Improvements in Apparatus for Closing Vessels for the Preservation of Alimentary and other Substances.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Apr., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 12th Jan., 1892-Accepted, 26th Mar., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Closing Vessels for the Preservation
of Alimentary and other Substances.
I GEORGE BATHGATE, 7 Bolton Studios. Redcliffe Road, London, S.W. Artist
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
For the preservation of alimentary and other substances enclosed in vessels this
invention has for its object the adaptation of means by which the air may be
exhausted therefrom immediately before corking, stoppering, soldering or closing
down. By the present method of closing bottles with corks the air within the
bottle becomes artificially compressed and various means have been devised for
lessening this compressure such as the well known method of corking with a needle
attachment. The object of this invention is to convert this air space in bottle-
and similarly closed vessels into a vacuum or partial vacuum.
When applied to botties closed with corks an addition is made to the corking
machine of an air pump and vacuum chamber with a connection communicating from
the vacuum chamber to the corking tube. A lever or handle operates not only the
plunger which forces the cork into the bottle, but also the air pump which exhausts
the vacuum chamber. The vacuum chamber may thus be exhausted preparatory
to corking and the exhaustion maintained during the operation of corking. Both
ends of the corking tube are made air tight, above by the insertion of the cork and
below by the pressure of the mouth of the bottle on a rubber or similarly cushioned
ucket. The communication between the vacuum chamber and corking tube is then
opened in such a manner and by such apparatus that the air within the bottle to
be exhausted is brought under the influence of the vacuum chamber immediately
preceding the final operation of driving the cork through the corking tube into the
neck of the bottle. This apparatus however admits of modifications. The air
pump and vacuum chamber may not necessarily form an immediate part of the
corking machine. The apparatus for exhausting, and the apparatus for corking
the bottle, may be separate from and independent of each other and only connected
by the pipe communicating from the vacuum chamber to the corking tube. The
reciprocating motion of the cork plunger, and the reciprocating motion of the air
pump may thus be communicated by hand or power, together and by the same
means, or separately.
The apparatus for exhausting or rarefying the air in vessels, whether applied to
bottles and jars corked in racuo, or to bottles and jars stoppered in racuo, or to
tins soldered in racuo may be the same; but the apparatus for closing said vessels
after they have been subjected to the influence of the vacuum chamber is necessarily
modified and adapted to the requirements of the material employed for the purpose
of closing.
Dad this Flyouth day of April 1891
GEORGE BATHGATE.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Closing Vessels for the Preservation
of Alimentary and other Substances.
I GEORGE BATHGATE of No. 7 Bolton Studios, Redcliffe Road, London in the
County of Middlesex Artist 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 improvements in apparatus for corking or stoppering
bottles or jars, combined with apparatus for exhausting the air from such bottles or
jars when filled and immediately before corking or stoppering the same.
Such apparatus when constructed for exhausting the air from bottles or jars
filled with alimentary or other substances and then immediately corking the same
consists of a vacuum pump, or a vacuum pump and vacuum chamber, having a
pipe or other suitable channel connecting the cylinder of the vacuum pump, or the
interior of the vacuum chamber, with the corking tube of a corking machine, at a
point below the cork compressor; the construction and arrangement of the parts
being such that the lever or handle which operates the cork compressor and the
corking rod to force the cork into the bottle, also operates the piston of the vacumm
pump which exhausts the vacuum chamber or exhausts the air directly from the
filled bottle or jar at the moment before the cork is driven into its place in the
neck of the bottle or jar under treatment.
When a vacuum chamber is interposed between the vacuum pump and the corking
apparatus the said chamber may be exhausted by means of the air pump preparatory
to corking and the required vacuum be thereafter maintained by the operation of
the vacuum pump concurrently with the subsequent corking operations and by
additional strokes of the pump piston at intervals as may be required.
Both ends of the corking tube are made air-tight-above, by the insertion of the
compressed cork and below by the pressure of the mouth of the bottle or jar on a
suitable elastic cushion.
The communication between the vacuum chamber or the cylinder of the vacumi
pump and the corking tube is then opened by means of apparatus hereinafter
described, in such a manner that the air within the filled bottle or jar to be
exhausted is brought under the influence of the vacuum chamber or the vacuum
pump immediately preceding the final operation of driving the cork through the
corking tube into the neck of the bottle or jar.
The apparatus for exhausting or rarefying the air from bottles and jars remains
the same for all forms of corked or otherwise stoppered bottles or jars but the
apparatus for closing such vessels after they have been subjected to the influence
of the vacuum chamber or vacuum pump is necessarily modified and adapted
to the varying requirements according to the various kinds of stoppered bottles or
jars employed.
In the accompanying drawings in all the figures of which the same or like part-
are indicated by the same reference letter,
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of the combined exhausting and stoppering
apparatus.
Figure 2 is a section of Figane I taken at the lin 7%.
Figure 3 is a sectional view in detail of a hinged flexible cushion adapted for
bottles to be stoppered with stoppers having had greater in diameter than the
bottle necks.
Figure 4 is a side elevation partly in section showing the combined exhausting
and stoppering apparatus as applied for stoppering bottles with corks.
Figure 5 is a plan in section taken upon the line ed in Figure 4 the three way
cock N being omitted.
Figure 6 shows in detail the arrangement of the gearing adapted to depress the

page_text: corking plunger 2 by two stages first for compressing the cork and closing hermeti-
cally the upper end of the cork tube d and secondly for further driving the cork into
the bottle neck.
Figure 7 is a front elevation of the combined exhausting and stoppering
pparatus mounted upon a Vaata chamber and provided with a three way
cock N.
Figures 8 and 9 are detail views of the three way cock N.
Figure 10 is a front elevation partly in section of the combined exhausting and
-toppering apparatus adapted for stoppering screw stoppered bottles operating the
-topper rod and the three way cock automatically.
Figure 11 shows in detail the arrangement of the gearing adapted to operate
automatically the piston of the vacuum pump, the stopper rod, imparting also
thereto the necessary rotary movement for screwing the stopper into the bottle neck
and the plug of the three way cock.
Figure 12 shows in detail the course of the trapped cam path for operating the
plug of the three way cock and
Figure 13 shows in detail the crown wheel and pinion employed for rotating the
-crew stopper rod.
Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings the stopper chamber C is conveniently
secured to the cylinder A of a vacuum pump. The aperture (brings the interior
of the stopper chamber C into communication with the interior of the cylinder A.
The piston rod a of the vacuum pump and the stoppering rod are toothed at
their upper extremities and between these rods a and is placed the irregularly
toothed wheel D. The frame or casting E with the enclosing guide plate El are
conveniently secured to the cover of the cylinder A and bolted together so that
they enclose the toothed wheel D and forin at the same time suitable guides for
the piston rod a and the stoppering rod. The axle of the wheel D is fitted
through a projecting part of the casting E, as clearly shown at Figure 2 and at
the end a suitable handle and lever Fare provided by which the combined exhausting
and stoppering apparatus is operated. The stoppering rod passes through a
Stuffing box and at its base is connected an ordinary stopper gripping device or
topper holder G which is free to move upwards and downwards in the stoppering
tube ('.
The lower end of the stoppering chamber may be made air-tight in several
ways. When the diameter of the head of the stopper is greater than that of the
bottle neck a rubber or other elastic cushion is provided at the lower end of
the stopper chamber and the bottle to be stoppered is provided with a removable
rubber cap of conical shape so that the neck of the bottle so furnished (as shown
in dotted lines in Figure 1) is pressed against the said cushion L' and the joint i-
thereby made air-tight. A similar result may be attained by means of an elastic
cushion L divided into two or more parts (preferably four parts) and hinged to the
sides of the stopper chamber (so that the parts hang normally closed as shown in
Figures 3 and 10. Thus when a bottle is pressed against the divided cushion L the
parts are compressed together and make the joint air-tight and when the operation
has been completed the several parts of the cushion I open outwards to allow the
topper to pass without resistance when the bottle is being withdrawn from the
machine.
The stoppering tube thus made air-tight at both ends, the operation of the machine
is as follows:-By pulling forward the lever F the toothed wheel D is actuated
and the piston immediately begins to ascend in the cylinder A causing a vacuum
therein which exhausts the air from the bottle through the aperture (". This goes
on until the toothed portion of the wheel D comes round to the stoppering rod &
causing the stopper to descend and close the bottle. The bottle is then removed
and another stopper inserted in the stopper holder (when the return motion of the
lever F brings the stopper into position at the top of the stopper chamber ( ready
for the next operation.
The machine may be always brought back to its normal position by a spring H

page_text: coiled round the projecting portion of the frame E one end of the spring being
secured to the frame E and the other end to the lever F.
"
The last tooth on the piston rod a and stoppering rod is preferably provided
with a roller so that when not in gear with the toothed portion of the wheel D
the rods a and bare supported by the rollers bearing upon the blank portion of
the wheel D the radius of which exceeds that of the base of the teeth of the wheel
end is about equal to that of the pitch line. From this construction of the irregular
tooth wheel Das shown in Figures 1, 6 and 11 it will be evident that no motion is
possible in the piston rod and stoppering rod until operated by the toothed
portion of the wheel D that is to say that when lifted by the gearing these rods a
and remain supported by the blank portion of the wheel D in opposition to any
influence of gravity or atmospheric pressure tending to cause them to descend,
and can only descend when the toothed wheel D gears with them and turns in the
required direction to cause their descent.
Figures 4, 5 and 6 show similarly combined exhausting and stoppering apparatus
with modifications necessary to adapt it for stoppering bottles with corks. The
rod carries the cork plunger 2 in the arm and terminates in a slot in which
works the bowl mounted upon the pin e secured to the sliding cork compressor d
by which the cork is compressed prior to being carried into the upper part of the
cork tube dr.
The cork compressing mechanism may be secured to the side of the cylinder A
by the frame or casting and the cork tube d¹ may be secured to the frame E
and to the side of the cylinder A as shown in Figure 5 or in any other convenient
manner.
The working of the machine is as follows:-By pulling forward the lever F
the toothed wheel D as already explained causes the rod carrying the cork
plunger to descend and at the same time forces forward the cork compressor d
by which the cork is compressed in readiness to be carried by the further descent
of the cork plunger into the upper part of the cork tube d'. The necessary
travel of the rod to accomplish this is produced by the two teeth of the wheel D
as shown at in Figure 6 which carry the corking plunger down far enough to
force the cork sufficiently into the upper end of the cork tube d to make the
joint air-tight but not far enough to cover the aperture ( communicating with
the cylinder A. The three way cock N hereinafter more fully described
turned to open communication between the interior of the cork tube d' and the
cylinder A of the vacuum pump; the piston continues to rise in the cylinder A
until the teeth of the wheel D which operate the piston rod a gear with the rod b
to produce the further descent of the corking plunger necessary for forcing the
cork through the cork tube into the neck of the bottle. The corking plunger bª
may in the usual way be adjustable in the arm '.
then
Figure 7 shows a modification of the apparatus introducing a vacuum chamber 13
which may conveniently form the stand upon which the combined exhausting and
stoppering apparatus may be mounted. In this arrangement the three way cock N
shown in detail in Figures 8 and 9) intercepts a pipe P leading from the stopper
chamber C to the vacuum chamber B, the vacuum chamber B being constantly
in free communication with the cylinder A of the vacuum pump. The passage N
of the three way cock N communicates with the stopper chamber C, the passage N
with the vacuum chamber Band N with the atmosphere. The normal position of
the cork is as shown that is to say the vnemum connection is closed and the
passage communicating from the interior of the stopper chamber (
tmosphere is open.
to the
Before commencing stoppering operations the lever F is pulled forwani several
times so as to actuate the piston of the vacuum pump and thereby obtain a suitable
vacuum in the chamber which may be indicated by a vacuum gauge and this
vacuum may thenceforward be maintained approximately by the operation of
stoppering and by separately working the vacuum pump at suitable intervals
luring the operation of stoppering.

page_text: The passage of the three way cock N communicating with the atmosphere
serves to admit air to the stopper chamber ( after stoppering the bottle so as to
allow the bottle to be easily removed from it- air-tight connection therewith.
When however the articles contained in the bottle or vessel under operation is of
such a nature that they may not be advantageously kept under the influence of a
vacuum I place a filtering tube R (Figure 9) on the passage N3 of the three-way cock
leading to the atmosphere, the size and construction of which filter necessarily
depends upon the filtering medium employed.
By this arrangement after creating a vacuum in the bottle as before explained
but before the descent of the stoppering rod or the corking plunger as the case
may be the three way cock N is to be regulated so as to close the vacuum con-
nections and open communication between the stopper chamber or the cork tube
as the case may be, allowing the entry of air into the bottle through the filter R.
The filtering material may be of an antiseptic nature in which case articles bottled
by this apparatus will he closed in antiseptic air. In the same manner after
exhausting the air from the bottle carbonic acid gas may be admitted instead of
filtered air the passage N3 being for that purpose connected with some reservoir or
other source of supply of carbonic acid gas.
Figures 10, 11, 12 and 13 show the combined exhausting and stoppering apparatus
adapted for stoppering screw stoppered bottles and for operating the three way
cock automatically.
The rod or piece b is toothed on its outer surface as shown at I and as it descend-
gears with the wheel carried in the frame or casting E. A crown wheel m
fitted upon the same axle as the wheel m engages the extended pinion & formed
upon the stoppering rod and causes it to revolve during its descent. The stoppering
rod passing through the arm is threaded so that the revolution causes the
stoppering rod to work upwards through the said arm during the act of stoppering
a bottle, thereby lessening the descent of the screw stopper on the neck of the bottle
so that the extent of turning required for properly fixing the screw stopper may
be attained during the travel of the screw stopper into the threads formed in the
bottle neck.
The three way cock N may be automatically operated as follows: Upon an
extended part of the plug of the cock N a cam path V is formed in which a screw
or other projecting part X secured in a bearing S carried by a rod S, engages.
The rod S may be operated by the irregular tooth wheel D by the arrangement
as shown in Figure 11 or any modification thereof, so that the teeth which produce
the movements of the rod S are independent of the teeth which produce the move-
ments of the stoppering rod 6 and the piston rod a. The plug of the three way
cock N may be carried to and retained in its normal position by a spring N'.
of
The normal position of the cock is closed, that is to say the vacuum connection
is closed, and the passage from the stopper chamber C to the atmosphere is open.
As the rod S descends the projection X moving in the can path V causes the plug
of the cock N to turn thereby opening the vacuum connection with the stoppering
tube, which remains open until the projection X reaches the horizontal turn
the cain path V when the spring N brings the plug of the cock back to its normal
position. It will be evident from the arrangement of the teeth (see Figure 11)
that when the tooth Z brings the projection X down to the horizontal turn of
the cam path V that the vacuum connection will be cut off and the air passage
opened before the bottle is closed but when the part of the cam path is not
reached by the projection X until the rod S is actuated by the tooth 7' then the
vacuum connection is not eat off until after the bottle is closed.
As shown in Figure 10 the part of the cam path V is arranged not to be
reached by the projection X until the rod S is operated by the tooth and a
shown in Figure 12 the part of the cam path V being placed a trifle higher is
reached by the projection X during that part of the descent of the rod S which is
caused by the tooth %. On the return motion of the rod S the projection X
travel up the part 2 of the cam path V which at the upper part is slightly

page_text: inclined producing again a slight rotation of the plug of the cock N in opposition
to the spring N but this movement must be very slight and need only be sufficient
to ensure the projection X travelling down the eam path at the next operation.
The plug of the cock N may have two separate cam paths formed upon it, the one
having the horizontal part of the cam path set lower down than the other: Then
by transferring the projection X from one to the other as required vessels may be
closed in racun or filtered air, or carbonic acid gas may be admitted prior to
stoppering as hereinbefore described.
Figure 13 shows in detail the arrangement of the gearing for rotating the stopper-
ing rod; but it will be obvious that the gearing may be dispensed with, the stoppering
rod being caused to revolve by hand and thus the same machine may be used for
other than serew stoppers when desired.
When the automatic arrangement for operating the plug of the three way cock N
is adopted I provide a stop cock M in the course of the pipe P to be shut when it
is required to operate the piston of the vacuum pump without simultaneously
carrying out the stoppering operation.
The cork compressing mechanism shown in Figure 4 may be of any other
known construction conveniently secured to the cylinder and actuated by the
descent of the rod b.
The apparatus although shown in Figure 7 as a stoppering machine may be
equally well adapted for corks by the substitution of the cork compressing
mechanism for the stoppering arrangement shown and in the case of the corking
apparatus as shown in Figure 4 the three way cock may be dispensed with,
the cork tube d' being connected by a direct passage with the vacuum pump
as described in connection with the stoppering apparatus shown in Figure 1.
In that case the teeth of the wheel D are disposed so as to delay the commence-
ment of the operation of the piston rod until the cork is seated in the cork
tube d'.
Finally for the three way cock N two single way cocks may be connected
with the stopper chamber ( or the cork tube done controlling the vacuum
connection and the other with or without the filter R controlling the passage to
the atmosphere.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed. 1 declare that what I
claim is :-
1. Apparatus for corking or stoppering bottles or jars combined with air
exhausting apparatus so that the movements of the stoppering rod of the stoppering
apparatus and the piston rod of the vacuum pump are interdependent substantially
as and for the purposes described.
2. In combined air exhausting and bottle or jar stoppering apparatus the
dependent movement of the piston rod of the vacuum pump and the stoppering rod
of the stoppering device and in some cases the further dependent movement of the
plug of a cock controlled and regulated by the irregularly toothed wheel D the
irregularity of which is modified to suit the various requirements substantially as
described.
3. In combined air exhausting and bottle or jar stoppering apparatus in which
the movements of the stoppering rod and the piston rod of the vacuum pump are
Interdependent the use of a three way cock for controlling the passages connecting
the stopper chamber either with the vacuum pump or vacuum chamber or with the
atmosphere substantially as and for the purposes described.
4. In combined air exhausting and bottle or jar stoppering apparatus in which
the movements of the stoppering rod and the piston rod of the vacuum pump are
interdependent the use of an air filter in combination with a cock controlling the
passage leading from the stopper chamber to the atmosphere.
5. In combined air exhausting and bottle or jar stoppering apparatus in which
the movements of the stoppering rod and the piston rod of the vacuum pump are

page_text: interdependent the combination of the rod S, projecting piece X and cam path V
for automatically operating a three way cock controlling the various passages between
the stopper chamber, the vacuum pump or vacuum chamber and the atmosphere
substantially as and for the purposes described.
6. In apparatus for stoppering bottles or jars in which the movements of the
stoppering rod and the piston rod of the vacuum pump are interdependent the
combination of a toothed rod, a toothed wheel m, a crown wheel m' an extended
pinion and the screw nut in detracting from the downward movement of the
stoppering rod relatively to that of the toothed rod b, to rotate the screw stopper
during its passage through the stopper chamber into the neck of the bottle sub-
stantially as described.
7. In apparatus for stoppering bottles or jars in which the movements of the
stoppering rod and the piston rod of the vacuum pump are interdependent the
divided flexible cushion L formed of separately counterpoised parts to make a
hermetical joint at the neck of the bottle to be stoppered and to allow for the
passage through the flexible cushion of a stopper the head of which may be larger
in diameter than the neck of the bottle substantially as described.
Dated this 12th day of January 1892.
AYRTON & THOMAS,
Agents for the Applicant.