IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASKS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Henry Lefranc, of Paris, France, Gen-
tleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
CASKS."
Sealed the 18th February 1863, and dated the 29th August 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Henry Lefranc
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th August 1862.
I, FRANÇOIS HENRY LEFRANC, of Paris, France, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF CASKS," to be as follows:-
The Invention consists in sawing boards by mechanical means into staves,
for manufacturing casks therefrom, and in, other operations relating to this
manufacture. For the purpose of sawing boards into staves for casks, I make
use of a circular or other suitable saw, so as to allow of cutting the staves
narrower at the ends than at the middle part, or narrower at one end only if the
shape of the cask should require it, and the staves are cut with a slightly bevelled

page_text: edge along their longitudinal sides. For this purpose the saw is mounted on a
table, the upper part of which is hinged so as to allow of causing the board
resting thereon to take an inclined position in respect to the saw. Each board
may be cut separately, and receive simultaneously with it its bevilled edge, or a
certain number of the boards being kept superposed on the table may be cut
into staves at one, and receive their bevilled edge by a subsequent operation.
The bottom parts are formed on the lathe; the staves and bottoms are then
put together and kept so by means of the hoops, after which the cask is
put on the lathe, for cutting away at each end any protruding parts of the
staves..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said François Henry Lefranc in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th February 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANÇOIS
HENRY LEFRANC, of Paris, France, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said François Henry Lefranc, Her special licence, that I, the said François
Henry Lefranc, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said François Henry Lefranc, my 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF CASKS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said François Henry Lefranc, my 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 per-
formed, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said François Henry Lefranc, do hereby
declare 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
following statement:-
.
These improvements in the manufacture of casks relate principally to
improved apparatus for cutting boards or suitable pieces of wood into staves of
the required shape for casks, and to the mode of finishing these latter, and they
have for their object to afford means of manufacturing casks, barrels, or other
wooden vessels of the same description much easier, and with more regularity
than would be possible by hand.
In the annexed Drawings are represented various views of the apparatus
to be made use of for this purpose, and separate parts, corresponding parts
being in the varions Figures marked by the same letters of reference.
*Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal elevation view of a machine I make use of
for sawing simultaneously a suitable number of boards or pieces of wood into
staves; the same consists of a table A, supported on strong feet A¹, a suitable
number of boards B are to be kept in a fixed position in respect to each other
by means of two screw cramps C, which cramps glide in grooves provided in
the fixed vertical standards D, whilst a counterweight D³ causes the set of
boards B to rise in the same measure as they are submitted to the cutting.
effect of the saw E, the latter receiving a suitable reciprocating motion by
means of a rod F, actuated at one end by a crank F¹ and winch handle, or
receiving motion from any suitable prime mover, and connected at the other
end to a guide piece G, gliding in a slit g, provided in the table; another
similar guide piece G¹ glides in a similar slit g³, provided in the opposite end
of the table, and both ensure the steady motion of the saw E. H and H¹ are
two small tooth wheels actuated and connected together by an endless chain ki ;
the axis of each of these wheels passes underneath the table, and is provided:
at its further end with a male screw working into a female screw fixed in
the standards D, thus allowing to draw the set of boards more or less close to
the saw E by turning the said wheels H and H. By means of this saw the
boards or pieces of wood may be sawn, either with a straight or with a bevilled:.
edge; in this latter case the boards are to be fixed in an inclined position
between the clamps C, viz., in the manner as shown partly in sectional view in
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3 shows a bench with circular or rotatory saw, by means of which the:
longitudinal shape may be given to the boards, as shown by a, b, and a², b¹,
Fig. 4, whilst at the same time the bevilling of the edges may be obtained, as

page_text: In
shown by c, d, and c, d, Fig. 5, Fig. 4 representing a longitudinal view of
one of the staves, and Fig. 5 a transverse sectional view of the same.
Eig. 3, J represents the circular saw fixed to a horizontal arbor J¹, revolving
in suitable bearings in a block J, gliding by means of tongues in grooves in
the standards K and K', and which block by means of a sorew j may be raised
or lowered as required; a suitable revolving motion may be transmitted to
the arbor J' from any suitable prime mover by means of the pulley L; Mis a
table provided towards the middle of its width with two or three female screws
N¹, situated at suitable distances apart, in each of which works a male screw N,
on the top of which latter rests and is connected a board O, at each of the
two longitudinal edges of which is hinged an inclined table P, resting with its
lower end on the table M, at which end each of the tables P is provided
with a rule or rest plate p; the boards or pieces of wood or the staves to be
cut or chamferred are laid on the inclined tables P, so as to rest against the
rules p, or against a guide or pattern plate laid against each of these rules p;
a suitable revolving motion being now transmitted to the saw J, the boards or
staves are pushed forward against this saw, and thus one of their edges is sawn
to the required shape, the boards or staves being set more or less inclined,
according as required, by means of the screw N, whilst the saw itself is to be
raised more or less by means of the screw j. It will be understood that by
this circular saw, the edges of the upper and lower ends of the staves are to be
cut bevil, and to be chined or grooved for the purpose of receiving the heads,
whilst the required shape may also be given to the straight pieces of wood
which are to form the heads. The staves and the heads having thus been pre-
pared, the cask is made up in the ordinary manner, and headed by hand, a
suitable number of hoops being put round, as shown in Fig. 6, after which the
cask is placed in the lathe shown in this Fige, either between centres, or the
same is held at one end only by a centre R, and towards the opposite end
introduced in a fixed ring S, and by means of any suitable cutting tool
these ends of the staves protruding beyond the end hoops T are cut off,
whilst finally, if wished, the outer part of the cask may be shaved to a smooth
surface.
Having thus described and particularly ascertained the nature of my im-
provements, and the manner in which the same are to be carried into effect, I
would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself to the
precise details of the arrangements above described, as many variations may
be made therefrom, without deviating from the main features of the Invention,
but what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Inven-

page_text: tion secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the
general arrangement and combination of parts of the above-described arrange-
ments for cutting the staves for casks, and for manufacturing these latter.
In witness whereof, I, the said François Henry Lefranc, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
DREYFOUS,
Ing. Civil.
F. H. LEFRANC. (L.s.)