New or Improved Bunging Apparatus.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Mar., 1894-Accepted, 5th May, 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Bunging Apparatus.
We, LOUIS WAGNER, of 707 Swan Street, in the City of Baltimore, State of
Maryland, United States of America, Machinist, and JOHN MARR of 416 North
Howard Street, same place, Maltster, 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, that is to say :-
In the manufacture of beer it is necessary, when the product has reached a
certain stage, and is ready for what may be termed its second fermentation, to
perform the operation which is called " bunging." That is to say the beer is
placed in a large cask and tightly closed so as to confine all of the generated gas,
or so as to permit such gas to escape only when a sufficiently high pressure has
been reached.
It is the object of our present improvements to enable the bunging to be
performed readily and without that injury to the cask which results in driving in
the bung with a heavy sledge, and also so as to facilitate the connection of the
cask with a neighbouring cask for the interchange of the carbonic-acid gas, at the
same time insuring that the bung shall be sufficiently gas tight and secure to
resist the heavy pressure generated within the cask.
Having such objects in view our invention consists in the parts and combinations
thereof hereinafter more particularly set forth and claimed.
In order to make our improvement more clearly understood we have shown in
the accompanying drawings means for carrying the same into practical effect,
without however limiting the invention in its useful applications, to the particular
construction which, for the sake of illustration, we have delineated. In said
drawings-
Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing a portion of a cask having a bung
embodying our improvements.
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line III-III of Fig. 1.
Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates a portion of the cask provided with an
The latter is screwed
aperture 2, in which is preferably fitted an iron bushing 3.
into the cask and its central aperture forms the bung hole thereof. This aperture
tapers slightly inwards as shown in Fig. 1.
4 is a bung of elastic material such as vulcanized india-rubber or its equivalent,
adapted to fit neatly in the tapered bung bushing, being to that end correspondingly
tapered as indicated. The lower end of this elastic bung is provided with a
seat 5, preferably cone-shaped as indicated in which is adapted to fit a spreading
plate or boss 6 which is preferably of corresponding conical shape. Said boss
is formed with one or more projections 7 adapted to enter a recess or recesses 8
formed in the elastic bung, to prevent the rotation therein of the said spreading
boss. The latter serves, when pressure is applied longitudinally of the bung as
hereinafter more particularly explained, to expand the bung and spread its lower
end or lip outwards into or over the slightly counter sunk edge 10 of the
bushing.
Above the seat 5 the bung is formed with a chamber 11 in the lower portion
of which is situated a ring 12, in the upper part of which is contained a similar
ring 13, and in the middle portion of which and between said rings is arranged
a spring 14. The ring 12 rests upon the spreading plate 6, and the spring
serves to separate the two rings when longitudinal compression upon the latter
is removed or relaxed. These rings serve to prevent the inward collapse of the

page_text: bung when its ends are forced together, and compel the middle portion of the
bung to be compressed tightly against the interior of the bushing 3.
In the upper portion of the bung is formed a chamber 15, of slightly conical
or tapering form as indicated, and of greater diameter than the chamber 11
from which it is separated by a horizontal shoulder 16. The chamber 15 is
provided with one or more grooves 17.
18 is the upper spreading plate or device consisting preferably of a hollow
conical shell adapted to fit the chamber 15 and having external ribs 19 which
are received in the grooves 17. In the spreading device 18 is formed a seat 20
on which is adapted to rest a shoulder 21 formed on a longitudinal shaft or
sleeve 22. The lower end of the latter is formed with a screw thread 23 adapted
to engage a corresponding thread 24 in the lower spreading plate 6. The
sleeve 22 is formed with a squared head 25 or other equivalent means for turning it.
I may also make the sleeve 22 hollow, when the bunging device is to be used
to connect the cask with another cask, or as a means of exit when the beer is
racked off, such aperture of the sleeve being indicated at 26, and at its upper
end I provide the sleeve with a shut off cock 27, and above the latter with a
screw-threaded extension 28 for the connection of a pipe, coupling or hose for
conveying the gas or beer. I also prefer to provide the sleeve 22 with a pressure
gage 29 which will serve, when the extension 28 is connected with a suitable
gas-controlling apparatus and the cock 27 opened, to indicate the gas pressure in
the cask to which the beer is applied.
A gas-controlling apparatus suitable for connection with the extension 28 forms
the subject of another application by ourselves of even date herewith No. 5824.
In order to prevent the shaft 22 from being screwed upward so far as to entirely
release the plate 6 we provide a stop of suitable character such as a transverse
pin 30 passing through the lower end of the shaft 22 and adapted to engage the
underside of the part 6 when the shaft or sleeve 22 is in its uppermost position and
the bung unexpanded.
Such being the preferred construction of our improved bung, although such
construction may be departed from in many respects, as will occur to those skilled
in the art, while still preserving the essential features and the spirit of our invention,
its mode of operation is as follows:
To bung a cask the device is inserted in the bushing 3 and the head 25 is
turned by hard or with a wrench sufficiently to draw slightly together the parts 6
and 18. This causes the lip 9 of the bung to be spread outwards so as to engage
the countersunk edge 10 of the bushing and keep the bung from outward movement.
The further turning of the shaft 22 forces the spreading device 18 still more firmly
down upon the shoulder 16 of the bung so as to compress and expand outwards
that part of the bung which surrounds the chamber 11. The spring 14 is
thereby necessarily compressed between the rings 12 and 13. The conical part 18
is at the same time carried downward in the conical bushing 3 and tightly presses
against the latter that portion of the bung which surrounds the chamber 15.
I thus provide a bung the bottom edge of which is not only expanded slightly
within the cask, but all portions of which are tightly forced against the interior of
the cask bushing thereby enabling the bung to remain secure and gas tight under a
very heavy pressure. At the same time the bung may be quickly applied and
removed by a slight turn of the shaft 22 with little expenditure of force.
When it is desired to remove the bung the said shaft is turned backwards,
whereupon the spring 14 will force apart the upper and lower spreading or expanding
devices and the bung will become loose in the bushing 3.
Having thus described our invention what we claim is:
1. In a bunging apparatus the combination with the expansible bung, of spreading
plates or devices at or near the inner and outer ends of the bung, one of said
plates having a screw thread and engaging the bung by suitable projections to
prevent rotation, and a hollow rotary shaft having a transverse cock and a screw

page_text: thread engaging the said screw threaded plate and engaging by a suitable shoulder
the other plate, substantially as set forth.
2. In a bunging apparatus the combination with a conical expansible bung,
adapted to fit within a bushing or bung-hole, of a spreading plate engaging the
outer end of the bung and having a seat 20, a spreading plate having a screw-
thread 24 and engaging the inner end of the bung, and the sleeve 22 having the
shoulder 21, the duct or aperture 26, the transverse cock 27, and the screw thread 23
at its inner end, substantially as set forth.
3. The combination with the internally tapered bushing 3, of the externally
tapered elastic sleeve 4 having the chamber or recess 15 and shoulder 16, the
conical spreading plate 18 in said recess resting on said shoulder and parallel
with and entering within the said bushing, the plate 6 having a screw thread
and engaging the bung to prevent rotation, and the hollow shaft 22 having the
shoulder 21 and the screw thread 23, substantially as set forth.
4. The combination with an elastic bung having a recess at its outer end, and
a central chamber 11, of a conical spreading plate in said' recess, a spreading
plate at the inner end of the bung, means for forcing said plates together, and a
ring 13 in said chamber between the plates, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 20th day or MARICH
L. WAGNER,
J. MARR,
Per W. H. Beck,
115, Cannon Street, London, Agent.