IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR WASHING AND CLEANSING CASKS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Davison, of London Street, in the City of
London, Civil Engineer, and Thomas Johnson, of Bermondsey, in the
County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINES FOR WASHING AND CLEANSING CASKS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Davison and
Thomas Johnson, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents
with their Petition, on the 17th May 1862.
We, ROBERT DAVISON, of London Street, in the City of London, Civil
Engineer, and THOMAS JOHNSON, of Bermondsey, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINES FOR WASHING AND CLEANSING CASKS," to be as follows:-.
Our Invention consists of an improved frame or holder for containing two,
three, four, six, eight, or more casks, and for securing the same while being.
washed and cleansed by hot water and gravel or chains, as described in the
Specification of Letters Patent granted to Robert Davison and William.
Symington, 2nd Nov 1843, No. 9924.
Our improved holder consists of an inner frame containing a central shaft
with a right and left screw thread cut thereon, working through two nuts on
or connected to two discs or platforms, between which the casks in one, two,

page_text: or more tiers are placed. The discs or platforms are caused to move towards
and recede from each other for the purpose of securing and releasing the casks
by giving motion in one direction or the other to the threaded shaft through
a hand wheel keyed on one end thereof, or otherwise. Our holder is
mounted, and is free to revolve round its own axis in an outer frame made
to revolve round its axis, which is at right angles to that of our holder, by
which means the casks are made to revolve in two contrary directions at the
same time. There are various means of imparting these compound motions,
none of which we claim.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Davison and Thomas Johnson in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 17th November 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
DAVISON, of London Street, in the City of London, Civil Engineer, and
THOMAS JOHNSON, of Bermondsey, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, send
greeting.
L
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the 'Seventeenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Robert Davison and Thomas Johnson, Her special licence that we,
the said Robert Davison and Thomas Johnson, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Robert Davison and Thomas
Johnson, our 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 of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention..for." IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINES FOR WASHING AND CLEANSING CASKS," upon the condition.(amongst
others) that we, the said Robert Davison and Thomas Johnson,, or one. of
us, our executor's or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our,
or one of our, 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 bé. filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and. immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Robert Davison and Thomas Johnson,
do hereby declare the nature of our 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, reference being had to the Drawings,
hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
Our Invention consists of an improved frame or holder for containing two,
three, four, six, eight, or more casks, and for securing the same while being.
washed or cleansed by hot water, or gravel, or chains, as described in the:
Specification of Letters Patent granted to Robert Davison and William
Symington, 2nd November 1843, No. 9924.
Our improved holder consists of an inner frame containing a central shaft
with a right and left screw thread cut thereon working through two nuts on or
connected to two discs or platforms, between which the casks in one, two, or
more tiers are placed. The discs or platforms are caused to move towards
and recede from each other always equidistant from the main axis for the
purpose of securing and releasing the casks by giving motion in one direction
or the other to the threaded shaft through a hand wheel keyed on one end
thereof, or by simply making the upright shaft a fixture by means provided
for this purpose, and then turning the inner frame to the right or to the left,
as may be desired, by laying hold of bars forming part of the inner frame.
Our holder is mounted, and is free to revolve round its own axis in an outer
frame made to revolve round its own axis, which is at right angles to that of
our holder, by which means the casks are made to revolve in two contrary
directions at the same time. There are various means of imparting these
compound motions, but we prefer the means herein-after described.
Now, the object which we have sought to attain, and which by the present
Invention we have attained, is a simple and ready means of securing any
reasonable number of casks in one machine for the purpose of washing and
cleasing, whilst at the same time the casks are so placed in regard to the
revolving action of the inner and outer frames as to secure a rapid (com-
pared with all previous machines for a similar purpose) twirling motion to the
casks, while the cleansing medium, which is placed inside continually travels-
over the inside surface of the casks towards the lowest part, whereby the
desired object is completely effected.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of our cask washing and cleansing machine;.
Figure 2 is a plan; and Figure 3 is a side elevation, shewing the parts in a
different position from that represented at Figure 1.. Similar letters refer to
similar parts in all the Figures, and eight casks are shewn as held in the:
machine.

page_text: A, A, are standards, with bearings for carrying the axes a, a', on which an outer
frame B, B, is free to revolve; C, C, C, C, is an inner frame; D is a central
shaft passing through both frames; it carries at bottom a hand wheel b, and at
top a circular rack c; d, d, are right and left screw threads on the shaft D,.
which work through nuts e, e¹, the former e shewn as a ball-and-socket nut,
to which nuts, discs, or platforms E, E, are bolted; the discs have eyes or
holes f,f, made in them, through which the side rods of the inner frame pass,
and up and down which they are free to travel; F is a crown toothed wheel
keyed on the upper cross bar of the inner frame; G is a bevil pinion. This
pinion is free to slide to and fro upon a shaft g revolving in bearings in the
upper cross bar of the outer frame B, and keyed at its outer end to one of a
series of planet wheels H, H; his a clutch box on the back of the pinion G,
into which a stud on the short arm of the crank lever i enters; k is a handle
on the long arm of the lever, and by working this handle along the segmental
plate 7, the pinion G is thrown in or out of gear with the crown wheel F
m is a tooth on the long arm of the lever for being engaged into one of the
notches in the circular rack c for fixing the shaft D, when required; H, H,
are planet wheels, which receive motion from the stationary sun wheel I,
which is made fast to the standard. The axis a works through the sun
wheel I, and carries fast and loose pulleys n, o; p is a tappet, for entering a
notch in the outer frame to hold the machine stationary, when necessary,
for charging it with, or removing casks from it.
;
To use the machine:-First make fast the outer frame B by turning down
the tappet p into the notch q prepared for it, throw the bevil pinion G out of
gear, and at the same time insert the tooth m on the lever i into one of the
notches in the circular rack c, which prevents the revolving of the upright
shaft D. The discs E, E, are then to be distanced to suit the height of the
casks by turning the inner frame bodily on the threaded shaft D by means of
the side rods (or the shaft D may be worked by the hand wheel b, taking
care at the same time that the bevil pinion is in gear, and that the threaded
shaft is free to revolve). As soon as the casks are in their proper place the
discs are drawn together by turning the inner frame in the opposite direction
until the casks are found to be quite secure. The casks being secure in the
machine, it only remains to shift the lever i, so as to release the upright
shaft D, and at the same time to throw the bevil pinion into gear with the
crown wheel F, also to release the outer frame by turning back the tappet p.
The machine may then be set in motion by throwing a belt on the driving
pulley n, or by turning by hand, as the case may be. It ought to be observed
that the casks may either be put into the machine with the chain or proper

page_text: charge of gravel and hot water, or they may be put in quite empty, and
charged when they are in the machine by simply throwing the bevil pinion
out of gear, and causing the upright shaft with inner frame to revolve upon
its own axis, and so bringing each cask into a right position for charging.
The upper disc is shown with a ball-and-socket nut e, for the purpose of
allowing the disc to adjust itself to any inequality which there may be in the
height of the casks; and as a further help to this inequality we recommend
when the casks are placed in tiers that an elastic pad be placed between the heads
of the casks, as shewn. It is also advisable to line the bottom bottom disc with
wood or other soft material, and the like precaution to the under side of upper
disc. The other parts of the machine are best made of metal in the usual
way. The motion for driving the inner frame is that derived from sun-and-
planet wheels, but other motion would do equally well.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we do not claim
imparting the compound rotary motions to casks by means of outer and inner
frames made to revolve at right angles to each other, as such motions were set
forth and shewn in the Specification and Drawings of the aforesaid Letters
Patent granted to Robert Davison and William Symington, 2nd November
1843; but we claim as our "Improvements in Machines for Washing and
Cleansing Casks" constructing the inner frames or holders of such machines
with two discs or platforms caused simultaneously to move towards and recede
from each other upon a central shaft for the purpose of securing and releasing
the casks in manner herein-before described and represented in the accom-
panying Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Robert Davison and Thomas Johnson,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Seventeenth day of
November, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
ROBERT DAVISON. (L.S.)
THOMAS JOHNSON. (L.S.)