Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 4.djvu/651

 UATTHBWS ». SHOMEBEPOEB. 637 of the neck two or three metallio Btrips, which extend down within the neck as far as the spring is to reaeh, and liave their bottoms turned over the lower ooil of the spring and thus give it a sufficient support. The specification proceeds : "The stopper is placed in the bottle by gimply inserting it in the neck and pressing the spring, E, until the rnbber or flex- ible disk or diaphragm, D, has passed below the narrowest part or place, a, of the neck. As the ring or disk G is consid- erably smaller than the disk B, the flexible disk or diaphragm D will fold up and around G as the stem, A, is passed down through the neck, and the stopper will thus easily paiss into the bottle. But, when once the stopper has been so placed in the bottle, as the disk B is of nearly the size of. the opening in the neck, any effort of the spring, E, or of any kind, to draw or push up the standard, A, presses the flexible disk D between the bottle and the bottom, B, and effectuallypre vents its coming out; aud the greater the pressure from within a,gainst the bot- tom of the stopper, the doser will the contact be of the parts B and D against the sides of the bottle. When it is desired to open the bottle to discharge its contents, a bent instrument, such as is shown in Fig. 2, or any one fitted to accomplish the same purpose, pressing down the stopper, may be made use of." The first two claims of the patent are as foUows : * First, a stopper which is inserted through the mouth of the bottle, or other vessel, and which, when inserted, is closed perfectly tight against a seat found within the bottle itself by pressure in an upward direction ; second, a prolongation of such stop- per by means of a central stem, rod, or other extension of the stopper in an outward direction, beyond the seat of the valve, for the purpose of affording facility for opening the stopper, or that of receiving the upward pressure of a spring, or other means of drawing the valve to its seat, substantially as herein specified." The stopper and bottle used by the defendants is that shown in "Godd No. 2." It is not proved that they used any other. In the defendants' arrangement, the stopper is a sphere of glass in a receptacle at the base of the neck of the bottle.