IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANICAL STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES CONTAINING AERATED WATERS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nicolay Fritzner, Merchant, of No. 50, Prinzenstrasse,
Berlin, in the German Empire, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MECHANICAL STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES CONTAINING AERATED WATERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nicolay Fritzner at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th December 1881.
[
NICOLAY FRITZNER, Merchant of No. 50 Prinzenstrasse, Berlin in the German
Empire. IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANICAL STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES CONTAINING
AERATED WATERS."
The object of this Invention is to construct a stopper for bottles which will not
only allow of the bottles being filled with aërated fluids by means of the usual
filling machines but will also allow of any quantity of the liquid being drawn off
at pleasure. The stopper which may be made of any suitable material such as
wood or vulcanite is fitted with a band or ring of rubber or its equivalent to
ensure the perfect sealing of the bottle when the stopper is pressed into the mouth
thereof.
The inner end or face of the stopper is bevelled off in a slanting direction, and a
small oblique passage or channel for the reception of a tube, is drilled through from
the outside of the stopper to the centre of the slanting inner face of the stopper, and
in a line at right angles to the said slanting face.
Another and larger passage or channel is also drilled in an oblique direction from
the outside of the stopper to the centre of the inner face thereof, and it is by this
second passage that the bottle is filled and emptied.
Within the tube inserted in the smaller passage, is a rod or piston fitted at its
upper end with a button or head against which a spiral spring, placed around the
said rod and within a recess formed in the stopper, presses.
The inner end of this rod is attached to a valve of peculiar construction which
seats itself against the slanting inner face of the stopper.

page_text: On pressing the button on the outer end of the rod the valve is forced off its seat
and the fluid will be free to escape by the large passage above referred to when the
bottle is partially inverted.
If however the valve consists of one closing plate only, of rubber or its equiva-
lent, the fluid is apt to be forced out too violently especially on the first pouring
out of the fluid. I therefore preferably construct the valve of two pieces of rubber,
the one firmly secured to the end of the rod by a plate or disc of metal, or vulcanite,
and the other being merely a loose washer, between the said first piece or disc of
rubber and the face of the stopper. The hole through the centre of this washer is of
larger diameter than the rod which passes through it, but is smaller than the boro
of the larger passage through which the fluid escapes, and smaller than the disc of
rubber attached to the end of the rod.
When the bottle is placed under the filling machine the valve will be forced
open, and the spiral spring around the rod will be compressed, but when the bottle
is removed the valve will shut spontaneously. By this mode of constructing the
valve the fluid will run out quietly, no matter how suddenly the valve be
opened.
It is obvious that this arrangement of two oblique passages and a valve
operated by a spring plunger, may be applied to stoppers for aërated water bottles
of many kinds irrespective of the manner in which such stoppers are caused to
press against or seal the mouths of the bottles to which-they-are-fitted.-

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Nicolay Fritzner in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th June
1882.
NICOLAY FRITZNER Merchant of No. 50 Prinzenstrasse Berlin in the German
Empire. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANICAL STOPPERS FOR BOTTLES CONTAINING
AERATED WATERS."
The object of this Invention is to construct a stopper for bottles, which will not
only allow of the bottles being filled with aerated fluids by means of the usual
filling machines but will also allow of any quantity of the liquid being drawn off
at pleasure as by a syphon.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the neck of a bottle
fitted with a stopper constructed according to my Invention and applied to an
apparatus for filling the bottle; this filling apparatus however, not being claimed
under this Patent does not require to be explained. Fig. 2 is a vertical section
of the stopper with its valve shut; Fig. 3 represents the stopper as seen from
above; Fig. 4 is a vertical section of a stopper constructed according to the Inven-
tion and made tight within the neck of the bottle by means of an india-rubber
ring. Fig. 5 represents the same as seen from above with a hinge for securing the
stopper to the bottle and a hook for closing it. Fig. 6 is a section of the valvo
magnified and Fig. 7 shows a somewhat modified construction of the stopper and
also the manner in which it is fitted to the bottle.
In these Figures a is the stopper which may be made of any suitable material
and is pressed into the mouth of the bottle, the air-tight closing being effected by
a sheet or ring d of rubber between the stopper a and the bottle for in any other
usual or known manner. The inner face c of the stopper which enters into the
neck of the bottle is bevilled off in a slanting direction, and a small oblique passage
or channel n for the reception of a rod or pusher o is drilled from the outside of
the stopper to the centre of the slanting inner face thereof and preferably at right
angles to the said slanting face, another and larger passage or channel is also
drilled in an oblique direction from the outside of the stopper to the centre of the
inner face thereof, and it is by this second passage that the bottle is filled and
emptied.
Within the tube or smaller passage n is inserted a rod or piston o fitted at its
upper end with a button or head against which presses a spiral spring 7 of
rubber or metal placed around the said rod and within a recess chambered out of
the stopper.
The inner end of this rod is attached to a simple disc of rubber or leather, or
preferably to a valve 2 of the novel construction shewn in Fig. 6 which disc valve
seats itself against the slanting inner face of the stopper and prevents the escape of
both gas and liquid from the bottle. On pressing the button r on the outer end of
the spring pusher or rod o the valve ? will be forced off its seat and the fluid will
be free to escape by the large passage above referred to as from an ordinary siphon
when the bottle is partially inverted.
l
It is found however that should the valve consist of a single closing plate, or
simple disc of rubber or its equivalent, the fluid is apt to be forced out too violently
and squirted about especially on the first pouring out of the fluid.
I therefore preferably construct the valve of two pieces of rubber u w, the one
firmly secured to the end of the rod o by pressure between a plate or disc t of
metal or vulcanite, and a plate or disc v; and the other piece w being merely a loose
washer of leather or rubber situated between the said first piece or disc of rubber u
and the inner face c of the stopper.
The hole through the centre of this washer wis of considerably larger diameter
than the rod which passes through it, but is smaller than the bore of the larger
passage through which the fluid escapes, and smaller than the disc of rubber u

page_text: which is attached to the end of the rod o as will be clearly seen on reference to
Figure 6. The plate or disc t is preferably slightly dished or chambered to receive
the piece of rubber u.
When the bottle is placed in position under the filling machine the button r will
be pressed down by the rubber stuffing of the filling machine, and the valve P
will
be forced open, the spiral spring q around the rod o being compressed; but when the
bottle is reinoved, the valve p will shut spontaneously, partly by the upward thrust
of the spring g and partly by the internal pressure of the gas.
By this mode of constructing the valve the fluid will run out quietly no matter
how suddenly the valve be opened.
It is obvious that this arrangement of two oblique passages and a valve operated
by a spring plunger may be applied to stoppers for aërated water bottles of many
kinds, irrespective of the manner in which such stoppers are caused to press against
or seal the mouths of the bottles to which they are fitted, and for this reason I
have shewn in the Drawing different methods of making the stopper fit airtight to
the bottle, and have also indicated two methods of keeping the stopper in
position.
In Fig. 7 is represented a section through the middle of a stopper to be used in
ordinary bottles. Its inner face with the exception of the middle is covered with
a rubber plate_or_washer_d_and_kept firmly_on_the_bottle_by_means_of_a_fastening
indicated on the Drawing by dotted lines and which need receive no further
explanation as no claim in respect of it is made under the present Patent.
The construction of this modified form of stopper is as follows: a denotes the
body of the stopper containing the admission and discharge pipe to which is
given a curved or bent shape as shewn in the Drawing. The projecting ring B
forms the seat of the valve p which is carried by the pin o as before; the upper end
of the rod passing through a narrow bore in the stopper R represents a rubber
packing, or spring cushion having a slight rest in the upper surface of the stopper
and held firmly round the upper end of the rod o by a button ?.
By pressure on this button the packing or spring cushion is compressed, thereby
preventing the contents of the bottle from running out through the hole for the
rod o; at the same time the valve p opens and the contents of the bottle run out
through the passage or channel . This form of stopper is that preferably adopted
for ordinary bottles.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of " Improvements in
Mechanical Stoppers for Bottles containing Aerated Waters" and having explained
in what manner the same may be carried into practical effect, I wish it to be under-
stood that I claim,-
First. A stopper for bottles having a channel or passage such as 7 for the
admission and discharge of liquid and fitted with a spring pusher or piston for
actuating a valve by which means the said channel may be opened or. closed and
the bottle be filled or emptied, substantially as herein shewn and described.
Secondly. The novel construction of valve described with reference to Fig. 6 of
the Drawing for controlling the flow of liquid through a stopper, such valve being
arranged and operated substantially in the manner and for the purpose above set
forth.
In witness whereof I. the said Nicolay Fritzner have hereunto set my hand
and seal the Thirty first day of May in the year of our Lord One thousand
NICOLAY FRITZNER. (L.S.)