IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING INFUSIONS OR EXTRACTS FROM VARIOUS SUB- STANCES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Bradshaw Watkins, of Godmanchester, in
tho County of Huntingdon, Clerk, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING INFUSIONS OR EXTRACTS FROM VARIOUS SUB-
STANCES.
Sealed the 11th November 1856, and dated the 8th July 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Bradshaw Watkins
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th July 1856.
I, GEORGE BRADSHAW WATKINS, of Godmanchester, in the County of
Huntingdon, Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING LEFUSIONS OR EXTRACTS FROM VARIOUS
SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to vessels or apparatus such as are used for obtaining
infusions or extracts from coffee, tea, or other similar substances, and consists
of the following parts:-Fitting closely in the interior of the external casing is
a sieve or percolator, of a cylindrical or other convenient form, having the
bottom finely perforated, and provided in the centre with a cylinder, extending
upwards to about the level of the top of the percolator. This cylinder is also
finely perforated, and is provided with a piston, which can be moved upwards
or downwards by means of a screw or rack connected thereto, and is suspended
or supported by a bar or plato extending across the upper part of the vessel.

page_text: The lower part of the exterior casing forms a reservoir or receiver, and is
furnished with a tap, by means of which the infusion or extract is drawn off.
The coffee or other substanco and the water are placed in the annular space
between the sides of the percolator and the perforated cylinder, where the
dregs will remain, leaving the extract or infusion perfectly clear.
SPECIFICATION in pursuanco of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Bradshaw Watkins in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
BRADSHAW WATKINS, of Godmanchester, in the County of Huntingdon, Clork,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her Heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Bradshaw Watkins, Her special licence that I, the said George
Bradshaw Watkins, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said George Bradshaw Watkins, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter 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 FOR OBTAINING INFUSIONS OR EXTRACTS FROM VARIOUS
SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George
Bradshaw Watkins, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly.
describe and ascertain the naturo 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 George Bradshaw Watkins, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, and on reference to the Drawings hereunto
attached, that is to say:-

page_text: My said Invention relates to vessels or apparatus such as are used for
obtaining infusions or extracts from coffee, tea, or other similar substances,
and consists of the following parts:-Fitting loosely in the interior of the
external casing is a sieve or percolator, of a cylindrical or other convenient
form, having the bottom finely perforated, and provided in the centre with a
cylinder, extending upwards to about the level of the top of the percolator.
This cylinder is also finely perforated, and is provided with a piston, which
can be moved upwards and downwards by means of a screw or rack connected
thereto, and is suspended or supported by a bar or plate extending across the
upper part of the vessel. The lower part of the exterior casing forms a
reservoir or receiver, and is furnished with a tap, by means of which the
infusion or extract is drawn off. The coffee or other substance and the
boiling water are placed in the annular space between the sides of the per-
colator and the perforated cylinder, where the dregs will remain, leaving the
extract or infusion perfectly clear.
A modification of this Invention, which, by experiment, I have found to be
more suitable for making simple infusions of tea or coffee, is constructed as
follows:-The percolator above mentioned is used without the perforated
cylinder and piston, the bottom of the said percolator being made either of
perforated metal, or of cloth, or other suitable filtering material.
And in order more distinctly to illustrate my Invention I have annexed
hereto a Sheet of Drawings, representing this last-named modification con-
structed as a tea or coffee urn for ordinary domestic use, drawn about half
size.
In the Drawing, Figure I is an external view of the apparatus complete;
Figure 2 is a vertical section, taken through about the middle of the same;
and Figure 3 is a view of the percolator detached. a, b, c, represent the
exterior or body of the vessel supported upon the foot or based; e is the lid;
and the percolator, the bottom g of which is represented as made of cloth;
the percolator is provided with a handle h, for convenience of removing the
same from the vessel when required. When the percolator is placed in the
vessel (see Figure 2) it finds its bearing a short way down the inclined or
conical portion b6 of the body of the vessel, and leaves an air chamber all
round between it and the upper cylindrical part a of the same. When the
tea or coffee, &c. are placed in the percolator and boiling water poured thereon
the percolator acts as a valve, and allows the air from the lower cylindrical
portion or reservoir c of the vessel to escape; and when the parts b and c are full
the extract rises in the space between the percolator and the body, a of the vessel,
until it reaches the level of the fluid in the filter. When the tap i is turned

page_text: and the extract is allowed to flow out, as the level of the extract outside the
percolator recedes, it causes a pressure of the atmosphere on the surface of
the fluid in the percolator, forcing it through the cloth at the same rate until
the whole of the fluid extract has been drawn off, and the extract thus made
will be found perfectly clear and brilliant.
Having thus described, the nature and object of my said Invention for
improved apparatus for obtaining infusions or extracts from various substances,
together with the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I would
remark, in conclusion, that I claim as my Invention; the construction of
apparatus above described, without confining myself to the precise form,
dimensions, or other details of the apparatus, provided always that the
peculiar character or principle of my Invention be adhered to.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Bradshaw Watkins, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
G. B. WATKINS. (L.B.)