Improvements in and relating to the Manufacture of Barrels or Kegs.
Year: 1894

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to the Manufacture of Barrels
or Kegs.
I, CHARLES ELIS BRATT, of Norrlandsgatan No. 47, Stockholm, Sweden,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained, in and
by the following statement :-
This invention relates to a machine for preparing staves automatically and
delivering them completely finished ready to be put together to form barrels or
kegs.
The various operations for the manufacture of staves as at present practised are
carried out by means of 7 different machines, generally at different times and
places. By the use of the improved machine however, all these operations are
effected at the same time and at a cost which does not materially exceed that
hitherto paid for the material alone. The construction and operation of this
machine will be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings
in which
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the whole machine ;
Figures 2 and 3 show the parts of the machine employed for moulding the edges
of the staves.
Figures 4, 5, 6 represent the crozing, chamfering, and length-adjusting-
arrangements ;
Figures 7, 8, 9 show the saws and cutter heads used for this work and
Figures 10, 11, 12 represent detail views of the finished stave.
The stave material consists of a block of timber, a little longer than the stave to
be cut and of a thickness corresponding to the width of the stave; this material is
fed by two pairs of feeding-rollers A to the circular saw B, which cuts from the
block a stave blank large enough to form a stave. An adjustable guide not shown
regulates the thickness of the stave. The remaining part of the block drops down
upon the rollers C at the side of the saw, which rollers are driven in the same
direction as the saw so that they return the block to the operator at the rear end
of the machine, who runs the said block again between the feeding-rollers A.
As soon as the end of the stave blank has passed the saw, it is forced by another
pair of feeding-rollers D, upon a common vertically operating-moulding-cutter E
for rounding the inside of the stave, which will forn a part of the outside of the
circular barrel. Having passed the cutter-head E, the stave is pushed forward by
the following stave and is kept down upon the planing table by means of the guide
piece G, pivoted at one end to the framework, while the other end is acted upon by
a spring which gives the necessary pressure upon the stave or blank, the said stave
being guided laterally by the plate 1, which may if desired be provided with friction
rollers.
The stave is then fed with increased speed by an horizontally working fluted
wheel K which operates in conjunction with another similar wheel L on the inside
of the machine opposite the wheel K, the said wheel L being actuated by frictional
contact with the stave. The wheel L is provided on both sides with cams Q,
having their greatest thickness at the middle as shown in Figure 3, each of these
The said
cams forming a path upon which a small wheel P is adapted to run.
wheels Pare carried by arms M' on the pivoted arms O which support the saws or
cutters M, N operating upon the edges of the stave, and having a thickness equal to

page_text: that of the stave, the said parts being so arranged as to increase or decrease the
distance between the saws, by reason of the wheels P acting on the cams Q thus
shaping the edges of the staves, so as to give them a greater width at the middle
than at the ends. The stave in passing between the saws or cutters M, N has its
edges chamfered or grooved to correspond to the form of the teeth of the said saws
or cutters.
On the outside of the moulds Q is a stopper R adjustable, where required on the
wheel L, in the groove of which stopper a wheel S, carried by the level U, under
pressure of the spring T, is adapted to engage so as to stop the motion of the
wheel L, which stoppage must take place just as the stave, fed by the wheel K,
leaves that wheel. In this case, it is supposed that the stave is of the same length
as the periphery of the wheel L as shown in Figure 2 and it is therefore necessary
to fix that stopper R in such a position that the wheel S will drop into the groove
at the same moment that the wheels P are upon the thinnest parts of the cams
opposite the end of the stave. The stave, fed by the wheel L, has more than
double its previous speed imparted to it, giving the wheel L time to stop before
being touched by the following stave.
The wheel L must complete one revolution until stopped by the stopper R, even
if a stave, shorter than the periphery of the wheel is used, the last portion of the
revolution being accomplished by means of a rope V imparting motion to the
pulley X Figure 3. One wheel L is consequently common for all lengths of staves
not exceeding the length of the periphery of that wheel.
The above mentioned two saws M, N are secured on their arbors, not parallel,
but converging towards each other, in order to give the necessary bevel to the
edges of the staves each of the said saws as above mentioned being pivoted to a
swinging arm O to each of which is further pivoted a bent arm M', carrying at its
end the above-mentioned wheel P, running upon the cams Q and correspondingly
shaping the edges of the staves by means of the rising and falling saws which, as
described, work upon those edges.
Having passed the feed wheel K, the stave is further fed by the plane-faced
rollers, which convey it to the crozing arrangement consisting of two shafts Z
arranged one above the other, each of which is provided with a chain wheel A¹
which wheels are connected by the chain B' having vertical hooks C¹. In the
front of these chains is situated the shaft D' to each end of which is secured a
crozing cutterhead E' on which are fixed the length-adjusting saws F1, the said
cutterheads being made adjustable where required on the shaft. On the framework
are secured guiding springs G', at a short distance from the chains B', the said
springs being so arranged that they are approximately parallel to the said chains.
The stave, fed by the rollers Y, is guided between these springs and the chains while
the said chains are held stationary.
The manner of working the said chains is as follows. On the end of the upper
shaft Z, carrying the above mentioned chain wheel, is a coupling-wheel I' provided
with two lugs or projections N¹ which are adapted to be engaged by a projection
on one end of a pivoted rod H the opposite end of which is provided with an angle-
piece K. The upturned part of this angle-piece is struck by the stave, when the
latter is fed forward by the rollers Y, and operated so as to cause the rod H¹ to
turn on its pivot and release the coupling wheel 11, so that the upper shaft Z and
its chain-wheel are free to continue their motion, whereby the stave is lifted until,
it has passed the end of the above mentioned upturned part of the angle piece K',
and is stopped by the adjustable stop L' the said angle piece K' being returned to
its original position by gravity assisted if desired by a suitable spring so as to again
couple the shaft Z and stop the motion of the chains. The next stave is then fed
forward and the above described operations repeated.
On the above mentioned cutterheads are secured irons to chamfer, croze or fold
the staves to fit any shape of edge of the barrelheads. The staves, being lifted by
the chains and guided by the springs, are pressed against the cutterheads which,
running with great speed, shape the staves as required, adjusting the lengths and

page_text: delivering the staves on the other side of the machine quite ready to be put
together.
With the exception of the feeding of the material in front of the first saw, the
whole work of preparing the staves is effected automatically by one man. The
same work requires at present 7 machines and 18 labourers.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. A machine for making staves for barrels or the like characterized by two
pairs of feed rollers A whereby the material for the manufacture of the staves is
conveyed, in lengths corresponding to the said staves, to the circular saw B which
cuts a stave blank therefrom approximately equal to the thickness of the said stave,
whereupon a pair of rollers D acting upon the edges of the wood conducts the said
blank to a vertically operating moulding-tool head E by which the outside of the
stave blank is rounded off, while a toothed wheel K moving horizontally in com-
bination with a similar toothed wheel L conducts the planed stave at an accelerated
velocity to a pair of saws or cutters M N which are moved by peripheral cams Q
fixed upon the toothed wheel L in such a manner that the staves will be broader in
the middle than at the ends, the edges at the same time being chamfered or grooved
to correspond to the form of the teeth of these saws or cutting tools.
Second. A machine constructed according to the first claim, characterized by the
feature that the rollers C arranged lower than the saw B and moving in the same
direction as the saw convey the stave material or block falling upon the same from
the saw to the operator at the end of the machine.
Third. A machine constructed according to the first claim characterized by the
feature that the staves on entering the crozing chamfering and adjusting arrange-
ment force back an upwardly extending angle-piece K¹ whereby the end of the
rod His caused to be disengaged from the coupling wheel I¹ and the shaft Z set in
motion, and by means of the vertically moving chains B' with hooks C¹ raises the
stave until it passes the upper end of the angular projection K', whereupon this
projection being released, again assumes its original position and interrupts the
movement of the chains as well as the raising of the stave, by means of the rod H¹
engaging with the coupling wheel l' until the next stave forces the projection K¹
back again, and sets the shaft Z in motion and conducts the stave by means of
the chains B against the rapidly moving crozing heads E' and the cutting-off
saws Fl
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.