IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MAKING TEA, COFFEE, AND OTHER EXTRACTS
Year: 1876

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Clark at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 5th July 1876. A communication from
abroad by Jean Baptiste Toselli, of Paris, France.
WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MAKING TEA, COFFEE, AND OTHER EXTRACTS."
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus for making decoctions or
infusions of coffee or tea, and for other purposes, and consists in an apparatus
working on the circulation system.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents an elevation, and Figure 2 a
central vertical section of an apparatus on this principle "adapted for the use of
large establishments.
a is a conical vessel surmounted by an upper vessel b having a perforated bottom
or percolator. The vessel bis affixed to a central pipe c having a diaphragm d
at its lower end provided with a pipe e for connecting the compartments, Numbers
1 and 2, above and below the diaphragm. The central pipe c is surmounted by a
small spreader f by which the hot water is distributed upon the ground coffee
placed within the vessel b. The vessel a is contained within a metal cylinder
which retains the heat of the stove and renders the operation more rapid and
economical.
The mode of using the apparatus is as follows:-Water is placed in a, and the
ground coffee in b and the fire lighted. When the water in compartment Number
1 is heated to 90 degrees it will rise up the central pipe c to be distributed upon
the ground coffee by the spreader f. The water in compartment Number 2 being
cooler passes down pipe e to replace that which has passed up tube c, and on be-
coming heated rises through pipe c and is discharged upon the coffee as before.
This circulation of the water having been repeated 8 or 10 times the coffee is fit
to be drawn off at the tap i for use.
The metallic casing g may either be single or double, as shown in Figure 2, the
air space provided in this case serving to prevent in a great measure the radia-
tion of heat.
Figure 3 shows the apparatus mounted on wheels as adapted for supplying
troops while on the march, the vehicle carrying the necessary supply of water, fuel,
and coffee.

page_text: Figure 5 shows in central section another arrangement of coffee pot on this
system adapted for family use, in which an inverted funnel is made to produce
the ascension of the heated water instead of the two compartments, separated by a
diaphragm as before described.
A, coffee pot; B, percolator; C, inverted funnel with central conducting pipe
rising up into B, through. another tube rising from the bottom of the percolator;
D, a small spreader for deflecting the boiling water upon the ground coffee placed
in B. The tube should not be made air-tight, but be provided with a hole E for
the air to escape.
The part of the lower tube which is above the funnel may be
dispensed with, but in this case the water will rise less abundantly. The coffee
pot should be placed on a stove or heater, and when the water contained begins to
boil the steam confined within the funnel C, finding no sufficient means of escape
through the small perforation E, forces the boiling water up the central pipe into
B, where it is deflected upon the ground coffee, as before mentioned. The liquid
percolates through the coffee into the body of the coffee pot, whence it is poured
off by a spout F, or drawn off at a tap.
Figure 5 also shows a metal tray, in the bottom of which a number of small
knobs or projections a, a, are punched up, on which the coffee pot is placed, 50 that
the bottom may receive the heat from the ignited spirits of wine which is poured
into said tray.
These improved coffee or tea pots may be made of an ornamental form as in
Figure 6. In this Figure the funnel C is shown in dotted lines as suspended above
the foot A. The boiling water contained in the foot A rises through the con-
tracted part B into the funnel and thence into the upper part C, where it per-
colates through the ground coffee placed therein.
Figure 4 shows an improvement in the spirit lamps used for heating small
coffee pots. The improvement consists in the employment of a spiral wick tube j
by which the ascension of. the liquid is greatly facilitated, and the flame burns
not only at the top but also around the sides at that part of the tube which projects
above the lamp, thereby developing a more intense, while preserving the wick
from becoming too rapidly carbonized.