A IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE AND CONSTRUCTION OF METAL CASKS OR BARRELS
Year: 1824

page_text: DICKINSON'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, Í, ROBERT
DICKINSON, of Old Eagle Foundry, New Park Street, Southwark, in the
Parish of Saint Saviour's, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King George the Fourth, by His Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,
the Seventh day of October last past, did give and grant unto me, the said
Robert Dickinson, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Robert Dickinson, my exors, adñiors, or assigns, or any other
persons that I should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times hercafter during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make make, use, exercise, vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all His said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "A IMPROVEMENT IN THE
MANUFACTURE AND CONSTRUCTION OF METAL CASKS OR BARRELS;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Robert
Dickinson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly
to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in
His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and
by the said recited Letters Patent, reference being thereunto had, will more
fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert Dickinson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, that is
to say:-
The object of my Invention is to produce an improved iron packing-case or
barrel for containing goods & provisions of every description, but which is
moro particularly intended for victualling the ships of His Majesty's Navy, &
others that make long voyages.
The improvement consists,-
First, in coating & covering the iron both inside & outside, so as to defend
and protect its surfaces from oxidation. And,
Secondly, to construct the cases or barrels in such ways as to render them
*convenient for receiving larger bodies than have usually been admitted by
bung holes, in other words, having a large opening sufficient to allow a man's
head, arms, and shoulders to enter, for packing large bodies therein with tho
greater convenience.
My Invention may therefore be said to consist of two parts, viz., the
improved construction of the case or barrell, and the coating and covering of
the iron. The manner, means, & materials whereby these objects are effected
are as follows:-
First, I will describe what relates to the construction of the barrel. The
cylinder being formed in the common way by rivets, soldering, or seaming,
the manner of performing which is known to every workman, I make a hoop
of iron, rolled with one edge thin and the other thick, thus
(by some called a rebate). The thickest part of this hoop I fasten within the
barrel, its thin edge extending to about one inch below the extreme end of the
barrel, which being done, leaves a grove between the thin edge of the hoop
and the barrel, see Drawing, Fig. 1, a, a, for the flange of the head to fit into.
The grove being now ram'd full of hemp, tow, currier's leather shavings, a
tar band, or any other similar substance, the head is put on, its edge or flange
b, b, falling into the packed recess. In order to render this head
moveable at pleasure, it is supplied with a sufficient number of latch bolts
(according to the size of the vessel), which latch bolts slide sideways into nicks,
apertures, or openings cut near the edge or end of the barrel to receive them, see
Fig.2, c,c,c. These openings are formed somewhat out of a parallel line to the
edge, so as to draw the head down tighter when the side bolts are hammered
into the holes, & also the latch bolts are made thinner at the end than at the

page_text: shoulder for the same reason (see Drawing) I have been describing. The
moveable end, or that end which opens the reverse end, is differently closed;
it is indeed supplied with the same rebated hoop, but this hoop is to be placed
about half an inch only from the end or edge, and then when the head is
laid on or in its place, this half inch of the edge is to be bent over and ham-
mered tight down upon it. A flat ring, see Fig. 8, d, d, d (which supersedes
the necessity of a chime), is then rivetted down thereupon, so as to cover this
point, having a trifling projection to defend the barrel in rolling. The head
may either be flat, convex, or concave; the latter I think the best.
Having described the construction of the improved part, as relates to the
mere barrel, I next come to the coating or covering thereof; first, for its own
preservation, and, secondly, for the preservation of whatever it may contain
from the rusting or oxidation thereof. To render this process of coating the
most perfect and complete, the iron should be pickled or scaled, and scoured
in the same way as for tinning; but where time. cannot be allowed for this
process, or where cheapness more than durability (to send abroad) is the
object, I omit this scaling part, & content myself with laying the composition
and cloth with which I intend to cover the barrels on the unscaled plate. In
some cases I coat and cover only the outsides, as not being necessary to cont
the inside of barrels containing tar, oil, varnish, &c.; and as for the inside of
barrels intended to contain other substances, the great variety of chymical
decomposing effects produced thereby compels me to have different internal
coatings, and to change them in some instances according to the nature and
quality of the commodity they are to hold; and as for dry products, such as
bread, rice, pearl barley, flour, &c., where it is necessary to provide against
the injurious effects of weevell, rats, maggotts, or other living animals, and
where the iron is not at any time exposed to wet, and where, therefore, an
insoluble composition is not necessary, I aply a simple adhering or connecting
material, such as glue, or a well-made paste, and the very thinnest and
cheapest canvass or cloth that can be found, and sometimes paper. Hence it
is to be observed I do not confine myself to any single article of paint, varnish,
or cement, or by whatever name it may be called, or any of the articles from
which they are made, whether simple or compound, meaning to lay claim to
the exclusive employment of all soluble & insoluble or impervious cements
in attaching fibrous substances to the surfaces of iron, for the purpose of
preserving iron from rust, by covering with an intervening substance of a
manufactured article or web of any material or substance as aforesaid, whether
of silk, cotton, linnen, wool, leather, paper, or felt, however mixed or seperate,
from the thinness of a gawse to the thickness of a Turkey carpet or door mat,

page_text: which, after saturating with any of the compositions suited for that purpose,
and at a proper state of dryness, I pass between cylindrical rolls in order to
give it firmess and a consistency, with a capability to resist the admission of
wet or the influence & effects of chymical operations arising from the various
articles which the barrels or cases heretofore described may be used or required
for. It may, however, be necessary to state definitely what kind of cement
will answer the above purpose. I shall, therefore, say that I would take of
caoutchouc (or indian rubber) one pound, of black resin half a pound, of
Venice turpentine two ounces, & mix them together, allowing them to stand
in a temperature of 160° for the space of twenty-four or thirty-six hours, the 1
caoutchouc being cut into small pieces. In some cases I do not find it necessary
to coat the insides of my barrels with the above materials, but to prevent rust
I bronze their internal surfaces in a similar manner to the surfaces of gun
barrels.
Lord 1825.
ROB (Ls.) DICKINSON.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventh day of April, in
the year of our Lord 1825, the aforesaid Rob' Dickinson came before our 2
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form'
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord One 2
thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.