IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF INDIA- RUBBER NIPPLES FOR FEEDING BOTTLES, AND IN THE MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1869

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th April 1869.-A communication from abroad by Manuel
Leopold Jonas Lavater, India-rubber Manufacturer, of 13, Boulevart
St. Martin, Paris.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF INDIA-
RUBBER NIPPLES FOR FEEDING BOTTLES, AND IN THE MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of seamless
india-rubber nipples or mouth picces for feeding bottles with a view
to ensure a more perfectly smooth surface than is now obtainable even
with the most careful manufacture, any roughness on the exterior being
liable to irritate and injure the lips of the infant. These nipples are
usually made of a slightly bulbous form at one end, the other and
open end being provided with a rim, as shown in Figure 1 of the
accompanying Drawing. These nipples are composed of several thick-
nesses of india-rubber, which is applied in a liquid state on a solid
mandril or core of the form shown in Figure 2. In this manner the

page_text: exterior surface of the nipple cannot always be obtained sufficiently
smooth, which gives rise during the vulcanizing process to the roughness
or unevenness it is desired to avoid.
According to these improvements the nipple is formed in hollow
moulds made in a single piece of metal, glass, or ceramic material, as
shown in Figures 3 and 4.
According to one mode of manufacture the india-rubber, either pure
or a composition of the same material, is run in a state of solution into
the mould, which is then inverted to allow the material to run off.
In this manner a thin film of india-rubber is deposited on the interior
surface of the mould. I then deposit another thickness of india-rubber
in a similar manner on the first-mentioned and repeat the operation as
many times as required until the desired thickness is obtained. The
hollow central space within the mould is then filled with silicate of
magnesia and the whole submitted to a vulcanizing process in the
ordinary way. 2ndly. I may first make the nipple by hand of un-
vulcanized india-rubber and then place it in the mould, and in order to
give the nipple the configuration and polish of the interior of the mould
I next introduce an elastic mandril into the nipple, consisting of a
small tube of india-rubber closed at the end inserted in said nipple, the
other end being open and projecting therefrom. I then force air into
the elastic mandril by the aid of an insufflator, whereby it is expanded
so as to press the nipple against the sides of the mould and maintain
it in such position. The mould and nipple are heated before introducing
the air, and after the insufflation the mould is heated to a temperature
of about 120 degrees Fahrenheit and then cooled, after which the nipple
will be perfectly moulded and remain permanently of the same form.
The open end of the elastic mandril is closed to prevent the air injected
from escaping, it being afterwards opened and the air allowed to escape
in order to withdraw the mandril, whose place in the nipple is then
filled with talc and the whole subjected to a vulcanizing process in the
ordinary way.
I reserve the right of combining several moulds in a series and also