US639068A - Bottle-stopper. - Google Patents

Description

No. 639,068. V Patented Dec. l2, I899.

W. A. LORENZ.

BOTTLE STUPPEB. (Application fil'ed Aug. 17, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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rrn ra'rns WVILLIAM A. LORENZ, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

BOTTLE-STOPPER.

srncrrrcarron forming part of Letters Patent No. 639,668, dated D mber 12, 1899.

Application filed August 17, 1899. Serial No; 727,601. r (No'modeL) i To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM A. LORENZ, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Stoppers, of which the following is a specification.

Thisinvention relates to that class of bottlestoppers which are made of ductile, but substantially inelastic, material and are expanded within the neck of a bottle or similar receptacle against a gasket, of rubber or similar yielding substance, thereby hermetically sealing the mouth of the bottle, the stopper remaining in its expanded position by the rigid or inelastic character of the material of which it is made.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a perspective view of a bottle-stopper embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a similar perspective View of a stopper differing from that of Fig. 1 only in the configuration of its rim. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the neck of a bottle, showing the stopper of Fig. 1 suspended therein. Fig. 4: is a side view in section, taken through its longitudinal center, of the bottle and stopper of Fig. 3, showing, in addition thereto, the rubber gasket employed in connection with the stopper. Figs. 5, 6, and 7represent, in smaller scale than that of the preceding figures, three sheets of material employed for the making of stoppers of three different forms, illustrating by comparison the saving in material effected by the use of the improved forms of stoppers of Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 5 represents a sheet of material large enough to make seventeen and one-half stoppers having the customary form of circular rim of a diameter equaling that of the circles 13 and 20, circumscribing the polygonal blanks of Figs. 6 and 7. Fig. 6 represents a sheet of material having marked thereon the outline of the same number of blanks of a hexagonal outline, the saving in material as compared with the blanks of Fig. 5 being represented by the margins bounded by the dot-and-dash lines. Fig. 7 represents a sheet of material of a size suitable for forming seventeen and one-half blanks of a substantially square outline, the saving in material as compared with the cor responding number of blanks of Fig. 5 being indicated by the margin bounded by dot-and dash lines.

Stoppers of this class are ordinarily of the cup-shaped cross-section shown in Fig. 4:, having an )outwardly turned flanged rim which rests upon the top of the bottle and supports the stopper in level position, with its depending cylindrical body in suitable relation to be subsequently expanded against the gasket, the body of the stopper being made small enough to allow it to drop freely to the position determined for it by its rim. These stoppers are ordinarily manufactured by punching circular blanks of a suitable size from a sheet of any suitable ductile or expansible metal. The blanks are then. cupped or drawn substantially to the form of stopper 25, (shown in Fig. 4,) having an outwardlyturned rim of substantially circular outline. During the cupping operation considerable distortion necessarily takes place in the metal, and when made from circular blanks this distortion is liable to extend to the edges of the rims, making them of wavy and irregular outline and making the manufacturing operation more difficult. Inasmuch as the rims 26 are utilized only for the purpose of supporting the stopper in level position upon the bottle preliminary to the expanding operation, it is not essential that the rim should be continuous or of a uniform width around its annular surface, it being only necessary to support the stopper at a sufficient number of points to locate and support it in level position, hence the opportunity for the saving in ma terial, as Well as the improvement in perform ance of its functions and in finished external appearance of the cap, effected by this invention.

These improved stoppers are formed with a rim of polygonal outline, the corners of which serve as projecting spurs, which are readily shaped to the contour of the upper edge of the bottle by the drawing or cupping operation and are not liable to distortion from that contour by the subsequent expanding opera tion, since they ofier comparatively little resistance thereto.

The stoppers 25 and 30 of Figs. 1 and 2, re

Vided with six points of support,being made from the hexagonal blank 16 of Fig. 6, while the stopper 30 is provided with four supporting projections, being made from the truncated square blanks 19 of Fig. 7.

The blanks 16 and 19 may be punched from the sheet exactly along the lines of severance herein shown, either in regular sequence or alternately, and are cupped or drawn to the desired form of the stopper by well-known processes. The sheets 10, 12, and 18 of Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are of the sizes required for making the same number (seventeen and one-half) of the blanks ll, 16, and 19, respectively. The saving of material due to the use of the hexagonal blanks 16 instead of the circular blanks 11 is represented by the area of the margin 14 of 6 required to extend the sheet 12 to the size of the sheet 10, as indicated by the dot-aud-dash line 15. The similar saving of material due to the employment of the blank 19 of Fig. 7 is represented in that figure by the margin 21, bounded by the dotand-dash line 22. The extent of saving of material in each of the polygonal caps and blanks of Figs. 1, 2, 6, and 7 is indicated by the circumscribing circles 13, 20, 2S, and 31, respectively.

A further appreciable saving in material is effected by the adaptability of the outline of the blanks l6 and 19 to modern manufacturing methods and processes. Tool and die makers are well aware that it is impracticable to punch the circular blanks 11 from a sheet of material so as to have the circles exact-1y touch each other. This is due to two causesfirst, the difficulty of feeding the sheets with sufficient accuracy, and, secondly, the injurious effect upon the tools of thus punching intersecting circular blanks, for the reason that the fine-pointed pieces of metal thus formed are liable to become wedged between the edges of the punch and its die, and thus abrade the cutting edges, which will not leave a smooth edge upon the blank unless they are kept sharp and in perfect adjustment. It is therefore necessary in practice to leave an appreciable width of material between the blanks, as indicated in Fig. 5, thus increasing the waste of material due to the employment of this form of rim for the stopper.

I claim as my invention- 1. A bottle-stopper having a cupped body, and having a rim of polygonal outline, turned at an angle to the body substantially along the inscribing circle of its polygonal outline, for supporting the stopper in suitable relation to its bottle.

2. A bottle-stopper consisting of a cupshaped disk or plate of material provided with a flanged rim, having projecting spurs for suspending the stopper from the top of its bottle.

3. The combination of a receptacle having an annular gasket-seat on the inside of its mouth, a gasket therefor, and a stopper formed of a cup-shaped disk or plate of material, provided with a rim of polygonal outline, the projecting angles of which are turned at substantially right angles to the body of the stopper for suspending it from the top of its receptacle.

4. The combination of a receptacle having an annular gasket-seat on the inside of its mouth, an expansible gasket therefor and a cup-shaped disk of inelastic material, pro vided with an outwardly-turned rim of substantially polygonal outline for suspending the stopper from the top of the receptacle.

Signed by me at Hartford, Connecticut, this 9th day of August, 1899.

WILLIAM A. LORENZ.

Witnesses:

J os. MERRITT, J ENNIE NELLIs CASE.

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