IMPROVED MEANS OF CLOSING THE TAP HOLES OF CASKS OR BARRELS
Year: 1885

page_text: I EDWARD GEORGE LEROY of 36 Devonshire Street All Saints Manchester in
the County of Lancaster Wine and Spirit Merchant do hereby declare the nature
of my invention for "IMPROVED MEANS OF CLOSING THE TAP HOLES OF CASKS
OR BARRELS" to be as follows:-
The invention is applicable principally to the casks or barrels used for containing
beer or other liquors, the object of the said invention being to provide a ready
means for closing the tap hole of such barrels or casks when empty and after the
tap has been removed, so as to prevent the admission of rain or other water, which
is a frequent cause of the deterioration of the beer or other liquor which may
subsequently be stored or kept in such barrels or casks.
Onto the exterior of the head of the cask or. barrel near to the tap hole I fix (by
screws or otherwise) a metal plate of a convenient form, and to this plate I affix
by a hinge a metal flap, the hinge being provided with a spring or springs, and the
whole being so constructed and arranged that when the barrel is in use the flap
can be folded back onto the plate and will be held in that position out of the way
by means of the spring; and when the barrel is empty and the tap has been
removed the flap may be turned over on the hinge so as to cover the tap hole, and
will then be held also in that position by means of the spring. The flap may be
faced with india rubber, cork, or other yielding substance so as to make an air or
water tight joint if required; or a conical plug may be cast or formed on the
metal flap and covered with india rubber or other suitable material.
Dated this 7th day of January 1885
GEORGE DAVIES,
Agent for the Applicant,
4, St. Ann's Square, Manchester.

page_text: I EDWARD GEORGE LEROY of 36 Devonshire Street All Saints Manchester in
the County of Lancaster Wine and Spirit Merchant do hereby declare the nature
of my invention for IMPROVED MEANS OF CLOSING THE TAP HOLES OF CASKS
OR BARRELS and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The invention is applicable principally to the casks or barrels used for containing
beer or other liquors the object of the said invention being to provide a ready
means for closing the tap hole of such casks or barrels when empty, and after the
tap has been removed, so as to prevent the admission of rain or other water, or
other extraneous matter which is a frequent cause of the deterioration of the beer
or other liquor which may subsequently be stored or kept in such casks or barrels.
Such being the nature and object of my said invention I will now proceed to
describe in detail the manner in which the same is to be performed or carried into
practical effect which will be readily understood on reference to the accompanying
drawings and to the following explanation thereof.
Fig. 1. in the annexed drawing is an end view of a cask or barrel with my
invention applied thereto the tap hole being shown as open, and Fig. 2 is a similar
view with the tap hole closed, and Figs 3. 4 and 5 are detached views of my
improved apparatus drawn full size.
Onto the exterior of the head a, a of the cask or barrel near to the tap hole b
I fix by screws or otherwise a metal plate c, c of a convenient form and to this
plate c, c I affix by a hinge a metal flap d d the hinge and the jaws of the plate
being preferably made in the form of a spring, somewhat similar to that of a
pocket corkscrew or button hook (as shown at Figs 4 and 5) but the plate c, c may
be made of any other convenient form and fitted with a spring so constructed and
arranged that when the cask or barrel is in use the flap d, d can be folded back
onto the plate c, c as shown at Figs 1 and 4 and will be held in that position out
of the way by means of the spring; and when the cask or barrel is empty, and the
tap has been removed, the flap d, d may be turned over on the hinge so as to cover
or close the tap hole (as shown at Figs 2 and 5) and will then be held also in that
position by means of the spring.
The flap d, d may be faced with india rubber, cork or other yielding substance
so as to make an air or water-tight joint if required, but I prefer to cast or form a
conical plug on the end of the metal flap d, d and to cover the same with india
rubber or other substance as shown at e, e in Figs 3 and 4.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
The combination of a hinged flap (faced with india rubber or other yielding
substance, or fitted with a conical or cylindrical plug covered with the same) with

page_text: a metal plate screwed or otherwise affixed to the head of the cask or barrel near to
the tap hole; the said plate being either made in the form of a double acting spring
or fitted therewith for closing the tap boles of casks or barrels substantially as and
for the purpose hereinbefore described and illustrated by the drawings annexed.
GEORGE DAVIES,
Agent for the Applicant,
4, St. Ann's Square, Manchester.