IMPROVE- MENTS IN MEASURING THE CAPACITY AND CONTENTS OF CASKS AND OTHER SIMILAR VESSELS, AND IN INSTRUMENTS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MEASURING THE CAPACITY AND CONTENTS OF CASKS AND OTHER
SIMILAR VESSELS, AND IN INSTRUMENTS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."-
A communication.
Sealed the 28th July 1857, and dated the 7th February 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 7th February 1857.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEASURING THE CAPACITY AND CONTENTS OF CASKS AND
OTHER SIMILAR VESSELS, AND IN INSTRUMENTS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN,"
(communicated to me by a foreigner residing abroad) to be as follows:-
This Invention consists, first, in measuring the capacity and contents of
casks and other similar vessels by means of internal measurements only, the
measurements being taken in as many places as may be deemed desirable.
And, secondly, in an improved instrument or apparatus for taking the
internal measurements, and an improved rod or gauge for measuring the depth
of the liquid or the wantage in a cask or other vessel.
The improved instrument for taking the internal measurements consists of

page_text: a rod furnished with jointed arms, which when out of use fold into recesses
in the rod, and which when in use are spread out from the rod by means of
suitable internal rods or plungers, connecting links, and a set screw. The rod
is suitably graduated. In using this rod, it is passed into the cask through
the bung-hole until it comes against the opposite side (if the bung-hole be in
the side), or against the opposite end (if the bung-hole be in the end).. The
screw. is then turned and the arms thereby spread out until their outer ends
touch the cask. One measurement is thus obtained, and in a similar manner
other measurements may be taken.at different points....
The improved rod or gauge for measuring the depth of liquid or the wantage
in a cask consists of a glass tube, enclosed in a less fragile one, and provided
with an internal rod, which has a valve or plug attached to its lower end, and
a holding piece or knob to its upper end, projecting above the glass tube.
In using this rod or gauge, it is passed through the bung-hole until it comes
against the opposite side or end, as the case may be, of. the cask or vessel;
the liquid flows into the glass tube through an aperture at the lower end of
the instrument, and, surrounding the internal rod, rises to the same height as
the liquid in the cask. The valve or plug is then pushed down by means of
the internal rod, and the aperture thereby closed. The instrument is then
removed from..the cask, and the height of the liquid in it read off from
graduations on the side of the outer tube, or of the glass tube; thus the depth
of liquid in the cask is given or the wantage obtained by taking that depth
from the internal diameter of the cask..
T
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th August 1857..
"
-
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, ¡Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Richard Archibald
Brcoman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as-I, the said

page_text: Richard Archibald Brooman; my 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 "IM
PROVEMENTS IN MEASURING THE CAPACITY AND CONTENTS OF CASKS AND OTHER
SIMILAR VESSELS, AND IN INSTRUMENTS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," (com-
municated to me by a foreigner residing abroad,) upon. the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors or.
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent..
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto.
annexed, (that is to say):-.
This Invention relates to the measuring of the capacity and the contents
of casks and other similar vessels by means of internal measurements only,
the measurements being taken in as many places as may be deemed desirable;
and it consists in an improved instrument or apparatus for taking the internal
measurements, and an improved rod or gauge for measuring the depth of the
liquid or the wantage in a cask or other vessel.
The improved instrument for taking the internal measurements consists of
a rod or rods, furnished with jointed arms, which when out of use fold into
grooves or recesses in the rod or between the rods, and which when in use
are spread-out from the rod.or rods by means of suitable rods or plungers,
connecting links, and a set screw. The rod is or the rods are suitably
graduated. In using this instrument, it is passed into the cask through the
bung hole until it comes against the opposite side (if the bung-hole be in the
side), or against the opposite end (if the bung-hole be in the end). The screw
is then turned and the arms thereby spread out until their outer ends.' touch
the cask. One measurement is thus obtained, and in a similar manner other
measurements may be taken at different points:
The improved rod or gauge for measuring the depth of liquid or the wantage
in a cask or other vessel consists of a glass or other similar tube enclosed, in
a less fragile one; and provided with an internal rod, which has a valve or plug
"

page_text: •
attached to its lower end, and a holding piece or knob to its upper end, pro-
jecting above the glass tube. In using this rod or gauge, it is passed through
the bung-hole until it comes against the opposite side or end, as the case may
be, of the cask or vessel; the liquid flows into the glass tube through an
aperture at the lower end of the instrument, and, surrounding the internal rod,
rises to the same height as the liquid in the cask. The valve or plug is then
pushed down by means of the internal rod and the aperture thereby closed.
The instrument is then removed from the cask and the height of the liquid
in it read off from graduations on the side of the outer tube, or of the glass
tube; thus the depth of liquid in the cask is given or the wantage obtained
by taking that depth from the internal diameter of the cask:.
The Drawings hereunto annexed represent the manner in which the Inven-
.tion is carried into effect.
Figure 1 is a view of the stock or frame of the improved gauge with arms,
&c., removed therefrom; Figure 2 is a view of the complete instrument placed:
within a cask and having its arms extended. The stock or frame A is first
formed by attaching four tubes or rods a, a, a, a, to top and bottom pieces i
and . The said rods act as guides or slides, which carry the sliding plungers
d, d, and d', d', and also the connecting rods c, c, the set or thumbscrews b, b;
and the connecting pin p. The lower plungers d', d', are attached to the
short arms e, e, which are also attached to the telescopic or measuring arms
h, h, and h', '. It will be readily seen that by moving. the thumb or set
...screws up or down the arms' h, h, and h³, ¹, can be extended or folded up
and retained at any required point or degree by a turn of the set screw b, b,
which firmly holds the sliding plungers d, d, to the rods a, a, a, a, and the
distance the points of the measuring arms h¹, h, are apart will be known by
reference to the scales marked on the rods u, a, as the Figures next to the under
side of the sliding plungers d, d, indicate the exact measurement made by the
extended arms h', h¹. When it is required to shorten the said arms for a
smaller cask or vessel the arms h', h, are run into the hollow arms'h, h, to a
given point, which corresponds with scale No. 2 on the rods a, a.
'When it is required to gauge a cask with' the bung-hole out of the centre
or in the head at one side, the instrument must be worked differently; the
..arms can be detached from each other by' removing the connecting pin p,
which passes, through the set screws b, b, and sliding plungers d,d; then
each set of screw plungers d, d, connecting rods c, c, arnis' e, e, measuring
arms h, h, and h³, h, are free, and work independently of each other. The
measurements obtained by the two arms must be added together to get the
mean diameter of the cask: C, C,' is a case or cylinder attached to the top

page_text: piece i, with a table rolled up like a measuring tape line inside, which table
has all the calculations made upon it, shewing the capacity and the contents
of any cask corresponding to the measurements' taken without the necessity
of making any calculations.
In Figure 1 the scales are marked on the rods a; a. On one rod the scale
commences at the lower end at ; and runs upwards sufficiently to. give the
diameter at the bung downward, when the gauge is inserted into the bung-hole,
of course with all the arms closed or folded up. The upper scales, marked
No. 1 and 2, are to shew the measurement of the expanding arms, by looking
at the Figures at the height of the under side of the sliding plungers d, d.
When the instrument is inserted into a cask B, as at Figure 2, with the
arms h, h, extended to the heads of the casks; the gauger will note the length
between the 'heads by reference to the scale of the rods a, a. Then to. find
the diameter of the cask at the heads the gauger has only to raise the gauge. A
up until the points of the arms h; h, come in contact with the staves on the
upper or bung side of the cask, as shewn by the dotted lines a, The bung
diameter scale on the rod a will show how far it has come out of the cask,
and the arm scale will shew where the dotted line O crosses, and the depth of
the curve or bulge of the staves will be at once known. That depth is then
doubled, and the product deducted from the bung diameter, and the remainder
is the exact diameter of the heads. The scale on the main part or stem of
the gauge is called the arm scale, because it indicates the degree of expansion
of one or both of the arms when extended for measurement. If it should be
found that the heads are not of equal diameter, then each head must be found
separately by working the arms independently of each other. To get the
diameter of the cask at right angles to the bung diameter, in order to find if
the cask is oval or not, the arms must be closed up a little and turned across
the cask. The gauge A can finally be removed from the bung-hole 'by
shutting up the arms and raising up the thumbscrews as high as it is permitted
to go.
P
Figure 3 represents the gauge A inserted into a cask B which has the
bung-hole in the head and at one side. In this case the gauge is used with
the connecting pin p removed, and the set screws, plunger arins d, d, working
separately and independently of each other, with one long and one short arm
taking different measurements. The sums of these must be taken in order to
obtain the mean diameter of the cask.
Figures 4 and 4
the rods a, a, a, a.
represent the gauge A with the arms closed up between
This is the form the instrument would have when closed
to be inserted into the bung-hole of a cask. When in, the arms would be let

page_text: free by backing the set screw, and the measurements would be made, as above
described. The case or cylinder C at top has the table unrolled in this Figure,
so that the proper Figures to give the capacity of the cask can be seen by
referring to the length and the diameter columns.
Figure 5 is a view' of the opposite side of the instrument, shewing the arms
folded up. Figure 6 is an end view of Figure 5 with the top piece I removed;
shewing the rods a, a, a, a, the sliding plungers d, d, the thumbscrews b, b;
and the connecting pin p. Figure 7 is a detailed view of the sliding plungers
d, d, with one set screw b, the connecting pin p; the rods c, c, the lower
sliding plungers d', d, and the arms e, e, attached. Figure 8 is a side view of
the set screw, shewing the hole through the centre of the screw for the con-
necting pin p, which holds both plungers and all the parts attached thereto
together, so that the arms work equally with each other whether they measure
the same dimensions or not, as one can be set longer than the other without
affecting the operation of the instrument. Figure 9 is a top view of the stay
piece f, which supports the rods a, a, a, a. Figure 10 is a top view of the
lower sliding plungers, shewing the rods, a, a, a, a, and c, c, in section. On
each of the opposite sides is a half-round groove, made to receive the arms h', h¹;
when the gauge is closed up.
Figure 11 represents a wantage rod or gauge constructed according to this
Invention and Figure 12 is a section of the same. A is the outer tube,
within which is placed the glass tube B, with a suitable scale marked upon it;
through the tube B is passed a small rod h, at the lower end of which is a
small valve i, regulated by the thumbscrew h¹ at the top of the rod h.
Figure 13 is a cross section of this rod or gauge, the action of which has
already been described.
The arrangements of the instruments or apparatuses may be modified and
varied without departing from this Invention.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the construction and employment of an instrument or apparatus for
measuring the capacity of casks and other similar vessels, such instrument or
apparatus consisting of a rod, or rods furnished with jointed arms, which when
out of use fold into grooves or recesses in the rod, and which when in use are
spread out from the rod or rods by means of suitable rods or plungers,
connecting rods, &c., as herein-before described.
Secondly, the construction and employment of an improved rod or gauge
for measuring the depth of liquid or the wantage in a cask or other vessel,
such instrument or apparatus consisting of a glass or other similar tube

page_text: enclosed in a less fragile one, and provided with an internal rod, which has a
valve or plug attached to its lower end, and a holding piece or knob to its
upper end, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of August, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-seven.
R. A. BROOMAN. (L.S.)