IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE Or BARRELS, AND IN MACHINERY THEREFOR
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alfred Julius Boult at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th October 1883, a communication
from George Otis Manning and William Martien, both in the City and County
of Baltimore in the State of Maryland, one of the United States of America
ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 323, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE Or BARRELS, AND IN
MACHINERY THEREFOR a communication to me from abroad by George Otis
Manning and William Martien both of the city and county of Baltimore in the
State of Maryland, one of the United States of America.
"
This invention relates firstly to barrels or packages made of two or more sheets
of veneer, the grain of one layer running in a different direction to that of the
adjacent layer.
It is a well known fact that the acids or alkalies in some guanos are sufficiently
strong to destroy a burlap bag in a short time and the primary object of the first
part of this invention is to provide a proper substitute for the bags, the further
object being to provide a wooden barrel which shall be measurably air tight,
possess greater strength and firmness than the ordinary barrels of this class and
shall be nearly as cheap,
In the manufacture of the package or barrel I take two thin sheets of wood
veneer of proper size and arrange them so that the grain of the inner sheet will
run at right angles to the grain of the outer sheet, Bands made of tough wood
having their ends provided with metallic tips are then secured at one end near the
edge of the sheets by means of nails or tacks and these are then clinched,
The sheets of veneer thus arranged with the bands are passed onto a suitable
former and rolled into a cylinder, an exterior strip of veneer covering the joint at
the meeting edges and secured in place, as well as the bands, by means of staples
or nails,
Near each end of the body are secured chine strips to supports the heads, An
interior strip covers and protects the inner joint of the meeting edges of the veneer
sheets
The cylinder so formed is then hooped and the heads are secured upon the chine
strips by means of retaining strips.

page_text: By the use of the metallic tips or their equivalents for example leather, on the
ends of the veneer bands, the nails or tacks driven into the bands obviate to a
great extent the splitting of the bands and furnish anchoring for the nails to make
a fastening and prevent them flying or dropping out,
The second part of this invention relates to machines for manufacturing the
body of the described barrel or other packages or barrels from thin sheets of wood
or other suitable material
Heretofore it has been the custom to make the former portions of these machines
collapsible which is an objectionable feature to some extent on account of the
numerous parts necessarily employed, and the hinged connections thereby
rendering them liable to get out of order and to work unsatisfactorily. I have
discovered by actual and long experiments that a former composed of the fewest
parts and made rigid is the most desirable for the manufacture of veneer packages
and that there is sufficient give or elasticity in the veneer to leave easily the shaped
body of the former.
To obviate this difficulty and to materially simplify the construction of this class
of machines is the object of the second part of this invention which consists
Firstly in the combination of a rigid cylinder constituting the former, & presser
roller and a bar provided with a plurality of adjustable collars for adjusting the
bands upon the veneer sheets as they are wound around the former,
Secondly in the combination of a, rigid former, a clamping bar for securing one
edge of the veneer sheets upon the former and a presser roller for pressing the
sheets around the former and holding the edges of the veneer sheets while the
edges and bands are being secured by nails or other fastening means,
Thirdly in the combination of a rigid former, a clamping bar, a presser roller a
treadle mechanism and friction gearing
In carrying out this part of the invention, I employ a cylindrical former
mounted upon a shaft rotating in bearings in a suitable frame work that supports
the other mechanism of the machine; said shaft is driven by friction gearing
preferably so arranged as to be thrown in and out of gear by means of a lever
treadle or analogous device,
The former is constructed without adjustable or movable sections and consists of
a hollow cylinder open at one end, To the former is connected a clamping bar
adapted to engage a suitable retaining device such as a catch bar, The clamping
bar carries fingers to gripe the bands of the barrel, a stop to arrest its motion in
clamping and a handle to operate the said bar,
Presser rollers are arranged to be brought into contact with the periphery of the
former or the veneer sheet or sheets thereon and locked into position until the
former has completed a revolution to be then unlocked and brought out of contact
therewith.
In conjunction with the presser rollers act guide bars having a series of
adjustable collars that guide the bands as the veneer is rolled on the former.