IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COOPERS' HOOPS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Betts Bradshaw, of Whiston Grove,
Rotherham, in the County of Yorkshire, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COOPERS' HOOPS."
Sealed the 11th January 1870, and dated the 4th October 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Betts Bradshaw
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 4th October 1869.
I, JOSEPH BETTS BRADSHAW, of Whiston Grove, Rotherham, in the
County of Yorkshire, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COOPERS' HOOPs," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
coopers' hoops.
Coopers' hoops are at present made of straight hoop iron, and this
hoop iron in making the hoop is wrought to the curved form requisite
for the bevil or taper of the hoop by expanding it along one edge either

page_text: by hammering or by passing it between rollers the axes of which are
inclined the one to the other. This operation being performed when the
metal is cold strains and weakens it very considerably whilst the result is
a hoop of irregular thickness, thinner on one edge than on the other
and not only so but in the cases of the hammered hoop the reduction
of thickness on one edge is very irregularly performed.
According to my Invention in the manufacture of the hoop iron
itself whilst it is hot I roll it to the curved form required, and I make
the hoops from iron so rolled simply by cutting it into suitable lengths
and rivetting the ends together. In this way I produce hoops of equal
thickness throughout and in which the metal is not irregularly strained
and crippled. I prefer that the finishing rolls through which the hoop
iron is rolled should be conical and set with their working faces parallel
the one to the other; or cylindrical rolls set with their axes parallel may
be used, the preceding rolls being so arranged as to prepare the iron
thicker on one edge than on the other; or the metal may be prepared
of equal thickness throughout and finished with rolls set with their
working faces slightly inclined the one to the other. This last men-
tioned method however, although it gives to the metal the requisite
curve, at, the same time gives to it an uneven thickness, and for this
reason I prefer to employ the methods which I have previously stated.
Hoop iron rolled as above described is best bundled by winding it
upon a conical drum.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Betts Bradshaw in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 4th April 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
BETTS BRADSHAW, of Whiston Grove, Rotherham, in the County of
Yorkshire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Joseph Betts Bradshaw, Her special licence
that I, the said Joseph Betts Bradshaw, my executors, administrators,

page_text: and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Betts Bradshaw, 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 MANUFACTURE OF COOPERS' HOOPS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Joseph Betts Bradshaw, my executors or adininistrators,
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 Joseph Betts Bradshaw, 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 following statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
coopers' hoops.
Coopers' hoops are at present made of straight hoop iron, and this
hoop iron in making the hoop is wrought to the curved form requisite
for the bevil or taper of the hoop by expanding it along one edge, either
by hammering or by passing it between rollers the axes of which are
inclined the one to the other. This operation being performed when the
metal is cold strains and weakens it very considerably, whilst the result
is a hoop of irregular thickness, thinner on one edge than on the other,
and not only so but in the case of the hammered hoop the reduction of
thickness on one edge is very irregularly performed.
According to my Invention in the manufacture of the hoop iron itself
whilst it is hot, I roll it to the curved form required, and I make the
hoops from iron so rolled simply by cutting it into suitable lengths and
rivetting the ends together. In this way I produce hoops of equal
thickness throughout, and in which the metal is not irregularly strained
and crippled. I prefer that the finishing rolls through which the hoop
iron is rolled should be conical and set with their working faces parallel-
the one to the other. Or cylindrical rolls set with their axes parallel
may be used, the preceding rolls being so arranged as to prepare the iron

page_text: thicker on one edge than on the other; or the metal may be prepared of
equal thickness throughout, and finished with rolls set with their
working faces slightly inclined the one to the other; this last-mentioned
method however, although it gives to the metal the requisite curve, at
the same time gives to it an uneven thickness, and for this reason I
prefer to employ the methods which I have previously stated.
Hoop iron rolled as above described is best bundled by winding it
upon a conical drum.
In order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect I will proceed to describe more in detail the
manner in which I conduct the manufacture.
I take a billet or bloom, such as is used in the manufacture of ordinary
boops and roll it out in the same manner up to the last stage of passing
between the finishing rolls, as in the manufacture of ordinary hoops, and
proceed as follows:-I take the hoop at this stage and pass it through
rolls of conical form, such as are shown in side view at Figure 1 and in
plan at Figure 2. The varying speeds of the different parts of the
surfaces of the rolls so formed causes the hoop to spread proportionately
and thus to assume a curvilinear form. The hoop so rolled is when
finished of equal thickness on either edge. Or I take the hoop at the
stage mentioned in the foregoing method as in rolling ordinary hoops,
and pass it between rolls, one or both of which is prepared with a taper
groove in order to give to it the section shewn in Figure 3. I then pass
the hoop through parallel rolls, as in side view at Figure 4, and in plan
at Figure 5, which rolling it out to an equal thickness cause the thicker
parts of the hoop to spread in the direction of the length and in pro-
portion to the varying thickness across the breadth of the hoop, thus
leaving the rolls in curvilinear form as in the method first described.
The hoop so rolled is of equal thickness on either edge when finished.
Or I take the hoop at the stage mentioned in the preceding methods and
pass it through rolls, such as are used in the last stage of the manu-
facture of ordinary hoops, but the upper one of which is set with its axis
slightly at angles to the under one (or the upper one of which is slightly
elevated at one end, as in Figure 6). The hoop at this stage is of equal
thickness, and in passing through rolls so arranged is subjected to
greater pressure upon one edge than the other, which causes this edge
(and proportionately throughout the width of the hoop) to stretch out or
clongate more than the opposite edge, thus causing the hoop to leave the

page_text: rolls in curvilinear form, as shown in plan at Figure 7. The hoop thus
rolled is of unequal thickness when finished, as shewn in Figure 8.
The variation of bevil required to suit casks or barrels of different
shapes I obtain in the first method of rolling by varying the difference
in the taper of the conical rolls, an increase in the diameter giving to
such hoop a proportionately greater curve and bevil. In the second
method by varying the sectional taper of the hoop before passing it
through the parallel finishing rolls, the greater thickness of the hoop
on one edge than on the other giving a proportionately greater curve
and bevil as above; and in the third method by varying the inclination of
the top roll, the greater inclination giving a proportionately greater curve
to the hoop metal and thus proportionately greater bevil to the finished
coopers' hoop. A very slight variation in the inclination of the top roll
of the first method, or of the taper section of the hoop of the second
method, or of the cone of the rolls or taper section of the hoops of
the third method will be found sufficient to materially affect the curve of
the hoop produced, such variation being determined by the amount of
bevil required. To use hoops so prepared I cut off the required lengths,
fastening the ends together forming a circle, and without any further or
intermediate process of stretching or elongating one edge by hammering
or cold rolling the necessary bevil required to fit it on to the cask or
barrel is obtained, as in Figure 9.
In rolling hoops in the manner just described I prefer to attach to the
rolls suitable means of clearing the hoops away as rapidly as rolled.
This I accomplish by the machine illustrated in Figure 10, which
consists of a conical drum A driven by a friction cone worked by a belt
from a pulley fixed on the neck of the roll B, or by an independent
shaft. Upon this drum travels in frictional gear with it the roller C,
also of conical form sliding in the guides L, L, and weighted on to the
drum by the weight D attached to the lever E and yielding to the
increase in diameter of the drum as the hoop is wound upon it. The
hoop in leaving the rolls passes between this drum and roller within the
guide G, G, which is made to accommodate itself to the increase in
thickness by opening at the hinge H and bearing back upon the
springs K, K. When the full length of hoop is wound upon the drum.
the roller is raised clear of the drum by a suitable lever, and the-coiled
boop removed from off the drum A. The roller is then again lowered
into gear with the drum, and is ready for the nexɩ hoop. I prefer to

page_text: bundle such hoops in coils; I take the hoops as received in the coiled
form from the machine, Figure 10, and coil them upon a separate drum
over each other until the requisite number of hoops to form the bundle
is obtained; I then tie as in Figure 11, and the bundles are ready for
Or where cut or exact lengths are required I simply uncoil the
hoop as received from the machine, Figure 10, and cutting off the required
lengths bundle up the required quantity in flat lengths; or I cut off the
necessary lengths whilst still in the coiled form and bundle as at first.
The receiving the bevilled hoops from the rolls on to a conical drum
and coiling them at once ready for bundling is important, as the hoops if
allowed to find their own way on to the floors would fall in confusion,
and set in buckles and folds and be useless; they would form a circle
and return towards the rolls in so short a distance that it would be
difficult if not impossible to lay them out flat in one length upon the
floors.
As in hoops manufactured according to my Invention the metal is not
crippled, the cooper may use such a hoop of lesser dimensions than he
could for equal strength if it were bevilled cold, and thus effect a
considerable saving in hoops consumed. The labour of bevilling is also
saved.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Betts Bradshaw, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.