IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASKS AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthew Smith, of No. 19, Campbell Street,
South Shields, in the County of Durham, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASKS AND IN APPARATUS TO BE
USED FOR THIS PURPOSE."
Sealed the 5th January 1872, and dated the 2nd November 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Matthew Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd November 1871.
I, MATTHEW SMIтп, of No. 19, Campbell Street, South Shields, in the
County of Durham, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASKS AND IN APPARATUS TO BE
USED FOR THIS PURPOSE," to be as follows: —
These improvements have for their object the saving of the labour
expended in trussing or drawing in the staves at the end of a cask,

page_text: which is at present effected by forcing by means of hammering a truss
hoop diagonally over the staves, and so gathering them together.
My improvement consists in closing or drawing together the staves by
means of a rope or band passed once round the staves as a loop, and
which is drawn tight by means of a windlass.
I use a strong table with a space of the shape of a segment of a circle
cut out at the middle of one of its sides to receive the cask. The is
rope
attached to the middle of one end of the table, and lying on the table
passes round the cask as a loop, so that the rope crosses itself just at the
inner part of the circular segment. The rope then passes on to the
barrel of a windlass, which is attached to the other end of the table.
The rope is sufficiently slack to be lifted off the table, and the cask
placed within the loop. The turning of the windlass tightens the rope,
and draws together the ends of the staves. A temporary iron hoop is
then placed over the ends of the staves so drawn together, and the loop
of the rope is then slackened, and the cask taken away and finished.
For a cask of 36 inches height the table should be 6 feet long and
2 feet wide, and its upper surface 32 inches high, the circular segment
being 28 inches wide and its greatest depth 9 inches. The above size of
table will answer for smaller casks if they are raised from the floor so
that they stand about four inches above the table, and for larger casks a
proportionately larger and higher table is required.
I prefer to use a steel wire rope of half an inch diameter, terminating
in a piece of chain which passes over the barrel of the windlass. In
place also of employing a windlass barrel to wind up and tighten the
rope, other mechanism for tightening the rope may be adopted.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one,
in the thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Matthew Smith, Her
special license that I, the said Matthew Smith, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Matthew Smith, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASKS AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Matthew Smith,
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
ז..
D

page_text: cask as a loop, so that the rope crosses itself just at the inner point of
the circular segment. The rope then passes on to the barrel of a
windlass, which is attached to the other end of the table. The rope is
sufficiently slack to be lifted off the table, and the cask placed within the
loop. The turning of the windlass tightens the rope, and draws together
the ends of the staves. A temporary iron hoop is then placed over the
ends of the staves so drawn together, and the loop of the rope is then
slackened, and the cask taken away and finished.
cask as a loop, so that the rope crosses itself just at the inner point of
the circular segment. The rope then passes on to the barrel of a
windlass, which is attached to the other end of the table. The rope is
sufficiently slack to be lifted off the table, and the cask placed within the
loop. The turning of the windlass tightens the rope, and draws together
the ends of the staves. A temporary iron hoop is then placed over the
ends of the staves so drawn together, and the loop of the rope is then
slackened, and the cask taken away and finished.
The apparatus is represented in the Drawing hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 is a side view, Figure 2 a plan, and Figure 3 an end view.
a is the table with a space or recess to receive the unfinished cask.
b is the rope made fast at one end of the table, and passing once round
the staves which are to be closed or drawn together. c is a windlass at
the other end of the table for tightening the rope by winding up a chain
to which the rope is attached; it consists of a hand wheel with a pinion
on its axis gearing with a spur wheel on the axis of the winding barrel,
on which is also a ratchet wheel having a pawl to lock it.
For a cask of thirty-six inches height the table should be six feet long
and two feet wide, and its upper surface thirty-two inches high, the
circular segment being twenty-eight inches wide and its greatest depth
nine inches. The above size of tablo will answer for smaller casks if
they are raised from the floor so that they stand about four inches abovo
the table, and for larger or smaller casks a proportionately larger or
smaller table is required.
I prefer to use a steel wire rope of half an inch diameter, terminating
in a piece of chain which passes over the barrel of the windlass. In
place also of employing a windlass barrel to wind up and tighten the
rope other mechanism for tightening the rope may be adopted.
One advantage of this Patent cask trussing machine over other
machines is that one machine will truss from a one cwt. cask up to a
five cwt. cask, and another from a five cwt. to a twelve cwt. cask. All
man he trussed be the same machines by means of

page_text: I claim the construction and use of apparatus for closing or drawing
together the staves of casks substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Matthew Smith, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
MATTHEW SMITH. (L.S.)