The Screw-Valve Bottle Stopper: Close It With a Screw, Pour and Fill Through a Funnel

"The stem of the valve A, which is intended to stop a bottle, is provided with a screw-thread, a, screwing into a socket, b. This socket is formed by a hole drilled or cast into a projection, c, extending from the side of the casting B, which contains the valve-seat d. This seat, which may be protected by a washer, e, of india-rubber or leather, or other suitable material, connects by annular passage, f, with the interior of the bottle; and a channel, g, leads from the socket b to the funnel-shaped mouth-piece C, forming the top of the casting B" "When the valve A is screwed up tight against the seat d, the communication between the passage f and channel g is interrupted, and the bottle is firmly stopped; but if the valve A is unscrewed, a communication is effected between the passage f and channel g, and the contents of the bottle can be poured out."

**Casting.** Model a body with a funnel mouth-piece on top, a vertical passage below it leading down into the bottle, and a side projection with a horizontal socket that crosses the passage. Where the socket meets the passage, model a flat seat. Leave a hexagonal pocket at the socket's outer end for an M8 nut. Print it in PLA. **Valve.** Epoxy an M8 nut into the pocket. Cut a rubber washer to fit the seat, and glue a smaller disc of rubber sheet onto the end of an M8 bolt as the valve's face. Screw the bolt in through the nut. **Ring.** Drill the top of a carbonated-drink bottle cap and epoxy it under the casting so the passage opens into the bottle, as Andre's ring D held the casting to the mouth. **Test.** Fill the bottle with water through the funnel with the valve open. Screw the valve shut, turn the bottle upside down and shake it: nothing should come out. Hold it over a glass, unscrew the valve and pour. Refill it through the funnel. Then fill it with chilled carbonated water, close it, and see whether it keeps its fizz for a day.

**Antoine Andre** of Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, received US 38,367, dated 5 May 1863. The casting B joined a ring D fixed to the bottle's mouth by a screw thread h, so a device could be moved to another bottle if the first broke. He wanted the valve and casting of a material the contents would not affect, generally tin or metal covered with tin, or hard india-rubber or glass. His claim is the screw valve, passage, channel and funnel mouth-piece combined. **Honest limits.** Printed PLA, a steel bolt and nut and a rubber disc stand in for his tinned casting and valve, and a bottle cap for his ring. The notebook ignores thread friction; its torques, lead, seat and pressure are examples. Your stopped, poured and refilled bottle is the result.