Year: 1848

page_text: HELY AND NORTON'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ALFRED
AUGUSTUS DE REGINALD HELY, of No. 11, Cannon Row, in the City of
Westminster, and County of Middlesex, Gentleman, but now of No. 21,
Manchester Buildings, in the City and County aforesaid, and JOSEPH EMMETT
NORTON, of Saint Mary-le-Strand Place, Old Kent Road, in the County of
Surrey, Wine Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Eleventh day of January,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, in the eleventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Alfred Augustus de Reginald Hely and Joseph Emmett Norton, our exors,
admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that we, the said Alfred Augustus de Reginald Hely and Joseph Emmett
Norton, our exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as we the said Alfred
Augustus de Reginald Heley and Joseph Emmett Norton, our exors, admors
or assigns should at any time agree with and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of Her
Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England,
Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in the Islands

page_text: of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, our Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
BOTTLES OR VESSELS FOR CONTAINING LIQUIDS, AND IN THE MODE OF AND MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR FILLING AND STOPPING THE SAME;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso, obliging us, the said Alfred Augustus de Reginald
Hely and Joseph Emmett Norton, or one of us, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under hands and seals, or under the hand
and seal of one of us, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Alfred Augustus de Reginald Hely and Joseph Emmett Norton, do hereby
declare that the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, are fully set forth, described, and ascertained in and by this
present Specification thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed and forming part hereof by the letters and figures marked thereon as
herein-after followeth, that is to say:-
Our Invention consists in and has reference to certain improvements in
bottles or vessels of glass effected by forming or making them in such manner
as to render said bottles or vessels capable of being completely filled with
liquids, thus preventing that liability to bursting and other disadvantages to
which they have heretofore been subject; and also in giving to said bottles
or vessels greater strength and consequently power of resistance to the pressure
of the contained liquids, as herein-after set forth and described. Our Inven-
tion likewise relates to certain improvements in the mode of and machinery or
apparatus for filling and stopping bottles or vessels by means of which said
bottles or vessels may be filled or stopped in a more expeditious and beneficial
manner than heretofore.
As regards the improvements in bottles or vessels for the purpose of
making or forming a bottle or vessel which shall be capable of being com-
pletely filled with any desired liquid, and thus prevent, as far as may be, such
liquid from being subject to the varied depreciation that usually results from
the presence of atmospheric air in said bottles or vessels, and also to diminish
the chance of the bursting of the same, we make or form by punching at the
time of manufacturing such bottle or vessel, or by other convenient method, a
vent hole or aperture in the same, as herein-after set forth and described.
Figure 1 (elevation), and Figure 2 (section), shew a portion of a bottle or

page_text: vessel with our said improvement applied at the neck immediately under the
bite or nip thereof; a being the neck thereof, and 6 the vent hole or aperture
for the purpose of allowing any superfluous liquid to pass off whilst corking or
stoppering. A bottle or vessel thus made, being filled up to the vent hole
before corking or stoppering, will permit whilst corking or stoppering, by
reason of the passage of the liquid through such vent hole b, the displacement
of a quantity of liquid équivalent to the bulk of the cork or stopper below said
vent hole, which will leave the bottle or vessel quite full up to the cork or
stopper, and thus effect the object proposed by our said improvement, whilst
the said cork or stopper (d) when driven home will prevent any liquid
escaping by such vent hole, though in some cases it may be necessary to seal
the vent hole with wax or other suitable composition. It is not absolutely
necessary that the said vent hole or aperture should be made or formed at a
point immediately under the bite or nip of the neck, for it may be situate at
other points in the neck or in the body of the bottle, for instance, in the top
of the shoulder or the bottom of the punt of the bottle or vessel when so
situate in the body of the bottle; however, it will be necessary that such vent
hole or aperture be provided with a separate cork or stopper, and before filling
any such bottle or vessel it will be required to insert its cork or stopper in the
said vent hole or aperture, then to fill and stop the bottle or vessel, release
from the vent hole or aperture its cork or stopper, and inject or pour in liquid
through such vent hole until the air contained in the bottle entirely disappears
when again insert and secure its cork or stopper in the vent hole or aperture,
and the bottle is effectually filled and stopped. Ordinary bottles or vessels
not provided with said vent holes or apertures may be completely filled by
making use of a cork or stopper with a tube or passage through it, as
exemplified by Figures 8, 9, 10, of the Drawings hereunto annexed and here-
after described, that is, by filling such bottle or vessel to the level of its mouth,
then driving in such a cork or stopper, when the superfluous liquid will be
ejected through the tube or passage in said cork or stopper, which tube or
passage is closed by sealing or otherwise, and thus the bottle or vessel is filled
to the cork. In order to make bottles or vessels of such form or construction
as to give them greater strength and power of resisting the pressure of the
contained liquids, and consequently prevent, as far as may be, the bursting of
bottles used for containing aerated waters and other liquids, we simply take
care that the manufacture of said bottles or vessels shall be carried on in such a
way that the metal in such bottles or vessels shall be increased at the neck and
shoulder of the bottle and more equalized throughout the other portions of the
bottle or vessel, and this can generally be done as hereafter described, and greater

page_text: thickness of the neck and shoulder thereby given without materially adding
to the entire quantity of metal of the bottle and its consequent weight, &c.
At the Drawing, Figure 3 shews in section a bottle or vessel thus con-
structed; e being the neck; f, the shoulder; and 9, the punt. A bottle or
vessel of this character may be manufactured by blowing through and twisting
round the rod placed in a vertical position, or nearly so, above the head of the
operator previous to inserting the same in the mould and finishing it; but
care must be taken that after blowing, the metal be allowed to get sufficiently
cool to prevent the chance of its flowing back to the punt of the bottle when in-
serted in the mould; or the chance of this may be prevented by fixing the mould
overhead mouth downwards, instead of below mouth upwards, as at present.
It may also be manufactured by blowing the bottle from the punt, and closing
and finishing the bottle at that end. The mode of manufacturing said bottles
or vessels, however, is immaterial, so long as the bottles or vessels produced
have the character aforesaid. Figure 4 shews a portion of a bottle or vessel
of such form or make, that the shoulder is of encreased thickness whilst the
external or projecting neck it will be seen is almost entirely dispensed with as
exemplified at h, the mouth and passage for filling, emptying, and stoppering
being made through the solid metal forming said shoulder. Figures 5 (section
of a portion of a bottle) and 5* (top plan) exhibit a variation of the above, in
which i is the shoulder; j, the mouth and passage for filling, emptying, and
stoppering; k, rim or ring of the bottle; l, holes in the rim or ring, and
inclining upwards therefrom, formed at the time of manufacture, or otherwise
for the purpose of passing through the wire or string for securing the cork or
stopper, so as to prevent said cork or stopper when so secured from projecting
beyond said mouth and passage, thereby communicating to the bottle the faculty
of standing on that end. Figure 6 (section of a portion of a bottle) and 6**
(top plan) is a further variation of this form of bottle or vessel, in which,
instead of the holes for passing through the wire or string for securing the
cork or stopper as above described, there are notches m, extending from the
outer orifice of the mouth to the rim k of the bottle, cut at the time of
manufacture, or otherwise formed therein. In order to drive the cork or
stopper into bottles or vessels formed or made as exemplified by Figures 5, 5*,
6, 6*, use a wooden driver or rod of wood of a somewhat smaller diameter
than the mouth of the bottle or vessel with a shoulder to prevent the end of
such driver from entering into the bottle, or driving the cork or stopper below
the level of the rim of the said bottle or vessel, such driver having four notches
or grooves cut at right angles on the end thereof, to admit of the wire and
string for securing the cork or stopper being passed through whilst the driver

page_text: retains the cork in its position. The bottles or vessels exemplified by Figures
4, 5, 5, 6, 6, may be manufactured by the same method as herein-before
stated with regard to the bottle exemplified by Figure 3.
In regard to our improvements in the mode of and machinery or apparatus
for filling and stopping bottles or vessels, we fill said bottles or vessels by the
mode and machinery or apparatus exemplified by the Drawings at Figure 7;
where o shows the cask or barrel containing the liquid desired to be bottled off;
p, the tap of the barrel or cask, inserted in an orifice in a cylindrical receiver q,
made of any suitable and anti-corrosive material, into which the liquid con-
tained in said barrel or cask passes upon turning on the tap p. From this
cylindrical receiver the liquid is bottled off by means of the taps s¹ to s;
t being a trough for holding the bottles or vessels into which the liquid is to be
passed; u, a guage float or indicator, composed of a rod with a float at each
end, which being inserted in the tube as shewn will rise and fall according
to the level of the liquid in the receiver. In bottling by this mode and
apparatus, place a bottle or vessel in the trough in an inclined position with
its mouth under the tap s¹, then turn on that tap, after which similarly place
a bottle under s³, and so on to so, by which time bottle s³ will generally be
filled; remove the same, replacing it by an empty one, by which time s³ will
be ready to remove, and so on.
For stopping bottles or vessels, we prepare corks in such a manner as
to preserve bottled liquids from the earthy and coloring matters often to be
found in such corks; and we convert the commonest description of corks into
good stoppers for bottles. The corks are first cleansed from extraneous matter
by steaming them, after which they are immersed in a solution of boiling
beeswax for two or three minutes, or sufficiently long to enable the beeswax
to penetrate into and close the pores of the cork. Any suitable innocuous
composition, substance, or material, which will fill the pores of the cork or
stopper and render it impervious to wet, damp, or moisture will effectuate our
object as well as beeswax. We cork or stop bottles or vessels containing
aerated and other like liquids by means of a stopper or cork, herein-before
referred to, made or formed or as exhibited at Figures 8, 9, 10, of the Drawings.
In the cork w an aperture is made or formed through its centre to admit of
the insertion of a tube x, on which a thread should be formed as at a. In
using this stopper the cork with tube passed into it is driven into the bottle or
vessel by means of a driver similar to that herein-before described, but having
a hollow centre to admit that part of the tube which projects beyond the cork
or stopper. The stopper is next wired and tied down with a double string
carried round the tube, so that when one string is cut, away the tube stopper

page_text: In
may remain attached to the bottle by the other string, and thereby not only
guard against accident from the flying of the stopper but also save the tube,
with the view of using it again when re-drawn or re-cast. The bottle is now
ready for filling, which is effected by placing it under the usual engine for
filling bottles with aerated or like liquids, with the mouthpiece of the
said engine entering the tube no further than is absolutely requisite to
prevent the liquid from overflowing the orifice, and at the proper time when
the bottle is sufficiently full, which must be carefully watched for, suddenly
sieze the tube (x) with a pair of powerful square nosed pliers, and pinch it flat
close to the cork or stopper, remove the bottle from the engine, and by means
of the pliers turn over the tube, as shewn at Figure 10, and pinch it once
more, whereby an efficient stoppering may be obtained with rapidity.
order that the stopping or corking of ordinary bottles or vessels may be effected
with great readiness and accuracy, and to subject such bottles or vessels to less
chance of breakage during that operation, and also to stop or cork the bottles or
vessels berein-before described, as provided with a vent hole or aperture distinct
from the mouth of the bottle, use the mode and machinery described as here-
after followeth, that is to say:-Figure 11 is a front elevation; Figure 12, a
vertical section taken through the line A, B, Figure 11; and Figures 13
and 14, detached views of certain parts of this machinery. In all these Figures
similar letters of reference are used to denote corresponding parts. At
Figures 11 and 12, A is a bench or framework of wood or other suitable
material, to which is affixed the framing of the machinery; B, C, is a cross
slide, having another cross slide, C* depending therefrom, working against
V-shaped guides D; to the cross slide C* is affixed the driver E; F a socket
for compressing and guiding the cork or stopper during the process of corking
or stopping, as hereafter described; the driver E and socket F being
removeable for the purpose of admitting into their places larger or smaller
sized drivers and sockets, according to the bottles or vessels intended to be
corked or stoppered. G a moveable table working against V slides and sup-
porting a boot, which holds the bottle or vessel; in this table one end of the
upright spindle H is introduced, the other end having a screw H* cut upon
for effectuating the raising or lowering the said table, and acted upon by
the bevil wheel I, which has a female screw through its contre, the said
bevil wheel being kept in its proper position by the strap I fixed to the
framework A. K, another bevil wheel gearing into the bevil wheel I, having
an axle L with bearings M fixed to the framework A, as shown. To this axle
(L) a lever handle (N) is fixed, by turning which rotary motion will be im-
parted to the bevil wheel K, and thereby communicated to the bevil wheel
it

page_text: I, this will impart motion by means of the screw thereon to the upright
spindle H, and to the table G in an upward or downward direction, as may
be desired. To the cross slide C, connecting rods O, O, are affixed at their
upper ends, their lower extremities being attached to levers P, P¹, fixed to
the horizontal spindle Q, which is mounted and works in suitable bearings
fixed to the framework A. R, a lever also fixed upon the spindle Q; to this
lever one extremity of a connecting rod S is attached, the other extremity
being fixed to the lever handle T at a point above its fulcrum or axis V, as
shewn. V, a band rest; W, a can suspended from the framing for the purpose
of catching the liquids discharged through the vent hole of the bottles or vessels
during the process of corking or stopping, care being taken that the workman
places the bottle in the proper position to effect the same; X, a lock spring
for retaining the lever handle when the machinery is not in action, thereby
keeping the driver out of the socket. To stopper or cork bottles or vessels by
this mode and machinery or apparatus, the workman first places the bottle
within the collar of the socket F, and then proceeds to raise the table G in
the manner before described until it comes into contact with the punt of the
bottle; he now dips the cork or stopper into the can (Y) containing liquid for
that purpose, and subsequently inserts it in the upper or cylindrical part of the
socket (F), placing his foot on the framing A ata, with one hand on the rest
U, and applying his other hand to the lever handle T, pulls it suddenly towards
him, by which it is obvious that through the agency of the mechanical
arrangements above described, power will be exerted on the cross slide and
attached driver in such a way as to force it down with sufficient impetus to cork
or stopper the said bottle with ease, celerity, and accuracy; he then pushes tho
lever handle back into the lock spring X, and lowering the table G, as herein-
before described, withdraws the bottle from the boot, and the machinery is
again ready for action. Figures 13 and 14 exhibit more clearly the peculiar
formation of the driver E and socket F, the former terminating in a cylin
drical end (1), and the latter being cylindrical at the lower part (2), and
conical at the upper part 3, thus differing in regard to the parts 1 and 2 from
the drivers and sockets heretofore used.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, we further declare that we claim in respect
thereof as hereafter followeth, that is to say:-
Firstly, the improvements in bottles or vessels, effected by having a vent-
hole or aperture distinct from the mouth of the bottle, available for the
purposes herein-before set forth and described.
Secondly, the improvements in filling or stopping bottles or vessels by

page_text: having in the cork or stopper a tube or passage available for the purposes
herein-before set forth and described.
Thirdly, the improvement in bottles or vessels, effected by having them of
such form or make that the neck and shoulder shall be the thickest, and
consequently the strongest parts thereof, and this, whether such form or make
be adopted in bottles or vessels for containing aerated and the like liquids, or
in bottles or vessels of any other kind or denomination.
Fourthly, the improvement in bottles or vessels, effected by having them of
such form or make that the shoulder is of increased thickness, whilst the
external or projecting neck is almost entirely dispensed with, as herein-before
set forth and described, and this, whether such form or make be adopted in
bottles or vessels for containing aerated and the like liquids, or in bottles or
vessels of any other kind or denomination.
Fifthly, the improvements in bottles or vessels, effected by having them of
such form or make that the shoulder is of increased thickness whilst the
external or projecting neck is almost entirely dispensed with, and wherein the
cork or stopper is placed and may be secured, if desired, below the mouth of
such bottle or vessel, so as to communicate to the said bottle or vessel the
facility of standing on that end, as herein-before set forth and described and
exemplified by the Drawings, and this, whether such form or make be adopted
in bottles or vessels for containing aerated and the like liquids, or in bottles or
vessels of any other kind or denomination.
Sixthly, the improvement in the mode of and machinery or apparatus for
filling several bottles or vessels from one main tap by an apparatus of the
character herein-before set-forth, described, and exemplified, by Drawing
Figure
Seventhly, the improvement in stoppering bottles or vessels effected by using
a cork or stopper, cleansed and rendered antiporous in the manner herein-
before set forth and described.
Eighthly, the improvement in the mode of, and machinery or apparatus for,
stopping bottles or vessels by driving and compressing a cork or stopper
through a socket made or shaped so as to be cylindrical in the lower part and
conical in the upper part thereof, as herein-before described and exemplified
by the Drawings; the said cork or stopper being driven and compressed into
its place in the neck of the bottle or vessel, through the said socket by means
of a driver or impeller shaped so as to correspond with and work within side the
said socket, and also in the improved combinations and mechanical arrange-
ments for actuating a driver for driving or impelling corks or stoppers into
their places in the necks of bottles or vessels, and especially the improved com-

page_text: binations and mechanical arrangements for adjusting by raising or lowering the
bottles or vessels about to be corked or stoppered in such a manner as to
admit of the said bottles or vessels or receiving their corks or stoppers into
their places in the necks of the bottles or vessels as herein-before described and
exemplified by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Alfred Augustus de Reginald Hely and
Joseph Emmett Norton, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Eleventh day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and forte sight
(L.s.) ALFRED A. DE R. HELY.
(L.8.) J. EMMETT NORTON.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eleventh day of July, in the
year of our Lord 1848, the aforesaid Alfred Augustus de Reginald Hely and
Joseph Emmett Norton, came before our said Lady the Queen in Her
Chancery and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and all and every
thing therein contained and specified, in form above written. And also the
Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute
made for that purpose. *
Enrolled the Eleventh day of July, in the year of our Lord, One
thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.