IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREVENTION OF LEAKAGE IN WOODEN CASKS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Jenkins, of the Willows, Abergavenny;
in the County of Monmouth, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREVENTION OF LEAKAGE IN WOODEN CASKS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Jenkins at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th June 1873.
I, WILLIAM JENKINS, of The Willows, Abergavenny, in the County
of Monmouth, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of my said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREVENTION OF LEAKAGE IN WOODEN
CASKS," to be as follows:-
-
Wooden casks, however well they may be made, are liable to lose
their liquid contents when exposed to the drying action of the sun and
air. Either the wood shrinks and cracks or the liquid expands and forces
its way through the pores of the wood, Hence such casks are almost

page_text: entirely discarded from use for conveying extremely liquid and volatile
oils to and from warm climates. Therefore to overcome the prejudice of
shipowners and others against the use of wooden casks for such purposes
and make them less liable to leak in any case I propose to cover them
either wholly or partially with felt after the manner which I shall 5
describe hereafter. Roofing felt might be used, but I give the preference
to ordinary ship sheathing felt, which is equally cheap, and a better
non-conductor.
Before proceeding to cover the wooden cask with felt I examine it
well to see that the staves are perfectly sound and tight and that there
is no sign of leakage anywhere. I now cut a strip of felt of the size
required for the centre of the cask and two pieces for covering the ends,
& I prefer to dip them into a solution of potash or other salt that
readily absorbs moisture. I then proceed to the work of covering.
First, the belt or centre piece is put on, then the end pieces, and the
whole are made secure by the use of a few tacks and two iron hoops.
It will be understood that the felt may be applied to the ends in the
form of a capsule, and the belt may by pressure be made to fit the
cask.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 2
filed by the said William Jenkins in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd December 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
JENKINS, of The Willows, Abergavenny, in the County of Monmouth,
Gentleman, send greeting.
2
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of June in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Jenkins, Her special license a
that I, the said William Jenkins, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Jenkins, my executors,

page_text: administrators, or 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 PREVENTION OF LEAKAGE IN WOODEN CASKS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Jenkins, my executors or administrators,
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
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Jenkins, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
3 performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings.
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
Wooden casks, however well they may be made, are liable to lose
their liquid contents when exposed to the drying action of the sun and
) air.
Either the wood shrinks and cracks or the liquid expands and
forces its way through the pores of the wood. Hence such casks are
almost entirely discarded from use for conveying extremely liquid and
volatile oils to and from warm climates. In order to overcome the
prejudice of shipowners and others against the use of wooden casks for
5 such purposes, and to make such casks less liable to leak in any case I
propose to cover them cither wholly or partially with felt or other
equivalent material of a compressed fibrous character, forming a good
non-conductor of heat, substantially as herein-after described.
A
I have found by experience that roofing felt may be advantageously.
used either by itself. or in combination with that description of felt
known as ship wood sheathing, the former for capsuling the ends, the
latter for covering the body of the casks.
The roofing felt being more pliable is better adapted for pressing into
the required form of the capsule, and its greater firmness renders it a
more secure protection to the chines of the cask in case of concussion
during stowage, a frequent cause of leakage.

page_text: Several methods of felting casks may be adopted, but those which I
consider the best for all practical and ordinary purposes, consist as
follows:
Firstly. The entire felting of a cask as shown in Figure 1 of accom-
panying Drawings. Here the ends are supposed to be capsuled with the
harder felt and the body covered with the softer felt.
Secondly. Figure 2 represents a partial felting of the cask, being a
modification of the mode shown in Figure 1. Here the whole body of
the cask is not covered, but merely the top part to the extent of say
about one-third its circumference. This answers well when economy is
an object.
Thirdly. In Figure 3 I have shown another kind of partial covering,
the ends of the cask being capsuled only, and this suffices when the
casks are intended for transit in temperate and moist climates.
Fourthly. A modification of the latter plan is exhibited in Figure 4,
which has the centre of the capsule cut out to show the brand of the
cask. In this case the efficiency of the capsule remains good by covering
the most important or vulnerable part of the cask, namely the chines or
ends of the staves.
Before proceeding to apply the felt to wooden casks I examine them a
carefully to see that the staves are perfectly sound and tight and that
there is no sign of leakage anywhere.
In the case of casks containing oil I take care that they have the
usual coating of paint, more especially on the ends.
Having duly prepared the capsules ready for use by first cutting out a 2
circular piece of felt of the diameter required by the aid of a knife or
cutter fixed in a circular revolving arm or by any other suitable cutting
apparatus, and subsequently warming the said disc to enable it to be
raised or stamped up in the form of a capsule by any convenient
arrangement of plunger or die and matrix of the size and form of the 3
end of the cask to which it is to be applied. I warm the capsules upon
a hot plate or in a vessel supplied with hot water, and when sufficiently
soft I place them on the ends of the cask, pressing the whole as closely
as possible by means of suitable iron tools also made warm. The
capsules are then secured in their places by means of tacks or by hoops, 3
as the case may be.

page_text: The felt for the body of the cask needs less warming, and may be
applied in one or two pieces which are secured in their places by a few
tacks only.
Finally I prefer to give the felted covers a coating of lime or sulphate
of barita wash so as to render them less absorbent of heat. In cases
where ordinary.felt might be liable to taint the contents of the cask
inodorous felt may be employed. This will be found useful for casks
containing beer or wine.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,—
First. The application of felt to the covering either wholly or partially
of wooden casks so as to render them less liable to leak when used for
holding liqts of any kind, substantially as hercin-before described.
Second. The use of casks wholly or partially covered with felt for the
purpose of rendering them less liable to leak, substantially as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Jenkins, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of
December, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
TIM
THYLETZTIZA
'