IMPROVEMENTS IN VESSELS FOR HOLDING SOLIDS OR FLUIDS, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING SUCH VESSELS
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SOLOMON
ISRAEL DA COSTA, of No. 11, Great Saint Helen's, in the City of London,
Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United Kingdom called
England, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of May, One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, and in the twelfth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Solomon Israel Da Costa, Her especial licence, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Solomon Israel Da Costa, my exors, admors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Solomon Israel Da Costa, my exors,
admors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England.
and Wales and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of
Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all our Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN VESSELS FOR HOLDING
SOLIDS OR FLUIDS, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING SUCH VESSELS;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Solomon
Israel Da Costa, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to

page_text: be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent,
as in and the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large-
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the
said Solomon Israel Da Costa, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are
described and ascertained by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the words
following, that is to say :-
One part of my improvements in vessels consists of improved shaped sheet
metal casks or barrels, see Drawing, Figure 1. A is the body of the barrel,
which is formed of one or more pieces. I prefer one only, and it may be
formed of a sheet of iron or other metal, passed either hot or cold through my
improved rolls herein-after described. A shoulder B is formed near each end
of the body of the barrel, and the diameter of each extreme end of the barrel
is rather larger than at the shoulders. Into this enlarged end is put a flat or
dome-shaped plate D,. of iron or other metal, and after that a ring or hoop of
iron or other metal is inserted and rivetted to the body, and then the joint
at the shoulder B is made good by brazing or soldering all three parts together.
The bung hole is shewn at F, and a tap hole is shewn at G.
Another part of my improvements, viz., the machinery or the rolls for form-
ing the body of the barrels, are shewn at Figures 2 and 3. H is the top roll,
which is made somewhat smaller than the barrel required, and swelled towards
the middle, and shaped towards the ends, to suit the required form of the
barrel. The lower roll I is hollowed to fit nearly close against the roll H, as
is also the bending roller J; this latter roller is provided with sliding bearings
to regulate the diameter of the barrel as may be required. Circular cutting
plates P are fixed on the ends of the roll H, to cut off the barrel to the length
required.
Another arrangement of rolls is shewn in Figures 4 and 5; H is the top
roll; K, K, are the bottom rolls, formed to fit nearly close to tlie roll H, and
inclined towards each other, as shewn in the Drawing. The back or bending
roll L may be made in one piece, like the roll I, Figure 2, or two rolls may
be substituted like K, K. The second arrangement of rolls shewn in Figures
4 and 5, is the one I prefer, as the respective circumferences of the top and
bottom rolls will be moving at more equal speeds than where the bottom roll is
made in one piece the whole length. The brasses at one end of the top roll
may in all cases be made to form parts of spheres, in order to allow roll to be
lifted up at one end, as shewn by the dotted lines, in order to take off the

page_text: barrel after it is formed; but when the body of the barrel is made in more
than one piece, the roll will not require lifting.
Another part, of my improvements is shewn in Figures 6 and 7. M is a
hollow mould made in two parts, one of which may be fixed, and the other
may be made to slide in a dovetailed grove by means of the screws N. 0, 0,
are two cranked shafts, on the pins of which is fitted a roller P, made in two
halves, and then joined together by. bolts or hoops on the ends.
R is a
straight shaft placed below, or at the side of the mould M, and fitted with two
equal spur pinions S, which geer into two wheels T, fitted on the ends of the
cranked axes 0, 0.
The manner of using this machine is as follows:-When the roll P is in the
position shewn by the dotted lines in Figure 7. the plate to be bent in this
machine is introduced hot, and is firmly held at one end U by suitable means,
and the mould M is closed up by the screws N. The shafts O are then set
going and carry round the roller P against the plate U, and force it into the
hollow of the mould M, and form it into the shape of a three-quarter ring.
The plate is then released by withdrawing the sliding half of the mould by the
screws N. The machine having been stopped with the roll P up in the dotted
position, see Figure 7, the three-quarter shaped ring is then closed by clamps,
and then riveted together, and the heads are inserted; as before described.
Another mode of forming my improved vessels of the barrel sort is shewn at
Figures 8 and 9, where V is the hollow mould or die, and W the stamp, which,
by repeated falls into the hollow die, forms one half of the barrel at a time, and
they may then be united by any of the ordinary means, and, when necessary,
two or more sets of moulds or dies may be used, to follow one another. The
ends may be trimmed off whilst in the die with chisels, or by a cutting edge
fixed on the ends of either part of the die or stamp.
It is a
Another form of vessel is shewn at Figures 10, 11, and 12.
hexagonal-shaped prism, with flat ends. It may be made in sets of dies and
stamps, formed of one or more parts, each as shewn in the Drawing. The
hexagonal piece Z first being used as a stamper to form the lower half of the
vessel, and then being held down by the end pins a and catches b with it in the
bottom mould, whilst the top stamper X is let fall to finish the second half of
the vessel, one side at a time, the die being shifted as required. The bottom
of the lower die is made with hexagonal angles, so as to be able to receive
blows of the stamper X, first on one of the faces Y, and then on the other.
Another form of vessel is shewn at Figure 13. It is formed of corrugated
iron in rolls appropriated for that purpose, which are shewn at Figure 14.
Another part of my improvements consists in machinery for forming vessels

page_text: of metal in a new and improved manner, as follows, see Figures 15 and 16:-
A is a mould, made in one or more pieces, and it may be engraved, or chased, or
ornamented in any other way, inside. In the bottom of this hollow die is placed
a little molten metal m. B is a stamp, moving in guides. It is forced down
into the mould by a screw or other suitable means, and displaces part of the
molten metal up into the sides of the die, and, as the metal gradually cools, the
pressure is increased more and more, so as to force it with great pressure into
all the small markings or lines of the mould, and make a very strong impres-
sion with one pair of moulds, instead of several, as usual. The moulds may be
kept hot by gas, or any other suitable means, during the process. If the work
is desired to be more sharp or hard than this squeezing mode of making
will allow, then it may be afterwards stamped in other dies, in the usual
manner.
Goblets, stewpans, as shewn in the Drawings, Figures 15 and 16, and also
pewter pots, metal lamps, and vessels of every description, may be made in this
manner.
Another part of my improvements consists of a mode of forming vessels of
clay, or any plastic materials, and is shewn at Figures 17. A is a mould, made of
one or more pieces. B is a stamp for forcing the clay or plaistic matter up into
the mould. A lump of the clay C, or plastic material, is put into the bottom
of the mould, and, the stamp B being forced down upon it, the clay, or other
plaistic material, rises up the sides of the stamp and fills the mould. The
stamp being withdrawn, the mould, if in pieces, is opened, or it is turned up-
side down, and the newly-made vessel is removed, and completed by baking or
otherwise.
This plan is applicable to the making of garden pots, jars, jugs, pipes, filters,
and all other hollow vessels.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner in which the same is
to be performed, I claim,-
Firstly, the improved vessels or casks manufactured in the way described,
and also the machinery for making the same.
.
Secondly, I claim the mode of pressing up, in moulds or dies, vessels or
hollow forms made in molten or semi-molten metal, of any suitable kind, so as
to produce, either wholly or in part, the shape required, and which shape may
be again struck in another die or dies, in the usual manner, if it is deemed
necessary to make the metal firmer or the impression sharper.
Thirdly, I claim the method of making vessels, shapes, or hollow forms in
clays, cements, or any other plastic material, which vessels or forms are pressed
from below upwards, which will prevent, in a great degree, the formation of

page_text: air bubbles, which form holes in the material, and which method does not
require the centre disc die which in certain articles is necessary, and is usually
placed at the bottom, and is held by one or more cross pieces, which sepa-
rate the plastic form as it passes through, as, for instance, in making clay
pipes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Solomon Israel Da Costa, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of November, One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
SOLOMON ISRAEL (L.S.) DA COSTA.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-second day of November,
in the year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid Solomon Israel Da Costa came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged tho
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and spe-
cified, in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-second day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.