IMPROVEMENTS IN FORMING, FITTING, AND CLOSING GLASS AND OTHER BOTTLES, AND IN SECURING AND LIBERATING THE CONTENTS OF SUCH BOTTLES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Bull, of No. 4, Lancaster Place, Strand, in the
"
County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN
FORMING, FITTING, AND CLOSING GLASS AND OTHER BOTTLES, AND IN SECURING
AND LIBERATING THE CONTENTS OF SUCH BOTTLES."
Sealed the 25th April 1879, and dated the 29th October 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Bull at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th October 1878.
WILLIAM BULL, of No. 4, Lancaster Place, Strand, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN FORMING, FITTING, AND CLOSING GLASS AND OTHER
BOTTLES, AND IN SECURING AND LIBERATING THE CONTENTS OF SUCH BOTTLES."
This Invention relates to bottles for containing wine, spirits, beer, and other
liquids, and consists in forming the necks of the bottles in such a manner that when
a cork is driven or forced into its position it becomes a fixture or is self-secured.
The centre portion of the cork is then or may be previously bored out, and a
hollow or solid plug introduced into the bore of the cork.
Bottles formed and fitted according to this Invention differ from bottles formed
with merely an enlarged or annular rebated corkway at the extreme end of the
mouth, as in ordinary use. In the, case of the last-mentioned bottles the cork
frequently comes out with the stopper, whereas in the improved bottles the mouth
is made in the ordinary way, but a recess is formed a short distance down or within
the neck of the bottle, so that when a stopper or plug is inserted the cork is com-
pressed and confined within the recess and acts as a packing; a stuffing box is
thus provided which keeps the plug and bottle air-tight. The contents of such
bottles are thereby more perfectly secured than by an ordinary cork, or by the
ordinary mode of stoppering bottles and the like with a loose ring of cork placed
in a mere annular rebate.
In forming and fitting bottles according to this Invention for containing, securing,
and liberating aërated and other mineral waters and the like, I make a recess a

page_text: short distance down or within the neck of the bottles and insert a packing ring of
cork or other substance therein so as to form a stuffing box to receive the stem
of a stopper previously placed inside the bottle, or inserted afterwards and secured
-at-the exterior
The stopper of the bottles for containing wine, spirits, beer, and other liquids may
also be secured-in-like-manner when required.
The internal stopper-which I use consists of a short rod of glass or other suitable
material made with an enlargement near one end, which end is coned. The rod is
_made_rather longer than the internal diameter of the bottle so that it cannot turn
end for end when placed in the bottle, consequently the coned end being outermost
when inserted must always drop into the stuffing box formed by the recess and
cork before mentioned when the bottle thus fitted is in an inverted position, and
when the pressure of the liquid contents will render it self-securing, while the
contents may be liberated by applying sufficient pressure to the outward end of the
stopper; when the bottle is partially discharged it can be re-closed and the contents
re-secured, and when empty the bottle can be closed by merely inverting it, when
the friction of the stuffing-box lining will hold the stopper in position; the bottle
may thus be kept clean and sweet when out of use.
In some cases, I make the stopper nearly as long as the bottle internally, to
prevent concussion. In other cases, I use a short double-coned stopper, and either
suspend it in the neck of the bottle, or cushion it by making it hollow at each end,
fitting it with a buffer of cork, wood, or other suitable substance. Stoppers of this'
form may be made of any suitable substance having a greater specific gravity than
that of the contents of the bottle.
In carrying out the second part of the Invention, I also form bottles with an
enlargement in the neck, about midway in the corkway, and make the lower portion
of such corkway of less diameter than the upper or outer portion, so that a stopper
with an enlargement in its centre will pass freely through the said upper or outer
portion of the cork way, but will not pass through the lower or inner portion of said
corkway. I form a cork-holding recess a short distance down the upper portion of
the corkway and insert a perforated cork therein, having previously inserted a
stopper formed as just described, which is then confined in the enlargement before
mentioned, within which it is however free to rise and fall or move so as to open
and close the bottle, the contents of which are secured by the coned end of the
stopper entering the cork, and liberated by pushing the said stopper out of the
cork. The stopper is prevented from falling into the body of the bottle by the
enlargement before mentioned, which enlargement also prevents it from being forced
through the cork by pressure of the contents of the bottle when charged with high-
pressure liquids.
A bottle thus formed may be fitted with a hollow or solid stopper, secured at the
bottle's mouth; in such cases, a lateral opening is formed in the enlargement of the
bottle neck, so that when the stopper is raised the contents of the bottle will pass
into the enlargement-and-be. discharged through the said lateral opening in the
neck, or the stopper may be made hollow for a certain distance down it from its
outer end, and have one or more lateral perforations at or near the bottom of such
hollow, so that when the lower portion of the stopper is lifted or drawn out of the
bottom portion of the corkway the contents of the bottle then being free to pass
into the enlargement will be discharged through the lateral perforations and bore of
the stopper; for washing and cleansing such bottles, the stoppers can be removed
altogether.
When the bottles formed as herein-before described with a stuffing box in the
neck are closed by inserting an external stopper, I fit a strap or staple to the neck
of the bottle, which strap is so formed that it can be pushed over the head of the
stopper and thus secure it, a wedge, screw, or other suitable device being combined
with the said strap for tightening it up when required. I also make the shoulder
of such external stoppers to screw into and out of the upper portion of the corkway,
the lower end of such stoppers are coned and fitted with a collar of cork or other

page_text: substance which closes the lower portion of the corkway when pressed down into
it. When bottles thus formed are permanently fitted with an internal stopper,
provision is made for washing and cleansing by a second aperture at the botton of
the bottle, which is closed by a plug, removable when required.
One object of the enlargement in the stoppers herein-before described is to cause
it to fit and close the neck below the stuffing box, and thus prevent (wholly or
partially) the contents of the bottles from passing the said enlargement and coming
into contact with the cork or other lining substance of the stuffing box, and to
produce as nearly as practicable a bottle in which the contents are in contact with
glass only when closed. In some cases I form a groove round the enlargement and
fill or fit this groove with a ring of wood or other substance or material to cause it
to act in the manner required for keeping back the contents of the bottle from
contact with the lining of the stuffing box, and at the same time increase the
security of the contents.

page_text: p
1879.
WILLIAM-BULL,-of-No. 4, Lancaster Place, Strand, in the County of Middlesex,-
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN FORMING, FITTING, AND CLOSING GLASS AND OTHER
BOTTLES, AND IN-SECURING AND LIBERATING-THE CONTENTS OF SUCH BOTTLES."
This Invention relates, first, to bottles for containing wine, spirits, beer, and
other liquids, and consists in forming-the-necks of bottles in such a manner that
when a cork is driven or forced into its position it becomes a fixture or is self-
secured, the-centre or axial portion of the cork is then or may be previously bored
out, and a solid or hollow plug be introduced-into-the-said bore of the cork.
The object being to substitute a solid and impervious core for the porous cork-and-
thus insure more perfectly the non-escape of gaseous contents of cork-closed bottles
when charged with effervescing and other similar liquids.
Bottles formed according to this Invention, differ from bottles formed with merely
an enlarged or annular rebated corkway at the extreme end of the mouth, as in
ordinary use. In the case of the last-mentioned bottles, the cork frequently comes
out with the stopper, whereas in the improved bottles the mouth is made in the
ordinary way, but a recess is formed a short distance down the neck of the bottle
so that when a coned stopper or plug is inserted the cork is compressed within the
recess, which acts as a packing, and a stuffing box is thus provided which keeps the
plug and bottles more perfectly air-tight. The contents of such bottles are thus more
perfectly secured than by an ordinary cork or by the ordinary mode of stopping
bottles and the like with a loose ring or cork placed in a mere annular rebate.
I also form pickle bottles, jars, and similar vessels with a curved annular recess
and line the same with a collar of cork or other elastic or semi-elastic substance,
and fit the same with a lid, cover, or stopper to pass through the said collar and
render the said vessel air-tight. In these cases the recess is coned with the inferior
end of the cone downwards so that the packing tightens in part by its own move-
ment and in part by the cone form of the under flange of the lid or cover or by the
stopper fitted in the said packed or lined recess.
The said Invention consists, secondly, in forming and fitting bottles for containing,
securing, and liberating aërated and other mineral waters and the like, in which
cases I make a similar recess a short distance down or within the neck of the
bottles, and insert a packing of cork or other substance therein so as to form a
stuffing box to receive the coned stem of a plug or stopper previously placed inside
the bottle (or inserted afterwards, and secured at the exterior.
The stoppers of the bottles for containing wine, spirits, beer, and other liquids
may also be secured in like manner.
The internal stopper which I use consists of a short rod of glass or other
suitable material-made-with an enlargement near one end, which end is coned; the
rod is made longer than the internal diameter of the bottle so that it cannot turn
end for end when placed in the bottle, consequently the coned end being outermost
when inserted in the bottle must always drop into the stuffing box formed by the
recess and cork packing before mentioned when the bottle is placed in an inverted
position, when the pressure of the liquid contents will render it self-securing, while
the contents of the bottle may be liberated by applying sufficient pressure to the
outward end of the stopper to force it back.
When a bottle thus fitted is partially discharged it can be reclosed and its
remaining contents be resecured, and when empty the bottle can be closed and the
stopper secured in the closed position by merely inverting the position of the said
bottle, when the friction of the stuffing box will retain the plug in its closed
position, and keep the interior of the bottle sweet and clean when empty and out
of use.

page_text: The rod with its coned end may be made of such a length that it will just clear
the stuffing box when its opposite end rests on the bottom of the bottle, where a
well hole may be made to receive such end, which well hole and the contraction in
the neck below the recess before described will prevent the said rod from getting
out of axial position, and thus secure the rod and bottle from breakage which might
otherwise arise from the former falling against the side of the latter.
In carrying out this part of the Invention, I also form bottles with an enlargement
in the neck about midway in the corkway, and make the lower portion of such
corkway of less diameter than the upper or outer portion, so that a stopper with an
enlargement in its centre will pass freely through the said upper or outer portion of
the corkway but will not pass through the inner or lower portion of the said cork-
way. I form a cork-holding recess a short distance down the upper portion of the
corkway and insert a packing of cork therein to form a stuffing box, as before
described, then having previously inserted a stopper formed as last described, or
shortened so that it will not turn end for end in the said enlargement, within
which, however, it is free to rise and fall while it is confined therein by the enlarge-
ments on the stopper. The contents of the bottle are secured by the coned end of
the stopper entering and traversing the stuffing box, and liberated by pushing the
stopper back through the said stuffing box into the enlargement in the neck before
mentioned. The enlargement o the stopper prevents it from being blown out
through the stuffing box when charged with high-pressure or aërated liquid or gas
and from falling into the body of the bottle through the lower portion of the corkway,
which may be corrugated longitudinally to allow the contents of the said bottle to
pass through it, while the lower end of the stopper partially closes it.
I also form the bottles to be fitted with this class of short stopper with a con-
traction in the neck below the said enlargement, which contraction may be obtained
by the mould being fitted with one or more studs or feather-edge pieces, rounded or
pointed in the centre and placed vertically in such mould at the neck so as to
make a vertical contraction in the neck and form a twin aperture, and thus prevent
the lower portion of the stopper from passing and at the same time permit the said
bottles to be freely charged and discharged. I also form a bottle with a recess neck
or mouth, such recess being coned and lined with cork, and closed with a short
stopper in the form of an acorn. In this bottle the end of the acorn passes through
the packing q, the recess or stuffing box, until the larger end causes the said packing
to move forward, when it is compressed externally and internally in part by the
cone form of the recess and in part by the cone form of the acorn-shape stopper. I
form this bottle with an enlargement in the neck below the stuffing box, and a
contraction below the enlargement, either in the twin form as above described or
with a corrugated contraction to allow the said bottle to be charged or discharged.
In all cases I form the bottles herein described with coned recesses and sliding
packings of cork or other clastic or semi-elastic substance, which packings are
subjected to an external and internal compression, and in part solidified by being
pressed or sliding forward in the recess coned as herein described.
A bottle formed with an enlargement in the corkway or neck may be fitted with
a hollow stopper secured at the bottle mouth by a screw, staple, or other equivalent
device; in such cases a lateral opening is formed in the enlargement in the bottle
neck so that when the stopper is raised the contents of the bottle will pass into the
enlargement and be discharged through the said lateral opening in the said enlarge-
ment, or the stopper may be made hollow for a certain distance down its stem and
have one or more lateral perforations at or near the bottom of the said hollow, so
that when the lower portion of the said stopper is lifted or drawn out of the bottom
portion of the corkway, the contents of the bottle then being free to pass into the
enlargement will be discharged through the perforations and bore of the stopper.
The bottle is capable of being instantly opened and closed by simply raising and
lowering the said stopper.
When the bottles herein described are closed with an external stopper, I fix a
stron no tanks to the nook of the bottle which stanle or stran is on farmed that it

page_text: can be pushed over the head of the said stopper for confining it in its closed position,
and for tightening up the said stopper I insert a wedge under the said strap; I do
not make a perforation in the said stopper nor in the neck of the bottle and insert
-a-pin therein as I find the same was not new at the date of my application for the
said Letters Patent. I make the shoulder of the external stopper to screw in and
out-of-the upper portion of the cork way before described; the screw threads-may_be_
-formed in the bottle herein described-and-upon the stopper herein described, or one
or-both may be fitted witli male-or-female screws, detachable when required; in
this case the lower end of the stopper is fitted with a collar of cork or other sub-
stance, which will close the lower portion of the corkway, the said collar being forced
down into and raised up out of the closed position by the action of the screw.
For washing out the bottles fitted as herein described they may be made with a
second aperture at the bottom, as described in the Specification of the Patent
granted to me in the year 1876, dated 26th April, No. 1751, which-aperture may be
closed by a cork having a glass-headed stopper affixed therein so that when the
bottom aperture is closed glass only will be in contact with the contents of the
bottle at this aperture when filled or partially filled.-
In witness whereof, I, the said William Bull, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.
WILLIAM BULL. (L.S.)