IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STOPPING BOTTLES AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1863

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to Nathan Thompson, of Abbey Gardens, St. John's
Wood, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
"
Sealed the 3rd May 1864, and dated the 9th November 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nathan Thompson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th
November 1868.
I, NATHAN THOMPSON, of Abbey Gardens, St. John's Wood, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STOPPING BOTTLES AND OTHER VESSELS,"
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for stopping
bottles and other vessels, and applies more especially to such apparatus as is
described in the Specifications of former Patents granted to me, and dated
respectively the 16th May 1862 (No. 1491), the 18th November 1862
(No. 3100), and the 19th February 1868 (No. 458), where a cap is em-
ployed which carries a screw, and this presses down on to the mouth of the
bottle a plate of metal or other rigid material, having on the under side a
layer of cork or similar soft substance.
Heretofore the cork has been attached by means of cement, but I find that
the cement does not in all cases hold the cork securely.

page_text: According to the present Invention I retain the cork or material by means
of a disc of woven or other fabric or parchment, which is placed over the cork
or material; the edges of the fabric are then turned up and secured against
the plate. The parts are put together in a manner similar to that in which
covered buttons are made, by dies and pressure. The disc of fabric is placed
first on the lower die, next the cork is laid on, then a disc of thin metal, and,
lastly, the metal or other rigid plate, which is somewhat smaller than the thin
metal disc on which it is placed. The dies in closing turn the edges of the
thin metal disc over the edges of the plate, and also turn up the edges of the
fabric and lay them on the top of the plate, folding them in underneath
the edges of the thin metal disc, between which and the upper surface of the
plate they become nipped and held. The screw which is employed to down
the plate I furnish with a lug, by which it may be readily turned; this is
jointed to the top of the screw, so that it can be folded down flat out of the
way when not in use. This lug serves in place of the key which I have
usually employed heretofore to turn the screw. The cap which carries the
screw I have usually made heretofore of thin sheet metal, and having attached
to it by solder or otherwise a nut made in a separate piece, in which the screw
works. Now, in place of making the nut in a separate piece, I produce the
screw thread in the thin sheet metal. In making the hole in the centre of the
cap to receive the screw, I, by a suitable tool, force down the metal (which
otherwise would be removed from the hole) and so form a flange around it
projecting inwards, and in this flange the screw thread is formed.
press
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Nathan Thompson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, NATHAN
THOMPSON, of Abbey Gardens, St. John's Wood, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Nathan Thompson, Her special licence that I, the
said Nathan Thompson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Nathan Thomson, my executors, administrators, and

page_text: assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STOPPING BOTTLES AND OTHER
VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Nathan Thomp-
son, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Nathan Thompson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for stopping
bottles and other vessels, and applies more especially to such apparatus as is
described in the Specifications of former Patents granted to me, and dated
respectively the 16th May 1862 (No. 1491), the 18th November 1862
(No. 3100), and the 19th February 1863 (No. 458), where a cap is em-
ployed which carries a screw, and this presses down on to the mouth of the
bottle a plate of metal or other rigid material, having on the under side a
layer of cork or similar soft substance.
Heretofore the cork has been attached by means of cement, but I find that
the cement does not in all cases hold the cork securely.
According to the first part of the present Invention I retain the cork or
material by means of a disc of woven or other fabric or parchment, which is
placed over the cork or material; the edges of the fabric are then turned up
and secured against the plate. The parts are put together in a manner
similar to that in which covered buttons are made, by dies and pressure. The
disc of fabric is placed first on the lower die, next the cork is laid on, then a
disc of thin metal, and, lastly, the metal or other rigid plate, which is somewhat
smaller than the thin metal disc on which it is placed. The dies in closing
turn the edges of the thin metal disc over the edges of the plate, and also turn
up the edges of the fabric and lay them on the top of the plate, folding them
in underneath the edges of the thin metal disc, between which and the upper
surface of the plate they become nipped and held.
According to another part of this Invention I furnish the screw which is

page_text: employed to press down the plate with a lug, by which it may be readily
turned; this is jointed to the top of the screw, so that it can be folded down
flat out of the way when not in use. This lug serves in place of the key
which I have usually employed heretofore to turn the screw.
Another part of this Invention refers to the cap which carries the screw.
This cap I have usually made heretofore of thin sheet metal, and having
attached to it. by solder or otherwise, a nut made in a separate piece in which
the screw works. Now, in place of making the nut in a separate piece, I
produce the screw thread in the thin sheet metal. In making the hole in
the centre of the cap to receive the screw, I, by a suitable tool, force down the
metal (which otherwise would be removed from the hole) and so form a
flange around it projecting inwards, and in this flange the screw thread is
formed.
Having thus stated the nature of the Invention, I will proceed more fully
to describe the manner of performing the same, reference being made to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents a vertical section, and Figure 2 a plan of a portion of
a jar, or it may be a bottle, or other vessel having stopping apparatus con-
structed according to my Invention applied thereto.
b
b
lower end, so as to turn
a is the upper part or neck of a jar or bottle having a groove a' formed
around it. This groove receives the flanges 6* of a metal cap 6 forming part
of the stopping apparatus. It will be seen by reference to Figure 2 that the
cap 6 is formed with two parts 61, 62, hinged together at b, and these parts
when closed upon each other embrace the neck of the jar. The top 'of the
cap is secured to the piece b¹, and the upper flange of the piece 6 overlaps it
when it is closed on the neck of the jar or bottle. A metal screw c passes
through the top of the cap, and has connected to its
freely thereon, the disc d, which has a surface of cork on its under side, and
the screw c is employed to press down this padded disc on to the mouth of the
jar or bottle, which is thus closed. Thus far I do not under my present
Patent make any claim to the arrangement of the apparatus. I have found,
however, that the cork d¹ when attached to the disc d by cement, as practised
under my former Patents, does not, as already mentioned, in all cases remain
securely attached. I therefore confine the disc d with the cork d' in the fol-
lowing manner :-The disc of cork d' is secured to the metal disc d by a disc
of woven or other fabric or parchment, which is indicated by the red lines d³
in the Drawing, Figure 1; this is placed over the cork, and the edges of the

page_text: fabric are turned up and secured against the disc d by means of a thin metal
plate, shewn in blue lines. This thin plate is turned over the edges of the
disc d, the fabric being folded in underneath the edges of the thin metal
plate d, between which and the upper surface of the disc d they are nipped
and securely held.
I have not thought it necessary to shew the apparatus employed for the
purpose of effecting the union of the several parts of the stopper described, as
it is a similar class of machinery to that employed for making covered buttons,
and is well understood.
As respects the second part of my Invention, c¹ is a lug, with which the
screw c is furnished; the lug c¹ is hinged or pin-jointed to the top of the screw,
and when not in use can be folded down flat and lie conveniently out of the
way in a recess formed in the cap b, as shewn. When required to turn the
screw the lug is raised and forms a handle, by means of which the motion is
readily given.
As respects the third part of my Invention, the Drawing shews the nut e
made out of the same piece of metal as the top of the cap b. Heretofore the
nute has been made in a separate piece of metal, secured to the cap 6 by
solder or otherwise. Now I form the nut from the same thin sheet metal of
which the top of the cap is made. In making the hole in the centre of the
metal cap b to receive the screw c, I, by a conical tool, force out the metal
(which has heretofore been removed or punched out to form the hole). The
top of the cap is, whilst the hole is made, supported by a plate or die with a
cylindrical hole in the centre, and the conical tool forces out the metal so as
to make a flange or short tube fitting the cylindrical hole in the bottom plate
or die, and so a hole is formed in the top of the cap with a flange around it
projecting inwards; by a tap or suitable screw cutting or pressing tool, the
screw thread is formed therein.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nathan Thompson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
NATHAN THOMPSON. (LS.)