IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MASHING MALT FOR BREWING OR DISTILLING
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Douglas William Hamper, of the Borough and
County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Brewers' Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MASHING MALT FOR BREWING OR
DISTILLING."
Sealed the 1st March 1864, and dated the 21st November 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Douglas William Hamper
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st November 1863.
J, DOUGLAS WILLIAM HAMPER, of the Borough and County of Newcastle-
upon-Tyne, Brewers' Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MASHING MALT FOR BREWING
OR DISTILLING," to be as follows:-
My Invention of "Improvements in Apparatus for Mashing Malt for
Brewing or Distilling" has for its object to wet the malt in an expeditious
and uniform manner with the smallest possible quantity of water before the
sparging operation commences.
I have devised various forms of apparatus for effecting the desired object,
but in all the modifications of my Invention I inject water from stationary
jets into those parts of the apparatus whère it may be required, and I find it
most advantageous that the malt should be supplied down the central part of
the apparatus.
The most convenient form of apparatus consists of an annular-shaped cylin-

page_text: drical vessel, to which the warm or hot water employed in the operation is sup-
plied, and through the centre of which is made a cylindrical space, down which
the malt falls from a hopper or receptacle above. From this cylindrical space the
malt falls on to a fan wheel, which is kept in rapid rotation by means of jets of
water, which issue from holes or nozzles formed in or adapted to the inside
of the annular-shaped vessel, and are caused to impinge upon the blades of
the fan wheel. One or more. circular series of holes are made inside the
vessel above the nozzles, so that jets of water may be thrown amongst the
malt as it falls down. One of these series may; if desired, be commanded by
a valve, so that the water may be stopped off or let on at the discretion of the
attendant. As the fan wheel revolves it will keep the malt divided, so as to
be more effectually acted on by the water, and it will be kept clear of malt
and dust by the water being made to continually impinge upon it. From the
fan: wheel the wetted malt will fall on to a conical distributing surface, and
from thence into the mash tun. The cylindrical water vessel is provided with
a thermometer and a time-piece, so that the attendant may by noting the
time know how to regulate the quantity of water to be supplied, and the other
operations of the apparatus. It is also indispensable to know the tempera-
ture of the water, as if too hot the goods will be "set" and the mashing
operation spoiled. When the proper quantity of malt has been passed through
the apparatus it should be allowed to remain quiescent for an hour or two,
after which the "sparging" operation may be commenced.
The sparge
consists of any convenient number of horizontal tubular arms, which are per-
forated and are connected at the centre with the hot water chamber, or with
the conical distributor, which may be made hollow for the purpose. These
perforated horizontal arms are so mounted on their central pivot that they
may rotate thereon, and the water being supplied to the arms through the
central pivot which is hollow, and allowed to issue from the holes made in the
arms, the latter will be driven round and thus cause the water to descend on
the goods in a shower, which may be continued until the proper quantity of
water has been supplied to the mash. The central pivot may be made to
revolve on wheels to accelerate the motion of the sparge. As a modification
of the above the fan wheel may be stationary, and as the jets of water from
the sides will be caused to play upon the arms they will be kept clear, and no
accumulation of dust or malt can take place.
Another form of apparatus consists in mounting two or more sets
of per-
forated horizontal arms on a hollow shaft, to which rotary motion may be
communicated either by the issue of the water from the arms, or they may
be driven by steam power.
A conical or spherical distributor may be sus-

page_text: pended above the central shaft, or mounted on the upper end thereof, and
on to this distributor jets of water from the inside surface of the surrounding
water chamber may be thrown for the purpose of preventing the malt from
accumulating on the distributor, and for causing the water to trickle therefrom
on to the horizontal arms and keep them clear of the malt.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Douglas William Hamper in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DOUGLAS
WILLIAM HAMPER, of the Borough and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
Brewers' Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Douglas William Hamper, Her special license that I, the said
Douglas William Hamper, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Douglas William Hamper, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MASHING MALT POR
BREWING OR DISTILLING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Douglas William Hamper, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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 Douglas William Hamper, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists of improvements in apparatus for mashing malt
intended to be used for brewing or distilling purposes, and has for its object

page_text: to wet the ground or crushed malt, and mix it with water at a proper tempe-
rature, in an expeditious and uniform manner, and by my improved machinery
I am enabled to mix the malt with the smallest practicable quantity of water
before the sparging operation is performed.
Variations may be made in the forms of the apparatus used for effecting
the desired object according to my Invention, as herein-after described, but in
all the modifications of such apparatus I inject water in jets or thin sheets
into the interior of a vessel or hollow part of the apparatus, as the malt
passes through it in such a way as to cause the water to be effectually mixed
with and thoroughly wet the malt to be mashed as it passes through the
apparatus into the mash tun. I find it most convenient that the malt should
be supplied to the apparatus from above, and pass down through it into a
mash tun below it, where the mashing process (commenced in my apparatus)
is completed.
Convenient apparatus for effecting the object of my Invention is shewn in
the accompanying Drawings, in which Fig. 1, Sheet I., is a vertical section
of the apparatus, drawn on a large scale; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the water
or mixing chamber, as seen from below; Fig. 3, Sheet II., is an elevation
shewing the apparatus as used in connection with a mashing tun; Fig. 4 is
a plan view of the same.
The apparatus consists of a cylindrical or conical vessel A, A, having a
central space or chamber, down which passes the ground or bruised malt to
be wetted and mixed with the water and form a mash. Round this chamber is
an annular-shaped tank or chamber A', A', into which is introduced the warm
or hot water to be mixed with the malt to be mashed. The malt falls down
the central or mixing chamber A from a hopper or receptacle B above, and in
so doing falls on to a conical distributor or block C, which is suspended in
the central position shewn, and by this means the malt is caused to be
distributed more uniformly throughout the interior of the mixing chamber as
it passes downwards. The malt then falls upon a self-acting fan wheel D,
mounted and revolving on the upper end or point of the fixed pin or spindle E,
which may be screwed as shewn in Fig. 1, so as to admit of its being adjusted
vertically, if required, for the purpose of raising or lowering the fan wheel.
This fan wheel is caused to rotate by means of jets of water which issue from
holes or nozzles F formed in or adapted to the inside of the annular water
tank or chamber from which the water issues. These jets of water are
caused to impinge upon the blades of the fan wheel, and the direction of the
jets and the positions of the blades upon the nave of the wheel are to be
regulated with respect to each other so that the force of the jets will give

page_text: motion to the wheel. Jets of water from another set of nozzles F' act on
the central part of the fan wheel for the purpose of preventing the dust from
the malt from accumulating thereon, and those jets of water may also be so
regulated as to turn or assist in turning the wheel. Four series of holes
G, G', G2, G3, (the number and positions of them may be varied) are made
at intervals around and at different altitudes within the sides of the mixing
chamber, so that jets of water may flow from the water tank into the mixing
chamber in such positions as are best adapted for causing the particles of malt
to be thoroughly wetted and mixed with the water as it falls down. The
numbers and sizes of these holes and the sizes of the nozzles above mentioned
should be so regulated as to cause the proper quantity of water to be mixed
with the malt to be mashed; and in order to possess the means of regulating
or varying the quantity of water introduced into the mixing chamber, when
requisite, one or more of these series of holes may be furnished with an
angular slide valve placed in the water tank and around that part of the
casing of the mixing chamber where the holes are made, so that by moving
the circular slide valve around in the one direction or the other the holes for
the passage of the water may be closed or more or less opened according to the
quantity of water which it is desired to have introduced into the mixing
chamber. The set or series of holes shewn and marked G in the Figure, is
provided with a valve arrangement of this description, consisting of a perforated
ring or slide valve H, H, which encircles that part of the case of the mixing
chamber around which are made the series of holes G, and the valve is capable
of sliding or being moved round horizontally by the handle H', so as partially
or wholly to open or close the holes, by which means the quantity of water
supplied to the mixing chamber A may be increased or diminished to the
extent of the quantity of water capable of flowing through the series of holes
marked G², and this regulation of the quantity of water is effected without
in any measure affecting the pressure of the water in the vessel A¹. The
sets of holes G' is provided with two flat rings I, I, between which the jets
of water pass, and are converted into a thin sheet, which, as it spreads
throughout the chamber A acts more effectually on the descending malt dust.
The uppermost set of holes, marked G³, will prevent the accumulation of dust
in the upper part of the vessel, and also tho deposit of malt on the upper set
of jets or nozzles F, F, which inject water into the centre of the space A and
keep the conical block C clean. As the fan wheel D revolves it will keep the
malt divided so as to be more effectually acted on by the water, and the wheel
will be kept clear of malt and dust by the water being made continually to
impinge upon it from the nozzles F and F. From the fan wheel D the.

page_text: wetted malt will fall upon a conical distributor or distributing surface J, J, and
from thence into the mash tun, the descending streams of water from
the several nozzles and holes being sufficient to keep the surface of the
cone J clean. The apparatus is provided with a thermometer K, it
being indispensable to regulate the temperature of the water mixed with
the malt in order to cause the water to be of the proper heat to produce
the intended effect of mashing operation. I prefer to fix this thermometer
on the pipe P, P, which supplies the annular tank or water chamber A
with water. The pipe P should also be furnished with some cock or valve for
admitting or shutting off the supply of the water, and the cock or valve
may also be used to some extent to regulate the quantity of water
supplied during the operation. The fan wheel may, if desired, be made
stationary, and the jets of water playing upon the arms of the wheel will cause
them to be kept clean, and prevent the accumulation of dust or malt thereon.
For the convenience of obtaining access to the interior of the apparatus when
required, I mount the vessel A and its appendages on the lower part of the
apparatus, which consists of a frustum of an inverted cone N, to which the
upper part is attached by a hinge, as at L, and is secured at the other side by
hasp M when at work. The malt and water during the process of mashing
will fall partly on the. inverted cone N, and from thence will be washed off by
streams of water from the mixing chamber upon the conical distributing
surface J, which is attached to the inverted cone N by means of brackets or
arms T, as shewn in Figure 1. The whole apparatus may be either suspended
by chains immediately beneath the opening in the hopper from which the malt
is supplied, or it may be mounted on horizontal rods O, on which it may be
made to slide, as shewn in Figures 3 and 4, Sheet II. When the apparatus
is not required for use it may be detached from the water supply pipe P, which
should be furnished with a joint for that purpose, and drawn back on the
rods O, or otherwise removed out of the way by means of handles, or other
convenient means attached to the apparatus for the purpose. The quantity of
malt to be supplied to the mashing apparatus from the hopper may be
regulated by an adjustable valve, as shewn at Q, Fig. 3, in the usual manner.
When the proper quantities of malt and water have been passed through the
mashing apparatus into the mash tun, the mash may be allowed to remain
quiescent as long as may be deemed expedient, after which the "sparging"
operation may be performed.
a
The apparatus which is shewn in Fig. 3, Sheet II., and Fig. 5, Sheet III.,
is for effecting the sparging operation. This sparging apparatus consists of
two or more tubular arms (two only being shewn in the Figures) rotating in

page_text: a horizontal plane round a central boss suspended above the mash tun, for the
purpose of sparging or distributing any required quantity of heated water of
the desired temperature over the surface of the mash in the tun below it.
Each of the tubular arms is perforated with a series of holes made in a line
along it, the outer end of it being closed, and the perforated arms are connected
with a central hollow boss, with which they rotate, and from which they
receive a supply of hot water to be sparged over the surface of the mash
below. The perforated arms are fixed in the boss with the perforations at one
side, and in such a position that the discharge of the water from the holes in
each of the tubular arms will contribute to make it self-acting (that is to say),
cause the arms to rotate during the process of sparging without the application
of any other mechanical power. The sparging apparatus may either be made
separate and distinct from the mashing apparatus above described in any
convenient manner (such as shewn in Fig. 4), or it may be connected with
the mashing apparatus, or its conical distributor J. In the former case the
tubular arms of the apparatus in rotating may be made to pass under the
conical distributor J, as shewn in Fig. 3, and when the sparging apparatus is
intended to be connected with the mashing apparatus, a conveniant mode of
effecting that object is shewn in Fig. 5. The perforated arms R are shewn
detached, and drawn upon an enlarged scale at Figures 6 and 7, Sheet II.;
and they are screwed into holes made in the rotating boss S working upon a
central hollow pivot, as shewn in the enlarged sectional view, Fig. 6, of the
boss S. The water is supplied to the arms R through the central pivot and
boss S, and as the water issues from the holes made in the arms the latter will
be driven round, and will thus cause the water to descend on the mash or
goods in a shower upon all parts of the mash below during the operation,
which may be continued until the proper quantity of water has been supplied
to the mash. The boss of the central pivot may be made to rest on wheels or
bowls, so as to reduce the friction, and thereby accelerate the rotation of the
arms in sparging; or, if desired, the rotation of the arms may be produced by
power. If the sparging apparatus be made separate and distinct from the
mashing apparatus, as shewn in Fig. 3, the hot water may be supplied by
means of a pipe V, as shewn in the Figure. If the apparatus be connected
with the mashing apparatus, as shewn in Fig. 5, the hot water will be supplied
by a pipe passing through the side of the conical distributor J, and descending
from the interior of that cone down to the central pivot and boss S, where the
water will pass into the perforated arms of the sparging apparatus. The
perforated tubular arms may, if desired, be furnished with a feather or narrow
strip of metal running along the arm immediately above the holes through

page_text: which the water pass, as shewn in Figs. 7, so that the jets of water passing
through the holes coming into contact with the feather may be spread out
more or loss into a flat thin sheet, before falling on the mash below.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same may be performed, I declare that I do not
claim as of my Invention any of the mechanical elements or parts of the
mashing apparatus or sparging apparatus which I have described separate or
apart from the combination and application thereof, in the manner herein
described and claimed, and also that I claim as of my said Invention,-
First, the combination of parts forming a mashing apparatus, constructed so
as to mix the water with the malt to be mashed, and to regulate the quantity
of water mixed with the malt, in manuer herein-before described, and also
such apparatus constructed with conical distributors or self-acting fan wheels,
in manner herein-before described.
Secondly, the combination of parts forming a sparging apparatus, in manner
herein-before described, whether combined with a mashing apparatus or not.
In witness whereof, I, the said Douglas William Hamper, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
DOUGLAS WILLIAM HAMPER. (L.S.)