AN IMPROVED APPARATUS COMBINING THE FUNCTIONS OF A BUNG AND OF A SELF-ACTING VENT PEG
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of the Firm of John
Gedge and Son, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS COMBINING THE FUNCTIONS OF A BUNG AND OF A SELF-ACTING
VENT PEG."-A communication from abroad by Romain François
Rigot of Paris in the Department of the Seine. France. Merchant.
Sealed the 15th April 1871, and dated the 19th October 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Gedge at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 19th October 1870.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son; of
No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED APPARATUS COMBINING THE FUNCTIONS OF A BUNG AND OF A SELF-ACTING
VENT PEG," a communication to me from abroad by Romain François
Bigot, of Paris, in the Department of the Seine, France, Merchant, to
be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to obviate the inconveniences and serious
obstacles to the preservation of liquids and of their qualities consequent

page_text: upon the frequent removal of the bung of the cask containing the liquid
or the repeated piercing of the cask.
It is well known that to easily draw off a liquid from a cask in which
it is on draught it is necessary either to open the bung hole or to bore
a small hole in the upper part of the cask, which hole is afterwards
stopped with a wooden peg termed a vent peg. Now thus often to
introduce into the cask more air than is required and by disproportionate
openings to permit the escape of the aromas condensed within it is to
expose the liquid to rapid deterioration and to compromise all its good
qualities. These inconveniences, and others which might be cited, have
led many persons to seek a remedy, and various vent pegs have been
produced of more or less efficacy, it is believed, however, that no con-
trivance hitherto adopted has attained the same degree of perfection
scientifically, practically, and economically as the apparatus the subject
this Provisional Specification
Figure 1 is an elevation and top and bottom plan of an apparatus
embodying this Invention; Figure 2 is a section of the same.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION.
This apparatus consists of a bung (see Fig. 1) made of wood, india-
rubber, gutta percha, cork, or any other suitable material, and of a conical
or cylindrical shape, this bung is pierced in the centre (see L, Fig. 2)
by an opening of about half an inch more or less. The upper part of
this bung is hollowed in the centre at K to receive a plate A of copper
or other material having a small opening in the centre at B of about
1 of an inch in diameter for admission of air; this plate is fixed by
means of two small pins C. Beneath this plate is a pin or cross piece H
holding a spring or elastic G communicating with a hook I fixed to a
valve D of leather or other material. This valve which is placed beneath
the bung, in another part J, also hollowed in order to protect it, is on
one side (E) nailed or screwed and held on the other (F) by. the spring
or elastic. This valve may also act under 'the pressure of an outer
spring or by any other method of closing either by suction or com-
pression. This self-acting atmospheric pressure bung vent peg, once
fixed in the bung hole, and thus abandoned to the simple pressure of the
outer air finds in its own mechanism the means, and in some sort the

page_text: intelligence to permit the entrance of air into the cask only when
necessary, and to permit the passage of only as much as may be required
by an opening as small as possible, and without giving to the aromas
either time or space for evaporation, and finally the operation ended to
close of itself.
The great advantage of such a system will be at once apparent to all ;
the casks need no longer be injured by the boring of holes, and no anxiety
be felt as to their being properly and constantly closed and the quality
and preservation of the liquid they contain thereby ensured.
The use of this apparatus dispensing with the boring of vent holes,
there will be no more uncertainty as to the legitimate origin of this or
that perforation. The shape of the bung not only permits its being
easily fixed, but also admits of its being sealed if required. The bung
may be struck without fear of injuring the mechanism, and it does not
interfere with the carriage of the cask which may be turned upside
down and piled in any way, and this cannot be done when ordinary vent
pegs are applied. Finally, the price of this apparatus brings it within
reach of all.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th April 1871.
TO WHOM TO ALL THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of No. 11,
Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Gedge, Her special
licence that I, the said William Edward Gedge, my executors, admi
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward
Gedge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there.

page_text: after 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 "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS COMBINING THE FUNCTIONS OF A BUNG, AND OF A
SELF-ACTING VENT PEG," a communication to me from abroad by Romain
François Bigot, of Paris, in the Department of the Seine, France,
Merchant, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Gedge, my executors or administrators, 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 William Edward Gedge, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters of reference
marked thereon:―
The object of this Invention is to obviate the inconveniences and
serious obstacles to the preservation of liquids and of their qualities
consequent upon the frequent removal of the bung of the cask containing
the liquid or the repeated piercing of the cask.
It is well known that to easily draw off a liquid from a cask in which
it is on draught it is necessary either to open the bung hole or to bore a
small hole in the upper part of the cask, which hole is afterwards stopped
with a wooden peg termed a vent peg. Now thus often to introduce
into the cask more air than is required and by disproportionate openings
to permit the escape of the aromas condensed within it, is to expose the
liquid to rapid deterioriation and to compromise all its good qualities.
These inconveniences and others which might be cited have led many
persons to seek a remedy, and various vent pegs have been produced of
more or less efficacy, it is however believed that no contrivancé hitherto
adopted has attained the same degree of perfection scientifically,
practically, and economically as the apparatus the subject of this
Specification.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is an elevation and top and bottom plan of an apparatus
embodying this Invention. Figure 2 is a section of the same.
The apparatus consists of a bung (see Fig. 1) made of wood, india-
rubber, gutta percha, cork, or any other suitable material and of a
conical or cylindrical shape; this bung is pierced in the centre (see L,
Fig. 2) by an opening of about half an inch more or less. The upper
part of this bung is hollowed in the centre at K to receive a plate A of
copper or other material having a small opening in the centre at B of
about / of an inch in diameter for admission of air, this plate is fixed
by means of two small pins C. Beneath this plate is a pin or a cross
piece H holding a spring or elastic G communicating with a hook I
fixed to a valve D of leather or other material. This valve which is
placed beneath the bung in another part J, also hollowed in order to
protect it, is on one side (E) nailed or screwed and held on the other (F)
by the spring or elastic. This valve may also act under the pressure of
an outer spring or by any other method of closing either by suction or
compression. This self-acting atmospheric pressure bung vent peg once
fixed in the bunghole and thus abandoned to the simple pressure of the
outer air finds in its mechanism the means, and in some sort the
intelligence to permit the entrance of air into the cask only when
necessary, and to permit the passage of only as much as may be required
by an opening as small as possible and without giving to the aromas
either time or space for evaporation, and finally, the operation ended, to
close of itself.
The great advantage of such a system will be at once apparent to all,
the casks need no longer be injured by the boring of holes and no
anxiety be felt as to their being properly and constantly closed and the
quality and preservation of the liquid they contain thereby ensured.
The use of this apparatus dispensing with the boring of vent holes,
there will be no more uncertainty as to the legitimate origin of this or
that perforation. The shape of the bung not only permits its being
easily fixed, but also admits of its being sealed if required. The bung
may be struck without fear of injuring the mechanism, and it does not
interfere with the carriage of the cask which may be turned upside
down and piled in any way, and this cannot be done when ordinary vent

page_text: :
pegs are applied; finally, the price of this apparatus brings it within reach
of all.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of the said Invention
communicated to me as aforesaid, I would have it understood that I
- claim the combination with the bung of the device fulfilling the
functions of a self-acting vent peg the whole being constructed, arranged
and combined, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated on
the accompanying Sheet of Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Gedge, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.