IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR STOPPERING BOTTLES
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Henry Ryves at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th September 1874.
I, WILLIAM HENRY RYVES, of Great Quebec Street, Portman Square,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for “IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR STOPPERING BOTTLES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in the construction of apparatus for stoppering
bottles containing liquids, whether aërated or otherwise, and by means
of which any portion of such liquids can be poured out, and the stopper
then replaced in a perfectly air-tight manner.
The main body of the stopper consists of a plug or spindle which is
formed of wood, metal, or any other suitable material, the upper part
thereof being provided with an expanded head through which a hole or
aperture is bored horizontally. At the hase or lower end of the plug or
spindle is fixed an india-rubber disc. A metal band is rivetted or
otherwise secured to the upper surface of the head of the plug and
extends across the same at right angles to the before-mentioned hole or

page_text: aperture. The respective ends of the band are formed with notches
therein, and are so turned or bent as to furnish tubular sockets for the
reception of the wire herein-after mentioned. Two metallic side pieces
or arms are provided, the upper ends of which are formed with holes
or tubular apertures and fit into the notches at the ends of the band.
The side pieces or arms are respectively placed on opposite sides of the
neck of the bottle and are connected by a wire which is passed round
the latter as a ring. A wire is passed through the before-mentioned
horizontal hole or aperture in the head of the plug or spindle, and the
ends thereof bent so that the wire assumes an S form, such ends being
so turned on the respective sides of the head of the plug or spindle as to
pass through the ends of the side pieces and the sockets formed on the
band, thus forming a moveable or shifting hinge.
The mode of using the apparatus is as follows:-The side pieces or
arms are as before-mentioned attached to the neck of the bottle by
means of a piece of wire which passes round the latter, the plug with
the india-rubber disc at the lower part thereof is passed into the neck of
the bottle, which is effectually closed by the disc. The plug is then
secured by placing the upper ends of the metallic side pieces or arms in
the notches formed in the transverse band, the respective ends of the
before-mentioned bent wire being passed into the tubular sockets provided
for that purpose.
In order to open the bottle the head of the plug is pressed with one
finger, whilst by pressing upon the wire one of the metallic side pieces
or arms is released, and the plug can then be disengaged from the neck
of the bottle, the connection between the other end of the transverse
band and the opposite metallic side pieces or arms by means of the wire
constituting a hinge upon which the plug can be turned. Any desired
portion of the contents of the bottle can then be poured out, and the
plug again readjusted by pressing the india-rubber disc into the neck of
the bottle, and connecting the metallic side pieces or arms with the
transverse band by means of the bent wire as before described.