IMPROVEMENTS IN OIL FEEDERS OR CANS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Buckingham, of Westmoreland House, Wal-
worth Common, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of..
"IMPROVEMENTS IN OIL FEEDERS OR CANS."-A communication from abroad
by Charles Churchill, of New York, in the United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Buckingham at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
March 1865.
I, JAMES BUCKINGHAM, of Westmoreland House, Walworth Common, in the
County of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OIL FEEDERS OR CANS," to be as follows:-
These improvements in oil cans consist in making them of a hemispherical
form at bottom, or nearly so, and with or without a small flat or hollow part
on which they may stand; this hemispherical capacity is covered by a flat or
slightly raised top, from the middle of which the spout or oil channel is raised.
I strike or stamp up the hemispherical bottom out of tinned iron, and prefer
hard springy brass for the top; a brass bush is soldered in the centre of this
brass disc top, into which the spout screws, and at which part the cam is filled
when the spout is removed; a small disc or flange piece is fixed on the spout
on which the fingers are pressed while discharging the oil by the duct, the

page_text: thumb at same time being placed on the bottom; the spring of the top when
so pressed causes the discharge of the oil at the spout or duct in like manner
to that now adopted by pressing on a spring bottom. In cans so made it is
of no consequence in what way they are thrown down, as they always take up
the proper position, and stand with the spout erect; dirt is thus prevented
adhering to the point of the spout, and the oil cannot by any possibility escape
when not in use. The pressure of the fingers instead of being applied to the
small disc or flange on the spout may be applied to the disc top direct.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Buckingham in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th September 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
BUCKINGHAM, of Westmorland House, Walworth Common, in the County of:
Surrey, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Buckingham, Her special licence that I, the said James
Buckingham, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Buckingham, executors, administrators, and assigns, should at)
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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
OIL FEEDERS OR CANS," a communication to me from abroad by Charles Churchill,
of New York, in the United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said James Buckingham, 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 James Buckingham, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following

page_text: statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
These improvements in oil cans consist in making them of a hemispherical
form at bottom, or nearly so, and with or without a small flat or hollowed part
on which they may stand; this hemispherical capacity is covered by a flat or
slightly raised top, from the middle of which the spout or oil channel is raised.
I strike or stamp up the hemispherical bottom out of tinned iron, and prefer
hard springy brass for the top; a brass bush is soldered'in the centre of this
brass disc top, into which the spout screws, and at which part the can is filled
when the spout is removed; a small disc or flange piece is fixed on the spout,
on which the fingers are pressed while discharging the oil by the duct, the
thumb at same time being placed at the bottom, the spring and partial 'collapse
produced by the pressure on the top causes the discharge of the oil at the
spout or duct, in like manner to that now adopted by pressing on the spring
bottom of oil cans. In cans so made it is of no consequence in what way they
may be thrown down, as they always take up the proper position, and stand
with the spout erect; dirt is thus prevented adhering to the point of the spout;
and the oil cannot by any possibility escape when not in use.
The pressure of
the fingers instead of being applied to the small disc or flange on the spout'
may be applied direct to the top.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents an elevation of an oil can or feeder constructed according
to this Invention; Fig. 2, a vertical section of the same; Fig. 3 is a
plan of the top, and Fig. 4 a plan of the bottom of the same. This
can is made of two principal parts, the hemispherical bottom a, and thé
disc top b, to which the spout c is attached. The bottom a I prefer to make
of tinned iron, of considerable strength, in order to afford the resistance
required in rough usage, as also to impart the necessary weight to the structure
at the proper point, whereby to cause the can to assume and maintain the
desired position. 1 stamp up the bottom a, separately represented at Fig. 5 in
suitable dies, as well understood in the manufacture of hollow metal ware, which
therefore will not require describing here. Instead of making the bottom of
thick metal it may be loaded to produce the desired effect on the position of
the can. The top 6 I prefer to make of hard rolled brass, which I also
punch out and stamp in the slightly raised form represented in section at
Fig. 6.
In the centre of top 6 I solder a brass boss or bush d, with
female screw to receive bosse of the spout c. The spout c I form of tin
plate, and solder the brass boss e thereto. I also solder a small convex

page_text: b
disc to the spout c, by which to hold the can and exert the pressure of the
fingers on the top 6 while using the can. and discharging the oil, as will be
readily understood. The spring of the disc top 6 is so rendered that it always
assumes the convex form on the outside in readiness to be pressed inwards to
the position marked dotted in Fig. 1 and 2, the action of which, as well under-
stood, is to discharge the oil at the spout if the can be inverted at the time, that
is to say, with the spout downwards from the disc top b. I turn a small edge i
on the top 6, which clips on and is soldered to the bottom a. The cam being
made with a small flat or hollow g at the bottom, stands readily thereon, and
will always assume the erect position of Fig. 1 irrespective of the way in which
it may be thrown down, and although it may oscillate on the hemispherical
bottom a at first, it will assume the erect position when in a state of rest, and
will do so although it may be laid down on the side with the point of the spout
as the lowest part. To fill the can the spout is unscrewed at the bosses d and e,
and oil poured in at the orifice of the screw boss d.
Having described the nature of this Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected]
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the arrangement and
construction of oil cans or feeders as and for the purposes herein-before
described, and represented in the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Buckingham, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
JAMES BUCKINGHAM. (LS.)