Improvements relating to the Ageing or Maturing of Wine, Cognac, and other Alcoholic Beverages, and to Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 11th June, 1894
Complete Specification Left. 9th Mar., 1895-Accepted, 20th Apr., 1895
PROVISIONAL DE
[Communicated from abroad by P. W. SOTHMANN, of Grünberg, Silesia, in the
Empire of Germany, Engineer.]
Improvements relating to the Ageing or Maturing of Wine, Cognac,
and other Alcoholic Beverages, and to Apparatus therefor.
1, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the ageing or maturing of wine, cognac and other
alcoholic beverages, and to apparatus therefor.
Before wine, cognac and similar alcoholic beverages can be sent away and used
they must be stored up for a certain time, often for months, in order to age or
mature. From this results the necessity for large store rooms in which a
comparatively great amount of capital lies idle. Endeavours have been made to
produce the properties which alcoholic beverages are to obtain by other more rapid
means than long storage so as to obviate the need for large store rooms and for
storing up a large reserve. For this purpose use has already been made of the
electric current, a wire coil being placed round the cask or barrel containing the
cognac or other liquor to be aged or matured, and the electric current being then
allowed to act upon such liquor. By reason of the slight action of the electric
current this method also occupies too much time.
According to the aforesaid invention I employ for this purpose a transformer
which receives current pulsations by an electromagnetic hammer device, and I lead the
induced current into the liquid to be aged or matured. With this method cognac
for instance receives in five to eight hours those properties which are otherwise
acquired only by long storage; for it is well known that recently distilled cognac
does not taste and smell so pleasant as that which has been stored for some months,
the several ingredients become too strongly noticeable, the smell of the
alcohol being particularly perceptible.
ILS
The improved apparatus which I employ for carrying the aforesaid method into
practice is mounted upon a non-conducting plate and comprises a spiral made of
insulated copper wire and wound upon an iron tube from which it is insulated.
The iron tube is filled up with a bundle of fine iron wires. One end of the
primary coil is joined to a terminal, while the other end leads to a column which
carries a spring with an armature. To the said column I fix a double angle with
an adjusting screw. The aforesaid spring, at the point which is removed from
the column by about one-third of its entire length, is bridged over by a metallic
piece. In this bridge piece is adjustably arranged a contact-regulating screw
with a counter nut so that the point of the regulating screw touches the said
spring. The points of contact are covered with platinum.
Electrical connection is established through the bridge piece with an electro-
magnet and with a terminal. If a source of electricity of any suitable kind is
connected to the before-mentioned two terminals the current will pass through the
primary coil, column, spring, screw, metallic bridge-piece and electromagnet and
from the latter to one of the terminals. In consequence of the closing of the
circuit the electromagnet attracts its armature, thus interrupting the circuit
between the contact-regulating screw and the spring. By this means the electro-

page_text: magnet loses its magnetism, the armature darts upwards and thereby closes the
circuit again, whereupon the same operation begins again. Above the primary
coil I provide the secondary coils which consist of very thin insulated copper wires
which are joined in series. One end of the secondary coil is connected to a terminal
and a special conductor passes from each of the coils to a corresponding contact
piece. These contact pieces are arranged circularly round the contact screw,
about which a switch lever adapted to be turned in such a manner that it can be
adjusted upon the corresponding contact piece in order to include the desired
number of secondary coils. The contact screw is then electrically connected with
another terminal. If now the current is sent through the primary coil it will
produce in the secondary coils induced currents. By conducting this induced
current into the liquor the ageing or maturing process takes place. The anodes
consist of nickeline or platinized spirals, and the conductor which is joined to two
of the said terminals is strongly insulated.
Owing to the interruption of the current at the contact-regulating screw and
the spring the platinum contacts are strongly attacked in the case of large
apparatus. For effecting the interruption in such apparatus I employ in lieu
of the metallic bridge-piece a mercury cup arranged below the said spring. Into
this cup dips a copper wire bent to a double angle.
At the contact pieces I provide the numbers, such as 500, 600 to 1100, to
indicate in a convenient manner how many litres the apparatus can age or mature
with the switch lever placed in a corresponding position. The current must not be
too strong, as otherwise it would act injuriously upon the liquor.
The advantages of the ageing or maturing by means of the before-described
apparatus consist in that the process takes a very short time and can be carried out
in any desired vessel, it therefore does not necessitate special receptacles as has
heretofore been the case.
With casks or barrels for instance one pole is joined to the screw of the port,
while the other pole dips in the form of a nickeline spiral through the bung hole
into the liquid.
Of course the number of the secondary coils and consequently the number of
the contact pieces may be varied in accordance with the desired capacity of the
apparatus.
Dated his 11th 1 of 1 1904
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements relating to the Ageing or Maturing of Wine, Cognac,
and other Alcoholic Beverages, and to Apparatus therefor.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 relates to the ageing or maturing of wine, cognac and other
alcoholic beverages, and to apparatus therefor.
Before wine, cognac and similar alcoholic beverages can be sent away and used
they must be stored up for a certain time, often for months, in order to age or
mature. From this results the necessity for large store rooms in which a
comparatively great amount of capital lies idle. Endeavours have been made to
produce the properties which alcoholic beverages are to obtain by other
more rapid means than long storage so as to obviate the necessity for large

page_text: Figure 3 is a front view and
Figure 4 shows a diagram of the circuit.
The improved apparatus which I employ for carrying the aforesaid method
into practice is mounted upon a non-conducting plate and comprises a spiral a
made of insulated copper wire and wound upon an iron tube from which it is
insulated. The iron tube is filled up with a bundle of fiue iron wire c. One
end of the primary coil a is joined to a terminal d while the other end leads to a
column e which carries a spring f with an armature g. To the said column e fix
a double angle with an adjusting screw i. The aforesaid spring, at the point
which is removed from the column by about one-third of its entire length, is
bridged over by a metallic piece k. In this bridge piece k is adjustably arranged
a contact regulating screw with a counter nut m so that the point of the
regulating screw touches the said spring f. The points of contact are covered with
platinum.
darts
Electrical connection is established through the bridge-piece with an electro-
magnet n and with a terminal o. If a source of electricity of any suitable kind is
connected to the before-mentioned two terminals d and the current will pass
through the primary coil a, column e, spring, screw l, metallic bridge-piece k and
electromagnet n and from the latter to one of the terminals o. In consequence of
the closing of the circuit the electromagnet n attracts its armature 9 thus
interrupting the circuit between the contact regulating serew and the spring.
By this means the electromagnet loses its magnetism, the armature
upwards and thereby closes the circuit again, whereupon the same operation begins
again. Above the primary coil a I provide the secondary coils p' to p² which
consist of very thin insulated copper wires which are joined in series. One end of
the secondary coil pl is connected to a terminal and a special conductor passes
from each of the coils p' to ' to a corresponding contact piece to q' so that p' is
connected with q', p² with and so forth. These contact pieces to are
arranged circularly round the contact screws, about which a switch levert is
adapted to be turned in such a manner that it can be adjusted upon the corre-
sponding contact piece in order to include the desired number of secondary
coils p to . The contact screw is then electrically connected with another
terminal u. If now the current is sent through the primary coil a it will produce
in the secondary coils p' to p' induced currents. By conducting this induced
current into the liquor the ageing or maturing process takes place. The anodes
consist of nickeline or platinized spirals, and the conductor which is joined to two
of the said terminals and u is strongly insulated.

page_text: Owing to the interruption of the current at the contact regulating screw and
the spring the platinum contacts are strongly attacked in the case of large
apparatus. For effecting the interruption in such apparatus I employ in lieu of
the metallic bridge-piece k, a mercury cup arranged below the said spring f. Into
this cup dips a copper wire bent to a double angle.
At the contact pieces I provide numbers such as 500, 600, to 1100, to indicate in
a convenient manner how many litres the apparatus can age or mature with the
switch levert placed in a corresponding position. The current must not be too
strong, as otherwise it would net injuriously upon the liquor.
The advantages of the ageing or maturing by means of the before-described
apparatus consist in that the process takes a very short time and can be carried out
in any desired vessel, it therefore does not necessitate special receptacles as has
heretofore been the case.
With casks or barrels for instance one pole is joined to the screw of the port,
while the other pole dips in the form of a nickeline spiral through the bung hole
into the liquid.
Of course the number of the secondary coils pl to p² and consequently the
number of the contact pieces may be varied in accordance with the desired capacity
of the apparatus..
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
-
First. A method of ageing or maturing wine, cognac and other alcoholic
beverages by conducting through the same an electric current induced in secondary
coils by the current sent through the primary coil.
Second. An apparatus for carrying out the method specified in the first claim,
comprising a primary coil a surrounded by secondary coils p' to p' which correspond
in number to the desired capacity of the apparatus and which, according to the
strength of the induced current to be employed can be included or cut out by a
switch t, the current interrupted by a hammer device passing into the primary
coil a to produce in the secondary coils p induced currents which are then conducted
through a liquor to he aged or matured, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 9th day of March 1895.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, Loudon, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.