CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR GRIND- ING COVERS OR STOPPERS FOR JARS, BOTTLES, AND OTHER VESSELS MADE OF CHINA, STONE, OR OTHER EARTHENWARE
Year: 1833

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WISKER, of Vauxhall, in the County of Surrey, Potter, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eleventh day of December, in the fourth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Wisker, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said John Wisker, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Wisker, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agrée
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, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR GRIND-
ING COVERS OR STOPPERS FOR JARS, BOTTLES, AND OTHER VESSELS MADE OF CHINA,
STONE, OR OTHER EARTHENWARE;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that I, the said John Wisker, shall cause a particular description of
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, 1, the said
John Wisker, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon
(that is to say):-
My Invention consists of certain combinations of machinery and apparatus
for the purpose of grinding covers or stoppers for jars and other similar vessels
made of china, stone, or other earthenware, as will be fully described here-
after, the object being to perform the operation of grinding a series of
stoppers at one operation, and at the same time to grind such stoppers or
covers of a spherical or conical form, as will be hereafter fully described.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is an elevation of a machine for grinding stoppers or covers which
are formed of a portion of a sphere; and although there are only two jars
represented in the Figure having their stoppers in the act of grinding, the
machine is capable of grinding twelve covers or stoppers at each operation,
the other parts being removed to prevent complexity in the Drawing.
Figure 2 is a plan of the wheelwork by which the spindles are worked, as
will be hereafter described. In all the Figures the same letters refer to
similar parts, a, a, being the framing which carries the various parts; b is a
drum or pulley which receives motion by means of a strap or band from any
first mover. The drum or pulley 6 is affixed on the shaft or axis c, which
turns in proper bearings d, d, and on the shaft c is affixed the bevelled
toothed wheel e, which takes into and drives the bevelled toothed wheel f
which is affixed on the vertical axis 9 turning in bearings affixed to the
framing a, a. On to this axis is affixed the toothed wheel h which drives the
spindles, they being attached to the axes of the toothed wheels i, the axes of
the toothed wheels having bearings at the top of the machine, as shewn at j
and also at on the framings 1, as shown in the Drawing.
Figure 3 shows one of the spindles separately on a larger scale, by which it
will be seen that, by means of an eye formed at the lower end of the axis i,
and and a hook at the end of the spindles m, they are attached, and thus is
sufficient play allowed to the spindles m, in order that they may accommodate
themselves to the various positions which the jars, bottles, or vessels take in
the course of the operation for grinding the stoppers or covers, as will be fully
described hereafter. In Figure 3 it will be seen that the spindles m are com-
posed of two parts m' and m³, the part m' being that which is attached to the

page_text: axis of the toothed wheels i by the hook at the upper end, the part m² being
a tube capable of sliding up and down on the part m', and thus allowing of
elongation and contraction (as to length) of the spindle m. In the tube m²
is formed a slit n, in which a stud o, which is screwed to the part m', slides,
whereby the parts m³, m², are retained together, and although capable of
sliding, they turn together by means of the stud o acting against the sides of
the slit n.
Figure 4 shews the under plan of the tube m², in which it will be seen
that there are cut slits p, by which the stopper or cover of the jar, bottle,
or other vessel is held and caused to turn; Figure 5 being a plan and
side view of a stopper for a jar; and Figure 6 is a section of a jar,
showing the stopper in its place. y, Figure 1, is a suspended platform
on which the jars, bottles, or other vessels are placed and held securely
when having their stoppers or covers ground into their necks. This
platform is suspended by four chains r, r, r, r, by which it is capable of
swinging when actuated by the crank s, which is connected to the shaft or
axis t, and on this shaft t is affixed the pulley v, which is the driving pulley
of this part of the machine, it being actuated by an endless gut band w,
which receives motion from the pulley x affixed on the shaft c, the band w
being guided on to and off the pulley by the pulleys y. On to the axes t
is affixed a toothed wheel A, and there is also a toothed wheel D on the
shaft or axes t, which is not affixed, but turns independently of that shaft or
axes. e is another shaft or axes turning in proper bearings, as shown in
Figure 1. On this shaft are affixed the toothed wheels B and C, the wheel
B being actuated by the wheel A, and the wheel C actuates the wheel D.
Figure 7 shews this wheel D separately, as well also as the crank movement
by which the platform q is actuated. It will be desirable here to observe, that
the object of these parts is to enable the platform q to be actuated, first,
by the excentricity of the crank; and, secondly, at times to retain the plat-
form centrally with the axes t of the crank s, which is capable of sliding,
and thus changing the position of the crank pin or stud F, by which the
crank s is connected to the platform q. The manner in which the crank s
acts will be more evident by examining Figure 7, s being the main part of the
crank, which has a slit or opening G cut in it, in which the square projection
s', which is made fast to the axes t, slides, and the pin F, being made fast to
the platform q, enters a hole formed in the upper part of the crank s, as
shewn. His a projecting arm forming part of the crank s, and I is a curved
plate attached to the wheel D. By this means it will be evident that in the
revolution of the crank s and the wheel D, whenever the plate I and the end

page_text: of the arm H come in contact, the arm H will be forced inwards to the centre
in such manner that the crank pin or stud F will stand in a line with the
axes or shaft t, and the spindles m will consequently be all revolving vertically,
and by thus changing the position or direction of the action of the grinding,
the desired figure and correctness of surface is obtained to the stoppers or
covers on their seats in the necks of the jars or vessels. Immediately the
arm H has passed the plate I on the wheel D, the crank pin F will be forced
out of the centre by means of the spring J, this spring having at all times a
tendency to keep the crank pin F from the centre of the axes t; and it is by
the compression of this spring J that the pin F is permitted to approach to
and recede from the centre of the axes t during part of the revolution, as
above described. The jars, bottles, or other such vessels are securely retained
on the platform q by means of the uprights K, which are securely fixed to the
platform.q; and these uprights K have racks or notches cut in them for
supporting the triangular shelf L, one corner of such triangular shelf being
supported by an upright K. By this means the shelf L may be raised or
lowered to suit the various-sized jars or vessels, in order to bring the neck
thereof in a proper position for grinding the stopper or cover. At the top of
each upright there is a screw M, by which the jars or other vessels are held
securely; and as jars and other such vessels are made to certain definite sizes,
it follows that, having once properly adjusted the screws M to one of a par-
ticular size, it will only be necessary to unscrew one of the screws for a short
distance to remove the jar or other vessel when its stopper is ground in; then
another jar or vessel may be put in its place, and held fast by again screwing
up the screw that was slackened to remove the former jar. N is a tub to
contain water, there being a plug at bottom to regulate the flow; and there
are small troughs O, one to each jar, bottle, or vessel, for supplying water
thereto from the tub N.
Having now described the various parts, and manner of combing the same,
I will proceed to describe the manner of their action. Having placed twelve
jars in the respective places on the shelves L, and secured them by the screws
M, their covers or stoppers are to be placed in their necks, and the parts m²
of the spindles slided down, so that they hold the stoppers or covers. Motion
being communicated to the shaft c, will, by the wheel h, give motion to the
spindles m, and at the same time the suspended platform 9 will be caused to
swing by the crank s, and this platform will occasionally come to a stand
centrally, so that the spindles for a short space of time revolve perpendicularly
as above mentioned; and from the wheel D travelling at different speed to the
crank, the arm H will be forced inwards in a different direction at each revo-

page_text: lution. By this means the stoppers are ground into their seats in the necks of
the jars, bottles, or vessels, and the face of a stopper so ground will be the
portion of a sphere, the object of this machine being to grind stoppers or
covers for jars, bottles, or other vessels, such as are set forth and described in
the Specification of a Patent granted to Robert Burton Cooper, bearing date
at Westminster, the Eighteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, under which said Letters Patent I
have obtained licence to manufacture such description of stoppers or covers to
jars, bottles, or similar vessels. I would here remark, that the neck of the
jar, bottle, or such-like vessel is to be formed as accurately to the size of
the stopper as possible when in the act of making, so that there will be as
little as may be of the surface to be removed by the grinding in of the stopper;
and in order to accomplish this, I have a guage consisting of a plate of metal
formed to the curve of the stopper, by which the neck of each jar or other
vessel is tried when in the soft state of the clay, such guage cutting away any
inequality, the guage being brought and held to the neck of the jar or other
vessel whilst it is revolving on the ordinary potters lathe. The stoppers aro
also formed as nearly as possible to the curve required; and I do this by
moulding them in a mould of the shape and size required; but the forming
of these is no part of the Invention secured by the present Letters Patent.
During the operation of grinding, a small quantity of sand is to be placed into
the neck of the jar or other vessel to assist in grinding the surface; and I
have found it desirable to finish off with a small quantity of emery, which
produces a more polished and complete surface than when sand only is used,
there being a constant yet small supply of water kept to the jars whilst
grinding.
I will now proceed to describe Fig. 8, which represents an elevation of a
machine intended for grinding conical stoppers or covers. In this Figure the
same letters indicate similar parts as those already described, a, a, being the
framing; c, the driving or main shaft; b, drum or pulley; e, bevelled toothed
wheel on the shaft c; and the wheelwork f, h, i, are similar to that in Fig. 1.
The spindles m in this instance are affixed to the shafts or axes i, and on the
tube m² is formed a projection (1), by which the stopper or cover is occa-
sionally raised, in order to admit of the passage of sand and water between
the grinding surfaces during the operation of grinding in the stopper. (2) is
a lever having its fulcrum at (3); and (4) is a connecting rod by which the
lever (2) is connected to the lever (5) which has its fulcrum at (6). vis a
wheel or pulley which is actuated in a similar manner to that shown in Fig. 1;
but in this instance it only performs the operation of lifting successively each

page_text: of the stoppers by means of the projection (7) coming under the levers (5), as
will be evident on inspecting Fig. 8 of the Drawing. 7 is a platform on
which the jars, bottles, or other similar vessels are affixed by means of similar
uprights, &c., as those described in Fig. 1; but in this instance the platform q
is a fixture. In Fig. 8, as in Fig. 1, I have only shown two jars and appa-
ratus for fixing and grinding; and I have pursued this course in order to
avoid complexity of the Drawing; but the construction of the machine will
be equally evident to a workman.
It will be evident from the above description that jars, bottles, or other
vessels having been affixed on the platform q, the revolution of the wheel h
will give motion to the wheels i, and consequently to the spindles m and the
stoppers or covers. The levers (2) will raise the stoppers once or more, accord-
ing to the number of projections 7, in every revolution of the wheel v, and
thus admit water and sand to flow between the grinding surfaces.-Note, the
operation of grinding in of the covers or stoppers is performed after the jars,
bottles, and other vessels and stoppers are in other respects completed, that is,
after burning, glazing, &c.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of com-
bining and using the same, it will be evident that, although I have described
cach machine as capable of grinding only twelve jars, bottles, or other vessels,
such machines may be constructed in a similar manner to grind a larger or a
smaller number at one operation. I do not therefore confine myself to that
number. And it will be further evident that, although I have only shown
and described the spindles m as being driven by wheelwork, the same may be
done by straps or bands, and there may be other slight variations in the detail
of the combination, but I prefer the arrangements I have here described,
having found them efficient in their performance; and although I have only
shown jars in the Drawing, yet it will be understood that bottles and such-like
vessels requiring stoppers to be ground into their necks, whether of a spherical
or conical form, may be equally well performed in the machines, such vessel
only differing in form, whilst the necks are similar to those of jars, varying
only in the diameter of the neck in proportion to the size of the vessel or the
purposes to which such vessels are to be applied. And I would have it under-
stood that I lay no claim to the various parts of the machines, they being for
the most part separately well known and in use for various purposes; nor do I
claim any of the parts in combination, excepting when combined and used for
the purpose of grinding covers or stoppers for jars, bottles, and other vessels
made of china, stone, or other earthenware; but I do hereby declare that my
Invention consists,―

page_text: First, in combining into a machine a series of spindles m and apparatus
for actuating the same, and also actuating the jars or vessels, as above
described, when the same is used for grinding spherical covers or stoppers
of jars, bottles, and other vessels made of china, stone, or other earthen-
ware; and,
Secondly, in the combination into a machine of a series of spindles m and
apparatus for actuating the same, as above described, when the same is used
for grinding conical covers or stoppers of jars, bottles, and other vessels made
of china, stone, or other earthenware, as above describod.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Wisker, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-four