CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MACHINES USUALLY CALLED BEER ENGINES
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
ERNEST, of Gordon Street, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Royal
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing
date the Thirteenth day of May, One thousand eight hundred and forty, did
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Ernest, my exors, adññors, and
assigns, Her special licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said Henry Ernest, my exors, adñors, and assigns, during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within that part of Her said United Kingdom called England, the
Principality of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MACHINES USUALLY CALLED
BEER ENGINES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso,
obliging me, the said Henry Ernest, particularly to describe the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent, as in and by the same Letters
Patent, relation being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Ernest, do describe the nature of my said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following statement thereof,
and the Drawings hereunto annexed, reference being had thereto, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon (that is to say):-
The nature of my said Invention consists in connecting a number of pumps
together for the purpose of simultaneously drawing liquors from two or more
different casks; in regulating the quantities of the liquors so drawn in such
proportions to each other as may be desired; and in working or operating
with one lever, either together or separately upon two several pumps, whether
connected or unconnected with each other.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figs. 1 and 2 represent an arrangement for drawing liquors from both or
either of two casks at pleasure by one lever, and also of varying the quan-
tities drawn from either cask in any proportion. a, a, are two pumps of the
kind commonly used in beer engines. The piston rods of the pumps are
connected by the links b, b, to two bell-crank levers c, c, each of which is free
to turn independently of the other upon the pin d; e is a cylindrical socket,
sawn through its axis, so as to form two semi-cylindrical halves, which are
separately attached to the upper arms of the bell-crank levers c, c; f is the
lever or handle, the lower portion of which is made semi-cylindrical to fit the
socket e, and on the middle of the semi-cylindrical side are formed two studs
9, 9, placed one above the other, and occupying one-sixth of the circumference
of the circle. These studs (which are dovetailed) work in two corresponding
grooves in each half of the socket, which latter grooves extend each one-third
of the circumference. When the studs engage the grooves of both parts of
the socket, both pumps are moved simultaneously by the action of the lever f,
and will deliver equal quantities; but if the handle be turned as far as it will
go in either direction, then the studs are withdrawn from the opposite part of
the socket, and the pump connected thereto is set at liberty, and is not moved
by the motion of the handle, whilst the studs engage the other part of the
socket, and the pump to which that is connected will alone be operated upon
by the motion of the handle. Thus, by throwing the pumps out of geer
alternately, and by pulling a longer or a shorter stroke, the liquor may be
drawn or mixed in any desired proportions. In order to insure the ready
connection of either portion of the socket with the handle, the bell-crank
levers when out of geer rest upon a pin passing from side to side, through the
projecting parts h of the bearing k. The delivery pipe m of each pump is
connected to one of two branches of a nozzle n (as shewn in plan at Figure 3),
the nozzle having two separate passages, one for each branch. Figure 4

page_text: represents the handle as disengaged from one of the two parts of the socket.
It also shews a mode of regulating the discharge from each pump in certain
definite proportions by means of a number of holes in the arms c, c, to either
of which the links b, b, may be attached; and according to the distance of the
point of attachment from the pin or fulcrum will be the proportionate dis-
charge of the pump. Figure 5 is a plan of Figure 4; and Figure 6 shews
the handle detached from the socket. Figures 7 and 8 represent a slight
variation in the construction of the handle and socket. The latter has but
one instead of two grooves in each half, and the handle has a projecting collar
or shoulder at each end of the semi-cylindrical part, to which collars are bolted
a bar o, the width of which is one-sixth of the circumference, and in the centre
of this bar is a pin p, which works in the groove in the socket. Figures 9
and 10 represent a plan for drawing liquors from two casks simultaneously,
by means of two cranks permanently attached to the lever or pump handle f.
a, a, are the pumps, the rods of which are connected by the links b, b, to the
cranks c, c, which, as also the handle f, are all firmly pinned to one spindle c,
so that the motion of the handle puts both pumps in action at once; and to
regulate the quantity thrown by each pump, the arms c, c, have several holes
for the attachment of the links, as in Figure 4, and the delivery pipes are
connected to a nozzle with two passages, as shewn in Figure 3.
In cases
where it may be desirable to obtain a greater difference in the proportions to
each other of the several liquors drawn than can conveniently be obtained by
the elongation of the levers c, c, pumps of different capacity in diameter may
be employed. The case in which the apparatus is contained should, for
facility of access to regulate the pumps in its interior, be provided with a door
or flap, as shewn at 7 in Figure 1, or some other equivalent arrangement
should be adopted; and where a shifting lever is employed, that part of the
lever between the handle and the semi-cylindrical parts should be square in its
form, and the slit through which it works in the semicircular head or upper
part of the case should be formed with a circular enlargement at the upper
end of the slit, to permit the lever to be turned from the one side to the other.
The strength and nature of the materials of which the several parts of the
apparatus are formed, and the modes of connecting them together, are such as
are usually adopted for the construction of such or similar apparatus, and are
too well known to require explanation.
Having now ascertained my Invention of certain improvements in the
manufacture of machines usually called beer engines, and defined in what it
consists, I declare that the said Drawings represent the apparatus in its most
complete or simplest forms; but the arrangement of the parts, and the con-

page_text: struction of many of the minor parts, admit of numerous modifications, and
may be varied according to the situation in which the apparatus is placed and
the circumstances governing the same, without at all deviating from my
Invention as I have defined the same.
And I claim as my said Invention the connecting together in beer engines
of a number of pumps for the purpose of simultaneously drawing liquors from
two or more different casks; the regulating the quantities of the liquors so
drawn in definite proportions to each other; and the working or operating with
one lever, either together or separately, upon two several pumps, and whether
connected or unconnected with each other; and although I claim I do not
limit myself to the use of the modes herein-before described of effecting my
said Invention.
Lastly, I declare that I disclaim any invention in the connecting of pumps
together for any other purposes than the drawing of liquors usually drawn by
beer engines.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Ernest, have hereunto subscribed
and set my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty.