IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION, CONSTRUCTION, MANUFACTURE, AND COMBINATION OF ARTICLES APPERTAINING TO INFANTS' FEEDING BOTTLES AND OTHER RECEPTACLES, AND IN THE MACHINERY, APPARATUS, PROCESS, AND MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED IN PRO- DUCING AND FINISHING THE SAME, PART OF WHICH PROCESS IS APPLICABLE TO THE PRODUCTION OF OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Southwood Stocker, of Horsleydown,
London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION,
CONSTRUCTION, MANUFACTURE, AND COMBINATION OF ARTICLES APPERTAINING
TO INFANTS' FEEDING BOTTLES AND OTHER RECEPTACLES, AND IN THE
MACHINERY, APPARATUS, PROCESS, AND MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED IN PRO-
DUCING AND FINISHING THE SAME, PART OF WHICH PROCESS IS APPLICABLE TO
THE PRODUCTION OF OTHER ARTICLES."
Sealed the 12th July 1872, and dated the 18th January 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Southwood
Stocker at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 18th January 1872.
I, ALEXANDER SOUTHWOOD STOCKER, of Horsleydown, London, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE APPLICATION, CONSTRUCTION, MANUFACTURE, AND COMBINATION OF ARTICLES
APPERTAINING TO INFANTS' FEEDING BOTTLES AND OTHER RECEPTACLES, AND IN THE
MACHINERY, APPARATUS, PROCESS, AND MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED IN PRODUCING AND

page_text: FINISHING THE SAME, PART OF WHICH PROCESS IS APPLICABLE TO THE PRODUCTION
OF OTHER ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
These improvements consist in producing the appendages (shield,
union, and stopper) to be used with feeding bottles, part of which are
applicable to the manufacture of pots, jars, and other articles composed
of glass, porcelain, or such like.
I chiefly produce the figures by the aid of dies, apparatus, or tools which
may be fixed in a fly press or otherwise, having been previously turned,
cut, sunk, engraved or otherwise fashioned in such manner as to impart
the various figures wished for. Cork, india-rubber, or such like suitable
material are then affixed thereto,, rendering them applicable to my
Invention. Some of these dies, apparatus, or tools are what I call split
or segmental dies consisting of two or more pieces, so that when fitted in
readiness for working condition they form a round, such being intended to
fit into and rest down upon a shouldered socket so prepared that when the
segment or male portion of the apparatus has been placed into the female
part, which has been prepared to fit mathematically true for its
reception, they become as it were one solid pair of male and female
dies, into which the material to produce the given article intended to
be made is placed, which when the necessary pressure has been exerted
thereto or thereon will have received its desired final figure, after which
it may (together with the segments surrounding it and which has pro-
duced its shape) be lifted out while the solid socket or female part will
retain its firmly fixed position, the moulded article may now be released
and so on the operation repeated. For the purpose of despatch in some
instances I employ a series of dies, tools, or apparatus following each
other in their rotation, by these means the article will be made with
equal precision and with great rapidity while the moulded articles may
be released with facility.
I would observe that within some of the articles, such as require
delicate usage or handling while releasing them from the dies or matrix
by which they have been formed, I place a male plug of the same
diameter as the hollow article that has been produced so that it shall
not by the pressure of the fingers or otherwise when releasing it, be
disturbed, distorted, or pressed out of its round or other correct form
given it by the dies; some of these dies, tools, & apparatus for some
of the articles to be manufactured are made and fashioned also so that
they may be lifted up or thercout or released therefrom after having

page_text: received their figure by other than segmental dies, by merely turning.
fashioning, and leaving them out of the solid mass; and when I adopt,
the use of clay, porcelain, or such like, for my use I work it either in its
plastic clay or dust state; and after having received their formation I fire,
glaze, or otherwise finish them in the ordinary manner as now prosecuted
in the finishing of pottery goods generally; or I fire & partially only
glaze the unions; or instead of glazing the shield after it has been fired
apply spermatic wax or other suitable material thereto for the purpose
hercafter mentioned, by preference boiling the articles therewith so that
they shall by such treatment be rendered non-porous, soft, smooth,
warm, more agreeable and sensitive to the infant when in use than if
such provision were disregarded, for the reason that this mode of
treatment will fill up & render the face of the article to be surfaced
perfectly smooth and finished and more sightly, whereas in the absence
of this provision it would be rendered objectionable in use and hence
unmarketable. This method may also be applied to the union stopper
and other articles. I manufacture in some instances the union, shield,
and stopper, out of the material of which they are composed of a body
or constitution that will by passing them through the furnace or kiln
become of a vitreous nature, so that their surfaces shall be rendered
somewhat glassy or slightly smeared, and thereby save a second firing
in glazing such articles as are now made and applicable to the like
purpose.
I would observe that stems or superfluous pieces would be left on one
end of each union in course of their manufacture of desirable length and
diameter for the purpose of placing such ends (which must not be
dipped in glaze) into portable clay plates (which also must not be
glazed) having a series of desirable sized holes prepared therein for their
reception, so that when the unions are placed in a vertical position into
and filling up the holes in such plates, more economy will be found by
this arrangement for the reason that far less trouble and destruction, and
a greater number may be charged in the vessels generally used in glazing
articles of this category, or ordinary shaped unions may be placed in
such clay plates without the aid of the stem referred to, taking care that
the partially glazed articles shall be kept from contact with its plate or
holden on its resting place while in the oven or kiln.
I also use for dipping unions in the glaze in place of the ordinary
mode of procedure frames so constructed as to hold some grosses more or

page_text: less by the aid of perforated india-rubber, or other elastic material affixed
thereto for the purpose of gripping the unions when placed in such
holes or perforations in readiness to be dipped, which when effected and
standing a desirable time may be released with facility, and so on the
oneration repeated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Southwood Stocker in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 18th July 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
SOUTHWOOD STOCKER, of Horsleydown, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in
the thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Alexander Southwood Stocker,
Her special licence that I, the said Alexander Southwood Stocker, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Alexander Southwood Stocker, 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 "INPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION,
CONSTRUCTION, MANUFACTURE, AND COMBINATION OF ARTICLES APPERTAINING TO
INFANTS' FEEDING BOTTLES AND OTHER RECEPTACLES, AND IN THE MACHINERY,
APPARATUS, PROCESS, AND MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED IN PRODUCING AND FINISHING
THE SAME, PART OF WHICH PROCESS IS APPLICABLE TO THE PRODUCTION OF OTHER
ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander
Southwood Stocker, 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 immediately after the date of 'the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Southwood Stocker,

page_text: operated by a hand wheel E, see dotted position Figure 1. F is a vent
hole for the escape of air which may be confined in the mould. The
moulded article may then be withdrawn from the dies and the operation
repeated. For the purpose of dispatch, I, in some instances, employ a
number of such dies in succession.
Figures 3 and 4 show in sectional elevation and plan respectively a
modified arrangement in which the die or matrix is made in three pieces.
G is a cast-iron bed fixed to the bottom of the press and provided with
grooves in which slide the two parts H and H', which with the fixed
part H³ compose the matrix, the said parts being cut, sunk, turned, or
engraved, to produce the form desired. The parts H, H', are moved
apart by right and left handed screws I, I, connected thereto and
.working through sockets on the bed G, and each operated by a lever
handle to open or close the matrix. The parts H, I, when closed
together on the central fixed part H' form a complete mould of the
desired form being made to fit together with mathematical exactness.
In this mould is to be placed the material of which the article is to be
composed, and when the necessary pressure has been exerted by bringing
down the plunger D, as before described, the parts H, H', are moved
apart by means of screws I, as shown in dotted lines; Figure 4, when
the finished article remains on the central part H³, and is free to be
removed from the mould. The apparatus shown in Figures 1, 3, and 4,
may also be used for the manufacture of the other articles above
mentioned, the dies being made of suitable form according to the article
to be produced.
Figure 5 shows in central vertical section an improved machine for
making a stopper or cap with a screw on its end, somewhat similar to
that made by the machine shown in Figure 6, Sheet 2 of the Drawings
annexed to the Specification of my former Letters Patent, dated
April 29th, 1871, No. 1149. A similar machine may be made for
forming a screw thread on other articles such as pots and jars. a is the
matrix in which the article is formed and is a ring placed therein and
having a screw thread formed within it, which ring is attached to the
end of a stem c carrying a screwed part c³ working in the lower part of
the matrix a, and operated by the hand wheel c to withdraw the ring
from the moulded article. The screw in said ring a forms a similar
screw on the stopper, and it is of the same pitch as the screw c¹, so that
when the material to form the stopper has been placed in the matrix

page_text: and the stopper formed somewhat as last described by the pressure of
the plunger, the ring a may be rotated and drawn down in the matrix
by turning wheel whereby the ring a is unscrewed from the screw
which it has formed on the stopper, leaving the latter free to be with-
drawn from the matrix after the plunger has been raised. In my former
Patent the ring remained on the stopper and had to be removed after
the latter was taken from the mould, but by the present method the
articles may be manufactured with a much greater degree of rapidity.
Within such of the articles as require delicate usage or handling in
releasing them from the dies or matrix, I place a plug of the same
diameter and shape as the internal form of the article, so that it shall
not be damaged or pressed out of form by the pressure of the fingers or
otherwise when releasing it from the dies. The dies, tools, or apparatus
for making the shields, although not segmental, are also constructed so
that the article when pressed may be readily lifted up or released from
the mould in the following manner :—
Figure 6 shows a central vertical section of the apparatus for making
shields, one of these articles being shown in Figure 6*. K is a
shouldered socket fitted in an external case K' fixed to the bed of the
press. In the socket K is accurately fitted a sliding die L operated by
a treadle through a rod L'. This die slides on a central pin L² fixed to
a cross bar in socket K, the end of which pin serves to form the
central aperture in the shield. The dic L is sunk or fashioned on its
upper surface to form one side of the shield, which surface is slightly
below the edge of the socket L to form a matrix in which a sufficient
quantity of material may be placed to form the article. D is a corre-
sponding die fashioned to form the other side of the shield, which is
fixed to the plunger of the press. It has a central opening for the end
of pin L to enter when the die is brought down, communicating with
an exit for the superfluous material which may become lodged therein.
The shield having been formed by pressure in the said dies the die L is
raised by the treadle so as to lift the shield out of the matrix and admit
of its being readily removed.
I generally manufacture the above articles of ordinary pottery clay
in either its plastic or dust state (that is to say, dried and ground into
dust,) and after having produced the articles in moulds as herein
described, I fire, glaze, or otherwise finish them in the ordinary manner

page_text: now pursued in the finishing of pottery goods generally. I fire and
partially glaze only the unions, and instead of glazing the shields after
they have been fired I sometimes apply spermaceti or other wax (or
its equivalent) thereto by dipping the articles in melted wax, or its
equivalent, so as to render the surface non-porous, smooth, and more 5
agreeable to the touch when in use. This treatment may also be applied
to the union and stopper or cap.
In some cases I manufacture the union, shield, and stopper of Parian
clay or other material of a vitreous nature, so that when they are passed
through the furnace or kiln the surfaces will be rendered somewhat 1
glassy or slightly smeared, so that the second fining usual in glazing
such articles will be unnecessary.
Figures 7 and 8 show an end view and plan of an apparatus for
making unions according to a method of my Invention, being an
improvement on the method of manufacturing the same by the apparatus 1
shown in Figures 1 and 2, Sheet 2, of the Drawings annexed to the
Specification of my said former Patent. The moulds are made in two
halves M and N, the upper half M being fixed to the plunger of the
press, and the lower half N to a bed plate N¹. The said moulds are
shaped so as to produce one or several unions at a time. O are pins for 2
piercing the bores of the unions. They are carried on a head fixed to a
sliding rod or plunger P working in a socket P₁, and operated by a
treadle through the crank lever P, or otherwise to project the needles
into the moulds.
The operation is as follows:-A desirable quantity of material having 2
been laid on the mould N, the other mould M is forcibly pressed down
thereon, thus forming the exterior of the unions; the pins O are then
projected through suitable apertures left in the moulds, as shown,
whereby the moulded articles are pierced longitudinally, and complete
unions are produced which may then be removed from the mould, and a
the operation repeated. A spring withdraws the needles immediately
they have pierced the unions.
The moulds may be formed so as to leave stems or superfluous pieces
on the end of each union of suitable length and diameter for the purpose
of facilitating the glazing operation. Such stems (which must not be a
dipped in the glaze) are fitted in portable clay plates (which also must
not be glazed) having a number of holes therein for the reception of said

page_text: stems, so that the unions may be held in a vertical position during the
firing process after dipping, and in this manner a greater number may
be charged at a time in the vessels generally used for glazing articles
of this description. After the firing the said superfluous stems are
broken off.
Figures 9 and 10 show a central vertical section and plan respectively
of an apparatus or "former" for producing the said clay slabs or plates
for holding the unions when in the seggars, one of which slabs is shown in
Figures 11 and 12 with a union placed therein. The apparatus consists
of a mould or socket R fixed in a press and provided with a movable
perforated plate S, forming the bottom of the matrix in which the slabs
are moulded. This plate S is fixed on a stem sliding in the exterior
socket R, and operated by a hand lever S₁ for raising the plate S, and
lifting the slab out of the mould when it has been formed by the
pressure of the plunger T. The latter has a series of pins corresponding
to the holes in plate S to produce a slab with the perforations
desired.
Unions unprovided with the additional stem above described may be
placed in similar clay plates as shown in Figure 12, taking care that
the glazed part of the unions shall be kept from contact with the plate
or holder when on its resting place in the oven or kiln. In this case
for dipping the unions in the glaze I use frames so constructed as to
hold a considerable number (some grosses more or less) by the aid of
perforated india-rubber or other flexible material by which the unions
are held or gripped when placed in such holes or perforations in
readiness to be dipped, and from which after standing a desirable time
they may be easily released, and fresh ones inserted. Figures 13 and
14 show a partial section and plan respectively of such a plate. U is a
wooden frame in which is fixed a perforated sheet of vulcanized india-
rubber or other flexible material between two perforated metal plates,
the perforations in the plates being about twice the diameter of the
holes in the india-rubber, as shown. The union is gripped by the india-
rubber, as shown in Figure 13, so that the part which has been passed
through the india-rubber is not touched by the glaze, and this unglazed
end is the one which is to be placed in the perforated clay slab or plate
above described.
In dipping the unions the frame is inverted from the position shown
in Figure 13, so as to bring the unions downwards.

page_text: Having described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as my
Invention to be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,―
1st. The construction and use of the split or segmental dies com-
bined, arranged, and operating substantially as shown in Figure 1 of the
Drawings, and for the purpose specified.
2ndly. I claim the construction and use of the modified arrangement
of split or segmental dies combined, arranged, and operated, substantially
as shown in Figures 3 and 4 of the Drawings annexed for the purposes
set forth.
3rdly. In the apparatus for manufacturing stoppers or caps for bottles,
pots, jars, and other articles with a screw on the end, I claim the with-
drawing of the internally screw-threaded ring or mould, b, Figure 5,
from the moulded article by means of a screwed stem c to which the ring
or mould b is fixed, the whole arranged and operated substantially as
shown and described.
4thly. I claim the use of a plug corresponding to the internal form of
the finished article to prevent its being pressed out of shape by the
pressure of the fingers when removing it from the dies, substantially as
herein described.
5thly. I claim the construction and use of the die or matrix shown in
Figure 6 of the Drawings, or any modification thereof, for moulding
shields for infants' feeding bottles combined with a counterpart die or
plunger arranged and operating substantially as herein set forth.
6thly. I claim the manufacture of the stoppers, shields, and unions
used with infants' feeding bottles, as well as the other articles mentioned,
from pottery clay in its dust state by the aid of dies and pressure as
herein described.
7thly. I claim treating the said articles (unions, shields, and stoppers):
with wax or its equivalent to fill up the pores of the material, and
render the surface non-porous and smooth, as herein-before described.
Sthly. As an improvement in the manufacture of unions by dies or
pressure, I claim the piercing the said unions by means of pins pro-
jected through the article after its exterior form has been moulded,

page_text: substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 7 and
8 of the Drawings.
9thly. I claim forming unions with superfluous pieces or stems as
and for the purpose described.
10thly. I claim the construction and use of a clay plate provided with
perforations for holding the additional stems (or the unglazed parts of
the unions) during the firing process, substantially as shown and
described.
11thly. I claim the construction and use of the apparatus or
"former" for producing the said clay slabs or plates arranged and
operating substantially as described and shown in Figures 9 and 10 of
the Drawings.
12thly. I claim the employment of a frame or holder constructed as
shown in Figures 13 and 14, and provided with a sheet of perforated
india-rubber or other suitable flexible material for holding the unions
when dipping the same in the glaze, as and for the purpose
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Southwood Stocker, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of July,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
ALEX³. SOUTHWOOD STOCKER. (L.s.)