IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STOPPING THE BUNG-HOLES OF CASKS AND SIMILAR VESSELS, ALSO IN TOOLS OR IMPLEMENTS FOR FIXING AND REMOVING SUCH STOPPING APPARATUS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nathan Thompson, of Abbey Gardens, St. John's
Wood, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STOPPING THE BUNG-HOLES OF CASKS AND SIMILAR
VESSELS, ALSO IN TOOLS OR IMPLEMENTS FOR FIXING AND REMOVING SUCH
STOPPING APPARATUS."
Sealed the 25th September 1868, and_dated the 29th July 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nathan Thompson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th July 1868.
I, NATHAN THOMPSON, of Abbey Gardens, St. John's Wood, in the County
5 of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STOPPING THE BUNG-HOLES OF CASKS AND SIMILAR
VESSELS, ALSO IN TOOLS OR IMPLEMENTS FOR FIXING AND REMOVING SUCH STOPPING
APPARATUS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for stopping
the bung-holes of casks and similar vessels, also in tools or implements for
fixing and removing such stopping apparatus.
According to my Invention I do not, as is usual, make the bung-hole
of the cask or vessel of the same diameter throughout, but I make it larger
on the outside of the cask than it is within, and into the part of the
larger diameter I screw a metal lining or bushing; at the bottom of this
lining or bushing is a seat for a valve or stopper, and in the inner sides of the

page_text: said lining or busbing are vertical and horizontal grooves similar to those of an
ordinary bayonet catch. A metal lid or cover fits over the top lining or
bushing, and a ring or flange on the under side of the lid or cover enters
down into it. This ring or flange has projections on its exterior entering the
bayonet grooves in the lining or bushing, so that when the lid or cover is
put into its place, on turning it partly round it becomes secured. Underneath
the lid or cover is the valve or stopper for closing the bung-hole by resting on
the seat at the bottom of the lining or bushing; this valve or stopper is formed
by preference of a metal plato clothed on its under side with cork, which is
firmly cemented to the metal plate, and the plate is rivetted to the lower
end of a screw which passes through the centro of the lid or cover by a holo
having a screw thread within it; there are also two other holes through the
lid or cover on opposite sides of the central holes, and these are employed
when removing and replacing the stopping apparatus, as herein-after
described. At the top of the screw is a socket to receive a key. It will
be seen that when the lid or cover is in its place, by turning the screw
the valve or stopper may be forced down into its seat, and the bung-hole thus
closed; by turning the screw in the contrary direction the pressure of tho
valve or stopper on its scat will be released; and in this way air may be
admitted to the cask when drawing off the liquid, the valve or stopper thus
answering the same purpose as the vent peg ordinarily employed. Or if it be
.desired altogether to remove the stopping apparatus, it may be done by turning
the lid or cover partly round so that it will draw out of the bayonet grooves.
As, however, the lid or cover is flat on the exterior, and comes flush with
the surface of the stave of the cask, it is necessary to employ an instrument
for the purpose of holding and turning it. The instrument I employ consists
of two hooks connected to a handle, and these hooks are so formed as to enter
the side holes of the plate or cover. Between the hooks is a cross bar with a
hole in it, through which passes a key, there are flanges on the key to retain it
in its place in the cross bar, but it is able to turn freely; the key is so formed
at its lower end as to fit the socket at the top of the screw. When the instru-
ment is applied to remove the stopping apparatus, at the same time that the
hooks enter the side holes in the cover the key enters the socket at the top of
the screw, and then by turning the scrow by means of the key the stopper or
valve is slacked. Afterwards the stopping apparatus may be completely
removed by turning the instrument partly round by means of its handle, it will
carry the stopping apparatus with it until the lid or cover is released from the
bayonet catch, and then the hooks will lift it out of its place. In order to cut
the bung-hole in a cask larger on the outside than within, as already

page_text: described, and also to fix the lining or bushing in the bung-hole, I employ a
a tool which at one end has an auger bit suitably formed to produce the hole
required, that is to say, with cutters of two different diameters; the tool has
also handles for turning the auger, and at its other end it bas projections which
fit the bayonet grooves of the lining or bushing, so that by means of the tool the
said lining or bushing (which has a screw thread on its exterior) can be securely
screwed into its place. It is not essential that the lining or bushing should be
fixed in the manner above described; in place thereof it may have a flange or
lip coming against the exterior of the cask, and be secured by screws passing
through the said flange.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Nathan Thompson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th January 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, NATHAN
THOMPSON, of Abbey Gardens, St. John's Wood, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of 1er reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and graut
unto me, the said Nathan Thompson, Her special licence that I, the said
Nathan Thompson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Nathan Thompson, 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STOPPING THE BUNG-HOLES OF CASES
AND SIMILAR VESSELS, ALSO IN TOOLS OR IMPLEMENTS FOR FIXING AND REMOVING
BUCH STOPPING APPARATUS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Nathan Thompson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing.
under my, or their, or one of their bands 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..

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Nathan Thompson, 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 apparatus for stopping
the bung-holes of casks and similar vessels, also in tools or implements for
fixing and removing such stopping apparatus.
According to my Invention I do not, as is usual, make the bung-hole of tho
cask or vessel of the same diameter throughout, but I make it larger on the
outside of the cask than it is within, and into the part of the larger diameter
I screw a metal lining or bushing, at the bottom of this lining or bushing is a
seat for a valvo or stopper, and in the inner sides of the said lining or bushing
are vertical and horizontal grooves similar to those of an ordinary bayonet
catch. A metal lid or cover fits over the top lining or bushing, and a ring or
flange on the under side of the lid or cover enters down into it. This ring
or flange has projections on its exterior entering the bayonet grooves in the
lining or bushing, so that when the lid or cover is put into its place, on
turning it partly round it becomes secured. Underneath the lid or cover is the
valve or stopper for closing the bung-hole by resting on the seat at the bottom
of the lining or bushing; this valve or stopper is formed, by preference, of a
metal plate clothed on its under side with cork, which is firmly cemented to
the metal plate, and the plate is rivetted to the lower end of a screw, which
passes through the centre of the lid or cover by a hole having a screw thread
within it; there are also two other holes through the lid or cover on opposite sides
of the central hole, and these are employed when removing and replacing the
stopping apparatus, as herein-after described. At the top of the screw is a
socket to receive a key. It will be seen that when the lid or cover is in its
place, by turning the screw the valve or stopper may be forced down into its
seat and the bung-hole thus closed; by turning the scrow in the contrary
direction the pressure of the valve or stopper on its seat will be released, and
in this way air may be admitted to the cask when drawing off the liquid, the
valve or stopper thus answering the same purpose as the vent peg ordinarily
employed. Or if it be desired altogether to remove the stopping apparatus, it
may be done by turning the lid or cover partly round, so that it will draw out
of the bayonet grooves. As, however, the lid or cover is flat on the exterior,
and comes flush with the surface of the stave of the cask, it is necessary to
einploy an instrument for the purpose of holding and turning it. The instru-
ment I employ consists of two hooks connected to a handle, and these hooks
are so formed as to enter the side holes of the plate or cover. Between the

page_text: hooks is a cross bar with a hole in it, through which passes a key; there are
flanges on the key to retain it in its place in the cross bar, but it is able to
turn freely; the key is so formed at its lower end as to fit the socket at the
top of the screw. When the instrument is applied to remove the stopping
apparatus, at the same time that the hooks enter the side holes in the cover the
key enters the socket at the top of the screw, and then by turning the screw
by means of the key the stopper or valve is slacked. Afterwards the stopping
apparatus may be completely removed by turning the instrument partly round
by means of its handle, it will carry the stopping apparatus with it until the
lid or cover is released from the bayonet catch, and then the hooks will lift it
out of its place. It is not essential that the lining or bushing should be fixed
in the manner above described; in place thereof it may have a flange or lip
coming against the exterior of the cask, and be secured by screws passing
through the said flange.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
Figure 1 is a plan of a portion of the stave of a cask, with the bung-holo
and apparatus for stopping the same, arranged according to my Invention;
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the same.
The bung-hole, as before mentioned, is made larger on the outside of the
cask than it is within, and a is a lining or bushing screwed into it, and having
in it at the bottom a seat for a valve; a', a', are vertical and horizontal
grooves in the lining or bushing a; they are similar to those of an ordinary
bayonet catch, and, as shown in the Drawings, they are five in number, but
this may be varied; these grooves a', a', are clearly shown in Figure 3, which
is a plan of a portion of the stave with the bung-hole and lining or bushing a,
the other parts of the stopping apparatus being removed; Figure 4 is a
vertical section of Figure 3. 6 is a metal lid or cover fitting over the top of
the lining or bushing a; it has a ring or flange b' on its under side, which
enters down into the upper part of the lining or bushing a; 6 are projections
on the ring or flange b' to enter the grooves a¹; by this arrangement when
the lid or cover b is put in its place and turned partly round it becomes
secured; c is a valve or stopper for closing the bung-hole by bearing on the
seat at the bottom of the lining or bushing a. The valve or stopper c consists
of a metal plate clothed on its under side with a sheet of cork, which is firmly
cemented to it. d is a screw passing through a tapped hole in the centre of

page_text: the lid or cover b, and having the valve or stopper c rivetted to its lower end,
but the screw is able to turn independently of the valve or stopper. A side
view of the lid or cover b, the valve or stopper c, and the screw d combined
together for use is shown at Figure 5, and Figure 6 is an under side view of
the lid or cover b, shown separately. At the top of the screw d is a socket d'
to receive a key. In place of fixing the lining or bushing a in the manner
above described, it may, as before mentioned, have an external flange, and be
fixed to the stave of the cask by screws. Figure 7 is a side view of the
instrument employed for removing the stopping apparatus. It consists of a
handle e, to which is jointed the cross bar f with the hooks 9, 9, upon it. An 1
end view of these parts is shown at Figure 8. At the centre of the cross bar
is a hole, and through this the key i passes. In using the instrument to with-
draw the stopping apparatus the hooks 9, 9, are dropped into the holes of
the lid or cover b.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nathan Thompson, have hereunto set 1
my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
NATHAN THOMPSON. (L.S.)