Improvements in or relating to Machines for Making Casks or Barrels.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 12th May, 1887
Complete Left, 2nd Feb., 1888
Complete Accepted, 6th Apr., 1888
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Machines for Making Casks or
Barrels.
We JOHN HENRY HALL, of Shirley, Sidcup, in the county of Kent, Commercial
Agent, and DENNIS PARRY of Belle Vue, Llandegla, near Mold, in the county of
Denbigh, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
The object of this invention is, certain improvements in or relating to machines for
making or building up barrels, casks and the like, also in an arrangement of
expansible appliances for determining the size of the barrel, also in appliances for
compressing the ends of the staves and binding the same with a clip ring to fix
said staves, termed trussing, also in arrangement of appliances for simultaneously
cutting off the ends of the staves to an uniform length, in bevilling the inner faces of
the staves, in forming the groove into which the head has to be placed, the whole of
the appliances being combined in the same machine and acting in the manner
hereafter described.
For the purpose of this invention we fit uprights to a bed plate, said uprights
carrying a main shaft taking its motion from a supplementary shaft provided with
riggers and driving gear. The main shaft is hollow and carries within it another
shaft or rod capable of rotating in one or other direction by means of a clutch
wheel working in cone faces of two riggers fixed thereon. The opposite end of
this shaft has a right and left hand screw on which blocks can be made to approach
to or recede from each other according to the direction to which said shaft is
turned. The blocks carry the spherical ends of bars arranged radially round
them within slots the walls of which preserve their proper action in opening
and closing.
The bars of the opposite blocks are connected in pairs and have linked to their
outer ends a head which can be forced outwards to increase its diameter or inwards
to decrease it.
The heads work within a couple of ring frames, parts of which are removed and
these are filled up by a jointed catch plate which when removed by being thrown

page_text: over on their joint pins leave sufficient gap for the staves to be inserted and then
to close upon them making what might be termed the belly of the cask.
The
At the outer ends of the staves a couple of rings are arranged upon distinct
standards and these by a right and left hand screw upon an independent shaft can
be caused to close over the ends of the staves so as to encircle them. The uprights
which carry these rings also carry brackets to which a rotating shaft is fitted said
shafts carrying each a circular saw for cutting off the ends of the staves.
same shaft also carries rotary cutters for bevilling the edge of the cask and other
cutters for cutting the groove into which the heads are afterwards fitted, said cask
being in contact with the rings and capable of rotating together while the circular
saw and cutters are at work, a couple of wire ropes are drawn into close contact with
the ends of the staves, these being guided by rollers and operated by hydraulic rams
to cause the ends of the cask or barrel to be compressed so that the staves touch each
other making a reduced diameter at the ends. A steel hoop or band is then placed
round each end of the cask and secured upon it by a pull over lever with which each
hoop is provided to lock the staves in that condition.
The hydraulic rams are then allowed to slacken the wire rope and the end ring
frame is swung round on joint pins by which it is attached to its upright, the second
mentioned shaft is then reversed by its clutch gear and the two blocks working upon
its threaded portion are moved apart so as to bring the heads into a smaller diameter
whereupon the cask thus made is free to be drawn off for the ends to be put in and
the cask to be hooped by a Cooper in the ordinary way.
The brackets which carry the circular saw and rotating cutters are mounted upon
arms and are controlled by a hand lover so as to be thrown into and out of action and
the guide rollers over which the wire ropes run are close against the staves so that as
the rams are forced downwards to tighten the rope, the cross over of the rope com-
pletes the circle for acting upon all the staves simultaneously.
The hydraulic cylinders with their rams form supports for the rollers so that tho
wire ropes when pressure is put upon them have a direct downthrust yet moving in
a circle.
The rotating cutters are operated by belts from independent riggers and the various
motions are controlled by an attendant operating hand levers and a foot plate.
1011
.
1007
H. GARDNER,
166, Fleet Street, London,
Agent for the said J. H. Hall and D. Parry.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Machines for Making Casks or
Barrels.
We JOHN HENRY HALL of Shirley, Sidcup, in the county of Kent, Commercial
Agent, and DENNIS PARRY of Belle Vue, Llandegla, near Mold, in the county of
Denbigh, Engineer 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:-
The object of this invention is certain improvements in or relating to machines, for
the making or building up of barrels, casks, and the like; also in an arrangement of
expansible appliances for determining the size of the barrel; also in appliances for
compressing the ends of the staves and binding the same with a clip ring to fix said
staves termed trussing; also in arrangement of appliances for simultaneously cutting
off the ends of the staves to an uniform length; in bevilling the inner edge faces of
the staves, and in forming the grooves into which the heads have to be placed, the
whole of the appliances being combined in the same machine and acting in the manner
hereafter described.
Our invention will be understood by the annexed drawings in which at Figure 1 we
show a part section, Figure 2 side elevation, Figure 3 a plan of a machine in which
the several operations are carried into practice as hereafter described.
We fit uprights A, A, to a bel plate B; said uprights carry a main shaft C
taking its motion from a supplementary shaft D provided with a rigger E and friction
or other driving gear F, F. The main shaft C is hollow and carries within it another
shaft or rod G capable of rotating in one or other direction by means of a clutch
wheel H this being arranged between two loose running riggers J, J, driven in
opposite directions by straps. The clutch wheel H has cone faces I, I, to engage into
either rigger J, J. according to the desired throw of the hand lever H¹.
The opposite end of the shaft G has a right and left hand screw on which blocks K, K
can be made to approach to or recede from each other according to the direction to which
said shaft G is turned.
The blocks K, K carry spherical ends of bars L arranged radially round them (see
Figure 4) within slots, the walls of which preserve their proper action in opening and
closing.
The bars L are connected in pairs at their outer ends by hoads M which can be
forced outwards to increase the diameter or inwards to decrease it.
The heads M work within a couple of ring frames N N, supported by fixed
standards A', A'¹, see Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 parts of said rings N, N at N1, N1, are
movable and capable of being thrown over on their joint pins to enable the staves,
guided by horn plates N2, N³, to be inserted into the space between the rings N, N,
and the heads M, M, in succession.

page_text: A couple of rings P, P¹ are mounted on pivot pins P', P2, and are supported upon
distinct yet movable standards Q, Q¹, capable of being set farther apart or closer
together by a right and left hand screw of an independent shaft R arranged under
the bed plate B, by means of which screw R the rings P, P₁, can be caused to close over
the ends of the staves so as to encircle them.
The movable uprights QQ, which carry these rings P, P1, also carry brackets S, S¹,
to each of which a rotating shaft a¹ is fitted, said shafts a¹, a¹ carrying each a circular
saw U for cutting off the ends of the staves, said shafts a¹, a', also carry bevilling
cutters U₁, U¹, for chamfering the inside edges of the two ends of the cask in addition
to which the same shafts a', a², have saws Us Us, for cutting the groove in the inside
of the staves for the reception of the heads by a workman in an after process termed
Coopering.
The movable uprights Q, Q, support hydraulic mechanism which move with them
and as the shaft R is rotated by the hand wheel R¹ to bring the rings P, P¹, over
the ends of the cask the wire ropes V, V₁, connected to the hydraulic mechanism also
move over the ends and on the rams X, X', being depressed by hydraulic power, the
ropes V, V, cause the two ends of the cask to be reduced in diameter by bringing the
edges of the staves into close contact ready for the trussing loops Y (Figures 6 and 7)
to be
placed and secured upon them.
The trussing hoop Y has two lipped ends, behind one of which is a block having two
links pivotted so that they can be folded up or opened to leave a gap between the lips.
The opposite ends of the links have a lever Z pivotted, the shank of which when the
hoop is wrapped round the cask is caused to grip against the outer face of the lip and
spring it into close contact with the cask, the lever Ž being forced to lie on the hoop Y
to fix it.
The ropes V, VI, by the hydraulics are then released and the shafts with the saws U, U,
the rotary cutters U, U₁, for bevilling the inner edge of the cask, and the saws U³, U³,
for cutting the groove into which the heads are afterwards fitted are put into operation
by a movement of the handles a, a.
While the circular saws and cutters are at work the cask is rotated by the main
shaft C from the rigger E, shaft D and gear F through the rod d¹ and the consequent
lift of the shaft D which is excentrically set in the uprights A, A, when the plate d is
depressed by the workmans foot.
The ropes V, V, are guided by rollers W, W, carried by brackets W', W¹, and
attached to the base of the rams X, X¹, for maintaining the circular grip of the
ropes V, VI, around the cask so that all the staves are simultaneously closed in.
W2, W, are weights to return the rams X, X', after the pressure is removed.
The uprights Q, Q¹, with their appurtenances are then opened outward or moved
away from one another and the ring frames P, P1 are swung round on their joint
pins P, P2; the shaft G is then reversed by its clutch gear H and the two blocks K, K,
working upon its threaded portion are moved apart so as to bring the heads M into a
smaller diameter, whereupon the cask thus made is free to be drawn end wise out of the
machine the heads being afterwards put in and the cask hooped by a Cooper in the
ordinary way.
The rotating saws U, U, U³, U³, and cutters U¹, U₁, are operated by belts from
riggers on the shafts a¹, a', and the various motions are controlled by an attendant
operating hand levers H¹, a, b, c, and a foot plate d.
The operation of making a cask by this special construction or arrangement of
machinery is as follows:-
To set the machine, supposing the uprights Q, Q1, and with them the hydraulic
mechanism are at their greatest distance apart, and the rings P, Pl, are opened
outwards on their pivot pins 1, P2, the rams X, X¹, of the hydraulic mechanism
being at their top stroke, or idle. The clutch wheel H is first shifted in contact with
one of the riggers to rotate the shaft G to bring the two blocks K, K, towards each
other to expand the heads M to the diameter of the intended cask and the clutch H
is then thrown out of gear. The two shutters N³, N³, of the ring frames N, N, are
then thrown open and the selected number of staves to form the barrel are placed

page_text: between horn plates N2, N', in a superposed manner on the flat. The shaft C through
the friction gear F, F, and shaft D is now thrown in action by a pressure on the foot
plate d causes the blocks K, K, and heads M, M, to rotate at the will of the
operator until all the staves become lodged in a circular manner on the heads M, said
staves being retained in their respective positions by a slight touch against the inner
faces of the rings N, N.
The friction clutch F, F, is now thrown out of gear and the shaft R is reversed by
hand to bring the two uprights Q, Q¹ and also the two hydraulics towards one
another so that the ropes V, V₁, appear some little distance over the ends of
the staves. The rams are then worked to compress the ropes V, V¹, upon
the circle of staves which bring their narrowed side portions into contact and so
reduce the diameter at each end leaving the belly part intact upon the heads M, M.
A trussing hoop Y is now placed round each end of the cask and fastened thereon by
folding down the lever Z.
The two ropes V, V₁, are now released and the two rings P, P¹, swung round so as
to enclose the ends of the cask and the shaft C is again set in motion to rotate the
cask which is now fixed tightly against the heads M, M. During this rotation of the
cask the operator by a movement of the levers a, a, causes the saws U, U, to cut off
the ends of the stavos to an uniform length.
Directly after the saws U, U, have commenced their work, cutters U₁ U₁, on the
same spindle a, a¹ commence to chamfer the inside edges of the cask and simul-
taneously with this chamfering, the saws Us, U³, cut the grooves into which the two
heads are to be placed. The saws are then returned to their first position by a shift
of the brackets S, S', through a reverse motion on the handles a, a, and the rotation of
the heads M M is stopped.
The two uprights Q, Qare then moved apart and with them the hydraulics and
also the rings P, P1, which are again swung round on their pivot pins P, P, to open
them out. The clutch wheel H is then thrown into gear with the opposite rigger J
to rotate the shaft G in order to open out the blocks K, K, and consequently decrease
the diameter of the heads M, M which allow the cask to be pulled endwise out of the
machine.
The cask thus far made is passed over to the Cooper to be headed and hooped in the
usual way.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is
The construction and arrangement of cask making machine as hereinbefore described
and in which the principal features are
1. The spherical ended bars L fitted in traversing blocks K and connected in pairs
at their outer ends by the heads M as shown in the drawings.
2. The hoop or band Y with pull over lever Z for fixing same on a cask or
barrel.
3. The hydraulic appliances for operating the wire ropes V, V₁, which close the
ends of the staves together, said hydraulic mechanism having an independent to and
fro motion on the bed plate by the screw R and band wheel as and for the purposes
explained.
The 1st day of February 1888.