An Improved Device for Preventing the Fraudulent Refilling of Bottles.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Sept., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 3rd Feb., 1898-Accepted, 28th May, 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Device for Preventing the Fraudulent Refilling
of Bottles.
We, GEORGE MONTAGUE BOWSER and GEORGE CHARLES WILLCOCKS, Contractors,
CHARLES SIGLEY, Accountant, and EDWARD GARLAND ABELL, Patent Attorney, all
of Queen Street, Brisbane, in the Colony of Queensland, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to an improved bottle closure its object being to prevent
the fraudulent use of bottles after being emptied of their original contents, of being
refilled with similar but inferior liquor and sold as the genuine article.
Our invention consists in fixing in the top of the bottle during the process of
manufacture a thin flat piece or strip of metal about 1 ins. long by 3/16 ins. wide
or two lengths of hard wire. The strip of metal being of such a nature that it
will only bend once without fracture, after the bottle is corked this strip is bent
over the cork at right angles and before the cork can be drawn must be removed,
in bending it back to obtain access to the cork it will break off leaving a small
piece in the neck of the bottle at once shewing that the bottle has been previously
used. If necessary the strip may be creased to insure its breaking off and the end
may be turned and pointed to penetrate the cork. The metal strip may be
stamped with the brand of the liquor and the cork can be sealed or capsuled in
the usual manner.
In cases where the strip standing up above the neck of the bottle would interfere
with the corking we use in lieu thereof a thin strip of spring steel which being
inserted in the neck of the bottle when hot becomes so tempered and ductile that
it can be turned down outside the neck, after the bottle is corked it is turned down
over the cork and at the angle we drop a small quantity of brine or muriatic or
other suitable acid that will eat into and oxidize the steel causing it to break when
raised from the cork.
For effervescent wines and gaseous liquids we use the wires which we fasten
together by twisting them over the cork, in untwisting them they will break and
be too short for further use, the broken ends remaining in the neck of the bottle,
at once proving the bottle to have been previously used.
In case of our invention requiring a special machine for corking this in itself
is a security against fraud, as no one without a special machine for corking could
cork bottles with our invention.
In our invention the means employed to prevent fraud are inexpensive, effective
and simple and do not destroy the bottle for other legitimate uses.
+
11007
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45. Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.

page_text: An Improved Device for Preventing the Fraudulent Refilling
of Bottles.
We, GEORGE MONTAGUE BOWSER and GEORGE CHARLES WILLCOCKS, Contractors,
CHARLES SIGLEY, Accountant, and EDWARD GARLAND ABELL, Patent Attorney, all
of Queen Street, Brisbane, in the Colony of Queensland, 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:-
Our invention relates to an improved bottle closure its object being to prevent
the fraudulent refilling of bottles after being emptied of their original contents,
with similar but inferior liquor and sold as the genuine article.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figure 1 is a section of the upper portion of a bottle.
Figure 2 is an elevation thereof.
Figure 3 is a plan of Figure 1 showing the closing device in its operative
position.
Figure 4 is a plan of Figure 2.
Figures 5 and 6 show details of the above mentioned closing device.
Figure 7 shows a section of a bottle with the closing device broken off, and
Figure 8 is a plan of Figure 7.
Our invention consists in fixing in the top of the bottle during the process of
manufacture a thin flat piece or strip of metal A about 1 ins. long by 3/16 ins.
wide as shewn in Figures 1 and 3, or two lengths of hard wire B and B¹
shown in Figures 2 and 4. The strip of metal being of such a nature that it will
only bend once without fracture, after the bottle is corked this strip A is bent
over the cork at right angles as shewn in plan in Fig. 3 and before the cork can be
drawn must be removed, in bending it back to obtain access to the cork it will
break off leaving a small piece in the neck of the bottle see Figure 7 at once:
showing that the bottle has been previously used. If necessary the strip A may
be creased as shown in Figures 5 and 6 to insure its breaking off and the end may
be turned and pointed to penetrate the cork. The metal strip A may be stamped
with the brand of the liquor and the cork can be sealed or capsuled in the usual
manner.
In cases where the strip A standing up above the neck of the bottle would interfere
with the corking we use in lieu thereof a thin strip of spring steel which being
inserted in the neck of the bottle when hot becomes so tempered and ductile that
it can be turned down outside the neck, after the bottle is corked it is turned down
over the cork and at the angle we drop a small quantity of brine or muriatic or
other suitable acid that will eat into and oxidize the steel causing it to break
when raised from the cork.
For effervescent wines and gaseous liquids we use the wires B and B as shewn
in Figures 2 and 4 which we fasten together by twisting them over the cork, in
untwisting them they will break and be too short for further use, the broken ends 4
remaining in the neck of the bottle, at once proving the bottle to have been
previously used.
In case of our invention requiring a special machine for corking this in itself
is a security against fraud, as no one without a special machine for corking could
cork bottles with our invention.
In our invention the means employed to prevent fraud are inexpensive, effective
and simple and do not destroy the bottle for other legitimate uses.
4

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:-
1. In an improved bottle closure a metal strip such as A fixed into the neck
of the bottle as herein described and illustrated in the drawing.
2. In an improved bottle closure two lengths of wire such as B and B¹ fixed into
the neck of the bottle as herein described and illustrated in the drawing.
D
1
J
AT L
1000
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.