IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPING BOTTLES AND IN DRAWING OFF AERATED OR OTHER LIQUIDS CONTAINED THEREIN
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, of
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, and 89, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris,
Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPING BOTTLES
AND IN DRAWING OFF AERATED OR OTHER LIQUIDS CONTAINED THEREIN." -A
communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Armand le Comte
de Fontaine Moreau at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 3rd July 1854.
I, PETER ARMAND le Comte DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of 4, South Street, Fins-
bury, London, & 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, Patent Agent, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPING BOTTLES
AND IN DRAWING OFF AERATED OR OTHER LIQUIDS CONTAINED THEREN" to be as
follows:-
The Invention communicated to me consists in the improved mode of
stoppering bottles containing aërated or other liquids, and in drawing off
the same therefrom. The neck of the bottle, which may be made of glass
or stone, and of any desired form, is provided with two projecting fillets
slightly apart from each other, as shewn in Figure 1 of the accompanying
Drawing. In the space between the two fillets I place a threaded ferrule or
ring formed of two parts, (Figures 2 & 4,) (the threads correspond exactly

page_text: with each other). The ferrule may be attached by means of cement or
plaster employed in a cold state. A capsule (Figure 3) is screwed on the
ferrule, the bottom of the capsule being furnished with a washer of cork,
leather, caoutchouc, or gutta percha, &c. The capsule may be composed of
two parts; the threaded piece, and the bottom which goes inside, as seen at
Figure 3 a. For adapting the syphon for drawing off or decanting the liquids,
it is screwed to the bottom of the capsule, which is provided with a thread, as
seen at Figure 5; or the capsule may form part of the syphon, as shewn in
Figure 6
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau in the Great
Scal Patent Office on the 3rd January 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
ARMAND le Comte DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of 4, South Street, Finsbury,
London, and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS IIer most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of IIer
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, Ier special license that I,
the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, ny executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Peter Armand le Comte
de Fontaine Moreau, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN STOPPING BOTTLES AND IN DRAWING OFF AERATED OR OTHER LIQUID3 CONTAINED
THEREIN, communicated to me by a foreigner residing abroad, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine
Moreau, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine
Moreau, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
The improvements consist, firstly, in certain arrangements for replacing the
cork, which is porous and permeable, and the glass stopper, which is expensive
and often difficult to withdraw.
Secondly, in modifying and strengthening the metallic stoppers of bottles.
Thirdly, in a new mode of constructing apparatus for producing gaseous liquids.
In general the metallic stoppers for closing bottles consists of an upper
stopper, which is adjusted into a lower metallic contrivance disposed for
receiving it. This lower contrivance is commonly fixed to the neck of the
bottle with a fatty or resinous mastic, or by the compression of the metal
against the sides of the neck of the bottle. One of the great objects of this
Invention is to obviate the employment of these processes, which involve great
inconvenience in practice. This object is attained by applying to and fixing a
moveable metallic screw-threaded ring upon the neck of the bottle, and effect-
ing the hermetic closing of the same by means of a suitable screw-threaded
cap applied thereon. The following is the mode of operating, reference being
had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the Figures marked thereon,
which shew the various organs of the natural size, except Figure 20, which is
drawn to the scale of one-tenth.
Figures 1 and 3 represent the neck of a glass bottle having two parallel
rims B and C, made by known processes. The body of the bottle may be of
any form, and made of glass, stoneware, porcelain, or other material. In the
space D, between the two rings B and C, a metal ring with a screw thread is
adjusted; it is made of two segments of a circle E, F, Figuro 2, which join
perfectly, as seen in Figure 3.
This ring is cast in one piece in the ordinary way, and then cut in two pieces,
or only cut in one place, as shewn at R', Figure 6. It may be free, or fixed
to the neck of the bottle with plaster or hydraulic cement, putty, or any other
mastic not fusible by heat. In order to retain the cement, if thought necessary,
a cavity of the required size may be made in the interior of the ring E. F.
The ring may also be fixed without the aid of cement, by means of a piece of
tin engaged in a cavity made in the lower rim B. The external screw of the
cap G, H, Figure 4, is introduced in the external screw of the ring E, F.
In the bottom I. of this cap G, H, is a cavity, in which is set a washer K,
Figure 4, of cork, gutta percha, or vulcanised caoutchouc, leather, or other
suitable elastic material. To render the stopping more hermetic, the bottom
of the cap G, H, may be made of a separate piece, L, M, N, Figure 5, cast
separately, and joined to the other part by means of a rivet O, O, or other

page_text: suitable means. The piece L, M, N, is slightly moveable or free to allow the
cap G, H, to turn round; it has also a square head P, which serves to press it
and hold it down, by means of a machine or by a key, to facilitate the screwing
on of the cap G, H. The piece L, M, N, has a hollow part for the reception
of a washer K, of cork, gutta percha, vulcanised caoutchouc, or other suitable
elastic substance, which, being sufficiently pressed by the screwing on of the cap
G, H, upon the upper part of the bottle; effects a hermetic closing.
Figure 6 represents a ring with an external screw thread cast in one piece
and sawed in one place, as shewn at R': This ring has on the lower and outer
side a projecting milled edge R, R, Figure 7, which allows it to be handled and
kept in its place while screwing on the stopper; it has also a projecting edge
T, Figure 6 and 8, on the inside, which occupies the empty space between the
rings B and C, Figure 1. The space in this case is much less high and less
deep than shewn in Figure 1, and only sufficiently large to admit the part T,
and allow the free rotation of the ring E, F, round the neck of the bottle.
The ring E, F, may be fixed by. means of catches. to the.rim B.
Figure 7 represents the neck of a bottle with. a ring cut in one place, as
herein-before described, disposed to receive a cap, similar to that shewn in
Figures 4 and 5, or a sypbon, as in Figure 13, of an apparatus similar to that
generally employed for seltzer or soda water bottles. The screw X is then
arranged in the inside of a cap, so that it may be screwed upon the
ring E, F, Figure 7.
Figure 8 shews the ring E, F, cut in one place R', Figure 6, and having at
its extremities two ears S, S, of similar diameter. This ring is fitted with the
stopper G, H, haying, an internal screw thread, a milled rim U, U, and two
perpendicular ears V, V, allowing it to be screwed on by the hand. In place
of screwing the syphon direct upon the ring E, F, it can be set more
surely and more hermetically by the medium of the contrivance shown in
Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.
The arrangement E, F, Figure 9, is fixed by means of putty or cement,
as herein-before described, between the two rims B and C. A washer of
vulcanised india-rubber, Q, Figure 10, is fitted upon the upper part of the
neck of the bottle. I set the piece of tin with an internal screw thread
N', O, P, Figure 11, above, and then apply the cap, with holes G, H,
Figure 12. This being done, the whole is then submitted to the action of a
screw or lever press,, for, the purpose of strongly coupressing the india-rubber
washer Q, and thus facilitating the screwing of the cap G, H, with the ring
E, F, Figures 9 and 14, and consequently effect the liermetic stopping of the
bottle..

page_text: Figure 14 represents the same system with the syphon, Figure 13, screwed
upon the piece N¹, O', Figures 11 and 12. To effect surely the hermetic stop-
ping, the concealed part of the base of the syphon has a cavity above the screw
thread, shewn by dotted lines, in which is placed a washer of gutta percha or
leather. The syphon W, Figure 18; differs from those which are generally
used only by the button Y, which is placed opposite to the emptying tube Z;
and also that the button Y and the tube Z form a handle, either for shutting the
vessel or for carrying it more conveniently. X' is the upper part of the tube
inserted in the bottle, through which the gascous liquid flows when the button
X is pressed by the hand.
Figuré 15 represents a portable apparatus for making artificial seltzer water,
upon the common principle of filling the vessel by one opening only, which is
improved upon as follows:-:
A¹ is the lower recipient, in which the water to be aerated is first poured;
A is the upper recipient, in which the gaseous powders are introduced. These
two recipients are made of one piece of glass, and communicate by means of a
glass tube a, ground at the lower part a'. b, b, is a tube of pure tin, with a
perforated bottom c, c, and a small neck d, d, in which a washer of vulcanised
india-rubber is set for closing hermetically the upper part of the tube a; e, e, is
a tube, with a shoulder of pure tin, which supports the above-mentioned parts,
and which is soldered or screwed at f; g is the thread of a screw in the picce
f" which forms a shouldering; h is the screw thread in the lower part of the
syphon W; I is a moveable tin washer; K, K, a vulcanised india-rubber washer;
1, a tin ring, a little lower than the india-rubber washer K, K; m, a tin piston,
with a cavity to receive an 'india-rubber washer », which shuts the emptying
tube Z, and prevents the escape of the gaseous liquid; it has two catches to
prevent its turning.. O is a depressing screw of tinned copper with three
worms; it is fastened to the piston m by means of a rivet p, and, by the intro-
duction of a metallic piece with an external flange X, soldered to the piston m.
g is an india-rubber tube covering the pression screw O; one of the ends is held
by a moveable button r, of tin, and the other end is strongly tied at S. This
india-rubber tube 9 prevents the gaseous liquid from escaping when it is com-
pressed at 1 by means of the nut screw t. u is a glass or tin tube through which
the gascous liquid flows when the depressing screw O is loosened. The appa-
ratus has also a ring E, F, for closing it, similar to that described at Figure 6,
with a milled edge R. The screw cap G, H, is adjusted upon the syphon W.
To close the apparatus it is necessary to proceed as follows:-First, the screw
cap G, H, is screwed up by turning the syphon upon the ring E, F, which is
held by the hand until some resistance is found, when the ring E, F, and the

page_text: screw cap G, H, are both turned together. This operation has the effect of
compressing the india-rubber washer K against the interior surface of the
neck, and thereby close hermetically the opening of the apparatus.
Figure 16 shews the water poured into the lower recipient A', Figure 15,
by means of a funnel I, which has upon its conical part three cavities or
depressions 2, Figure 17, which permit the air to escape.
Figure 18 represents another arrangement of funnel 3, of about 2 inches in
height, for pouring the powders into the upper recipient A. 4 is a tin cone
for stopping the end of the tube a, to prevent the powders from falling into the
lower recipient A¹. It is attached to the funnel 3 by means of rods of tinned
copper wire 5. 6 is a central wire, upon which is fitted an india-rubber
washer, which assists in closing the glass tube a.
Figure 19 shews a similar hermetic closing to that described at Figure 15,
with the exception of an alteration made in the screw ring E, F, which has
three cleats E, F, of the form of a wedge, set at equal distances apart,
and which lock with three other wedges 9', 9', upon the interior of the screw
cap G, H.
Figure 20 is the representation, reduced to one-tenth of its size, of an appa-
ratus combining all the closing organs, herein-before described, but operating
inversely. The water is placed in the upper recipient A', and the powders in
the lower recipient A, by means of an opening in the foot of the apparatus by
reversing it. The closing of this orifice is effected with a stopper, similar to
Figure 5, and the syphon is similar to Figures 13 and 14; it is permanently
fixed upon the neck of the bottle.
The communication between the two recipients A¹ and A is effected by means
of a glass tube a, Figure 15, which only serves for the introduction of water
into the vessel A'; it receives another glass tube u in its interior, much smaller
than the first, and provided at its lower end with a perforated funnel, attached
to the stopper of the opening by a central rod y of tinned copper wire. This
funnel closes hermetically the large tube a; but by means of holes made
around it, the water which is in the upper recipient A¹ may be made to
descend by inclined a little the apparatus, when the water moistens the
powders enclosed in the lower recipient A, and the carbonic acid gas
disengaged passes through the holes of the funnel and the small interior
tube u, and saturates the water, which is drawn off in the ordinary manner.
And having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise details herein laid down, so long as the peculiar feature
of the Invention be retained; but what I claim is,-

page_text: First, the manufacture of glass bottles or vessels of any form and material
for containing gaseous, volatile, or other liquids, with two rims on the neck, at
a variable distance apart, and placing between the said rims a metallic ring
provided externally with a screw thread or cleats, as herein-before described
and referred to in Figures 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 15, 16, 18, and 19.
Secondly, the contrivance for fixing the said ring, as herein-before described
and referred to in Figures 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14.
Thirdly, the construction of a screw cap composed of one or two distinct
parts for fitting upon the said metallic ring and closing the vessel hermetically,
as herein-before described and referred to in Figures 4 and 5.
Fourthly, the employment of a glass apparatus made of one piece, having
one opening, by which the water and the gas-generating powders are introduced,
without any metallic substance being in contact with the liquid, and closed
hermetically by means of a moveable screw, as herein-before described and
referred to in Figures 14, 15, and 20.
Fifthly, the peculiar arrangement of the syphon of apparatus for producing
aerated liquids, as herein before described and referred to in Figure 15.
Sixthly, the peculiar construction of a funnel for introducing water into the
lower recipient, as herein-before described and referred to in Figures 16 and 17.
Seventhly, the construction of a funnel for introducing the powders into the
upper recipient, as hercin-before described and referred to in Figure 18.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine
Moreau, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Second day of
January, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-five.
L' DE FONTAINE MOREAU. (L.S.)
L DE FONTAINE MOREAU. (L.S.)