IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR STOPPING OR CLOSING ABERTAND THE CLONS AND AMIZED TROODT
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Colyer, of Leman Street, Whitechapel, in
the County of Middlesex, Manufacturing Cooper, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR STOPPING OR CLOSING
ABERTAND THE CLONS AND AMIZED TROODT
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Colyer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th November 1863.
I, JOSEPH COLYER, of Leman Street, Whitechapel, in the County of Middle-
sex, Manufacturing Cooper, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS POR STOPPING OR CLOSING
ORIFICES IN CASKS AND OTHER VESSELS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to an improved appliance for closing or stopping
orifices in casks and other vessels, especially applicable as a substitute for the
ordinary detached bung, which is liable to be lost, and has other dis-
advantages.
My improved appliance consists of a stopper, cover, cap, plate, or plug,
herein-after, to avoid repetition, called stopping piece, which slides or travels in
a frame fixed to the cask, vat, or vessel, so that the stopping piece is prevented
from falling from the cask or vessel, but is free to slide to the orifice to close
it, and from the orifice to open it. To steady the stopping piece it may travel
in a groove or way formed in the vessel or in or by the frame. It is tightened

page_text: at the orifice in any suitable manner, but preferably by a stay or bar extending
across it, and raised and pressed by a screw against the sides of the frame or
against shoulders or bearing surfaces thereon, or it may be tightened by a
wedge or by screws working between the stopper and the frame, or otherwise.
The stopping piece may drop to the required depth into the orifice or seat to
plug the same. It may be grooved, and an elastic washer or packing may be
fitted in the groove, or in some cases its rim may be ground true. The
stopping piece may be combined with a spring to keep it tight under various
pressure. An orifice may be formed in the stopping piece as a vent hole, and
may be closed by a nut or screw cap, which can be removed and a short pipe
provided with a stop cock fitted to the neck of this vent hole.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Colyer in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
COLYER, of Leman Street, Whitechapel, in the County of Middlesex, Manu-
facturing Cooper, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Joseph Colyer, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph
Colyer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Joseph Colyer, my executors, administrators, 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 MODE OP AND APPARATUS FOR STOPPING OR CLOSING
ORIFICES IN CASKS AND OTHER VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Joseph Colyer, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Colyer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to an improved appliance for closing or stopping
orifices in casks and other vessels, especially applicable as a substitute for
the ordinary detached bung, which is liable to be lost and has other dis-
advantages.
My improved appliance consists of a stopper, cover, cap, plate, or plug,
herein-after, to avoid repetition, called stopper or stopping piece, which slides
or travels in, under, or behind a frame fixed to the cask, vat, or vessel, so that
the stopping piece is thereby prevented from falling from the cask or vessel,
but is free to slide to the orifice to close it and from the orifice to open it.
To steady the stopping piece, it travels in a groove, recess, or way formed in
or by the frame. When the stopping piece is at the orifice it is tightened in,
to, or against the frame by any suitable means, one mode being by a stay or
bar extending across the stopping piece, and raised and pressed by a screw or
nut against the sides of the frame or against shoulders or bearing surfaces
thereon, or the stopper may be tightened by means of a wedge or by screws
working between the stopping piece and the frame, or it may be tightened
otherwise. The stopping piece or a part thereof enters to the required depth
into the orifice to plug it. The stopping piece may be combined with a spring
to keep it tight under various pressures. An orifice may be formed in the
stopping piece as a vent hole, such orifice being closed by a nut or screw
cap which can be removed, and a pipe provided with a stop-cock fitted to the
vent hole.
The accompanying Drawings represent various arrangements of stopping
apparatus constructed according to my Invention.
Figures 1 and 2 are plans, and Figure 3 side view, partly in section, of
one arrangement. A is part of the cask or vessel to which my stopping
apparatus is applied. a is a shallow recess hollowed out therein, and having
at one end an orifice or bung hole b; c is a metal frame screwed to the cask
around the recess a; d is a metal plate or cap forming the stopper or stopping
piece; it is grooved to receive a caoutchouc packing ring or washer e. The
neck or lower part of the cap (the periphery of which is faced or ground true)
fits the hole b, but its upper surface is of larger diameter than the hole. The
stopper d is capable of being slidden to and fro on the recess a in the frame c,
the inner edge of which projects over the recess a, so that the space between

page_text: this edge and the recess forms a guide way for the stopper d in its travel.
When the orifice b is to be stopped the stopper d is slidden over it, and its
under part allowed to drop into and plug it, its upper part covering the edge
of the orifice. f is a bar or plate having parts cut away at its ends f¹; this
bar is fitted on the flanged shank of a nut h working on a screw 9 attached
to the cap d. The bar is free to turn on the screw or nut, but being fitted
between the flanges of the nut, it rises up and down with the nut when the
nut is worked by a spanner. The stopper is tightened at the orifice by
turning the bar f to bring its ends f¹ below the edge of the frame c, as shown
in Figure 1, and working the nut upward to raise the bar, and press or jam
its ends f against the under surface of the frame c, where it projects over the
recess a. The orifice is opened by depressing the nut h, and thereby
depressing the bar f, and releasing it from contact with the frame c, so that
the bar may be turned and allow the stopper to be raised from the orifice b
and slidden away from it, as shown in Fig. 2, the part of the frame c which
projects over the edge of the recess a guiding the stopper in its travel. A
hole closed by a screw cap i (shewn also in side view, Fig. 3*,) is formed in
the stopper d, and serves as a vent hole. To obtain a vent the cap is
unscrewed from the hole, and a pipe j, furnished with a tap k,.is screwed into
it, as shewn in Figure 4; this arrangement of vent hole and tap may be
applied to all the stoppers represented in the succeeding Figures.
In the arrangements of apparatus shewn in Figures 5 to 15 inclusively,
and herein-after described, a plate or cap d is used as the stopper or stopping
piece, such cap sliding to and from an orifice 6 on a recess a, surrounded by a
frame c, the inner edge of which projects over the recess to guide or steady
the stopper in its travel to and from the orifice, as in Figures 1, 2, and 3, the
cap d in all these arrangements being grooved at e¹ to receive a packing ring
or washer e, and having its lower part which fits the orifice b of less diameter
than its upper part. In all these arrangements the stopper d travels (to and
from the orifice) in, under, or behind the frame c, and is tightened into or
against it at the orifice. The difference between the various arrangements
of stopping apparatus consist in the portions thereof whereby the stopper is.
tightened (in, to, or against the frame) when at the orifice.
Figure 5 is a plan, and Figures 6 and 7 side views in section of an
arrangement in which the plate d is tightened by a bar or plate 1 cut away at
the ends ¹, and acting in similar manner to the bar f, Figure 1, except that
instead of being raised and depressed by a nut it is actuated by an excentric m
working on an axis n in a hollow neck or socket 12 (open at both ends) cast
or formed on the under side of the bar l, and fitting in a cylindrical recess d'

page_text: formed in the plate d; the axis n is fixed to the socket 1*. When the
excentric, as shewn in Figure 6, has its flat side against the bottom of the
recess d'in the cap d, the bar clears the frame c, and may be turned, as
shewn in dotted lines, Figure 5, and the cap d slidden from the orifice. But
when the excentric is turned on its axis, as in Figure 7, "over" the centre n,
so that its pointed end bears against the bottom of the recess d', it forces the
bar upward, and jams its ends l¹ against the frame c, and thereby tightens
the stopper; the bar is kept from rising too far by flanges.
Figure 8 is a plan, and Figures 9 and 10 side views of an arrangement in
which a cylinder or bolt o, worked by a knob r, turns partially round in staples
p on the plate d; its travel is regulated by stops q. Parts of the bolt are cut
away at the ends o'. When the bolt is so turned that its ends o¹ abut against
the under surface of the frame c, as shewn in Figure 9, the stopper is
tightened, and when the bolt is turned, as shewn in Figure 10, so that its
ends o' clear the frame c, the stopper is released, and may be slidden from the
orifice b.
Figure 11 is a plan, and Figure 12 side view of an arrangement in which
nuts 8, 8, work on threaded studs fixed upon the plate d. When these nuts
are screwed up till they abut against the frame c, they tighten the stopper,
and when screwed down till they clear the frame they release the stopper.
Figure 13 is a plan, and Figure 14 side view of an arrangement in which
the tightening portions, instead of being on the stopper, are on the frame, and
consist of excentrics or cams t working on pins or axes in spaces formed in the
frame c.
When these excentrics are turned downwards on their axes "over"
their centres they press on the plate d, and tighten it on the orifice b, and
when turned upwards they release it.
Figure 15 is a side view of an arrangement in which the stopper is
tightened by a spring u, the ends of which bear against the under surface of
the frame c; it is held at the centre of the stopper by a screw v, by which it
may be adjusted if relaxed. To release the stopper the ends of the spring are
pressed down.
In Figures 16 and 17 an oval frame w is used, having on its under surface,
shewn in plan, Figure 16, a circular rim a. A stopper d, with bolt o similar
to that shewn in Figures 8, 9, and 10, is used, but the ends o¹ of the bolt
project beyond the edge of the plate d, and when these ends o¹ are brought
under the frame they press against the part w¹ of the frame between the inner
edge of the oval and the circular rim, and tighten the plate which is released
by turning the bolt so that its ends o¹ clear the surface of the frame. Instead
of the bolt o the stopper d used with this frame w, x, may be fitted with a

page_text: bar f, as in Fig. 1, or with other tightening arrangements acting against
the part w¹ in the manner above described.
Figure 18 is an edge view and Figure 19 section of a hollow revolving
cutting tool for cutting the recess a and orifice b. The edge y is the cutting
edge; the wood is placed on a slide rest, and the cutter rotated by any
ordinary means; a screw to adjust the tool for depth of cut works in the
slot z.
Instead of forming a vent hole with cap i in the stopper d, a vent hole
may sometimes be made in the stave or other part of the cask, as shewn in
Figure 20, and fitted with a bush or pipe j¹ threaded on the inside, into
which a nut or plug ¹ is screwed, its head being sunk in a recess; this plug
may be removed, and a cock screwed into the bush j¹.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same may be performed, I declare that I claim,--
First, the application or employment of a fixed frame in the manner and
for the purpose described, in, under, or behind which frame a stopper or
stopping piece travels to and from an orifice, such stopping piece when at the
orifice being tightened against, to, or in the frame by any desirable means.
Second, the arrangements of stopping apparatus, herein-before described
and represented in the Drawings, that is to say, each such apparatus in
respect of the arrangement and combination of parts of which the same
respectively consists.
Third, constructing the stopper with a vent hole closed by a nut or screw
cap, and fitted with a cock, in the manner and for the purpose described.
In witness, whereof, I, the said Joseph Colyer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
M. HENRY,
84, Fleet Street,
London.
JOSH. COLYER. (Ls.)