IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASKS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Stokes Cressey, of Burton-on-Trent, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF CASKS,"
Sealed the 21st January 1862, and dated the 30th July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Stokes Cressey
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 30th July 1861.
I, THOMAS STOKES CRESSEY, of Burton-on-Trent, do hereby declare the
nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF CASKS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery used in the
manufacture of casks, and the improvements relate to machinery for shaping
the ends of the staves of casks to prepare them for receiving the head.
For this purpose after the staves have been put together to form a cask, and
whilst they are held together by the wooden hoops which are employed to hold
them previous to the cask being finally hooped, the inner face of the ends of
the staves is subjected to the action of a rotary cutter or cutters, suitably formed
to make the groove in the staves for receiving the outer edge of the head and
also to bevil the ends of the staves, and to cut away the middle portion of the
staves just above the groove, so as to make the interior of the cask at that
point circular. The cask to be acted on is supported at each end on two

page_text: rollers at a short distance apart, and the end which is to be prepared for
receiving a head is held up to a flat plate, in front of which is a wheel of
slightly less diameter than the inner diameter of the end of the cask. The
inner face of the cask is pressed up against the under side of this wheel by
means of the two rollers which support the end of the cask which is being
acted on, these two rollers being carried by a spring lever, the spring of which
constantly forces the cask upwards against the wheel above mentioned. The
rotary cutter acts on the staves whilst they are pressed by the rollers against
the wheel, and consequently cuts uniformly each of the staves, the cask being
rotated slowly so that each of the staves passes in succession under the cutter.
The cask is rotated by means of a band passing around it, one end of the band
being attached to the wooden hoop around that end of the cask which is being
acted on, and the other end. being attached to a drum which is caused to rotate
slowly and wind the band around it, thus rotating the cask.
municated to the rotary cutter from the same axis that gives motion to the
drum, so that the cutter shall always be rotated when the cask is being turned
round, and the rotary cutter is carried by a frame which is capable of turning
upon axes, so that the cutter may be lifted up out of the way when a cask is
being placed into the machine. When one end of a cask has been prepared
in the manner above described, the cask is turned round and the other end
prepared in the same manner.
Motion is com-
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Stokes Cressey in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 30th January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
STOKES CRESSEY, of Burton-on-Trent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas Stokes Cressey, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas Stokes Cressey, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Thomas Stokes Cressey, 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

page_text: of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "INPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
CASES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Stokes
Cressey, 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 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 Thomas Stokes Cressey do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery used in the
manufacture of casks, and the improvements relate to machinery for shaping
the ends of the staves of casks to prepare them for receiving the head. For
this purpose, after the staves have been put together to form a cask, and whilst
they are held together by the hoops which are employed to hold them previous
to the cask being finally hooped, the inner face of the ends of the staves is
subjected to the action of a rotary cutter or cutters, suitably formed to make
the groove in the staves for receiving the outer edge of the head, and also to
bevil the ends of the staves, and to cut away the middle portion of the staves
just above the groove, so as to make the interior of the cask at that point
circular. The cask to be acted on is supported at each end on two rollers at
a short distance apart, and the end which is to be prepared for receiving a
head is held up to a flat plate, in front of which is a wheel of slightly less
diameter than the inner diameter of the end of the cask; the inner face of the
cask is pressed up against the under side of this wheel by means of the two
rollers which support the end of the cask which is being acted on, these two
rollers being carried by a spring lever, the spring of which constantly forces
the cask upwards against the wheel above mentioned. The rotary cutter acts
on the staves whilst they are pressed by the rollers against the wheel, and
consequently cuts uniformly each of the staves, the cask being rotated slowly,
so that each of the staves passes in succession under the cutter. The cask is
rotated by means of a band passing around it, one end of the band being
attached to the hoop around that end of the cask which is being acted on,
and the other end being attached to a drum, which is caused to rotate slowly,
and wind the band around it, thus rotating the cask. The rotary cutter is
carried by a frame, which is capable of turning upon axes, so that the cutter

page_text: may be lifted up out of the way when a cask is being placed into the machine.
When one end of a cask has been prepared in the manner above described, the
cask is turned round, and the other end prepared in the same manner.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood, and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
'annexed
Figure 1 is a side view, and Figure 2, a plan, of a machine constructed
according to my Invention.
a, a, is the frame of the machine; it carries in suitable bearings the axis b,
on which is a pulley b' driven by a band 62 from shafting below; 3 is a loose
pulley to receive the band when the machine is stopped. On the axis b is another
pulley b', which by a band drives the pulley c¹ on the axis c. On this axis the
rocking frame d, d, is mounted, so that it can turn freely thereon; it carries
at its further end, in suitable bearings, the axis e, at the extremity of which
the cutter block f is fixed; this block receives cutters, such as have heretofore
been employed for preparing the ends of staves to receive the head, where each
stave has for the purpose been subjected separately to the action of a revolving
block carrying cutters. For driving the axis e a pulley e' is mounted on it,
and a band passes around this and also around a pulley on the axis c.
This method of mounting the cutter block is an important feature of my
Invention. The cutter block projects through an opening formed for it in
the standard a¹ of the frame, and is capable of being raised and lowered by
means of the hand screw j, which acts on the end of the lever h. This lever
turns on a centre h' on a standard springing from the frame, and is connected
by the link i with the frame d. The cask which is to be operated on is partly
shown at j. The ends of the staves are fitted into a wooden hoop k, and
the cask at its end is supported on the friction rollers 1, 1, the axes of which
are carried in bearings in a frame m; this frame at its ends has spring
pieces m³, m', fixed to it; one of these is centred to the frame at m², and the
other is formed into a handle, and when the cask is in its place is hitched over
a pin m³ on the frame, so that the rollers tend constantly to press the end of
the cask upwards, they thus keep it constantly against the lower edge of the
wheel or disc n, which is capable of turning freely on a stud carried by the
standard a¹. The arrangements just described, by means of which the interior
of the cask is kept constantly up against a gauge, is also an important feature
of my Invention, as it keeps the depth of the cut uniform, whatever may be
the irregularities in the form of the cask or the thickness of the staves.
At