IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING FIBROUS MATERIALS FOR THE CORES OF STOPPERS, TO BE COATED WITH INDIA-RUBBER, AND USED FOR STOPPING BOTTLES AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BROCKEDON, of Queen Square, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, 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 Twenty-first day of March, in the fifth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Brockedon, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said William Brockedon, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Brockedon, my exors, adiñors, or 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 MANUFACTURING FIBROUS
MATERIALS FOR THE CORES OF STOPPERS, TO BE COATED WITH INDIA-RUBBER, AND
USED FOR STOPPING BOTTLES AND OTHER VESSELS;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso, that I, the said William Brockedon, shall cause a par-
ticular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, 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 and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Brockedon, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Juvention,

page_text: and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being
had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say):—
This Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of stoppers to
be coated with india-rubber, to be used as substitutes for corks and bungs for
stopping vessels, and consists in the mode of preparing the fibrous core of
which the stoppers are made. I would, in the first place, state, that heretofore
my practice has been to make stoppers of wool and other fibrous substances,
by laying a number of coarse threads together in a straight line; these are tied
or fixed at one end and twisted at the other until they form a cylinder, which
is put into the fulling mill and beaten until the materials are felted into a
cylindrical rope, sufliciently firm for the purpose of retaining its form, and
proper for holding the corkscrew. When such rope or substance is dried it
has been covered with sheet india-rubber, the surface being first coated with a
solution of india-rubber to make the sheet rubber adhere, or the surface lins
been covered by placing the core in a solution of india-rubber repentedly until
the coating was of a suflicient thickness, as was described in the Specification
of my former Patent. The coated substance has then been cut into the
lengths required for stoppers, and the ends of the stoppors were covered by the
samo process, either with a solution of india-rubber or with sheet rubber.
Now, my prosent Invention consists of a mode of preparing the cores from
fibrous materials for such descriptions of stoppers, which I will now describe.
I take a sufficient number or quantity of threads, rovings, or slivers of
cotton or wool, or other fibrous substances, to form the core of the size
required, and instead of bundling and felting them, as heretoforo, I draw
them through a frame having one, two, or more holes therein, each hole
receiving its proportionate quantity for the rope to be mado. As the strands
or collections of fibres pass through the holes they aro lapped or bound together
with a thread strong enough to bear the strain of the corkscrew, or other
instrument, when withdrawing a stopper from a vessel. The separato strands
having been thus separately lapped with thread, are thon brought together and
drawn through another hole of the size required for the cores of stoppers,
which hole is alone used when only one bundle is required for a stopper; but
I prefer that only small stoppers should be made by a single bundle. The
quantity of fibrous material or threads thus drawn through and lapped with
strong thread, and the size of holes required, will depend upon the degree
of hardness and diamoter required for the stoppers. As two or more lapped
strands pass together through the hole which is to determine the size of the

page_text: core, they are to be combined by tightly lapping or binding together with a
thread, in order to keep the strands collectively in the cylindrical form required.
The rope or substance thus produced is now in a fit state to be covered with
india-rubber, in sheet or in solution, which is donc as heretofore.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
a is the driving pulley, keyed on the outer tube d, such tube turning freely
in the bearing c; b is a loose pulley; c, the fixture or bearing for carrying the
tube d. The spur wheel is keyed on the outer tube d, and takes into and
drives the cog wheel i, affixed on the shaft t, and the shaft t, by the cog wheel it,
affixed thereon, gives motion to the cog wheel v, and the cog wheel v gives
motion to the cog wheels s, s. The shaft n is driven by the spur wheels j, k, l,
and m, in the following manner :-The wheel jis affixed on the shaft t, and
drives the cog whool k, to which a pinion is affixed, which takes into and
drives the cog wheel m, affixed to the shaft n, and the shaft drives the
drum, through the worm and wheel o and p. The inner tube a does not
revolve; it may be removed and replaced by another of a larger or smaller
size, according to the size core required. The nozzle g, which is screwed into
and revolves with the tube d, may also be removed and replaced by another,
if another size core be required, and the inner tube e is retained from revolving
by the frame or bearing f. The bobbin y, containing the lapping thread, runs
loose on a pin or stud fixed on the pulley a, and one end of the lapping thread
is passed through a hole in the tube d and nozzle g, and in like manner the
two or more bobbins carried by the wheels s, &, lap cach of the strands with a
thread, each of the inner tubes o, which governs the size of the strands, being
kept from revolving. Thus it will be seen that each strand or collection of
fibres is bound separately in coming through its hole or tube 0, 0, and the
strands are collected together by the tube c, and they are bound into one rope
or substance as they pass away from that tube c, and when only one bundle is
used for stoppers the tube e only will be required; and the rope or substance
thus formed is drawn through the tube x, and is affixed to the drum ?", and is
wound thereon till the drum becomes charged with as many turns as it will
contain, when all is removed except the length necessary for fastening and
continuing the process.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood I do not claim, under the present
Patent, the manufacture of fibrous stoppers covered with india-rubber generally,
that being now a well-known manufacture under my former Patent; nor do I
confine myself to the precise details herein described, so long as the peculiar

page_text: character of my Invention be retained; and although I have shewn and
described the cores as being composed of one or two strands, thrco or more
may be used, by varying the parts, and adding suitable tubes and parts for that
purpose.
But what I claim is, the mode of preparing the fibrous cores of stoppers, to
be covered with india-rubber, by drawing the several strands or collections of
threads, rovings, or slivers, of which they are composed, through a series of
holes, and binding the strands separately, and combining the strands by binding
them together, as herein described, whereby a proportion of the binding threads
used for the lapping of the separate strands, as well as the whole of the binding
thread to preserve the form of the core, shall be exposed to the outer surface
of the core, and shall become firmly attached to the coating of indin-rubber,
whilst other parts of the binding threads, being compressed within and without
the core, become a means of entanglement for the corkscrew (or other instru-
ment used for the extraction of the stopper) when driven into a stopper so
constructed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Brockedon, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
MAYME
WILLIAM (L.s.) BROCKEDON.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of September,
in the year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid William Brockedon came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-first day of September, in the year of our Lord One