An Improved Wort and Yeast Aerator.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Apr., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Jan., 1893-Accepted. 25th Feb., 1893
PROVISIONAL. SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Wort and Yeast Aerator.
We, OTTO RITTER, JOHN HENRY AUGUST MEYER, and LOUIS HOFMAN, all
of 22 South Main Street, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. Inventors, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This our invention has reference to a certain new and useful wort and yeast
aerator, and the object of the invention is to provide such an apparatus which is
simple in construction, convenient to use, and not liable to get out of order.
By this invention we provide a pneumatic hose which is adapted to be readily
connected to a force-pump of usual construction. A tubulous bulb is connected to
the other end of this tube, and contains sterilized cotton, or other suitable filtrant
for filtering the air. This filtrant is kept in place in one end of the bulb by a
perforated disc. A removable cap fits over the open end of the bulb and forms a
chamber to contain compressed and filtered air. To this air-chamber a tube is
connected and makes connection with a mixing bulb. This mixing bulb is
preferably pear-shaped, and has its lower and larger end perforated. In the upper
end of the mixing-bulb and forming a continuation of the tube making connection
with the filtered air-chamber is a tubular plug, tapering downwardly and centrally
into the bulb, and below this tapering plug is another and similar one. Openings
are made in the sides of the bulb between the tapering plugs to admit the wort or
yeast.
When in use, the pear-shaped bulb is placed within the vat containing the wort
or yeast, and air is forced (by means of any suitable blower or force-pump) through
the filtering chamber, and thence through the tubular and tapering plugs in the
pear-shaped bulb. These plugs are arranged so that the lower end of the upper
one projects into the upper end of the lower one. By this arrangement, the air
passing rapidly through them creates a suction which draws the wort or yeast
through the openings in the side of the bulb between the plugs and ejects it mixed
with air through the perforations in the lower end of the bulb.
Dated this 20th day of April 1892.
W. H. MUNNS,
Applicants' Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Wort and Yeast Aerator.
We, OTTO RITTER, JOHN HENRY AUGUST MEYER, and LOUIS HOFMAN,
all of 22 South Main Street, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., Inventors, 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:-
This apparatus is constructed and arranged to effect a rapid and thorough
amalgamation, aeration & purification of wort and yeast in brewers vats etc., and
the invention consists in features of novelty hereinafter described and pointed out
in the claims.
Fig. 1. is a detail view of the aerator and shews the coupling for the air-hose,
the air-filter, the bulb-casing of which tier forms a handle for the operator, by
which he directs the instrument. It also shews the inception filtered air-chamber,
the supply air-tube, and the compound aerating-bulb; and Fig. 2 is a vertical
n

page_text: section of a brewer's fermenting-vat and shews the yeast and wort aerator in active
operation therein.
Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a brewer's vat resting on its sleepers 2,.
and 3 is the wort with its quota of yeast deposited in said vat and in the process
of fermentation.
4 represents the usual circlet temperator that is suspended in the wort within
the vat, and 5 are the refrigerator pipes that conduct a current of cold air to,
through, and from said temperator.
The construction and operation of the aerating apparatus are as follows:-6 repre-
sents a pneumatic hose, which may be of rubber or any other suitable material,
worked
and which gets its supply of air from any suitable pneumatic force-pump
by power or hand. The said hose fits over the corrugated periphery 7 of the
metal coupling-tube joint 8, to which it is tightly held by the binding-wire or
cord 9, and the terminal flange 10 of said tube-joint fits and is thus held within
the flange 11 of the screw-coupler 12, whose inner screw 13 engages on the rear
peripheral screw 14 of the coupling-tube plug 15 whose forward peripheral
screw 16 engages in the internal screw 17 of the initial flange 18 of the tubulous
bulb 19 which encloses the air-filter 20. The said filter-bulb is filled with sterilized
cotton 21 or other suitable air filtrant as an antiseptic to cleanse the air that
passes through it of all noxious ingredients. 22 represents a perforated disc that
fits against the advance screw-threaded end 23 of said tubulous filter-bulb, on which
peripheral screw is seated the internal screw 24 of the rear-flange 25 of the
secondary tubulous bulb 26, which encloses the pure air chamber 27, which is
supplied with cleansed air through the perforations in said disc 22 direct from said
air-filter. The internal screw 28 of the forward-attachment flange 29 of said
secondary bulb engages on the peripheral screw 30 of the joint pipe 31, which
pipe has a screw-tight attachment via the elbow-joint pipe 32 with the pendent
pipe 33, which pendent-pipe has a screw-tight connection 34 with the head 35 of
the initial tubular plug 36.
37 represents the secondary aerating tubular plug, within the internal screw 38
of which the peripheral screw 39 of the initial plug engages to effect a screw-tight-
joint connection of said two plugs. 40 represents the expansion air-chamber within
said initial plug, into which the forced air is driven from the pendent pipe 33 and
from which chamber the air is concentratively driven through the converging
tube 41, the blow-pipe 42, and concave outlet 43 into and through the initial yeast
and wort mixing and aerating concentrating-tube 44 within said secondary aerating-
plug 37. The rapid forced draught thus provided produces a powerful suction of
the wort and yeast in the vat through the open ports 45 in the upper part of said
aerating-tube, and together the wort, yeast, and rapid air-current are forcibly
concentrated in said converging tube 44, thus intimately mixing said wort and
yeast and aerating the same by said concentrative process, and then violently
ejecting the aeriferous compound into the expansive bulb 46, from which it is
violently ejected through the perforations 47 of its rose end 48. The said action
forcibly drives the aerated compound against the inner surface of the rose terminal
of said bulb, and thus still more intimately and forcibly conducing to the aeration
and effervescence of the fermenting compound, both within said bulb, and as it is
forcibly ejected into the vat through the perforations or open ports 47 the whole
contents of the vat are soon aerated and in a high state of effervescence.
upper end of said bulb-terminal section 46 is provided with an internal screw 49
that is screw-seated on the peripheral screw 50 of the secondary plug to hold said
bnlb in its attachment to said plug.
The
The operation of the device has necessarily been mostly portrayed in this
description, but may be more clearly understood by the following brief capitulation.
The tubulous filter-bulb 19 having been filled with sterilized, that is purified
cotton, and the various parts of the apparatus described before securely screw-
seated together and attached to the pneumatic hose, which is worked by a force-
pump the operator grasps the said tubulous filter-bulb, which also constitutes a

page_text: handle, and inserts the aerated bulb and the pipe-stem 33 that carries it in the
wort and yeast in the beer vat. As the air is forced rapidly through the apparatus.
being cleansed of all noxious impurities as it passes through the aforedescribed
pneumatic filter it worts (with the first break in its current since it left the filter)
into the expansion chamber 40 from which it darts through the converging
contractile tube 41 via the blow-pipe 42 and concave expansion outlet 43 into the
aerating concentrating-tube 44 generating a strong suction-draught through the
open ports 45 drawing a rapid current of the wort and yeast in the vat through
the said ports into & through said aerating and concentrating-tube aerating it on.
its way and expelling it with great force & thrashing it against the perforated rose
expansion-bulb 46 and through the perforations 47 into the main body of wort &
yeast in the vat which it rapidly aerates & ferments. The operator meantime-
moves the aerating bulb around so that it visits in its journey all parts of the
vat, so as to make the aeration and fermentation of the contents much more rapid
than by the old process, repeated trials of the device having proved a saving of
two days in the operation with a more lively and effective fermentation.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven--
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
The herein described wort and yeast aerator for beer-vats, all substantially as.
and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth and illustrated in the drawings here--
unto annexed.
W. H. MUNNS,
Agent for Applicants.