Iм- PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASKS, AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmond Philippe and Honoré Pinet, of Rue des
Deux Gares, No. 14, Paris, Engineers, for the Invention of “Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASKS, AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED
THEREIN
"
Sealed the 13th November 1874, and dated the 9th December 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmond Philippe and
Honoré Pinet at the Office of the Commissiouers of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 9th December 1874.
We, EDMOND PHILIPPE and HONORÉ PINET, of Rue des Deux Gares,
No. 14, Paris, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CASKS, AND IN MACHINERY
EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
Hitherto all attempts to manufacture by machinery casks for con-
taining liquids have been unsuccessful; indeed it has been found difficult
to make by machinery casks for containing dry goods; the consequence
is that it has been considered impossible to manufacture casks for liquids
A

page_text: by machinery, and even the largest brewers and wine growers have
continued to get them made by hand.
; Now the object of this Invention is to construct machinery, or rather
a set of machines, some of which are entirely new while others are
improved, by means of which the wood is submitted to a series of
operations following a rational order, and a perfect result is obtained.
These new and improved machines and the manner of employing them
form the subject of the present application for Patent. The difficulties
to be overcome are numerous; the principal are:-The connecting
together of the staves, that is to say, making the joints. Several modes
have been employed without a satisfactory result; some have made the
joints by inclining the wood on the table of a circular saw, pushing the
wood by hand, and by means of a guide in the form of an arc of a circle
in the said table they give the bend or curve to the stave, which bend
ought afterwards to form the bulge or belly of the cask when several
staves are joined together; this first machine can only form one side at
a time. Others have endeavoured to form the two sides at one operation,
and for this purpose they have placed the board from which a stave has
to be made on a mandril of cast iron or wood having the form of a flat
stave, that is to say, a stave spread out on a plane surface, and they
have employed two inclined saws, one at each side. Those who tried
this omitted to consider that the squaring or form of the joint of a stave
was constantly variable, seeing that the diameter of the cask is itself
constantly different, and that by the processes which they adopted the
squaring was always the same; the machines were besides defective in
other ways which we need not mention. The operation of creusing or
cross grooving was made for each separate stave, the result of which was
that when the staves were joined together the bulge of each not being
the same the cross grooves would not meet, so that the junction between
the staves and cask heads not being sufficiently perfect the cask was not
water-tight. Besides the staves having been dressed or pared and
rendered sharp by such dressing it could not be struck on the end to
make it flush with the adjoining stave, hence an unevenness, further
dressing, and much more time to put the cask together. All these
inconveniences are obviated by the employment of our machines, and
specially by the manner in which each operation is arranged..
Without enumerating the drawbacks of other systems of cask making
machinery suffice it to say that they are defective in respect to being

page_text: unable to readily make casks of any kind, and that they are impracticablo
when required to make casks to hold liquid.
In the following description we will describe machine by machine the
operations for preparing the wood:-Thus we commence, first, by dressing.
a clap board" or blank, and by cutting it to the required length and
square. The next operation is to dress one face of the board, after
which by a circular saw with parallel bar or beam we make it a thick-
ness equal to two staves or two head pieces; this done we saw the piece
of wood through the middle by a special saw; it is then cut to the
required width; this renders the operation of rounding or adzing
regular, and facilitates the making of the joints. When the stave has
been rounded or adzed it is placed in the bending oven which gives it a
regular bulge or belly, then to the joint forming machine. On issuing
from this last machine the stave is finished and is ready to be united
with others to form a cask. It is then that in order to unite them in
a sufficient number to obtain a diameter always equal, we place them
side by side in a verifying machine, and afterwards in the putting
together and finishing machine. The staves placed in this last-named
machine are brought together by means of a cord, which is wound on
tightening rollers; they are-then trussed and maintained by two iron
hoops; one of these hoops is flat and the other has an angular groove;
both are intended to facilitate and render perfect the rolling of the cask
on the creusing or cross grooving machine, the angular groove serving as
a guide.
For the
purpose of making the cask heads we take picces in the state
of boards, such as issue from a sawing machine herein-after described,
then the pieces are placed at the side of each other on a table, the
pattern is applied on these pieces, and the attendant marks, following
the contour, the diameter which the heads ought to have; then with the
tracer or pencil he indicates by means of openings the position for the
pins or dowels for uniting the different pieces in such manner that these
pins cannot touch the tool in the subsequent operation of bevelling and
cutting the edges; then the pieces are united by means of the pins, and
afterwards cut in profile, and beveled in the machine for turning the
beads.
The cask body having been made and creused or cross grooved, as

page_text: unite them. This operation which we have not thought well to do
mechanically we perform by hand in the ordinary manner. The work-
men place the head between the staves of the cask, which after having
been finally hooped is fit to receive liquids.
Our machines are so simple that casks can be constructed without
special workmen. The joints are made with so much precision that it is
not necessary as it is when they are made by hand to put rosin in to
make them water-tight.
operation or mode
The circular saw
We now proceed to describe the construction and
of action of the different machines before referred to.
with parallel bar or beam is composed of side frames united by stays
and cross beams, and one of them carries a bearing for the shaft of the
circular saw.
The top or table is made of 3 parts, connected to the side
frames by screws; the middle portion is mounted with rabbets and
dowels so that the shaft can be removed from its bearings. The shaft
bears at one end on one of the side frames, and at the other on a cast-iron
beam fixed to the cross beams. It carries at one end a pulley, and the
other is formed to receive the cutting blade together with a washer and
nut. Jointed to one of the side frames are two parallel arms or levers,
the opposite ends of which are jointed to a bar or beam which can be made
to advance or recede as required, and always remain parallel with the
saw; this we term the parallelogram. By means of the saw above
´described we perform the four first and the sixth operations herein-before
mentioned.
The saw for cutting the staves or blanks to the required length is
composed of side frames united by stays, and one of them forms a flat
gauge and the other an angular gauge. On these frames a carriage
runs, and each of them has a bracket to receive the shaft of the saw. The
carriage is pushed by hand, and on it the stave or blank to be cut is
placed. The first end is cut while the dressed side of the stave bears
against one of the gauges. In this operation the end need only be cut
square, as little being removed as possible. In the next operation the
stave is reversed end for end, and the cut end being made to rest against
a sort of sill or gauge while the carriage is moved forward again, the
stave is cut to the required length. The saw shaft has at one end a
shoulder against which the blade bears, being tightened by a washer
and nut; at the other end are a fast and a loose pulley for imparting

page_text: rotation thereto. The sill above named is adjustable on the carriage so
that it can be regulated according to the length of stave required.
The driving belt is moved from the fast to the loose pulley by a clutch
which works in staples fixed to the side frames.
We now proceed to describe a band saw for splitting or cutting the
pieces, following their curved or winding surface (gauche) into the
thickness of a stave. This machine is composed of side frames united
by stays, by cross beams, and by the table; on this table is mounted the
apparatus for moving forward the wood. This apparatus is composed
of two holders. The first holder consists of two fluted rollers turning in
a movable support which is inclined according to the conical form of the
wood; they carry at their ends two screw wheels which are actuated by
an endless screw mounted on a shaft; this shaft is driven by a chain
wheel; it carries a hand wheel at one end which serves to regulate the
holder according to the thickness of the wood. The second holder
consists of two plain rollers exerting pressure on the wood and inclining
it according to its form and its surface (gauche). The advance and
withdrawal of the rollers for the pressure is made by means of a counter-
weight, and for the withdrawal pressure by means of a lever which the
attendant works. There is a shaft for effecting the advance of the wood
driven at different speeds by means of a cone, and transmitting these
speeds by. means of a lower chain wheel to the chain wheel above
described. The driving or main shaft turns in bearings fixed to the side
frames;
at one of the ends are a fast and a loose pulley; in the middle
is a third pulley on which a break bears; at the other end is a large
pulley over which the endless blade or band saw passes at the lower part
of its travel. There is another holder sliding between two fixed guides
on the side frames, and worked by a screw which is held by a bracket
and serves to tighten the blade. On this holder is jointed a support
carrying two brackets in which the shaft of the upper pulley of the
endless blade turns. There is a support fixed to one of the side frames
in which a guide for the saw can be made to slide. The action of this
machine is as follows:-After having lifted the break and by the same
movement shifted the belt from the loose to the fast pulley,, and the
machine being then in work the endless blade is tightened by means of
the screw; then the wood is engaged between the four rollers which are
moved apart by means of the lever before named. Those which are
smooth simply cause pressure while those that are fluted cause the wood

page_text: to advance according to the speed imparted by the cone. A sharpening
apparatus of ordinary construction is annexed to this machine.
We now proceed to describe a machine which may be used to perform
at one operation the 3rd, 4th, and 5th operations herein-before described.
It is composed of two side frames connected together by stays and
supported upon a base plate. Sliding pieces which are free to move
vertically in the side frames serve as guides to the frame of the saws;
the saw frame has an up-and-down movement imparted to it by means
of a connecting rod (or there may be two connecting rods), and a crank
pin on a wheel. This wheel is mounted on the driving shaft. At each
up-and-down movement of the saw frame a carriage to which the blanks
or pieces of wood to be cut are secured is moved forward by means of a
ratchet wheel which is mounted on the same shaft as a toothed pinion
in gear with a rack on the carriage; the ratchet wheel is worked by an
excentric rod from the driving shaft. The carriage with the pieces of
wood advances gradually at each up-and-down movement of the saws
until the latter have cut through the entire length of the wood.
gear
We now proceed to describe the machine for adzing or rounding the
staves. It consists of two side frames connected together by stays and
by an arched frame at the top. A driving shaft turning in bearings in
the side frames, and driven by a cone pulley has at one end a pinion in
with a wheel which transmits motion to two pinions on the ends of
two fluted rollers for feeding the wood. There is another shaft driven
by a belt and provided with a fly wheel, which shaft is rectangular at the
centre; on two faces of the rectangle the cutting knives or blades are
fixed, being adjustable thereon; these knives are curved according to
the diameter or size of the cask. The arched frame before named has
two guards in which the tool holder works; the said frame forms at its
lower part a table on which the wood travels as the work proceeds, and
through the upper part of the frame passes a screw by means of which
the tool holder is caused to descend or ascend. This tool holder has
bearings in which the tool shaft or shaft carrying the knives turns.
There are weighted levers provided with pressure rollers to hold the
wood. The fluted cylinders cause the wood to advance in a regular and
continuous manner while it is being cut by the knives, the pressure
rollers just named holding it down but not preventing it advancing.
The knives which are regulated as to height and form remove in their

page_text: convexity.
The next machine to which the staves are submitted is that for
bending them according to the bulge or belly of the cask. Side pieces
united by stays and cross beams form a frame, in the sides of which are
bronze sockets for large transverse screws, and at the end are bearings
for shafts which give a to-and-fro movement to a pusher. One of these
shafts is driven by a belt and carries a pinion in gear with a wheel on
another shaft; this shaft has cranks from which connecting rods lead to
and impart the requisite movements to the pusher. There are guides
for the staves and inclined ways which can be raised at will, according to
the curve or bulge to be given to the staves. There are also movable
regulators outside the frame made of double T iron, each of which
carries nuts for the large screws before named, and which can be moved
nearer together or further apart by the screws, according to the length of
the staves. Below is an oven or furnace for heating the staves. The
machine being put in motion the attendant feeds a stave or blank by
hand at every back, movement of the pusher, and the staves so fed
become gradually curved as they pass through the machine, and fall out
at the further end bent to the required form. The action of the heat
during the whole time the bending is being effected causes the staves to
retain their bent shape. When the length of the staves has to be
varied the regulators above mentioned are made to recede or advance by
means of hand wheels at the ends of the large screws before named, the
thread of which at each end has a different inclination.
We now proceed to describe a machine which effects the bending of
the staves lengthwise and the rounding or curving of them breadthwise
at one operation. This is effected by means of convex and concave
cylinders placed above a furnace or fire, and which by their rotation
draw the staves under the influence of a high temperature, and compel
them to assume a curved or bent form both lengthwise and breadthwise.
A great advantage of this machine is that it retains about one-fifth of
the thickness of the wood which is cut off when the rounding or adzing
machine herein-before described is employed. The machine consists of
side frames united by stays, and having a series of concave rollers, the
concavity of which is a curve corresponding to that of the circumference
of the cask, and have also a series of convex rollers which form the
counterpart of the concave rollers so that the staves which pass between

page_text: the two series are compelled to assume that form. The two series, are
arranged in a curve corresponding to the bend of the staves lengthwise,
and are driven by toothed gearing. Below them is a furnace or fire-place
enclosed by masonry or brickwork which serves as a support to the side
frames. A suitable heat is given to the cylinders, and is maintained all
the time that the machine is at work, and as the staves are drawn
through between the convex and concave rollers they gradually assume
the necessary bend or curve both lengthwise and breadthwise. The
rollers are covered in with sheet metal which surrounds and unites the
side frames and concentrates and maintains the heat.
We now proceed to describe a machine for cutting the staves to the
proper breadth and making the joints. This machine consists of side
frames united by ties and cross beams. A transverse shaft driven by
pulleys carries at its centre the saw blade. A large screw extending
the whole length of the machine, or nearly so, is driven by gearing, and
without intermission. Above this screw is a carriage on which rests a
movable support; this carriage is put in motion as required by means
of a lever being made to press a half nut into gear with the screw. At
each end of the carriage are pieces carrying pins which serve as joints to
the supports of the movable platform. The lever just mentioned is kept
up by a spring so that by pressing on the handle of the lever the spring
yields to allow of the half nut getting into gear, and so causes the
carriage to advance. When the carriage is at the end of its course an
inclined plane fixed to one of the side frames causes the half nut to rise
out of gear so that the carriage stops; a counterweight then compels
the carriage to return to its starting point. The movable platform 'is
carried by two supports before mentioned. There are projecting screws
to regulate the breadth of the bent stave. The operation is as follows :---
The large screw having been put into motion the attendant places the
stave on a mandril and inclines the movable platform to the right,
making it bear against the projecting screw at that side, then by pressing
on the lever he puts the carriage in motion, the carriage advances to the
saw which cuts off a first portion of the stave, the carriage is then put
out of gear, the attendant inclines the movable platform to the left,
presses again on the lever, and the carriage commences to move forward
again until it meets the inclined plane which causes it to return to its
place as has been already explained. At the end of these two successive
operations the stave is cut at the sides according to the bulge of the cask,

page_text: the squaring or form of the joint is obtained very exactly and better
than by hand because the stave being straight sided the joint should not
be straight and it changes its direction at each point of its height; this
is why it is impossible to make a good joint by hand labor which acts on
a plane surface, but by bending the stave according to the bulge of the
cask we have in fact only a straight line to do, which the machine effects
perfectly.
.
By making certain modifications in and additions to this machine we
are enabled to cut or make the joint of both sides of the stave at once.
The chief modification is that instead of only one saw there are two set
at a distance apart corresponding to the width of a stave, and capable of
being moved nearer to or further from each other to suit staves of
different widths. In this adjusting movement the inclination of the
saws ought to vary in order to preserve the same squaring in all the staves,
which is determined by the radius and the circumference of the cask.
To obtain this variation we have arranged the shafts which carry the
saws on frames pivoting on an axis which is itself on a carriage capable
of expanding at will, according to the breadth to be given to the casks.
Another point where this machine differs from that last described is that
the carriage carrying the stave is fixed in the centre of the machine and
does not oscillate to the right or left between regulating screws. Another
point relates to the bending of the staves in order to cause it take the
rounded form of the bulge of the cask and also its mode of attachment
to the carriage by a hook provided with a rack. The general combination
of the machine also undergoes some changes to adapt it to the foregoing
modifications. It consists of side frames between which is a frame for
supporting the carriage, and which is formed to act as a guide to the
carriage in its longitudinal movement. The carriage carries a former or
shaper bent in accordance with the bulge of the cask. There is an
endless longitudinal screw to effect the advance of the carriage, and on
the carriage is a hinged nut to gear with the screw. A hook carried by
a toothed rack is made to take hold of the stave and to draw it down on
to the shaper or former. The saw blades are mounted on shafts
carried by supports; these supports are mounted on carriers by
which the distance of the saws can be regulated according to the width
of the staves. The supports are besides pivoted on the carriers, so that
the axis of the saws may always be in a line with the radius of the cask.
The carriers are worked by a transverse screw fixed in the side frames
and formed with a right and left-handed thread, so that in the same.

page_text: movement it shifts the two carriers an equal distance from the centre of
the machine, whether nearer to or further from it. In other respects
the operation of this machine is the same as that last described.
"
The next machine to which the staves are submitted is a verifying or
examining machine. This consists of two frames connected together by
an upper and lower beam; the lower beam is formed with a groove, the
staves are placed side by side with their lower ends in this groove, and
their upper parts resting against the upper beam. A movable gauge or
slide is fixed, according to the number and the width of the staves
necessary to form a circumference in relation to the cask heads which
are prepared beforehand, and all of the same diameter.
The next machine is that for raising the cask and putting the staves
together. It consists of a frame carrying at its centre a platform on
which the staves are put together. Four uprights situated at the ends
of the frame support two rollers on which the cord which binds the
staves winds. These rollers carry at one of their ends and keyed to their
spindle a screw wheel which imparts rotary motion to them from a
rotating shaft. The platform carries four supports on which a trussing
or binding hoop rests. At the upper part of the frame above the plat-
form is a cap capable of being raised or lowered by a screw, and which
serves to push down an upper truss hoop. The lower truss hoop is
placed on its supports and the staves are then put side by side on the
platform, so that their lower ends are held by the projection which
carries the platform, and that they bear against the truss hoop; the cord
'is then passed round them and by rotating the rollers the cord draws the
staves together; the upper hook is then put on and the cap is caused to
descend so as to force down this hoop to the position it ought to occupy
in order that the cask may be suitably placed in the creusing or cross
grooving machine.
The next machine is one for cutting the casks to the required length,
and for dressing or paring, chiming or chamfering, and creusing or cross
grooving them; it consists of a frame at the back of which is a vertical
frame, the two being connected by beams which carry bearings for a
large screw. This screw is formed at its two ends with threads of
opposite pitch, and is driven by hand wheels when it is required to move
two carriage supports nearer to or further from each other. These
carriage supports have nuts mounted on the said screw, and they carry
puppets for the shafts of the cutting blades. The puppets advance or

page_text: ends even.
recede in the line of the machine between guides on the carriage
supports, and they receive the blade shafts; they are operated by hand
wheels and screws. The blade shafts have in the middle a drum which
forms a pulley, and at their extremity a mortise for the passage of a
blade having at once the necessary form for effecting the paring or
dressing, the rounding, and the chiming, as well as a saw blade to cut the
At the upper part of the vertical frame is a small shaft
driven by a chain wheel and carrying a drum. The motion of this drum
is communicated to another drum by a belt which resting on the cask
imparts rotation thereto. The last-named shaft also forms the axis on
which a forked lever is free to turn; this forked lever is connected
to the two drums, and has a device by which the pressure given
to the cask can be regulated. The cask to be operated upon
and provided with the truss hoops (which have been put on in
the previous machine, and one of which is angular so as to retain
the cask longitudinally and cause it to describe a true rotary movement),
is placed horizontally in the machine upon rollers, and the forked lever
which communicates rotation to the cask by means of the belt is
lowered. By means of one of the hand wheels on the large screw the
carriage supports are shifted according to the length to be given to the
I cask, and the two blade shafts being put into very rapid rotation the two.
puppets are advanced until the operation is completed, that is to say, the
cutting to the required length, the dressing or paring, the chiming,"
and the creusing; the blade shafts are then withdrawn and the two
carriage supports are moved farther apart by turning the large screw
in the reverse direction.
I now proceed to describe a machine for piercing or forming the holes
in the pieces for the cask heads. This is composed of side frames united
by cross beams and stays and by a transverse frame. This transverse frame
has bearings for the shafts of three augers; the centre one carries a fast
and loose pulley; on each of the shafts is a grooved pulley which
corresponds with a pulley below; this lower pulley is on a shaft free to
slide vertically to give the necessary tension. On the frame is a table
supported by jointed arms so as to be capable of movement up or down
without losing its parallelism. It is raised or lowered by hand wheels-
and fixed at the required height by a foot bolted to the frame, so that
the
auger holes are always cut perfectly in the centre of the thickness of
the wood. The pieces of wood intended for the cask head are placed side.
by side, and a pattern which regulates the different lengths is put over

page_text: them. A mark is then made to indicate the circumference and three
other marks to indicate the direction in which the holes to receive the
binding pins or dowels should be formed. Each piece of wood is then
placed on the table of the machine, and by pushing it against the augers
the three holes are bored at once quite parallel and at equal distances as
regards both length and thickness.
The last machine is that for cutting the profile of or chamfering and
bevelling the cask heads. It is composed of a front frame and a baek
frame connected together by side pieces. The front frame carries at its
upper part a bearing and a threaded socket for a screw herein-after
described, and at the lower part a bearing and a socket to receive a rod.
which forms a step.
Between the two frames is a horizontal shaft
carrying at one end a fast and loose pulley, and at the other a bevel
wheel. In gear with this wheel is a wheel on a vertical shaft which
turns in the step above-mentioned and in a bearing in the front frame.
This shaft has a shoulder with thread and nut to fix a lower plate herein-
after mentioned. Passing through the top of the frame is a shaft having
at its upper part a screw thread and a hand wheel, and at its lower part
a flange and groove or neck to withdraw an upper plate which serves
to hold tightly the cask head. The front frame carries a box which has
bearings for the screw before-mentioned. This screw has a groove or
neck at the middle which holds it in place; at one end is a left-handed
and at the other a right-handed screw thread, so that by turning a
handle two tool carriers which are secured to the screw by nuts are
moved further from or nearer to each other. These tool carriers, have
affixed to them the blades for forming the two bevels, and a hole into
which is passed a graver retained by a pressure screw which serves to
shape the edges.
The action of the machine is as follows:-We introduce between the
two plates the pieces of wood which have been united by pins or dowels
into a cask head. We put the machine in operation by turning the
screw on which the tool carriers work, and bring towards each other the
two blades which form the edges and the two which form the bevels.
As soon as this work has been completed we stop the machine and with-
draw the cask head which is now quite finished. As all the heads
should be strictly of the samo diameter and thickness we employ a
gauge which insures that all the bevels are exactly of the same amount.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edmond Philippe and Honoré Pinet in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 1st May 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDMOND
PHILIPPE, and HONORÉ PINET, of Rue des Deux Gares, No. 14, Paris,
Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of December, in the year`
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Edmond Philippe and Honoré Pinet,
Her special licence, that we, the said Edmond Philippe and Honoré
Pinet, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such other's as we,
the said Edmond Philippe and Honoré Pinet, our executors, admini-
strators, 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, 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 MANU-
FACTURE OF CASKS, AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that we, the said Edmond Philippe and Honoré
Pinet, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our, 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 we, the said Edmond Philippe and Honoré
Pinet, do hereby declare the nature of our 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, reference being
had to the accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
Hitherto all attempts to manufacture by machinery casks for con-
taining liquids have been unsuccessful, indeed it has been found difficult
to make by machinery casks for containing dry goods; the consequence
is that it has been considered impossible to manufacture casks for

page_text: have continued to get them made by hand.
Now the object of this Invention is to construct machinery, or rather
a set of machines, some of which are entirely new while others are
improved, by means of which the wood is submitted to a scries of
operations following a rational order, and a perfect result is obtained.
These new and improved machines, and the manner of employing
them form the subject of the present application for Patent. The
difficulties to be overcome are numerous. The principal are the con-
necting together of the staves, that is to say, making the joints. Several
modes have been employed without a satisfactory result, some have
made the joints by inclining the wood on the table of a circular saw,
pushing the wood by hand, and by means of a guide in the form of an
arc of a circle in the said table they give the bend or curve to the stave,
which bend ought afterwards to form the bulge or belly of the cask
when several staves are joined together.
This first machine can only
form one side at a time: Others have endeavoured to form the two
sides at one operation, and for this purpose they have placed the board
from which a stave has to be made on a mandril of cast iron or wood
having the form of a flat stave, that is to say, a stave spread out on a
plane surface, and they have employed two inclined saws, one at each
side. Those who tried this omitted to consider that the squaring or
form of the joint of a stave was constantly variable, seeing that tho
diameter of the cask is itself constantly different, and that by the process
which they adopted the squaring was always the same. The machines
were besides defective in other ways, which we need not mention. The
operation of creusing or cross grooving was made for each separate
stave, the result of which was that when the staves were joined together
the bulge of each not being the same the cross grooves would not meet,
so that the junction between the staves and cask heads not being
sufficiently perfect the cask was not watertight. Besides the staves
having been dressed or pared, and rendered sharp by such dressing, it
could not be struck on the end to make it flush with the adjoining stave,
hence an unevenness, further dressing, and much more time to put the
cask together. All these inconveniences are obviated by the employ-
ment of our machines, and especially by the manner in which each
operation is arranged.

page_text: Without enumerating the drawbacks of other systems of cask-making.
machinery suffice it to say that they are defective in respect to being
unable to readily make casks of any kind, and that they are im-
practicable when required to make casks to hold liquids.
In the following description we will describe machine by machine the
operations for preparing the wood:-Thus we commence first by dressing
a "clap board" or blank (see Figure A. of the annexed Drawings), and
by cutting it to the required length and square (Figure B.); the next
operation is to dress one face of the board (Figure C.), after which by a
circular saw with parallel bar or beam we make it a thickness equal to
two staves or two head pieces (Figure D.), this done we saw the piece
of wood through the middle by a special saw (Figure E.); it is then cut
to the required width (Figure F.); this renders the operation of rounding
or adzing (Figure G.) regular, and facilitates the making of the joints;.
when the stave has been rounded or adzed it is placed in the bending
oven, which gives it a regular bulge or belly (Figure H.), then to the
joint forming machine (Figure J.); on issuing from this last machine the
stave is finished and is ready to be united with others to form a cask.
It is then that in order to unite them in a sufficient number to obtain
a diameter, always equal, we place them side by side in a verifying
machine (machine 7), and afterwards in the putting together and
finishing machine, machine 8. The staves placed in this last named
machine are brought together by means of a cord which is wound on
tightening rollers; they are then trussed and maintained by two iron
hoops; one of these hoops is flat, and the other has an angular groove;
both are intended to facilitate and render perfect the rolling of the cask
on the creusing or cross grooving machine, the angular, groove serving
as a guide (machine 9).
For the purpose of making the cask beads we take pieces in the state
of boards such as issue from a sawing machine (machines 3 and 3'), then
the pieces are placed at the side of each other on a table, the pattern is
applied on these pieces, and the attendant marks, following the contour,
the diameter which the heads ought to have; then with the tracer or:
pencil he indicates by means of openings A, B, C, (machine 10) the
position for the pins or dowels for uniting the different pieces in such
manner that these pins cannot touch the tool in the subsequent opera-
tion of bevelling and cutting the edgos; then the pieces are united by

page_text: means of the pins (machine 10), and afterwards cut in profile and
beveled in the machine for turning the heads (machine 11).
The cask body having been made and creused or cross grooved, as
above described, and the heads having been made it is only necessary to
unite them. This operation which we have not thought well to do t
mechanically we perform by hand in the ordinary manner; the workmen
place the head between the staves of the cask, which after having been
finally hooped is fit to receive liquids.
Our machines are so simple that casks can be constructed without
special workmen. The joints are made with so much precision that it is 1
not necessary, as it is when they are made by hand, to put rosin in to
make them water tight.
We now proceed to describe the construction and operation or mode
of action of the different machines herein-before referred to.
MACHINE, No. 1.
Circular Saw with Parallel Bar or Beam.
1
Figure 1 is an end elevation; Figure 2, a plan; and Figure 3, a side
elevation. A, A', are side frames united by 5 stays and 2 cross
beams E, E, and one of them carries a bearing for the shaft C of the
circular saw; B is the top or table made of 3 parts connected to the side 2
frames A, A', by screws, the middle portion is mounted with rabbets
and dowels so that the shaft C can be removed from its bearings. The
shaft C bears at one end on one of the side frames A, and at the other
on a cast-iron beam fixed to the cross beams E; it carries at one
end a pulley, and the other is formed to receive the cutting 2
blade together with a washer and nut. Jointed to one of the
side frames A¹ are two parallel arms or levers, the opposite ends of
which are jointed to a bar or beam D which can be made to advance or
recede as required, and always remains parallel with the saw; this we
term the parallelogram. This machine is already known with the 3
exception of some unimportant details. We mention it only because
with it we perform the four first and the sixth operations herein-before
mentioned.

page_text: and the other an angular gauge; on these frames a carriage B runs and
each of them has a bracket to receive the shaft C of the saw. The
carriage B is pushed by hand, and on it the stave or blank to be cut is
placed. The first end is cut while the dressed side of the stave bears
against the gauge D fixed on the carriage B. In this operation the end
need only be cut square, as little being removed as possible. For the
next operation the stave is reversed end for end, and the cut end being
made to rest against a sort of sill or gauge E while the carriage is moved
forward again the stave is cut to the required length. The saw shaft C
has at one end a shoulder against which the blade bears, being tightened
by a washer and nut; at the other end are a fast and a loose pulley G
and H for imparting rotation thereto. The sill E is adjustable on the
carriage B so that it can be regulated according to the length of stave
required. The driving belt is moved from the fast to the loose pulley
by a clutch F which works in staples fixed to the side frames A, A':
DUNU DAW for spitting or Cutting the Freces Lowowing their curved
or Winding Surface (Gauche) into the Thickness of a Stave.
Figure 1 is a front elevation; Figure 2, a side elevation; and
Figure 3, a plan. A, A¹, are side frames united by 4 stays by cross
beams M, and N, and by the table B; on this table B is mounted the
apparatus for moving forward the wood. This apparatus is composed of
two holders C and D. The first holder C consists of two fluted rollers
turning in a movable support which is inclined according to the conical
form of the wood; they carry at their ends two screw wheels which are
actuated by an endless screw mounted on a shaft O; this shaft is driven
by a chain wheel P; the holder carries a hand wheel Q at one end which
serves to regulate the holder according to the thickness of the wood.
The second holder D consists of two plain rollers exerting pressure on.
the wood and inclining it according to its form and its surface (gauche).
The advance and withdrawal of the rollers for the pressure is made by
means of a counterweight and for the withdrawal pressure by means of
a lever R which the attendant works. E is a shaft for effecting the
advance of the wood, and driven at different speeds by means of a
cone L, and transmitting these speeds by means of a lower chain wheel S
to the chain wheel P. F is the driving or main shaft turning in bearings
fixed to the side frames A, A¹; at one of the ends are a fast and a loose
R

page_text: pulley; in the middle is a third pulley on which a break K bears; at the
other end is a large pulley T over which the endless blade or band saw
passes at the lower part of its travel. G is a holder sliding between two
fixed guides on the side frames A, A', and worked by a screw U which is
held by a bracket M and serves to tighten the blade. On this holder is
jointed at Y a support carrying two brackets in which the shaft H of
the upper pulley V of the endless blade Z turns, and which shaft and
pulley the blade drives. I is a support fixed to one of the side frames A
in which a guide b for the saw can be made to slide. The action of this
machine is as follows:-After having lifted the break K, and by the
same movement shifted the belt from the loose to the fast pulley, and
the machine being then in work, the endless blade is tightened by means
of the screw U, then the wood is engaged between the four rollers which
are moved apart by means of the lever R. Those which are smooth
simply cause pressure, while those that are fluted cause the wood to
advance according to the speed imparted by the cone. We claim in
this machine only the means of advancing the wood and of being able to
cut it according to its surface (gauche), as herein-before described. A
sharpening apparatus of ordinary construction is annexed to this

page_text: Figure 1 is an end view; Figure 2, a side view; and Figure 3, a plan.
The machine consists of two side frames A, A', connected together by
4 stays and by an arched frame D at the top. B is the driving shaft
turning in bearings in the side frames and driven by a cone pulley. This
shaft has at one end a pinion H in gear with a wheel I, which transmits
motion to two pinions on the ends of two fluted rollers G for feeding the
wood. C is a shaft driven by a belt and provided with a fly wheel,
which shaft is rectangular at the centre. On two faces of the rectangle
the cutting knives or blades are fixed, being adjustable thereon. These
knives are curved according to the diameter or size of the cask. The
arched frame D has two guides in which the tool holder E works. The
said frame forms at its lower part a table, on which the wood travels as
the work proceeds, and through the upper part of the frame passes a
screw K by means of which the tool holder E is caused to descend or
ascend. This tool holder has 2 bearings, in which the tool shaft C or
shaft carrying the knives turns. F, F, are weighted levers provided with
pressure rollers to hold the wood. The fluted cylinders G cause the wood
to advance in a regular and continuous manner while it is being cut by
the knives, the pressure rollers just named holding it down but not pre-
venting it advancing. The knives, which are regulated as to height and
form, remove in their rapid rotation the excessive thickness of wood and
give it the requisite convexity.
MACHINE No. 5.
Machine for Bending the Staves according to the Bulge or Belly
of the Cask.
Figure 1 is a side elevation; Figure 2, an end elevation; and Figure 3,
a plan. A, A', are side pieces united by 4 stays and 3 cross beams,
forming a frame in the sides of which are bronze sockets for large trans-
verse screws H, H³, H", and at the end are bearings for shafts which give
a to-and-fro movement to a pusher. Ono of these shafts B is driven by
a belt, and carries a pinion K in gear with a wheel L on another shaft C.
This shaft C has cranks, from which connecting rods lead to and impart
R 2

page_text: E, E', are guides for the
raised at will, according to
the requisite movements to the pusher D.
staves, and F, F¹, inclined ways, which can be
the curve or bulge to be given to the staves. These inclined ways are
mounted on supports placed in staves. G, G', are movable regulators
made of double T iron, each of which carries three nuts for the
screws H, H¹, H", and which can be moved nearer together or farther
apart by the screws, according to the length of the staves. I is an oven
or furnace for heating the staves; J is the outlet to the chimney. The
machine being put in motion the attendant feeds a stave or blank by
hand at every back movement of the pusher, and the staves so fed
become gradually curved as they pass through the machine and fall out
at the further end bent to the required form. The action of the heat
during the whole time the bending is being effected causes the staves to
retain their bent shape. When the length of the staves has to be varied
the regulators G, G¹, are made to recede or advance by means of hand
wheels at the ends of the screws H, H³, H", the thread of which at each

page_text: A, A'. A suitable heat is given to the rollers C, D, and is maintained
all the time that the machine is at work, and as the staves (which
before being submitted to the action of this machine have undergone
the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th operations, either by means of the saws,
machines 1, 2, 3, or by means of the saw machine 3*) are drawn through
between the convex and concave rollers C, D, they gradually assume
the necessary bend or curve both lengthwise and breadthwise, the same
as would have been given to them by machines 4 and 5. The rollers are
covered in with sheet metal, which surrounds and unites the side frames,
and concentrates and maintains the heat.

page_text: carriage advances to the saw I, which cuts off a first portion of the stave.
The carriage is then put out of gear, the attendant inclines the platform
to the left, presses again on the lever E, and the carriage commences to
move forward again until it meets the inclined plane, which causes it to
return to its place, as has been already explained. At the end of these
two successive operations the stave is cut at the sides according to the
bulge of the cask. The squaring or form of the joint is obtained very
exactly and better than by hand, because the stave being straight sided
the joint should not be straight, and it changes its direction at each
point of its height; this is why it is impossible to make a good joint by
hand labor, which acts on a plane surface, but by bending the stave
according to the bulge of the cask we have in fact only a straight line to
do, which the machine effects perfectly.
By making certain modifications in and additions to machine No. 6
we are enabled to cut or make the joint of both sides of the stave at
once. The chief modification is that instead of only one saw, as in
machine No. 6, there are two set, at a distance apart corresponding to
the width of a-stave, and capable of being moved by hand nearer to or
further from each other to suit staves of different widths. In this
adjusting movement the inclination of the saws ought to vary in order
to preserve the same squaring in all the staves, which is determined by
the radius and the circumference of the cask. To obtain this variation we
have arranged the shafts which carry the saws on frames pivoting on an
axis, which is itself on a carriage, capable of being expanded by hand
at will according to the breadth to be given to the casks. Another
point where this machine differs from machine No. 6 is that the carriage
carrying the stave is fixed in the centre of the machine, and does not
oscillate to the right or left between regulating screws. Another point
relates to the bending of the stave in order to cause it to take the
rounded form of the bulge of the cask, and also its mode of attachment
to the carriage by a hook provided with a rack. The general com-
bination of the machine also undergoes some changes to adapt it to the
foregoing modifications. Figure 1 is a side view, Figure 2 an end view,
and Figure 3 a plan. A, A', are side frames, between which is a frame B
for supporting the carriage C. This frame is formed to act as a guide to
the carriage in its longitudinal movement. The carriage C carries a

page_text: former or shaper D bent in accordance with the bulge of the cask. E is
an endless longitudinal screw to effect the advance of the carriage O, and
and on the carriage is a hinged nut F to gear with the screw E. G is a
hook carried by a toothed rack, and made to take hold of the stave and to
draw it down on to the shaper or former D. J, J', are the saw blades
mounted on shafts I, I', carried by supports H, H'. These supports are
mounted on carriers K, by which the distance of the saws can be
regulated, according to the width of the staves. The supports aro
besides pivoted on the carriers K, so that the axis of the saws may
always be in a line with the radius of the cask. The carriers K are
worked by a transverse screw L fixed in the side frames A, A¹,
formed with a right and left-handed thread, so that in the same move-
ment it shifts the two carriers K an equal distance from the centre of
the machine, whether nearer to or further from it. M, M, are pulleys
for transmitting motion to the saw shafts I. In other respects tho
operation of this machine is the same as that last described.
and
.
This machine consists of two frames A. connected together by an upper
beam C and a lower beam B. The lower beam is formed with a groove.
The staves are placed side by side, with their lower ends in this groove
and their upper parts resting against the upper beam. D is a movable
gauge or slide fixed according to the number and the width of the staves
necessary to form a circumference in relation to the cask heads, which
are prepared beforehand and all of the same diameter.
Figure 1 is a side view, Figure 2 an end view, and Figure 3 a plan.
A is a large frame carrying at its centre a platform B, on which the
staves are put together. Four uprights F situated at the ends of the
frame support two rollers G and H, on which the cord I which binds the
staves winds. These rollers G and H carry at one of their ends and
keyed to their spindle a screw wheel J, which imparts rotary motion to
them from a screw K on a rotating shaft E. The platform B carries four
supports L, on which a trussing or binding hoop M rests. C is a cap

page_text: capable of being raised or lowered by a screw D, and which serves to push
down an upper truss hoop N. The screw D is worked by a hand
wheel O, one end being enclosed in a cup P, which serves to return the
cap C. The lower truss hoop M is placed on its supports, and the staves
are then put side by side on the platform B so that their lower ends are
held by the projection which the platform carries, and that they bear
against the truss hoop M. The cord is then passed round them, and by
rotating the rollers the cord draws the staves together. The upper hoop
is then put on, and the cap C is caused to descend so as to force
down this hoop to the position it ought to occupy in order that
the cask may be suitably placed in the creusing or cross grooving
machine.
Machine for Cutting the Casks to the Required Length, and for
Dressing or Paring, Chiming or Chamfering, and Creusing or
Cross Grooving them.
Figure 1 is an end view; Figure 2, a front view; and Figure 3, a
plan. A is a front frame carrying two supports J and K, and B is a
back vertical frame, the two frames A and B being connected by
beams A¹, B', which carry bearings for a large screw C. This screw is
formed at its two ends with threads of opposite pitch, and is driven by
hand wheels V, V', when it is required to move two carriage supports D, D¹,
nearer to or further from each other. These carriage supports D, D¹,
have nuts mounted on the screw C, and they carry puppets E, E', for
the shafts F, F', of the cutting blades. The puppets E, E', advance
or recede in the line of the machine between guides on the sup-
ports D, D', and they receive the blade shafts F, F; they are operated
by hand wheels T, T', and screws. The blade shafts F, F, have in the
middle a drum which forms a pulley, and at their extremity a mortise
for the passage of a blade, having at once the necessary form for
effecting the paring or dressing, the rounding and the chiming, as well
as a saw blade to cut the ends even. This blade is tightened at the
head by a screw, which exerts a pressure on the circular saw.
G is a small shaft driven by a chain wheel M, and carrying a
drum O. The motion of this drum is communicated to another
drum Ŕ by a belt b, which resting on the cask imparts rotation
thereto; the shaft G also forms the axis on which a forked lever H is

page_text: free to turn. This forked lever is connected to the two drums O and R,
and has a ball by which the pressure given by the belt to the cask can
be regulated. The cask to be operated upon and provided with the
truss hoops I, I, (which have been put on in the previous machine, and
one of which is angular so as to retain the cask longitudinally, and cause
it to describe a true rotary movement) is placed horizontally in the
machine upon rollers a, a¹, a", a, and the forked lever H, which com-
municates rotation to the cask by means of the belt b, is lowered. By
means of one of the hand wheels on the large screw C the carriage sup-
ports D, D', are shifted according to the length to be given to the cask,
and the two blade shafts F, F¹, being put into very rapid rotation the
two puppets E, E', are advanced until the operation is completed, that
is to say, the cutting to the required length, the dressing or paring, the
chiming, and the creusing. The blade shafts F, F¹, are then withdrawn,
and the two supports. D, D', are moved farther apart by turning the
large screw C in the reverse direction.
Figure 1 is a front view, Figure 2 a side view, and Figure 3 a plan.
A, A', are side frames united by two cross beams E, E', and two
stays F, F, and by a transverse frame B. This frame B has six bearings
for the shafts of three augers; the centre one carries a fast and loose
pulley. On each of the shafts is a grooved pulley which corresponds
with a pulley G below. This lower pulley is on a shaft C, free to slide
vertically to give the necessary tension. D is a table supported by
jointed arms I, so as to be capable of movement up or down without
losing its parallelism. It is raised or lowered by hand wheels J, J', and
fixed at the required height by a foot bolted to the frame A, so that the
auger holes are always cut perfectly in the centre of the thickness of the
wood. The pieces of wood intended for the cask head are placed side by
side, and a pattern R, Figure 4, which regulates the different lengths is
put over them. A mark is then made to indicate the circumference,
and three other marks to indicate the direction in which the holes to
receive the binding pins or dowels should be formed. Each piece of
wood is thus placed on the table D of the machine, and by pushing it
against the augurs the three holes are bored at once quite parallel and
at equal distances as regards both length and thickness.

page_text: Machine for Cutting the Profile of or Chamfering and Bevelling the
Cask Heads.
Figure 1 is a side view, Figure 2 a front view, and Figure 3 a plan.
A is a front frame, and B a back frame connected together by side
pieces A', B¹. The front frame carries at its upper part a bearing and a
threaded socket for a screw E, and at the lower part a bearing and a
socket to receive a rod J which forms a step. C is a horizontal shaft,
carrying at one end a fast and loose pulley, and at the other a bevel
wheel K. In gear with this wheel is a wheel on a vertical shaft D,
which turns in the step J and in a bearing in the frame A. This shaft
has a shoulder with thread and nut to fix the plate L. Passing through
the top of the frame is the shaft E, having at its upper part a screw
thread and a hand wheel, and at its lower part a flange and groove or
neck to withdraw the plate F which serves to hold tightly the cask head.
G is a box fixed to the frame A, and having bearings for the screw H.
This screw has a groove or neck at the middle which holds it in place;
at one end is a left-handed and at the other a right-handed screw thread,
so that by turning a handle two tool carriers I, I, which form nuts on
the screw, are moved further from or nearer to each other. These tool
carriers have affixed to them the blades for forming the two bevels, and
a hole into which is passed a graver retained by a pressure screw which
serves to shape the edges. The action of the machine is as follows:
We introduce between the two plates F, L, the pieces of wood which
have been united by pins or dowels into a cask head. We put the
machine in operation by turning the screw H, and bring towards each
other the two blades which form the edges and the two which form the
bevel. As soon as this work has been completed we stop the machine
and withdraw the cask head, which is now quite finished. As all the
heads should be strictly of the same diameter and thickness we employ
a gauge N, which insures that all the bevels are exactly of the same
amount.
This machine completes the combination of the system constituting
our Invention, which is based not only upon the machines herein-before
described, which are entirely or partly new, but also the manner in
which the work or operations are carried on in a rational order, so that a
perfect result is obtained,
upon

page_text: And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim,—
First. Manufacturing casks in the manner and by a succession of
operations, substantially as herein-before described.
Second. Constructing machines for the manufacture of casks, substan-
tially as herein-before described and as respectively shewn in the
annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Edmond Philippe and Honoré
Pinet, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-seventh
day of April, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD,
Civil Engineer,
No. 28, Bd. de Strasbourg,
Paris.
ED. PHILIPPE. (L.S.)
(L.S.)
H. PINET.