Today in 1917, US Patent 1239225 A was issued, an invention of Robert William Sampson, for his “Stopper.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention relates to composite stoppers which are so constructed that by manipulating their parts they may be made to expand and contract to facilitate their insertion into and removal from the orifices which they are intended to close, the details of my improvements being hereinafter described and claimed.