tight cover is obtained, with
greater facility for decanting or pouring off liquids. This apparatus consists
of a closed cap composed of metal or hard india-rubber, or other suitable
material, fixed on to the neck or rim of a bottle or jar, and fitted or formed

page_text: with a pouring lip or spout in connection a aperture in the closed top of the
cap. This aperture is closed air-tight by means of a conical or other suitably
shaped plug or cover fitting into or resting upon it, such plug or cover being
attached to the end of a thumb lever. acted upon by a spring to keep the plug
firm in its seat. A lid or cover is formed on the end of the lever for the
purpose of covering the pouring lip and protecting it from dust. By a slight
modification the whole of the top of the cap may be made to open on a hinge
by a small thumb lever acted upon by a spring to keep it firmly closed, the lid.
being so formed as to cover also the pouring spout. In this latter arrangement
the conical or other plug will be dispensed with. The opening of the lid or
plug may be effected by a projection formed on the cover of the pouring lip,
the thumb lever being dispensed with, whilst the spring would still be
retained to keep the cover or plug closed.
SPECIFICATION- in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed-
by the said Jeremiah Clark and James Austin in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 19th August 1856:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JEREMIAHI
CLARK, of 13, Moorgate Street, in the City of London, Stationer; and JAMES
AUSTIN, of the same Place, Stationers Assistant, send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight, hundred and fifty-six, in, the nineteenth year, of Her, reign,
did, for Herself, Her, heirs and, successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Jeremiah Clarke and James Austin, Her.. special license, that we, the
said Jeremiah Clark and James Austin, executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Jeremiah Clerk and James Austin,,
our executors, administrators, or 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 APPARATUS FOR
STOPPERING OR CLOSING BOTTLES, JARS, AND OTHER SIMILAR VESSELS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Jeremiah Clark and James
Austin, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the
hand and seal of one of us, should particularly describe and ascertain the

page_text: nature of the said Invention; and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed; 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 we, the said Jeremiah Clarke and James Austin,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
Our said Invention relates to an improved construction & arrangement of
cover or stoppering apparatus applicable to the mouths or necks of bottles,
decanters, jugs; jars; and other similar vessels, whereby an effective and air-
tiglit cover is obtained, with greater facility for decanting or pouring off their
liquid contents:
This apparatus consists of a closed cap composed of metal or hard rubber,
or other suitable material, fixed on to or in the neck or rim of a bottle;
jar, or other similar vessel, and fitted or formed with a pouring lip or spout in
connection with an aperture in the closed top of the cap. This aperture and
pouring lip are made air and liquid tight by means of a conical or other
suitably shaped plug or cover fitted into or resting upon them, such plug or
cover being attached to the end of a thumb lever acted upon by a spring to
keep the plug firm in its seat, the action of the spring being to make the lever
self-closing to keep it open or closed, as may be required. By a slight
modification the whole of the top of the cap may be made to open or close
on a hinge by a small thumb lever similarly acted upon by a spring; the lid
being so shaped as to cover also the pouring spout or lip:
And in order that our said Invention may be fully understood, we shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose we shall
refer to the figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a complete side elevation of our
improved cover or stoppering apparatus as applied to the neck of an ink bottle;
the closing plug being shewn in the act of being raised; Figure 2 is a vertical
section of the apparatus, shewing the plug. down in its seat; and Figure 3 is a'
plan of the same.
A is the closed cap; which may be composed of any kind of metal or of hard
india-rubber, or other suitable material. This cap is fixed by means of cement,'
screwing, or other mode of attachment, either on to the outside of the neck of
a bottle or other vessel, as shown in the Drawing, or into the side thereof,

page_text: whichever may be found most convenient. A pouring lip or spout B is formed
on one side of the cap, and an opening is made in the top of the cap itself,
through which opening the liquid to be poured off reaches the spout or
opening lip. This opening and the spout or pouring lip are both closed or
covered air and liquid tight by means of the conical plug or cover C, which
is formed on one end of the thumb lever D. This aperture may be kept
tightly closed by means of an india-rubber or other suitable packing fitted to
the under side of the plug or cover, where it rests upon its seat when closed.
The lever works on a fixed centre E, in the small support F, secured to the
cap, and is prolonged, as shewn at G, so as to admit of the thumb being
pressed down upon the prolonged end for the purpose of raising the plug or
cover, and thereby opening the aperture, as shewn in Figure 1 of the Drawings.
A metallic spring H serves to bring the plug down again on to the aperture
and close it when the pressure is removed from the tail of the thumb lever.
If found desirable, the spring may be made to act in such a manner as to
keep the plug firm in its seat when closed, and also to keep the aperture open
when the plug has been raised. In the modification above referred to
(wherein the whole or a part of the top of the cap may be made to open
or close on a hinge by a small thumb lever similarly acted upon by a
spring, the lid being shaped so as to cover also the pouring spout or lip,
the conical plug will be dispensed with, the pouring aperture being kept
tightly closed by an india-rubber or other suitable packing fitted to the
face of the lid at the part where it rests upon its seat when closed. The
raising or opening of the plug or lid may, in both modifications, if found
desirable, be effected by a prolongation on that part of the plug or lid which
covers the pouring lip; the thumb lever in such case being dispensed with,
whilst the spring would be still retained to keep the plug or lid tightly closed.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, we would observe, in conclusion, that we do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which we have had occasion
to describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of our said Invention; but what
we consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to us by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general construction and arrangement of apparatus for stoppering
or closing bottles, decanters, jugs, jars, and other similar vessels, as herein-
before described.
Second-the application and use of an air-tight plug or lid, working on a fixed

page_text: centre or hinge, and acted upon by a spring, for the purpose of keeping the
mouths of bottles, decanters, jugs, jars, and other vessels air and liquid tight,
as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jeremiah Clark, on behalf of myself and
the said James Austin, have hereunto set my hand and seal, the
Eighteenth day of August 1856.
JEREMIAH CLARK. (L.S.)