Improvements in the Manufacture of Screw Stoppers.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Jan., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 4th Oct., 1893—Accepted, 4th Nov., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Screw Stoppers.
I, JOHN JAMES VARLEY, of Haslemere, Merton, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of screw stoppers for
stoppering bottles, jars and other vessels, the object of the invention being to
provide a stopper which is more suitable for some branches of the bottling trade,
that is to say, a stopper which is spirally adapted for use in cases where the
contents of the bottle have to be heated or steamed as in the case of lager beer,
jams, preserves, meats and the like.
Hitherto such stoppers have generally been made of composition or of vulcanite
but in some cases they have been made of wood. Stoppers made from the two
former materials soften under the influence of heat and are thus rendered practically
useless while stoppers made from wood have many objections inasmuch as that the
wood will swell and shrink under different conditions and the stoppers thus become
unserviceable, they are also very liable to become foul. For example in many
cases fungi will form thereon which may be injurious to health.
According to my improvements in the manufacture of screw-stoppers I am
enabled to produce a screw-stopper in which the above defects or objections are
obviated.
In carrying out my invention I first form by suitable machinery a screw-stopper,
preferably from soft wood such as American birch, which wood I find very suitable
although other wood may be used: I then immerse the stopper in a solution of
suitable gum such as gum amber which I place in a vessel constructed to allow of
pressure being applied to the contents of the vessel, whereby the wood stopper
becomes impregnated with the solution of gum thereby rendering the stopper
perfectly impervious so that neither moisture nor gases can pass through the
stopper. The stoppers so impregnated are stoved to dry and harden the gum and
are then coated with a suitable enamel, that is to say, with an enamel which will
not be affected by the contents of the bottle to be stoppered and are then again
stoved.
By these means I produce a screw-stopper of wood which will effectually seal a
bottle and which can be used for stoppering all bottles or vessels the contents of
which have to be pasteurized, sterilized steamed or heated as well as for ordinary
stoppering purposes.
My stoppers also possess the advantage of being clean and durable and have a
highly finished appearance.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Screw Stoppers.
I, JOHN JAMES VARLEY, of Haslemere, Merton, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, 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 the manufacture of screw stoppers for
stoppering bottles, jars and other vessels, the object of the invention being to

page_text: provide a stopper which is more suitable for some branches of the bottling trade,
that is to say, a stopper which is specially adapted for use in cases where the
contents of the bottle have to be heated or steamed as in the case of lager beer,
jams, preserves, meats and the like.
Hitherto such stoppers have generally been made of composition or of vulcanite
but in some cases they have been made of wood. Stoppers made from the two
former materials soften under the influence of heat and are thus rendered practically
useless while stoppers made from wood have many objections inasmuch as that the
wood will swell and shrink under different conditions and the stoppers thus become
unserviceable, they are also very liable to become foul. For example in many
cases fungi will form thereon which may be injurious to health.
According to my improvements in the manufacture of screw-stoppers I am
enabled to produce a screw-stopper in which the above defects or objections are
obviated.
In carrying out my invention I first form by suitable machinery a screw-stopper,
preferably from soft wood such as American birch, which wood I find very suitable
although other wood may be used; I then immerse the stopper in a solution of
suitable gum such as gum, gum sandarach, gum amber, shellac or the like which I
place in a vessel constructed to allow of pressure being applied to the contents of
the vessel, whereby the wood stopper becomes impregnated with the solution of
gum thereby rendering the stopper perfectly impervious so that neither moisture
nor gases can pass through the stopper. The stoppers so impregnated are stoved
to dry and harden the gum and are then coated with a suitable enamel, that is to
say, with an enamel which will not be affected by the contents of the bottle to be
stoppered and are then again stoved.
By these means I produce a screw-stopper of wood which will effectually seal a
bottle and which can be used for stoppering all bottles or vessels the contents of
which have to be pasteurized, sterilized, steamed or heated as well as for ordinary
stoppering purposes.
My stoppers also possess the advantage of being clean and durable and have a
highly finished appearance.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1
claim is :-
A screw stopper made of wood impregnated under pressure with a solution of
gum, then stored, afterwards coated with enamel and again stoved, substantially as
and for the purposes set forth.
Dated the 3rd day of October 1893
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.