IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BOTTLES,
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Woolley and George Herbert Woolley,
both of No. 12, Mark Lane, in the City of London, Wine Merchants,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BOTTLES,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Woolley and
George Herbert Woolley at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 29th April 1872.
We, CHARLES WOOLLEY and GEORGE HERBERT WOOLLEY, both of
No. 12, Mark Lane, in the City of London, Wine Merchants, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF BOTTLES, DECANTERS, AND OTHER SIMILAR VESSELS, AND MEANS FOR
CLOSING THE SAME," to be as follows:--
The ordinary mode of closing bottles and such other vessels as are
closed by means of corks is troublesome and inconvenient, involving as
it does considerable labour in inserting the said corks in and extracting

page_text: them from the necks of such vessels, besides which the corks are ren-
dered useless by the corkscrew used for their extraction and have to be
replaced by others, and in the case of bottles containing beer or other
fermented or gaseous liquor or liquids, the corks have to be secured in
the necks of such bottles by means of wire or string.
1-
In the case of decanters which are closed by means of glass stoppers
it is difficult to make such stoppers fit air-tight, and they often get fixed
in the necks of the decanters.
Now our Invention consists of the improved means herein-after
described for closing bottles and other vessels so as to supersede the use
of the corks or stoppers ordinarily used for that purpose, and obviate the
foregoing and other disadvantages.
We make the exterior of the neck of the bottle or vessel at the upper
part thereof of a cylindrical form, and preferably of less diameter than
the lower part of the said neck so as to form a shoulder thereon, and we
.make around the mouth of the said bottle or vessel a flange, the diameter
of which is slightly greater than that of the cylindrical part of the neck,
but less than that of the shoulder aforesaid, and we affix around or place
upon the cylindrical part a strip or fillet of cork, leather, or other suitable
elastic material, or an india-rubber ring, so as to form an elastic collar,
the said strip or the ring being of such thickness as to project beyond
the flange aforesaid, between which and the shoulder aforesaid the
elastic collar is held.
We make a cap of glass or other suitable material, the interior of
which cap is cylindrical and of such diameter as to allow the said cap to
pass easily over the flange aforesaid, and we fit the said cap tightly upon
the said elastic collar, and thereby securely close the mouth of the
bottle.
In constructing bottles for containing beer or other fermented or
gaseous liquor or liquids and caps for such bottles, we form lugs or pro-
jections on the cylindrical part of the neck of the bottle, and we make
in the cap and at the lower part thereof cross slots, or grooves, or flanges
(preferably inclined), so that when the said cap is fitted on the neck of
the bottle and turned through a partial revolution the grooves, slots, or
flanges in the said cap engage with the projections on the neck of the
said bottle after the manner of a bayonet joint, and hold the said cap
firmly in position. This arrangement may be reversed, i.e., the pro-
:

page_text: jections aforesaid may be made in the cap, the grooves, slots, or flanges,
with which such projections engage, being formed around the neck of
the bottle or vessel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Woolley and George Herbert Woolley in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 29th October 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
CHARLES WOOLLEY and GEORGE HERBERT WOOLLEY, both of No. 12,
Mark Lane, in the City of London, Wine Merchants, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Charles Woolley and George Herbert
Woolley, Her special license that we, the said Charles Woolley and
George Herbert Woolley, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said Charles Woolley and George Herbert
Woolley, our executors, administrators, and 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF BOTTLES, DECANTERS, AND OTHER SIMILAR
VESSELS, AND MEANS FOR CLOSING THE SAME," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Charles Woolley and George Herbert Woolley,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our,
or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or
them, 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.

page_text: "
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Charles Woolley and George
Herbert Woolley, 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 following statement thereof,
that is to say :—
The ordinary mode of closing bottles and such other vessels as are
closed by means of corks is troublesome and inconvenient, involving as
it does considerable labour in inserting the said corks in and extracting
them from the necks of such vessels, besides which the corks are
rendered useless by the corkscrew used for their extraction, and have to
be replaced by others.
In the case of decanters which are closed by means of glass stoppers
it is difficult to make such stoppers fit air-tight, and they often get fixed
in the necks of the decanters.
Now our Invention consists of the improved means herein-after
described for closing bottles and other vessels so as to supersede the use
of the corks or stoppers ordinarily used for that purpose, and to obviate
the foregoing and other disadvantages.
We make the exterior of the neck of the bottle or vessel at the upper
part thereof of a cylindrical form, and preferably of less diameter than
the lower part of the said neck so as to form a shoulder thereon, and we
make around the mouth of the said bottle or vessel a flange, the diameter
of which is slightly greater than that of the cylindrical part of the neck,
but less than that of the shoulder aforesaid, and we affix around or place
upon the cylindrical part a strip or fillet of cork, leather, or other suit-
able elastic substance, or an india-rubber ring, so as to form an elastic
collar, the said strip or the ring being of such thickness as to project
beyond the flange aforesaid, between which and the shoulder aforesaid
the elastic collar is held.
We make a cap of glass or other suitable material, the interior of
which cap is cylindrical and of such diameter as to allow the said cap
to pass easily over the flange aforesaid, and we fit the said cap tightly
upon the said elastic collar, and thereby securely close the mouth of the
bottle.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, we will proceed
to describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner
in which the same is to be performed.

page_text: Figures 1 and 2 represent in side elevation and vertical section,
respectively, the neck of a bottle made according to our Invention, and
the cap by means of which the said bottle is closed; Figure 3 is a
vertical section of the said cap.
A is the neck of the bottle or vessel, the upper part a' of which is
made of a cylindrical form, and preferably of less diameter than the
lower part of the said neck, so as to form a shoulder a³ thereon. Around
the mouth of the said bottle or vessel is formed a flange a³. B is a
fillet or strip of cork, leather, or other suitable elastic substance, or an
india-rubber ring which is fixed around or placed upon the part a' of the
neck, the said fillet or ring being of such thickness as to project beyond
the flange a³, between which and the shoulder a³ the said fillet or ring
is held. The said fillet or ring may however be affixed to the neck of
the bottle by means of any suitable cement, in which case the flange a'
may be dispensed with; O is a cylindrical cap of glass or other suitable
material which, when in position, fits tightly upon the fillet or ring B,
and thus securely closes the mouth of the bottle. Where a strip of cork
or leather is placed around the neck of the bottle the ends of such strip
should be cemented together.
•
In order to prevent any of the liquid in the bottle from passing
between the mouth thereof and the cap we prefer to make the under
side of the latter convex, as shown at c², and to form around the mouth
of the bottle a seat of corresponding form for this part of the cap to fit
against. The under side of the said cap may, however, be made flat, as
shown at Figure 4, which represents in vertical section a cap of this
form.
Where desirable a washer of cork, leather, or other clastic substance
may be fixed in this cap (as indicated by the dotted line) in order to
prevent any of the liquid in the bottle from passing between the mouth
thereof and the cap. A depression may be formed in the cap to
receive a seal.
Our Invention is applicable to bottles, decanters, jars, phials, and
other vessels having necks.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, we claim as our said Invention
the improvements in bottles, decanters, and other similar vessels, and
the means for closing the same, herein-before described and illustrated

page_text: in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, making the necks of such
vessels cylindrical externally, and fixing upon them strips, fillets, or
rings of cork, india-rubber, or other elastic substance, and closing the
said vessels by means of cylindrical caps fitting upon such strips, fillets,
or rings, essentially as described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Charles Woolley and George
Herbert Woolley, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
H. H. MURDOCH,
CHAS. WOOLLEY.
GEORGE HERBERT WOOLLEY.
7, Staple Inn,
London.
(L.S.)
(L.S.)