IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC CASKS AND VESSELS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John James Lundy, of Leith, in the County of
Mid Lothian, North Britain, Colour Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC CASKS AND VESSELS."
Sealed the 14th July 1863, and dated the 19th January 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John James Lundy at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th January 1863.
I, JOHN JAMES LUNDY, of Leith, in the County of Mid Lothian, North
Britain, Colour Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC CASKS AND
VESSELS," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to the manufacture or production of metallic casks,
kegs, or containing vessels of various kinds, whereby a more efficient as well
as a cheaper, neater, and simpler form of cask is secured than has hitherto
been the case.
According to the common and generally adopted system of manufacture of
metallic casks, and similar vessels, the bottom end only is swaged into the
body of the cask as a fixture, whilst the other end is attached by cir-
cumferential straps, or bent holding pieces with rivets. These holding straps
are attached to the exterior of the end of the cask, and when the end or head
piece is inserted, they grasp the dished flange of the end or head piece, and
thus prevent the latter from moving upwards, yet are a source of weakness to

page_text: the cask or vessel. And further, to prevent the end or head piece from
sinking within the cask, the small small handle attached to the centre of the
head has to be elongated at each end, these ends being converted into bent
holding strap pieces to grasp the end rim of the cask. Now, according to the
present Invention, instead of using the details just described, the dished end
or head piece is swaged firmly into its place with a holding and tightening
bead, after the manner commonly adopted for the lower end, which is far
simpler and stronger. This makes a perfectly secure and neat cask, and the
handle needs no elongation whatever, besides being cheaper in its production
than by the old system of closing up the cask when filled with paint or any
other substance.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
. filed by the said John James Lundy in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th July 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
JAMES LUNDY, of Leith, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain, Colour
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said John James Lundy, Her special license that I, the
said John James Lundy, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said John James Lundy, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC
CASES AND VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John James Lundy, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them,
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John James Lundy, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be 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 :-
My said Invention relates to the manufacture or production of metallic
casks, kegs, or containing vessels of various kinds, whereby a more efficient
as well as a cheaper, neater, and simpler form of cask is secured than. has
hitherto been the case.
According to the common and generally adopted system of manufacture of
metallic casks, and similar vessels, the bottom end only is swaged into the body
of the cask as a fixture, whilst the other end is attached by circumferential
straps or bent holding pieces with rivets. These holding straps are attached
to the exterior of the end of the cask, and when the end or head piece is
inserted they grasp the dished flange of the end or head piece,. and thus
prevent the latter from moving upwards, yet are a source of weakness to the
cask or vessel. And further, to prevent the end or head piece from sinking
within the cask, the small handle attached to the centre of the head has to bo
elongated at each end, these ends being converted into bent holding strap
pieces to grasp the end rim of the cask. Now, according to the present
Invention, instead of using the details just described, the dished end or head
piece is swaged firmly into its place with a holding and tightening bead, after
the manner commonly adopted for the lower end, which is far simpler and
stronger. This makes a perfectly secure and neat cask, and the handle needs
no elongation whatever, besides being cheaper in its production than by the
old system of closing up the cask when filled with paint, or any other
substance.
And in order that my said Invention of improvements in the manufacture
of metallic casks and vessels may be properly understood, I shall now proceed
to describe the several Figures on the explanatory Sheet of Drawings which
I have hereunto appended, for the purpose of showing certain modifications
under which my Invention may be judiciously carried out in practice, that
is to say:
Figure 1 on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings is a vertical section of a
metallic cask or holding vessel showing the lid fitted thereto according
to one modification of my improvements, and Figure 2 is a plan corresponding
to Figure 1; Figure 3 is a vertical section of a metallic cask which is formed
according to the second modification of my improvements, in which the bottom
and top of the cask are fitted in by means of duplex swages or grooves formed,

page_text: in the top and bottom rims of the cask, and in the parts inserted; Figure 4
is a plan corresponding to Figure 3; Figure 5 is a vertical section showing
the upper part of a metallic cask with the lid inserted ready for being swaged
in, according to the modification shown in Figure 1; Figure 6 is a corre-
sponding partial vertical section, with the lid inserted, and ready for being
swaged according to the second modification of my improvements; Figure 7
is a plan of the upper part of a cask corresponding to Figures 5 and 6.
According to the system of closing casks or other generally similar vessels,
as delineated in Figures 1, 2, and 5 of the accompanying Drawings, the metal
cask or vessel A is of a cylindrical figure, and has fitted to the lower part of
it the bottom B, which is fastened firmly into its place by passing the edges of
the metal between a pair of rollers, so as to form a groove or swage therein.
The lid C of the cask is formed of a disc of metal, having the edge turned up
to form a deep vertical rim, the diameter of which is made so as to fit easily
into the cask or holding vessel A. A short handle D, formed of a simple bent
strap of metal is riveted or otherwise fastened to the lid C. When the cask
is filled with the paint or other material which it is intended to hold, the lid is
pressed down into the cask until the edge of the rim is level with that of the
cask, as shown in Figure 5. The duplex rims are then inserted between a
pair of rollers, by means of which the groove or swage E is formed in the
metal. This indentation of the two rims together with the severe pressure
brought to bear on the metal effectually secures the lid, and makes a tight
junction of the parts, which is far superior to the old system of fastening the
lid by means of holding straps.
In the second modification of my improvements a still more effective mode
of securing the bottoms and lids of metallic casks or other generally similar
holding vessels is adopted. This modification is shown in Figures 8, 4, 6,
and 7 of the accompanying Drawings. The metal cylinder A, which forms
the body of the cask, has a swage or groove F formed in it by means of the
swaging rollers near the top and bottom rims of the cask. These grooves
are formed on the exterior of the cylinder, so that each groove forms a
shoulder, against which the bottom B and the lid C rests when placed in their
proper positions, as is shown more particularly in Figure 6. When the
bottom of the cask, or the lid is pushed into the cylinder as far as the
swage F, the two rims are then run in a second time between the grooving
rollers, and a second swage G is formed in the metal. The indentation of tho
metal in the swages G is, however, made in a direction opposite to that of
the swages F; in the one case the indentation of the metal is from the
exterior, bending the metal inwards; in the swages G the indentation is from

page_text: the interior, and the metal is consequently bulged in an outward direction.
This forms a very secure and strong mode of fastening in the top and bottom
discs, as the shoulder, which is formed by the first swage or groove F,
effectually prevents either of the parts from being driven into the body of the
cask, as may be the case with those vessel which are not swaged in this par-
ticular manner. These casks may be made of ordinary sheet iron, sheet iron
plated or coated with tin or other suitable metal, copper, or other suitable
metal, and by closing them in an air-tight manner, they may be used for the-
preservation and transport of a great variety of perishable substances or
materials. The casks or holding vessels may be rendered air-tight by inter-
posing between the contiguous faces of the rims of the vessel and the bottom,
or the lid, a strip of india-rubber, or other suitable elastic or flexible material,
or a coating of glutinous or resinous composition, so that when the parts are
swaged together the admission of air between the rinis will be effectually.
prevented. Or by slightly lowering the swage F, so as to snib the lid below
the top of the rim of the body A, and raising the swage F of the bottom, so as
to lower and raise the swages at G, they may be hermetrically sealed by
soldering, brazing, or otherwise round the lids and bottoms in the usual
manner, where the top edge of the lid and the bottom edge of the bottom
come in contact with the sides of the body A; or they may be soldered or
brazed without raising or lowering the swages F and G, should the same be
thought unnecessary; or they need only be soldered or brazed at the joining
of the body at H, as shown in Figure 4, which is the only place where the
admission of air is at all likely to take place. This, however, may generally
be effectually prevented by two or three strokes of a hammer after they have
been swaged. Although I have herein-before referred specially to the manu-
facture of cylindrical casks or vessels, according to my improvements, I wish it
to be understood that I can also swage in lids, and lids and bottoms, in metallic
casks or vessels of other forms. My system of manufacture can be adopted in
the production of casks or vessels of angular or other transverse section, such
sections, for example, as are represented in the Diagrams, Figures 8 and 9 on
my Sheet of Drawings. In such cases it is only necessary that the corners or
indented portions be so far rounded in comparison with the diameters of the
swaging rollers, that the latter can operate in an effectual manner. Casks
and other holding vessels manufactured according to these improvements may
be produced cheaper, and may be closed much more securely than by the
system heretofore in use.
· 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

page_text: into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the system or mode of closing metallic casks or vessels in which the
lid is swaged into the cask, the groove that is formed in this operation serving
to retain the lid firmly, and thus dispense with the ordinary holding straps or
other supplementary details, as herein-before described and shown in the
accompanying Drawings.
Second, the system or mode of manufacturing metallic casks or vessels with
swages formed in the body of the cask at a suitable distance from the top and
bottom rims, these swages or grooves serving as shoulders to prevent the
bottom and lid being pressed further into the cask, as well as to strengthen
the vessel when the moveable parts are also swaged in, as herein-before
described and shown in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John James Lundy, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three.
JOHN JAMES LUNDY. (L.S.)