Year: 1887

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by CHARLES DE QUILLFELDT, of New York, in the
County and State of New York, United States of America, Manufacturer.]
T, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 323 High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
M.I.ME. 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:
This invention relates to bottle-stoppers of that class in which the stopper itself is
hollow and provided, interiorly, with a valve tightening against a seat in the said stopper
by the gaseous pressure from a charged beverage in the bottle. In such stoppers, the
bottles are charged through the valve-opening in the said stopper, without taking the
stopper out of the bottle neck; but the stopper, with the valve in it) is removed from
the aperture in the bottle-neck, when it is desired to pour the liquid out of the bottle.
|In all such stoppers, as heretofore constructed, there is always a considerable space
or hollow left above the valve in which dust, dirt, even dead flies etc. lodges, which,
when the valve gets away from its seat owing to the cessation of pressure in
emptying a bottle, comes further down into the stopper, and in re-filling the hottle
(unless special care is taken to clean the stopper) enters into the liquid or beverage.
The present improvement is made for the purpose of over coming the said objection,
and also for producing a stopper of the aforesaid class of much neater and simpler
construction than those heretofore made.
The improvement consists in the construction and combination of the various parts,
as will be hereinafter described and specifically pointed out in the claims, reference
being had to the accompanying drawing, in which: Fig. 1 represents a side view of
the bottle-neck provided with this improved stopper, the stopper and a portion of the
neck being broken out in central section.
Fig. 2 is a detail horizontal section on the line a. of Fig. 1 looking downward,
and showing the manner in which the bail is secured to the cap.
Figs. 3&4 are under-side views of the cap, or stopper proper, by itself, and
showing two modifications of the device by which the valve is retained within, the
stopper. A is the cap, preferably made of fin, and secured upon the wire-bail (by
P871

page_text: being cast upon it. The cap has a cylindrical vertical perforation a; and in order noi.
to interfere with the said perforation the wire C is bent semi circularly around the
perforation and imbedded in the casting of the metal, as shown in Fig. 2.
The cap A is provided, on the outside, with threads which fit corresponding
threads in the bottle-neck B and the part of the stopper above the threads and below
the flange of the cap is surrounded by a ring E which, when the stopper is screwed
home, forms a packing between the cap and the bottle-mouth.
The stopper is permanently attached to the bottle-neck by having the lower ends of
the bail beni inward and pivoted to opposite sides of the band D, which is free to slide
and turn upon the bottle-neck B. F is the valve of rubber or other elastic material,
preferably a ball-valve, as shown, though a sliding valve grooved longitudinally on its
Surface and suitable to close against the valve-seat, may be used.
In casting the cap A the hollow portion a is made cylindrical, clear through the cap,
so that the opening at the upper end is just as large as its inner diameter; but, after
the valve is inserted, the upper end is abruptly contracted in dies at m, so as to
form a small opening & surrounded by a thin edge, which elge forms a seat for the
ball-valve. To allow the liquid to pass through the stopper and into the bottle while
retaining the valve F within the stopper, the lower end of the latter is provided with
stops, pins or projections formed in the casting; these may be one or more in
number. If only one it should consist of a bar like that in Fig. 4, which runs
diametrically across the lower end of the opening a; if more than one they should
be made as in Fig. 3 in which four of them are shown, which only project inward
from the circumference sufficiently to retain the valve F. The modification of the
stops shown in Fig. 3. has the advantage above that in Fig. 4, that, if it is desired to
iake out the ball-valve to replace it with a new one, the stops, (being of soft metal)
may be bent down so as to allow of the removing of the valve, and bent back again
after the new valve has been inserted.
It is evident that the opening a may be of any other shape than cylindrical (though
the latter is much preferred) so long as its area of cross-section is larger than that of
the valve, and so long as it is adapted to be formed into a valve-seat at the extreme
upper end, as shown in Fig. 1. A reference to the said figure will show that, when
the valve is closed, its outer surface is flush with the upper surface of the cap above
the valve-seat, leaving no cavity or pocket for dirt etc. to lodge in.
It is evident that the interior construction of the stopper, the valve and valve-seat
is adapted to all kinds of bottle-stoppers which may be faken off from the mouth
of the bottle whether or not permanently attached by a band or otherwise to the
bottle-neck.
t
The cap is provided with two threads, preferably of only one turn each, and, inde-
pendent of and parallel with each other; and the portion e between the threaded part and
the flanged is slightly reduced in diameter to form a shoulder just above the threads,
and is thence gradually increasing in diameter, preferably not conical, but bell-shaped
or trumpet like, until it coincides with the edge of the cap-flange d. The neck of the
bottle has double threads corresponding to the threads of the cap or stopper, and, the
mouth above the threads, is smooth and flaring, from the bottom of the thread, in
shape correspondent to the portion of the cap A. The portion e of the cap, from
the shoulder o to the flange d is surrounded by the aforesaid packing-ring E which,
when the stopper is screwed home, fills the flaring annular space between the portions e
and the bottle-mouth and tightly seals the bottle. It will be seen that by this
construction the cap not only compresses the packing E endwise but expands it also
sidewise, or laterally, in every part of its circumference, against the bell mouth of
the bottle-neck, and thus insures a tight fit of the stopper, even though the upper edge
of the bottle-neck may be chipped or disintegrated. The double threads afford the
obviously great advantage (particularly when the task of corking thousands of bottles
is taken into, consideration) that the threads take hold at once, generally requiring
only of a furn, and, even in the most unfavourable position, not requiring more
than of a turn to tighten the stopper; and thus never requiring to change the
hold of one's hands in screwing home the stopper,

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent and in what manner the same is
to be performed I declare that what I claim is :—
1st. A hollow bottle-stopper of soft metal entering the bottle neck and provided
with inward projections cast thereon and flexible, to admit of retaining within or
removing from the hollow portion, a valve movable outward by gaseous pressure from
within the bottle, and having at the extreme outer end of the hollow portion an abrupi
contraction forming a seat in combination with a valve for the purpose set forth.
2nd. A hollow bottle-stopper entering the bottle-neck and having in the hollow
portion a valve-seat and valve and one or more stops for retaining the said valve, in
combination with a bail Chaving a circular bende by which it is imbedded and
secured in the casting between the inner and outer circumference of the said stopper,
said bail being permanently attached to the bottle-neck.
al
3rd. A hollow swing-stopper having, externally, threads fitting corresponding
internal threads in the bottle-neck, and the ring E above the said threads, forming
packing between the stopper and neck, and having also at the extreme outer end of the
hollow portion, an abrupt contraction serving as valve-seat, and, at the inner end,
flexible projections serving as stops, and having also ball-valve F retained between
the said seat and stops, substantially as specified.
4th. A threaded swing stopper pivoted to the bottle-neck and having shoulder o,
flange d rigid with the swing-bail, and flaring or bell-shaped portion e between the
said shoulder and flange and a ring E surrounding the said flaring portion, in
combination with a correspondingly threaded bottle having bell-shaped mouth serving
as seat for the said ring.
5th. A swing stopper having, externally, double threads fitting corresponding
double internal threads in the bottle-neck and having ring E above the said threads
forming a packing between the stopper and neck substantially as specified.