CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING OR MANUFACTURING CASKS AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1825

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
BROWN, of Eagle Lodge, Old Brompton, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS IIis present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eighth day of November, in the sixth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, Ilis heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Samuel Brown, His especial licence that I, the said Samuel Brown, my exois,
admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel Brown, my exors,
aduiors, 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
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR MAKING OR MANUFACTURING CASKS AND OTHER VESSELS;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Samuel Brown, 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 inrolled in His 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 same, 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
Samuel Brown, do hereby declare that the nature of my said improvements
and the manner in which the same are to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the
following description thereof (that is to say) -
In Drawing No. 1, Fig. 1 is a plan, Fig. 2 a front view, and Fig. 8 an
end view, of a machine for cutting, jointing, or sawing the edges of the staves
for casks and other vessels of a proper curvature or curvatures to form the said
casks or other vessels, and in all of which said Figures the same letters of
reference indicate the similar parts of the machine. A, A. &c. the machine
frame, shewn as being made of wood, but which may if preferred be also
made of cast iron, the strength and proportions of the several parts of it being
in that case varied accordingly; B, B, &c. a wooden board or plank, or a metal
plate, forming the basis or support of the guides of the carriage; C, C, &c. flat
metal bars upon which the carriage moves backwards and forwards; D, D, the
carriage; E, E, a sliding fiame, guided between the bars F, F, so as to move
crosswise to the direction of the carriage; G, G, two toothed racks affixed to
the sliding frame E, E; II, H, two pinions, mounted upon an axis I, tho
necks or pivots of which turn in bearings affixed to the carriage D, D; J, a
wooden handle affixed upon the axis 1 of the pinions, and whereby they are
turned; k, k, two arched clamps, turning upon joints or hinges at L, L, affixed
upon the carriage, the other ends M, M, of the clamps having each of them a
sharp point, intended to enter the staves and hold them firmly upon the
carriage; N, a handle by which to raise and depress the clamps; 0, a stave,
held down by the clamps M, M; P, a slide or stop to adjust the place of the
stavo upon the carriage D, D, endways, and which slide is secured firmly in its
place by the binding sciew Q; R, R, &c. a metal fiame, affixed t upon the board
or plank B, B; S, S, an axis, turning upon necks at each end and in the
middle of it, which act in holes made in the blocks T, T, T; U, U, two coarse
threaded right and left screws upon the ends of the axis S, S; V, V, two finer
threaded right and left screws, also formed upon the axis S, S; W, W, W, W,
four metal blocks accurately fitted to slide within the cheeks of the frame
R, R. &c. and having female screws within them to fit the right and left
threaded screws U, U, and V, V; a winch or handle can be fitted upon one
end of the axis S, S, at X to turn it by. Y, Y, Y, Y, circular metal blocks,
turning in the metal half holes Z, Z, Z, Z, which are affixed upon the blocks
W, W, W, W. These circular blocks have gaps or slits made in their upper
parts, which receive into them a metal bar a, a, &c. and which also fits into
another slit 6 made in a block affixed upon the central block T. c, c, are two

page_text: bais affixed to the carriage D, D, and having a slit underneath the end of each
bar, which fits upon the upper edge of the bar a, a. This bar a. a, when
acted upon by the slits in the blocks W, W, W, W, which are extended and
contracted proportionally by the differing motion of the screws U, U, and V, V,
and being also retained in the central slit b, receives various curvatures, which
can thus be accommodated to the different sizes and kinds of casks and other
vessels to be constructed, so as to shape their staves accordingly by the action
of the circular saw d upon them when urged against them. This saw is
mounted upon an axis e, as usual, whose necks or pivots turn in bearings
mounted upon a metal bed g affixed to the frame of the machine A, the saw
being driven by a band. from the first moving power of the machinery acting
upon the rigger h. In order to accommodate the circular saw to the various
curvatures of the staves, it must be more or less dished, or made concave,
instead of being made flat, as usual. The staves having been previously sawn
to a proper width. thickness, and length in any of the usual and well known
methods, are to be placed upon the sliding carriage D, D, resting endways
against the stop P, and sideways against the front of the sliding fiame E, E,
which is hollowed out so as to touch the staves at each end only. The carnage
D, D, being drawn back toward the right-hand end of the machine, the end
of the stave is to be sawn is to be brought against the periphery of the saw,
the left hand of the workman being placed upon the handle J and his right
hand upon the handle N, he presses the points upon the ends M, M, of the
clamps k, k, into the stave, having previously brought it to the requned
position by turning the handle J upon the axis of the pinions I, II, and then
pushes the carriage along with the stave upon it against the saw whilst in
action, and which, by the guide bar a, a, governing the sweep to be given to
the edge of the stave, cuts it accordingly; it is then to be turned with its
opposite edge towards the saw, the same surface of the stave being kept
upwards, and that second edge be likewise sawn to the proper sweep, in the
manner just described. I next set or put up the staves so shaped as above
described so as to form a cask or other vessel in the usual manner, and connect
them with truss hoops, and next subject them to the operation of chiming, and
which I perform in the following manner:-In Drawing No. 2, Fig. 4 is an
external view of a cask placed in the chiming machine ready to be operated
upon. Fig. 5, a section of the cask with other parts of the machine, as will
be described hereafter; Fig 6, a plan of the lower parts of it; and Fig. 7,
another plan In all of these Figures, as well as in the others to be hereafter
referred to, the same letters and figures of reference pointing out the similar
parts of the machine. i, 2, the metal plate forming the basis of the machine,

page_text: j., &c four pillars affixed to the basis i, i, and connected at top with the
frame k, k, a bar (not shown) extends across the middle of the frame k, k,
which supports a metal colla 7, shewn in section in Fig. 8, and by dotted lines
in Figs. 4 and 5 Through this colla passes the hollow cylindrical axis m,
which is made conical below at n, and tuins in a conical collar o formed in the
centre of the aims p, p, which are affixed to the pillars 7. j. The axis mis
supported above by the plates with half holes in them 7, 2, which fit into a
groove made around the upper part of the axis m to receive them, and which
plates 7. 2, rest upon the top of the collar Z. To the lower end of the axis m
an aum r, r, is firmly secured, having a groove s within it, (shown by dotted
lines in Fig. 9.) to guide the metal block, in which the three chiming tools are
affixed, in the manner to be described hereafter. t is a pulley or band
wheel, to which a rotary movement is given by means of a band passing from
a dium actuated by the moving power of the machinery. In the centic of
the basis i, i, a metal socket is provided, shewn in Fig 4, by section in
Fig. 5, and by dotted lines in Fig. 6. Through the cylindrical hole in this
socket a cylindrical stem of metal v is passed. upon the top of which a flat
metal plate w is affixed, carrying a hoop a upon it, as shewn in Figs 5 and 6;
an ion-forked treadle y turning upon a pin , passing through holes made
in the treadle, and in the ears 1, 1, affixed to the basis i, 2, 1s placed under-
neath the plate w, and which may be elevated by depressing the opposite end
of the treadle, and lowered again by removing the pressure. The lower end
of the cask to be chimed is placed upon the plate w, the hoop a fitting within
it to keep it central, and its upper end is held and secured firmly in a central
position by being lodged within two flat plates of metal 2 and 3, which are
supported upon four projections 4, 4, 4, 4, one of each being affixed to the
pillows j, j &c. These plates have simicircular gaps 5, 5, in them, which
receive the upper end of the casks between them, and they are held securely
down by means of the two iron bais 6, 6, which turn upon hinges, as shown
at 7, 7, 7, in Figs. 4 and 7, being brought upon them, as shown in Figs. 4
and 7. The cask is thus held ready for chiming, and which operation is
performed in the following manner :-The metal block 8 has the three
chiming tools or cutters 9, 10, and 11 fitted into it, and regulated by sciews;
the uppermost one 9 being to cut the bevel around the inner end of the
cask, the middle one 10 to form the groove for the head of the cask to lodge
in, and the lower one 11 to scoop out and make it cncular. This block 8
is protruded or thrust outwardly to bring the tools into action upon the cask
in the following manner:-In the section Fig. 8, 12 is an upright iod, turning
on necks or pivots at each end of it in holes made at the upper and lowc

page_text: ends of the hollow axis m to receive them; the lower end of this 1d 12 bas
an endless screw formed upon it (not shewn), which works into an endless
Sciew wheel 13, made around the periphery of a screwed nut, with necks or
pivots to it, tuning in bearings made to receive them in the horizontal
arm r. To the block 8 a rod 14 affixed, the other end of which is screwed,
and the nut being turned by the action of the screw upon the upright rod 12,
working into the endless screw wheel 13, thus thrusts outwardly the block 8,
and the tools 9, 10, and 11 affixed to it. When the upright rod 12 is
turned a little by the aid of the handle 15, Fig 5, which is to be appled
upon a square part formed at the end of the rod 12, as shewn in Figs 4 and 8,
the axis m and the arm r, r, being at the same time caused to revolve by the
action of the machinery as above described, the tools 9, 10, and 11 thus
effect the operation of chiming. The cask or other vessel, Fig 10, is a fiont
view of the block 8, and the tools 9, 10, and 11, in their places as affixed
to it. In Drawing No. 3, Fig. 9 is a plan, Fig. 10 a front view, and Fig. 11
an end view, of a machine for jointing the heads of cashs or other vessels,
the similar parts of the machine being designated by the same letters and
hgures of reference in all those three Figures. A, A, &c the frame or support
of the machine; B, B, &c. wooden planks affixed upon the fiame A, A, &c.,
16, 16, a carriage sliding upon the flat metal bar 17, 17, and guided in a
icctilinear direction by the angular bar 18, 18, which enters into angular gaps
made underneath each end of the carriage 16, 16 Upon this carriage a
sliding frame 19, 19, is mounted, which is guided at each end by the bais
20, 20, so as to move crosswise to the direction of the carriage 16, 16. The
sliding fiame 19, 19, has two toothed racks 21, 21, affixed upon it, and an
axis 22, with two pinions 23, 23, and a handle to turn them by. 24 is affixed
to the carriage 16, 16, in a similar manner to those already described in the
references to Drawing No. 1, Figs. 1, 2, and 3 There are also two arched
26, 26, with points 27, 27,
clamps 25, 25, hinged to the carriage 16, 16, at
underneath their opposite ends, and a cross handle 28 to raise them up or
press them down, as required. The piece of wood 29, intending to form a
part of the heading, being previously cut to its proper lenghth and thickness,
is to be laid upon the carriage 16, 16, and be held down by the two points
27, 27, its back edge lodging against the slding fiame 19, 19, and its fiont
edge towards the flat cucular saw 30, mounted and actuated in a similai
manner to the circular saw already described; it is then carried along towards
the periphery of the saw, which then cuts it in a straight or rectilinear
dnection, and its other cdge must be cut or jointed in a similar manner it
requisite Fig 19 15 a font view, and Fig 18 an end view, of a machine for

page_text: boring the holes in the heading, which are to receive the dowels in the centie
of the joint, and at right angles to the joints, and which is effected in the
following manner:-31 is a mandrol, mountal in a metal collar and back
centre, in the usual manner of lathes, and having upon it the pulleys or band
wheels 82, whereby it is to be driven by a band from a drum turned by the
moving power of the machinery; a dowelling bit 33 of the usual form is
fitted into a metal chuck and screwed into the manliel. 34 is an adjusting
fiame, capable of being raised or lowered, according to the various thicknesses
of the heading upon the bars or laths 35, 35, of the machine, by means of
the two binding screws 36, 36, which pass through the upright slits made in
the sides of the frame 34. Upon the wooden plank 37 two dovetail guides
38, 38, are affixed, between which the dovetailed piece 39 slides backwards
and forwards, and having a block upon it, against which the piece of heading
is placed, and thus supported is pressed against the dowelling bit, whilst tho
latter is rapidly turned until the hole is become deep enough. In Diawing
No. 4, Fig. 14 is a plan, and Fig. 15 a fi ont view, of a machine for tuining
the heads of casks and other vessels, and Drawing No. 5 contains details
of various parts of the machine, the same figures of reference indicating
the similar paits in both Diawings. 40, 40, in Figs. 14 and 15, are two
cast-iron pillars, which are firmly secured by screwed bolts to a cast-iron
plate below the floor of the manufactory (not shewn in the Diawing), and
above to a cast-iron arch 41, in a similar manner, 42 is a flat circular ring of
cast iron, with four arms extending across it, and which is firmly secured by
screwed bolts to the flanges 43, 48, upon the pillais 40, 40, and it is further
supported upon the two upright pillars 44, 44; 45 is a cast-iron upright
shaft or axis, with pivots turning in a proper step, and brass below, and in a
colla above, supported in the centre of the arms of the ring 42, it has a nigger
or band wheel upon the lower part of it (not shewn), which is driven by a
stiap or band proceeding from a drum, actuated by the moving power of the
machinery. As the various pieces of wood composing the heads of casks and
other vessels are liable to shrink or contract in their width, so were those
heads turn circular they would become oval, or longer than they are broad, in
consequence of such shiinking and therefore it is proper to turn them of an
oval figure in constructing them, or leave them broader on the backs of
their bants. This I effect in the following manner. -46, 46, is a moveable
flat iron bar with two shits in it, though which two binding screws with
screwed nuts to them 47, 47, pass, and by means of which the bar can be
moved and secured in the requued position These parts are more plainly
shewn Figs 16, 17, and 18 of Drawing No 5. A cucular hole 48 (ce

page_text: Fig. 17) is formed in the centre of the bar 46, and it has affixed upon it a
steel ing 49, which can be placed more or less excentric. A circular cast-
iron chuck 50 is screwed upon the upper end of the shaft 45, having affixed
upon it by screws two dovetailed guides 51, 51, (shewn endways in Fig. 19,
and flatways in Fig. 20,) between which guides the dovetailed plates 52 slide
backwards and forwards, and from each end of it the pieces 53, 5%, <lescend,
which are acted upon by the excentric ing 49, and thus carry the dove-
tailed plate 52 backwards and for wards also, in the manner of an''elliptic
chuck, sufficiently to turn the heads to the proper oval figure. In the centre
of the plate 52 a screw 54 is affixed, upon which a flat wooden chuck 55
is screwed, shewn in Fig. 16, and which chuck has four sharp steel points
affixed in its upper face to hold the heads of the casks or other vessels
firmly in tuining them, and as will be described hereafter. In order to
secure the heads from rising off the chuck 55, another elliptic chuck
56 is applied, above the sliding plate of which 57 is affixed to the
lower end of a stem 58, descending from a screw 59, which acts in a female
screw 60, and is guided through a central hole in the houzontal bar 61,
which is affixed to the arch 41, as shown in Fig. 15 of Drawing No: 4. A
circular block of cast iron 62 hangs underneath the sliding plate 57, being
held by means of the dovetailed guides 63, 63, shewn in Figs. 21 and 22;
which are screwed upon it, and receive the dovetailed edges of the sliding
plate 57 within them. A screw 64 is likewise affixed to this upper elliptic
chuck 56 underneath the block 62, upon which another flat wooden chuck 65
is screwed, and carries four sharp steel points on its under face, which also
assist in retaining the heads steady in turning them when the upper wooden
chuck 65 is depressed by the action of the screw 59. The head 66 is shewn
in Figs. 14, 15, and 16 as being placed between the wooden chucks 56 and
65, and as having been subjected to the action of the three turning tools, as
will now be described. The heading being properly jointed and dowelled
together, and placed and held firmly between the two wooden chucks 55 and
65, is first to be subjected to the action of the parting tool, the form of which
resembles a narrow mortise chisel, as shewn in fiont and edgeways at 67 in
Figs 23 and 24 of Drawing No. 4. This tool is held in a sliding carriage 68,
which moves upwards and downwards in a fiame 69, shewn in front at Fig. 25
and edgeways in Fig. 26, and which is carried backwards and forwards
horizontally upon the two cylindrical guide rods 70, 70, and which pass through
cylindrical holes made in the blocks 71, 71, which are affixed by screwed bolts
and nuts upon the left pillar of the machine, as shown in Figs. 14 and 15.
The carnage is moved backwards and forwards by the screw 72, which works

page_text: in a female screw affixed to the blocks 71, 71, and has a nick or pivot at 73
turning in a collar formed in the centre of the bars which connect the two
guide rods 70, 70, its other end being connected with the frame 69 of the
carriago 68 by the contrivance well known amongst mechanics by the name of
a garter piece, and which retains the end of the sciew in its place in the
frame 69, whilst it allows it to turn round. The screw is turned by means of
the handle 74. The upright sliding carriage 68 is moved upwards and down-
waids by the screw 75, which works in a female screw formed in the head of
the slide 68 at 76, and is turned downwards by the handle 77, it also having
a neck or pivot which turns in a collar formed in the upper part of the frame
69 at 78. The sliding carriage 69 and the turning tool 67 being then brought
by turning the screw 72 to its position over the head 66, it is lowered
gradually whilst the head revolves until it has passed through the pieces
forming the head and turned them of the proper elliptical form; the turning
tool is then to bo raised up again by turning the screw 75 in the opposite
direction. The sliding carriage 68 likewise contains another turning tool 79
(shewn in Figs. 25 and 26), which turns the top bevel of the heads. This
turning tool 79 is double-ironed, in the manner of a plane iron, as shewn in
Figs. 25 and 27, the latter of which represents the tool separately. 80 is the
adjusting screw of the double iron. This tool is held in a groove or slit made
in the carriage 68 at 81 to receive it, and it is beld firmly therein by the
screw 82; the screw 72 passes through holes made in the hollow pillar 40
to admit it. The lower or under bevel of the heads is turned in the following
manner: 83 is a swinging frame, affixed in front upon the circular plate 42;
it has underneath it a dovetail groove 84, which slides backwards and forwards
upon a dovetailed head affixed upon the plate 42. Upon the plate containing
the lovetailed groove a circular block 85 (shewn in Fig 28 and in section in
Fig. 29) is affixed upon a screwed piu, in the centre of which the fiame 83
swings round, a Borizontal screw 86 acting in a female scrow at 87, and
guided through holes made in the cross bars of the frame, and having a
handle 88 to turn it by, is mounted upon this frame. To the end 89 of it two
dovetailed guides 90, 90, are affixed by adjusting screws, in a position inclining
downwards in a proper direction to turn the under bevel, and within those
guides a dovetailed metal plate 91 slides backwards and for waids, which
carries the turning tool 92. The nose of the horizontal screw 86 is formed
into the shape of an inverted cone, which tuins in a conical hole made in a
dovetailed metal block 93, which slides up and down in an upright dovetailed
groove formed in the end of the plate 91, and as the nose of the screw 86
cannot withdraw itself from the hole in the upright dovetailed block, so as it is

page_text: turned backwards and forwards it urges the inclined plate 91, carrying the
turning tool 92 backwards and forwards also. The turning tool 92 is formed
somewhat in the shape of an ordinary gouge for turning wood, as shown in
Figs. 30, 31, and 32, and it is held firmly in its place in the plate 91 by a
binding screw. In order to place the head to be turned in the machine, it is
necessary to remove the frame 83 and the turning tool 92 out of the way, and
for this purpose it is made to swing round upon a centre pin 94, shewn in the
section, Fig 29 The top and bottom bevels of the heads being thus turned,
it only remains to turn their tops flat and smooth, and which is effected in the
following manner :-On the right-hand side of the machine another sliding
caniage 95 is mounted to the pillar 40, exactly in a similar manner to that
already described, being, like it, supported upon two cylindrical guide rods, and
urged backwards and forwards by a screw, having a handle to it to turn it by,
To this carriage is affixed a block holding the tools by which the tops of the
beads are turned smooth and flat, and which tools consist of a gouge 96,
similar to the one described in the references to Figs. 30, 31, and 32, and
another 97, similar to the iron of a smoothing plane. Both these tools are
held upright in the block in their proper positions for use, and are secured
firmly in their places by the screws 98 and 99, with handles to them to turn
them by.
The cast-non block 62 & upper wooden chuck 65 being then
litted up by turning the screw 59, the tools are carried across the head to
tun it flat.
The last operation necessary to the completion of casks and other vessels
consists in cross shaving their sides. This is effected in the following
manner-In Drawing No 6, Fig. 38 is a front view, and Fig. 34 an end
view, of a machine of a construction similar to a turning lathe, in which tho
cash or other vessel is to be placed and held in a secure manner. 100 is the
mandiel of the lathe, upon the nose of which the flat circular cast-iron chuck
101 is sciewed, and to the face of this chuck a wooden chuck 102 is affixed
by means of screws; in the face of this wooden chuck a number of circular
grooves are turned, as indicated by the angular notches 108, so as to fit the
circular ends of different sized casks or other vessels, the other ends of which
are to have pieces of heading, similar to that shewn at 104 in Fig. 34, affixed
across them, and in the middle of which an iron block 105, shewn in Figs. 33
and 34, is to be affixed, with a hole in its centre to receive the conical point of
the back centre screw 106 of the lathe, and by turning which screw the cask
or other vessel is securely held in the lathe The turning tool 107 is affixed
in a stock 108, made in the form of a plane, see Figs. 33, 34, and 35, and the
under side or face of which is hollowed out. The tool is placed in the stock

page_text: with its face in an oblique position, as shewn in Fig. 35, and the stock is held
in a metal frame 109, with a handle 110 to guide it by; and its other end is
supported upon the screw 111, which has a socket 112, Fig. 35, at its opposite
'end, which slides along the horizontal cylindrical rod 113, Fig. 38, and which
said rod is supported at each end in the pieces 114, 114, with slits in them
affixed to the uprights 115, 115, and which can be secured at the required
height in those slits by the set screws 116, 116. In this manner the stock
108 with the tool 107 can be gradually carried along the whole length of the
cask or other vessel (which must be held together by truss hoops at each end,
as shewn in Fig. 33,) whilst being turned in the lathe, and thus shave or plane
the whole outside thereof in a complete and effectual manner, excepting those
parts at the ends which are covered with the hoops; and these hoops being
removed, others being previously substituted instead of them, which are placed
nenior to the middle of the cask or other vessel, the ends may then be shaved
or planed also. The heads being then inserted, the casks or other vessels are
then to be hooped in the usual manner.
I hereby declare that in this my said Specification I disclaim any title to
the. improvements in manufacturing casks or other vessels by machinery for
which a Patent was granted to Jobn Plaskett and myself in the year One
thousand eight hundred and eleven, but I do hereby claim the various im-
provements as set forth in this my new Specification.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Brown, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand night hundred and twenty six