Aflip-top,swing-top,lightning toggle, orQuillfeldt stopper (after the inventor, Charles de Quillfeldt) is a type ofbail closure frequently used for bottles containing carbonated beverages, such as beer or mineral water. The mouth of the bottle is sealed by a stopper, usually made of porcelain or plastic, fitted with a rubbergasket and held in place by a permanently attached wire bail. The bottle can be opened and resealed repeatedly without the use of abottle opener, with the wires acting in the same way as alatch clamp. The flip-top was the dominant method of sealing beer and mineral water bottles prior to the invention of thecrown cork.
Prior to the creation of the flip-top bottle, bottles were often made from blown glass and sealed with acork, which was difficult to open by hand and often unreliable, particularly for carbonated beverages such as mineral water or beer.
A precursor to the flip-top, the "bail" or "Kilner" closure was invented in 1859, where a lid with gasket was held by a wire harness and sealed by a separate set of wires.
The first flip-top closure was created by Charles de Quillfeldt in the United States, who filed for a patent on 30 November 1874.[1][2] The rights were purchased byHenry W. Putnam who adapted the design for use on fruit jars. He received a patent 25 April 1882, called "Trademark Lightning" and the jars became known as the lightning jars.[3]Several other varieties have been developed.[4]
Manyhomebrewers prefer flip-top bottles, since they are easy to close after filling, and negate the need of a separate capping device.
