Improved Apparatus for Corking and Labelling Bottles, Jars or the like
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Dec., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 13th Sept., 1899-Accepted, 9th Dec., 1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Apparatus for Corking and Labelling Bottles, Jars or the
like.
I, GEORGE BOWEN, of 20, Lilly Street, Bolton, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows, that is
to say :-
It relates to apparatus whereby bottles, jars or vessels of similar shape containing
still liquids or substances as beer, paint or the like, may be corked and have
labels secured upon them and consists in constructing said apparatus in such a
manner as to enable said operations to be quickly and effectively performed.
In carrying my invention into effect I arrange a plunger to operate in a vertical
direction within bearings or guides which keep it in its proper path of moton,
while beneath this plunger a platform for receiving the bottle or jar to be corked,
is arranged to hold same in suitable proximity with a guiding piece which leads
and conducts the corks to the orifices in the necks of the bottles or jars into
which they are being inserted, by which means it is only necessary to mount the
bottle in position, place a cork in the guiding piece and pull or force down the
plunger by suitable lever, pedal or cam mechanism as may be desired.
Mounted in proximity with the bottle or jar as it is in position for being
corked, is a lever arm carrying, a brush which normally dips into a vessel con-
taining the gum or paste, and which lever arm by suitable connecting links pro-
jections and other parts is coupled to the plunger or the mechanism which
operates the same in such a manner that as said plunger is just completing its
upward course after having pressed the cork into position in the bottle, it (said
plunger or its operating mechanism) will transmit motion to the brush causing
it to rise out of its normal position in the gum or paste bringing with it suffi-
cient of same and placing it upon the proper part of the bottle to which the label
has to be applied, the returning of the plunger to its usual and normal position
allowing said brush also to move back into its position in the vessel containing
the paste or gum, the actions of the brush are thus made to operate in a path
lying in a direction lengthwise the bottle, or the lever carrying the brush may
be made to act in the horizontal plane by the adhesive substance being supplied
thereto by means arranged accordingly.
The receptacle for the gum, paste or other adhesive substance has an appro-
priately shaped roller mounted to rotate within it to bring said substance under
more desirable condition for contact with the brush which will thus gather its
supply from the said roller's periphery.
Adjoining the bottle or jar and out of the way of the pasting or gumming
mechanism, is mounted a label holding device consisting of appropriately formed
receding jaws with springs, levers or the like for holding a quantity of labels.
These jaws are carried by appropriately framed lever arms and are further
counterbalanced by springs or weights if desired, while cam grooved guiding
pieces are arranged so that projecting pieces or coupling links may join the parts

page_text: ;
for operating these jaws to the plunger operating mechanism to enable this latter
10 cause the labels to be pressed against the gummed or pasted parts of the bottles
or jars upon which they have to be secured and in such a manner as to effect
their attachment thereto without entailing any extra labour on the part of the
operative.
It will be seen that instead of the labelling device being coupled so as to be
operated automatically whenever the plunger is performing its return movements,
such device may be arranged to be manually operated independently of said
plunger. Or again the labelling devices may be produced and employed entirely
separately from the corking mechanism as will be understood.
Instead of making use of a brush for applying the adhesive substance to the
bottles I can employ a properly prepared (as.cloth or felt covered) roller, shaped
to conform to the contour of the bottles' outer surface, and mount this roller so
that it will be in contact with another roller (shaped to correspond with it)
mounted in the receptacle containing the adhesive substance.
This receptacle is then fixed upon rods, levers or the like in such a manner
that by appropriate devices it may be carried through a vertical path of motion
in which the periphery of the prepared, roller will be brought into contact with
the proper part of the bottle's outer surface so that this latter may have the adhe-
sive substance applied thereto.
When I make use of this device, I mount the label holder upon parts beneath
the prepared roller so that the parts operating this latter may if desired be made
also to operate the former in such a manner that the labels it contains are pressed
against said bottle, on which and on a reversal of the direction of motion of the
several parts this label holder is arranged to assume such a position that the
labels it contains fall within rather than out of contact with it.
As an alternative arrangement of the gumming and labelling devices, the jaws
carrying the labels may be mounted in a disc or on rotary bearings in which there
are also mounted prepared rollers with their several axes placed in the vertical
plane and so arranged that they are brought into contact with the bottles to
apply the adhesive substance thereto.
In this case the platform carrying the bottles is made so that during the
gumming operation it is stationary but on the jaws carried by the disc (this latter
being rotated by suitable gearing, ratchet or other mechanism) being brought to
revolve in contact with said bottles these bottles also revolve in order that the
labels thus applied may be left as they have been pressed thereon.
To prevent the labels from falling out of the rotary jaws, lever arms operated
by contact with the bottles or parts adjoining same are employed.
Dated this 12th day of December 1898.
GEORGE BOWEN.
Per Samuel Hey,
Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Apparatus for Corking and Labelling Bottles, Jars, or the
like.
I, GEORGE BOWEN, of 20, Lilly Street, Bolton, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, 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, that is to say:
⚫ It relates to apparatus whereby bottles, jars or vessels of similar shape containing
still liquids or, substances as beer, paint or the like may be corked and have

page_text: labels secured upon them and consists in constructing said apparatus in such a
manner as to enable said operations to be quickly and efficiently performed.
In order that my said invention may be readily understood, I have hereunto
appended sheets of drawings illustrative thereof, to which, by figures and letters,
reference is made in the following description.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of mechanism made in accordance with my invention.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine shewn by Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line A, B, of the parts shewn by Fig. 1 and
as seen from above.
Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are front, side and top views respectively of the label holding
device hereinafter described, the same being drawn to an enlarged scale.
Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are similar views to and drawn to same scale as Figs. 4, 5
and respectively illustrating the part over which that shewn by Figs. 4, 5 and 6
takes.
Fig. 10 is a front elevation shewing an alternative arrangement and formation
of parts to those illustrated by the preceding figures.
Fig. 11 is a side view of the parts shewn by Fig. 10, the framework being shewn
in section.
"
Fig. 12 is a similar view to Fig. 10 but illustrates certain of the parts in
altered positions.
Fig. 13 is front elevation of a modified form of mechanism for fixing labels to
bottles.
Fig. 14 is a plan of certain of the parts shewn by Fig. 13.
Fig. 15 is a plan on line x-x of Fig. 13.
Similar letters and figures of reference indicate similar parts throughout the
several views.
In carrying my invention into effect I arrange a plunger a to operate vertically
through bearings or guides bb secured to the framework A which keep it in its
proper path of motion, while beneath this plunger a is a receptacle c for the cork
(a supply of which may be conveniently carried by the box or holder c) which
has to be forced into the mouth of the bottle's neck d by the descent of said
plunger a which latter is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 as being in its lowest
position, or that in which the cork has been forced into the bottle's neck. Motion
is transmitted to the plunger a by means of the handle lever e to which it is
coupled by the rod e¹ and bracket el, while the weight e secured to said lever e
brings same back (when it is free to operate) into its normal position.
The bottle d is mounted upon a platform or support f carried by the vertical
bar operating vertically through the guide pieces g'g, its lower extremity
being coupled by the link h¹ to the foot lever h so that on this latter being free
the weight of the former allows the platform f to descend sufficiently far to afford
space for the bottle d to be placed thereon, after which by the operator placing
his foot on the pedal h, the neck of the bottle d is forced within the opening
beneath the receptacle c in which position it is properly held for the plunger a
to force the cork home within the opening in said bottle's neck.
To enable the operator to place a cork within the receiver c the plunger a has
to be raised from its normal position to be sufficiently clear of the upper opening
into this receiver c. On the handle e being lifted to perform this act, it comes
into contact with the projection fixed on the rod k raising same against the
pressure of the spring (this latter abutting against the support 3 for the rod k
on one side and against the hoop or collar 4 fixed to said rod on the other) and
so brings with it the arm m¹ of the lever m (its fulcrum being at 5) in this
manner it depresses the arm ml of said lever m thus causing this latter through
its rod to operate the lever n (pivotted at 6) so as to bring the brush p secured
thereon vertically into contact with the outer surface of the bottle d at which
time the paste, gum or other adhesive substance which said brush p had gathered
from the receptacle pl will be spread over the part of the bottle din contact with
which the brush p had been thus brought. Any superfluity or unevenness in

page_text: the spreading of this adhesive substance on said bottle being rectified by the
return of the brush p on its descent into the receptacle p¹ which takes place when
the plunger a is being caused to descend to force home the cork from the
receiver into the neck of the bottle d, the actions of the spring effecting the
return motion of the brush as will be understood.
In order that the supply of the adhesive substance to the brush p may be pro-
perly regulated, a roller p¹ is mounted to revolve in the receptacle in contact
with the contents of same which it will thus bring upon its periphery in such
quantities as may be desired to be applied to the brush when this latter descends
into contact with it. Appropriate furrows or grooves are made in the roller so
that the brush 7 in coming into contact with it may cause it to revolve in order
to present another part of its surface to said brush on its next descent. If desired
said roller 2 may be covered with cloth, felt or other absorbent material to
enable the roller to carry a larger quantity of adhesive substance should this be
found to be necessary.
i
Mounted in proximity with the bottle d is the holder or jaw into which the
labels r to be attached are placed. This holder consists of the piece 8, having a
spring 9 on each side of it) which takes over a block 10 upon which it may
freely slide by means of the slots 8" through which take the set screws 10 on the
piece 10 (see Figs. 4 to 9 inclusive). When the parts 9 and 10 are in their
operative positions the labels are contained in the space intervening between
the face 10b of the part 10 and the springs 9 of the part 8, hence it will be seen
that as these labels are moved so that the outermost of them is pressed against
and held by the adhesive surface of the bottle d, the part 8 will recede upon
the part 10 by reason of this latter being fixed to the rod or lever 14, so that the
next label will occupy the position which was occupied by the one placed upon
the bottle, in this manner the labels are always presented under the same con-
ditions, as regards the forces which act upon them, to the bottle d, consequently
when the several parts as the spring 9 and the sliding parts 8 have once been
adjusted to act properly they are not very liable to derangement.
To force the holder and its labels against the bottle d a hand lever 12 is
employed, this being fulcrummed at 13 and coupled by the rod or lever 14 to
the holder's block 10, while a bowl or stud 15 which forms the fulcrum for said
rod or lever 14, slides within the cam groove 16 of the piece 16. The shape of
this cam groove 16" (see Fig. 3) has the effect of slightly increasing the speed
of the holder 8 and its block 10 immediately preceding said holder's contact with
the bottle d, as well as of guiding said holder 8 so that at all times it will strike
said bottle in the proper part. The return movements of the hand lever 12 and
consequently of the holder is effected by the retracting spring 17 mounted as
shown by Fig. 3.
The actions of the machine are as follows:-
Taking it that all the parts are in their respective positions which they nor-
mally assume when free, a bottle d is placed upon the stand f which is then
caused to rise by the operator placing his foot upon the lever h to force the neck
of said bottle into the receptacle e, the handle e is then raised so that a cork may
be inserted into the upper opening in said receptacle and at such time the
brush is raised to cover the side of the bottle with the gum or paste, on which
the lever e is made to descend forcing the cork into the bottle, after which the
operator with his other hand pulls the lever 12 and thus fixes the label as desired.
Instead of making use of the brush and its lever mechanism as above described
I may employ a roller 18 (having its surface covered with felt or cloth, rotating
in bearings in contact with another roller 19 mounted to rotate within the gun
or paste holding receptacle 21, thus some of the adhesive substance that is gathered
by the roller 19 is transferred to the roller 18 (the peripheral surface of which
conforms to the cylindrical shape of the bottle d as shown by Fig. 11 while that
of the roller 19 conforms to the shape of the roller 18) and thence to the surface
of the bottle d by reason of said roller 18 (as is also the receptacle p¹ and

page_text: roller 19) being pressed or moved laterally on the slide 20%, mounted on the ver-
tical slide 22, against said bottle by the runner 20 coming into contact with the
fixed incline plate 21 during its vertical movements which are effected through
the vertical slide 22 being operated by the handle 23 which is coupled to it by
the link 24. The return movement of the roller 18 in the lateral direction is
effected by the flat spring 25, while rotary motion in both directions is trans-
mitted to the rollers 19 and 18 by means of the strings 26 and 27 encircling the
axles of said roller 19 one of them unwinding therefrom as the roller is being
raised while the other is at such time being wound thereon, the reverse of these
actions being produced on the descent of said roller 19.
The label holder is also mounted upon this vertical slide 22 and that by means
of an elbow lever 28 pivotted on a sliding piece 29 being mounted upon the
part 22 and held in its normal position by the spring 30. This lever 28 has its
arm resting against the guide plate 31 on one side, and an abutting piece pro-
jecting from the piece 29 on the other side, by which means when the label holder
is not in position for striking against the bottle d it is caused to fall back into the
position that is shewn by Fig. 10 so that the labels therein are assisted by
gravity to remain in their proper positions. As the slide 22 is caused to rise
after the roller has finished gumming or pasting the bottle d, the extendng arm
of the lever 28 comes into contact with the antifriction bowl 32 mounted to rotate
on fixed bearings by which means and by the slide 22 continuing to rise the label
holder is forced into contact with the bottle d as shown by Fig. 12 and the label
attached thereon as desired.
Although I have described the movements of the plunger a and that of the
label applying devices as being effected by separate hand levers I am aware that
they may be joined together so as to be operated by one and the same handle,
but by so doing the varied movements are not so uniformly effected and there-
fore I prefer the arrangement I herein describe.
As an alternative arrangement of the label fixing device, the jaws or holders
carrying the labels r may be formed or mounted in a disc 40 (see Figs. 13, 14
and 15) in which case the platform f carrying the bottle d is arranged by its shaft
or bar being pivotted at 41b upon the end of the pedal 41 (fulcrummed at 55)
so that on the end 41° of this latter being pressed down (against the tension of
the springs 42 and 51, one end of the former of which is fixed to the framework
of the machine and the other end to the arm 41ª of the lever h) through the foot
of the operator depressing the pedal h and the part of this latter bearing on
the screw 50 mounted on said pedal 41, its other end is raised and the bottle d
is held against the receptacle c to prevent it from moving during the gumming
operation, which may be effected by either of the devices herein before described,
on the completion of which, by the operator removing his foot from the lever h,
the said spring 42 will cause the arm 41* of the bell cranked lever h to move
in the direction of the arrow 43 so as to bring the pawl 44 mounted thereon.into
contact with the bowl 45 (a series of which are mounted on the partly toothed
wheel 46, carried by the shaft 53, corresponding in number with the number of
the label holders 49) to transmit rotary motion to the disc 40 at which time such
rotary motion is, by the said wheel 46 and the wheel 47 on the shaft g, trans-
mitted to the bottled in such a manner that the surface speed of the said bottle d
and that of the disc 40 are about equal, by which means the labels in the
holders 49 carried by the said disc 40 are brought in suecession and pressed against
the bottles to there adhere as desired.
To prevent the labels from falling out of the rotary jaws or holders, lever arms
or springs 48 are employed and arranged by their outer ends being formed for
contact with the bottles to be operated by these latter to release their hold of the
labels at the proper time, while when withdrawn from contact with said bottles,
they again resume their hold of said labels.
The said labels r are fed to the edge of the holders in succession by means of
the springs 54 operating or pressing on the plates 52.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. In mechanism of the class described, holding and plunger devices for forcing
corks into bottles, a brush for applying an adhesive substance to said bottles and
label holding and applying parts in combination substantially as herein specified.
2. In mechanism for corking and labelling bottles, holding and plunger devices
for forcing the corks into the bottles, means for transmitting motion from sail
plunger to a brush for applying the adhesive substance to the bottle and means
for forcing labels into contact with said prepared part of the bottle substantially
as herein specified.
3. In mechanism of the class described a brush for applying adhesive substance
to the bottle, means for holding said bottle, a receptacle for containing the adhe-
sive substance and means whereby said adhesive substance is transmitted from
said receptacle to said brush substantially as set forth.
4. In mechanism of the class described, a label holding device whereby one
part slides upon another and recedes as the labels are gradually delivered from
it, means for operating said device and means for holding and gumming or past-
ing the bottle substantially as herein specified.
5. In mechanism of the class described, a gumming or pasting device consist-
ing of a brush made to act in a direction lengthwise of the cylindrical surface
over which it has to cover or spread the paste and means for operating same sub-
stantially as herein set forth.
6. In mechanism of the class described, a gumming or pasting device consist-
ing of a prepared roller made to act lengthwise over the surface to which the
paste has to be applied, means for forcing same into contact with said surface
and means for moving it over same substantially as herein specified.
7. In mechanism of the class described, a label holding device, means for sup-
porting same and causing it to assume a position wherein the labels it contains
are assisted by gravity to maintain their proper positions substantially as herein
set forth and described.
8. In mechanism of the class described, a label fixing device constructed and
arranged to operate substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 13,
14 and 15 of the drawings.
Dated this 10th day of Santambhor 1800