Improvements in Stoppers for Aerated Water Bottles and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Stoppers for Aerated Water Bottles and the like.
I, JOSEPH MARTIN, of 63, Seacombe Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Foreman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My present invention has reference to stoppers for aerated water bottles and
the like, of that class in which the stopper is held in place by the pressure of the
enclosed liquid. Such stoppers are usually made of wood with an india rubber
washer to make joint against the bottle neck, and one end of the stopper is loaded
with a metallic weight to ensure that the stopper will sink into the proper position
in the bottle neck after filling.
An objectionable feature of such stoppers, as at present constructed, is the fact
that the metallic weight, which is exposed, comes into contact with the liquid both
during filling and after the bottle has been opened, and the object of my present
invention is to overcome this objection.
With this object in view, I make the wooden portion of the stopper hollow, and
enclose a small weight, preferably spherical, therein; the stopper is preferably made
symmetrical with respect to the rubber washer, and the cavity is made sufficiently
long to permit the weight to roll down to either end of the stopper.
The cavity may be closed by a small screwed wooden plug at the end of the
stopper, or the latter may be made in two parts screwed together at the centre of
the stopper so as to hold the rubber washer, which is passed over the screwed portion
and is gripped between projecting shoulders on the two parts of the stopper.
Dated this 23rd day of October 1897
SLOAN & LLOYD BARNES,
Castle Chambers, 26, Castle Street, Liverpool,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.
I, JOSEPH MARTIN, of 63, Seacombe Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Foreman, 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:-
My present invention has reference to stoppers for aerated water bottles and

page_text: the like, of that class in which the stopper is held in place by the pressure of the
enclosed liquid. Such stoppers are usually made of wood with an india rubber
washer to make joint against the bottle neck and one end of the stopper is loaded
with a metallic weight to ensure that the stopper will sink into the proper position
in the bottle neck after filling.
An objectionable feature of such stoppers, as at present constructed, is the fact
that the metallic weight, which is exposed, comes into contact with the liquid both
during filling and after the bottle has been opened, and the object of my present
invention is to overcome this objection.
I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. I
is an elevation of the stopper in medial section and Fig. II a plan of the same;
Figs. III and IV are views analogous to Figs. I and II and illustrate a modification.
Referring in the first instance to Figs. I and II, 1 is the wooden portion or body
of the stopper which is made hollow, the cavity 2 extending axially as shown; in
this cavity I enclose a small weight 3 which is preferably spherical and adapted to
roll freely from end to end of the cavity, and which therefore always lies at that
end of the stopper which is lowermost.
The body of the stopper is preferably made symmetrical with respect to the
rubber washer 4 which fits in between the shoulders of a circumferential groove, as
shown.
After the insertion of the weight 3 the open end of the cavity 2 is closed by
means of a plug 5 which fits in a suitable recess. The plug is secured in position
by any of the well known methods adopted in such cases: -for instance it may be
screwed into the recess, or fitted in a grooved or taper or undercut recess, or forced
under considerable pressure into a plain parallel recess; the conditions to be observed
being, that access of liquid to the cavity, and the displacement of the plug by the
impact of the weight, shall be prevented.
The body of the stopper is preferably made, as in the usual construction, of
lignum vitæ, but the plug need not be of this material, in fact when the screwed
form of plug is not fitted, it is of advantage to use a softer wood than lignum vitæ
for the plug.
In the form shown in Figs. III and IV, the body of the stopper is made in two
parts 1 and 11 which are adapted to be secured together at the centre by means of a
projecting portion 6 on the part 11 which fits a suitable recess formed in 1, the
rubber washer being gripped between the projecting shoulders of the two parts, as
shown. In a cheaper form the shoulder shown may be dispensed with, and the
rubber may form the distance piece between the two parts. The projecting part 6
is preferably screwed into the recess but it may, of course, be secured in any other
suitable manner.
It will be seen from the construction shown that the metal weight does not come
into contact with the liquid bottled, and that the weight rolls instantly to the lower-
most end of the stopper, which latter feature is of great advantage in filling the
bottles inasmuch as it ensures, the stopper falling into the neck with its axis
vertical.
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. The improvement in stoppers for aerated water bottles and the like, which
consists in forming the body of the stopper with an axial cavity within which is
placed a movable weight adapted to fall to whichever end of the said cavity is
lowermost, substantially as and for the purpose described.
2. In a stopper for aerated water bottles and the like, in combination; the body
provided with an axial cavity, the moving weight enclosed in said cavity, and the
washer held in a groove formed on the said body; substantially as described and
illustrated.

page_text: 3. The improved stopper for aerated water bottles and the like, substantially as
described and illustrated in Figs. I and II.
4. The improved stopper for aerated water bottles and the like, substantially
as described and illustrated in Figs. III and IV.
Dated this 23rd day of July 1898.
SLOAN & LLOYD BARNES,
34, Castle Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.