New or Improved Process and Means for Storing and Keeping Hops, and Apparatus for use therewith.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Nov., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 14th Aug., 1893-Accepted, 7th Oct., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Process and Means for Storing and Keeping Hops,
and Apparatus for use therewith.
I, MATTHEW ALGERNON ADAMS, of Trinity House, Maidstone, in the County
of Kent, Surgeon and Professional Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to a certain new or improved process or means for storing
and keeping hops and preventing their deterioration and enabling them to be
sampled or removed for use as and when required, and includes also apparatus to be
used in the process.
In a previous Patent No. 11,123 of 1891, granted to me and another, a method is
claimed of preserving hops by packing them in vessels adapted to be made airtight,
and then exhausting all the contained air and substituting therefor carbonic acid
gas (CO) or a suitable gas or compound of gases or vapours, and then sealing up.
In practice inconveniences occurred owing to the cost of such vessels, the weight
and space occupied by same, the difficulty of closing them airtight and of getting at
the contents for sampling, &c.; and generally it appeared advisable to dispense
with the use of permanent vessels for transit with the hops and return empty, and
this is the aim of the present invention which, while adhering in principle to the
abovementioned patented method of preserving the hops, obviates the necessity for
employing a plurality of packing and storing vessels and remedies the inconveniences
above alluded to.
tion.
According to my present invention I employ separate receptacles, one a vacuum
receptacle for preserving, the other a chamber for storing and maintaining the preserva-
At the place where the hops are to be stored I construct one or more storage
chambers of capacity suited to the particular requirements, which may be divided
up by partitions or not. Such a chamber is made practically airtight and is or may
be lined with zinc or equivalent damp and air excluding material, and it is provided
with a removable or sectional part or cover also adapted to be made airtight at all
joints wholly or in part as required. This chamber, either by displacement or in
any convenient and suitable manner 1 charge with CO,. The preserving receptacle
may be a rigid metallic receptacle adapted to be closed by a suitable cover as set
forth in my prior Patent, or the closure may be effected by a piston or plunger
adapted to follow the diminished bulk arising as the vacuum is produced; but a
feature of my present invention consists in the use of apparatus consisting of a
collapsible receptacle made of indiarubber or other suitable flexible and airtight
material, adapted to receive the hops in pockets or otherwise and which on exhaustion
will contract upon the same and whereby the vacuum can be more readily and
economically obtained in either case the closure is released at the proper time by
or after the admission of the CO, or the like used for the preservation. Such a
receptacle whether rigid or collapsible is provided with suitable exhausting and
charging connections and with proper fittings as required. The receptacle
containing the preserved hops is then placed over, inserted into, or otherwise
brought to an aperture in the storage chamber, both receptacles are then opened,
and the pocket of hops is transferred from the vacuum vessel into the chamber
charged as described with CO,, after which the aperture is closed and stopped.
This process is repeated until the transference is completed and then the hops
remain in an atmosphere of CO, or other suitable gas or vapour, and can be
removed for use as and when required and the chamber resealed. Thus the hops
can be sent to the consumer, merchant, or consignee in the ordinary manner, and

page_text: the process of preserving carried out at the brewery or other store by the means
set forth.
Dated this 16th day of November 1892.
J. C. CHAPMAN,
Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION....
New or Improved Process and Means for Storing and Keeping Hops,
and Apparatus for use therewith.
I, MATTHEW ALGERNON ADAMS, of Trinity House, Maidstone, in the County
of Kent, Surgeon and Professional Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to a certain new or improved process or means for storing
and keeping hops and preventing their deterioration and enabling them to be
sampled or removed for use as and when required, and includes also apparatus to be
used in the process.
In a previous Patent No. 11,123 of 1891 granted to me and another, a method is
claimed of preserving hops by packing them in vessels adapted to be made airtight,
and then exhausting the contained air and substituting therefor carbonic acid
gas (CO) or a suitable gas or compound of gases or vapours, and then sealing up.
In practice inconveniences occurred owing to the cost of such vessels, the weight
and space occupied by same, the difficulty of closing them airtight and of com-
pletely exhausting air and also of getting at the contents for sampling, etc.; and
generally it appeared advisable to dispense with the use of permanent vessels for
transit with the hops and return empty, and this is the aim of the present invention
which, while facilitating the exhaustion of the hops of their contained air, obviates
the necessity for employing a plurality of packing and storing vessels and remedies
the inconveniences above alluded to.
According to my present invention I employ separate receptacles, one a vacuum
receptacle for temporary preparation of the hops by exhaustion, the other a chamber
for permanently storing and maintaining the preservation. At the place where the
hops are to be stored I construct one or more storage chambers of capacity suited
to the particular requirements, which may be divided up by partitions or not. Such
a chamber is made practically airtight and is or may be lined with zinc or equivalent
damp and air excluding material and it is provided with a removable or sectional
part or cover also adapted to be made airtight at all joints wholly or in part as
required. This chamber, either by displacement or in any convenient and suitable
manner I charge with CÓ.. The temporary or vacuum receptacle may be a rigid
metallic receptacle adapted to be closed by a suitable cover, or the closure may be
effected by a piston or plunger adapted to follow the diminished bulk arising as the
vacuum is produced; but a feature of my present invention consists in the use of
apparatus consisting of a collapsible receptacle made of indiarubber or other suitable
flexible and airtight material, adapted to receive the hops in pockets or otherwise and
which on exhaustion will contract upon the same and whereby the vacuum can be
more readily, completely and economically obtained.
In the accompanying drawing
Fig. 1 is a vertical section illustrative of one form of the special vacuum vessel I
prefer to employ, and Fig. 2 is an enlarged section through its closed end.
I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to this construction alone,
as it may be obviously varied in many ways without departing from the nature of
this part of my invention.
The collapsible vacuum vessel or sac may only be of sufficient capacity to receive
a single pocket of hops and one such vessel may be employed successively for any
number of pockets of hops. The body of it is tubular. and made of rubber, rubber
cloth or compound, or other airtight and flexible material A. One end A' is closed

page_text: and lined with metal a to which a boss B is attached; this is bored out at band
fitted with a self-acting valve V set between a seat and a perforated plate v' and
having a distance stop on its upper side. To the boss any ordinary exhauster
connection such as E is fitted. S is a perforated screen for restraining substances.
H is a cock for admitting CO, when required. The mouth end A' is left open and
surrounded by a ring R of iron or other suitable resisting material and arranged so
as to maintain a correct figure at the mouth of the bag and support an annular
cushion C of pure rubber or other yielding substance. The ring may be held in
position by the material of the sac or by binding such as c if required. L is a lid
of metal plate or other material shaped to fit accurately into the open mouth of the
bag and impinge upon the soft rubber seating C. In use, as exhaustion proceeds
the lid L is drawn tightly inwards and held in position by the pressure of the
external atmosphere acting on it, and the walls A contract on the hops. This is a
most important feature of my invention since it serves to assist in and render the
removal of the air more perfect. T are eyelets by which the whole vacuum vessel
and its contents may be moved about and brought into the required positions for
exhaustion and insertion into the storage chamber. The latter may be a very
simple and inexpensive structure as above indicated provided only that it is made
airtight. It will thus be seen that according to my invention I divide the process
into two distinct stages:
-
(a) The preparatory one of exhaustion.
(b) The subsequent placing in a storage chamber containing CO
The steps of my process then are as follows:-First, the pocket of hops is enclosed
within the vacuum vessel, the lid L applied, and by means of an exhauster as far as
is practicable the whole of the air is removed, next the exhausted vacuum vessel
with its contained hops is transferred bodily to the storage chamber and placed
therein, the mouth A' being downwards, the store chamber is charged either before
or after the transference in any convenient way with CO,. Next CO, is admitted
into the exhausted vacuum vessel at the connection H by any suitable pipe
connection with a supply and thoroughly permeates the hops in every direction thus
relieving the pressure upon the lid L and restoring equilibrium so that the lid then
falls out; the pocket of hops is thus set free and the enclosing vessel can be with-
drawn leaving the pocket of hops in the store chamber in an atmosphere of CO₂
the chamber is then hermetically closed against external atmospheric influence and
the process is complete.
From the above it is obvious that a single vacuum vessel may suffice for the
preparatory exhaustion part of the process as applied to any number of pockets of
hops in succession, and thus the hops can be sent to the consumer, merchant, or
consignee in the ordinary manner, and the process of storing and preserving carried
out at the brewery or other store by the means set forth.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The herein before described process for storing and keeping hops which
consists in firstly enclosing the hops in a receptacle preferably collapsible and
exhausting its contained air so that the enclosed hops remain in vacuo therein;
secondly transferring the said vessel with the hops contained in vacuo therein bodily
to a practically airtight storage chamber charged with or adapted to be afterwards
charged with and retain carbonic acid gas; next admitting carbonic acid gas to the
vacuum vessel so as to permeate the hops and restore equilibrium; then (if desired)
withdrawing the vacuum vessel, and finally sealing up the storage chamber, all
substantially as described.
2. In the process above described and claimed, the employment of a flexible and
collapsible vacuum receptacle or sac adapted to receive the hops to be stored and
when exhausted of air to contract on the hops, thereby facilitating and rendering
more perfect the said exhaustion of contained air.

page_text: 3. The construction of a collapsible vacuum vessel for the above mentioned
purpose consisting of a flexible sac having one end open and the other end closed, a
metallic lining to its closed end having a bored and valved boss with perforated
plate and exhauster coupling, a screen S and an inlet cock H, and a lid L adapted
to close its open end when required, all substantially as above set forth.
Dated this 14th day of Avoust 1893
For the Applicant,
J. C. CHAPMAN,
70, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.