Iм- PROVEMENTS IN VESSELS FOR CONTAINING SOLID OR FLUID MATTERS OF ALL SARTS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Auguste Prou-Gaillard, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin,
Paris, in the Empire of France, Merchant, for the Invention of “Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN VESSELS FOR CONTAINING SOLID OR FLUID MATTERS OF ALL
SARTS."
Sealed the 17th July 1860, and dated the 7th February 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Auguste Prou-Gaillard
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th February 1860.
I, AUGUSTE PROU-GAILLARD, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris, in the
Empire of France, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN VESSELS FOR CONTAINING SOLID OR FLUID
MATTERS OF ALL SORTS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of certain improvements in the construction of casks,
tubs, vats, & other such like vessels. The casks are formed of wood, as ordi-
nary, when dry, iron hoops are forced on their periphery, which are fastened
thereto by means of short screws. To make them perfectly water-tight I
apply to the joints of the staves a coating composed of a mixture of flour and
ashes, & afterwards cover them with a strip of sheet iron nailed throughout
their length. This strip of iron passes under the hoops & is held by the same
screws, and curves itself at the joints of the staves, which are filled with the
.coating before mentioned. I apply on the heads of the cask bands of iron,

page_text: fixed by means of screws, in order to prevent their riding or rising one
above the other, and I adopt the same method of covering & luting the
joints thereof as for the sides already described.
These improvements of construction are applicable to all jointed vessels of
wood required to be water-tight.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Auguste Prou-Gaillard in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 2nd August 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTE
PROU-GAILLARD, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris, in the Empire of France,
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of Febru the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Auguste Prou-Gaillard, Her special licence that I, the said Auguste
Prou-Gaillard, executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Auguste Prou-Gaillard, executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
.might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN VESSELS FOR CONTAINING SOLID OR FLUID MATTERS OF ALL
SORTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Auguste Prou-
Gaillard, executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Auguste Prou-Gaillard, do hereby
déclare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement, reference. being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My-Invention consists of certain improvements in the construction of casks,

page_text: tubs, vats, and other such like vessels. The casks are formed of wood, and
when dry, iron hoops are forced on their periphery, in the ordinary way,
and fixed thereto by means of short screws. To make them perfectly water-
tight I apply to the joint of the staves a coating composed of flour and
ashes mixed together, and afterwards cover them with a strip of sheet iron,
nailed throughout their length. This strip of sheet iron passes under the
top hoops, and is held there by the same screws, some cut parts thereof
being turned up and applied on the joints of the staves, which joints are
filled with the coating above mentioned. On the heads of the cask are
applied bands of iron fixed by means of like short screws, in order to prevent
their riding or rising one above the other, and I adopt the same method of
covering and luting the joints as for the sides already described.
I may also substitute for the afore-mentioned coating another mastic of my
own Invention, which consists of the following substances mixed in equal pro-
portions, viz., ox blood, cow dung, clay, & sulphur. When I use rush for
filling the joints of cask staves, I thin the mastic a little more, in order to
render its introduction easier, which does not prevent its hardening in the
air. I may also for sheet iron substitute the following metals, viz., zinc,
copper, tin-plate, lead; or, the following substances, viz., gutta percha,
leather, or linen cloth, as I have ascertained by experience that such sub-
stances are cheaper and also preferable for the covering of my improved casks.
In the annexed Drawings I have represented a cask provided with my
improvements.
Fig. 1 shows a vertical elevation view; and Fig. 2, a plan view of my
improved cask. In these two Figures the same letters of reference repre-
sent the same parts.
a, wooden cask of ordinary construction; b, iron hoops forced on and fixed
on the periphery of the cask by means of short screws c; d, sheet-iron hoop-
shaped strip passing under the other iron hoop, and having a cut part turned
up over the joints of thestaves, the junction of which is filled up between with
mastic, and covered over throughout its length with a sheet-iron strip e;
f, sheet-iron strips covering each head stave, in order to prevent their riding
or rising one above another.
Having now described the nature of the said improvements in vessels for
containing solid or fluid matters of all sorts, I desire it to be distinctly under-
stood that I do not confine myself to the sole use of sheet iron; for which I may
properly substitute other metals or other substances without departing from
my principle; but I claim as new and of my Invention, the improved construc-
tion of casks, with their sheet iron or other metal or substance coverings, and

page_text: also the coating and mastic above described, the same method of construction
being also applicable to tubs, vats, and other such like vessels.
In witness whereof, I, the said Auguste Prou-Gaillard, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
A. PROU-GAILLARD. (L.S.)