Improvements in or connected with Cooling and Delivering Apparatus for Beer and other Effervescent or Foaming Beverages.
Year: 1898

page_text: Improvements in or connected with Cooling and Delivering Apparatus
for Beer and other Effervescent or Foaming Beverages.
I, WILHELM BACHNER, of 15, Friedrich Strasse, Stuttgart, in the Empire of
Germany, Merchant, 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:-
This invention has for its object a cooling and delivering apparatus for beer
and other effervescent or foaming beverages and comprises an ice chest having
an automatic air circulation. It has in front a part formed like a side-board
or buffet, in which a separate beer cooling apparatus is located which is cooled
externally by the cold air of the ice chest and the contents of which are cooled
internally by a separate pipe connecting with the refrigerator by means of ice
water constantly passing through it. The beer cooling vessel may be connected
with a beer cask located outside the refrigerator and the contents of the cask
transferred to the cooler by means of an air pump or, as shown for instance in
the accompanying drawings, by means of carbonic acid pressure. A. separate
arrangement is also employed by means of which in case of over-filling any loss
of carbonic acid, for instance by the frothing up of the beer, is avoided, as the air
escaping from the refrigerator is under a certain pressure so that the beer enters
quietly. The beer is delivered by means of one or more taps directly to the side-
board or buffet shelf of the ice chest, a thermometer arranged behind the taps
allowing of the temperature of the said beer being directly ascertained. The
refrigerator communicates with a carbonic acid container so that the beer is con-
stantly under pressure.
In the accompanying drawings an ice chest with continuous air circulation and
a beer cooler included therein together with an arrangement for running the beer
in and discharging same, is shown, in which Figure 1 is a lateral elevation
partly in vertical section, Figure 2 a vertical section of same seen from the side
and Figure 3 a vertical section seen from the front, Figure 4 a cross section on the
line yy of Figure 2, Figure 5 a cross section on the linear of Figure 2, Figures 6,
7 and 8 are vertical sections respectively on an enlarged scale of the beer cooler H,
the beer inlet device K and the beer outlet device M by means of which latter
the air outlet when the cooling vessel is filled is so regulated that no frothing or
the like takes place.
The ice chest A has the shape of a buffet counter or sideboard, an ice container B
closed all round being inserted in the rear higher part of said buffet which ice
container is closed at top by means of a lid W and has a grating beneath which
it develops into a funnel shaped part B with a tubular nozzle 1 in which latter
a throttle valve is arranged the spindle of which is carried to the outside

page_text: through the wall of the ice chest and carries a handle by which the throttle valve
may be opened or closed, Figures 1 and 2. A tubular piece having lateral
perforations is removably fastened preferably by means of a bayonet joint, on to
the nozzle b. Holes b are also formed in the sides of the upper part of the vessel B
so that the cold air can only escape through the holes in 4 and the warm air can
only enter through the holes b of the otherwise quite closed ice container B. A
constant active air circulation is thus established in the ice chest.
A smaller vessel C₁ having perforations in the sides and standing in a second
somewhat larger vessel C for the water produced by the melting of the ice, is located
under the tubular nozzle b+. Dirt and the like accumulates on the floor of the ves-
sel and as this vessel is only loosely inserted in the vessel C the dirt resulting
from impure ice and the like may be conveniently removed without dirtying the
water in the vessel C.
The water formed by the melting of the ice is conveyed from the vessel C into
a cup E situated above the cooling vessel H from whence it passes by means of
a pipe e through the cooling vessel H into the lower part of a cooling pipe E¹
located preferably in the centre of the cooling vessel. This cooling pipe Eis
carried through the cover of the vessel H and the warmer ice water runs away
at the top of the cooling pipe E' through a pipe el into a reservoir F for collecting
the melted ice water, which reservoir is placed outside the ice chest A, Figure 2,
in order to allow of its being more easily emptied. If the cup E be also filled
with ice a still more rapid cooling action will be produced by the cooling pipe El.
The beer cooler H which is kept hermetically closed by means of a cover H¹
held down by hinge bolts and wing nuts h is arranged in the front lower buffet
or counter like part of the ice chest A. As this lower front part is separated
from the higher rear part of the ice chest, by a partition D, which does not quite
extend to the floor of the ice chest, the heavier cold air must emerge below between
the partition D and the bottom of the ice chest and flow round the outside of the
cooling vessel H. The warmer air rises up to the cover A2 of the buffet part of the
ice chest the stepped part A' of which is sloped underneath towards the front wall
of the ice chest with the object of facilitating the escape of the rising air from
the buffet into the upper part of the ice chest.
A small chamber K provided with a float valve is mounted on a pipe k² on
the cooler H, in the cool chamber of the buffet, and may be connected by means
of a tap and pipe L with the usual drawing off apparatus g g of a cask G the
beer from which is to be conveyed into the cooler. The cask G is also connected
with a carbonic acid container J or with an air pump by means of a tap
and
pipe J, so that by the pressure of the carbonic acid (or of air pumped into the
cask) the beer may be transferred from the cask directly into the cooler without
its being necessary to open any door or the like on the ice holder.
The chamber K is also provided with a tap or cock k by means of which the
amount of air therein may be regulated and the froth eventually allowed to
escape.
In order to prevent any frothing up of the beer in its transference from the
cask to the cooler, a pipe m² is located above on the cover of the cooler, which
pipe is carried through the buffet top and has at the top a small chamber M,
Figure 7, in the bottom of which a metal ball valve m is located which closes
the mouth of the pipe m³. The escape of air from the cooler H on the entrance
of the beer therein is thus rendered more difficult as the valve must be lifted
before the air can escape or in other words a counter pressure to the too rapid
entrance of the beer is created.
At the top of the small chamber M an indiarubber float valve m¹ held in a loop
piece or stirrup is provided which closes the chamber as soon as it is filled with
beer. Froth or the like may escape at the top of the chamber after the opening
of the tap m³ by means of a pipe into a vessel placed beneath. The chamber M
may be emptied and cleaned through a tap m' located on the bottom.

page_text: The beer is withdrawn from the cooler by means of a tap O and pipe o whilst
the beer drip falls from a dish F into the funnel f of a pipe F¹ and from the
latter is conveyed direct into the vessel F for catching the water arising from
the melting of the ice.
The advantage of this improved ice chest with supply buffet and separate cooler
consists essentially in the beer being always well and equally cooled and a small
quantity of beer can be tapped for a long time without the beer deteriorating
in quality. The transmission of the beer from the cask into the cooler is effected
in a simpler and more rapid manner and without frothing without necessitating
the opening of the ice chest. The consumption of ice is very small whilst the
cooling is an excellent one.
A draw off tap or plug a³ is located on the front of the bottom of the chest
which bottom also slopes towards the front to allow of the waste water being run
off and to facilitate the cleaning.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. An ice chest having a constant air circulation and discharge apparatus
for beer and like beverages characterised by a separate cooling vessel (H) for
receiving the beer or the like being arranged in the lower part of the chest which
is provided with a buffet like projection or addition, which cooling vessel (H)
is surrounded on the outside by the circulating cooled air of the ice chest (A)
whilst in the interior of said cooler (H) a separate cooling pipe (E¹) is located
through which the water produced by the melting of the ice is conducted so as
to enter at the bottom and escape at the top from whence it is conveyed to the ice
water tank, said cooler (H) being filled with beer from a storage or transport cask
by means of carbonic acid or an air pump without it being necessary to open
the ice chest the said beer being capable of being drawn off as required directly
from the cooler, substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. In an ice chest combined with a beer cooler as hereinbefore described, an
arrangement for the purpose of enabling the said cooler to be filled with beer
from the cask without frothing, consisting of a small chamber (M) communicating
with the beer cooler in the bottom of which chamber a metallic ball valve (m)
is arranged which normally closes the communication between the chamber and
the cooler (H) and which ball must be lifted by the air which escapes when the
cooler is filled so that the filling takes place under the counter pressure of the air
which is thus prevented from rapidly escaping from the cooler whilst in the upper
part of the small chamber an india rubber float valve (m¹) is located which closes
the chamber as soon as the filling is completed, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
3. In an ice chest of the kind described the arrangement of an open container
or cup (E) over the cooler (H), into which cup (E) the water arising from the
melting of the ice is directly carried before it flows into the cooling pipe (E¹)
so that if this container (E) be filled with ice, for instance when a stronger cooling
is required, the action of the cooling pipe (E¹) may be increased, substantially
as hereinbefore described.
4. In an ice chest of the kind described the arrangement of the ice holder (B)
in the elevated part of the ice chest (A) in such a way that the said ice holder (B)
which is closed all round terminates beneath a grate or perforated bottom (62)
in a funnel shaped part, and may be closed at the bottom by a shut off valve (63)
capable of being manipulated from the outside of the ice chest with the object of
preventing the escape of the cold air in the funnel (B) of the ice holder (B) when
the chest is opened; and also the arrangement of a small cup or vessel (C) beneath
the discharge pipe from the ice holder which cup is placed in a vessel (C) serving
for catching the water arising from the melting of the ice, said cup (C) serving as

page_text: a dirt catcher adapted to be easily removed with the object of freeing the water
formed by the melting of the ice from impurities without having to take out the
vessel (C) provided for catching said water substantially as herein before described.
Dated this 23rd day of August 1898.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool,
Agents for the Applicant.