Year: 1886

page_text: I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex, 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 bushes for the bung-holes of casks or the like and to
appliances for facilitating the application of the same.
The said invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which
Figure 1 is a sectional view of a bush arranged according to the method
heretofore practised.
Figure 2 is a similar view of a bush arranged according to this invention.
Figures 3 to 8 are views of the appliances used in applying the same, and
hereinafter described.
Endeavours have heretofore been made to connect a bush provided with a screw-
nut m, as shown in Figure I, to the stave in which the bung hole is formed, so that
the flanger of the bush is in intimate contact with the wood. With this arrange-
ment however the bush is movable, and is screwed into the nut m, which is fixed,
by taking hold of the said bush by means of a wrench bearing upon the internal
wall of the bush, or by any other suitable means, and turning it. Before screwing
in the bush, red lead is placed below the flange r, which red lead fills any spaces
between the surface of the said flange and the wood. During the subsequent
leakage, in consequence of the shrinking of the wood, the bush is again tightened
in a similar manner.
An intimate contact of the tube b of the bush with the wood is not obtained,
because, in the first place, the said tube being a rough casting is never perfectly
circular, and, in the second place, the hole in the wood has to be slightly larger than
the tube or else it will offer too much resistance and friction to the rotation of the
bush in drawing the flange tightly against the wood.
The jointing of the bush around the tube is considered to be of secondary
importance, because the main joint is formed, as above stated, below the flanger,
where the burning or charring of the wood during the pitching in the pitching
machine is not expected. But it is found that liquid penetrates between the
threads of the bush-tube and the nut m, lodging between the wood and the bush

page_text: tube; especially is this the case when the liquid is under pressure. In consequence
of this entrance of the liquid between the bush and the tube the wood rots and
fungi are formed, which fungi cause damage to the beer. It is found further that
the cutting edge of the flange r is never quite circular, so that instead of cutting
evenly into the wood it makes, on being tightened, a more or less broad circular
depression in the wood; accordingly if the bedding of the wedge shaped edge of
the flanger is imperfect, the joint there also is imperfect.
When the liquid owing to the shrinking of the wood or from any other cause
leaks out around the busb, necessitating the tightening of the latter, the red lead
below the bush flange and which has meanwhile become hard is pulverized and
does not therefore assist in forming a joint.
These disadvantages are sufficient to prevent these bushes from being used with
success, and the object of my invention is to remove these disadvantages.
The arrangement which I have made in these bushes not only obviates all these
defects but also involves positive advantages.
According to this invention I arrange the tightening flange rl on the internal
side of the stave containing the bung-hole as shown in figure 2, at which point
tightness is principally necessary. The screw nut m¹ is placed externally and the
bush with the jointing flange is tightly fixed in the hole by drawing the nut tight,
and further tightening it if there is any subsequent leaking.
From this arrangement the following advantages result;-
1st The cutting flanger, although not quite circular, will nevertheless press
evenly into the wood and provide a tight joint; and,
2nd It will not permit the compressed red lead to escape, the latter being
compelled under the pressure of the screw to penetrate into the pores of the
wood and to tighten the joint so that no liquid will penetrate between the wood
and the bush.
3rd The hole in the wood can be forced very small so that the tube of the bush
bears closely against it, because the bush is fixed, the turning of the same being
unnecessary.
4th As the bush is fixed, the red lead is not pulverized in the subsequent
tightening of the nut m¹, but maintains its exact form and place.
5th The pressure of the beer upon the surfaces of the bung and the bush flange,
(about 50 square centimetres at two atmospheres; equal to one hundred kilo-
grammes) assists in effecting the tightness of the bush, as the pressure is
concentrated upon the flange, whilst with the flange in the reverse position, the
-pressure forces the tightening flange away from the parts below.
6th When the tightening flange is on the outside of the cask, it comes, during
the pitching in the pitching machine, in immediate contact with the hot parts of
the said machine in which the hot air pipe is placed, and in a very short time
takes up so much heat therefrom that the charring of the wood takes place even
at the cutting edge of the flange. This is not the case when the tightening flange
is in the interior of the cask.
With casks which are pitched in a pitching machine, in which the hot air is
introduced into the cask through the medium of a pipe passed through the bung
bush which thereby becomes red hot, this arrangement will be of great value, as
those bushes which are screwed into the bung-holes by means of threads cutting
into the wood, and also other kinds of bushes which are jointed at the tube and
not at the flanges become loose in time, because the wood, between the threads of
the screw or in proximity to the bush tube chars.
As in the employment of the improved bung-hole bushes it is necessary for them
to exactly fit the holes in which they are inserted whilst the bearing surfaces for
the tightening flanges are in two parallel planes, I provide the apparatus, shown in
Figures III to VI for enabling the holes and surfaces to be accurately formed.
This apparatus mainly consists of the shaft a carrying the bits g and g g and
which is guided by the hearings and so that it occupies a fixed position
relatively to the stave 8. The said stave is fixed between the lugs z and z z and

page_text: the screws y and y y The bung hole and the surface for the flange are made
with the bit g and the surface w for the nut, with the bit g g.
The adjusting rings v and vv upon the shaft a determine the depth of the
recesses for the flange and nut. The bits g and g g are inserted between the
lugs z and ss and the shaft a is passed through them and fastened with the pin t.
The part q Figure V serves for screwing the apparatus to a vice during the
boring.
Figure VI is a side view of a drill detached.
For tightening the screw nut m¹ upon the bush, a special device is necessary.
This device consists in the main of a turning bar p which is mounted upon the
portion o of the screw e, which screw moves in a conical bung-piece h and the
pitch of whose thread is the same as that of the thread of the screw n in the bush
whereby the drivers k during the tightening of the nut m" remain in the slots
provided in the same.
The screw bolt o is square where the turning bar p fits thereon, the latter being
held by the nut. If the nut m¹ is to be tightened, the turning bar p is first
placed upon the bolt o so that the projection f is downward, as shown in
Figure VIIL
By turning the turning bar to the right it will take with it the bung h, in
consequence of the action of the screw e and the projection f, drawing the same
firmly into the bush. The nut i is now screwed off the bolt and the turning bar
is put on with its projection f upward, as shown in Figure VII, and drawn tight
with the nut i, the drivers k engaging with the slots in the nut m" which can
now be drawn tight. The nut i is then loosened so far that the drivers k are free
from the slots. By turning the bolt to the left with the turning bar, the bung h
is then screwed out again, by reason of the projection c and the screw e.
If the internal wall of the bung bush is not provided with threads, the plug h
can be driven in firmly; it can also consist of halves made conical, with fixed
lateral projections below, or it can be fixed in any other manner.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is
First. In a bung-hole bush provided with flange joints and fixed by means of a
screw-nut, the arrangement of the jointing flange on the inside of the stave in
which the bung-hole is formed substantially in the manner, and for the purposes,
described.
Second. Apparatus for boring out the holes for receiving the bushes and forming
the parallel bearing surfaces for the jointing flanges r¹ and the tightening nuts m¹,
the said apparatus being adapted to be fixed on the stave and having its boring
shaft maintained in a perpendicular position relatively to the stave by bearings
and 11, the boring and cutting tools being fastened to the said shaft, and the depth
of their penetration into the wood being regulated by stops vand v v.
Third A turning bar having projections k engaging with the nut, and moving
upon threads which have the same pitch as those of the screw nut, so that the said
projections, during the tightening of the screw nut, have the same ascending spiral
motion as the screw nut and therefore cannot lose their hold upon the same, for
the purpose specified.
Dated this 26th day of January 1886.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
For the Applicant.