IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASKS
Year: 1852

page_text: D NCAN AND HU
SPECIFIC
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
DUNCAN, of the New North Road, Hoxton, and ARTHUR HUTTON, of Herbert
Street, New North Road, Hoxton, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-seventh day of
January, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the fifteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said George Duncan and Arthur Hutton, our exors, admors, and assigns,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said
George Duncan and Arthur Hutton, our exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said George Duncan and Arthur Hutton, our exors, adñiors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney,
Sark, and Man, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, our
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASKS;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that we, the said George Duncan and
Arthur Hutton, shall cause a particular description of the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument
in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us,

page_text: to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
George Duncan and Arthur Hutton, do hereby declare that the nature of our
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be carried into effect,
are fully described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures
and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
Our Invention relates, first, to apparatus for giving form to the jointing
edges of wood blanks for staves of casks.
Secondly, our Invention relates to apparatus for producing jointing edges to
the parts for forming the heads of casks.
Thirdly, our Invention relates to apparatus for drilling the holes for the
dowels used in putting together the parts for heads of casks.
Fourthly, our Invention relates to apparatus for giving form to the outer
edge or circumferance of wood blanks for heads of casks.
And, fifthly, our Invention relates to apparatus to be used in putting together
the parts of casks, and also to arranging and working cutters for effecting the
hollowing the bevelling at the ends of the staves, and also to the groving to
receive the heads.
In order that the Invention may be fully understood and readily carried into
effect, we will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section, Figure 2 a cross section, and
Figure 3 a plan, of apparatus according to the first part of our Invention, a
peculiarity of which consists or causing the pieces of wood or blanks which are
to form the staves, and which, whilst being cut to form, are not bent, to be
successively conducted in a curved course passed stationary cutters (set upon
axes which are at an angle to each other), in such manner that the two sides or
edges of each blank will, at commencing, be cut by the cutters at points where
the
separate cutters or sets of cutters are nearer to each other, whilst towards
and up to the centres they will be cut by the separate cutters at points of the
surface where, by reason of their angular position, they are more distant apart;
and then, as the blank continues to move past the cutters, it will towards and
up to its other end, it will be again acted upon by the cutters at points of their
surface, when the separate cutters or sets of cutters approach nearer to each

page_text: other, by which the required form or bulge, with the bevil edge, will be
obtained to the staves. a, a, is the framing, & 6, 61, are the curved guides,
between which the pieces of wood or blanks are conducted in order to be acted
upon by the rotatory knives c, to give form to the edges; d is a table, upon
which the blanks are placed in order to be carried through by the endless
chain e, which carries a series of dogs e¹, by which, by coming successively
against the ends of the different blanks, when motion is given to the chain,
carry them through the curved guides. The chain e passes through between
the curved guides b, 6', and over the pullies fand g; the pulley f is simply a
conducting pulley; the pulley g, by means of projections g¹, takes into the links
of the chain e, and is affixed to the shaft g, upon which is affixed the drum or
pulley gs, which, by means of a band or strap, receives motion from a steam..
engine or other power; the rotary cutter knives c are affixed, as shewn, to the
square parts c¹ of the cutter shafts c, which turn on bearings c³, as shewn, with
a capability of adjustment so as to vary the angles cut at the edges of the
staves; and the cutters are caused to rotate by their axes c, having pullies c*
fixed thereon to receive straps or bands from a steam engine or other power;
and we prefer that the cutters should revolve at a high velocity compared with
the speed at which the blanks pass through the machine. The wood blanks,
as they are carried through between the curved guides 6, 61, rest at their ends
upon the lower guide 6, whilst the middle of the blank rises towards the upper
guide 6, as shewn by the red lines in Figure 1, so that the end which first
.comes to be acted upon by the cutter c is acted upon to be cut to form at the
lower part of those cutters, that is, where their axes are nearer to each other;
and then, as the blanks continue to move past the cutters c those cutters receive
the blanks at points progressively rising higher, that is, when the series of
knives are frather apart from each other, until the centres in the direction of
the length of the blanks come in contact with the knives, then. in like manner
the other half, in the direction of the length of each blank will, in passing the
cutters, come in contact with them at points progressively lower down, that is,
where they are closer together. The lower curved guide is fixed to the framing,
but the upper one 6' is retained in position by means of the springs 6º, by which
a slight. yielding will be admitted of in the event of any variation in the thick-
ness of the separate staves under operation; one of the sides 6s of the curved
course, formed by the curved guides 6, 61, is also for the time a fixture, though
capable of adjustment by means of the set screws 6, whilst the other side 66 is
capable of slight movement, and is held in position by pieces of vulcanized
india-rubber 6, acting as springs, to give a slight degree of elasticity to that
side; and the staves, after being cut to shape, are received on to the table h.

page_text: We would here state, that although we have shewn a series of knives as the
cutting means, set upon axes which are in planes parallel to the angular edges
of the staves, we do not confine ourselves to that arrangement, as in some
cases we apply circular saws in such situation, in which case such saw cutters
are fixed upon axes at angles to each other to give the required angle to the
edge of the stave; and their axes have rapid motion given to them by bands
or straps, as is well understood.
We will now describe the second part of the Invention, which is shewn by
plan at Figure 4, side view at Figure 5, and section at Fig. 5*.
In this case
we have only thought it necessary to show the principal working parts, without
shewing all the framing and the bearings of some of the shafts. a is the table,
upon which the blanks to form portions of the heads are placed, and along
which they are conducted to be operated upon by rotary knives b. The knives
are each similar in construction, and are affixed to the square end of a shaft b¹,
which has motion given to it in like manner to what was described in respect
of the view shewn by Figures 1, 2, and 3. The blanks are carried past the
cutters by means of the dogs c, carried by the endless chain c', which passes
over the pulleis, c³, the latter of which is affixed to the shaft c, upon which
is affixed the pulley c³, which receives motion by means of a band or strap
from a steam engine or other suitable power, thus giving motion to the chain
c; the blanks are borne up to the rotary knives by means of the rollers d, d,
carried by the bar d', which is pressed on by means of the springs d². The
bar d¹ is, by means of a pin d³, connected to the lever d', which turns upon the
centre pin d³, and at the other end is formed into a handle de, by which the
spings may be compressed to admit of the blanks being conducted in between
the rollers d and the cutters b. e is another lever, which turns upon a centre
at e¹, and carries a roller e³, for the purpose of keeping the blanks down correctly
upon the table a whilst passing in contact with the knives. f,f, are guides,
against which the blank is pressed by the rollers d, and which are adjustable
as shewn to regulate the amount of cut to be effected by the cutlers. When
a blank has been carried through this apparatus, one of its edges will be made
true for a joint; and if it is to form one of the centre portions of the head, then
it will have to be turned round and again passed through the machine to have
the other edge made true.
We will now proceed to describe the third part of the Invention, which is
shewn in side view at Figure 6, and transverse section at Figure 7.
a is the
framing, and b, a bar, forming a sort of table upon which to place the portions
of a head of a cask whilst the drills c cut the dowel holes. The red lines show
a piece of wood in position with the drills in action. The drills c are each held

page_text: by means of set screws in the sockets c', which are each supported between a
pair of standards c, and the standards on each side of the machine are affixed
to bars d, with a capability of adjustment according to the distance required
between the holes on each side of the portion of cask head, and the standards c
are fixed in the required position on their respective bars d by set screws c³,
which pass through slot holes formed longitudinally in the bars d, and into the
under side of the standards c³, to retain those standards in position when adjusted.
The two bars d are supported at their ends upon bars e, which pass from side
to side of the framing, and admit of the bars d sliding thereon to and from the
centre of the machine. Each of the bars d carries a nut which receives the
screw shaft f, one portion of the thread of which is right hand and the other
left hand; it is supported in bearings carried by the framing, and has hand
wheels f, one on each end, by turning which the screw shaft f will be turned,
and draw the bars d simultaneously towards the centre of the machine, and
thus, when there is a piece of wood on the table b, and the drills are set in
motion, cause them to enter the wood, or (according to the direction in which
the screw shaft f is caused to rotate) withdraw those drills simultaneously
from the wood towards the sides of the machine. In describing the
action of this machine we have supposed the portion of cask head to be drilled
as one of the inside portions requiring dowel holes on both of its sides.
When one of the outside pieces is to be drilled, we cover the drills ou one
side with a strip of wood already perforated with holes to the depth of the
drills, and which acts as a guard for those drills, and then only the other set of
drills will act.
We will now describe the fourth part of the Invention, an arrangement
of machinery according to which is shewn in plan at Figure 8, in section
Figure 9, and by two side views at Figures 10 and 11.. a, a, is the framing;
b, c, are a pair of discs, between which the blank, after being pieced up, and
which is to form a cask head, is held whilst the cutters hereafter described give
the required form to the edge or circumference. The discs b, c, are formed
on or affixed to the ends of shafts 6', c', which rotate in beamings carried by
the framing, as shown. The disc b, when a wood blank is to be introduced
between the discs b, c, is withdrawn a little by means of the screw d, upon
the outer end of which is fixed the hand wheel d'; and then, when
the wood blank is correctly placed between the two discs b, c, by turning
the screw d, the disc may be moved up to the disc c, and tightly
hold the wood blank, between them; and to facilitate the holding, and
compensate for the varying thickness of the parts of the bank between

page_text: these discs, we apply to the disc b a series of plungers 62, which are
each acted upon, as shewn more correctly by the separate view, Figure 12, by
a piece of vulcanized india-rubber b³, in preference to spiral and other steel
springs which have heretofore been used for a like purpose to force those
plungers outwards against the wood blank, by which we obtain a very firm yet
elastic holding of the wood blank. Upon the axis c¹ is affixed the tooth
wheel c³, which is taken into by the pinion e upon the shaft e', which sup-
ported in suitable bearings, and has affixed upon it the drum or pulley e³,
which by means of a strap or band receives motion from a steam engine or
other power to drive the discs, and consequently the blanks to be cut to form
by the cutters, which we will now proceed to describe. f, g, are the two sets of
cutters used in this machine, and they are affixed, as shown, to the shafts f, g,
which are carried by the rocking frames h, and so as to rotate therein by
means of straps or bands acting upon the pulleys f³, 9, affixed upon those
shafts. The rocking frames h are formed on or affixed to shafts h³, which turn
in bearings carried by the framing, as shewn; and at their upper ends they
are, by means of links h², connected to the frame h³, which has a slight upward
movement given to it by means of the excentric h*, formed or affixed on the
shaft ho, acting upon the projection h* affixed upon the frame h³; and the
frame h³ is borne down to the excentric h' by weights, which we have not
thought it necessary to show; he is a lever handle, turning upon the centre hº,
and bearing against the under side of the frame h³, by which the amount of
cut at commencing to cut may be regulated, and by which the cutters may be
thrown off the blank, when required to remove one and place another, or
otherwise. The shaft h³ receives motion from the shaft c¹, by the tooth wheel
ho, affixed on that shaft c¹, taking into the pinion h', affixed on the shaft h³, and
driving the shaft h, in relation of one to two of the shaft c. The object of
this movement is that the cutters may at each half revolution of the wood
blank be acting nearer to the centre of such wood blank than at the other half,
by which a slight oval form will be produced to the cask head in place of a true
circle; and care must be taken in placing the wood blank in between the
holding discs b, c, that the cutters in cutting such blanks may have the widest
part of the oval widthway of the grain, and the shortest length of oval the
lengthway of the grain. f are the cutters, by which the required bevel is
obtained; and g, the cutters by which the extreme edge is obtained to the
cask head. We would state, that we are aware that it has been proposed to
arrange a rotary cutter upon an arm; which is caused to approach to and
recede from a wood blank, in the manufacture of cask heads; we do not there-

page_text: fore claim such generally, except the mode of arranging and combining suitable
cutters for forming the outer circumference or edge, and bevelling of cask
heads, as explained.
We will now describe the fifth part of our Invention, which consists
of apparatus by which the separate staves to form a cask are arranged in
position and held whilst their ends are drawn inwards; and whilst so held,
suitable cutters act to cut the hollowing ordinarily obtained to the inside of
casks, near the ends of the staves, as also the bevelling of the ends and the
groove into which the cask head is inserted. Figure 13 shows a longitudinal
section; Figure 14, a plan; and Figures 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19, various
detail views, some drawn full size of apparatus, according to this part of our
Invention. a, a, is the framing; b is a central axis, which gives motion to
the cutters, as hereafter described, and which also supports the frame c, upon
which the staves are placed, and by which they are kept in a cylindrical form,
or nearly so, till all the staves of a cask are put together.
The form and
mode of construction of this frame will be better understood by reference to
Figures 18 and 19, which are separate views, full size, of these parts. It will
be seen that the frame c consists of arms c', which are each formed to receive
the slides c³, which have teeth formed upon them, which are taken out by the
snail tooth c³, formed on the ring c', shewn by red lines in Figure 18, which
is capable of rotating on and is guided by the ends of the arms c¹, to which it
is secured by the plate c; such plates c being secured to the arms c¹ by
screw pins c³; and there are projections or handles c³ formed on or affixed to
the ring c, by which that ring is caused to rotate. The slides & carry por-
tions of a ring c, as shewn, and by turning the ring c* in one direction, the
portions of a ring will be caused to expand, and when turned in the other
direction to contract those portions of a ring; and the object of thus forming
the frame c is to adapt it to sustaining the staves for casks of slightly differing
diameters, as also, by the facility of contracting in diameter, to enable us
readily to remove it from the interior of a cask after the ends of the staves
have been brought together to form the smaller ends of the casks; and in order
to get the staves correctly round the frame c, we adopt the following arrange-
ment, shewn by Diagram, Figure 20, where e are weighted straps, one on each
side, and a little way from the centre of the length of the stave, with a hook e¹
at the end of each, which we hook under projections on the under side of
one of the portions of ring cs, and then put in a stave, as shewn at d, then
another stave d*, and so on till all the staves of a cask are placed around
the frame c, and which will then be held by the straps e.. Having thus placed

page_text: all the staves, except the last, of a cask around the frame suppurt c, which
would at such time have the parts extended, as shewn by dotted lines
(see Fig. 13), we remove the straps e, and apply a metal strap z around
those staves, such strap being formed with a hinge in the centre, and
capable of being screwed together at its ends when the last stave has
been introduced, by which the staves will have internal and external support.
The staves are then in position to be compressed at their ends into the
required form of the ends of the cask, and which we accomplish in the
following manner :-f, f, are cones, which are supported by means of the
lugs on the screw shafts g; such shafts being formed with right and
left-hand threads thereon, as shewn, which pass through suitable nuts carried
by the lugs f, so that when the screw shafts 9, 9, are simultaneously acted
upon, the cones f, f, may simultaneously approach towards each other, and in
doing so, when the staves to form a cask have been collected together as above
explained, these cones will be sliding over the ends of the staves, compress
them into the desired shape of cask; and whilst we are aware that it has
been before proposed to employ cones approaching each other, and sliding over
the ends of staves, for the purpose above stated, and we do not claim the same
separately, it is an important part of our Invention to combine the use of such
cones with an internal supporting frame c, such as above described, as thereby
we are enabled to obtain greater truth in the form of the casks; h, i, j, are the
cutters for producing the hollowing, the grooving or crossing, and bevelling or
chiming. These cutters are carried by the arms k, l, and they are brought
into operation when the staves have been compressed to form as stated by the
cones f. These arms k, l, are formed on bosses which have pinching screws,
by which, when required, they are made fast to the shaft 6 in the position as
shewn, to effect the required forms, which are well understood by coopers.
The shaft b, when the cutters are in action, is supported at one end in a step b¹
carried by that part of the framing, and towards the other end it is supported
by passing through a suitable bearing in the framing at m, whilst at that end
of the shaft 6 there is formed a neck, which receives a pin n (as shewn at
section thro' A, B, by which the bar n¹ is permanently connected to the axis b.
For the purpose of sliding that axis, as hereafter described, rotary motion is
given to the axis b, and consequently to the cutters, by means of a strap or
band from a steam engine or other suitable power acting upon the drum
or pulley affixed to that axis ; are the cutters for producing the
hollowing are the cutters for grooving or crosing; and j are the cutters for
bevelling or chiming; these, it will be seen, are affixed in slides o, which are

page_text: capable of sliding in the arms k, l, and of being adjusted therein by means of
the screws p, as shown. When the cutters h, i, j, are required to act upon the
ends of the staves, and whilst those staves are being held, as described,
the frames k, l, with their cutters, are moved into position on the axis b, to
which they are made fast by the set screws k³, 1', as shewn by red lines at one
end at Figure 13. The cutters are progressively moved up to the work by
turning the enlarged part p¹, formed on the screws p. The cutters h, i, are
similar to what are commonly used by coopers in effecting like operations, and
the mode of holding the staves of a cask in a correct central position by cones,
or like apparatus in relation to the cutters, and whilst the cutters perform their
operations, forms a very important part of our Invention. When the cutters
have completed their operations we unscrew the set screws k³, 11, when the shaft b
will be free to move without the frames k, l; we then draw back the frame k on -
to a support a', carried by the framing, turn the snail ring c* so as to reduce the
ring to its smallest diameter, and then by means of the bar n¹, which is
formed with rack teeth on its under side, which are taken into by the pinion n³
upon the shaft n³, which turns in bearings carried by the framing, and has a
winch handle n', by which that shaft may be turned; the shaft b, with the
frame c (which by means of its set screw is made loose upon the shaft 6),
may be withdrawn from the interior of the cask, we then withdraw the cones a
little from the staves so as to allow of their expanding slightly in order to
introduce the heads; we then turn the screws g again in the opposite direction,
so as to cause the cones to approach each other, by which the staves will be
closely compressed on to the heads, and the heads held in; in doing which the
ends of the staves will project a little beyond the smallest parts of the cones,
when we apply upon those parts the outer iron hoops, by which the parts of
the cask will be held in position, and the cones may be withdrawn off the cask
by again reversing the screws, and the cask may be removed to have the other
hoops applied in the ordinary manner.
Motion it will be seen is given to the shafts g by means of the cross shaft r,
which is driven by straps or bands from a steam engine or other power acting
upon one or other of the drums or pullies r', r, which are each capable of
being made fast to the shaft r, according to the direction in which the shafts g
are for the time to rotate, such shaft r also carrying bevelled pinions ³, which
5 take into and drive the bevelled pinions, affixed on the screw shafts g; s is a
loose pulley, which does not travel away with the shaft 6 when the drum or
pulley 6 does, and on to which the strap or band by which rotary motion
is given to the pulley be is shifted when the shaft 6 is not rotating.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of our Invention and the means pursued
by us in carrying the various parts into operation, we would have it understood
that we do not confine ourselves to the precise details hererein shown and
described; but what we claim is, the mode of arranging and combining
mechanical parts into machines for the manufacture of casks, as above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Hutton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-seventh day of July,
in the year of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid Arthur Hutton came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her 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.