Improvements in Bottle Stoppers.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Mar., 1894-Accepted, 7th Apr., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by NATHANIEL FREDERICK THAYER HUNT, of
Braintree, in the County of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, United
States of America.]
Improvements in Bottle Stoppers.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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:-
My invention relates to an improved valve stopper for bottles and the like, and is
illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the top of a bottle embodying my invention;
Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of the bottle inverted.
Figure 3 is a view of the bottle inclined, illustrating the action of the tumbler.
Figure 4 is a plan of the tumbler detached, and
Figures 5 and 6 are respectively a plan and elevation of the preferred form of valve.
The bottle a has a tube b secured upon its mouth, the purpose of this construction
being to form a chamber for the valve c aud tumbler d.
After the bottle a has been filled, the valve c and tumbler d are applied and the
tube & then secured in place, and the cork inserted in the mouth of tube b.
The valve is kept in line with the neck of the bottle by wings, and acts to
prevent the refilling of the bottle, but allows the contents of the bottle to be poured
out when the bottle is uncorked.
The tumbler d moves readily in the chamber, (formed by the tube with its
shoulder when in place on bottle a) when the bottle is inclined sufficiently to
pour out the liquid in it; and will tip by its weight as indicated in Figure 3, and
tend to close valve c in case an attempt be made to refill the bottle, by inclining it
and partly immersing it in the liquid; thereby practically preventing refilling of
the bottle. The shoulder causes the tumber to act as a prop when one edge is
against the shoulder and the other against the valve (see Figure 3).
The tumbler d and valve c are best made of glass.
It will be obvious that my invention is generally applicable; but the best results
are obtained by the full combination of bottle a, tube b, valve e and tumbler d, as
the bottle a and tube b together constitute a complete bottle, and the tumbler d and
valve c prevent its being fraudulently refilled; while the tube when in place on
bottle a forms a chamber for tumbler & and valve c, in which these parts are so
confined that they operate to the best advantage.
I have shown the tumbler with a single central hole through it and as a much
flattened sphere in form, but as the hole is to allow of a ready escape of liquid, past
the tumbler, it will be obvious that it is not material that only one passage for the
liquid be provided or that it should be in the middle, for example it may be by
peripheral slots.
The escape of the liquid when the passage through the tumbler is a central hole
is provided for by the projections c¹ on the top of the valve c, the said projections
being unnecessary when peripheral slots are used.
The form of the tumbler may be varied somewhat, but it must always be a
flattened sphere; and its outline must be circular, and its edges rounded or conical
so that it cannot staud on edge but must always tumble when any attempt is made
to hold the bottle so that a line passing through its axis is horizontal or approaching
the horizontal.

page_text: After the cork has been removed from tube b, the contents of the bottle can be
poured out by tipping the bottle sufficiently, or nearly bottom side up, as in
Figure 2; but the flow will be stopped by tipping the bottle until the axis of the
tumbler is nearly horizontal, because the tumbler will fall sidewise, forcing the
valve to its seat, the head of liquid in the bottle acting to resist the seating of
the valve being trifling, for it cannot be greater than one-half the diameter of the
bottle, when the bottle is full and is less when the bottle is partly filled. All this
will be clear if one of my bottles filled with liquid be supposed to be uncorked and
laid flat on a table; in that case as the tumbler cannot stand on edge it tips as
indicated in Figure 3, and if the valve be ground to fit its seat there will be little
or no leaking of the liquid from the bottle, even when the bottle is full. This will
be clear if the uncorked but filled bottle be supposed to stand upright on the table,
and then to be gradually tipped till it is brought on its side, resting on the table ;
for as soon as the axis of the bottle varies slightly from the vertical the tumbler
will tumble so that one edge of it will rest against the valve; and there will be no
force but a slight head of liquid to move the valve, for the valve cannot be moved
without moving the tumbler also.
Moreover any slight leak under the conditions supposed, will cause the air pressure
to force the valve close to its seat, the tumbler following it up, and holding it to its
seat.
If the attempt be made to refill the bottle, the tumbler will act as above fully
explained, except that there will be no head of liquid to resist its constant effort to
keep the valve closed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
First. In combination a vessel; a tube having an interior shoulder; a valve;
and a flattened sphere forming a tumbler; the valve and the tumbler being confined
in a chamber formed by securing the tube upon the vessel, substantially as shown
and described.
Second. In combination a valve with wing guides and a flattened sphere forming
a tumbler, both in a chamber at the mouth of a vessel; an interior shoulder in the
chamber placed opposite to the mouth of the vessel to act as a stop for one edge of
the tumbler, and the wings of the valve in the mouth of the vessel; all substantially
as set forth.
Dated this 6th day of March 1894
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.