AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR STOPPING AND PACKING BOTTLES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Walker, of Eccleston, near Prescot, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR STOPPING AND PACKING BOTTLES."
Sealed the 7th January 1862, and dated the 19th July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Walker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th July 1861.
I, ROBERT WALKER, of Eccleston, near Prescot, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR STOPPING AND PACKING BOTTLES," to be as follows:-
The nature of my Invention consists in dispensing with the usual corks, or
other equivalents, which are inserted or forced into the necks of bottles, and
in substituting in their stead a washer or disc of india-rubber, or other yielding
material, which is either pressed upon the end of the neck of the bottle, or
against which the end of the neck is pressed.
The bottles are supported in a frame of wood or metal, and the ends of the
bottles bear upon the tails of set screws, which on being turned round press
the ends of the necks against the washers above referred to, thereby effectually
stopping the bottles; or the washers may be pressed down on the ends of
the bottles, which are securely held between the upper and lower rails of the
frame.

page_text: By making the frames of suitable length and width any convenient number
of bottles can be stopped and packed, or secured against injury by transport,
in the most expeditious manner.
I wish to observe that wedges or other agents may be employed instead of
the set screws above mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Walker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WALKER, of Eccleston, near Prescot, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Walker, Her special licence that I, the said Robert Walker,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Walker, 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
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS
FOR STOPPING AND PACKING BOTTLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Robert Walker, 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 im-
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Walker, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
The nature of my Invention consists in dispensing with the usual corks, or
other equivalents, which are inserted or forced into the necks of bottles, and
in substituting in their stead a washer or disc of india-rubber, or other

page_text: yielding material, which is either pressed upon the end of the neck of the
bottle, or against which the end of the neck is pressed.
The bottles are supported in a frame of wood or metal, and the ends of the
bottles bear upon the tails of set screws, which on being turned round press
the ends of the necks against the washers above referred to, thereby effec-
tually stopping the bottles; or the washers may be pressed down on the
bottles, which are securely held between the upper and lower rails of the
frame.
By making the frames of suitable length and width any convenient,
number of bottles can be stopped and packed, or secured against injury by.
transport, in the most expeditious manner.
I wish to observe that wedges or other agents may be employed instead of
the set screws above mentioned.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is an elevation, Figure 2 is a plan in section, and Figure 3 a.
transverse section of my improved apparatus for stopping and packing bottles.
a, a, are two uprights; b is the top cross rail, and c the lower cross rail.
These parts are of wood or metal, and form the frame in which the bottles d
are supported. To the under side of the cross rail 6 are attached twelve or
other convenient number of washers or discs e made of india-rubber or other
suitable yielding material, and through the cross rail c are screwed a cor-
responding number of set screws f. The bottles, when full, are placed over
the end of the set screws f, with the orifice of the necks under the washers e;
the set screws f are then tightened, thereby pressing the necks against the
washers, which yield to the rim of the necks and effectually close or stop them.
I have shewn in the Drawing a frame capable of holding twelve bottles, but
by increasing or diminishing the dimensions of the frame, it is evident that a
greater or less number of bottles may be secured. The ends and sides of the
frame in which the bottles are held prevent injury when they are transferred
from one place to another, or when they are placed in bins in a cellar.
When a bottle is to be drawn the set screw f is slackened, which thus sets
the bottle at liberty.
By means of this improved apparatus the bottles are stopped more expe-
ditiously than usual, and without any cork or stopper, and they are drawn
without the aid of a corkscrew.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not intend
;

page_text: to limit myself to the details given, as instead of pressing the bottles upwards
against the washers by set screws as shewn, wedges or other agents may be
employed; or the washers may be pressed on the necks of the bottles by
screws or other agents. It is also apparent that my improvements are
applicable to bottles or vessels of various shapes, and containing any description
of liquids or substances requiring to be hermetically sealed. The apparatus
is also applicable for packing bottles corked in the usual manner. I therefore
claim as my Invention, first, the stopping of bottles or other vessels by means
of washers of india-rubber, or other suitable yielding material as described;
and, secondly, the apparatus shewn, or any similar apparatus in which bottles
are secured and packed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Walker, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
ROBERT WALKER. (L.S.)