AN IMPROVED APPA- RATUS FOR RAISING LIQUIDS, ESPECIALLY BEER AND WINE, FROM CASKS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Stevens, of 31, Charing Cross, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPA-
RATUS FOR RAISING LIQUIDS, ESPECIALLY BEER AND WINE, FROM CASKS."-A
communication from abroad by Mrs. Anne Frederique Diewan, of 42,
Rue Lafitte, Paris, in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 26th September 1861, and dated the 11th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Stevens at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th April 1861.
J, CHARLES STEVENS, of 31, Charing Cross, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RAISING LIQUIDS, ESPECIALLY BEER AND WINE, FROM
CASKS," and that it has been communicated to me from abroad by Mrs. Anne
Frederique Diewan, of 42, Rue Laffitte, Paris, in the Empire of France, to be
as follows:-
My Invention consists of a very simple apparatus of variable dimensions;
its object is to produce a sufficient pressure on any liquid contained in a cask
to cause it to ascend to a great height without making use of pumps or other
instruments generally, employed. This pressure is obtained by the formation
of carbonic gas in preference to any other on account of its conservative
qualities; in fact, the Invention is a new application of the usual manner of
making gaseous waters.
The apparatus consists of, 1°, a top reservoir of earthenware, glass, slate,
or any other material, at the top of which is a screw plug closing the opening

page_text: by which the salts are introduced; 2°, of a cylindrical cleansing trough of iron,
with an opening for the introduction of the water destined to wash the gas.
This opening is closed by means of a screw plug. As soon as the salts come
in contact with the water in the lower reservoir, a chemical action takes place,
& the gas is engendered, a cock is turned, & the gas passes through the water
in the cleansing trough, from whence it ascends by the conducting pipe to
press on the liquid contained in the cask. The bottom reservoir is emptied
by means of a cock placed at the bottom after the formation & exhaustion of
the gas.
A manometer indicates the degree of pressure. About 2lbs. 3oz.
avdp. of salts will empty a cask of 55 gallons.. The water in the cleansing
trough must be changed once or twice a month. During the working of the
apparatus the cask must not contain any air.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Stevens in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
STEVENS, of 31, Charing Cross, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Stevens, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Stevens,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such other as I, the said Charles
Stevens, 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 "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
RAISING LIQUIDS, ESPECIALLY BEER AND WINE, FROM CASKS," a communication to
me from abroad by Mrs. Anne Fréderique Diewan, of 42, Rue Laffitte, Paris,
in the Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Charles Stevens, 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
manner the samo was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed

page_text: 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 Charles Stevens, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My Invention is an apparatus of simple construction, by aid of which
liquids are forced up from the casks or other receptacles in which they may be
contained to any requisite height without the aid of pumps.
The construction of the apparatus will be readily understood by aid of the
following description, reference being made to the accompanying Drawings.
A is a receptacle made of lead, glass, or any other suitable material, and
serves to contain the acid; B is a second receptacle of similar material, in
which marble or other stone of a calcarious nature can be placed; C is a
receiver of sheet iron or other suitable material, for containing the carbonic
acid gas coming from the receptacles A & B; it contains water at the bottom
for cleansing the gas. 1 represents an opening by.which the acid is introduced;
it is closed by a stopper and an adjusting screw; 2 represents an opening by
which the calcarious stone is introduced, also closed by a stopper and an
adjusting screw; 3, opening by which the acid is let off after having acted on
the calcarious matter; 4, leaden pipe, through which the acid passes from the
receptacle A to the receptacle B; 5, leaden pipe, through which the gas
passes from the receptacle B to the receptacle A, and also from the latter to
the receiver C; 6, india-rubber tube, by which the gas passes from the
receptacle B to the receiver C; 7, gutta percha tube, by which the gas passes
from the receiver C to the casks or barrels; 8, india-rubber tube, solidly
attached to the lever H and receptacle A, and serving as spring to the valve I;
D & E, valves opening above; F, valve for preventing the return of the
water; G, iron rod, cased in lead, and attached to the lever, serving to lower
the valve I, through which the acid passes when the operation is first begun ;
H, iron lever; I, valve; K, clasp for closing the india-rubber tube when
required; L, safety valve; M, screw-cut stopper, closing the opening through
which the water is introduced into the receiver; N, manometer, by which the
amount of pressure is shown; O, stop cock closing the passage by which the
gas enters the cask; P, iron. plug, which is forced into the barrel in which
the gas is to be introduced; Q, screw-cut stopper closing the opening by
which the water is drawn off when required to be changed from the receiver.
The manner of using the apparatus is as follows:-The receptacle B is
filled with pieces of marble through the opening 2, which is then securely

page_text: closed; acid is then poured into the receptacle A through the opening 1,
which is then also closed. All the openings being closed, the lever H is raised
and the acid passes through the valve I; chemical action takes place from the
union of the chalk and acid, and carbonic acid gas is formed. Acid is allowed
to enter until the manometer indicates the required pressure, which must be
sufficient to force the liquid the height desired. The plug P is then made to
enter the barrel, the cock O is opened, and the gas thus enters at once the
'barrel. An equal pressure soon exists in all the receptacles, but on drawing
off the liquid the pressure is diminished in the cask, the receiver C, and the
receptacle B, but it remains as at first in the receptacle A from the arrange-
ment of the valves D & E. When, however, the pressure in B is decreased,
the valve E closes, and the valve D opens & allows a certain quantity of acid
to pass into the receptacle B; chemical action takes place, & more gas is
formed until the equilibrium is again established; the valves then close by
their own weight. By the above arrangement the apparatus becomes self-
acting, that is to say, it continues working until the cask containing the liquid
to be drawn off is emptied or a fresh supply of acid or chalk is required.
By means of this apparatus the beer, wine, or other liquid is not only forced
up as may be required, but is preserved and greatly improved by the action of
the gas upon it.
The size of the apparatus varies according to the number and size of the
casks to be acted on, and the height to which the liquid is to be forced. One
or more tubes can be adapted to the receiver for conveying the gas to the
casks or cask, the form of the receptacles, the mode of closing the openings,
the materials employed in the construction, and the chemicals used in pro-
ducing the gas may of course vary, what I claim and desire to secure by
Letters Patent being the general arrangement & construction of the
apparatus, as herein before described, and represented in the accompanying
Drawings, to be employed for the purposes herein stated.
I also claim the application of carbonic acid gas for the forcing up of
liquids.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Stevens, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred & sixty-one.
CHARLES STEVENS. (L.S.)