IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CASKS, BARRELS, KEGS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CASKS, BARRELS,
KEGS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES."-A communication from abroad
by John Connolly of Boston Massachusetts. United States of America.
Sealed the 25th September 1863, and dated the 4th June 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th June 1863.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
CASKS, BARRELS, KEGS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention of improvements in the construction of casks, barrels, kegs,
and other analogous articles is applicable to either metal or wooden articles
of the above-named description. The Invention consists in the employment
or use of a metal head provided with an internal screw which works on a
male screw on the cask, barrel, or keg. This metal head may be screwed on
to the casks by means of a lever which takes hold of two projecting pins on
the head, whereby it may be turned round. With wooden casks the screw on
the metal head will cut its way, and will hold on securely, but for metal casks

page_text: the male screw must be cut on the cask. Instead of cutting a screw on the
metal head, rasp-like teeth or projections may be formed thereon, and the
head may then be driven on the wooden casks by blows from a hammer
or mallet.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th December 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 CONSTRUCTION OF CASKS, BARRELS,
KEGS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES," being a communication to him from
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 im-
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention of "Improvements in the Construction of Casks, Barrels,
Kegs, and other analogous Articles," is applicable to either metal or wooden

page_text: articles of the above-named description. The Invention consists in the employ-
ment or use of a metal head provided with an internal screw which works on a
male screw on the cask, barrel, or keg, and is constructed and arranged as herein-
after fully shown and described, whereby it is believed that many advantages
will be obtained over casks or barrels constructed in the ordinary manner.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a cask
constructed according to this Invention; Fig. 2, a plan or top view of the
same; Fig. 3, a sectional elevation of a modification of the same.
A represents the body or main portion of a wooden barrel, a being the
staves, and b. the hoops. These parts are of ordinary construction, and
therefore do not require a minute description. B represents the metal heads
of the barrel. These heads may be of any suitable thickness, and they are
swaged or otherwise formed so as to have an elevated rim c, which serves as a
cap for the ends of the staves, and also to have a flange d to project down over
the outer sides of the staves. This flange d has a screw e cut on its inner side,
so that the flange may be screwed on or over the end of the barrel, as shewn
clearly in Fig. 1. The head proper (that is to say) the portion within the
cap or rim c is considerably sunken, so as to admit of a requisite projection of
the rim, corresponding to the chine of an ordinary barrel. The head is
provided with two pins f, f to receive a lever or wrench A¹, by which the flange
d is screwed on to the barrel.
The ordinary wooden barrel, as is well known, is provided with wooden heads
bevelled at their periphery, and fitted in a croze made in the inner sides of the
staves at a short distance from their ends, the staves being bound snugly
together and around the head by hoops. The principal disadvantages attending
this mode of construction are as follows:-The croze weakens the staves, and
the chines of the barrel are very liable to be broken off by the rough usage
they receive, and when broken cannot be repaired so as to be reliable or
durable; the fibres of the wood also between the head and the hoop are
frequently compressed to such a degree by the driving of the hoop, as to lose
their resistance to strain, and the slightest stroke or blow will in this case
frequently break the chine. The wooden heads also are liable to shrink, and
in that case lose their perfect circular form, which renders a tight joint around
the head almost impossible. These difficulties are fully obviated by the present
Invention, and in case the barrel shrinks the head may be screwed farther on
the barrel, so as to bring the staves compactly together and form perfectly tight
joints between them.
In order to carry out this plan fully the flanges d are only partly
screwed down at first to form perfect joints, thus leaving room in the cap or

page_text: I will
rim c for a further screwing operation if shrinkage renders it necessary.
remark, however, that in the event of shrinkage after the head is screwed fully
down, the latter may be removed, the ends of the staves sawn off, and the head
again applied to the barrel. The screw e will form its own thread on the
barrel.
It will be seen by referring to Fig. 1 that the bilge of the barrel in
connection with an inclination which is given the flange d ensures the staves
being pressed inward as the head is screwed on the barrel.
The Invention may be applied to metal casks, the latter being formed or
rolled out of a solid plate, or made in sections and fitted together with any
suitable form of joint.
This Invention not only ensures a perfect and durable cask, but it also
greatly reduces the cost of construction, as the usual work of chamfering,
howeling, crozing, and fitting the head is avoided, and the head serves as
a hoop and a cap for the ends of the staves, all combined in one piece.
I would remark that in lieu of the screw e on the inner side of the flange d,
the same may be cut like a rasp, so as to form barbed projections a*, as shewn
in Fig. 3. These projections a* admit of the heads B being driven on the ends
of the barrel, and prevent the heads from slipping off from the same. I would
further remark, that for small kegs the heads may extend directly across the
barrel, and not be sunken to form a cap or elevated rim c.
Having now described the Invention of "Improvements in the Construction
of Casks, Barrels, Kegs, and other analogous Articles," I claim as the Invention
secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, constructing casks, barrels, kegs,
and other analogous articles with metallic heads, formed with a flange provided
at its inner surface with a screw, or with barbed projections, or a corrugated
surface substantially as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Second day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)