AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING HOPS FOR BREWING PURPOSES
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Henry Harris Lake at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th March 1883. Communicated to
him from abroad by Friedrich Sláma of Tachau, Engineer and Franz Felix, of
Kauth, Bohemia, Brewer
"
HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS
FOR TREATING HOPS FOR BREWING PURPOSES."-[A communication to him from
abroad by Friedrich Sláma of Tachau, Engineer and Franz Felix, of Kauth,
Bohemia, Brewer]
This invention relates to an improved method of extracting the active principles
from hops in the boiling thereof with wort, and to apparatus therefor.
According to the said invention the hops are not boiled as heretofore in their
entire state and natural shape with the wort, but are first subjected to a process
of laceration. By this means a far more effectual impregnation of the hops is
obtained, and the very frequent agglutination of the hop blossoms is prevented
whereby the percentage of the extractive principles of the hops is considerably
augmented in the wort.
In order to lacerate the hop blossoms with ease and economy I employ a
machine constructed and operating as follows, that is to say, I provide a hopper
fitted on to the frame of the machine into which the hops to be treated are thrown,
they then run through an opening provided with a regulating slide on to a shaker
and thence into the lacerating mechanism. The regulating slide is fitted to the
front side of the hopper and can be moved by means of a rack and pinion or by.
a lever, a screw or a handle, or the like in order to control the slide and regulate
the size of the aperture at the lower part of the hopper.
The shaker consists of a small box which forms the base of, bears against,
and is jointed to, the hopper; the said shaker receives its motion through a rod
the lower end of which rests upon a ratchet wheel on the principal shaft and has
thereby imparted to it an up and down motion, or the shaker may be fixed upon
a number of springs rising vertically from the frame of the machine, in which case
a rod similar to that before mentioned is connected with a ratchet wheel the teeth
of which are arranged to impart to the shaker a horizontally to and fro motion.

page_text: Extending as far as the front side of the hopper and joining the same is the
case enclosing the lacerating roller which case stands upon the frame of the
machine and forms a suitable bearing for the principal shaft and the lacerating
roller shaft.
One wall of the casing of the lacerating roller is adjustable for the purpose of
moving a knife which is fitted to the upper part of the said wall nearer to, or
farther from, the said roller. For the purpose of adjusting the wall which moves
between the flanges of the said casing it is provided with two lateral projections
which rest upon the frame and are secured by means of lock nuts and screws in
slots. I do not limit myself to this mode of adjusting the wall as it is obvious
that it may be modified in various manners, for instance a screw or a lever may be
used for the purpose.
For completely closing the lacerating roller casing between the end of the
adjustable wall and the fixed portion of the said wall a lid is provided which
admits of easy access to the roller.
The lacerating roller which may be made of any suitable material is fitted in
its periphery with a number of serrated cutters arranged diagonally, across the face
of the roller and also with a number of single teeth arranged in the spaces between
the cutters which serve the purpose of catches and are mounted upon the roller in
such a manner as to pass through indentations of the said knife so that when the
teeth pass through the indentations there remain only small spaces whereby the
laceration of the hop blossoms is produced.
I
In order not to bring round again the portions of blossom which will no doubt
adhere to the cutters and pins after they have passed the knife I attach to the
under part of the casing a sweeper or scraper liaving the same shape as the said
knife. The rotation of the lacerating roller is effected by means of a spur-wheel
fixed to the shaft and a spur-wheel on the main shaft moving concurrently with
the shaking wheel.
The main shaft can be worked by hand by means of a fly-wheel or by steam
power by means of pulleys and belting.
The form of the teeth of the cutters upon the lacerating roller as well as that of
the knife and the sweeper or scraper can be varied according to requirements
Instead of fitting the cutters and pins upon a smooth roller the cylinder may be
formed of toothed plates or discs separated from each other by washers in order to
ensure a proper distance between the said toothed plates. In that case however
the knife and the sweeper or scraper must be made with teeth of a width
corresponding with the thickness of the washers.
Instead of employing a lacerating roller of any kind of construction with a
knife, two or three rollers may work together in such a manner that the teeth
or cutter mountings of the rollers shall act together for the purposes of laceration..
The removal of the divided or lacerated hop blossoms from the machine can be
effected in very many different ways, though the simplest manner of accomplishing
this, is to place a receptacle under an opening in the casing and in tolerably close
proximity thereto in order to obviate the loss of blossom dust; this receptacle can
be emptied from time to time.
In order to provide for a continuous flow of hops in the hopper considering the
liability of the hops to clog and be retarded in their course on account of their
small specific gravity, two wings are arranged within the hopper for pressing upon
the hops.