IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DRAWING OFF BEER AND OTHER LIQUIDS FROM CASKS AND OTHER VESSELS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE AMOUNT OF LIQUID SO DRAWN OFF
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Henry Thomas Defty at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th September 1879.
HENRY THOMAS DEFTY, of Middlesbrough, in the County of York, Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DRAWING OFF BEER AND
OTHER LIQUIDS FROM CASKS AND OTHER VESSELS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR
INDICATING THE AMOUNT OF LIQUID SO DRAWN OFF."
This Invention relates, first, to cases where the liquid is forced up from the cask
or other vessel by the pressure of air, the air being mixed with carbonic acid gas
before entering the cask or other vessel; secondly, to an improved valve for con-
necting the withdrawal pipe to the cask or other vessel; and thirdly, in improve-
ments in the construction of apparatus for indicating and thereby registering
the amount of liquid' admitted into and drawn from certain vessels, which improve-
ments are specially applicable to vessels into which the liquid is forced from a lower
level by the pressure of air.
In cases where certain liquids are raised by means of air forced into the vessel
containing them, it has been found that fermentation occurs, and that the quality
of the liquids becomes greatly deteriorated by coming into contact with the air;
and in order to avoid these disadvantages I cause the stream of air before being
admitted into the cask or other vessel to pass through a tank containing the
requisite materials for generating carbonic acid gas, or it may pass through a
receptacle previously charged with such gas, whereby a certain quantity thereof
is caused to mix with the air and is carried therewith into the cask or other vessel,
thus preventing the air from injuriously affecting the liquid.
The valve forming the second part of this Invention consists of a hollow plug
closed at one end, the opposite end being provided with a screw thread or other
contrivance for fixing it in the cask. A number of apertures or perforations are
formed in the body of the said plug, and within the latter is fixed in such a manner
as to admit of its being turned, another plug corresponding in shape with the first ;
this last mentioned plug is also provided with apertures or perforations, and has
a screw-thread therein to which the pipe through which the liquid is drawn is
connected. The closed end of the valve is placed within the cask with the open
end exposed, so that by turning the inner portion until the apertures or per-
forations therein are brought into coincidence with those in the outer portion, the
liquid is allowed to flow.

page_text: The apparatus for indicating or registering the quantity of liquid admitted into
or drawn from certain vessels is constructed as follows:-
The vessel, which may be of any suitable shape or size, is constructed by pre-
ference of glass, whereby the color and condition of the liquid contained therein
can be readily ascertained. The indicating or registering apparatus consists of a
series of wheels or discs gearing into each other, the first of the series indicating
units, the second tens, and so on, as will be well understood. The first wheel or
disc from which the remainder obtain their motion is actuated by a rod or spindle,
provided with a rack gearing into a pinion connected to the said wheel; the said
rod or spindle is attached to the upper side of a float which rests upon the surface
of the liquid contained within the vessel, and rises and falls with the level thereof,
by which means the indicating apparatus is actuated and the amount of liquid
entering or leaving the vessel is recorded. On the return action the said rod or
spindle is thrown out of gear by any suitable and known contrivance. In some
cases the rod or spindle is provided on two sides with a rack, the second rack
acting upon an additional series of indicating wheels in such a manner that the
amount of liquid admitted into, as well as the quantity withdrawn from, the vessel
may be recorded. The indicating apparatus may be placed outside the vessel or
in the upper part thereof, the pressure of air upon the liquid being so regulated by
weights as to prevent its being raised to too great a height and thereby coming
into contact with the said indicating mechanism. It will readily be understood
by persons conversant with mechanical arrangements, that instead of connecting
the indicating mechanism directly with the float, the motion of the latter may be
transmitted to the former by means of cords or wires.