Improvements in Apparatus for Raising Beer to Beer Engines and the like.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 19th May, 1894-Accepted, 9th Feb., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Raising Beer to Beer Engines and
the like.
I, CARL RAFFIN, of Schwerte, Westphalia; in the German Empire, Merchant,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
In the pressure apparatus employed it has been found that, in tapping or
drawing off the beer, notwithstanding the provision of a back pressure valve in the
conduit or pipe leading from the pressure distributor to the bung, impurities are
apt to enter and collect in, both the said pipe and the distributor, which circumstance
necessitated a special long and tedious cleaning operation.
This invention entirely removes the drawback in question, as it consists in an
arrangement enabling the apparatus to be cleaned in a simple manner, without
thereby materially increasing the cost of the apparatus, or necessitating any special.
apparatus, or necessitating any special arrangements or plant.
The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which the device forming the subject thereof is represented partly in
elevation and partly in section.
The apparatus consists of an air, gas, or gas and air distributor A connected
with the air-pipe of an air reservoir, and from which, according to the number of
different sorts of beer to be drawn off, a corresponding number of flexible tubes
branch off, each leading to the particular cask intended to receive the kind of beer
drawn from it..
In the drawings it has been assumed that three different kinds of beer are to be
dealt with, and that there are therefore provided three flexible tubes leading to
three casks respectively.
The flexible tubes lead to a hollow bung through which the elevating pipe
and the beer pipe extend. In the distributor there are provided as many cocks
as there are flexible tubes, which cocks are designated in the drawings by the
letters a, b, c.
In addition to these cocks, the cocks h and i are arranged at the respective ends
of the distributor, one of these cocks being connected by suitable tubing with a
bottles, containing carbonic acid, while the other communicates by means of a
flexible tube or lose with a water supply or a force pump.
When it is desired to clean the distributor a necessity which can only arise in
the case of those pipes which bappen to be disconnected from the casks, all cocks
are first turned off, the hose leading to the water pipe or the force pump is
connected with such pipe or pump, and the cock belonging to the flexible tube
which it is desired to clean and also those of the air tube and the water main are
opened. The water coming from the water main or pump, and the air carried
along with it from the air conduit removes all the impurities which the distributor,
the flexible tube, the back pressure valve k, and the bung hole may contain. If no
water main be available, a force pump may be employed for the purpose, in which
case there may be added to the water used in cleansing the apparatus, either
caustic potash or caustic soda which will assist in rendering the cleansing operation
more thorough.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained my said invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :-
An air, gas, or gas and air distributor provided with means for cleaning the
same, and adapted to be used in connection with apparatus for raising beer to beer
engines and the like, the main feature of the said distributor being that it is
connected with a water pipe or a force pump, so as to facilitate the cleaning or
cleansing thereof; substantially as described and illustrated in the drawings.
Dated this 19th day of May 1894.
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.