IMPROVEMENTS IN BOTTLING APPARATUS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Adolphus Ross, of Belfast, in the County
of Antrim, in Ireland, Acrated Water Manufacturer, for the Inven-
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Adolphus Ross
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 23rd December 1874.
I, WILLIAM ADOLPHUS Ross, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, in
Ireland, Aerated Water Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOTTLING APPARATUS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to the bottling of wines, spirits, oils,. and
grain, malt, and other still liquids, and consists in the use of a cistern
supplied from the butt, barrel, or other vessel previously containing the
liquid, the supply of which I regulate by means of a throttle valve or
ball-cock of ordinary construction.

page_text: Along cach of the sides of the cistern and attached to a movcable bar
or frame I place a row or rows of syphons, each having a long and a
short limb, the short limb resting upon a pad or cushion within the
cistern and the long limb passing over to the outside and being provided
at its lower extremity with a loose bell or hollow cono to receive the
mouth or neck of the bottle and guide it upon the limb of the syphon.
The cistern is supported upon or by a frame or stand, at each side of
which and so as to be beneath tho outer limbs of the syphons I place a
moveable cradle furnished with pulleys and cords, chains, or bands to
lift and lower it. I provide the cradle also with a hook or catch to hold 1
it down while full bottles are being removed and replaced by empty
oncs.
The bottles are arranged in a tray, which I construct to sit in the
cradle, and which has a thin false or sliding bottom to be drawn out
when set upon the ground, so that the tray may be lifted up and the 1
bottles left behind.
The cradles are lifted alternately by counteraction, the weight of theo
full bottles carrying down the cradle containing them and lifting the
opposite cradle as soon as the hook or catch which held it has been with-
drawn. I furnish the cradle with a snug or pin to act upon the moveable?
bar or frame carrying the syphons, and so as to lift the short limbs of the
syphons off their pad or cushion as the bottles reach their ultimato
elevation, and I attach a glass gauge to the cistern, by which I am
enabled to regulate the fullness of the bottles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 2
filed by tho said William Adolphus Ross in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 23rd June 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ADOLPHUS Ross, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, in Ircland,
Acrated Water Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
8

page_text: ends of the cistern I fit a deep moveable bar or frame, so that it may
rise and fall freely in the corresponding and opposite grooves within the
cistern. A hook or catch is fixed at or near to each end of the bar or
frame, which is raised and kept in position while the bottles are being
filled by a snug, pin, or bar furnished and applied as herein-after
described.
I attach to cach bar or frame a row or rows of syphons. Each syphon
is provided with a long and a short limb, and is attached to the bar or
frame so as to rise and fall with it. The syphon is so constructed that
the longer limb depends on the outside of the cistern, and is received
into the neck of the bottle intended to be filled, and the shorter limb
depends into the liquid within the cistern. Pads or cushions are placed
within the cistern to receive and close simultaneously on the fall of each
bar or frame the orifices of the inner or shorter limbs of all the syphons
attached to such bar or frame.
The outer or longer limb of the syphon is closed at the end and per-
forated in the sides near to the end, and it is provided at its lower
extremity with a loose bell or hollow conc, which receives the neck or
mouth of the bottle to be filled, and guides it in rising, as herein-after
described, over the limb of the syphon. A small ring or collar upon the a
outer or longer limb of the syphon prevents the bell or hollow cone from
falling off.
At the sides of the cistern, and so as to be beneath the outer or longer
limbs of the syphons, I place moveable cradles or tray cages, which are
hung together by cords, chains, or bands passing over pulleys or rollers:
above them in the framework attached to the stand of the cistern, and
which are arranged so as to rise and fall alternately as herein-after
described. The cradles or tray cages are provided with pulleys, rollers,
bars, or snugs fitting into and moving in grooves or slots made or cut in
the standards of the framework, whereby accurate and steady motion
and action is produced and maintained. A snug, pin, or bar is fixed upon
or attached to the cradle or tray cage, so as to come into contact with
the hook or catch upon the bar or frame which carries the syphons when
the cradle or tray cage rises for the purpose of lifting the inner or shorter
limbs of the syphons from and off the pad or cushion herein-before
mentioned, and thereby admitting tho liquid to the orifices of the said
limbs and putting the syphons into operation. The hooks or catches and

page_text: snugs, pins, or bars are so arranged that the inner or shorter limb of the
syphon will only be very slightly raised from or off the pad or cushion.
In order to secure an accurate and steady movement of the bar or
frame which carrics the syphons I may construct the hooks or catches by
which it is raised and lowered so as also to fit into and move in grooves
or slots mado or cut in the standards of the framework.
I provide the cradles or tray cages with latch-like hooks or catches, by
which they are caught and held in position while full bottles are being
removed and replaced by or with empty ones.
I use a tray or box with a thin false or sliding bottom, which can be
drawn out or away when required. The tray or box is constructed to
receive and contain the bottles and to fit into the cradle or tray cage
herein-before described, and when it is removed from the cradle or tray
cage it may be set upon the ground or floor and the false or sliding
bottom drawn out, so that the tray or box can be lifted up and the bottles
left standing upon the ground or floor. A flange or pin at the end of
the bottom prevents it coming away from the tray or box.
The tray or box is intended to be filled with empty bottles and set into
the cradle or tray cage, which will be lifted into position on the with-
drawal of the hook or catch that held it by the weight of the full bottles
on the opposite side carrying down the cradle or tray cage containing
them. The cradles or tray cages are thus alternately lifted by counter-
action, and their movements are so regulated that only about half of the
neck of each bottle rises above the level at which the liquid in the cistern
is maintained. I regulate the height to which the bottles are to be
raised in order to receive a sufficient quantity of the liquid by the aid of
a glass gauge attached to the end of the cistern.
And in order that the said Invention may be more fully understood I
shall now proceed to refer to the Drawings on the Sheet hereunto annexed,
the same letters of reference being used throughout all the Figures to
indicate the same or corresponding parts of said apparatus.
Fig. I. is an end elevation of the bottling apparatus, showing the
cistern with a throttle valve or ball-cock, the cradles or tray cages and
framework, and the ends of the bars or frames, carrying double rows of
syphons with bells or hollow cones at the extremities of the outer or
longer limbs and the ends of the pads or cushions to receive and close

page_text: the orifices of the inner or shorter limbs; also the stand by which the
cistern is supported, the cords, chains, or bands and pulleys or rollers by
which cach cradle or tray cage alternately raises the other; the hooks or
catches by which the rising cradles or tray cages raiso the bars or frames
carrying the syphons; the hooks or catches by which the cradle or tray
cage is held during the removal of the full bottles and their being replaced
by empty ones; one of the cradles or tray cages, with its tray or box of
bottles, and also the bells or hollow cones, being clevated to the positions
they occupy while the bottles are being filled, and the other cradic or tray
cage, and also the bells or hollow cones, being lowered to the positions
they occupy, while the bottles are being removed and replaced.
Fig. II. is a side elevation of the same apparatus.
Fig. 111. is a sectional plan on the line A, B, in Fig. I., showing details
of the bar or frame carrying the syphons and the hooks or catches by
which it is lifted, also the pad or cushion, and the pulleys or rollers, and
hooks or catches, of the cradle or tray cage.
Fig. IV. is a perspective view of the tray or box, with the false or
sliding bottom partly drawn out.
And Fig. V. is a similar view of the false or sliding bottom itself.
a is the cistern elevated upon and supported by the stand b; c is tho
framework; d is a throttle valve or ball-cock, connected with the pipe or
tube through which the liquid is supplied; e, e, are vertical grooves in
the ends of the cistern to receive and guide the moveable bars or
frames ff; 9, 9, are the hooks or catches fixed at or near to each end of
the bar or frame, and with which the bars or frames are raised and kept
in position while the bottles are being filled; h, h, are the syphons
attached to the bar or frames f,f; i is the pad or cushion to receivo and
close the orifice of the inner or shorter limb of thc syphon; k, k, aro the
bells or hollow cones upon the outer or longer and perforated limbs of
the syphons, which are furnished with small rings or collars to prevent
the bells or hollow cones from falling off; 1, 1, are the moveable cradles
or tray cages hung together by cords, chains, or bands m, m, which pass
over pulleys or rollers n, n, above them in the framework c, c; o, o, arc
pulleys, rollers, bars, or snugs upon the cradles or tray cages 1, 1, and
fitting into and moving in grooves or slots in the framework; ", ", are
suugs, pins, or bars, also on the cradles or tray cages, to raise the bar or
frame and syphons by coming into contact with the hooks or catches 9, 9 ;

page_text: 8, 8, are the hooks or catches provided to hold down the cradle or tray
cage while the bottles are being removed and replaced; t, t, are the trays
with the false or sliding bottoms v, v; x, x, are the bottles placed in the
trays; and y is the glass gaugo by which the height to raise the bottles
is regulated.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it to be understood
that I do not claim the use of cisterns, syphons, bells, cradles, or tray
cages and trays for the purpose of bottling liquids except when the same
are constructed specially and employed as herein-before described, nor do
I claim the use of throttle valves or ball-cocks, pads or cushions, hooks
or catches, stands or frames, cords, chains, or bands, pulleys, or rollers,
nor of any of the soparato mechanical parts which form the compound
automatic bottling apparatus used by me; but I claim,―
First. The use in bottling apparatus of cisterns, cradles, and trays
constructed and employed substantially as described and shown by the
Drawings hereunto annexed.
Secondly. The use in bottling apparatus of syphons attached to move-
able bars or frames, and of bells or hollow cones, constructed and
employed substantially as described and shewn by the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
Thirdly. The construction and application of automatic apparatus such
as is shewn in the Drawings hereunto annexed, in the manner and for
the
purposes herein-before described.
And, Fourthly. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting
the automatic apparatus, constructed and applied substantially in the
manner and for the purposes hercin-before described and illustrated in
tho several Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Adolphus Ross, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-first day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.