IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS AND OTHER VESSELS, WHEREBY THE CORKS FOR THE SAME ARE EASILY APPLIED AND MORE EFFECTUALLY RETAINED IN THEIR SITUATION WHERE EFFER- VESCING LIQUIDS ARE USED; ALSO IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES, AND THE APPLICATION OF THE SAME TO THAT PART OF THE VESSELS IN WHICH THESE IMPROVEMENTS CONSIST, SO AS TO SECURE THE CORK; ALSO IN AN APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING SUCH CORKS, WHEN REQUIRED TO BE RELEASED;
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
SOUTHWOOD STOCKER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Wine
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Eighth day of December (One thousand eight hundred and
forty-three), in the seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Alexander Southwood Stocker,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Alexander Southwood Stocker, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, and such others
as I, the said Alexander Southwood Stocker, my exors, adiñors, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF GLASS AND OTHER VESSELS, WHEREBY THE CORKS FOR THE SAME ARE EASILY
APPLIED AND MORE EFFECTUALLY RETAINED IN THEIR SITUATION WHERE EFFER-
VESCING LIQUIDS ARE USED; ALSO IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES, AND THE
APPLICATION OF THE SAME TO THAT PART OF THE VESSELS IN WHICH THESE
IMPROVEMENTS CONSIST, SO AS TO SECURE THE CORK; ALSO IN AN APPARATUS
FOR EXTRACTING SUCH CORKS, WHEN REQUIRED TO BE RELEASED;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Alexander
Southwood Stocker, to particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my

page_text: said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and to cause the same to be
inrolled 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 in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully 5
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alexander Southwood Stocker, do hereby declare the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be fully
described and set forth in and by the following statement and Specification
thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings (which I declare
to be and to form part of this my statement and Specification), by the letters
and numeral figures marked thereon for the purpose of such reference, that
is to say:
My Invention consists in, and has reference to, the principles of construction
and the modes of arrangement of mechanical parts, and also the several com-
binations of the same, as herein-after described, as regards my application
of the same to the object set forth in and by the title of the Letters Patent
granted unto me, as herein-before recited.
The particular nature and intention of my said Invention I declare to consist
in, firstly, the practical arrangements, the manufacture, and production of
bottles of improved forms and configuration, with reference to a more beneficial
mechanical character and property obtained for them by such improved forms
and configurations, and as applied to all or any of the varieties of such vessels
as in common acceptance and usage fall within the meaning of, and are con-
sidered in their practical and domestic use to belong to, that class of vessels
for containing fluids and for similar purposes. Secondly, in the practical
arrangement, manufacture, and production of a more beneficial mechanical
character and property, and the effective security of the corks or stoppers used
and applied to the purpose of closing such bottles, and such varieties of the
same, as aforesaid, and of the modifications of such corks and stoppers, which
in common acceptance and usage, fall within the meaning of, and are
considered in practical and domestic use to belong to, that class of the
known means of closing the mouths of such aforesaid vessels. And, thirdly,
in an apparatus or mechanical arrangement for the more commodiously
and effectively withdrawing or releasing such corks and stoppers from such
aforesaid vessels.
This particular nature and intention of my said Invention I declare that I
carry into practical effect by the mechanical arrangements, constructions, and

page_text: combinations of parts as described and set forth in the following detailed
Specification of my aforesaid Invention, and which has direct reference to the
accompanying Drawings, respectively marked Drawing, No. 1; Drawing,
No. 2; Drawing, No. 3; and Drawing, No. 4; which Drawings I declare to
belong to and to form part of my said Specification, and I declare the same to
set forth and describe truly the constructions, combinations, and modes which
I adopt in practice in order to embody and carry my aforesaid Invention into
effect, that is to say:
:
In the Drawing, No. 1, the Figure 1 represents in its upper portion, marked
A, A, a vertical cross section of a bottle or glass vessel adapted to effervescing
liquids, as soda water and other compounds of similar chemical character, as
also liquids that create their own gas; and its lower portion, marked B, B, a
partial outer view of the same. The particular construction or configuration
of this vessel is seen in the Drawing.
At its upper part the diametral dimension of the neck of the vessel contracts
at C, C, as in the ordinary vessels used for such purposes; but a small dis-
tance above this point, in the height or length of the vessel, the diametral
dimension begins to increase at D, D. Such increase of diametral dimension
is continued until at D*, D*; it projects or swells to a diametral dimension of
about double the diametral dimension at the commencement of its encrease at
D, D, and from the largest diametral dimension at D*, D*. Such dimension
begins to decrease through about the same distance in an upward direction as
the distance through which it encreased from the point D, D, and when such
decrease has arrived at the point D**, D**, then the diametral dimension of
the neck of the vessel is decreased to the lesser dimension, shewn 'at E, E.
Into and through this smaller diametral: dimension of the neck of the vessel
the cork G, H, is passed, its lower portion H protruding below the portion
E, E, of the neck of the vessel into the larger D**, D*, D, already described.
Figure 2 represents an external view of the upper portion of the vessel shewn
as aforesaid in the Figure 1.
Figure 3 represents, 'in a vertical cross section, a modification of the
mechanical character, as regards the form and configuration of the upper
portion, of a vessel applied to the same purposes as the vessel represented' and
described at Figures 1 and 2, in which the encreased portion D, D*; D**, of
Figure 1 has the form and configuration shewn at I, I. Figure 4 represents
an external view of the upper portion of the vessel shewn as aforesaid in the
Figure 3.
The Figure 5 represents another modification of the mechanical character,
dananding an farm and conficuration of the unner nortione of

page_text: a vessel applied to the same purposes as the vessels represented and de-
scribed at the Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4. In this modification the diametral
dimensions of the upper portion of the neck of the vessel marked E, E, in
Figure 1, is in this Figure (5) contracted or decreased to the lesser diametral
dimension L, L, the encreased or greater diametral dimension of the portion at
K, K, remaining the same, as before described in Figure 1 at D, D*, D**.
The Figure 6 represents an external view of the upper portion of the vessel
shewn as aforesaid in the Figure 5. The principle of construction, and the
form and configuration of such vessels, as aforesaid, as regards the upper por-
tion thereof, as shewn and herein-before described in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5,
constitute the improved forms and configurations of such vessels, herein-
before stated to have reference to a more beneficial mechanical character, and
property, and the effective security of the corks or stoppers used and applied
to the purpose of closing such bottles, and such varities of the same as herein
aforesaid.
The Figure 7 represents a construction of form or configuration of the
upper part of the necks of bottles or similar vessels, being in other respects of
the ordinary and known forms and configurations. It consists in forming in the
enlarged or thickened portion of the neck of such bottle or vessel M, M, M, M;
a counter-sunken indentation N, N, in which can be applied in a new manner
the known method of securing the cork or stopper to the neck of the vessel, by
the insertion of a metal pin through holes made in the opposite sides of the
neck of the vessel, the metal pin passing through a diameter of the cork or
stopper, as shewn in the Figure at P. The head of the pin at Q, and its point
at R, being thus placed within the diametral dimension of the projecting ring
M, M, M, M, and so admitting the application of a capsule or external cover
to the cork or stopper and the opening or mouth of the vessel. The Figure 8
represents a horizontal cross section of the upper portion of the Figure 7,
shewing the counter-sunken indentation N in section, and the insertion of the
metal pin P. Figure 9 represents an external view of the Figure 7, showing
the counter-sunken indentation N in the thickened portion M, M, and the
head of the pin Q, as they are both seen in front, or looking directly on the
head of the pin.
The Drawing, No. 2, relates to and exhibits the apparatus or mechanical
arrangements for the more commodiously and effectively withdrawing or
releasing the corks or stoppers from the aforesaid vessels, described in and by
the Drawings, No. 1. The Figure 1 represents in elevation a compound
instrument or apparatus, by which such aforesaid withdrawal or releasing is
effected. Figure 2 represents a longitudinal section of the Figure 1, in which

page_text: the corresponding parts, as far as they can be seen in the Figure 1, are marked
with the same letters of reference; A, A, is a handle of the construction
and form generally adopted in the corkscrews of common use; B is a metal
external tube attached to the handle A, A, and passing through the same in a
hollowed channel, formed in it for that purpose, to the opening or mouth of
the same on the upper side of the handle A, A, at a, a; C is a smaller metal
tube, sliding freely within the tube B, and carrying at its lower extremity a
stud or stop plate D; within the inner sliding tube B, there also slides a
metal tube or hollow cylindrical rod I, I, (to be seen only in the Figure 2);
the rod I, I, carries on its lower extremity, and held thereto between jaws
formed thereon, one of which is seen at H in Figure 2, a pair of double-
fluked arms E, E, which moves freely but firmly on a pin f, forming the
fulcrum or centre of motion of its arms; the sliding rod I,I, Figure 2, being
also hollow and tubular, it allows a small solid metal rod to slide within it;
this last-mentioned rod is shewn at K in the Figure 3, where the tubes C and
I, with the stud or stop plate D, one of the flukes E, and the centre of
motion f of the fluked arms, described in Figures 1 and 2, are also shown.
The action of this instrument or apparatus, and its application to the herein-
before mentioned purpose of withdrawing or releasing the corks or stoppers of
bottles or vessels, I will now describe.
In the Figure 2, G represents a cork or stopper supposed to be inserted in
the neck or opening of a bottle or or vessel; the instrument, having the
stud or plate D in the position shewn in the Figure 1, where it holds the
fluked arms E, E, in a closed state, is in that state thrust by the point of
the lower fluke into the cork, as in the Figure 2. The stud D is thus forced
up as the tubular rod I, I, penetrates the cork, and the fluked arms E, E,
are at liberty to open on their centre pin f whenever they shall have
passed entirely through the cork, as at E, E, in the Figure 2. When this is
effected, the small circular plate L, seen at the top of the handle in Figure 2,
and which is fixed on the upper extremity of the inner and solid metal
rod K, is pressed down till it reaches the bottom of the cavity O, cut in the
handle A; this presses the lower extremity of the rod K against a short
inclined rib which is formed on the inner side or face of the fluked arms; it
forces them to take a position at right angles to the position in which they
were made to penetrate the cork G, and then standing in the position repre-
sented in the Figure 2 at E, E; a small helical spring s (Fig. 2,) under the
eircular plate L, being attached to the head of the rod K, operates to release it
from the fluked arms E, E; the arms E, E, holding the cork G on its under
side, as shewn in Figure 2, the operator withdraws the cork from the mouth of

page_text: the bottle with facility and certainty. The Figure 4 represents the lower
portion of the instrument as seen in profile or at an horizontal angle of ninety
degrees distant from the direction in which it is shewn in the Figure 1, the
same parts being respectively marked with the same letters of reference. The
Figure 5 represents a more simple construction and modification of the instru-
ment herein-above described, in which A is a solid metal stem, having the usual
cross handle adopted in corkscrews; G shews the cork to be withdrawn; E, E,
the fluked arms set on the lower extremity of the rod A; E, E, the fluked
arms are held together in the position shewn in the Figure 6, in which they
can be made to penetrate the cork, their vertical position being ensured by a
holding socket T, which slides freely on the rod A. When the fluked arms
enter the cork the holding socket T is by that entry forced to quit the arms and
to release a small steel spring S, which being released then throws the fluked
arms into the position which enables them on their exit from the cork at its
lower face to take the horizontal position shewn in the Figure 5, and so to,
enable the operator to withdraw the cork, as before described with respect to
the instrument shewn in the Figures 1 and 2. In the Figures 5 and 6 the
same parts are respectively marked with the same letters of reference..
The Drawing, No. 3, represents in vertical sectional Figures the mechanical
arrangements, constructions, and combinations by which I effect a secure mode
of closing or stopping the opening in a glass or other bottle or vessel by a
stopper which cannot be withdrawn but by the operation of the key thereof.
Figure 1 represents the vertical section of a glass vessel, in which A is the
body; B, the mouth of its neck; C, a stopper, having a cylindrical hollow space
formed in its centre and through its length; such cylindrical hole so formed
through the stopper is an important point in my said Invention, applied and
used, as I herein-after describe it to be applied and used, to the admission of an
instrument or apparatus for locking the same, by which I mean the securing
the stopper of the vessel to its body, preventing it from being released therefrom
otherwise then through the instrumentality of a key. E, E, the cylindrical
cavity continued, but of smaller diametral dimension, and the stopper termi-
nating in a solid portion I, which fits in the neck of the vessel closely, as in
the usual constructions. In the cavity E, E, and attached to the stopper, a
branched spring G, G. G, is placed, whose action or tension being outwards
from the centre of their assemblage, their bent extremities g, g, g, are thrown by
that tension into corresponding cavities forined in and through the portion I, (as
shewn at g, 9, 9, in the Figure 3,) and also afterwards under a shoulder or grooved
bearing formed in the neck of the vessel at II, II, in Figure 1. Figure 2 shews
a horizontal section of this portion of, the Figure 1, taken at the points H, H.

page_text: the springs being each marked G, as in Figure 1. Figure 3 is an exterior
view of the stopper in elevation, and Figure 4 a horizontal plan of the same.
Figure 5 is a view in side elevation of the key with which the stopper described
in Figures 1 and 2 is released in order to be withdrawn, in which A is its stalk
or stem; B, B, its arms, of which C, C, are the extremities. Its action is
produced by inserting its arms B, B, within the cylindrical aperture E, E, of
the stopper in Figure 1, and pressing its extremities C, C, downwards against
the shoulders g, g, of the springs G, G. This pressure and its action upon the
spring operates to close them towards the centre, and so withdraw them from
their position of holding in the neck of the vessel; this done the stopper can be
withdrawn by hand. Figure, 5* represents a plan of the key, shewn in eleva-
tion in Figure 5.
Figure 6 shews a modification of this principle of construction and combina-
tion of parts for the purpose of forming a stopper of security. A represents
a portion of the body of the vessel; B, its mouth, in which is inserted a
stopper C; through the centre of the stopper C a cylindrical cavity is formed
through its entire length, at F a circular, metal plate, resting by its entire
circumference on a bearing shoulder formed in the solid part of the stopper C.
To the centre of the plate Ę are fixed the springs F, F; these have, a small
portion of their lower extremities turned outwards and at right angles to their
length, as shewn in the Drawing at G. These portions pass under the lower
parts or surface of the stopper C, and also beyond that under a projecting
ledge H, formed in the solid part of the neck of the vessel, and the extremities
G of the springs therefore are thus held by the aforesaid projecting ledge and
and are prevented from rising so long as they are in their expanded state, as
they are shewn in the Figure; and in this state the vessel is securely stopped
(that is to say, the integrity of the stopper cannot be violated, or in other words,
the stopper cannot be withdrawn until the extremities of the springs be released
from their expanded position, which can only be effected by the application of
a key or proper instrument to the springs. This I perform by passing the key,
shewn at Figure 7, through holes made for that purpose in the plate E, and
thus by the action of the key I compress the limbs F, F, of the springs, until
their extremities G, G, are released from the projecting ledges H, H; the
stopper may then be withdrawn. D is a smaller stopper which is placed over
the plate E to close and protect the plate and more completely stop the mouth
of the vessel. Figure 7 represents the key, of which A is the shank or stem.
Figure 8 represents the lower extremities of the arms B, B. Figure 9 repre-
sents a top view of the plate E, with the extremities G, G, of the springs.
The Drawing, No. 4, represents another and different arrangement, me-

page_text: chanical construction of parts, and combinations to effect the security or
inviolability of bottles and vessels of similar character; this is effected by a
peculiar construction of the vessel itself, and of its stopper; and also by
mechanical combinations, by which the vessel and its stopper are held securely
together, and can only be separated or the stopper be withdrawn by the agency
of a detached key.
In Figure 1 of the Drawing No. 4, A, A, represents a sectional elevation
of the upper part or mouth of a bottle or similar vessel fitted with a stopper
B, which is shewn in vertical section and constructed in the following
manner-C, C, is a hole formed through its entire length, and central with
the top and bottom thereof, as shewn at Figure 3; D, D, is a cylindrical collar
of metal, in which a screwed hole is formed as shewn at Figures 1, 2, and 4, for
the purpose of receiving the male screw E cut upon one part of the vertical
rod F (shewn more clearly at Figure 5); the upper part of this rod has a
groove G formed through its entire length, commencing from the upper
part of the screw E, E, and for the purpose hereafter mentioned. H, H, a
frustrum of a cone formed of glass, shewn at Figures 1 and 2, and connected
to the lower extremity of the rod F by a nut and screw, and shewn detached
at Figure 5. I, I, are two curved pieces of glass, whose outer circumference
when they are in close contact with each other, as shewn at Figure 6) forms
an entire circle; the inner circumference is made to correspond with the
circumference of the piece H at the point a of its diameter, so that when they
are in the position shewn at Figure 2, they shall coincide with or assume the
same curvature as the inside of the vessel or decanter; and on the outer side
of the piece H, at their points of contact therewith, the said pieces (I, I,) are
connected or hinged to the under side of the stopper B, B, by an elastic
water-proof or other suitable substance or material; this is represented by red
color in Figures 1 and 2, attached to the stopper B, B, and piecės I, I,
by cement, having the property of connecting such substances together. It
will appear clear that the second position of the pieces I, I, and H, H, as
described, then admits of the stopper being readily withdrawn.
I now declare that I claim as of my Invention the arrangement, con-
struction, and combinations of the herein-described apparatus and instru-
ments, as the same are herein-before described and set forth, on the principle
of construction and of combination of parts so described; and the compound
apparatus or instruments produced by such constructions and combinations, in
the modifications so set down and described; and this, as regards the improved
forms of bottles and vessels of that character, with the improved modes of stop-
ping the same.
And also as regards the modes of withdrawing such stoppers,

page_text: gaseous
in both cases, in the several modifications, and on the several varieties of con-
struction and combination as herein described and specified. And also any
such modification of the principle of construction on which such bottles are
formed as shall embody and effect the same mechanical property as regards
the security of the cork, or in other words," the integrity of the perfect stopping
or closing the bottle, and which I declare to be effected and governed by
forming the bottle with an expanded or enlarged portion in the upper part of its
neck and below the cork, in order so to provide a space in which the
matter escaping from the liquid has more room or space for expansion than it
has in bottles of the ordinary construction, and so effecting a relief of the cork
from a portion of the pressure exerted by such gaseous matter on the under
surface of the cork, and effecting such relief in proportion as such above-men-
tioned expanded or enlarged portion of the neck of the vessel is more or less.
And I claim for that part of my Invention designated in the title of these my said
Letters Patent, as "the manufacture of articles, and the application of the same
to that part of the vessels in which my improvements consist, so as to secure the
cork," the articles and the application of the same to the bottles and vessels
which are herein described and specified as of my Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Southwood Stocker, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.