IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SHAPING STAVES FOR CASKS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Robinson, of Rochdale, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, and John Smith, of the same Place,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
SHAPING STAVES FOR CASKS."
Sealed the 17th June 1873, and dated the 19th December 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Robinson and
John Smith at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 19th December 1872.
We, JOHN ROBINSON, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, and JOHN SMITи, of the same Place, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR SHAPING STAves for Casks,” to be as follows :—
The objects of our Invention are to cut the staves with the necessary
bevilled edges and to form them with the required narrowed ends,
and to effect these operations without removing more timber than is
necessary. The staves roughly cut out are placed upon a sliding frame
and confined there in any required number by a screw or by similar
* .

page_text: means, and are then traversed along the bed of the machine, their edges
being brought against a revolving conical cutter, which forms the bevils.
During this traversing motion a part connected with the said cutter
moves against a fixed template, which forces it outward and allows it
to pass inward to narrow each end, and the staves being then loosened
and turned over their other sides are in like manner operated upon.
In order to avoid cutting away the timber more than is necessary we
adopt the following arrangement:-When the staves are placed in the
sliding frame their central parts abut against pins capable of adjustment,
and a frame on the other side of the staves is then slidden forward,
causing other pins to press against the staves on either side of the first
mentioned pins with a parallel motion, thereby rocking them upon the
centre pins until they are properly adjusted over each other, after which
the cutting proceeds as above described.
By the above mentioned arrangement of pins rough stavès of different
widths are shaped without an undue loss of timber.
We propose to cut one side of the staves while the sliding frame moves
forward, and the other when it moves backward; and there are therefore
two sets of the above mentioned pins.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Robinson and John Smith in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 19th June 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
ROBINSON, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, and
JOHN SMITH, of the same Place, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in
the thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto us, the said John Robinson and John
Smith, Her special license that we, the said John Robinson and John
Smith, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
we, the said John Robinson and John Smith our executors, adminis-.

page_text: trators, 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 MACHINERY
FOR SHAPING STAVES FOR CASKS," upon the condition, amongst others,
that we, the said John Robinson and John Smith, by an instrument
in writing under our hands and seals (or under the hand and seal of
one of us) 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 Scal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said John Robinson and John Smith,
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 (and accompanying
Drawings), that is to say) :-
The objects of our Invention are to cut the staves with the necessary
bevilled edges and to form them with the required narrowed ends, and
to effect those operations without removing more timber than is
necessary.
We will in the first place describe by means of a diagram the essential
character of our Invention, and which consists in an arrangement for
fixing the staves in the proper relative position to the cutter; afterwards
we will describe the same in a practical manner and shew its application
to a cutting machine.
Staves, as is well known, are in the first place cut into rectangular
lengths, according to the size of cask for which they are intended, and
one of them is represented at 60 in the Diagram, Fig. 1, and is supposed
to be placed upon a travelling bed plate hereafter to be referred to. One
edge of the stave abuts against a fixed adjustable pin 48, at about the
central part thereof, and on each side of that situation, but upon the
opposite edge of the stave, are two other pins 33, 33*, connected together
and forced towards the stave by weighted levers, by which means it is
caused to rock upon the central pin and become. equally adjusted on
each side thereof. In practice, several staves are placed one above
:

page_text: another, each being acted upon by a series of three pins like those
shewn.
We will now proceed to describe the practical application of our
Invention.
Fig. 1 is a side clevation of the machine; Fig. 2 a plan; and Fig. 3
an end view thercof. The framework is shown at 5 provided with
V guides, on which is mounted a sliding table 6 carrying a nut, within
which is situate a screw provided at one end with a bevil wheel 8,
taking into pinions 9, 10, upon a shaft 11; which carries the two driving
pullies 12, 13, and loose pulley 14, this arrangement of wheels and
pullies being the same as that in use in planing machines for causing
the bed to travel to-and-fro or remain stationary. At 15 is the strap
fork connected by levers to the stop rod 16, which at its other end has
a bevil pinion 17, taking into another 18 on a short shaft 19 provided
with a lever 20, on which there are two projecting pins 22, 22*. Upon
the sliding table 6 are standards 23 carrying a beam 24, which is pro-
vided with a nut for a screw 25, the lower end thereof being adapted to
a clamp plate 26. Upon the standards 23 are bearings carrying a
shaft 27, upon which is mounted fast a frame 28 resting, according to
the position shewn, upon the table 6, and at 29 are levers fixed to
shafts 30 mounted in the frame 28, and carrying other levers 31, which
are provided with weights 32. To the levers 29 are jointed rods 33
moving in guides 'carried by the frame 28, and having set screws 34 on
their ends, which set screws correspond to the parts denoted by the
same number of reference in the Diagram, Fig. 1. At 33*, 34*, is a
second set of rods and set screws connected like those already described
to the shafts 30, the said set screws corresponding to those denoted by
the same number of reference in Fig. 1. Upon the shaft 27 is mounted
a lever handle 35 and a weighted levor 35*; when the former of these
is turned upward it carries with it the frame 28 and parts which are
mounted therein until the lever 35 rests upon the stop 36, and in that
position it is kept by the weight 35, but when it is lowered, as shewn,
the frame 28 rests upon the bed 6, which registers its proper position.
Upon the framework of the machine is a standard 37 capable of sliding
inward or outward upon guides 38, and to it is connected a lever 39
turning upon a centre 40. To this lever is jointed a rod 41 connected
at its other end to a bell-crank lever 42, 42*, the latter part of which
is by means of a rod 43 connected to a treadle 44 turning upon a

page_text: centre 45 and carrying a weight 46. In the standard 37 are nuts 47,
within which are set screws 48 corresponding to the part denoted by
the same number of reference in Fig. 1. At 37* is a second standard
provided with nuts 47* and set screws 48*, also capable of sliding in
the manner above described, and provided in like manner with a
treadle 44* and other parts. At 50 is a shaft provided with a pulley 51,
by means of which it may be driven, and upon this shaft is mounted
the conical cutter block 52. The shaft 50 is carried by a plate 53,
which is capable of sliding outward or inward on guides, but drawn in
one direction by means of a weight 54. Beneath the sliding table 6 is
a plate 55, the outward edge of which is of the bowed form, to which
it is intended to cut the stave; and this shaper. plate is in contact with
a roller 56 carried by the plate 53, which supports the shaft 50 of the
cutter block 52. The block 52 is supplied with cutters adapted in the
ordinary manner of such apparatus, and set at an angle corresponding
to that of the intended stave, as seen in Fig. 3.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The positions of the
parts in Figs. 1 and 2 are those which they assume when the stave is
cut about half-way along its length, but at starting the sliding frame is so
situate that the pins 34 occupy a. position about midway between the two
ranges of pins 48, 48*. The attendant now turns up the handle 35 until
the lever 35* rests upon the stop 36, by which means the frame 28,
pins 34, 34*, and parts connected therewith will be raised, leaving the
front of the machine clear. The attendant now places his foot upon the
treadle 4, by which means the rod 43 will be drawn downward and
the levers 42, 42*, 39, will consequently force forward the pins 48, the
frame 37 arriving against a stop to register its position: The rough
staves 60 are now placed (say four in. number, but one only if desired)
upon the table 6 and against the pins 48, and the frame 28 is then
turned down into the position shown at Fig. 3, whereby the weighted
pins 34, 34*, are brought against the edges of the staves 60, and they
are rocked upon the central pins 48 to equalise their position, as
described in reference to the Diagram, Fig. 1, the attendant now turns
the screw 25 by means of the pulley handle 61, thereby bringing down
the plate 26 and clamping the rough staves securely on to the table 6.
The lever 20 is now turned by hand to put the driving strap on to the
fast pulley, and the sliding frame 6 and staves 60 are caused to travel
in the direction of the arrow, thereby bringing the edges of the staves

page_text: against the cutters on the block 52, so as to cut them to the required
angle, but at the same time the travelling of the frame 6 causes the
shaper plate to act against the roller 56 so as gradually to force the
cutter block 52 outward, and afterwards allow it to be drawn inward by
the weight 54, and thus the bowed form of the stave is effected. The
whole length of the staves having been operated upon the projecting
part 70 on the carriage 6 arrives in contact with the pin 22, and by
turning over the lever 20 acts upon the shaft 16 through the medium
of the bevil pinion 17, 18, so as to place the driving strap on to the
loose pulley, and thus the motion of the machine is arrested. The
attendant now again turns up the handle 35 to bare the front of the
machine, and loosens the clamp 26 by turning the pulley handle 61,
after which the staves are turned so as to bring their finished edges
against the pins 34, 34*, and their uncut edges against the central
pins 48*, when the same adjustment of their positions takes place as
above described, and the clamp being tightened upon the staves the
strap is placed on to the fast pulley for causing the carriage to travel
in the contrary direction to that above described, and the edges of the
staves are cut after the manner already explained, and when the
operation has been completed a stop 70* arrives in contact with the
pin 22* and puts the strap on to the loose pulley, after which another
set of rough staves is adapted as before. The screw pins 48, 48*, are
capable of adjustment to any required position by turning them in their
nuts, and they are so regulated that the cutters on the block 52 extend
slightly beyond their points, and it is therefore ensured that the minimum
quantity of timber shall be removed in shaping the stave.
It will be observed that the staves are not placed directly over each
other but are disposed in steps, for if they were adapted in the former
position it is obvious a much larger quantity of timber would have to be
removed to gain the required angular sides.
It has been stated that the attendant places his foot upon the
treadle 44 to bring the pins 48 forward to their registering position,
but when the staves have been clamped he releases the treadle and the
pins are withdrawn by the weight 46. The object of this withdrawal
is to prevent their lying in any little inequalities of the timber, for if ;
such were the case an obstruction would exist as the staves travel
on ward

page_text: In order to provide for operating upon staves of different widths the
following arrangement is adopted :-The shaft 27 is mounted in brasses
situate within stols formed in brackets 70, and in these brasses are
screws 71 confined at their other ends by collars, and provided with
bevil pinions 72 in gear with others mounted on a shaft 73, which
extends across the frame 28. When therefore the said shaft is turned
it moves inward or outward the frame 28, and consequently the set
screws 34; but slight adjustments may be made by turning the said set
screws 34 themselves.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said In-
vention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I
desire it to be understood that we claim as secured to us under the above
in part recited Letters Patent, and for the purposes above set forth the
use of the sets of pins or registering stops 33, 33*, 48, 48*, substantially
as described.
JOHN ROBINSON. (L.S.)
JOHN SMITH.
(L.S.)