IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPING BOTTLES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Joseph Halsey, of 79, Cornhill, in the
City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOPPING
BOTTLES." A communication from abroad by Edward Arthur
O'Brien, of New York, in the United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Joseph Halsey
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the th October 1875.
I, EDWARD JOSEPH HALSEY, of 79, Cornhill, in the City of London,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN STOFFING BOTTLES,” to be as follows :—
This Invention has for its object improvements in stopping bottles.
The stopper is formed of a cap of vulcanized india-rubber to enter the
mouth of a bottle, and has a projecting flange to come above the top of
the mouth. Above this flange is a disc of metal; this diso has a stud
headed projection on its under sido, over which the cap is sprung, and

page_text: the
cap is thus secured to the disc. Upon the top of the disc are steps
or projections which stand up from it.
When the stopper has been inserted into the mouth of a bottlo it is
secured by a loop or band of wire boing sprung over the steps or
projections above mentioned. The two limbs of the metal loop arc at
their ends bent over, and are free to turn around pins at the ends of a
half band of metal which embraces the neck of the bottle just below the
head; this half band of metal is secured to the neck by a wiro embracing
the neck and the half band; the wire is led under and over small
projections upon the band, so that it shall not slip off, and its ends are
then twisted together to bind it tightly around the neck.
To open the bottle it is only necessary to push the loop of wire off
from the projections upon the top of the stopper, and the stopper can
then readily be withdrawn from the mouth of the bottle.
In order that the stopper when withdrawn from the mouth may still
be retained attached to the bottle the projections upon the metal disc
over which the wire loop is to be sprung are formed by cutting slots of
an inverted L shape in two parallel plates standing up from the disc;
the wire loop passes through these slots. When the loop of wire is
holding down the stopper it passes through the horizontal portion of the
slot and rests on the step or ledge at its bottom. When the loop of
wire is slipped off from this ledge it enters the vertical portion of the
slot, and the stopper can then readily be withdrawn from the mouth of
the bottle, and the wire loop and stopper be turned aside, so that the
bottle may be emptied of its contents.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Joseph Halsey in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th April 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
JOSEPH HALSEY, of 79, Cornhill, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-

page_text: .
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward Joseph Halsey, Her special
license, that I, the said Edward Joseph Halsey, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward
Joseph Halsey, my executors, administrators, and 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 STOPPING BOTTLES," a communication to me
from abroad by Edward Arthur O'Brien, of New York, in the United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Edward Joseph Halsey, my executors or adminstrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Joseph Halsey, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in stopping bottles.
The stopper is formed of a cap of vulcanized india-rubber to enter the
mɔuth of a bottle, and has a projecting flange to come above the top of
the mouth. Above this flange is a disc of metal; this disc has a stud
headed projection on its under side, over which the cap is sprung, and
the cap is thus secured to the disc. Upon the top of the disc are steps
or projections which stand up from it.
When the stopper has been inserted into the mouth of a bottle it is
secured by a loop or bend of wire being sprung over the steps or
projections above mentioned. The two limbs of the metal loop are at
their ends bent over, and are free to turn around pins at the ends of a
half band of metal, which embraces the neck of the bottle just below the
head; this half band of metal is secured to the neck by a wire embracing.
the neck and the half band; the wire is led under and over small

page_text: projections upon the band, so that it shall not slip off, and its ends are
then twisted together to bind it tightly around the neck.
To open the bottle it is only necessary to push the loop of wire off
from the projection upon the top of the stopper, and the stopper can
then readily be withdrawn from the mouth of the bottle.
In order that the stopper when withdrawn from the mouth may still
be retained attached to the bottle the projections upon the metal disc,
over which the wire loop is to be sprung, are formed by cutting slots of
an inverted L. shape in two parallel plates standing up from the disc;
the wire loop passes through these slots. When the loop of wire is 1
holding down the stopper it passes through the horizontal portion of the
slot and rests on the step or ledge at its bottom. When the loop of
wire is slipped off from this ledge it enters the vertical portion of the
slot, and the stopper can then readily be withdrawn from the mouth of
the bottle, and the wire loop and stopper be turned aside, so that the 1
bottle may be emptied of its contents.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed I have shewn the upper part of a
bottle fitted with a stopper in the manner above described.
Figures 1 and 2 shew elevations of the upper part of the bottle
with the stopper secured in it; Figure 3 shews a vertical section of the 2
same.
In these Figures A is the stopper, consisting of a metal disc a,
standing up from the top of which are two plates, or it might be a
single plate 6, each having an shaped slot cut in it. From the bottom
of the disc projects the stud headed projection c, over which is sprung
an elastic cap d; this cap on its exterior fits the interior of the mouth
of the bottle, and it has also a flange d¹ to come between the top of the
bottle and the disc a. B is the loop of wire free to turn upon pins C
carried by a half band of metal D, which embraces the neck of the
bottle just below the head. On the half metal band are also three
small lugs or projections d*. E is the attaching wire which is led
under and over these projections, as shewn at Figure 2, and its ends are
twisted together on the opposite side of the bottle.
When the stopper A has been inserted into the mouth of the bottle
and the wire loop B has been forced into the position shewn by the full
lines in the Drawing, the mouth of the bottle is securely closed. If

page_text: however the wire loop is pushed back into the position shewn by the
dotted lines in Figure 1 the stopper can be withdrawn from the mouth
and the bottle emptied of its contents.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that what is
claimed is,-
First. The elastic stopper A constructed as herein-before described
in combination with a swinging loop of wire turning upon pins secured
to the neck of a bottle.
Second. The means of securing the pins O (upon which the wire
loop swings) to the neck of the bottle, such means consisting of the
half band of metal D having upon it the pins C, and also lugs or
projections & in combination with an attaching wire E, substantially as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Joseph Halsey, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Second day of February, in