Improved Means for Stopping Bottles, and a Tool for Use therewith.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 18th June, 1895-Accepted, 27th July, 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Stopping Bottles, and a Tool for Use
therewith.
I, ROBERT ALLISON HALL of 200 N. Holliday Street Baltimore in the United
"States of America, Inventor, 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 invention has reference to means for stopping bottles and consists primarily
of a device composed of a hollow metal stopper combined with an outer ring of
caoutchouc or other elastic material for forming a tight joint when the lower
part of the metallic stopper is caused to expand as hereinafter described. The
bottles to which my means are applied have near the top of the inside of the
neck a groove or circular recess into which the metal caused by the expansion
of the stopper and ring penetrate, and which prevents the stopper being forced
out by pressure within the bottle.
The annexed drawings represent several modifications of my invention.
Figure 1 shows in side view and in plan the first of these modifications. The
stopper A is stamped with the upper part a open and the bottom b closed. This
bottom is preferably slightly concave externally as shown in Figure 2, which
shows the stopper surrounded with a ring of elastic material, preferably caoutchouc.
The body c of the stopper is preferably cylindrical, or it may be slightly conical.
The ring e is made of caoutchouc of good quality and is seen separately in
Figure 3. It is smaller than the stopper, so that when applied thereon it is held
tightly. The upper edge of the stopper is by preference slightly splayed out,
and when desired it can also be formed with a flange.
The bottles to which these stoppers are intended to be applied are preferably of
the form shown in Figure 4 so as to co-operate with the stopper when it is
put in place to produce a hermetic closure. The bottle B has a groove or recess f¹
below the shoulder f. In order to stop a bottle thus formed, I introduce into
the neck the stopper A provided with its india rubber ring e as shown in Figure 4.
The ring e presses a little against the inside of the shoulder f. I then produce an
expansion of the metal round the circumference of the bottom of the stopper,
as shown in Figure 5, which has the double effect of hermetically forcing the
caoutchouc ring against the inside of the groove f¹ of the neck and of forming
the bulge g which prevents the stopper from coming out under the action of
internal pressure. The stopper A thus expanded is shown separately in elevation
The
in Figure 6; the outer ring of caoutchouc is supposed to be removed.
expansion of the metal in order to form the bulge g can be produced by means
of any suitable tool; 1 however prefer to employ for this purpose the enlarging
tool represented in Figure 7 which I have designed for the purpose. It is com-
posed of a series of pendent pieces the lower ends h of which are of suitable
conformation, and are arranged around a punch having a conical base, and
which punch can be made to descend. In this descending movement the punch
separates the heels of the feet or ends h which force out the metal of the stopper
at the lower part.
It will be seen that the widening of the metallic stopper at 9 has the effect of
forming in the interior of the stopper an annular groove i and that the part above
this groove forms a suitable shoulder on which as seen in Figure 5, a suitable
instrument can be applied, so as by lever action to lift the stopper from the neck.
of the bottle

page_text: This system of stopping bottles can be combined, as shown in Figure 8 with a
short cork k inserted into the neck. In this case the india rubber ring can
be dispensed with and when the bulge g is formed at the bottom of the metallic
stopper the cork forms the joint which ensures the necessary hermeticity. If the
metallic stopper is only intended to hold the cork stopper or to preserve it it is
sufficient to push out the metal at the bottom of the stopper at two or three
places such as g¹, g², g³ Figure 9.
Figures 10 to 16 represent a second modification of my stopper. In this
modification the metallic stopper is inverted that is to say it is open at the bottom
and in this case the widening device remains in the stopper when it has acted to
force out the same. The stopper A2 Figure 10 which is in the form of a cup
open at bottom, is widened out at 7; the top a¹ is convex and the side c' receives
the caoutchouc ring e. This ring e which is shown separately in Figure 11 is
received in a concave part. The widening device is placed inside the metallic
stopper. It is as shown in Figure 12, a conical plug C¹ of wood or other hard
material capable of widening out the base of the stopper and causing it to move,
as seen in Figure 13, towards the interior of the neck while forcibly compressing
and widening the india rubber ring e as seen in Figure 14 in order to produce a
hermetic joint. The plug C' has a convex top in order to fit the inside of the
metallic stopper; when it is in place the metallic stopper is flat, see Figure 14,
and the open lower edge expands into the internal groove of the neck.
Figure 15 represents an arrangement analogous to that shown in Figure 8 in
which the stopper is combined with a cork ; the flange or bulge of the cork
round the upper part assures hermeticity in combination with the widened edge
of the metallic stopper. Figure 16 is an elevation of the stopper shown in
Figure 15.
'Figure 17 represents another modification of stopper A³ in which a deep
depression m' is used for effecting the desired enlargement. This stopper can be
introduced into the bottle by direct pressure or by the intermediation of a
cylindrical or approximately cylindrical block n Figure 18. In this case the
ringe of caoutchouc is employed and becomes widened out as has been explained
to make hermetic contact between the stopper and the bottle neck.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The means of stopping bottles having a circular groove or recess inside the
neck, the said means consisting of a hollow stopper of ductile metal the lower
part of which is forced into the said groove or recess so as with or without an
elastic ring to form a hermetic joint substantially as herein before described.
2. The several modifications hereinbefore described and represented in the
accompanying drawings of devices or means for stopping bottles.
3. The tool herein before described and represented in Figure 7 for the purpose
set forth.
Dated this 18th day of June 1895
J. C. MEWBURN & ELLIS,
55 and 56 Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.