Year: 1884

page_text: Fig. 3 shows a vertical, sectional view of the stopper and the chamber in the
centre of its outer end, and the cone frustum form.
Fig. 4 shows the same as Fig. 3, with the spheroid frustum form.
Fig. 5 shows a section of a head or stave piece of a cask; a metallic bushing in
it; a section of the outer end of the stopper; the inner end of the stopper broken
off and pushed out of the bushing and a faucet driven to its place in the bushing,
and in the wooden packing formed by the outer chambered end of the stopper.
Fig. 6 shows a device for use in placing the stopper or plug in its place in the
taphole, or in the bushing in the hole made for it.
a is the metallic bushing.
a¹ is the cone frustum shaped end of the hole through the bushing.
a is the spheroid frustum shaped outer end of the hole through the bushing.
a³ is the cylinder shaped end of the hole through the bushing.
a is the bevel on the inner end of the bushing.
a is the cylindrical shaped end of the taphole stopper.
a is the spheroid frustum shaped outer end of the taphole stopper.
a is the cone frustum shaped outer end of the taphole stopper.
a³ is a transverse cut in the stopper entirely around its circumference on a line
in, or nearly in the plane of the bottom of the chamber in the outer end of it, the
depth of which is such as to leave about one eighth to one sixteenth of an inch of
uncut wood between it and the bottom of the chamber.
The purpose of this transverse cut is to so nearly sover the plug in the middle
into two parts, that when the faucet is driven into its place it will break the end
of the stopper off from the outer chambered end of it, and force the inner end of it
into the cask.
a is the wall of the chamber c³, after the inner end of the taphole stopper is
broken from it by drawing the faucet into its place.
c shows the expansion of the inner end of the stopper, which the bevel on the
inner end of the bushing or taphole admits, and which forms a head which is
pressed against the bevel on the bushing or taphole, and renders the stopper secure
against being driven out by the pressure within the cask.
is the entering end of the faucet.
c' is the wood of the head piece or stave of the cask.
is the chamber in the centre of the outer end of the stopper. This chamber
will be in diameter to admit the entering end of the faucet, generally about three
quarters of the diameter of the cylindrical end of the stopper, and its depth will
reach about to the line of meeting of the cone or spheroid frustum, and cylinder
forms of the outside of the stopper.
The object of the central chamber in the outer end of the stopper is to allow the
faucet to enter into the stopper about half of the length of the stopper, and to
form a packing around the faucet to prevent its coming in contact with the
bushing, or with the taphole if no bushing is used.
is a follower, the smaller part of which is of a diameter which will allow it to
enter the chamber in the outer end of the stopper, and reach to and against the
bottom of the chamber, so that the shoulders formed by the larger end of the
follower will rest on and against the outer end of the stopper. The purpose for
which this follower is used is to drive the stopper to its place in the bushing or
taphole.
If no metallic bushing is used, the taphole will be reamed out with an
instrument suitable for that purpose, so as to give the inside of it the form
described as the inside form of the bushing.
When the stopper is driven into its place in the bushing, the inner end of it will
immediately expand in the bevel in the inner end of the bushing or taphole, so
that it cannot be forced out by the pressure inside the cask. When the faucet is to
be put into place for use in the cask, the entering end being placed in the
chamber c³, a forcible blow of a hammer on the outer end of the faucet will send
it to its place, breaking off the inner end of the stopper, and carrying it into the

page_text: I, HENRY ARNOLD RUETER of Boston, State of Massachusetts, United States of
America, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BUSHINGS AND STOPPERS FOR TAPHOLES IN ČASKS FOR ALE AND BEER," and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My Invention relates to the form in which the bushing, or taphole if no bushing
is used, is made, and to the form of the stopper; the object of the Invention being
to provide a bushing and stopper for tapholes in ale and beer casks, which will be
entirely secure against the pressure in the inside of the cask, and which will admit
the insertion of the faucet and driving it to its place without any escape of the
contents of the cask and preserve from injury by use, the faucet, the bushing or
the taphole when no bushing is used, and it consists in making the hole through
the bushing to be inserted in a taphole, or of the taphole if no bushing is used one
half of its length next the outer side of the cask in form of a cone frustum, or in
the form of a frustum or zone of a spheroid, increasing in diameter from the
middle, or the line where the change of form begins, towards the outer end; and
the other half of its length next the inner side, headpiece or stave of the cask, in
the form of a cylinder having at its extreme inner end a short bevel from the
inside surface to the outside surface of the bushing, or if no bushing is used, &
bevel in the wood of the cask; and in making the stopper with an outside form
about half its length, at the outer end a cone frustum or a frustum or zone of a
spheroid, and about half its length at the inner end in form of a cylinder; and
with a chamber in the centre of its outer end large enough in diameter to admit
the end of a faucet, and as deep as the line across it, where the cone or spheroid
frustum and the cylinder forms met, and with a narrow cut around its circum-
ference about opposite the line mentioned, perpendicular to its central axial line,
and on or nearly on a plane with the bottom of the chamber, and extending about
half way from the outer surface of the stopper to the bottom of the chamber.
In the Drawings annexed.
Fig. 1 shows a vertical sectional edge view of the metallic bushing with its outer
end in the form of a cone frustum.
Fig. 2 shows the same with its outer and in form of a spheroid frustum

page_text: cask, the walls of the chamber which form the packing a between the faucet
and the inside of the bushing, will be retained between the faucet and the bushing,
and will prevent the escape of fluids from the cask.
When the cask is empty and to be filled again, the faucet will be loosened and
withdrawn, and the wooden packing a will be split and drawn out, and a new
stopper will be inserted. If the taphole stopper is made with the grain of the
wood transversely across it, the transverse cut as may be dispensed with, as the
cylindrical end of the stopper will readily split off from the cone frustum shaped
end when the faucet is driven in.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, I declare that what I claim is :-
1st. In combination, a cask for ale or beer having a taphole of a frustum of
conical or spheroidal form about half the length of the hole from the outer end of
it inward, and of cylindrical form the remainder of the length of the hole to the
inner end of it, and a taphole stopper of a corresponding form, substantially as set
forth.
2nd. In an ale or beer cask, a taphole stopper having the chamber o³ in its
outer end, and the transverse cut as around the middle of it, substantially as set
forth.
3rd. A cask having a taphole provided with the short bevel a at the inner end,
substantially as described for the purpose specified.
4th. A metallic bushing for a taphole in an ale or beer cask, having about half
the length of the hole through it from the outer end of it, of a frustum of conical
or spheroidal form, and the remainder of the length of the hole to the inner end
thereof, of cylindrical form, with a short bevel a* at the extreme end, substantially
as described.
2004