IMPROVEMENTS IN TUR REMARRADED 3.
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Graham, of Bishop Auckland,
in the County of Durham, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TUR REMARRADED 3.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry
Graham at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 11th April 1874.
I, WILLIAM HENRY GRAHAM, of Bishop Auckland, in the County
of Durham, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE REMOVEABLE STOPPERS OF BOTTLES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to the construction of and to the mode of
inserting and removing or extracting the stoppers of bottles containing
aerated or non-aerated liquids. It consists, first, in the adoption of a
cylindrical stopper of glass or other material of uniform diameter for a
portion of its length extending from its upper and thence tapering or
diminishing (not conically but elliptically or wedge-like) to a certain

page_text: point or neck from which it again tapers or increases until it terminates
at its lower end in a circular knob or button having a flat annular
surface on its inside face projecting round the tapered portion of the
neck, and its outside diameter not exceeding that of the uniform
cylindrical portion of the stopper before mentioned.
A ring of india-rubber or other elastic material is placed round the
neck of the stopper and inserted with the latter into the bottle as
follows: The ring is first put on to a bent rod or centre pin furnished
with a handle, and the said bent rod or centre pin inserted into a small
hole formed in the upper or uniform end of the stopper, where it is
tightly held. The stopper is then passed along the interior of the bottle
neck into the bottle by the said centre pin, leaving the ring outside. A
pair of peculiarly shaped spring tongs then conveys the clastic ring down
the centre pin along the bottle neck and thence into the upper part of
the bottle, then stretches it over the upper or uniform cylindrical portion
of the stopper and moves it along until it reaches the major axis of the
smallest part or neck of the elliptical or wedge-like portion of the same.
The tongs are then brought round to the thinnest or under axis of the
latter, when they are withdrawn, leaving the ring on the smallest part
of the stopper; the bottle is then filled with aerated liquid and afterwards
inverted by means of a suitable contrivance in connection with the
frame carrying the filling apparatus. This causes the stopper to fall
into its place through the neck of the bottle until the india-rubber ring
coming in contact with the lower circular edge of the latter is compressed
between it and the circular knob or button of the stopper by the force
of the gases escaping from the liquid. An effectual stoppage to the
bottle being thereby secured. Should the bottle break or become unfit
for use the stopper can be inserted by the above method into a clean or
new bottle at once.
:
When used for bottles containing non-acrated liquids, such as ale,
porter, &c., the stopper is formed with a keyway at its upper or uniform
cylindrical end, and the bottle being filled the stopper is drawn up
through the neck of the latter into its place, and a key inserted through
the keyway being driven home across the mouth of the bottle compresses
the india-rubber ring and effectually stops the bottle as before.
And, secondly, as to the mode of removing or extracting the stopper
from the bottle when required. For this purpose the stopper inside the

page_text: bottle is first gripped at its smallest part or neck by the tongs before
mentioned, and the bent rod or centre pin is then inserted through the
neck of the bottle and into the small hole in the centre of the upper or
uniform cylindrical end of the stopper, as before mentioned, where it is
tightly held so as to steady the latter while the india-rubber ring is drawn
away from the knob or button at the end of the stopper by means of a
hook and rod on to the tongs by which it is pulled up and off the stopper,
the latter being thereby free and easily removed through the neck of the
bottle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Henry Graham in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 10th October 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY GRAHAM, of Bishop Auckland, in the County of Durham, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the 37th year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Henry Graham, Her special license that I, the said
William Henry Graham, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Henry Graham, my executors,
administrators, or 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 REMOVEABLE STOPPERS OF BOTTLES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Henry Graham, my executors or administrators,
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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Henry Graham, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon; that is
to say:-
This Invention relates to the construction of and to the mode of
inserting and removing or extracting the stoppers of bottles containing
aérated or non-aérated liquids, and consists in the use of a peculiarly
shaped stopper provided with an india-rubber or other elastic ring and
inserted into a bottle containing aerated or non-aerated liquids by a bent
rod or centre pin inserted at its lower end into a small hole in the upper
end of the stopper and provided with a handle at its upper end by which
it is held in position inside the bottle while the india-rubber or other
elastic ring is passed down it on to the smallest part or neck of the
stopper by a pair of peculiarly shaped spring tongs, which are then
withdrawn from the bottle, and the latter being filled with aérated liquid
and inverted the stopper drops into its place inside the neck of the bottle
and the expansive force of the gas escaping from the liquid compresses
the india-rubber or other elastic ring between the lower edge of the
bottle neck and the lower end of the stopper.
When required to remove the stopper from the bottle, owing to
breakage or other causes, it is first gripped or held at its smallest part or
neck by the spring tongs, before mentioned, and steadied in an upright
position inside the bottle by the bent rod or centre pin also before
mentioned. A rod formed at its end with a hook is then inserted into
the bottle and the hook caused to catch in the india-rubber or other
elastic ring which it draws on to the ends of the spring tongs, the latter
again pulling it up and off the stopper and out of the bottle, by which
means the stopper is freed and can be easily removed on inverting the
bottle by the aid of the said bent rod or centre pin.
When used for bottles containing non-aérated liquids, such as ale,
porter, &c., the stopper is formed with a keyway at its upper or uniform
cylindrical end, and the bottle being filled the stopper is drawn up
through the neck of the same into its place, and a key being inserted
through the keyway and driven home across the mouth of the bottle
compresses the india-rubber ring and effectually stops the bottle as

page_text: before. This stopper can also be used for ærated as well as for non-
aerated liquids.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe, the same, and for that purposó
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Figure 1 is a sectional view of a bottle containing my improved
stopper in combination with the appliances for inserting the same into
the bottle; Figure 2, a similar view with an additional appliance for
removing the stopper from the bottle; Figure 3, a sectional view of the
bottle filled with aerated (or non-acrated liquid), and shewing my
improved stopper in its place within the neck of the bottle; and Figures 4
and 5 detached views of portions of Figures 1 and 2 respectively.
A represents a cylindrical stopper made of glass or other suitable
material and of uniform diameter for a portion of its length from its
upper end, whence it tapers or diminishes (not conically but elliptically)
to its smallest portion or neck x, from which it again tapers or increases
until it terminates at its lower end in a circular knob or button y which
projects with a flat annular surface on its inside round the said tapered
lower end of the stopper A, the outside diameter of this projecting
surface not exceeding that of the uniform cylindrical portion of the
stopper A. The latter is inserted into the bottle C, a ring B of india-
rubber or other elastic material being afterwards placed round its
smallest portion or elliptical neck x as follows:-The india-rubber or
other clastic ring B is first put on to a bent rod or centre pin D which
is furnished with a handle a, and inserted at its extreme end or point
into a small hole formed in the upper or uniform end of the stopper A,
as shewn, where it is tightly held by the said handle. The stopper A is
then passed through the interior of the neck of the bottle C, and into
the latter by the bent rod or centre pin D, the india-rubber or other
clastic ring B being left on the outside of the bottle C. A pair of
peculiarly shaped spring tongs E (scen more particularly in Figure 4)
are now caused to catch or take hold of the india-rubber or other elastic
ring B and convey it down over and along the bent rod or centre pin D
through the neck of and into the upper part of the bottle C. By opening
the tongs E the said ring is then stretched over the upper or uniform.

page_text: cylindrical portion of the stopper A. and moved along the same and over
its tapering or diminishing portion until it reaches the major axis of its
smallest portion or elliptical neck x, the tongs E are then turned round
to the thinnest or minor axis of the said neck and are then withdrawn
from the bottle C, leaving the india-rubber or other elastic ring B on the
neck of the stopper A. The bottle C is now filled with aerated liquid
and afterwards inverted by means of a suitable contrivance in connection
with the frame carrying the filling apparatus; this causes the stopper A.
to fall into its place in the neck of the bottle C, and the india-rubber or
other elastic ring B coming in contact with the lower circular edge of
the said bottle neck is forced down and compressed between the said
edge and the flat annular surface on the inside of the knob or button y
of the stopper A by the expansive force of the gas escaping from the
liquid, thereby forming an effectual stoppage to the bottle C, as seen in
Figure 3.
When it is required to remove or extract the stopper A from the
interior of the bottle C (see Figure 2) it is first gripped at its smallest
portion or elliptical neck x by the tongs E before described. The bent
rod or centre pin D is then inserted by means of its handle a through
the neck of the bottle C and into the small hole in the centre of the
upper or uniform cylindrical portion of the stopper A, as before described,
where it is tightly held so as to steady the latter, while a rod F, sco
Figure 5, is inserted into the bottle C. By means of a hook on the
end of this rod the india-rubber or other elastic ring B is caught and
drawn away from the knob or button y over and on to the ends of the
tongs E, by which it is pulled up and off the stopper A, the latter being
thereby free and easily removed through the neck of the bottle C on
inverting the latter.
When used for bottles containing non-acrated liquids, such as ale,
porter, &c., the stopper A is formed with a keyway G, see red lines in
Figure 3, at its upper or uniform cylindrical end; and the bottle C being
filled the stopper A is drawn up through the neck of the latter into its
place, and a key I inserted through the keyway G, as shewn. The
key H being then driven home across the mouth of the bottle C the
india-rubber or other clastic ring is compressed by the draught of the
said keyway and the bottle C effectually stopped as before.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or

page_text: carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,—
First. The construction and use of the removable stopper in com-
bination with an india-rubber or other elastic ring in a bottle containing
aerated or non-aerated liquid, substantially as and for the purpose
herein-before described and illustrated by my Drawings.
Second. The combination and uso with the stopper and india-rubber
or other elastic ring of the bent rod or centre pin and the pair of spring
tongs in a bottle containing acrated or non-aerated liquid, substantially
as and for the purpose herein-before described and illustrated by the
accompanying Drawings.
Third. The combination and use with the last claim of the rod and
hook in a bottle containing acrated or non-acrated liquid, substantially
as and for the purpose herein-before described and illustrated by my
Drawings.
Fourth. The mode of inserting and removing or extracting the
stopper from a bottle containing aerated or non-acrated liquid, sub-
stantially as hercin-before described and illustrated by my Drawings.
Fifth. The application and use of a keyway and key to the upper end
of the stopper in a bottle containing non-acrated liquid, substantially as
and for the purpose hercin-before described and illustrated by my
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Graham, have to
this my Specification set my hand and scal, the Seventh day of
October, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
M HY GRAHAM (1.0)