Bottling Machine.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Mar., 1893-Accepted, 2nd June, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION,
Bottling Machine.
I, MELVIN DONALLY, of No. 172 Chambers Street, in the City, County and
State of New York, United States of America, Manufacturer, 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 machines for rapidly bottling beer, ale and other
liquid. The particular object of the invention is to provide an attachment for
such machines whereby it may be possible to draw from two or more barrels at
the same time and therefore to enable a machine to be run to its full capacity
without requiring any other or larger holes to be bored in the barrel than those
which are provided in every barrel for the spigot and the bung, and without
requiring any great length of flexible tubing to be employed, while at the same
time a uniform and equal flow from the several barrels in connection is ensured.
In order that the improvement may be understood readily it has been necessary to
illustrate and describe an entire machine and for that purpose the machine which
is considered the best and most practical has been selected. It will be understood,
however, that the present improvement is not concerned with the general con-
struction of the machine.
In the accompanying drawings:
Figure 1 is a front view of the complete machine :
Figure 2 is a vertical section on the line
machine connected to three barrels:
-x of Figure 1, and showing the
Figure 3 is a detail section on a larger scale of the lower end of the pump
employed, showing the arrangement of the valves:
Figure 4 is a detail section on a larger scale of one of the bottle-covering caps
and its associated parts.
The frame of the machine consists of a base-section A, upon which standards 10
are secured, one at each side, the said standards being provided on their inner faces
with channels adapted to receive tongues formed on the sides of a frame or
carrier B, which is adapted to slide vertically in the ways so formed.
standards of the fixed frame are connected at their upper ends by a cross beam
or bar 11.
The
The movable frame B ordinarily comprises two side pieces b, united by an upper
cross-bar and a lower cross-bar 2, while a rod 12 extends horizontally from one
side piece to the other between the two cross-bars. A plate 13 is secured to the
front face of the lower beam 2 of the sliding frame, and upon the plate a
slideway 14 is formed, in which a number of head-blocks 15 are fitted. The head-
blocks are arranged at suitable intervals apart and are provided with vertical
apertures 16, extending through from top to bottom, one of said apertures being
located near each end, as shown in Figure 4. The body of each block is further
provided with a vertical central recess. The central recesses of the head-blocks
are adapted for the reception of a series of flexible filling-tubes D, which pass
rearward under the rod 12 and are connected to the supply barrels as hereinafter
described.
The frame or carrier B is partly counter-balanced and adapted to be raised
through the medium of a chain 18 which is attached to the bar 12 and passes over
guide pulleys 19 and 20 journalled on the fixed frame, under a pulley 21, journalled
on a weighted lever 22, and up to a fixed hook 23 on the main frame. A second
chain 24 is fastened to the under side of the lever 22 and passes under a pulley 25,
journalled on a foot lever 26, up to a fixed hook 27 on the main frame. The
weight of the lever 22 is sufficient to partly counterbalance but not to raise the

page_text: movable frame B, but by pressing with the foot upon the lever the said frame is
raised easily, while upon releasing the lever the frame will again descend to its
lowest position.
Each
A series of compressors 29 are pivoted upon a rod 30 which is fixed to the side
bars b, b, of the frame B, slightly above and in the rear of the rod 12.
compressor is formed as a plate, bent as shown in Figure 2, and slotted centrally
for the greater portion of its length except for a cross-piece at the point 31
directly beneath the rod 12. Each tube D is passed through the slot of its
respective compressor and is normally pinched between the cross-piece 31 and the
fixed rod 12 by a stout spring 32 which is attached to the compressor and to the
cross-bar b', so as to prevent the flow of liquid through the tube. A bar 33 rests
upon the ends of all the compressors and is supported by toggle levers 34, 34, from
the cross-bar of the movable frame B. The toggle levers, at or near their
joints, are connected to a second bar 35 which near its middle is provided with a
pin 36 to enter a slot in the end of a hand-lever 37 pivoted upon the cross-bar .
When the movable frame is at the lowest point of its movement and the tubes are
inserted in the bottles, as hereinafter described, the lever 37 is moved by the
operator to throw the bar 35 toward the left and, through the toggle levers, to
depress the bar 33 and so open the compressors 29, allowing the liquid to flow
through the pipes D. As the frame moves up again the end of the bar 35 strikes
a cam 38, which is fixed upon side-pieces 10, and is thrown back to the right by
the same to raise the bar 33 from the ends of the compressors and permit each
compressor to be drawn upward by its spring 32 and again pinch the tube D
between itself and the rod 12 to stop the flow of the liquid. It will be observed
that each compressor is free to be moved independently of the rest.
Through the two apertures 16 of each head-block 15 pass freely two tubular
rods or sleeves 39, 39, which are prevented from falling through the apertures by
a head or flange at the top, and support at their lower ends a slotted plate 40 which
overlies a stopper-ring 40 which fits snugly about the tube D at some distance
from its lower end. Springs 41, 41, surround the sleeves between the plate 40 and
the head-block and serve to hold down the stopper-ring 40" with a yielding
pressure. Through the sleeves 39, 39, pass freely two rods 42, 42, which are also
held from falling through by pins at their upper ends and which carry at their
lower ends a conical guide-cap 43. made of rubber or of metal or other suitable
material lined with a soft material iike rubber.
In order that the functions and mode of operation of other parts of the machine
may be more readily understood, the mode of operation of the parts already
described will now be set forth briefly. The tubes D, D, having been connected
to the supply barrels, a number of bottles are placed in line beneath the conical
caps 43, the latter being normally held slightly above the tops of the bottles. The
chains 18 being now released from the clamp 28 the frame or carrier will begin to
descend. The caps 43 will first strike the tops of the bottles and will rest thereon
by their own weight and the weight of the rods 42, the tubes D, D, which pass
freely through the tops of the caps and are never raised clear of the them, being
guided by the caps into the necks of the bottles. As the frame continues to descend
the stopper-rings 40 will be carried down by the plates 40 until they rest firmly
upon the tops of the bottles, or, what is virtually the same thing, upon the tops of
the guide-caps which themselves rest upon the tops of the bottles, the object being
to make a tight connection between the bottles and the tubes D, D, which have
been passed into the bottles. Any slight differences in the height of the bottles will
be compensated for by the yielding of the springs 41. The lever 37 is now thrown
over by the operator thereby releasing the tubes D from the compressors and
permitting the liquid to flow freely through the tubes. When the bottles are full
the operator places his foot on the treadle 26 and raises the frame again to its
highest position, the compressors being again permitted to pinch the tubes D, D,
through the action of the incline 38 on the end of the bar 35 as the latter is raised.
Within each stopper-ring 40 is included a second or vent-tube 44 which projets

page_text: below the said ring or sleeve just far enough to enter the mouth of the bottle.
This tube is not passed through the compressor but is connected to a suction and
force pump 45, the delivery tubes 46 of which are connected to the bungs 17 of the
casks or barrels D'. The pump may be operated in different ways but it is
preferable to fix the cylinder thereof to the movable frame B to be moved up and
down therewith. The piston rod 47 of the pump is fixed to a cross-head 48 to
which are rigidly secured depending armis 49.
To the lower end of each of these
arms is attached a strong spiral spring 50 the upper end of which is attached to a
yoke 51 carried by the cross-bar 11 of the main frame. The tendency of the
springs is to keep the piston rod up as the cylinder descends, but as this would
cause the suction to begin before the stopper-ring 40 is seated upon the bottle
mouth or the cap 43, the action of the springs is delayed by a spring-pressed double
latch 52 which is pivoted to the cross-bar &₁ of the movable frame B and engages the
cross-head 48. The lower end of the latch enters a hole in a finger 33" carried by
the bar 33, so that when the lever 37 is thrown over by the operator to permit the
liquid to flow through the pipes the latch is moved from the cross-head and the
springs 50 are permitted to raise the piston quickly, thereby exhausting the air
from the bottles. When the movable frame B and the cylinder again rise the
latch 52 which rises with them again engages the cross-head which is steadied by
fingers 53. During the upward movement of the cylinder the air therein is forced
out. If it is desired only to exhaust the air from the bottles the air might be
discharged directly from the pump, but if the delivery tubes 46 are connected to
the barrels, as above stated, the discharge of the air into the barrels will maintain
or increase the pressure on the surface of the liquid therein and will thereby
facilitate the operation of bottling.
At any time the pump can be worked independently to increase the pressure in
the barrels or to remove foam from the bottles, by using the cross-head as a handle.
Each tube 44 is connected to a nipple 54 which communicates with a chamber 55
at the lower end of the pump cylinder. Above this chamber is seated a valve 56
which opens upwardly into the cylinder itself, screws 57 being inserted to limit the
movement of the valve. The discharge or delivery tube 46 is connected to a
nipple 58, which communicates with the cylinder above the valve 56 and is itself
provided with an outwardly opening valve 59. The pump is thus of ordinary
construction and operated in a well known manner.
The bottles to be filled may be placed in the machine in boxes which are set upon
an endless apron 60 formed of slats and chains, supported by wheels 61 mounted
on shafts 62. One of the shafts 62 has fixed thereon a ratchet-wheel 63 which is
advanced by a pawl 64 on a lever 65. By placing suitable stops in the path of the
lever 65 its range may be so limited that a single movement will advance the apron
sufficiently to bring the next row of bottles under the caps 43.
The special feature of the present improvement lies in the connections between
the filling tubes D and the barrels D from which the liquid is drawn, the object
being, as stated, to enable several barrels to be connected at once to the machine
and to avoid the use of much flexible tubing. For this purpose the filling tubes D
are not connected directly to a barrel but to a header or small reservoir 66 which
consists of a sniall cylinder mounted in brackets 67, which are fixed preferably to
the carrier B, so that the header or distributing reservoir moves with the carrier.
Only one of the tubes D is shown as connected to the header, but the several
nipples 68 to which the tubes are connected are clearly shown in Figure 2. The
header or distributing reservoir is connected by pipes 69 to all of the supply
barrels which are to be drawn from. By these means all of the barrels supply
their contents to a common vessel from which the liquid is distributed uniformly to
all of the filling tubes, thus enabling the machine to be worked to its full capacity
without requiring, as would otherwise be the case, a larger supply from a single
barrel than could be drawn through the usual spigot hole, and furthermore ensuring
uniform supply to all the bottles to be filled. The header or distributing
eservoir is shown as mounted on the carrier B to move with it, but if desired it

page_text: might be supported by the fixed frame of the machine in which case the pipes 69
would be quite short, while the tubes D would be lengthened sufficiently to permit
the necessary travel of the carrier.
The vent or gas tubes are shown as connected to a pump though the pump might
be omitted and connection made directly with the barrels. Furthermore the
tubes 46 might be connected directly to the pump, but a convenient arrangement is
that shown in which the outlet of the pump is connected to a cylinder 70 from
which the several pipes 46 extend to the respective barrels.
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 I
claim is :
A bottling machine having a number of flexible filling tubes which are lowered
and raised by a carriage to be inserted into or withdrawn from a number of bottles
together, a leader or distributing reservoir mounted on the machine and to which
all of the filling tubes are connected, and tubes also connecting said header or
reservoir to two or more barrels, whereby the bottling machine may draw its
supply from two or more barrels at the same time, substantially as shown and
described.
Dated this 10th day of March 1893.
E. P. ALEXANDER & SON, Fels. Chartd. Inst. P.A.,
19, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents.