Improvements in Stoppers or means of Closure for Bottles.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Mar., 1898-Accepted, 2nd Apr., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Stoppers or means of Closure for Bottles.
I, JULIUS HENRY WITTEKIND, of Ashland Street, Roslindale, County of Suffolk and
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States of America, Contractor, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:—
My invention relates to that class of bottle closures particularly adapted to stop
the bottle so as to permit the contents of the bottle to be readily poured out but to
prevent its refilling, the object of my invention being to make a superior stopper and
at low cost of manufacture and to make it feasible to produce a stopper of this kind
made entirely of glass.
Heretofore there have been many stoppers proposed to be made of glass, but all
that I am familiar with have been found to be exceedingly expensive or impossible
when the practical making of them in glass has been undertaken.
The glass has to be cast in moulds, and while in theory the possible shapes and
constructions may be almost unlimited, they prove in practice to be very limited,
and it results that when the many proposed stoppers reach the hands of the practical
glass worker, they prove to be impossible without unwarranted expense in making
and manipulating the moulds and glass, which of course renders the reputed
inventions impractical and useless for their intended purposes.
After extended practical experience, I have produced the herein described invention,
which is cheap to manufacture, practical in all respects, and accomplishes the objects
had in view, particularly in permitting the ready outflow of the liquid and in
absolutely preventing any refilling of the bottle.
A further feature of my invention relates to the prevention of removal of the
stopper, and consists in interposing an explosive, which, upon movement of the
stopper or entrance of moisture thereto will explode and shatter the bottle neck,
thereby effectually preventing any fraudulent refilling of the bottle in its original
appearance.
In the accompanying drawings illustrative of the preferred embodiment of my
invention,
Fig. 1 is a central vertical section of my improved bottle stopper in operative
position.
Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on line 2-2, Fig. 1, the valve being omitted.
Fig. 3 is a similar sectional view, showing a modification.
Figs. 4, and 5 are perspective views of the upper and lower portions respectively of
the casing or shell.
Figs. 6-10 are perspective views of the separable internal parts and valves of the
stopper.
Figs. 11 and 12 are similar views of different forms of the retaining spring.
The casing or shell of the stopper consists of two portions separably connected to
permit of the introduction therein of the contained parts, said portions being shown
as a crown or cap A and base B screwed together at b, the latter being a separate piece
as shown in Figs. 1 and 5 or formed integrally with the bottle C, as shown in Fig. 3
[Price 8d.]

page_text: The cap A has its closed or headed top perforated to provide a circle of apertures a
and a central obstruction a¹, and is in the form of a cylinder from one end to the
other with the exceptions of the top flange a², retaining groove a³ and internal
shoulder at, provided for the purposes presently described.
The base B has its closed or headed lower end centrally perforated to provide a
conical valve seat b¹ and contains a number of vertical ribs 62 which accurately direct
and centre the valve D, the latter having its walls vertical, excepting at its seating
end d where it is ground to tightly fit its seat b¹.
Next to the top a¹, I provide an annular obstruction E to rest against the
shoulder a¹, said annulus being centrally perforated at e, out of alignment with the
apertures a, and hollowed out on its underside as at e¹ to facilitate the flow of
the liquid.
Below the annulus E is a stop diaphragm F, Fig. 7, resting against the lower
surface of said annulus, and having a central solid portion f larger than the opening.e,
from which depend several lugs fl and radial rests or arms f2.
The remaining portion of the cap A below the diaphragm F is occupied by a
cylindrical block G, Fig. 8, having a central, tapered valve seat g to receive a float
valve H, the block being cut away above the line of seating engagement of the valve
therewith to provide ways g¹ for the ready passage of the liquid..
At its lower end, the block G is preferably concaved, as indicated at 92, and has an
undercut or lip g³, see Fig. 1, to retain a spring S, so as to make it easy to assemble the
parts and get the spring in correct position.
The spring S is spiral and rests within the valve D, over a guide post d¹, although
the latter may be omitted if desired, as shown in Fig. 9; in fact, the spring itself
may be omitted, if preferred, and this will be desirable in bottling acids or other
goods which would attack and eat away metal.
The lower end of the valve D is heavy to facilitate the perfect seating thereof.
The internal walls of the portions A and B and the ribs 62 are made slightly taper-
ing or conical with their shorter diameters at their closed ends, to permit the
moulding tools to be simple and to be easily withdrawn from the casting or moulded
product.
All the parts as above mentioned, excepting the spring are made readily and
practically of glass and in very simple inexpensive moulds; they may, of course, be
made of any other substance, if preferred, but one principal purpose of my invention
is to devise a stopper of such parts, and of parts having such shape, relations and
practical construction, that it may be made cheaply and entirely of glass.
The parts are assembled by inverting the portion A, dropping the annulus E against
the shoulder a, placing the stop F thereon, depositing the ball valve H on the
lugs f¹, and inserting the block G, the spring S, when used, being snapped into the
holding groove g³; the bottom edge of block G will then come flush with the adjacent
end of the cap portion A.
A washer as is then placed over the said flush edges, the valve D is turned over its
spring S, the base B screwed down into place, and the completely assembled stopper
is inverted into proper upright position ready for insertion into the bottle neck.
In order to aid in retaining the stopper and also for another purpose presently
described, I insert in the groove a³ a spring keeper K, Fig. 11, or K¹, Fig. 12, which
fits back snugly into the recess, and has resilient tongues k, k¹, projecting therefrom
to engage a registering recess m in the bottle.
The spring keeper K has a rectangular or enlarged bottom edge ², so that when the
tongues k are pressed in together by the insertion of the stopper into the neck of
the bottle there is yet remaining an appreciable pocket between the then parallel
front and rear portions of the keeper K before the former have snapped out into the
recess m, Fig. 1; and this space or pocket I fill with an explosive or fulminate k³,
preferably held by a wrapper of skin, oiled paper or other substance.
Similarly a pocket is formed in the spring K¹ by the lapping over of the tongues k¹,
the pocket being triangular instead of rectangular as in Fig. 1, and this pocket will
be filled with like explosive k³.

page_text: If, then, the parts being placed as shown in Fig. 1, anyone should attempt to
forcibly withdraw the stopper, the arms or k¹, as the case might be, would be
buckled forcibly against the explosive and the latter would thereby be exploded with
sufficient force to shatter the neck of the bottle.
Preferably the stopper will be cemented into the bottle neck, and in such case I
propose to employ as the explosive fulminate of mercury, so that if an acid should be
used to cut out the cement, it would explode the charge k³ immediately upon
reaching it.
Cork or other packing washers m¹, m³, are employed to prevent any accidental
access of moisture to the explosive.
It will be evident without further extended explanation that as the bottle is tipped
or inverted to pour out its contents the liquid will readily flow through the perforated
base around the valve D, into the recess g² and through the openings g and g¹ around
the stop f, thence into the cavity e¹, through the perforation e into the adjacent
chamber and finally out through the apertures a.
If any attempt should be made to refill the bottle, the latter being in an upright
position, it will be found to be impossible because the heavy valve D will positively
close the stopper, and if the bottle is immersed in an inverted position, the float
valve H would rise and effectually close the stopper.
The valve H will be made of cork, coated with paraffine or other wax not readily
attacked by the liquor or other contents of the bottle.
A usual cork N will be inserted over the stopper to seal the bottle for stripping
purposes.
I am aware that it has been heretofore proposed to provide car doors with percussion
alarms, giving audible notice of the surreptitious opening of the door, and I therefore
disclaim anything of that sort, my invention consisting of an explosive in a bottle, 80
placed between the stopper and the bottle neck that it will explode and shatter the
neck of the bottle whenever it is attempted to remove the stopper, the shattering of
the bottle neck being the object in view, irrespective of whether any alarm is given or
not.
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. A bottle stopper or means of closure, comprising a cap and a base, having their
opposite headed ends perforated, the latter to constitute a central valve seat and the
former to constitute an annular series of openings with a closed centre, said cap having an
internal shoulder slightly removed from its head, an annular piece resting on said
shoulder, concave on its underside and having a central opening out of register with
said series of openings, a stop piece engaging said annular piece and having a central
stop larger than the said central opening, a cylindrical block having a central tapered
valve seat, a float valve therein, and a gravity valve in said base, substantially as
described.
2. A bottle stopper or means of closure, comprising a cap having an external
flange a², a perforated outer end, an internal shoulder adjacent thereto, a'cylindrical
exterior, and a slightly tapering or conical interior; an annular piece, a stop, and a
valve block, resting successively against each other and occupying the space between
said shoulder and the inner end of said cap, said block having a tapering valve seat
and passage, a float valve therein, the lower end of said block having an undercut
portion to retain a spring, a spring therefor, a lower valve seat, and a valve therefor,
said valve being engaged by said spring, substantially as described.
3. The combination with a bottle stopper or means of closure and a bottle within
which said stopper is placed, of a pocket between the stopper and the bottle neck,
and an explosive therein capable of shattering the neck when exploded, substantially
as described.
4. The combination with a bottle stopper, of a pocket, an explosive therein, and a
spring adjacent and to act upon the explosive, and engaging the bottle, removal of

page_text: the stopper causing said spring to explode said explosive, substantially as
described.
5. The combination with a bottle stopper or means of closure and a bottle neck,
provided with registering recesses, of a spring fitting snugly in one of said recesses
and having a resilient tongue extending into the other recess, and an explosive in
.said recesses to be exploded by the action of said spring upon attempted removal of
the stopper, substantially as described.
6. The combination with a bottle, of a bottle stopper or means of closure, comprising
a cap having an external flange a³, and a perforated outer end, said flange being adapted
to rest on an internal shoulder provided in the bottle neck, a washer being pressed
between and by said flange and shoulder, an annular piece, a stop, and a valve block,
resting successively next to each other within said cap, and a valve within said block
operating between the same and said stop, the lower end of said block being flush
with the lower end of said cap, a base containing a valve and a valve seat at its lower
end, and at its upper end abutting the lower end of said cap, a washer on top of said
base covering the joint between said block and cap, and a washer at the lower end of
said base between the latter and the bottle neck, substantially as described.
Pattu
une 2011 day or rebruary 1050.
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 and 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.