CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON, OR A SUBSTITUTE FOR, STOPPERS, COVERS, OR LIDS, SUCH AS ARE USED FOR BOTTLES, TOBACCO AND SNUPP BOXES, INKHOLDERS, AND VARIOUS OTHER ARTICLES REQUIRING STOPPERS, COVERS OR LIDS
Year: 1821

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
BURTON COOPER, of the Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Sword 'Cutler,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing date at Westminster,
the Third day of March, in the second year of His reign, give and grant
unto me, the said Robert Burton Cooper, my exors, adñññors, and assigns,
His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the
said Robert Burton Cooper, my exors, admors, and assigns, during the term
of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
and also in all His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON, OR A SUBSTITUTE FOR, STOPPERS, COVERS, OR LIDS,
SUCH AS ARE USED FOR BOTTLES, TOBACCO AND SNUPP BOXES, INKHOLDERS, AND
VARIOUS OTHER ARTICLES REQUIRING STOPPERS, COVERS, OR LIDS;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that if I, the said Robert
Burton Cooper, shall not particularly 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 cause the same to be
inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then
the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby
granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and become void, as in and by the
same (relation being thereunto had), will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert Burton Cooper, do hereby declare that the nature of my said In-
vention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are parti-
cularly described and ascertained in the Drawing hereunto annexed and the
following description thereof (that is to say) :-
My Improvements on,--or - Substitutes for, Stoppers, Covers, or Lids, such
as are used for Bottles, Tobacco and Snuff Boxes, Inkholders, and various
other Articles requiring Stoppers, Covers, or Lids, consists of three parallel
plates which slide round upon a common center pin or pivot, the upper and
lower plates being so connected by means of squares upon the center pins as
to move together while the middle plate remains stationary. Through these
three plates three corresponding and coinciding apertures are made for the
purpose of gaining access to the interior of the bottle or other vessel, which
access become closed, and the interior of the vessel secured air and water
tight, by the two moveable plates sliding round horizontally.
In the Drawing hereto annexed Fig. 1 is a representation of the improved
stopper applied to a glass ink bottle, the aperture being open for the purpose
of gaining access to the ink. Fig. 2 exhibits the same bottle, the sliding
plates having been turned round, and consequently the aperture closed. The
sliding or horizontal motion of the plates is effected simply by the finger and
thumb pressing against the knobs. Fig. 3 is a section of the improved
stopper cut across the middle and seen edgeways. Fig. 4 is the under side
of the top plate, having a small pin projecting for the purpose of falling into a
groove in the upper side of the middle plate Fig. 5, by way of stop. The
under side of this..middle plate is shown at Fig. 6, which has a groove all
round, with a female screw in its rim for the purpose of attaching the middle
plate to a rim with a male screw on the neck of the bottle. Fig. 7 is the
under plate (both sides alike coated with tin or lead to prevent corrosion.
is to be observed, that the surfaces of the three plates which come in contact
are ground or otherwise worked perfectly flat.. Fig. 8 is the center pin
detached, shewing the squares upon which the upper and lower plates are to
be fixed, and the cylindrical part which slides in the center hole of the fixed
middle plate.
It
Though I have here specified the particular form and construction of every
part of a stopper upon the improved principle, yet I do not mean to confine
myself to this precise form or construction, as there may be many slight
deviations therefrom, and yet adhering to the principle. That which I claim
as my Invention and improvement in stoppers consists simply in the three
parallel plates so fitted and sliding upon a center pin as to produce an air-tight

page_text: stopper. Whether the top and bottom plates slide, leaving the center plate
stationary, or the center plate slides, the top and bottom plates being
stationary, is of little consequence. I prefer the former. Whether the plates
are moved by means of two knobs on the top plate, or by means of a milled
edge, or by any other means is immaterial. Whether the stopper be connected
to a glass bottle by means of screws, as described, or by cement or otherwise,
I consider of no consequence, the different modes being more or less eligible,
according to circumstances. I likewise make use of any material in forming
these improved stoppers that may be found suitable, and enlarge or con-
tract the aperture in the plates as circumstances require; (viz',) for the
stopper of an inkholder I propose to make an aperture as in the Drawing,
but for scent boxes the apertures may be much smaller, and perhaps several.
For snuff and tobacco boxes the aperture must be sufficiently large to admit
the thumb and finger. When the contents of the vessel thus secured from
air is intended to be occasionally poured out, as of decanters, cruits, &c., then
a small tube or curved spout may be fixed to the aperture of the upper plate,
and a very small hole through the plates provided as a vent.
I have thus enumerated several uses to which my improved stoppers may
be applied. I do not, however, mean to confine myself alone to the purposes
above recited, but claim the exclusive adaptation of this my improvement to
every description of vessel or article to which it may be found useful.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Burton Cooper, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty one