Improvements in Bottle Stoppers.
Year: 1890

page_text: COMPLEIN TUITIOA
[Communicated from abroad by WILLIAM PAINTER, Manufacturer, of Baltimore, .in
the State of Maryland, United States of America.]
Improvements in Bottle Stoppers.
We THE BOTTLE SEAL COMPANY LIMITED of No. 8 Great Winchester Street in
the City of London 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:-
This invention relates to improvements in bottle stoppers of the kind described in
the Specification of Letters Patent No. 11604 dated the 29th day of September 1885.
Therefore nothing herein is to be understood as claiming anything as to the form or
function of an inverted dome or cup shaped stopper having its edge seated against the
walls of the bottle mouth with lateral pressure.
The present improvements have reference only to the ready extraction of the stopper
the means for which are hereinafter fully described by reference to the accompanying
drawings wherein :-
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the stopper as prepared for use.
Figure 2 is a vertical section of a bottle neck showing the stopper in place therein.
Figure 3 is a similar elevation showing the manner of removing the stopper.
Figure 4 is a transverse section showing the manner of applying a stud made
of wire.
In the Specification of the former Patent herein before referred to three ways of
extraction are illustrated: first by means of a pointed instrument which would
penetrate the substance of the stopper and then lift it out inverting its arch; second,
by rotation under pressure applied to one edge of the stopper; third, by means of an
ear-flap attached to one edge of the stopper. The first of these is inferior to the
present improvement because, first, it destroys the stopper, second it is less rapid and
certain, and stoppers which have been long in the bottle lose their cohesive strength
and are liable to tear instead of retroverting.
The second is inferior to the present improvement because it requires more skill and
strength to rotate the stopper by pressure on one edge, and because such rotation is
very difficult when the groove in the neck is deeper or more abrupt than usual.
The third is inferior to the present improvement because it has been found in
practice that the ear-flap will tear off frequently especially after the stopper has been
in place a considerable time.
To avoid the difficulties alluded to and to extract the stopper quickly and without
injury even when it has been in the bottle very long, I attach to the stopper at its
centre a headed stud to which a tool can be applied with great facility and precision
and the stopper extracted with ease.
The stud may be in the form of a straight shaft which passes through the disc
stopper and is provided with a head at each end, or it may be made of a wire staple
which passes through the disc and has its ends twisted together to form a hold for the
extracting instrument.
In the drawings A represents the disc and represents the metallic stud, in one case
formed of a wire with an expanded head at each end and in the other case it is formed
from a wire staple the ends of which are twisted together at their extremities to form
a hold for the extracting tool D which seizing hold of the said stud, and resting on
the mouth of the bottle as a fulcrum pulls the stopper out without difficulty first
reversing its arch.
When the stopper disc A presents an edge of raw rubber to the glass at G there is
after a time a tendency to auhere, and this adhesion may be, and sometimes is
sufficient to cause the stopper to split under the pull of the removing instrument.

page_text: This liability is completely avoided by coating the stoppers with paraffin beeswax or
other similar lubricant which being interposed between the material of the stopper and
the surface of the glass completely prevents adhesion.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and the manner in which the same is to be performed what we claim is
:―
1. In combination with a bottle a cup shaped stopper of flexible material, seated in
the month thereof with its convex side inward and its concave side outward, and
provided at or near its centre, with a projection whereby it may be retroverted and
withdrawn from the bottle.
2. In combination with a bottle a cup shaped stopper of flexible material, seated in
the mouth thereof with its convex side inward and its concave side outward, and
provided with a metallic attachment, whereby it may be retroverted and withdrawn
from the hottle, substantially as set forth.
3. In combination with a bottle, a cup shaped stopper of flexible material, seated in
the mouth thereof with its convex side inward and its concave side outward, and
provided with the metallic stud adapted to be seized by the extracting tool to forcibly
retrovert the stopper and withdraw it substantially as set forth.
Dated this 18th day of November 1890.
AYRTON & THOMAS,
Patent Agents.