AN IMPROVED MODE OF CLOSING THE ORIFICES OF BOTTLES OR OTHER VESSELS, APPLICABLE TO INK- HOLDERS
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BLYTH, of Saint Anne Limehouse, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS I did, by Petition, humbly represent unto Her present most
Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, that I had invented "AN IMPROVED MODE
OF CLOSING THE ORIFICES OF BOTTLES OR OTHER VESSELS, APPLICABLE TO INK-
HOLDERS;" and Her said Majesty, being willing to give encouragement to all
arts and inventions which may be for the public good, was graciously pleased,
by Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, and sealed therewith the Twenty-eighth day of May,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-six, in the ninth year of Her reign,
for Herself. Her heirs and successors, to give and grant unto me, the said
John Blyth, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her especial license,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I or they, by myself or them-
selves, or by my or their deputies, servants, or agents, or such others.as. I or
they should agree with, and no others, during the term of fourteen years from
the date of the said Letters Patent, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend my said Invention within that part of Her said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, called England, Her Dominion
of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in such manner as to me, my

page_text: executors, administrators, and assigns, shall seem meet, and as that I or they
should enjoy the whole profit and advantage arising by reason of the said
Invention during the said term of fourteen years: And whereas the said
Letters Patent contain a proviso obliging me, the said John Blyth, particularly
to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's Fligh
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at largo appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Blyth, do hereby declare that my said Invention is described and
ascertained in manner following, and by the aid of the Sheet of Drawing
hereunto annexed, that is to say :—
According to my said improved mode the orifice of the bottle or other
vessel is to be closed by an internal flap or valve or door, actuated by the
reaction of any suitable kind of spring or counterweight or floater, which is
suitably applied for urging the said flap, valve, or door outwards from within
the bottle or other vessel towards the orifice thereof, so as to close the same,
but nevertheless by pressure against the said flap, valve, or door from the
exterior it will be opened inwards into the bottle or other vessel, but it will be
instantly closed again on cessation of such external pressure, in consequence
of the reaction of the said spring, counterweight, or floater, without requiring
any manipulation for effecting the intended closing of the orifice. The
annexed Drawing is a representation by way of an example of the improved
mode, when the same is to be applied to an ink-holder. Figure 1 is a hori-
zontal plan; Figure 2 is a vertical section of the bottle or other vessel; and
Figuro 3 is a vertical section thereof, showing the internal valve, flap, or door,
when tho samo is closed. Figure 4 is a similar section, showing the manner
whereby the valve is opened in the act of dipping the point of a writing pen
into the ink. The said figures are drawn of the real size for an ink-holder;
but the size of the bottle or other vessel may be larger or smaller than the
said figuros, as may be thought most convenient for the inkholder required, or
for such other purpose as the vessel may be intended to be applied to. A, A,
is the bottle or other vessel, which is represented in Figure 1 to be of a squaro
form, with its angles removed; but the form is immaterial, and may be circular,
elliptical, or any other form which taste or convenience may suggest; and the
bottle or other vessel A, A, may be made of horn, glass, porcelaine, or metal, or
other suitable material. a, a, is an aperture in the upper part of the vessel A, A,

page_text: into which aperture a ring 6, b, is fitted and made fast, which may be done by
screwing or by means of a packing, which packing may be formed by india
rubber, or by a thread of flax or of cotton wound round or applied to the outside
of the ring b, b, in such quantity as will cause the circumference of the said ring
to fit tight into and fasten itself firmly into the aperture a, a, of the vessel A, A,
or the ring b, b, may be cemented into the aperture a, a, with plaster of paris
or other suitable cement. d is the internal flap, or valve or door, which may
be of a circular figure, as represented in Figure 1, and it must apply itself
beneath the corresponding circular orifice at the centre of the ring b, b, so as
to be within the vessel A, A; and the said valve d is borne upwards by the
reaction of a slender helical spring e, which is situated beneath the lower end
of a moveable vertical stem f, the upper end of which stem fis rounded, and
acts beneath the centre of the valve d so as to urge that valve upwards beneath
the corresponding orifice in the ring b, b, which orifice is so much smaller than
the valve d as to be effectually closed thereby when the valve is raised up by
its spring e and stem f, as aforesaid. Nevertheless, when any sufficient exter-
nal pressure is applied to the upper side of the valve d, so as to force the
same downwards, then the slender springe will yield very easily to such
external pressure, in order to allow the stem f and the valve d to descend so
much as to open or partially open the orifice in the ring b, b, but on cessation
of such external pressure the reaction of the spring e will cause the valve d to
be lifted up again by its stem f, so as to close the orifice instantly, and the
spring e will keep the valve up, and keep the orifice closed until some such
external pressure as aforesaid is again applied to the valve to force it down-
wards and open the orifice. In case of my improved mode being applied as
represented in the Drawing to an ink-holder for writing ink, the pen which is
use.l for writing is to be applied with its point upon any part of the upper
surface of the valve d, near to the circumference thereof, in the manner shewn
in Figure 4, in order to press that valve downwards, as already stated, and the
spring e should be made so very flexible as to yield and allow the valve & to
open by an easy external pressure upon it, such as a writing pen can sustain
without being injured. The point of the pen B, Figure 4, being so applied
upon the upper
surface of the valve d, near to the circumference of the orifice
in the ring b, b, the pen B being in an inclined direction, the pressure caused
by pushing the pen downwards and endways in its inclined direction. will press
down one part of the circumference of the valve d so as to open a sufficient
space for admitting the point of the pen to go down obliquely between that
part of the circumference of the valve to which the pen is applied, and the
corresponding part of the circumference of the orifice in the ring b, b; and

page_text: after the pen B hins descended so far in its inclined direction as that its point
will have dipped properly into the ink contained in the vessel A, A, then the
pen being withdrawn the valve d will instantly resume its resting position, as
shewn in Figure 3, and close the orifice in consequence of the reacting force
of the spring e, which force is transmitted to the centre of the valve d, by
means of the vertical stem f. And it results therefrom that in the action above
described, and represented in Figure 4, of opening the valve d by pressure
with the point of the writing pen applied near to any part of the circum-
ference of the valve d, that when the pen goes down obliquely into the ink
the valved will be tilted downwards out of its usual and proper horizontal resting
position; but the circumference of the valve d will remain in contact with the
circumference of the orifice in the ring b, b, at the parts n, Figure 4, of those
circumferences which are diametrically opposite to the parts of those same
circumferences where the pen is applied and pressed down, in order to
introduce its point between the said circumferences, as shewn in Figure 4.
The upper end of the vertical stem being rounded as already mentioned, and
acting in a corresponding round cavity at the centro of the valve d, to urge
the said centre continually upwards with an elastic force, the valvo is at
liberty to be tilted downwards out of its horizontal position, as above described,
by applying the point of the pen near to any part of the circumference of
the valve, and the upward reacting force of the spring e being transmitted by
the stem f to the centre of the valve d will lift up the valvo d to its proper
resting position, as shewn in Figure 3, so as to close the orifice in the ring b, b
the instant after the pen is withdraun. As the orifice is always kept closed,
as shown in Figure 3, except at the moment of dipping in the pen, the ink
is preserved from evaporation and becoming thickened, and the entrance of
dust and dirt into the inkholder A, A is prevented, also accidental spilling
of the ink is prevented. Nevertheless the action of dipping the writing pen
into the ink is performed in the same manner as usual for dipping into any
ordinary open ink-holder, because the valve d gives way easily to the pressure
of the point of the pen when it is applied as shown in Figure 4, and pressed
obliquely downwards with an endway motion. The spring e may be formed
of metallic wire curled into a helix, the wire being gold, silver, platina, or
other metal or compound of metals, which will not be liable to active corrosion
by the ink. The said helix e is lodged within the hollow of a small cylindrical
tube, which is fastened vertically into the bottom of the vessel A, A, at the
central part of that bottom, which part rises with a dome-shaped convexity h, h,.
leaving a corresponding hollow beneath the bottom of the vessel A. A. (The
said tube, which has a projecting flange around its upper end. passes down-

page_text: wards through a hole in the centre of the dome-shaped part h, h, of tho
bottom, with the said flange resting on the vertex of the dome, and the tube
is fastened into its place by means of a nut 9, 9, screwed on the outside of the
tube within the hollow beneath the bottom of the vessel A, A. Colicts of
leather, or of india rubber or other suitable packing, may he previously applied
beneath the flango of the tube, and also above the nut 9, 9, around the tube,
in order to make close joints by the pressure of screwing the nut 9, 9, and
thereby prevent the escape of any ink; but by unscrewing and removing the
nut 9, 9, the tube with the helical spring e, and the stem within it, can bo
removed for cleaning when required. (The stem ƒ passes through a hole at the
centre of the flange on the upper end of the tube, and there is a projecting
head at the lower end of the stem f, which fits into the interior hollow of the
tube above the helical spring e. By those means the stem f, although quite freo
to move up or down endways, is retained in its intended vertical position
beneath the centre of the valve d. The pen is always dipped obliquely down-
wards into the ink in the manner shewn in Figure 4, and the external pressure
which the nib of the pen must exert on the valve d will tend to open the slit
in the nib so as to overcome any accidental adhesion of the two sides of that
slit, and there is sufficient depth of ink in the vessel A, A, beneath the point
of the pen when the same is so dipped obliquely downwards, notwithstanding
the height of the dome-shaped convexity h, h, at the centre of the bottom of
the vessel A, A. The ring b, b, and valve d, and stem f, should be made of
silver, gold, platina, or other metal or material, or compound thereof, which
is not subject to active corrosion by the ink. The ring b, b, can be removed
when required, for cleaning the ink-holder and for pouring in fresh ink at the
aperture a, a; or in case of the ring being cemented into that aperture, the
valve d may be pressed down at one side, and ink poured in through the spout
of a small funnel. The same bottle or other vessel A, A, as is shewn in
the Drawing, or a similar one, will be suitable for holding oil for the use of
watchmakers or other artificers, as small dips of oil can be taken out by
inserting a small broach, bodkin, or pin to dip into the oil, in the same manner
as already explained for dipping a pen, into the ink, and the oil will be kept
clean. The construction of the internal valve d, and the stem f, and spring e,
may be varied from the construction represented in the Drawing, and all the
same effects produced as above described. For instance, the valve d may bo
attached to the ring b, b, in the manner of a flap or door, by means of a
hinge joint at or near to some part of the circumference of the valve, flap, or
door d (as at or near n, Figure 4), in which case the writing pen must
always be applied at the opposite part of the circumference to the part thereof

page_text: where the said hinge joint is situated; but when the valve d is made as repre-
sented in the Drawing without any such binge, the pen may be applied at any
part of the circumference, as already mentioned. And instead of the helical
spring and stem f, a flat blade spring of any suitable materials, as afore-
said, may be substituted, such blade spring being applied in the position shewn by
the dotted lines w, Figure 3, with one of its ends fastened to the circumference
of the ring b, b, and the other end turning up with a blunt or round ended
point beneath the aforesaid round cavity at the centre of the valve d, which
point will act to lift up that valve with a continual elastic pressure or reacting
force, in the same manner as already described respecting the reacting force of
the helical spring c and upright stem f. In case of the valve d being attachel
by a hinge joint, as already mentioned, in the manner of a flap or door, a flat
blado spring may be applied beneath the valve, flap, or door to lift it upwards.
And in case of the valve d being attached by a bingo joint (as already
mentioned) in the manner of a flap or door, the same may be of a square or
oblong figure instead of circular; and instead of such flap, valve, or door being
disposed in a horizontal position, it may be applied in a vertical or inclined
position. Figure 5 is a vertical section, by way of example, of a flap or door
in a vertical position. The aperture a, a, in the upper part of the
vessel A, A, is surmounted by a sort of hollow turret T, within which
the flap or door d is applied, in order to close a lateral orifice at one side
of the said turret, the flap or door & being suspended on a hinge joint or
centre of motion at its upper part n, so as to be very freely moveable,
and a slender spring e is applied within the hollow of the turret T to close
the flap or door by urging it continually towards a vertical position, when
it will close the orifice; but when the point of the pen is pushed against
the flap or door in an inclined direction, as represented in Figure 5, then the
flap or door will open easily in order to admit the point of the pen to be dipped
iu au oblique direction into the ink. And immediately after the pen is with-
drawn the flap or door will close of itself, by the reacting force of the spring o;
r instead of such a spring as e, or in addition thereto, a small metal counter-
weight may be fastened to the inside of the door d, and projecting therefrom
into the hollow within the turret T, as shewn by the dotted lines m; and the
gravitating force of that weight, either with or without the spring e, may be
made to give the flap or door the requisite tendency to close of itself, in the
same manner as a spring would, do, or in aid of such a spring. And note,
when such a counterweight is used it is to be fastened to the inside of the
flap, or door, as aforesaid, and cannot be used, in caso of the flap or door
being suspended on a hinge joint or centre of motion, except in case of

page_text: such flap or door being disposed in a vertical or nearly vertical position. And
note, instead of the helical spring n, the blade spring already described, the
requisite spring for closing the internal flap, valve, or door may be formed by a
small bag or air bladder made of the substance called india rubber or caoutchouc,
which, when it is partially dissolved so as to become softened, can by well
known means be blown out hollow, by blowing or forcing air into the interior
substance of the softened material, so that it will become distended into the.
form of a closed bag or air bladder of very thin membraneous substance,
wherein the air is so securely confined that it cannot make its escape, and by
the elasticity of such confined air and the flexibility of the substance of the
bag or air bladder the same may be used as an elastic ball or cushion, as
is commonly known. Such an air bag or bladder of suitably small size and
thickness of substance may be applied beneath the under concave surface of
the internal valve d, and so attached to that surface as to form a prominent
bag or air bladder beneath the same; and the upper end of the perpendicular
stem which is situated in the position of the stem f, but which is fixed motion-
less, being applied beneath the centre of a small shield which is attached to
the undermost and central part of the prominence of the air bag or bladder,
the same will be sustained by the said stem, and with a suitable compression of
the air bag or bladder, so that the effort of the confined air to dilate itself
and expand the said bag or bladder, will operate as a spring for giving the.
requisite upward re-acting force to the valve d, in order to close the same,
and keep it closed, but nevertheless allowing the said valve to be opened by
the application of an external pressure upon its upper surface, in the sanie
manner as already described respecting the action of the helical spring e
and its stem f, or of the blade spring shewn by dotted lines w in Figure 3.
The mode of blowing hollow balls or air bladders of india rubber, being
well known and commonly practised in making such balls as toys for children,
need not be further described. The ball which is to be applied as aforesaid
by way of a spring in my improved mode should be made rather less in
diameter than the internal valve itself, which may have a thin circular rim
projecting downwards from its under concave surface around the circumference.
thereof, in order to form a cell into which part of the air bladder of india.
rubber can be lodged by pressing it therein, and then by burnishing and
flattening down the said rim in a turning lathe it may be made to overlap a
portion of the air bladder, by folding and pinching the same into a doubled
border or belt around the circumference of the. air bladder and of the valve,
so as to hold the air bladder firmly attached to the concave under side of the
valve, and forming a sort of elastic cushion prominent from that under side,.

page_text: The upper end of the fixed upright stem will apply itself to the centre of the
prominence to sustain the same, and the small shield of metal which is
cemented to the india rubber will protect it from being porforated or
injured by the stem, the upper end of which may be rounded in order to net
in a corresponding round cavity at the centre of the said shield, so as to allow
the valve to operate in every respect in the manner herein-before described
and represented in Figure 4. And instead of such a bag of india rubber
being closed so as to retain air confined within it as aforesaid in order that
the air may act by its clasticity in the manner of a spring, the requisito
elasticity may be given by the india rubber alone, without any confinement of
the included air, in which caso a small hole must be left open at some part
of the india rubber bag to allow air to pass and repass freely; also the
substance of the india rubber should be somewhat thicker than would be
suitable for the substance of a bag or air bladder which is intended to retain
confined air, as already described. The india rubber may be of the kind which
is called vulcanized, and may be a mero circular disk of that material cut thin,
and extended over the area of a circular rim projecting downwards around
the circumference of the circular valve, which may be convex at the under side,
in the manner of an inverted disk, and the circumference of the india rubber
may be fastened all round beneath the circumference of the valve by burnishing
and flattening down the said rim in a turning lathe, so as to overlap and pinch
the said circumference of the india rubber, but without necessity for any
folding thereof. A hole through any part of the india rubber (or through
the valve) will permit the air to pass and repass, and the elasticity of the
extended india rubber will act as a spring. The upright stem will be fixed
motionless as already mentioned, in reference to the use of an air bag or
bladder of confined air, and its upper end being rounded may act in a corre-.
sponding round cavity at the centre of a small shield, which is cemented to
the central part of the india rubber in the same manner as represented in
Figures 3 and 4, and already explained, the only differenco being that the
upward reacting force is transmitted in the centre of the valvo by an upward
endway motion of the stem in Figure 4; but in case of india rubber being
used as aforesaid the upward motion is given by the elasticity thereof (or of
the air within it) the upper end of the stem f being a central fixed point of
support for the reacting elastic force. And note, a spiral spring of curled s
metal wire of silver, gold, or platina, or of compounded metal, might be
fastened by the outer end of its spiral to the under side of the valve e
near to its circumference, with the spiral coils within the concavity thereof,
the inner end of the said spiral carying a small inverted cup beneath the

page_text: centre of the valve in a suitable position for acting on the rounded upper end
of a perpendicular stem in the position of f, but fixed motionless. Such.
spiral spring might be flat with its spiral coils in a plane, or might be conical,
the inner or central part of the spiral being lower than the circumference.
And note, when a counterweight is used in place of a spring for closing the
internal valve and keeping the same closed, such counterweight may be applied
nt one end of a lever disposed within the bottle or other vessel, and whereof
the fulcrum is sustained in a suitable bearing at or beneath the circumference
of the ring b, b, and the other end of that lever terminates with an upright:
stem having a rounded end answering in every respect to the upper end of
the stem f, as to its acting upwards beneath a corresponding round cavity at
the centre of the valve, which should not be hinged in the manner of a flap
or door, in case of the valve being horizontal, with a counterweight to keep it
closed, instead of a spring, but should in such case be a circular internal hori-
zontal valve, such as is represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4. In case of
the flap or door being vertical, or nearly so, it may be suspended on a hinge
joint, as in Figure 5, and have a counterweight fastened to the back of the
valve, as already explained. And note, when a floater is used in place of a
spring for closing the internal valve, and keeping the same closed, the floater.
may be a circular ring or a disk of cork, which may be varnished with india
rubber varnish, or it may be a hollow floater of very thin glass, or metal, or
india rubber adapted to float on the surface of the liquid contained in the
bottle or other vessel, or the floater may be submerged beneath that surface,.
being in either case connected by radial arms or otherwise, with a move-
able upright stem, such as f, which will act upwards with a rounded end
in a corresponding round cavity at the centre of the internal valve,
precisely in the manner herein-before described, except as to the reacting
upward force being derived from the buoyancy of the floater instead of the
elasticity of a spring. Figure 6 is a vertical section by way of example
of such a floater, and Figure 7 a separate plan of the floater. The bottle
or other vessel A, A, with its ring b, b, and valved and upright central
stem f, are all the same as already described in reference to Figures 1, 2, 3,
and 4, but the stem f, instead of being fitted into a central tube to slide
vertically therein is fastened into the central part of the radical arms r, r,
of the floater R, R, which is a ring of varnished cork or other suitable
buoyant substance submersed beneath the surface of the liquid contained in
the bottle or other vessel A, A. The exterior of the said ring R, R, may
be so nearly of the same size as the interior of the bottle or other

page_text: vessel A, A, as that the floater KR, K, and consequently its upright centra
stem f, will keep in its proper place, although left free to rise and fall. The
ring floater R, R, may be made in two, three, four, or more segments, each
having one of the radial arms 1, 2, fastened to it, and each such segment, with
its radial-arm, being no larger than can be introduced through the aperture
a, a, which must be of a suitable sizo for that purpose. The several segments
when so introduced, will fit one to the other, with their several radial arms r, r
meeting and overlapping one another at the common centre, so that a screw
at the lower end of the stem f can be inserted through the central holes of
all the overlapping arms, and screwed tight into the lowermost, in order to
unite them all together into one floater, as in Figures 6 and 7.
And note,
a central vertical tube for reception of the upright stem f may be formed of
the same piece of material as the bottle or other vessel A, A, in which case
there will be no occasion for the dome-shaped bottom h, h, nor the hollow
space beneath the same, nor any perforation through the centre of that
bottom, nor any central metal tube and nut, such as 9. g.
Figure 8 is a
section, by way of example, of a central vertical tube 8, s, rising out of the
bottom of the bottle or other vessel A, A, being formed in the solid therewith,
as it were, in one piece, whether of glass or of porcelain or pottery. The
interior of the said tube s, s, receives the stein f and spring e in the samo
manner as the central metal tube and its nut 9, 9, in Figures 2, 3, and 4.
If the bottle or other vessel A, A, is made of glass, the lower end of the
tube s, s, may be united to the bottom when the glass is near melting hot,
so as to become firmly united thereto like one piece therewith, or if in
porcelain or pottery the like union is to be made previous to the firing or
burning of the material.
Having now described my said improved mode, I, the said John Blyth, do
hereby declare that the new Invention, whereof the exclusive use is granted to
me by the aforesaid Letters Patent, consists in the application, in the manner
herein-before described, of an internal flap, valve, or door to close the orifice
of a bottle or other vessel, and to keep the same closed by the reacting force
of some suitable kind of spring, or counterweight, or floater, which is suitably
applied as herein-before described for urging the said flap, valve, or door
outwards from within the bottle or other vessel, towards the orifice thereof, so
as to close the same, and so as that the said internal flap, valve, or door can
be very easily opened by pressure against the same from without, but nevertho-
less so as to be instantly closed again on cessation of such external pressure, in
consequence of the said reacting force, without requiring any manipulation

page_text: for effecting the intended closing, and which improved mode is applicable to
ink-holders.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Blyth, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fourteenth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-six.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourteenth day of November,
in the tenth year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said John
Blyth came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknow-
ledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained
and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year of
the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.