Improvements in Bottles.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 19th Feb., 1898
[Communicated from abroad by ROY BARRETT, of 321, Main Street, Palmyra,
Wayne County, New York, in the United States of America, Hardware
Merchant.]
Improvements in Bottles.
I, ERNEST RICHARD ROYSTON, of 15, Water Street, Liverpool, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:
This invention relates more particularly to bottles formed of glass or similar brittle
material, the purpose of the invention being to provide a bottle so formed and
constructed and having parts operating in such a manner that after the bottle is
once filled and emptied it cannot be filled again without breaking or destroying
it or otherwise rendering it unfit for further use.
Separate or independent parts are constructed for the bottle and added thereto,
which parts by their construction and action prevent the refilling of the bottle
after they are once put into place and in condition for action. The bottle is
originally filled before these separate parts are added to it which parts, however,
when in place, do not prevent the emptying of the bottle but act only to effectually
prevent the second filling of the same. The use or need of such a bottle is to pre-
vent unscrupulous persons from collecting empty bottles originally containing
some valuable brand of goods and refilling them with a cheap imitation thus
deceiving purchasers, who would be guided in making their purchases by the
familiar form or external appearance of the bottle.
According to this invention the bottle is formed with an internally straight
cylindrical neck, reducing the opening at the base of the neck into the body of
the bottle by means of an internal ring or ledge which forms a seat upon which
rests a ball. This ball forms a tight joint with the ring or seat and serves as a
valve to close the neck of the bottle against the inflow of a liquid or other substance
with which the bottle might be filled.
Above the ring or seat the neck of the bottle is formed with several internal
longitudinal equally-spaced ribs having sharp edges. The diameter of the ball
is considerably less than the internal diameter of the neck of the bottle, the con-
struction being such that the ball may roll freely along within the surrounding
ribs when moving off of its seat, as when the bottle is inverted, These ribs form
guides for the ball when thus moving within them, serving also to keep the ball
from touching or coming in contact with the interior surface of the neck, the ball
simply touching the sharp inturned edges of the ribs. The ribs are uniform as
to size and they serve to hold the ball when rolling within them so that its center
shall always coincide practically with the axis of the neck of the bottle.
Above these ribs and resting against the upper end of one or more of them, is
placed a spiral body reaching upward well toward the mouth of the bottle, leaving
space above it for the insertion of an ordinary stopper for the bottle. This spiral

page_text: body is preferably formed with two external spiral passages, one extending from
the middle of the body to its upper end and the other from the middle of the body
to its lower end, the two passages turning or winding around the body in opposite
directions. These reverse spiral passages communicate at the maddle of the body
and, together, form a continuous passage from the mouth of the bottle to the 'ball a
chamber or space containing the ball.
Now, if an attempt were made to introduce an instrument down the neck of
the bottle to tamper with the operative parts for the purpose of refilling the bottle
the instrument would have to wind in one direction around the spiral body
half the length of the latter and then in the opposite direction the remaining half 1
of the length of the spiral body before reaching the ball chamber.
After the spiral body is introduced into the neck of the bottle (the latter being
first filled) it is by a simple means made rigid in place, the ball being thus confined
within its cage or chamber. Furthermore, a thin spot is formed in the wall of the
body of the bottle so that should an attempt be made to exhaust the air from the 1
bottle for the purpose of refilling the latter the material of the bottle would give
way at the thin spot, destroying the bottle for further use.
Referring to the drawings, Fig, 1 is an axial section of the upper part of a bottle
showing the invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of said part of the bottle,
seen as indicated by arrow 2 in Fig. 1, a part being longitudinally sectioned. Fig. 32
is a view looking into the neck of the bottle, indicated by arrow 3 in Fig. 1, the
stopper being omitted. Figs. 4 and 5 are cross sections of the neck of the bottle
on the dotted lines 4 and 5 respectively, in Fig. 1, and viewed as indicated by the
arrows pointed on said dotted lines.
Referring to the drawing, A is the body of the bottle, it being substantially of 2
common form, B being the neck and Ca suitable stopper. At the base of the
neck is formed an internal ring or seat a, Figs. 1 and 5, for a ball valve 6 for closing
the interior D of the bottle. A core E, is placed in the neck of the bottle, resting
upon the ribs c, Figs. 1 and 5, leaving space beneath it to constitute a chamber in
which the ball may move. The core closely fits the neck of the bottle and is formed 3
with a passage h communicating with the valve chamber and, indirectly, with the
interior of the body of the bottle, out through which the contents of the bottle
may flow when the latter is inverted.
The number of the ribs c is not essential save that there must be enough of them
to prevent the ball from falling between any two of them and touching the neck 3
of the bottle when the latter is inclined.
The passage h is formed on the exterior of the core E, made spiral in form and
in two parts, an upper and a lower, in which the spirals are reversed, as shown.
This core is formed with a point d, so that when the bottle is tipped and the ball
rolls away from its seat it will touch only said point of the core. The core is put 4
in place after the ball is inserted, the bottle being originally filled before the ball
and core are added.
The core is preferably made of glass or similar hard material and is formed with
a small cavity e, Figs. 1 and 4, upon its surface, the interior of the neck of the
bottle being also formed with a corresponding cavity f, Figs. 2 and 4. Before 4
the core is inserted these cavities are filled with cenient in plastic state, the core
being placed so that the two masses of cement meet, as shown. Being plastic the
masses unite in a single mass which hardens and so holds the core immovably in
the neck of the bottle.
Inverting the filled bottle to discharge its contents the ball will roll off of its 5
seat, the liquid escaping through the passage h. A refilling of the bottle is pre-
vented by the ball reoccupying its seat when the bottle is turned with its mouth
up. Submerging the bottle for the purpose of refilling, the ball would still prevent
an inflow unless the bottle were inclined sufficiently to cause the ball to roll away
from its seat, in which case the air confined in the bottle would prevent 5
an inflow of more than a small fraction of what the bottle would hold. The latter is
formed with a thin spot i, Fig. 1, where the material would give way should an

page_text: attempt be made to exhaust the air from the bottle before submerging for the
purpose of refilling.
The ribs are brought to sharp edges, and the point of the core provided, to
make the area of contact between them and the ball as small as possible when the
ball is off of its seat. This is to prevent the ball being held off of its seat by an
adhesive substance introduced in an attempt to refill the bottle. The points of
contact betwen the ball when off of its seat and surrounding parts being small the
adhesive substance could not hold the ball up against the combined action of
gravity and the force of the liquid flowing down the passage h against it. Were
the ball when off of its seat allowed to touch the inner surface of the neck, or broad
area of the end of the core, an adhesivė substance might serve to hold it away from
its seat sufficiently to allow the bottle by careful management to be refilled.
The reverse spiral of the core prevents a probe or instrument being inserted to
hold the ball away from its seat for the purpose of refilling the bottle.
Having thus described the invention and pointed out its use and the manner of
its construction and operation I declare that what I claim is:―
1. A bottle having a valve chamber in its neck, a valve in the chamber, and a
core inserted rigidly in the neck of the bottle above the valve, the core having a
passage leading from the mouth of the bottle to the valve chamber.
2. A bottle having within its neck a valve chamber, and a spherical valve in the
chamber, the neck of the bottle being formed with internal longitudinal ribs
within the valve chamber with inwardly turned sharp edges adjacent to the valve,
and a core placed permanently in the neck of the bottle above the ribs formed to
provide communication or a continuous open passage between the mouth of the
bottle and the valve chamber.
3. A bottle having within its neck a valve in a valve chamber, and a core in-
serted rigidly in the neck of the bottle above and forming a side of the valve
chamber, the core being formed with an open spiral passage communicating
between the mouth of the bottle and the valve chamber.
4. A bottle the space within the neck of which comprises a valve chamber, a
valve in the chamber and a core rigid in the neck of the bottle above the valve
chamber formed with an open spiral passage communicating between the mouth
of the bottle and the valve chamber, the spirals of the passage being reversed or
turned in opposite directions above and below the middle of the core.
5. A bottle having a part of its side or wall made thinner than elsewhere, and
having a ball valve at the base of the neck to close the bottle, and a core fixed in
the neck of the bottle above the ball to aid in confining the latter, the core being
formed with a spiral or crooked passage communicating between the mouth of the
bottle and the space below the core.
Dated this 10th day of January 1898