IMPROVEMENTS IN TEA AND COFFEE URNS, COFFEE POTS, AND OTHER VESSELS FOR SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Wheatcroft Harrison, of Sheffield, in the
County of York, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TEA AND COFFEE URNS, COFFEE POTS, AND OTHER VESSELS FOR SIMILAR
PURPOSES."
Sealed the 16th October 1861, and dated the 8th May 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Wheatcroft
Harrison at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 8th May 1861.
I, WILLIAM WHEATCROFT HARRISON, of Sheffield, in the County of York,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN TEA AND COFFEE URNS, COFFEE POTS, AND OTHER VESSELS FOR
SIMILAR PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
The first part of these improvements which applies principally to tea urns,
consists in the application of moveable trays or divisions fitting the interior
of the urn, and dividing the water which is in contact with the tea at the
bottom of the vessel from the rest of the water which is above the division,
so that only a certain portion of the water acts upon the tea at one time.
There is a small coiled pipe or other connection leading from the space above
the division to the space below the same which effectually prevents the
extract of the tea below from mixing with the water above, but allows of
water flowing from the upper to the lower part to take the place of the
extract, which is drawn off. Each division has a small air tube com-
municating with the lower space and opening above the level of the water

page_text: in the upper space. By making the interior form of the urn so as to taper
downwards, and having two or more divisions of different diameters, either
of which may be used at pleasure, the proportions betwixt the lower space
and the upper or water space may be changed at will, according to the quantity
of extract (say two, four, or more cups) which it is desired to draw off at
one time, one or more vertical divisions might be arranged so as to answer
the same purpose.
A modification of this arrangement may be made by substituting for the
divisions above named an internal vessel of a globular, cylindrical, or other
convenient form, into which the water is poured, and which communicates
with the outer space or body of the urn by means of a small coiled pipe as
before. In this instance the extract is made in the outer space and it will be
evident that if the inner vessel be capable of being lowered and raised by
means of a screw or otherwise, so as to displace more or less water, the
proportions between the outer or extract space and the inner or water space
will be varied accordingly. This modification can also be applied to ordinary
teapots and other vessels used for similar purposes.
Another part of my improvements which relates principally to coffee pots
or urns consists of a small apparatus to be used in the place of the canvas
bag or other similar arrangement usually employed to contain the ground
coffee. It consists of a vessel of a cylindrical or other form, open at the top,
and divided into two parts by a central neck or division. The upper part
forms a cup, into which the water is poured, and the coffee is placed in the
lower part. In connection with the upper part is a tube, which passes down
through the centre of the coffee in the lower part, and is perforated all over
with fine holes so as to admit the water to the centre of the coffee. The lower
part of the vessel (containing the coffee) is also perforated at the bottom or
sides, or both, so that the water admitted at the centre passes through
the coffee and flows through these perforations into the body of the coffee
pot or urn.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Wheatcraft Harrison in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th November 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WHEATCROFT HARRISON, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Manufacturer, 3.
send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
the
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
said William Wheatcroft Harrison, Her special licence that I, the said William
Wheatcroft Harrison, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
other as I, the said William Wheatcroft Harrison, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 TEA AND COFFEE URNS, COFFEE
POTS, AND OTHER VESSELS FOR SIMILAR PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Wheatcroft Harrison, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention and in 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Wheatcroft Harrison, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularily described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, and on reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :-
The first part of these improvements, which applies principally to tea urns,
consists in the application of one or more moveable trays or divisions fitting
the interior of the urn, and dividing the water which is in contact with the tea
at the bottom of the vessel from the rest of the water which is above the
division, so that, only a certain portion of the water acts upon the tea at one
time. There is a small coiled pipe or other connection leading from the space
above the division to the space below the same, which effectually prevents the
extract of the tea below from mixing with the water above, but allows of
water flowing from the upper to the lower part to take the place of the extract
which is drawn off.
When shallow trays are used each division has a small air tube communi-
cating with the lower space, and opening above the level of the water in the
upper space. By making the interior form of the urn so as to taper down-
war.ls, and having two or more divisions of different diameters, either of which

page_text: may be used at pleasure, the proportions betwixt the lower space and the
upper or water. space may be changed at will, according to the quantity of
extract (say two, four, or more cups) which it is desired to draw off at one
time. One or more vertical divisions might be arranged so as to answer the
same purpose.
A modification of this arrangement may be made by substituting for the
divisions above named an internal vessel of a globular, cylindrical, or other
convenient form, into which the water is poured, and which communicates
with the outer space or body of the urn by means of a small coiled pipe as
before. In this instance the extract is made in the outer space, and it will be
evident that if the inner vessel be capable of being lowered and raised by
means of a screw or otherwise, so as to displace more or less water, the pro-
portions between the outer or extract space and the inner or water space will
be varied accordingly. This modification can also be applied. to ordinary
teapots and other vessels used for similar purposes.
poured, and the coffee is
Another part of my improvements which relates principally to coffee pots or
urns, but may be used also for tea, consists of a small apparatus to be used in
the place of the canvas bag or other similar arrangement usually employed to
contain the ground coffee. It consists of a vessel of a cylindrical or othér
form, open at the top, and divided into two parts by a central neck or division.
The upper part forms a cup, into which the water is
placed in the lower part. In connection with the upper part is a tube, which
passes down through the centre of the coffee in the lower part, and is per-
forated all over or partly so with fine holes, so as to admit the water to the
centre of the coffee. The lower part of the vessel (containing the coffee) is
also perforated at the bottom or sides, or both, so that the water admitted at
the centre passes through the coffee and flows through these perforations into
the body of the coffee pot or urn.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for " Improvements
in Tea and Coffee Urns, Coffee Pots, and other Vessels for similar Purposes,"
I will now proceed to describe the manner in which the same is to be or.may
be performed or carried into practical effect. And in order that the same may
be distinctly understood, I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illus-
trative thereof, and have márked the same with figures and letters of reference
corresponding with those in the following explanation thereof, that is to
say:-
In the annexed Drawing Figure 1 illustrates the application of the first
part of my Invention, being a vertical section through about the centre of a
tea urn, with my improvements applied thereto._In_this_modification, instead

page_text: of shallow trays for the division of the reserve supply of water from the tea
extract beneath, an interior vessel a, a, is placed inside the body of the urn b, b.
In the centre of the vessel a, a, is a vertical tube c, c, with a handle dat
the top (or a rod may be substituted for the tube). This tube is furnished
near the bottom with a projecting flange e, c, and has its lower end tapped
with a screw fitting into a corresponding screwed hole in the bottom of the
vessel. Upon each side of this screw are small holes f, f, which are covered
by the flange e, e, so that upon turning the handle d to the right or left these
holes can be opened or closed at will. In a vessel of this form (there is no
occasion for any air tubes, as the vessel does not fit air-tight, and the air can
escape between the vessel and the body of the urn.
In using a tea urn of this description the vessel a, a, is removed, and the
tea being placed in the body of the urn, with the necessary quantity of hot water
for a first supply, the vessel a is then replaced, and the holes f, f, being closed
by screwing the flange e, e, down, by means of the handle d the vessel a, a, is
to be filled with the reserve supply of hot water. If the handle d be turned
to the left the holes f, f, will be opened, and the lower compartment will
always be kept full, but if it be turned to the right the water will remain in
the vessel a, a, until the handle is turned in the opposite direction, which may
be done whenever a further supply of water is required.
Figures 2 and 3 illustrate two modifications of the second part of my
Invention, which consists of an extracting and filtering apparatus to be applied
to ordinary coffee pots or urns, instead of the canvas bag or other similar
arrangement usually employed to contain the ground coffee from which the
extract is to be made, the principal difference between the two arrangements
consisting of a variation in the contrivance for introducing the ground coffee.
In Figure 2, a, a, is cup or vessel fixed upon the top of a cylindrical
vessel b, b, which is closely perforated all over with fine holes. The bottom c, c,
of this vessel is also finely perforated and can be removed and replaced at
pleasure by unscrewing it from or screwing it on to the central screw d or
other suitable mode of attaching it; the vessel a, a, communicates with the
vessel b, b, by means of an internal perforated tube e, e.
In using this apparatus it must first be reversed, and the perforated grate
e, e, be removed by unscrewing. The necessary quantity of ground coffee
must then be placed in the space between the perforated tube e, e, and the
perforated sides of the vessel b, b. The bottom c, c, is then screwed on and
the apparatus or extractor placed in the coffee pot or urn. The boiling water
must then be poured slowly into the vessel a, a, or when time will permit,
half the quantity of water required should be poured first into the vessel, which

page_text: should then be allowed to stand for two or three minutes and the remainder
be added, by which means the water in passing through the coffee absorbs its
full strength and flavor, becoming at the same time thoroughly filtered. The
extractor may be allowed to remain in the coffee pot or urn, or it may be
removed at pleasure.
The quantity of ground coffee placed in the extractor must not be so great
as entirely to fill up the space between the tube e, e, of the vessel b, b, as
sufficient room must be left to allow of the expansion of the coffee by the
boiling water.
In Figure 3, a, a, is the upper vessel, and 6, 6, the lower perforated one. The
perforated bottom c, c, is in this instance fixed; e, e, is the inner perforated
tube; and f, f, is a water-tight tray or division separating the contents of the
vessels a, a, and b, b. This tray is removed by means of the handle g, g, in
order to introduce the ground coffee, and is replaced before the hot water is
poured in.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention for "Im-
provements in Tea and Coffee Urns, Coffee Pots, and other Vessels for similar
Purposes," together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be
performed or carried into practical effect, I would remark, in conclusion,
that I claim as my Invention,-
Firstly, the employment of a division or chamber to contain a reserve
supply of water in urns or vessels for making tea.
And, secondly, the particular arrangements of apparatus shown in the
Drawings and above described (for making the extract from ground coffee or
tea), or any mere modification thereof constructed in substantially the same or
a similar manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Wheatcroft Harrison, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Second day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
W. W. HARRISON. (L.s.)