Improvements in Apparatus for Storing, Cooling, and Drawing Off Beer and the like.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Sept., 1898-Accepted, 12th Nov., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Storing, Cooling, and Drawing Off
Beer and the like.
I, WILHELM BACHNER, of 15, Friedrichstrasse, Stuttgart, in the Empire of
Germany, 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:-
As is well known a large number of different ice chests already exist with dis-
charging devices for effervescent drinks, more particularly beer and the like, in
which the beer contained in a cask or in a separate container in the ice chest is
discharged by air or gas pressure and more particularly by means of carbonic
acid. The majority of consumers however desire to have no action of carbonic
acid on the beer when drawing-off the same, and the present invention is designed
to meet their wishes in providing an apparatus in which the beer is discharged
without carbonic acid pressure.
This apparatus is shown in the accompanying drawings,
Figures 1, 2 and 3 being three vertical sections and
Figure 4 a horizontal section.
The beer is pumped from the cask by air pressure into a cylinder B vertically
mounted on feet 6 in an ice chest A, said cylinder being tightly closed at the top
by means of a vertically adjustable hollow piston c with washer rings c¹. The
hollow piston is provided with a grate and is utilized as an ice container.
In order that the cylinder B may not be damaged when filling ice into the
apparatus the hollow piston C has at top an annular protective casing C¹ of
U-shaped longitudinal section, between the two walls of which the upper part
of the beer cylinder B lies and cannot be damaged by pieces of ice thrown into
the apparatus.
The beer pumped into the cylinder stands in the same under direct pressure
owing to the weight of the piston C together with its protective casing C¹ and also
the ice or melted ice contained therein, which weight may be increased by a
weight box U mounted above in the casing C and more or less counterbalanced
if desired by means of adjustable counterweights f¹ supported on cords or chains F
travelling over pulleys f. The cylinder B is placed in the highest part A of the
ice chest, which part is provided with a cover a, the said ice chest having in front
a lower sideboard-like projecting part A' which is provided at the top with a
removable cover A³.
The beer in the cylinder B which surrounds the piston C laterally and flows
under its bottom c passes at the lowest point of the domed cylinder bottom b
through an elbow pipe i into a second container G, in which, with the object of
attaining a further cooling there is inserted a cooling vessel II which is always
filled with the water resulting from the melting of the ice, which ice water flows
DO17

page_text: through the vessel H which extends nearly to the bottom of the container G,
whilst from the upper part of said cooling vessel H a discharge pipe h conveys
the warmer water to the outside into a separate water container N. The beer
passes from the beer vessel G by means of a pipe g to the draw-off tap g¹, and in
order that the temperature of the beer when being discharged may be conveniently
ascertained a thermometer K is introduced in proximity to the draw-off tap, the
tube of which thermometer is immersed in the beer in the vessel G.
In order that the amount of beer in the cylinder A and the position of the pis-
ton C in the latter may at any time be easily ascertained by the drawer, a litre
scale M is arranged behind the draw-off tap on the outer wall of the ice chest,
on which scale an indicating finger travels, which is connected with the movable
piston C by a cord M carried over a pulley m. All the positions of the piston
are therefore automatically indicated on the scale so that the drawer is always
precisely informed how much beer there is in the beer container. In order that
both the large vessel B shut off by the movable piston C and also the smaller
beer container G may be aerated and eventually entirely discharged, for instance
for the purpose of being cleaned, an elbow pipe D is arranged on the vessel B
within the piston C opening directly under the washer ring c¹, which elbow pipe
has an air tap d' connected by a tubular nozzle and carries below the latter a
back-pressure valve d. The same arrangement is provided for the vessel G
by means of a pipe Q opening into the same and fitted with a back pressure
valve and a hosepipe tap q. In order to aerate the vessels an air pump or the
like is connected by a hose pipe with the back pressure valves & and g¹ respec-
tively, and air is forced into the vessels B and G. When the vessel B has been
first emptied the taps and of the tubular connection i between B and G are
closed and then the vessel G is subjected to pressure and emptied.
In order to fill the vessel B there is used a pipe o mounted on the connecting
pipe and having a vessel O, air admission tap o¹ and filling tap o² on the thread
of which the filling hose pipe from the cask is screwed. The vessel 0 of the
filling pipe and the tap q for discharging the vessel G are arranged in a separate
chest or box A³ placed at the side of the sideboard-like projection A¹ in
proximity to the draw-off tap g¹, in such a way as to be invisible, said box A³ being
easily removable.
In order to draw off the water produced by the melting of the ice from the
hollow piston C into the water vessel H lying in the beer container G, a suction
pipe E is employed which is protected by a pipe and lies in the piston C and in
the casing of the same, which suction pipe is carried at the top over a roller e
and extends on the one hand almost to the bottom of the hollow piston C and on
the other hand is connected at the other end with a wing pump W or the like,
from which a pressure pipe E¹ is carried almost to the bottom of the cooling
vessel H so that the cold ice water is caused to enter at the bottom of the vessel H
whilst the warmer water as already mentioned is carried off from the top of the
same by means of a pipe h. The spindle of the pump W is carried through the
Bide wall of the ice chest and has the necessary lever w outside the same for
operating the pump. A large door T is arranged on the rear wall of the ice
chest A to allow of the cylinder B being inserted or removed, for instance for the
purpose of cleaning. In order that the tap of the tubular connection i may
be conveniently opened after the opening of the door T, the key or lever 3 of
the same is provided with a link 4, the handle of which lies in front in proximity
to the door T, so that by pulling or pushing the link the tap may be easily
opened or closed.
Where the cylinders B are very large, it may be advisable in certain circum-
stances to arrange a separate ice container in the ordinary manner in the upper
part of the ice chest A or in a construction arranged at one side which is not
shown in the drawings, so that the cylinders B may also be cooled by means of
cooled air from the outside. Generally speaking any further cooling is unnecessary.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. An apparatus for discharging beer or other effervescent beverages without
the pressure of carbonic acid, air or gas, characterised by the beer being forced
into a cylinder (B) mounted in an ice safe, which cylinder is closed at the top
by means of a hollow piston (C) tightly fitting in the cylinder, which hollow
piston is provided internally with a grating (2) and serves also as an ice holder,
the beer being maintained in the cylinder under a regulatable pressure and capable
of being directly discharged to the outside without any air or gas pressure owing
to the actual weight of the piston (C) in combination with the weight of the
ice and the ice water with the assistance if desired of loading weights (U) or
counter weights (f¹) suspended on cords F or the like carried over rollers (f) sub-
stantially as hereinbefore described.
2. In a discharging or drawing off apparatus such as described for beer and the
like, conducting the beer emerging from the storing cylinder (B) through a
second vessel (G) in which a cooling vessel (H) is inserted, through which cooling
vessel the water arising from the melting of the ice is caused to flow and be carried
off, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
3. In a drawing off apparatus such as described for beer and the like, a device
for conveying the water produced by the melting of the ice from the hollow pis-
ton (C) into the cooling vessel (H) consisting of a pump (W) adapted to be
operated from the outside, and which communicates with the piston and cooling
vessel on the one hand by means of a suction pipe (E) carried over a pulley (el)
and ending on the bottom (c) of the movable piston (C) and on the other hand by
a pipe (E) extending nearly to the bottom of the cooling vessel (H) whereby
in any position of the piston (C) the water caused by the melting of the ice in the
same may be conveyed by means of the pump (W) into the cooling vessel (H)
substantially as described.
Dated thi 10+1
Cantous hou 1000
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.