US1074437A - Fastener for bottles, jars, and other vessels. - Google Patents

Description

J. A. JONES. FASTBNER FOR BOTTLES, JARS, AND OTHER VESSELS. APPLIGATION FILED FEB. 1, 1913.

1,074,437, Patented Sept. 30, 1913.

[12116115011- Wcnesses: r

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co.v WASHING PATENT OFFIGE.

, UNITED S A JOHN ALJ ONES, 0F HILLSDALE, NEW YORK.

FASTENER FOR BOTTLES, JARS, AND OTHER VESSELS.

V Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 30, 1913.

Application filed February 1, 1913. Serial No. 745,565.

To all whom, it may] concern Be it known that I, JOHN A. Jones, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hillsdale, in the county-of Columbia and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fasteners for Bottles, Jars, and other Vessels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to fasteners for bottles, jars and other vessels, and especially to bail-fasteners therefor, and the main object ofthe invention is to provide an improved fastener of this general type by means of which a sealing member may be securely held against an internal seat at the mouth of such vessel.

In carrying out my invention, I make use of a modified type of a well-known form of bail-fastener for bottles, jars, etc., one of the principal features that distinguishes my device from those heretofore employed being the employment of contractible clamping means adapted to yield slightly in a substantially horizontal plane, for the double purpose of permitting it to be used on bottles having internal seats of slightly varying diameters, and also, by outward expansion acting in conjunction with downward pressure, forcing .a properly shaped. sealing member into engagement with an internal seat. ,The preferred construction is one in which the clamping means is in the form of a substantially annular member or ring of slightly greater diameter than the seat against which the sealing member is to be forced, and in addition the clamping means is also-preferably resilient in a substantially horizontal plane and split inorder to permit substantially horizontal expansion and contraction. In *order that the pressure applied by the clamping means to the sealing member may be most effective, connection is also preferably made between the clamping means or clampingring and a suitable bail at opposite ends of one of the diameters of the ring instead of at the center of the clamping member..- Furthermore, at one or both of such points-ofconnection to thebail, by means of which the clamping member or ringi's brought down and clamped upon the sealing member, means will preferably be provided for limiting'movement of the bail lengthwise of its axis of oscillation, in order to maintain the clamping member at a predetermined point crosswise of. the bail.

V A further important feature of the-invention is the provision, in connection with suitable clamping means such as has just been described, of a flexible formed cap shaped to conform to the outline of the internal seat at the mouth of the vessel, and also to the outline of the mouth or lip ofthe vessel itself, which capmay be forced down against the internal seat and also preferably outward, by the action of an expanding ring, as before described,and thus brought at all points adjacent to the walls of such seat and mouth of the vessel into the most intimate contact with such walls.

Other features of the invention not here inbefore referred to will be hereinafter described and claimed, and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is an elevation of a portion of the upper end of a suitable vessel, such as a milk bottle, to which my improvements are mpplied; Fig. 2 is a similar view taken at an angle of ninety degrees from that in Fig. 1, a portion of the construction being broken out and illustrated in section in order that the manner in which the parts cooperate may clearly appear; Fig. 3 is a plan of the same showing the part-s in position for sealing the vessel; Fig. 4 is a detail illustrating a wire bail and a clamping ring pivoted thereon, constituting the preferred means now employed by me for securing a sealing member in place in accordance with my invention, and Fig. 5 is a View, similar to the upper portion of Fig. 1, showing my invention applied to a vessel having a seat of another kind.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, 2 designates generally a vessel of any suitable type to which my bail-fastener is applied. The specific vessel illustrated herein is a milk bottle, but it will be obvious that various other types of vessels may be employed. In every case the vessel used will have a seat, preferably internal, for the reception of a sealing member. A tapered seat suit able for the purpose is shown in these views, its limits bein indicatedby 3 and 4. Sealing contact may be made in any horizontal plane between these limits. In this case at the upper edge'of the bottle mouth the seat 3-4 merges into the usual annular lip, 5, generally found in milk bottles. As to certain of the features thereof, my improved bail-fastener is or may be substantially simiwell known and in general use. ample, the ball of the fastener may, 1n most respects be similar to those heretofore employed and this bail may be permanently secured to the neck of the bottle in the ordinary manner and by the usual operating and fastening means, such as 6. The bail here illustrated, however, and which may be of the type indicated at 7, differs in certain respects from bails as ordinarily employed. These differences will be referred to again later. The main element of the clamping means employed for forcing against the seat a suit-able sealing medium should substantially conform in contour to that of the seat, and in the 'best form of the device 'now known to me, is an annuliis, such, for example, as the split clamping ring '8. Whatever its other characteristics may be this clamping means proper will preferably be contractible when forced down upon a sealing member properly located on the seat,

7 the object of this being to bring the periphery of said clamping means into as close engagement as possible with the up-anddown wall of the seat in any vertlcal plane in which said clamping means may exert pressure against said seat. It will be obvious that if proper downward pressure is applied tosuitable clamping means to force a sealing member firmly against the seat, and the clamping means is so constructed that when said downward pressure is exerted it is also properly contracted or compressed in a substantially horizontal plane, a tight seal will be assured, as the sealing member will be held to the seat by pressure having both vertical and horizontal components. In order that the clamping means may operate to the best advantage to seal the vessel, the sealing member is preferably an element shaped to conform as nearly as possible to the contour of the seat before described, and should have suflicient flexibility to permit it to be forced firmly against the seat in any horizontal plane thereof, and by a partial shaping action of the clamping means, that is, an action suflicient to cause said sealing member, when the parts are clamped in place in their operative position, to conform substantially exactly to the com tour of the clamping and seating surfaces. A sealing member suitable for the purpose is shown at 9, it being preferably a cap of flexible material, usual paper or other fibrous substance si' itably treated when necessary, and shaped to conform, when in place, substantially to the contour of the tapered wall and to the exterior wall 5 of the-bottle l'ip. In other words, this cap is preferably one that not only follows the lines of the'seat but also the lines of the bottle lip, and is adapted and intended to: cover the mouth of the bottle prevent any. contact ofthe hand foreign sub stances with such mouth after the bottle has been properly sealed. In the specific construction illustrated, the clamping ring 8 is 7 shown as a strong and comparatively stiff annulus of wire, spht at the point 10 and having eyes, 11, const1tut1ng bearlng surfaces for cooperation with corresponding.

journal portions of a. cross-bar, 12, of the bail on which the ring is intended to be pivoted. These two journal portions-of the cross-bar 12 are shown herein as slight bends, 13, in the wire of said cross-bar.

Said bent portions serve the double purpose of constituting journals for the bearing portions of the ring and limiting the lengthwise movement of the ring on "said cross-bar.

They permit properexpansion and contrao 7 the bail is swung up and over it in'the usual manner, with the ring 8 in proper relation to the cap, and the bail is then forced down by the action of said lever, said ring 8,

which is preferably of slightly larger diameter than the largest diameter of the wall 3---4l, will "be slightly contracted and by its resilient action will tend to force the cap '9 against said upright wall 4:, this action bel ing aided by downward pressure. When the same ring is required to clamp a cap 1-11 place at the point or minimum diameter of the wall 5'4c, the pressure exerted outward against the cap 9 and said wall will of course be greater. The construction is such that the ring 8 will accommodate itself not only to the different diameters of the seat 3-4 but also. to the'diameters of seats of all sizes within the usual commercial limits,

and the opening 10 ispreferably only large I I V enough to permit proper action ofthe ring in connection with all bottles within these commercial limits. 7 i

In the modification shown in Fig; 5, the bottle 2 is covered by a eap, 9 similar to that shown at 9 in the other views,ibut having a deeper depression for "the purpose of fitting a different style of seat. The seat of the vessel of Fig. is one having a 'substan- L tia lly horizontal wall, 3, a substantially vertical wal-l, 4 anol' the clamping means 00- operating with the cap and the'seat, though it may be substantially the same as that pre. viously described, is here illustrated 'as srfbstantia lly the "same, and is indicated by the same reference characters, exerts-down ward pressure "against the wall 3 an out ward pressure against-the wall- 4 ,a-ndthus positively seals the bottle by forcing the I member to its seat, a bail pivotally connectcap 9 against two diiferent seats located in two different horizontal planes and lying a considerable distance apart, measured in the direction of the length of the seat crosswise of the bottle. In other words, the device of Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive employed in connection with one type of seat gives a single seal while the construction of Fig. 5 is one in which there is a double seal.

What I claimis:

1. In a bail-fastener for vessels, the combination with a vessel having an internal seat, and with a sealing member for engaging said seat, of split contractible resilient clamping means normally of slightly greater diameter than said seat for forcing said sealing member to its seat, and means connected with said clamping means and operable to exert and maintain a downward pressure thereon, said means being operable to release said pressure.

2. In a bail-fastener for vessels, the combination with a vessel having an internal seat, and with a sealing member for engagingsaid seat, of a bail, means for securing said bail to the vessel, and a split circumferentially contractible clamping ring pivotally mounted on said bail for clamping said sealing member in place, said bail adapted to exert and maintain a downward pressure on said clamping ring, and being operable to release said pressure.

3. In a bail-fastener for vessels, the combination with a vessel having an internal seat, and with a sealing member for engaging said seat, of a split contractible clamping ring for forcing said sealing member to its seat, a bail pivotally connected to said clamping means at opposite ends of one of the diameters thereof, and means for securing said bail to the vessel, said bail adapted to exert and maintain a downward pressure on said clamping ring and being operable to release said pressure.

4. In a bail-fastener for vessels, the combination with a vessel having an internal seat, and with a sealing member for engag ing said seat, of circumferentially contractible clamping means for forcing said sealing ed to said clamping means at opposite ends of one of the diameters thereof and having means at one of said points for limiting movement of said clamping means lengthwise of its axis, and'means for securing said bail to the vessel, said bail adapted to exert and maintain a downward pressure on said clamping means and being operable to release said pressure.

5. In a bail-fastener for vessels, the combination with a vessel having an internal seat, and with a sealing member for engaging said seat, of a split contractible resilient clamping ring normally of slightly greater diameter than said seat for forcing said sealing member to its seat, a bail pivotally connected to said clamping ring at opposite ends of one of the diameters of the ring and having means at said points of connection for limiting movement of said clamping ring lengthwise of its axis, and means for securing said bail to the vessel.

6. In a bail-fastener for vessels, the combination with a vessel having an internal seat with both up-and-down and transverse walls, of a flexible formed cap shaped to conform to the internal and external outlines of said internal seat and the mouth of the vessel, a split contractible clamping ring for forcing said cap into engagement with both said up-and-down and transverse walls, and means to exert and maintain a downward pressure on said clamping ring.

7. In a bail fastener for vessels, the combination with a vessel having an internal seat, and with a flexible sealing member for engaging said seat, of a split contractible clamping ring for forcing said sealing mem ber to its seat, and means connected with said clamping means and operable to exert and maintain a downward pressure thereon.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 31st day of January A. D. 1913.

JOHN A. JONES.

Witnesses:

Rosn EISENSTADT, ANNE C. BARNES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C.

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