IMPROVED ARRANGE- MENTS AND APPARATUS POR DRAWING OFF LIQUORS OR LIQUIDS FROM CASKS AND OTHER VESSELS WITHOUT THE AID OF PUMPS."
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Walls, of the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED ARRANGE-
MENTS AND APPARATUS POR DRAWING OFF LIQUORS OR LIQUIDS FROM CASKS AND
OTHER VESSELS WITHOUT THE AID OF PUMPS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Walls at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
March 1865.
I, JOSEPH WALLS, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
ARRANGEMENTS AND APPARATUS FOR DRAWING OFF LIQUORS OR LIQUIDS FROM CASES
AND OTHER VESSELS WITHOUT THE AID OF PUMPS," to be as follows:―
This Invention consists in supplying compressed air to the casks or vessels
by the following self-acting arrangement, for the purpose of forcing out their
contents when the taps of their draw-off pipes are opened. At the top of
each cask or vessel I fix a pipe and tap communicating when the tap is
open with the top of an air and water vessel of a capacity in proportion to
the number or capacities of the casks or vessels with which it is connected.
The said air and water vessel is supplied with water by a pipe connected to a
water main or to an elevated cistern containing water, and there is a safety
valve at the top of the vessel, a let-off water tap at the bottom, and a float in
the interior, which float raises a valve and shuts off any communication with
the casks or vessels when the air and water vessel is full of water. When

page_text: the communication between the cask and air and water vessel is opened, and
the tap opened between the vessel and the water supply, the water raises the
float and compresses the air, which acts on the surface of the liquor or liquid
and enables it to be drawn off. To the air and water vessel I connect &
water gauge for denoting the level of the water, and the safety valve is for the
purpose of preventing the air from being too much compressed; and I also
employ an equilibrium valve, acted upon by the air in the vessel, and con-
nected by a lever and rod with the supply tap for the purpose of closing the
tap when the pressure of the water is too high, and opening it when the
pressure is lessened. The supply tap, let-off tap, and safety valve are con-
nected to a rod worked by hand, so that when the vessel is full of water the
let-off tap can be opened to let off the water, the supply tap closed to shut off
the supply, and the safety valve opened to admit air, the rod at the same time
working a lever to close the tap in the pipe between the cask and air and
water vessel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Walls in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th
September 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
WALLS, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Joseph Walls, Her special license that I, the said Joseph
Walls, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Joseph Walls, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED ARRANGE-
MENTS AND APPARATUS FOR DRAWING OFF LIQUORS OR LIQUIDS FROM CASKS AND OTHER
VESSELS WITHOUT THE AID OF PUMPS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Joseph Walls, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Walls, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
...
This Invention consists in improved arrangements for supplying compressed
air to the casks or vessels for the purpose of forcing out their contents when
the taps of their draw-off pipes are opened, which Invention will be clearly
understood by the following detailed description thereof, reference being had
to the figures and letters on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is an elevation of one of my improved arrangements and apparatus for
drawing off liquors or liquids from casks and other vessels, and Fig. 2 a
plan of part of the same. To the top of each cask or vessel a I fix a pipe b,
provided with a tap c, and connect the pipe or pipes to a pipe d, communi-
cating by means of another pipe e with an air and water vessel f of a capacity
in proportion to the number or capacities of the casks or vessels a. The said:
air and water vessel is supplied with water by a pipe g connected to a water
main or to an elevated cistern h containing water, and there is an air tap or
safety valve k at the top of the vessel, a let-off water tap 1 at the bottom, and
a float m in the interior, which float raises a valve n, and shuts off any con-
munication with the casks or vessels a when the air and water vesself is full
of water. When the communication between the casks a and the air and
water vesself is opened, and the tap o opened between the vessel and water.
supply the water enters the vessel, raises the float m, and compresses the air,
which acting on the surface of the liquor or liquid in the casks enables it
to be drawn off without the use of the ordinary sucking pumps. To the air
and water vessel I connect a water gauge p for denoting the level of the water,
and the air tap or safety valve k is for the purpose of preventing the air from
being too much compressed; Í also employ an equilibrium disc 9
acted upon
by the air in the vessel, and connected by a lever r and rods with the tap o
in the supply pipe g for the purpose of closing the tap when the pressure of the
water is too high, and opening it when the pressure is lessened. The tap o,
let-off tap 1, and air tap or safety valve k are connected to a rod t worked by
hand, so that when the vessel fis full of water the tapo can be closed to
shut off the supply, the let-off tap 1 opened to let off the water, and the air
tap or safety valve k opened to admit air, the rod at the same time working
a lever to close the tap u in the pipe e between the casks and the air and

page_text: water vessel. The cistern h, Fig. 1, is filled with water from any suitable
source, but when supplied from a pipe connected to a water main I employ a
float and tap v, w, for regulating the supply. In some cases when the liquor
or liquid has been more or less drawn off the compressed air in the air and water
vessel and casks forces its way through the joints of the casks and allows the
water in the air and water vessel to rise unnecessarily. To obviate this inconve-
nience I supply air to the casks, and to the top of the air and water vessel by
means of an india-rubber bellows worked by hand or power. The said
bellows is shewn at a', Fig. 1; it consists of a chamber 6', having seatings for
inlet and outlet valves c', d', the inlet valve leading from the atmosphere to
the interior of the bellows, and the outlet valve leading to the pipes, casks,
and air and water vessel. To the chamber b' is fixed an india-rubber disc e¹
fixed at the centre to a vertical rod f, placed in guides and moved to and
fro by a crank g¹ turned by hand or motive power. The to-and-fro move-
ment of the rod expands the india-rubber, as shewn by the dotted lines,
and allows it to contract so that air may be forced into the casks and air
and water vessel, and prevent the water from rising until the draw-off tap or
taps are opened.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood
that I claim, the employment of the air and water vessel and parts connected
with it, and also the india-rubber bellows, for enabling liquors or liquids to be
drawn from casks and other vessels without the use of the ordinary draw-off
pumps, as such improvements are herein described and illustrated in the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Walls, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Joseph Walls in the
presence of
G. SEPTIMUS HUGHES,
JOSEPH WALLS. (L.S.)
Patent Agent,
Manchester.