IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF TAPS OR COCKS FOR DRAWING OFF THE CONTENTS OF CASKS AND OTHER CLOSED VESSELS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Edmund Peel, of Swansea, in the County of
Glamorgan, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF TAPS OR COCKS FOR DRAWING OFF
THE CONTENTS OF CASKS AND OTHER CLOSED VESSELS."
Sealed the 24th October 1879, and dated the 22nd August 1879.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Charles Edmund Peel at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd August 1879.
CHARLES EDMUND PEEL, of Swansea, in the County of Glamorgan, Consulting
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF TAPS
OR COCKS FOR DRAWING OFF THE CONTENTS OF CASKS AND OTHER CLOSED
VESSELS."
My said Invention consists in improvements in the construction and arrangement
of taps or cocks for drawing off beer or other liquids contained in casks or other
closed vessels, and by means of which the necessity for the employment of vent
pegs is obviated, a sufficient supply of air to the cask or other vessel at the desired
time is secured, and the possibility of leaving the vent hole open, and the con-
sequent deterioration of the liquid contained in the cask or other vessel is entirely
avoided.
The body or main portion of the tap or cock is constructed in the ordinary
manner, but in addition to the channel or passage for the extraction of the liquid
from the cask or other vessel it has formed therein an air channel or passage, one
end of which is open to the external atmosphere, the opposite end being connected
to the vent hole by means of a pipe or tube of any suitable material. The said air
channel or passage is divided into two portions about the centre thereof by the
valve plug, which is provided with a suitable orifice for connecting the said two
portions of the channel or passage. The said orifice is parallel to the orifice in the
valve plug for the passage of the liquid, so that when the last mentioned orifice is
brought into coincidence with the respective portions of the channel in the tap or
cock for the purpose of drawing off the liquid the first mentioned orifice will also
be brought into coincidence with the respective portions of the air channel; thus
the air is admitted to the cask or other vessel simultaneously with the drawing off
of the liquid, and when the flow of the latter is stopped by the turning of the valve
plug the admission of air is immediately arrested.

page_text: I will now proceed to refer to the accompanying Drawings, from which the
nature of my said Invention will be more clearly understood. Figure 1 is a longi-
tudinal section of a tap constructed according to this Invention with the air channel
or passage and the channel or passage for the extraction of the liquid closed;
Figure 2 is a similar view with the channel or passages open; and Figure 3 is an
elevation. The same letters of reference indicate similar parts in the several
Figures. A is the body or main portion of the tap, a being that part thereof which
fits into the tap hole of the cask or other vessel; B is the valve plug; b the orifice
in the latter for connecting the portions of the channel for the liquid; and b' the
orifice for connecting the portions of the air channel; C is the channel or passage
for the liquid, the air passage being shown at D; E is the pipe or tube connecting
the latter to the vent hole for the purpose of facilitating the admission of air to the
upper part of the cask or other vessel.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention and the
manner in which it is to be performed, I would observe in conclusion that what I
consider novel and original and therefore claim as constituting my said Invention
is,-
The construction of taps or cocks and the arrangement thereof in connection with
casks and other vessels in such a manner that the admission of air to the latter is
controlled by the actuation of the valve plug of the former, substantially as and for
the purposes hereinbefore set forth and described:
'
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Edmund Peel, have hereunto set my.
hand and séal, this Eighteenth' day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
CHAS. ED**, PEEL. (L.S.)