IMPROVEMENTS IN BUSHES FOR THE BUNG HOLES OF CASKS AND OTHER VESSELS, AND IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR FIXING THE SAME." PROAL SP
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Joseph West, of No. 4, King Edward
Stroet, Southwark, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUSHES FOR THE BUNG HOLES OF CASKS
AND OTHER VESSELS, AND IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR FIXING THE
SAME."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Joseph West
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 29th March 1871.
I, HENRY JOSEPH WEST, of No. 4, King Edward Street, Southwark,
in the County of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUSHES FOR THE BUNG HOLES OF
CASKS AND OTHER VESSELS, AND IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR FIXING THE
SAME," to be as follows:-
―:
My Invention has for its object improvements in bushes for the bung
holes of casks and other vessels, and in the mode of and apparatus for
fixing the same, and relates to bushes of that class in which a screw

page_text: thread or spiral web is formed around the exterior of the tubular portion
of the bush.
According to my Invention the thread at the lower end of the bush,
that is at the end farthest removed from the flange, is by preference
made very sharp with its sides nearly parallel, in the manner of an
ordinary carpenter's screw thread, and the width of the thread at its
base, that is at the part adjoining the body of the tube gradually
increases as the thread approaches nearer and nearer to the under side of
the flange, so that the thread in fact constitutes a kind of wedge, and
in order to facilitate the fixing of the bush it is made with a portion
or portions of the screw thread removed or cut away in the direction of
the tube's length in the manner of a screw tap, and so as to form
cutting points or edges for cutting or forming the requisite grooves to
receive the thread, whereby the fixing of the bush is rendered far more
easy than is the case with bushes of the kinds at present generally used.
In some cases (and especially for fixing ordinary screwed bushes in the
bung holes of casks or vessels made of unusually hard wood) I form
a female screw thread in the bung hole by tapping the same to receive
the screwed bush. For the purpose of screwing the bush into the
bung hole I employ an apparatus in which a spindle is combined with
two or more eccentric discs or cams arranged to be inserted within the
bush when the lower end of the latter has been placed just within
the bung hole, so that by turning the spindle by means of a suitable
key or handle the eccentric discs or cams are caused to spread out and
bear against the inner surface of the bush, and carry the bush round with
them until by the continued rotation of the spindle the bush has been
firmly screwed home, whereupon the hold of the eccentric discs or cams
upon the bush may be instantly released by turning the spindle slightly
in the contrary direction.
It will be obvious that this apparatus may be used for fixing various
kinds of bushes having screw threads formed around them.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Joseph West in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
JOSEPH WEST, of No. 4, King Edward Street, Southwark, in the County
of Surrey, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Joseph West, Her special
licence that I, the said Henry Joseph West, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Joseph West,
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,
usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britian
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BUSHES FOR THE BUNG HOLES OF CASKS AND OTHER VESSELS,
AND IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR FIXING THE SAME,' upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Joseph West, 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
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Joseph West, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof (that is to say) :—
My Invention has for its object improvements in bushes for the bung
holes of casks and other vessels, and in the mode of an apparatus for
fixing the same, and relates to bushes of that class in which a screw
thread or spiral web is formed around the exterior of the tubular portion
of the bush.

page_text: According to my Invention the thread at the lower end of the bush,
that is, at the end farthest removed from the flange, is by preference
made very sharp, with its sides nearly parallel in the manner of an
ordinary carpenter's screw thread, and the width of the thread at its base,
that is, at the part adjoining the body of the tube, gradually increases
as the thread approaches nearer and nearer to the under side of the
flange, so that the thread in fact constitutes a kind of wedge, and in
order to facilitate the fixing of the bush it is made with a portion
or portions of the screw thread removed or cut away in the direction
of the tube's length in the manner of a screw tap and so as to form
cutting points or edges for cutting or forming the requisite grooves
to receive the thread, whereby the fixing of the bush is rendered far
more easy than is the case with bushes of the kinds at present generally
used. For the purpose of screwing the bush into the bung hole I employ
an apparatus in which a spindle is combined with two or more eccentric
dises or cams arranged to be inserted within the bush when the lower
end of the latter has been placed just within the bung hole, so that by
turning the spindle by means of a suitable key or handle the eccentric
discs or cams are caused to spread out and bear against the inner
surface of the bush and carry the bush round with them, until by the
continued rotation of the spindle the bush has been firmly screwed
home, whereupon the hold of the eccentric discs or cams upon the bush
may be instantly released by turning the spindle slightly in the contrary
direction.
It will be obvious that this apparatus may be used for fixing various
kinds of bushes having screw threads formed around them.
And in order that the manner of carrying my said Invention into
practical effect may be fully understood, I have hereunto annexed a
Sheet of Drawings in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through
the centre of one of my improved bushes shewing the same fixed in
position within the bung hole of a cask or barrel; Fig. 2 is a plan of
the upper part of the bush; Fig. 3 is a side elevation; Fig. 4 is a plan
of the under part of the bush; Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a modifi-
cation in which portions of the two lower screw threads are removed or
cut away in the direction of the tube's length; Fig. 6 is a plan of the
under part of the same; Fig. 7 is a side elevation of my improved
apparatus for fixing the bushes; Fig. 8 is a plan of the upper part of
the same with the key or handle removed; Fig. 9 is a transverse section

page_text: through the line a, b, of Fig. 7, shewing one of the eccentric cams
whereby the apparatus is expanded; Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the
spindle and cams, and Fig. 11 is a plan of the under side of the lower
collar of the cams.
The screw thread of the bush is made very sharp at its lower end A,
its sides being nearly parallel like an ordinary carpenter's screw thread ;
the width of the thread gradually increases as it approaches the under
side of the flange B. Portions of the thread are removed or cut away
at A' in the manner of a screw tap as shewn, thereby forming cutting
points or edges for cutting or forming the requisite grooves in the
bung hole to receive the thread. In fixing the bush, having placed it
over the bung hole to be bushed, I insert the fixing apparatus within
the bush and turn the spindle C by means of the key or handle D so
that the two cams E are caused to spread out their faces E' which bear
against the inner surface of the bush and carry it round with them until
it is screwed home. The hold of the cam faces upon the bush may be
instantly released by turning the spindle back into the position shewn in
Fig. 9.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical
effect, I desire to point out 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,—
1. Making screwed bushes with wedge-like threads having parts
removed or cut away, substantially as and for the purposes herein
described and set forth.
2. The improved mode of and apparatus for fixing bushes in the bung
holes of casks and other vessels as herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Joseph West, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
ona