IMPROVEMENTS IN ALE AND BEER CASKS
Year: 1884

page_text: I, HENRY ARNOLD RUETER of Boston, State of Massachusetts, United States of
America, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ALE AND BEER CASKS," and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My Invention relates to the taphole of the cask, the object of it being to provide
means and method of securely closing it to prevent ingress of air after the cask is
emptied by the consumer and the faucet is removed; and it consists in the devices
described below for that purpose.
When a consumer has emptied a cask of ale. or beer and removed the faucet, if
the taphole is not closed, the atmospheric effect upon the remnants left within the
cask is such that it soon becomes sour, musty, and then mouldy, and the cask is
greatly injured and often wholly spoiled. Most brewers incur large losses in
this way.
Heretofore there has been no convenient and practical way to make it sure or
probable even, that the taphole in an ale or beer barrel would be closed when the
consumer removes his faucet. My Invention provides a stopper which is always at
band when required, and its presence suggests its use when the faucet is removed.
In the Drawings annexed,
Fig. 1 shows an outside view of a piece of the head of a cask in which the taphole
is located, with the device for stopping the taphole in it.
Fig. 2 shows a sectional view of a piece of the head of a cask in which the
taphole is located, through the centre of the taphole, and a section of the device
for stopping the taphole in place and a segment of a lining in the taphole between
it and the stopper device.
a is a metallic stopper chambered in the centre of its inner end to make it
lighter, and having a shoulder at its outer end to prevent its being driven in too
far, and a knob with a hole in it through which a ring or chain link is passed
and welded.
al represents a section of an interchangeable lining in the outer end of the
taphole.
The taphole will have the form of a frustum of a cone, or spheroid, about half
its length at its outer end and the interchangeable lining will conform to it in
shape so that it cannot be forced too far into the taphole. This interchangeable
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page_text: lining will generally consist of the outer end of a combined taphole bushing and
plug (the subject of another application for a Patent by me), the inner end of
which was forced away when the faucet was driven into place in tapping the
barrel.
The object of this interchangeable lining in the taphole is to preserve the taphole
from injury by the driving and loosening the faucet, and by the driving and
withdrawing the stopper device, a.
Before the cask is refilled this interchangeable lining is removed, and a new
bushing and plug placed in the taphole.
a² shows the wood of the head of the cask.
a³ shows the inner end of the taphole.
a is a chain one end link of which is welded through the knob on the stopper a,
and the other links of which are all welded or otherwise secured so that the chain
cannot be broken by hand. The other end of the chain is secured to the head of
the cask by a staple driven into the wood, or by other suitable device. This chain
retains the stopper a, always near the faucet and taphole ready for use when the
faucet is removed from the taphole.
The removal of the faucet does not displace the interchangeable lining a², but
leaves it in the taphole ready to receive and hold the stopper a, which upon the
removal of the faucet is immediately driven into its place, thus closing the cask
against the ingress of air, in which condition it remains without injury until
wanted for use again.
Thus I provide a stopper which with the interchangeable lining is always at
hand ready to close the taphole when the faucet is removed; and which with the
lining may be used an indefinite number of times without in the least changing the
form of, or otherwise injuring the taphole, thereby preventing the spoiling of casks
by mould, and securing as long a life for the head piece in, which the taphole is
located, as any other part of the cask may have.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
In an ale or beer cask, in combination, the head piece a³, the interchangeable
lining a¹, the stopper a, and the chain a, all substantially as described for the
purpose specified.