IMPROVE- MENTS IN CAPSULES FOR BOTTLES AND APPARATUS FOR THEIR MANUFACTURE
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Imray, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CAPSULES FOR BOTTLES AND APPARATUS FOR THEIR MANUFACTURE."
A communication from abroad by Charles Cheswright, at present of Paris, in
the French Republic.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Imray at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd December 1881.
JOHN IMRAY, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN CAPSULES FOR BOTTLES AND APPARATUS FOR
THEIR MANUFACTURE." [A communication from abroad by Charles Cheswright,
at present of Paris, in the French Republic.]
The capsules employed for covering the corks and mouths of bottles usually bear
marks indicating the quality of the liquor or the name of the producer. Some-
times the capsule of a bottle is removed entire, and fraudulently used for a bottle
containing liquor of inferior quality or the liquor of another producer. Sometimes
in the act of uncorking a bottle the capsule is destroyed, or is so torn that the
marks of quality or production cannot be seen. The object of this Invention is to
prepare capsules in such a manner that in opening the bottle the head of the
capsule which covers the cork becomes separated from the body of the capsule
which encloses the bottle neck. Thus the capsule cannot be removed entire from
one bottle so as to be capable of being used for another, and when the bottle is
opened the body of the capsule with its marks remains on the neck. For this
purpose the capsule is placed on a conical mandrill, on which it is free to turn;
this mandrill projecting horizontally from the frame of a lever press, so as to bring
the capsule under a reciprocating-cutting-punch that is worked by a hand lever
jointed to the frame of the press. On depressing the lever the punch cuts out of
the side of the capsule a rectangular or other shaped hole, and on turning the
capsule on its mandril several such holes are cut through it, so that the capsule on
its removal from the mandril presents a head connected to the body by several
narrow bands. On uncorking a bottle these bands are broken, so that the head of
the capsule is separated from the body, rendering the capsule unfit for subsequent
use, and still leaving on the bottle its body with its marks.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Imray in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st June
1882.
JOHN IMRAY, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN CAPSULES FOR BOTTLES AND APPARATUS FOR
THEIR MANUFACTURE." A communication from abroad by Charles Cheswright,
at present of Paris, in the French Republic.
The capsules employed for covering the corks and mouths of bottles usually bear
marks indicating the quality of the liquor or the name of the producer. Some-
times the capsule of a bottle is removed entire, and fraudulently used for a bottle
containing liquor of inferior quality or the liquor of another producer.
Sometimes in the act of uncorking a bottle the capsule is destroyed, or is so
torn that the marks of quality or production cannot be seen. The object of this
Invention is to prepare capsules in such a manner that in opening the bottle
the head of the capsule which covers the cork becomes separated from the body
of the capsule which encloses the bottle neck. Thus the capsule cannot be
removed entire from one bottle so as to be capable of being used for another,
and when the bottle is opened the body of the capsule with its marks remain
on the neck. For this purpose the capsule is placed on a conical mandril on
which it is free to turn; this mandril projecting horizontally from the frame of a
lever press, so as to bring the capsule under a reciprocating cutting punch that is
worked by a hand lever jointed to the frame of the press. On depressing the
lever the punch cuts out of the side of the capsule a rectangular or other shaped
hole, and on turning the capsule on its mandril several such holes are cut through
it, so that the capsule on its removal from the mandril presents a head connected
to the body by several narrow bands. On uncorking a bottle these bands are
broken, so that the head of the capsule is separated from the body, rendering the
consule unfit for subsequent use and still leaving on the bottle its body with its

page_text: by a screw and nut i, and serving to receive the capsule, for which purpose it is
fitted with a loose conical or tapering sleeve j, on which the capsule can be turned
in order to bring it consecutively into the desired positions for having the holes
punched in it; the end of the horn is provided with a hole through which the piece
cut out of the capsule is pushed by the punch.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
I claim,
First. The use of capsules for bottles having holes formed in the neck, so as to
leave the head of the capsule connected to the body by narrow bands or strips that
are torn or broken on drawing the cork, thereby leaving the body of the capsule
attached to the bottle.
Second. Constructing the capsules referred to in the preceding claim either
entirely of flexible metal or with a more or less rigid head and a flexible body,
substantially as herein described.
Third. The construction of apparatus herein described with reference to Fig. 5 of
the Drawings for cutting holes in capsules for bottles.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Imray, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Thirty first day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty two.
JOHN IMRAT. (L.S.)