IMPROVEMENTS IN MASHING APPARATUS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Maitland, of Alloa, in the County of Clack-
mannan, North Britain, Brewer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MASHING APPARATUS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Maitland at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
September 1863.
I, CHARLES MAITLAND, of Alloa, in the County of Clackmannan, North
Britain, Brewer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MASHING APPARATUS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to apparatus for mashing for the purposes of the
brewer and distiller, and has for object the performance of the operation in a
more satisfactory and economical manner than hitherto.
The improvements can be practically carried out under various modifi-
cations, and in one there is fitted in the mash vessel a hollow vertical shaft or
tube formed with hollow arms, and arranged to rotate in suitable bearings.
The hollow arms have each one or more openings on one side, and the mash.
water being introduced into the top of the hollow shaft, issues at these
openings, and causes the shaft to rotate after the manner of a "Barker's

page_text: mill," whereby the water is distributed uniformly over the vessel and amongst
the malt introduced into it, and the whole is thoroughly mixed up.
In a second modification a paddle or screw is fitted in the mash vessel so
as to rotate freely on a vertical axis, and the mash water is made to enter the
vessel by a single spout which directs it against the paddle, and the latter is
thereby made to rotate and mix the malt and water together.
In a third modification there is no paddle, but the water is introduced in a
number of jets round the circumference of the vesssel, such jets being
directed more or less tangentially, and causing a kind of whirlpool which
effectually mixes together the malt and water.
In each of the modifications described there may be two or more sets of
the appliances, which may be arranged to give rotation in opposite directions,
and whilst a vertical axis is preferred, it may be inclined or even horizontal.
The arrangements, as herein-before described, are self-acting, but driving
power may be applied if found desirable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Maitland in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th March 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
MAITLAND, of Alloa, in the County of Clackmannan, North Britain, Brewer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself; Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Maitland, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Maitland,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
Maitland, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MASHING APPARATUS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Charles Maitland, 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

page_text: what 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Maitland, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to apparatus for mashing for the purposes of the
brewer and distiller, and has for object the performance of the operation in a
more satisfactory and economical manner than hitherto.
In the Provisional Specification accompanying my application for the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, it was stated that the improve-
ments constituting my said Invention could be carried out under various
modifications. I have found what was described as the third modification to
be not only the simplest but the best and most efficient in practice, and I
shall therefore now proceed to describe it as my principal modification, having
delineated it in vertical section upon the accompanying explanatory Drawing,
in order that its construction and action may be properly understood.
The apparatus consists of a simple pipe or passage A, B, C, D, formed of
copper or other suitable material into the top part A, B, of which the malt,
grain, or grist is admitted from a hopper, duct, or rhone, a'slide valve E being
applied to shut off or regulate the feed, as required. The middle portion
B, C, is by preference cylindrical, and there is formed round it an external
annular-cylindrical chamber F, G, which receives the mashing or sperge water
by the inlet pipe H, and from which the water enters the middle space B, C,
by a number of jets. The jet orifices may be arranged in a variety of ways,
but in the example shown in the Drawing they are disposed regularly in
spiral lines round the passage. A few, I, of the jet orifices are made larger
than the others, J, and are fitted with directing tubes (as shown at K) to
impart more solidity or concentration to these jets with the view of their
penetrating agglomerations amongst the descending malt, grain, or grist.
And with the view of effectually breaking up any larger masses or agglo-
merations, and so as to insure the mash water or sperge penetrating to every
single grain, a larger jet is thrown from the centre by a jet spout L directly
upwards so as to meet the descending matters. This spout L is shown in
vertical section; it is made considerably narrower in horizontal section, so as
not to impede the descending matters. The larger jets I are, by preference
directed with a slight upward inclination, and with more or less of a tangential

page_text: direction, and the smaller jet orifices may also be similarly disposed. There
may be two or more internal jets similar to the one L, and in some cases one
or more internal jets directed downwards may be introduced at the upper
part. The malt, grain, or grist in passing down through the middle space
B, C, becomes effectually saturated by and mixed with the mash water.or
sperge, and the mixture or mash passes on by the bent part C, D, of the
passage into the mash tun, the 'mouth of the pipe being, inserted through the
side of the tun or otherwise as may be most convenient.
.
I prefer to place the apparatus in a vertical position, as shown in the
Drawing, but it might work more or less inclined, the jets being modified as
regards their positions and directions if necessary. I find it sufficient for the
mash water or sperge to have a head of about six feet, but a greater head is
not disadvantageous. The apparatus may be made in various sizes.
I will now proceed to describe other modifications of my improved mashing
apparatus, but as I do not consider them equal to that already described
herein, I have not thought it necessary to append any Drawings of them. In
one modification there is fitted in the mash vessel a hollow vertical shaft or tube
formed with hollow arms, and arranged to rotate in suitable bearings; the
hollow arms have each one or more openings on one side, and the mash water
or sperge. being introduced into the top of the hollow shaft issues at these
openings, and causes the shaft to rotate after the manner of a "Barker's 'mill,"
whereby the water is distributed uniformly over the vessel and amongst the.
malt, grain, or grist, which enters from a hopper or spout at the top, and.
being mixed with the mash water or sperge passes off by a discharge passage
at the bottom.
In another modification a paddle or screw is fitted in the mash vessel so as
to rotate freely on a vertical axis, and the mash water or sperge is made to
enter the vessel by a single spout which directs it against the paddle or screw,
and the latter is thereby made to rotate and mix the malt, grain, or grist and
water together. In either modification there may be two or more sets of the
appliances, which may be arranged to give rotation in opposite directions, and
whilst a vertical axis is preferred it may be inclined or even horizontal. The
arrangements, as herein-before described, are self-acting, but driving power
may be applied if found desirable.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be performed, I have to state that I do not restrict
myself to the precise details herein described or delineated, but that what I
believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention secured to me by
the hercin-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the constructing and

page_text: working of mashing apparatus, substantially in the manner herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Maitland, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
28, St. Enoch Square,
Glasgow.
CHARLES MAITLAND. (L.S.)