IMPROVED APPARATUS CONNECTED WITH THE DISCHARGE OF LIQUIDS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Ross, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Brassfounder, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS
CONNECTED WITH THE DISCHARGE OF LIQUIDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Ross at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
September 1859.
I, WILLIAM Ross, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Brassfounder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IM-
PROVED APPARATUS CONNECTED WITH THE DISCHARGE OF LIQUIDS," to be as follows,
that is to say-
This Invention has for object the discharge of liquids from casks or other
vessels placed at a lower level than that at which the discharge is required or
which are otherwise inconveniently situated, and is also applicable to the
discharge of liquids from casks or other vessels in any relative situation in
cases where it is desirable to prevent the accession of air to the remaining
liquid.
In applying the Invention, to raise the liquid, provision is made for dis-
placing it in the cask or vessel by water or other convenient fluid, under a
pressure equivalent to or more than equivalent to the height to which the

page_text: liquid has to be raised. The water may be obtained of a suitable pressure
from an open cistern placed at a higher level than that at which the discharge
is wanted. Or, the fluid used may be obtained from any source, provided the
pressure is sufficient.
To prevent the water from mixing with the liquid in the cask or vessel,
this vessel is provided with a diaphragm or bag, which, whilst it separates the
two liquids, permits one to displace the other. In applying this apparatus to
a beer cask, for example, the cask may be placed low down in a cellar, and
the discharge pipe being led up to a shop at a higher level, the discharge is
obtained on simply turning a tap, and without the pumping usually necessary,
the water imparting a a sufficient pressure to the liquid to force it up the
pipe. Where the cask or vessel is placed at a level above the point of
discharge, the diaphragm or bag and the displacing water may be employed
to prevent the accession of air to the liquid. In this case, the water need not
have a greater pressure than that barely sufficient to make it enter the vessel,
as the liquid is drawn off, or air may be allowed to displace the liquid, the
diaphragm or bag preventing it from acting on the liquid.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Ross in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th
March 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
Ross, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Brassfounder,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Ross, Her special licence that I, the said William
Ross, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Ross, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS
CONNECTED WITH THE DISCHARGE OF LIQUIDS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Ross, my executors or administrators, by an

page_text: 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 Ross, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention has for object, the discharge of liquids from casks or
other vessels placed at a lower level than that at which the discharge is
required, or which are otherwise inconveniently situated; and is also applicable
to the discharge of liquids from casks or other vessels in any relative situation,
in cases where it is desirable to prevent the accession of air to the remaining
liquid.
In applying the Invention to raise the liquid, provision is made for dis-
placing it in the cask or vessel by water or other convenient fluid, under a
pressure equivalent to or more than equivalent to the height to which the
liquid has to be raised. The water may be obtained of a suitable pressure
from an open cistern placed at a higher level than that at which the discharge
is wanted; or the fluid used may be obtained from any source, provided the
pressure is sufficient.
To prevent the water from mixing with the liquid in the cask or vessel this
vessel is provided with a diaphragm or bag which whilst it separates the two
liquids, permits one to displace the other.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood and
carried into effect, I have delineated upon the accompanying Sheet of explana-
tory Drawings, and will particularly describe modifications of apparatus to be
used in its practical application.
Figure 1 on the Sheet of Drawings is a vertical section, showing at once a
shop or upper apartment A where the discharge of beer (or other liquid) is
required, and the cellar B beneath, where the beer is stored. In applying
the Invention according to one modification there is provided a metal
vessel C, formed in two portions, which are united by means of flanges D.
Inside the vessel C, there is fixed, by means of a flange inserted between the
flanges D, a bag E of a flexible and impervious material, such as caoutchouc,
forming a fluid-tight partition, and capable of movement in the vessel, so as to
displace the contents on either side of it. In this example the beer is intro-

page_text: this last is
duced above the bag E by a pipe F provided with a stop-cock from the
barrel G, and the discharge is effected by the pipe H, which passes up through
the shop floor I and counter J to the fount tap K. From the under side of
the bag E, a pipe L, provided with a stop-cock, passes up to a cistern M placed
at a level somewhat higher than that of the discharge tap K, and the pressure
of the water from the cistern M, causes the beer (or other liquid) in the
vessel C to rise up the pipe H, and pass out of the tap K when
open, the bag E preventing the water from mixing with the beer. The bag E
is shown as it is when the vessel C is full of beer, whilst dotted lines indicate
its position when the beer is partly discharged and displaced by the water.
When the beer is entirely discharged, the bag E becomes forced against the
top part of the vessel, and to prevent its getting into the pipes F, H, a plate e
is fixed to it. To refill the vessel C with beer, the stop-cocks of the pipes L
and H are closed, and that of the pipe F is opened, as well as a tap N, which
gives egress to the water beneath the bag E. The beer then flows in from
the barrel G as the water flows out, and this will take place even if the
barrel G is at a somewhat lower level than the vessel C, provided the dis-
charge outlet N is lower still than the barrel G.
Another modification of the vessel C and its parts is shown in section in
Figure 2 on the Sheet of Drawings. The vessel is cylindrical, and the
provision for preventing the mixing of the beer and water consists of a metal
diaphragm E, capable of sliding from one end to the other of the vessel C, and
fitted with cupped leathers to prevent leakage between the side of the vessel
and the edge of the diaphragm. The vessel C may be placed on its end or
side as may be most convenient, and the movement of the bag or diaphragm E
may be in any convenient direction, the beer and water being respectively
admitted to either side of it. Thus in Figure 2, the water pressure pipe L is
shown as entering above the diaphragm, whilst the discharge pipe H enters
below it. It may here be mentioned that the elevation of the beer (or other
liquid) may be obtained by other than liquid pressure; thus for low lifts, a
weight might be applied to the diaphragm E (Figure 2), but in most cases
the application of liquid pressure will be found most convenient.
A simple mode of effecting the displacement is shown in Figure 3; in this
case the beer (or other liquid) is retained in the cask O, in which it is received
from the brewery, and the discharge pipe H' is fitted into the ordinary tap
hole, whilst there is introduced at the bung-hole P, a bag E of thin flexible
material, such as caoutchouc, of such form and proportions as to be capable of
expanding, so as to fill or nearly fill the cask O. This bag E is attached to a
bung tightly fitting the bunghole P, and fixed on the end of a pipe L¹ by

page_text: which water from the cistern M is admitted to the inside of the bag E; the
pressure of the water in this bag expands it, and causes the beer to rise
through the pipe H' whenever the corresponding fount tap at K is opened.
Where the cask or vessel O or C is placed at a level above the point of
discharge, the bag or diaphragm E, and the displacing water may be employed
to prevent the accession of air to the liquid. In this case the water need not
have a greater pressure than that barely sufficient to make it enter the vessel
as the liquid is drawn off, or air may be allowed to displace the liquid, the bag
or diaphragm preventing it from acting on the liquid.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be used or carried into effect, I bave to state that I
do not restrict myself to the precise details herein-before described or delineated
and that I do not claim to have invented every separate detail herein-before
described and delineated, but that what I consider to be novel and original,
and claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is,
The effecting of the discharge of liquid at a level above the containing
vessel by the application of a displacing liquid or pressure substantially as
herein-before described.
And the applying of bags or diaphragms to vessels for containing liquid to
prevent the contact of air as the liquid is being discharged, substantially as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Ross, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
WILLIAM ROSS. (L.S.)