AN IMPROVED STOPPER FOR BOTTLES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Adams, Turner, and Henry Barrett,
Soda Water Manufacturer, both of Saint Helier, Jersey, one of
the Channel Islands, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED STOPPER
FOR BOTTLES."
Sealed the 7th August 1868, and dated the 27th February 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Adams and
Henry Barrett at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 27th February 1868.
We, JOHN ADAMS, Turner, and HENRY BARRETT, Soda Water
Manufacturer, both of Saint Helier, Jersey, one of the Channel Islands,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
STOPPER FOR BOTTLES," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention consists in an improved stopper specially applicable
to bottles for containing aërated or gaseous liquids under pressure,
whereby greater facility is afforded for closing and opening bottles
containing soda water and other gaseous liquids.
This improved stopper is made of metal, and is constructed as follows:
-I fit a collar formed in halves and having a male screw thereon to
the neck of the bottle; the top of this collar bears against the under

page_text: shoulder of a projection or rim on the neck of the bottle. The collar
serves for receiving a short cylinder which is screwed on by means
of a female screw therein corresponding to the screw on the collar. In
the cylinder is formed a shoulder, which presses against the upper
shoulder of the rim or projection on the neck of the bottle. This
cylinder is furnished with a cover or cap moving on a hinge, and when
shut down on the cylinder over the opening of the bottle is secured by
a fastening consisting of a small vertical lever the centre of which
moves on a pivot attached to the cylinder. The top of this lever is
formed into a hook, and a spring is placed under the lower part of the
lever so that when the cap is shut down the hook takes into a small
loop or eyelet formed on the edge of the cap. A disc or washer of
india-rubber is placed inside the cap so as to insure an air-tight joint
when the cap is shut down. A hole is made in the top of the cap for
admitting the liquid into the bottle, a suitable valve opening inwards
being adapted over the said hole. This valve is forced back inwards,
and leaves an entrance for the liquid by the pressure applied for its
introduction through the hole in the top of the cap. When the bottle
is full the pressure of the liquid within it forces the valve back and
keeps it closed. For ordinary liquids the improved stopper is formed
without the hole in the cover and without the valve for closing the
same, in which case the bottle is filled before the cap is shut down.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Adams and Henry Barrett in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 26th August 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
ADAMS, Turner, and HENRY BARRETT, Soda Water Manufacturer, both
of Saint Helier, Jersey, one of the Channel Islands, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in
the thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
.successors, give and grant unto us, the said John Adams and Henry
Barrett, Her special licence that we, the said John Adams and
Henry Barrett, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such

page_text: others as we, the said John Adams and Henry Barrett, our executors,
administrators, and 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 "AN IMPROVED
STOPPER FOR BOTTLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said John Adams and Henry Barrett, our executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to
be performed, 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 I, the said Henry Barrett, on behalf of
myself and the said John Adams, do hereby declare the nature of the
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 Drawing, and to
the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention consists in an improved stopper specially applicable
to bottles for containing aërated or gaseous liquids under pressure,
whereby greater facility is afforded for closing and opening bottles
containing soda water and other gaseous liquids.
To make our Invention easily understood we will proceed to describe
the same by reference to the accompanying Drawing, in which Figure 1
is a front elevation, and Figure 2 a side elevation of our improved
stopper applied to the neck of a soda water bottle; Figure 3 is a plan
of the stopper; Figure 4 section of same on line A, B, of Figure 3;
and Figure 5 is a half plan of the stopper, the cover being raised.
Similar letters of reference are used in the several Figures to represent
similar parts.
This improved stopper is made of metal, and is constructed as follows:
-We fit a collar a formed in halves and having a male screw thereon
to the neck of the bottle 1, as shewn, the top of this collar a¹ bears
against the under shoulder of a projection or rim (seen in dotted lines
Figure 2) on the neck of the bottle. The collar serves for receiving a
short cylinder b, which is screwed on by means of a female screw therein

page_text: corresponding to the screw on the collar. In the cylinder is formed
a shoulder or flange c, which presses against the upper shoulder of the
said rim or projection on the neck of the bottle. This cylinder is
furnished with the cover or cap d moving on the hinge e, and when
shut down on the cylinder over the opening of the bottle is secured
by a fastening consisting of a small vertical lever f, the centre of which
moves on a pivot attached to the cylinder, as shewn: The top of this
lever is formed into a hook, and the spring f¹ is placed under the
lower part of the lever, so that when the cap is shut down the hook
takes into a small pink (shewn in dotted lines Figure 5) on the edge
of the cap. A disc or washer of india-rubber or cork g is placed inside
the cap d so as to insure an air-tight joint when the cap is shut down.
This disc is provided with several small holes i for allowing the passage
of the liquid into the bottle; it is fixed to the cap or cover d by the
ring m with rivets n which pass through the disc and cover. A hole h
is made in the top of the cap for admitting the liquid, a suitable valve o
opening inwards being adapted over the said hole. This valve o
which is made of india-rubber or other suitable material is forced
inwards by the pressure applied for the introduction of the liquid
through the hole in the top of the cap, when it passes through the
hole into the bottle. When the bottle is full the pressure of the
liquid within it and the elasticity of the disc g force the valve back
and keep it closed. The valve o is kept in its place by the disc g and
rivets n. The stopper being placed on a bottle and the cap or cover d
shut down, as shewn in the Drawing, the bottle is filled through the
opening by a soda water machine, the pressure from which forces
the valve o inwards, which allows the liquid to pass through the holes i
in the disc g into the bottle. When the bottle is filled and the valve o
relieved from the pressure from the soda water machine, it recovers
its normal position by the elasticity of the disc g, forcing it back, and
closes the filling opening h; the valve will be kept closed by the pressure
of the liquid in the bottle and by the pressure of the disc. To open
the bottle it is merely necessary to press the lower part of the lever
fastening f, when the pressure of the liquid within the bottle will cause
the cover to open. A hinge valve can if desired be used for closing
the opening instead of the one shown. For ordinary liquids the
improved stopper is formed without the hole in the cover and without
the valve for closing same, in which case the bottle is filled before the
cap is shut down.

page_text: Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, we wish it to be understood that we
do not confine ourselves to the precise details herein laid down and
shown in the accompanying Drawing; but what we claim is, the
improved stopper having a hinged cover d with a filling hole h closed
by a valve opening inwards and a washer d, and secured when shut
down by a spring lever fastening, all arranged substantially as and for
the purposes herein-before described and shewn in the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Barrett, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
W. A. GILBEE.
H. BARRETT. (L.S.)