IMPROVE- HENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BOTTLES, DECANTERS, AND OTHER SIMILAR VESSELS, AND IN MEANS FOR CLOSING THE SAME
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Woolley, of No. 12, Mark Lane, in the
City of London, Wine Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
HENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BOTTLES, DECANTERS, AND OTHER SIMILAR
VESSELS, AND IN MEANS FOR CLOSING THE SAME.”
Sealed the 25th October 1872, and dated the 29th April 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Woolley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th April 1872.
I, CHARLES WOOLLEY, of No. 12, Mark Lane, in the City of London,
Wine Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BOTTLES, DECANTERS, AND OTHER
SIMILAR VESSELS, AND IN MEANS FOR CLOSING THE SAME," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to supersede the use of the corks and
internal stoppers, by means of which bottles, decanters, and other
similar vessels are ordinarily closed. For this purpose I make the upper
part of the neck of the bottle or vessel of a cylindrical form, and pre-
ferably of less diameter than the lower part of the said neck, so as to
form a shoulder thereon and I close the said bottle or vessel by means

page_text: of a cap of glass, or other suitable material, which cap is of a cylindrical
form internally, and contains a bush or lining of cork, leather, or other
suitable elastic material, which is held in position by an internal flange
formed around the lower part of the cap, the thickness of the said bush
or lining being such that it shall project inwards beyond the said flange,
and be tightly compressed between the exterior of the neck of the bottle
or vessel and the interior of the cap, when the latter is placed upon the
former.
The advantages of the foregoing arrangement are that the cap
described may be used repeatedly, and that the inconvenience attending
the use of corks and internal stoppers for closing bottles, decanters, and
similar vessels is obviated.
In constructing bottles for containing beer or other fermented or
gaseous liquors or liquids, and caps for such bottles, I modify the fore-
going arrangement as follows:-I form lugs or projections on the
cylindrical part of the neck of the bottle, and I make in the cap and
'below the flange in the lower part thereof cross slots or grooves or
'flanges (preferably inclined), so that when the said cap is fitted on the
neck of the bottle, and turned through a partial revolution, the grooves,
slots, or flanges in the said cap engage with the projections on the neck
of the said bottle after the manner of a bayonet joint, and hold the said
cap firmly in position.
This arrangement may be reversed, i.c., the projections aforesaid may
be made in the cap, the grooves, slots, or flanges with which such
projections engage being formed around the neck of the bottle or
vessel.
My Invention is applicable to bottles, decanters, jars, phials, and other
vessels having necks.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Charles Woolley, Her special license that
I, the said Charles Woolley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Charles Woolley, my 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 Ohannel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF BOTTLES, DECANTERS, AND OTHER SIMILAR VESSELS, AND IN MEANS FOR CLOSING
THE SAME," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles
Woolley, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, 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.
i
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Woolley, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
The object of my Invention is to supersede the use of the corks and
internal stoppers by means of which bottles, decanters, and other similar
vessels are ordinarily closed. For this purpose I make the upper part of
the neck of the bottle or vessel of a cylindrical form externally, and
preferably of less diameter than the lower part of the said neck, so as to
form a shoulder thereon; and I close the said bottle or vessel by means
of a cap of glass or other suitable material, which cap is of a cylindrical
form internally, and contains a bush or lining of cork, leather, or other
suitable elastic material, which is held in position by an internal flange
formed around the lower part of the cap, the thickness of the said bush
or lining being such that it shall project inward beyond the said flange
and be tightly compressed between the exterior of the neck of the bottle
or vessel and the interior of the cap when the latter is placed upon the
former.

page_text: The advantages of the foregoing arrangement are that the cap described
may be used repeatedly, and that the inconvenience attending the use of
corks and internal stoppers for closing bottles, decanters, and similar
vessels is obviated.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to i
describe the manner in which the same is to be performed, reference
being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon :—
Figure 1 represents in vertical section the neck of a bottle closed by a
flanged bushed cap, according to my Invention; Figure 2 is a vertical 1
section of the said cap; and Figure 3 is a vertical section representing a
modification of the said cap. The same letters of reference indicate the
same parts in the several Figures.
A is the neck of the bottle, the form of which differs from that of an
ordinary bottle neck in having no enlargement or flange around its
mouth, being truly cylindrical from a³ to a³, the edge being by preference
rounded or bevilled to facilitate the placing on of the cap; B is the
cylindrical cap; & is the flange around the interior thereof; and C is the
bush or lining of cork, india-rubber, or other elastic substance which is
inserted in the said cap and is held in position by the said flange.
In order to prevent any of the liquid in the bottle from passing
between the mouth thereof and the under side of the cap I prefer to
make the under side of the said cap convex, as shown, and to make
around the said mouth a seat of corresponding form for this part of the
cap to fit against. The under side of the said cap may however be made
flat.
Instead of making the cap B with a flange, as represented in Figures 1
and 2, the said cap may be made without such flange, as represented in
Figure 3, in which case the bush or lining C is fixed to the interior of
the said cap by means of any suitable cement.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I claim as my said Invention, the
improvements in the construction of bottles, decanters, and other similar
vessels, and in the means for closing the same, herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, making
the necks of such vessels cylindrical externally, and closing them by

page_text: means of cylindrical caps lined or bushed with cork, india-rubber, or
other elastic substance, essentially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Woolley, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
H. H. MURDOCH,
7, Staple Inn,
London.
CHA®. WOOLLEY. (L.S.)