AN IMPROVED VENT PEO FOR PRESERVING LIQUORS OF ALL KINDS
Year: 1869

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Matthew Shelley at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
November 1869.
I, MATTHEW SHELLEY, of George's Square, Hoxton Square, Hoxton,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED VENT PEO FOR PRESERVING LIQUORS OF ALL KINDS,"
to be as follows:—
This Invention consists in constructing a vent peg in the following
manner-I take a hollow cylinder of metal or other suitable material,
and into one end thereof I fix a piece of metal with a long taper point
around which a screw is cut or formed, this part being intended to screw
into the vent hole of a barrel or other vessel from which liquor is to be
drawn, a beer barrel for example. I form a hole through the aforesaid
taper point, and fix thereto within the aforesaid cylinder a tube reaching
to within about three-eighths of an inch of the top end of the said cylin-
der, and to this top piece I fix another tube within the said cylinder
extending downwards to within about three-eighths of an inch from the
bottom of the said cylinder; the upper end of this tube is open to the
atmosphere, and this tube I form somewhat larger in diameter than the
other tube, and thus I form the vent peg, and before screwing it into the
vessel to which it is to be applied I proceed to fill it by the air pipe with

page_text: some of the same liquor that the vessel contains, whether beer, spirits, or
wine, and with the mouth draw off as much as I can from the cylinder
so as to leave the mouth of the suction tube uncovered. I then screw
the vent peg upright into the cask or other vessel from which the liquor
is required to be drawn, and suppose the cask to be tapped or a cock
inserted therein, upon opening this cock the liquor will flow, and as it
descends a partial vacuum being thus formed atmospheric air will pass
down the aforesaid air tube up through the liquor in the cylinder and
down the suction pipe into the barrel, thus admitting just as much fresh
air and no more as is necessary to cause the liquor to flow or pass out at
the cock or tap as long as it is open, but when it is closed or turned off
the air will cease to enter the vent peg and barrel. I am aware of
hydraulic vent pegs acting upon the above principle having heretofore
been constructed and employed, but such vent pegs have failed in
practice, more particularly when applied to vessels containing beer when
in a state of effervescence, the excess of pressure within the vessel forcing
the liquid out of the vent peg, thereby rendering it useless and allowing
the aroma of the beer (if applied to a barrel containing beer) to escape.
I propose by this Invention to remedy this objection and entirely
prevent the escape of the liquid from the vent peg by pressure of the gas
in the vessel to which the vent peg is applied by the following means,
that is to say-Within that tube of the vent peg which is open to the
atmosphere and near the top thereof I insert a valve formed of a piece
of soft leather fixed on the upper end of a long stem of wood reaching
to within a short distance of the bottom of the cylinder of the vent peg,
the said stem being made considerably smaller than the tube in which
it works to enable the air to pass down the said tube. The aforesaid
wooden stem floating in the liquid always keeps the valve closed and thus
prevents any liquid passing up the tube, and it is only when the pressure
from without is greater than within that the valve opens by the pressure
of the atmosphere thereon, and allows the air to enter into the barrel as
above stated, and in this manner and by these means liquors that are
subject to become flat, such as beer, may by the use of this improved
vent peg be preserved fresh.