IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING. ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING. ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS."
A communication from abroad by by the Purifying and Maturing Process
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th July 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING
ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS." A communication from abroad by the Purifying and
Maturing Process Company, of Hartford, Connecticut, United States of America.
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus for purifying alcoholic
liquors, and consists in various novel features in the construction of the same, as
hereinafter described. In the accompanying Drawing,―
and
Figure 1 is an elevation of my improved apparatus, with portions of the same
broken away in order to clearly illustrate certain parts of the said Invention ;
Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section of the said apparatus.
Figure 3 is a plan of a pan hereinafter described.
Figure 4 is an elevation of a cone hereinafter described, and the pan secured
thereto.
a is a retort, which when in use is kept half full of liquor by means of a
suitable gauge, and at a proper temperature, varying from 70 to 264 degrees
Fahrenheit. At the outlet of the said retort a filter a' is provided, and one or
more escape pipes c, furnished with caps c¹, extend upward from the said retort;
b is a perforated agitator operated by the hand crank b, or by any other suitable
power. Into an opening upon the upper side of the retort is set the pan d, which
is sunken at its centre, the sunken portion being provided with the pipe d¹ and
perforations e¹. An annular partition e is provided on this pan, thus forming a
reservoir or tank between it and the outer wall of the pan, which is kept full of

page_text: alcohol. Resting upon the wall or rim of the pad d, by means of the flange f¹, is
the conductor f surmounted by a barrel-shaped tank or vessel g, having at opposite
ends faucets'g', and supporting a filter h.
Resting on the pan d inside the partition e is the hollow cone or conical pipe k,
open at its top, and having notches / cut in its lower edge. Within and fixed to
the said cone is a smaller cone 7, closed at the top, and having its lower edge
higher than the lower edge of the cone k, and hence not resting on the pan d.
m represents the pan, which is secured to and surrounds the upper portion of the
cone, and which has perforations m¹. Set in this pan m is the open topped
outer cone n, to which is secured the close topped inner cone p, whose lower edge
is raised above the said pan m; this cone n may in turn support a pan and a pair of
cones similar to the cones n, 2, and so on, as many pans and cones being used as desired.
The operation of the said apparatus is as follows, that is to say:-The liquor to
be purified is conducted by means of a tube or pipe from a point above the
apparatus to the opening in the top of the filter ; thence it passes through the said
filter into the tank g, and thence through a central opening in the said tank.
liquor then drops through the open top of the outer cone n, flows around the
outside of the inner cone p, and through the perforated pan m to the outside of
the outer cone k, and through the notches into the pan d, and through the
openings e' into the retort. In this retort the liquor is violently agitated in order
to produce, thorough internal evaporation with or without ebullition. As above
stated this retort is kept one half full of liquor, and agitation is not usually
commenced until this liquor has passed into the retort. The heat applied to the
retort is graduated to the evaporation of different ethers of liquors.
The
The vapor rises through the tube d in the pan d, passes into the inner cone l,
partially condenses on its inner surface, then passes between the inner cone (having
passed down under its lower edge) and the outer cone through the opening in the
top of the latter into the inner cone p, partially condenses on its inner surface, passes
down under its lower edge, up between it.and the outer cone n, up through its top
opening, and preserves the same course through whatever other similar cones there
may be. The vapor then passes through the conductor f, the tank g, and filter h
to the original barrel or tank, which ultimately becomes full of vapor instead of
liquor. By means of the faucets g¹ the more pungent vapors may be drawn off
without passing into the barrel, The heavier ethers in passing up from the retort
can be absorbed by the alcohol in the space between the partition e and the side of
the pan d, having access thereto through the notches 1. Instead of alcohol other
absorbents, such as glycerine, charcoal, fibrine, and the like can be used.
The caps c¹ having been removed, and the mouths of the tubes c covered with
animal membrane, a certain proportion of water may be absorbed by the said
membrane on the exosmose principle, thereby aiding the proof, which having been
accomplished the caps may be again placed in position. Any desired number of
these evaporating tubes c may be used, and may be placed in any part of the retort
where the liquor will come in contact with them.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it under-
stood that I claim,-
First. The herein described apparatus for purifying liquors, consisting of the
retort a, having the evaporating tubes c and the pan d constructed as shown, the
conductor containing two or more sets of inner and outer cones k, l, and n, p,
(each outer cover being provided with a perforated pan), and the tank g having
faucets g, all constructed and arranged substantially as above set forth and for the
purposes specified.
'
Second. The pan & having a central depression, and provided with the tube d',
the perforations e', and the annular partition e, in combination with the retort and
the lower set of cones, substantially as above set forth and for the purposes
specified.
Third. The combination of the outer cone having the notches, and supporting

page_text: the perforated pan m, and the inner cone secured to the outer cone, and having
its lower edge raised above the pan upon which the outer cone rests, the outer cone
being open and the inner cone closed at the top, all substantially as above set forth
and for the purposes specified.
Fourth. The combination with the set of cones k, l, and the pan m of the similar
set of cones p, n, supported by the said pan, substantially as above set forth and
for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
WN. ROBT. LAKE. (LS.)