CER- TAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE STOPPERING OR STOPPING OF BOTTLES, JARS, POTS, OR SUCH LIKE RECEPTACLES
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1.
ALEXANDER SOUTHWOOD STOCKER, late of Wandsworth, in the County
of Surrey, but now of the Brass Battery Works, Hall Street, City
Road, in the County of Middlesex. Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster the Twenty-
fifth day of November, in the fifteenth year of Her reign, did give and
grant unto me, the said Alexander Southwood Stocker, my executors,
administrators, and assigns. Her especial licence, full power; sole privi-
lege and authority, that I, the said Alexander Southwood Stocker; 'my
executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said
Alexander Southwood Stocker, my executors, administrators, 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 my Invention of "CER-
TAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE STOPPERING OR STOPPING OF BOTTLES, JARS,
POTS, OR SUCH LIKE RECEPTACLES," within that part of Her said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her

page_text: Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick upon Tweed, in which
said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso requiring that I, the
said Alexander Southwood Stocker. 'should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, and cause the same to be enrolled in Her said 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 reference
being thereunto had will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the
said Alexander Southwood Stocker, do hereby declare that the nature
of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be per-
formed, are particularly described and ascertained in and by this present
Specification or instrument in writing. reference being had to the sheet
of Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:
My Invention consists, firstly, in lining metal or other capsules or
covers for bottles, jars, pots, or such like receptacles, with cork, or
other suitable material or materials, so as to make the capsules or
covers to fit round the outside of the neck or part to which they are
to be applied. The following figures exemplify the construction and
use of a capsule or cover lined according to this part of my Invention.
Figure 1, is a top or exterior plan view of the capsule or cover; Figure
2, an inverted or interior plan view; Figure 3, a transverse section;
Figure 4, an elevation of the capsule, shewing it applied to the neck of
a bottle, also represented in elevation; Figure 5, a transverse section
of Figure 4. a, is the capsule shewn as constructed of metal; but it
may be of glass, or any other suitable material; b, is the cork-lining; c,
lining of gutta-percha, which is interposed between the cork and the
capsule d, the neck of the bottle. The lining b, is formed by punch-
ing or cutting out of a sheet of thin cork a dise or circular piece of
suitable diameter, according to the diameter of the capsule to be lined,
and the depth of its rim. The lining c, is formed in a similar way out
of a much thinner sheet of gutta-percha. I first place the capsule in
the bottom die of a pair of dies or tools, next the gutta-percha disc,
a

page_text: and then the cork dise, the die being formed with a rebate or shoulder,
in or on which these discs may rest, and be kept concentric with the
capsule. The upper die or plunger, which is also concentric, is then
forced down, when the dises will become turned up at their edges, and
have a lip or rim formed upon them; and the same operation will also
fit or place them in the capsule. The plunger should be of such a
diameter as to fit somewhat tightly in the lining intended to be formed.
On withdrawing the plunger, the completed capsule may be released
from the dies. As cork is of a somewhat permeable nature. the gutta-
percha lining will be found particularly beneficial when the cover is
applied to vessels containing acids or corrosive liquids or materials;
but for dry goods generally, and many common purposes, the gutta-
percha may be dispensed with, and the cork lining may be employed
by itself. Another mode in which I line my capsule is as follows:-
I place a disc of sheet cork at the bottom of the capsule, and a strip of
sheet cork around the interior of the rim, by which means the interior
surface will become completely covered, as in the former case. Al-
though I consider cork as the best material for the lining, gutta-percha
by itself, or leather, or felt, or any other suitable material, or suitable
combination of materials, may be substituted for the purpose. When
the form of the capsule or cover to be lined is such that it will not
readily receive the lining, as is frequently the case with the tops of
scent bottles and other articles, I solder or fix a tube in it in order to
receive the lining.
My Invention consists, secondly, in closing or filling up the opening
or crevice around a bottle or other vessel, and between it and its cover
or stopper, by means of a washer or ring of vulcanized indian-rubber,
or other suitable elastic material. Figures 6, and 7, are an elevation
and section of the top of a bottle, and its capsule or cover, with the
washer interposed to fill up the crevice. u, is the capsule; d, the neck
of the bottle; and, the washer, which may or may not be cemented
to the shoulder on the neck, against which it fits accordingly, as it is
preferred to do so or not.
My Invention consists, thirdly, in manufacturing stoppers or covers,
by fixing the upper ends of plugs of cork, or other suitable material,

page_text: into capsules or covers of glass, porcelain, metal, or other suitable
material, in such manner that the said plugs may fit closely against the
interior of the rims of the said capsules or covers. Figures 8.-9. and
10, are a top plan view, an inverted plan view, and a transverse sec-
tion respectively of such a stopper or cover. a, is the capsule, and i,
the cork plug. The capsule, when made of glass, may have the recess
formed in it for the plug by pressing or squeezing in the manufacture
of the article, and the plug may be fixed in it by any suitable cement.
This stopper, if formed in the shape represented in the Drawings, will
be found particularly adapted to the lastly-described part of my Inven-
tion, and also to the part next to be described.
My Invention consists, fourthly, in covering over or closing the
opening or crevice around a bottle or other vessel, and between it and
its stopper or cover, by means of a ring, strip, or band of vulcanized
indian-rubber, or other suitable elastic material. Figure 11, is a plan
view of an ordinary elastic ring of the prepared rubber, and Figure 12
an elevation of a jar fitted with the improved stopper lastly above
described, and shewing the exterior crevice between them as partly
covered with the elastic ring, a part of which is represented as broken
away in order to expose the crevice to view. . is the cover, and d. the
jar; o, the crevice to be covered; and p, the elastic ring, which is
applied after that the plug of the stopper is fitted into the opening of
the jar, by stretching it so as to pass it over the cover, and then suf-
fering it to collapse.
a
My Invention consists, fifthly, in securing covers to bottles, or
other vessels, by means of pairs of wires (or suitable substitutes
for wires) hinged to them; one being loop which fits in a groove
round the neck of the bottle, and likewise forms a projection or staple,
and the other being a catch or hasp, which fits over the projection of
the former wire. Figures 13, and 14, are plan and edge views re-
spectively of a cover formed with the improved wire fastening hinged
to it; Figure 15, the outside of the neck of a bottle. showing the
groove in and round which the loop fits; Figure 16, a section of the
cover; Figure 17, an outside view of the neck of the bottle, shewing
the cover fixed on. s, is the cap or cover, formed with a cushion st, or

page_text: otherwise, as desired; t, the wire loop hinged to the cap, embracing the
groove in the neck of the bottle, and likewise forming a projection or
staple t;, the catch or hasp, also hinged to the cap, and which fits
over the projection t*, of the former wire. The loop t, with its staple
, is formed by bending a piece of wire into the desired shape, and
soldering or twisting its ends together round the groove in the neck of
the bottle. The catch u, is also similarly formed. Strips of thin
copper, or other suitable material, may be substituted for wire, if
preferred.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Southwood Stocker,
have bereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day
of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
Enrolled the Twenty-fifth day of May, in the year of our
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
Lord