AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FILLING, AIR EXTRACTING, AND CORKING BOTTLES, FLAGONS, OR OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Paul Laffitte, Engineer, and Joseph Pia, Mecanician,
both of Paris (France), for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS
FOR FILLING, AIR EXTRACTING, AND CORKING BOTTLES, FLAGONS, OR OTHER
VESSELS"
Sealed the 3rd June 1879, and dated the 6th December 1878.
.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Paul Laffitte and Joseph
Pia at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 6th December 1878.
PAUL LAFFITTE, Engineer, and JOSEPH PIA, Mecanician, both of Paris (France).
"AN IMPROVED APPARATUS. FOR FILLING, AIR EXTRACTING, AND CORKING
BOTTLES, FLAGONS, OR OTHER VESSELS."
The object of this Invention is to effect the filling and the corking or stoppering
of bottles, as also the extraction of the air from between the liquid and the cork or
stopper, simultaneously, that is to say, by one and the same operation.
Our Invention consists therefore in combining these three operations in one
machine capable of filling all kinds of bottles, jars, or flagons with any liquid,
gaseous or not, with or without pressure, of corking or stoppering them with any
kind of cork or stopper, of forming a vacuum between the liquid and the cork or
stopper, and of sucking or drawing the liquid into the vessel to be filled by means
of a set of valves.
What we wish to claim as our Invention is the novel idea of combining the three
hereinbefore mentioned operations in one machine without limiting ourselves to the
particular mechanical parts, as it would be easy to change or modify these parts
without affecting the nature of our Invention.
We will now proceed to describe the machine we have devised, the parts of
which we may modify or vary.
The machine rests on a base forming a reservoir and serving as a support to two
vertical slides between which works an angle piece for supporting the vessel to be
filled.
The vessel is fixed to a support by a ratchet which enables it to take the required
height, and against which it is adjusted by a rod and nut.

page_text: A pedal pivoting on a bolt presses under the supporting piece and raises it as
well as the angle piece affixed to it, the latter raising or lowering the bottle or
vessel.
This latter presses against a washer of caoutchouc forming joint with it.
A socket turns by a key in a box júst in the same way as an ordinary cock. The
interior of the socket is partly cylindrical and partly cylindro-conical, so that the
force brought to bear on the cork or stopper is less than with a socket wholly
cylindro-conical. In the thickness of the socket an orifice is formed which allows
the liquid to arrive by a tube (which is in communication with the receiver to be
emptied) and then into the bottle.
The air contained in the bottle is driven out by the liquid as it enters, and escapes
by an air hole formed in the socket, which after passing through the box terminates
in a tube communicating with the body of the pump in which moves a piston worked
by a rod and handle.
In this manner the liquid is introduced at will into the bottle or vessel through
the opening and closing of the orifice by turning a key. When the bottle is full
the orifice is closed, the cork or stopper is placed in the socket and is driven in by a
rod and lever.
Before driving the cork into the bottle the air contained between the liquid and
the cork is sucked or withdrawn by the pump by raising the piston. A vacuum
being thus formed the cork is driven into the bottle, which is thus filled, corked, and
freed from air by one and the same machine.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Paul Laffitte and Joseph Pia in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th June 1879.
PAUL LAFFITTE, Engineer, and JOSEPH PIA, Mecanician, .both of Paris (France).
"AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FILLING, AIR EXTRACTING, AND CORKING
BOTTLES, FLAGONS, OR OTHER VESSELS."
The object of this Invention is to effect the filling and the corking or stoppering
of bottles or other vessels, as also the extraction of the air from between the liquid
and the cork or stopper simultaneously, that is to say, by one and the same
operation.
Our Invention consists therefore in combining these three operations in one
machine capable of filling all kinds of bottles, jars, or flagons with any liquid,
gaseous or not, with or without pressure; of corking or stoppering them with any
kind of cork or stopper, of forming a vacuum between the liquid and the cork or
stopper, and of sucking or drawing the liquid into the vessel to be filled by means
of a set of valves.
What we wish to claim as our Invention is the novel idea of combining the throe
hereinbefore mentioned operations in one machine without limiting ourselves to the
particular mechanical parts, as it would be easy to change or modify these parts
without affecting the nature of our Invention.
We will now proceed to describe the machine we have devised, the parts of which
we may modify or vary.
The machine, shown in elevation and part section on Figure 1 of the annexed
Drawings, rests on a base A forming a reservoir and serving as a support at C to
two vertical slides B between which works the angle piece D, D, for supporting the
vessel to be filled. The vessel is fixed to the piece F by the ratchet E which enables
it to take the required height, and against which it is adjusted by the rod G and
handle and nut H.
The pedal I pivoting on the bolt J presses at K, K¹, under the supporting piece F
and raises it as well as the angle piece, D, D, affixed to it, the latter raising or
lowering the bottle or vessel. This latter presses at L against a washer of caoutchouc
forming joint with it.
The socket M turns by the key N in the box O just in the same way as an
ordinary cock. The interior of the socket is cylindrical from P to P, and cylindro-
conical from P' to P", so that the force brought to bear on the cork or stopper is
less than with a socket wholly cylindro-conical.
In the thickness of the socket M an orifice R, R', is formed which allows the
liquid to arrive by the tube S (which is in communication with the vessel to be
emptied) and then into the bottle. The air contained in the bottle is driven out by
the liquid as it enters, and escapes by an air hole formed in the socket M at U, which
after passing through the box O terminates in the tube V, VI, V, communicating
with the body of the pump X in which moves the piston Y worked by a rod and
handle Z. In this manner the liquid is introduced at will into the bottle or vessel
through the opening and closing of the orifice R, R', by turning the key N. When
the bottle is full the orifice R is closed, the cork or stopper is placed in the socket P
and is driven in by the rod a and lever b.
Before driving the cork into the bottle the air contained between the liquid and
the cork is sucked or withdrawn by the pump X by raising the piston Y by the
rod Z. A vacuum being thus formed the cork is driven into the bottle, which is
thus filled, corked, and freed from air by one and the same machine.
The various constituent parts of this machine may be modified by giving them
any other vertical or inclined position, and we may also modify certain parts and
vary their shapes, dimensions, or materials.

page_text: In Sheet 2 are shown some improvements or modifications of our machine which
consist of the following points:-
First. Giving motion to the machine (Figure 1) which pivoting around the
point A may be inclined to any angle for filling and corking.
Second. A new method of corking by laterally compressing and then vertically
driving the cork or other stopper by means of an inclined plane B sliding on rollers
(Figures 1 and 5) permitting a new and shorter socket or box (Figures 2 and 3) for
the cork to be used having an air hole and conduit for the liquid and reducing the
length of stroke of the driving rod.
Third. The substitution of compressed air or water for the driving rod in corking
bottles or other vessels. The air or water is compressed in a pump barrel A
(Figure 4) by the piston B and acts on a membrane C of caoutchouc or other
material which is thereby distended or inflated, and acting directly on the cork or
stopper D drives the latter at will into the socket and then into the bottle or other
vessel.
The said pump may be fitted directly on to the socket and held by means of a
clasp and spanner E, F, or by any other means, or it may be placed in any other
position or form part of any other combination, the pressure from the compressed
air or water being in this case transmitted by suitable tubing to the membrane C.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim,-
First. As a distinctive feature of our Invention combining in one machine the
three operations of filling, air extracting, and corking bottles, flagons, and other
vessels, as above described.
Secondly. We claim the machine we have specially constructed for this
purpose.
Thirdly. We claim the modifications shown in Sheet 2 of the annexed
Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Paul Laffitte and Joseph Pia, have hereunto
set our hands and seals, this Fourth day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and seventy nine.
Witness,
JULES ARMENGAUD, jeune,
of Paris, Boulevard de Strasbourg,
Civil Engineer.
P. LAFFITTE. (L.S.)
JOSEPH PIA. (L.S.)