Method of and Means for Preserving and Distributing Liquids.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Mar., 1899-Accepted, 15th Apr., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Method of and Means for Preserving and Distributing Liquids.
I, JOSEPH CRAWHALL CHAPMAN, of 70, Chancery Lane, in the County of London,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (as com-
municated to me from abroad by Henry V. Walker, of 38, Clinton Street,
Brooklyn, New York, in the United States of America, Chemist) and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement ;-
-
The main object of the present invention is the preservation for a maximum
time of liquid foods and similar materials subject to the action of bacteria, with-
out producing chemical changes in such foods or adding foreign materials, either
solid liquid or gaseous in the process of preserving. It is a further object of
the invention to accomplish this under circumstances admitting of the gradual
use of the contents of any bottle or package containing the same, without danger
of contamination by opening the bottle or package.
The invention is particularly adapted to the preservation and distribution of
milk. Said invention includes, however, applications of the process and means
to the preservation and distribution as aforesaid of any semi-viscous fluid, such
as milk, syrups, cider, beer and so forth.
In preserving milk, syrups and other foods intended to be exposed to the air
for any considerable time before consumption, it has been heretofore customary
to treat the same with sugar, salt, salicylic acid or other substance calculated to
retard the growth of germs in the food. In some cases it has been proposed to
impregnate certain liquids with a variety of gases supposed to have the same
retarding effect on germs. The aim of this invention is to avoid all plans of
this kind which supply the consumer with an article other than the pure milk or
other food desired.
On the other hand, mere sterilizing processes, not involving the addition of
foreign substances, as hitherto employed, do not provide for preservation after once
opening the package, and are thus productive of inconvenience and waste.
By the use of the novel packing process, and of the noval form of package, the
advantages of sterilizing without alteration are combined with those of the pre-
serving processes depending upon the addition of foreign substances. The
purity of the food is maintained, and at the same time, the loss due to exposure
to the air on opening the package is avoided.
The improved method of preserving and packing, in its preferred form, consists
in first charging the liquid in an air-tight vessel-second, forcing into said vessel
a gas of little or no solubility in said liquid until a suitable pressure is produced,
say from fifty to one hundred rounds and third, in subjecting the package to a
temperature sufficient to get rid of the most common, active or dangerous germs
at least.

page_text: The pressure of gas to be produced in the package should be such as to admit
of its acting to discharge practically all the liquid packed through an appropriate
valve in the containing vessel.
The vessel which is used for producing the improved package is the ordinary
well-known siphon bottle, such as is used for carbonated waters.
It is found best to sterilize the gas before leading it into the preserving package,
although the invention is not limited to a process involving this step. By
adopting this course, however, means may be taken for the absolute sterilization
of the air before its being forced into the vessel; the accomplishment of which
by application of heat after forcing in would in most cases be injurious to the
liquid to be preserved.
The degree of heat applied in the final treatment of the liquid itself will vary
with the nature of the liquid and with the length of time it is expected to be
kept, as well as with the climate to which it is to be subjected and the number
and kind of bacteria to be destroyed.
Where milk is treated for instance, and it is intended for ordinary household
consumption in a warm climate it is preferred to "Pasteurize" by application of
a proper degree of heat less than 212 degrees Fahr., as well understood. By
use of the term "sterilize" in this specification and in the claims, it is intended
to cover both the complete destruction of all germs and the partial process, or
either.
Liquid foods, and other substances liable to afford support for the propaga-
tion of germs are all more or less viscous or tenacious. This is particularly true
of syrups and of milk and cream.
Where these are to be discharged from a siphon bottle, it is therefore impor-
tant that the gas to be used with them should be but slightly, if at all, soluble in
the particular liquid to be preserved; since otherwise, on releasing the liquid
from the gas pressure, however slowly, the contained gas would expand and, being
entangled in the viscous material, produce bubbles or froth, thus preventing its
being poured acceptably. This difficulty it is which has prevented the success
of all attempts to distribute beer and cider by means of carbonic acid pressure
in a siphon bottle.
Carbonic acid would not be practical for the purpose of this invention, as it is
very soluble. Moreover its necessarily high pressure when used in a siphon
increases its natural solubility, and accentuates this difficulty. Moreover, the
invention has for its main object the distribution of unaltered and unchanged
liquids, and the impregnation with a foreign gas precludes this condition.
In the practice of the invention, therefore, it is preferred to charge an air tight
vessel having an outlet valve, such as an ordinary siphon or its equivalent, with
the liquid to be preserved, leaving a certain amount of space at the top, to accom-
modate the gas. Into this top space is forced such a quantity of pure air, or other
gas slightly or not at all soluble, as will produce the necessary pressure for gradual
discharge of the liquid by proper manipulation of the valve. This gas is prefer-
ably sterilized by heat or otherwise before charging.
The package thus charged is subjected to a sterilizing temperature, and after
cooling, is ready for distribution.
The advantage of sterilizing after charging is found in the impossibility of
introduction of germs by imperfection in the charging means. The invention
is not limited, however, to the use of packages prepared in this way, and the
claim for the package as it is distributed is independent of all considerations of
process employed in putting together the elements claimed.
By the use of a siphon vessel, any desired quantity of liquid may be poured
out and the liquid gradually consumed, without admitting unsterile air to the
body of the liquid. It thus becomes unnecessary to use small bottles calculated
with more or less accuracy to correspond to the quantity required at once by the
consumer.
A further advantage in the use of the improved form of package lies in the

page_text: fact that bottles distributed indiscriminately, as in the milk trade, cannot become
carriers of germs back to centers of distribution, as often occurs where open
bottles are distributed, in which dregs are returned together with such disease
germs as those dregs have absorbed during the day.
The improved package will be found especially useful in hospitals and other
localities wherein precautions against carriage of disease need especial attention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention (as communicated to me from abroad) and in what manner the same is
to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The method of preparing perishable viscous or semi-viscous liquids for
preservation under conditions of gradual use which consists in charging the same
together with a practically insoluble gas under pressure in a closed vessel having
a suitable outlet valve which may be opened and closed without destroying the
efficient pressure of said gas, and then sterilizing said liquid in said vessel.
2. As a package admitting of preservation of its contents under conditions of
gradual use, an air-tight vessel having an outlet valve, and containing a
sterilized liquid affording support for germ propogation and a sterilized gas under
a discharging pressure sufficient to allow for the expansion incident to discharge;
said gas being practically insoluble in said liquid.
3. Preserving viscous or semi-viscous liquids for gradual use by bottling in
siphons in a practically sterilized non-impregnated condition with a practically
sterilized gas under efficient discharging pressure, said gas possessing little or no
solubility in the particular liquid to be preserved.
Dated this 6th day of March 1800