US2774501A - Bottle stopper - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 18, 1956 D. ROBB BOTTLE STOPPER Filed Sept. 21. 1953 FIG. I.

INVENTOR. Don 71. 0515 BY mm cl- United States Patent 'BOTTLE STOPPER Don Robb, Cincinnati, -Ol1io, assignor to Schenley Industries, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application September 21, 1953, Serial No. 381,300

7 Claims. :(Cl. 215-48) This invention relates to an improved bottle stopper, and embraces novel methods of manufacturing the same.

The particular embodiment of the present invention which is illustrated in the drawings and which will be described hereinafter in greater detail, comprises generally a headed shank having an outstanding shoulder adjacent to and facing away from the head, a recessed shoulder on a distal shank portion facing toward the head, a shell surrounding the shank for engagement in a bottle opening, and a ring seated on the recessed shoulder for retaining the shell on the shank.

There are, of course, :many kinds of bottle stoppers known to those versed in the art, but such devices have not proved entirely satisfactory. One notorious type :of bottle stopper is that formed of solid cork, which type requires the use of a cork screw orrother withdrawing means, and which is readily subject to chipping and breaking, often leaving a portion in the bottle. Another common type of bottle stopper is that formed wholly of glass, usually provided with an integral handle. Glass stoppers have been found unsatisfactory as'they fit poorly in bottle openings when manufactured by mass production techniques, and for their tendency to stick in the bottle openings. Further, glass stoppers have been found subject ot extremely high breakage during transportation and other handling. Another well known type of bottle stopper is that which includes an exteriorlythreaded shank of glass or other suitable material and in'threaded engagement with a covering of cork or other yieldable material. In this type of bottle stopper, the internal, cork screw threads rapidly become stripped, so that withdrawal of the shank from the bottle opening will not effect removal therefrom of the cork or-ot'her covering.

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a bottle stopper'which eliminates the above mentioned difficulties, and which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, being composed-of simple parts made within wide tolerances.

It is another object 'of the present invention topro'vide a bottle stopper of "the type described wherein normal inserting and withdrawing manipulations serve to elfectively seal and unseal a bottle opening, and in which the stopper :is readily removed, in its entirety, from a bottle opening.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel method of manufacturing in which a bottle stopper may be permanently assembled by a single operation.

It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide a bottle stopper of the type described in which the yield'able shell is held in substantially uniform compression during removal from the bottle opening, thereby assuring removal of the shell without damage thereto.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a bottle stopper having the characteristics mentioned above in which novel means are-provided'to expand the shell or sealing element against the wall 'of a bottle opening for sealing the latter, and for contracting the shell to M ice permit removal of the stopper from the bottle opening.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and .referr 'ing to the accompanying drawings, which form a material part of thisdisclosure.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction and combinations and arrangements of elements and method .steps, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope will be indicated by the appended claims. I

In the drawings:

Figure l is an elevational view showing a'bottle stopper constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an exploded, sectional view showing the elements of the bottle stopper of Fig. 1;.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the elements of the opp 7 Fig. 4 is a partial, sectional view showing the relative positionsof the stopper parts during assembly and use; and

Fig. 5 is 'a partial, sectional view showing the relative positions of the stopper parts during nonuse.

Referring nowmore particularly to the drawings, the embodiment of the invention illustrated therein comprises a lshank or stem, generally designated 10, having ahead or .handle .11. The head may be spherical or other desired shape, and may be provided with any preferred ornamentation.

Adjacent to the head .11, the shank 10 is formed with an outstanding, peripheralshoulder or abutment-12, which merges as at 13 with the head and has its laterally extending .surface 14 facing away from the head. It will be observed, see Fig. 2, that the abutment surface 14 slopes upward and outward from the shank 10.

The shank 10 is formed with a slight taper towards its free .end 15, so that the shank cross section decreases outwardly, fora purpose appearing hereinafter. Adja cent .to the free orprojecting shank end 15, and spaced inwardly therefrom, is .formed a reduced portion or groove 17, which defines an annular, recessed shoulder 18 substantially perpendicular to the shank axis and facing toward the head 11. The groove 17 is also formed with a generally conical wall portion 19 merging with the shank 10. While it is preferred to form the shank 10, shoulder 12, and head 11 integrally of glass, it is appreciated thatother suitable designs and materials may be satisfactorily employed.

A tube or shell, generally designated 29, is circumposed about the shank 10, between the shoulder 12 and groove 17. The shell 20 has its internal surface 21 slightly tapered from the upper end 22 to the lower end 23 to conformably engage the shank l0, and has its outer surface 24 slightly tapered for easy insertion in the neck of a bottle. The said internal surface 21 and outer surface 24 of said shell 20 can of course be straight or tapered asdesired. The shell 20 is preferably formed of yieldable, somewhat resilient material, such as cork or the like, and has its upperend 22 in abutting engagement with the surface 14 of the shoulder 12, see Fig. 1. In its uncompressed condition, the shell 20 has its lower end 23 overlying the groove 17.

.Also circumposed about the shank 10 is an annular member or ring, generally designated 25, having an internal rib 27 received in the groove 17. The ring 25 .and rib 27 are preferably formed integrally of suitable resilient material, such as polyethylene or the like. The interiorring surface 28 is shaped to conformably engage with the shank 10, and the exterior ring surface 29 decreases in thickness from the upper end 36 to the lower end '31 to facilitate insertion and removal from a bottle opening.

ing a downwardly and inwardly extending upper wall 32 oblique to the axis of shank 10, and a generally flat lower wall 33 normal to the shank axis. Thus, the rib upper wall 32 is generally conical in configuration for sliding engagement over the free end 15 of the shank 10, and the rib lower wall 33 is adapted to conformably seat on the recessed shoulder 18. As seen in Fig. 5, the upper end 30 of the ring 25 is adapted to abuttingly engage the lower end 23 of the shell 20 when the rib 27 is seated on the shoulder 18. In addition, the dimensions of the shell 20 and ring 25 are so designed with respect to the distance between the shoulders 12 and 18 that the shell and ring are under a predetermined compressive force when in assembled condition.

In order to assemble the stopper, it is first necessary to slide the shell 20 over the projecting end 15 of the shank so that the upper shell end 22 engages the surface 14 of the shoulder 12. The ring 25, being resilent, may then be forced over the free end 15 of the shank into engagement with the lower end 23 of the shell 20 until the rib 27 snaps into the groove 17. It will be noted that the width of the groove 17 is somewhat greater than that of the rib 27, so that when the rib becomes distended longitudinally of the ring during assembly, it may still be rereceived in the groove. This longitudinal distention of the rib 27 will require that the shell 20 be compressed and moved upwardly beyond its normal position. Fig. 4 shows the position of the shell 20 and ring 25 just after the rib 27 has snapped into the groove 17. The shell 20 will then expand longitudinally to its normal, slightly compressed condition, shown in Fig. 5, with the rib 27 seated on the shoulder 18. While the angular shape of the rib 27 permits circumposition of the ring 25 over the projecting end 15 of the shank by distention or deformation of the rib toward the ring end 31, it will be apparent that distention or deformation of the rib toward the ring end 30 will be inherently restrained, to thereby prevent removal of the ring, and consequently of the shell, from the shank.

In operation, the stopper is inserted in a bottle opening in the conventional manner so that the outer tapered shell surface 24 engages with the walls of the bottle opening, the shell being somewhat yieldable to conformably engage the bottle opening walls and effectively seal the opening. Continued inward movement of the head 11 will serve to slightly compress the shell 20 and move the tapered shank 10 longitudinally inward with respect to the shell, into the position shown in Fig. 4. As the tapered shank 10 moves inward with respect to the shell 20, the increased shank cross section will serve to expand the shell radially to even more effectively seal the bottle opening and prevent leakage therethrough.

When it is desired to remove the stopper from the bottle opening, the head is drawn away from the bottle so as to slide the shank 10 outwardly with respect to the shell 20. This operation will move the shell 20 toward the shank end to the position shown in Fig. 5, and, as the shank tapers toward its projecting end, the expanding pressure on the inner shell surface 21 will be removed to permit contraction of the shell away from the wall of the bottle opening. In this manner, removal of the stopper from a bottle opening may ordinarily be effected with ease. However, if the shell tends to stick to the wall of the bottle opening, the ring 29 will exert a compressive force on the shell tending to eject the latter from the bottle. As the shell 20 is under substantially pure compression, it is apparent that fracture or chipping will not occur, such as would result from bending or other stresses. Further, as the ring which exerts the compressive force is resilient, such force will be distributed substantially uniformly over the shell 20. For example, if it is attempted to withdraw the stopper at an angle with respect to the axis of the bottle opening, the ring 25 will be deformed or contracted more on one side than on the other so that the upper end 30 engages completely around the elO 4 lower shell end 23 to distribute the force uniformly to the shell.

From the foregoing, it is seen that the present invention fully accomplishes its intended objects, and provides a. bottle stopper and method of manufacturing the same which are well adapted to meet practical conditions of use.

Although the present invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be made within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A bottle stopper comprising a head, an outwardly tapering shank projecting from said head, an outstanding peripheral shoulder on said shank adjacent to said head and facing away from the latter, there being a peripheral groove formed in said shank adjacent to and spaced from the projecting end thereof, an open ended yieldable shell circumposed about said shank and having one end in abutting engagement with said outstanding shoulder, a resilient ring having an internal rib and circumposed about said shank with said rib seated in said groove for longitudinal movement relative thereto, said ring being of less external diameter than the shell and said ring having anend in facial contact and in abutting engagement with the other end of said shell for exerting a compressive force on the latter during removal from a bottle opening.

2.'A bottle stopper according to claim 1, said shell being movable toward the projecting end of said shank against the restoring force of said resilient ring, said shell thus. being movable to a shank portion of less cross section to permit movement of said shell away from the wall of a bottle opening. i

3. A bottle stopper comprising a head, an outwardly tapering shank projecting from said head, there being a peripheral groove formed in said shank adjacent to and spaced inwardly from the projecting end thereof, an open ended yieldable shell slidably circumposed about said shank, said shank being slidable with respect to said shell to expand and contract the latter for sealing and unsealing a bottle opening, and a resilient ring having an internal rib and circumposed about said shank with said rib seated in said groove, said ring being in engagement with said shell to prevent the removal of the latter from said shank, the groove having a side wall facing the head and disposed normal to the axis of the shank and on which the rib is seated to urge the ring into engagement with the shell, said rib being narrower than said groove to permit movement of said ring and shell relative to said shank.

4. A bottle stopper according to claim 3, said rib being angular in section having one wall oblique to the axis of said shank and another wall normal to said axis, said oblique Wall permitting sliding engagement of said ring.

over the projecting end of said shank, and said normal wall being engageable in said groove to prevent outward movement of said ring and being seated against said side wall of the groove.

5. A bottle stopper comprising a shank having opposing ends and having an outstanding shoulder at one end and a circumferential groove adjacent the other end, said groove having a side wall facing the shoulder, an open ended yieldable sleeve circumposed on the shank and bearing at one end against the shoulder and being slidable relative to the shank, and a resilient ring circumposed on the shank and having an inner end in facial 7 contact with and bearing against the adjoining end of the References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Miller July 24, 1894 Clair May 4, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain of 1889 Great Britain of 1899 Great Britain Mar. 9, 1925 Switzerland Aug. 1, 1933 France Sept. 4, 1933

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