Improvements in Filling Vessels with Aerated and other Liquids.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Nov., 1896-Accepted, 30th Jan., 1897
Improvements in Filling Vessels with Aerated and other Liquids.
A communication from REINHARD OEHME, of 130 Rue Masui, Brussels, in the
Kingdom of Belgium, Artisan.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 111 Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, 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 :-
The process forming the subject of the present application is based on the
following considerations:-
When filling bottles, syphons and other vessels in the manner hitherto employed
with natural or artificial waters containing gas, or with beer, sparkling wine and
the like, the liquid which is introduced into the vessel has first to displace the air
contained therein. As the liquid enters into said vessel, the air contained in the
latter is compressed to a certain degree according to the pressure of the liquid, but
will prevent the entry of the liquid as soon as its limit of compression is reached.
It becomes therefore necessary to find an outlet for this compressed air by
establishing a communication with the atmosphere. As all the air cannot escape,
the same operation has to be repeated several times with the air remaining each
time in the vessel, in order to enable said vessel to be completely filled with the
liquid. This process consists in removing all the air from the vessels before filling
them, that is to say to produce therein a complete or partial vacuum.
The advantages resulting therefrom are as follows:-
1) The filling is effected much more quickly than hitherto, the incoming fluid
not meeting with any resistance, but on the contrary being immediately and
uninterruptedly drawn into the vacuum of the vessel.
2) The contact of the liquid with atmospheric air is avoided. The liquid has
therefore no chance of becoming impregnated with the generally impure air of the
place where the filling takes place, and thus sterilized liquids cannot absorb microbes
from the atmosphere.
3) The pressure of the incoming liquid may be decreased by one atmosphere.
4) There is no loss of the gases with which the liquids are impregnated, us in
the systems hitherto used, where a part of the gases escaped at the same time as
the compressed air was allowed to escape.
5) There is less chance of breakage of vessels filled with liquid under pressure,
as the formation or presence of compressed air in the vessel is avoided.
6) No froth, such as is formed when the liquid is mixed with air, is produced.
In the practical application of this invention, the vessels to be filled are joined
by an air-tight joint with the suction pipe of the well-known aerators or reservoirs
which need not undergo any alteration for this purpose, and in such manner that
the tube enters a little into the vessel. The apparatus to be used for the practical
application of the herein before described process and its arrangement may vary
according to local conditions, and to the extent of the work, that is to say, to the
number of vessels to be filled at one operation. 1 will describe as an example one
arrangement which combines the different advantages required in practice. A few
centimetres under the neck of the vessel is arranged on the tube a two- or three-
way cock which is in communication with the liquid and with the part of the

page_text: apparatus which is to produce the vacuum. The vacuum is produced by ordinary
means, by a pump or by injecting steam into a reservoir. In case a pump is usei,
it is advisable to interpose between it and the two- or three-way cock a reservoir
in which a vacuum is produced. A vacuum having been produced in this reservoir
which is provided with a pressure gauge, the cock is opened to put this vacuum
reservoir in communication with the vessel to be filled whereby the air from the
vessel is drawn out; then the cock in communication with the aerator or supply
vessel is opened, in consequence of which the liquid from the aerator or from the
tank is drawn into the vessel.
The cock is then turned so as to cut off communication with the aerator and with
the reservoir, and the filled is replaced by another one to be filled. During the
whole operation the pump may either continue working or not. In the latter case,
it is caused to begin again as soon as the pressure gauge shows a considerable
increase of pressure in the reservoir. Instead of one reservoir and one vessel,
several may be pumped out and filled at once by connecting their different filling
pipes with a two- or three-way cock. In order to avoid excessive or over filling
of the vessels, between the latter and the two- or three-way cock may be placed
one or more tanks for measuring the exact quantity to be introduced into the
vessels.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
The herein before described process for filling vessels with liquid, either con-
taining gases or not and under more or less strong pressure or not which process
consists in filling one or more vessels with liquid after the air has been removed
and a partial or complete vacuum produced in the interior of said vessel, this
filling being effected by drawing in the liquids into the vessels to be filled from the
supply tank all access of air to the liquid being completely excluded during the
whole filling operation.
Dated this 28th day of November 1896.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.