IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS. FOR: SUPPLYING CARBONIC ACID GAS TO CASKS AND OTHER VESSELS FROM WHICH BEER, WINE, AND OTHER FERMENTED LIQUORS ARE DRAWN.
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Adolphus Watkins, of Greek Street, in the
City of Westminster, Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS. FOR: SUPPLYING CARBONIC ACID GAS TO CASKS AND OTHER
VESSELS FROM WHICH BEER, WINE, AND OTHER FERMENTED LIQUORS ARE
DRAWN..""
Sealed the 20th February 1866, and dated the 25th August,, 1865...
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Adolphus Watkins.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th August 1865.
I, CHARLES ADOLPHUS WATKINS, of Greek Street, in the City of West-
minster, Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING CARBONIO ACID GAS TO CASKS AND
OTHER VESSELS FROM WHICH BEER, WINE, AND OTHER FERMENTED LIQUORS ARE
DRAWN," to be as follows:
The object of my Invention is to supply purified carbonic acid gas in such
quantities as may be required to casks and other vessels from which fermented
liquors are drawn, thereby preventing the contact of atmospheric air with the
liquor, and also preventing the flavour being destroyed by, the admission of

page_text: mineral acid vapours. This is effected by attaching to the vessel in which the
gas is generated a compartment or separate vessel, if necessary, containing a
porous substance such as sponge, fragments of pumice stone, charcoal, coke,
and the like, saturated with water, or a mixture of water, and a finely divided
carbonate as whiting, or a solution of a carbonate, the latter being preferred..
As the gas is generated it is made to traverse this porous substance in the
compartment which filters it, absorbing the acid vapors and allowing the
gas to pass out pure. If now conducted into the vessel containing the beer
or other liquor so as to replace as much of the liquor as is drawn off, the
flavour will be preserved and acidity prevented.
The generating apparatus consists of an outer vessel of sufficient capacity
to hold the acid required;. in this is another vessel open at the bottom and
terminating at the top with a tube or cock; near the bottom is a tray, on
which is placed a piece of any convenient carbonate, such as marble or lime-
stone; near the top of this vessel is a movable perforated plate which divides
it into two compartments; in the upper one I place the porous substance
which forms the purifier. When the acid is poured into the outer vessel, the
cock being open, it flows into the inner open-bottomed vessel and rises until it
meets the marble, when carbonic acid gas is generated, which passes up
through the purifier and out at the cock, whence it may be conducted by a
tube to a hollow vent peg driven in the cock or otherwise into the cask, so
that as the beer is drawn off the gas fills its place. When the beer is turned
off, the gas accumulating forces the acid out of the inner vessel into the outer
until it leaves the marble, when the action ceases until the beer is again
drawn off.
The apparatus just described does not economise the materials; to accom-
plish this, I arrange the vessels differently. The inner vessel is closed at the
bottom, but has an opening at the side thereof connected with a short vertical
pipe alongside the vessel; the height of this pipe is regulated by the height of
the acid in the outer vessel, and is kept a little below its lowest level; the tray con-
taining the carbonate is placed a short distance from the bottom, and' extends
about half way across the vessel, leaving a clear passage for the acid. Near the
top is the moveable perforated plate, on which is placed the purifying substance
described. The top of the vessel is closed by an air-tight lid, in which is fixed
a tube or cock. When this vessel is plunged into the acid it flows down the
vertical pipe to obtain its level in the inner vessel until it reaches the marble,
when the gas is generated and passes through the purifier. If the cock is closed
the acid is forced through the pipe until the marble is left dry. The acid which
has been forced out, having dissolved some of the carbonate, is heavier

page_text: than the original acid, and therefore sinks to the bottom of the outer vessel,
leaving the lighter and stronger acid at the top, so that when the gas is next
allowed to escape from the inner vessel, it is the upper stratum of acid which
passes down the vertical pipe, and thus the strongest portion is always,
brought in contact, with the carbonate, and the whole of the acid is consumed,
while in the preceding plan it is the heavier solution which flows between the
two vessels, leaving the lighter and stronger acid untouched. When the vessels
are of large size, two or more vertical pipes may be employed, or the inner
vessel may,
be left open at the bottom and surrounded by a shallow vessel a
little larger than itself, which will also cause the acid to flow as required.
J
I construet another apparatus in which the gas. generator and holder are
separate, the carbonate being lifted out of the acid as the gas expands the
holder. The generator is a vessel in which the acid is placed; this is fitted
with an air-tight lid, which is constructed with a hollow chamber above it;
the upper part of the chamber is perforated, and the lower part is formed of a
similarly perforated but movable plate; the chamber contains the porous
purifier. From the upper surface of this chamber a tube descends, turning
outwards, to which a tube or cock can be fitted if necessary.
The gas
holder above this chamber is formed with a rigid top, to which is attached a
flexible air-tight bag, the lower edge of which is fastened to the purifying
chamber; from the top a rod passes down straight through the purifier into
the generator, and from it the carbonate is suspended; the rod passes through
a light packing, which prevents the escape of the gas. The action is thus:-
When the tube is open the holder collapses and the carbonate sinks into the
acid d which dissolves it, giving off the gas which passes through the purifier
and escapes by the tube. If the tube is closed, the gas expands the holder
and raises the carbonate out of the acid until the action ceases.
+
I sometimes use an apparatus with a movable inflexible gas holder, having
the purifying compartment at the top. It consists of an inner and an outer
vessel, the latter holding the acid; the inner vessel is divided into two
compartments, has a tray for holding the carbonate suspended by a counter-
poise, which just allows it to descend into the acid when the outlet, tube is.
open. When the tube is closed, the pressure of the gas causes the holder
to rise until the carbonate is left dry.
In some cases I place the purifying chamber below the acid vessel. I uso
the gas holder with tray for carbonate counterpoised. The acid vessel is
constructed with a chamber at the bottom, which is divided oy a movable
perforated plate into two compartments, from one of which a vertical tube is
carried through the acid vessel considerably above the level of the acid: "This

page_text: compartment is fitted with the porous purifier. The other compartment is
fitted with an air-tight stopper and has an outlet from which the gas can be
conveyed.
When it is required to supply several casks with carbonic acid gas from
one generator, and in cases where large quantities' of gas may be required at
ȧ time, I prefer to employ an apparatus similar to that firstly herein-before
described, but having a separate purifier and a separate gas holder.
The purifier is a vessel made with an air-tight lid and has a tubular, orifice
near the top, and another near the bottom. The vessel is filled with the
porous substance, and the lower orifice is connected with the generator; the
upper orifice is connected with the gas holder, from which the gas is conveyed
by pipes to the casks. When no liquors are drawn off the gas inflates the
holder until it is full, when the increased pressure expels the acid from the
generator, and the action is arrested.
I apply this gas to bottles thus :-I take a cork or stopper in which I make
two holes near to and parallel with the axis. In one hole I insert a short
tube, leaving sufficient projection on the outside to attach the flexible tube
from the gas generator. In the other hole I insert a longer tube; the outer
portion is bent for the purpose of pouring. If this cork is inserted in a bottle.
or vessel containing fluid, it can be poured out by inclining the bottle to, the
bent tube; at the same time the gas will enter, and supply its place. . The
bent tube may be closed with a cork or capsule when not in use.
The gas purified as described may be conveyed to the cask or vessel by a
flexible tube attached to a hollow vent, secured in the cask, or by attaching
the flexible tube to the nozzle of one of the syphon taps now. in use, after the
beer is tapped; but in this latter case the generator cock must not be turned
on until it be ascertained that the cask requires vent, or some of the beer will
be lost...
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
3
by the said Charles Adolphus Watkins in the Great Seal Patent Office. g
on the 24th February 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
ADOLPHUS WATKINS, of Greek Street, in the City of Westminster, Chemist,
end greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 3
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight. hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for. Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles Adolphus Watkins, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Adolphus Watkins, my exécutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Charles Adolphus Watkins, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should át 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 SUPPLYING CARBONIC ACID GAS
TO CASKS AND OTHER VESSELS FROM WHICH BEER, WINE, AND OTHER FERMENTED
LIQUORS ARE DRAWN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Charles Adolphus 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 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 Charles Adolphus 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say :-
in such
The object of my Invention is to supply purified carbonic acid gas
quantities as may be required to casks and other vessels from which fermented
liquors are drawn, thereby preventing the contact of atniospheric air with the
liquor, and also preventing the flavour being destroyed by the admixture of
mineral acid vapours. This is effected by attaching to the vessel in which the
gas is generated a compartment or separate vessel, if necessary, containing a'
porous substance such as sponge, fragments of pumice stone, charcoal, coke,
and the like, saturated with water, or a mixture of water, and a finely divided
carbonate as whiting, a solution of a carbonate, the latter being preferred.
As the gas is generated, it is made to traverse this porous substance in the
compartment which filters it, absorbing the acid vapours and allowing the gas
to pass out puré! If now conducted into the vessel containing the beer or
other liquor, so as to replace as much of the liquor as is drawn off the flavour
will be preserved and acidity prevented.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents an apparatus constructed'.
according to my Invention in a simple form.

page_text: The generating apparatus consists of an outer vessel A of sufficient capacity.
to hold the acid required; in this is another vessel B, open at the bottom and
terminating at the top with a tube or cock E; near the bottom is a tray C, on
which is placed a piece of any convenient carbonate, such as marble or lime-
stone; Rear the top of this vessel is a moveable perforated plate D, which
divides it into two compartments; in the upper one I place the porous
substance which forms the purifier. When the acid is poured into the outer
vessel A, the cock E being open, it flows into the inner open-bottomed vessel
B, and rises until it meets the marble, when carbonic acid gas is generated,
which passes up through the purifier and out at the cock, whence it may be
conducted by a tube to a hollow vent peg driven in the cask or otherwise into
the cask, so that as t the beer is drawn off, the gas fills its place. When the beer
is turned off, the gas accumulating, forces the acid out of the inner vessel B
into the outer vessel A until it leaves the marble, when the action ceases until
the beer is again drawn off.
The apparatus just described does not economise the materials. To
accomplish this I arrange the vessels differently, as represented in Figure 2.
Here the inner vessel B is closed at the bottom, but has an opening at the
side thereof, connected with a short vertical pipe b alongside the vessel. The
height of this pipe is regulated by the height of the acid in the outer vessel A,
and is kept a little below its lowest level; the tray C; containing the carbonate,
is placed a short distance from the bottom, and extends about half way across
the vessel, leaving a clear passage for the acid. Near the top is a perforated.
plate D, on which is placed the purifying substance described. The top of the
vessel is closed by an air-tight lid, in which is fixed a tube or cock, or the
vessel may be made with the top terminating in a tube; the bottom is then
closed by grinding it into the bottom of the outer vessel, so as to form a
stopper, or by fastening an elastic washer to the edge of the vessel, B, so that
its weight will press on the washer and prevent the passage of the fluid under
it. When this vessel is plunged into the acid it flows down the vertical pipe b
to obtain its level in the inner vessel B until it reaches the marble, when the
gas is generated and passes through the purifier. If the cock is closed the.
acid is forced through the pipe 6 until the marble is left dry. .The acid
which has been forced out, having dissolved some of the carbonate, is heavier
than the original acid, and therefore, siuks to the bottom of the outer vessel A,
leaving the lighter and stronger acid at the top, so that when the gas is next
allowed to escape from the inner vessel B it is the upper stratum of acid which
passes down the vertical pipe b, and thus the strongest portion is always
brought in contact with the carbonate, and the whole of the acid is consumed,

page_text: while in the preceding plan it is the beavier solution which flows between the
two vessels, leaving the lighter and stronger acid untouched. When the
vessels are of large size two or more vertical pipes may be employed, or the
inner vessel B may be. left open at 'the bottom, and surrounded by a shallow
vessel a little larger than itself, which will also cause the acid to flow as
required.
I construct another apparatus, as represented in Figure, 3, .in which the gas
generator and holder are separate, the carbonate being lifted out of the acid
as the gas expands the holder. The generator A is a vessel in which the
acid is placed; this is fitted with an air-tight lid which is constructed with a
hollow chamber B above it; the upper part of the chamber is perforated, and
the lower part is formed of a similarly perforated but moveable plate; the
chamber contains the porous purifier. From the upper surface of this
chamber a tube D descends turning outwards, to which a tube or' cock can'
be fitted if necessary. The gas holder C above the chamber is formed with a
rigid top E, to which is attached a flexible air-tight bag, the lower edge of
which is fastened, to the purifying chamber B from the top E. 'A rod e
passes down straight through the purifier into the generator, and from it the
carbonate is suspended; the rod passes through a light packing which prevents
the escape of the gas.
The action is this:-When the tube D is open the holder C collapses,
and the carbonate sinks into the acid which dissolves. it; giving off the gas
which passes through the purifier, and escapes by the tube D. If this tube
is closed the-gas expands the holder, and raises the carbonate out of the acid
until the action ceases..
. I sometimes use an apparatus with a movable inflexible gas holder having
the purifying compartment at the top.. This apparatus is represented in
Fig. 4. It consists of an inner vessel B and an outer vessel A, the latter
holding the acid; the inner vessel is divided into two compartments B, C; it
has a tray D for holding the carbonate, and is suspended by a counterpoise P,
which just allows it to descend into the acid when the outlet tube E is open.
When the tube is closed the pressure of the gas causes, the holder B to rise:
until the carbonate is left dry. The counterpoise. P may, if desired, bei.
dispensed with.
In some cases I place the purifying chamber below the acid vessel, as
represented in Figure 5. I use the gas holder B with tray G for carbonate,.
counterpoised or not. The acid vessel, A is constructed with, a chamber. at
the bottom, which is divided by a perforated plate E into two compartments
C, D, from one of which C a vertical tube F is carried through the acid vessel.

page_text: considerably above the level of the acid; this compartment is filled with the
porous purifier. The other compartment' D is fitted with an air-tight stopper,
and has an outlet I from which the gas can be conveyed.
When it is required to supply several casks with carbonic acid gas from
one generator, and in cases where large quantities of gas may be required at a
time, I employ any one of the apparatuses described in connection with a
separate purifier, and sometimes a separate gas holder. The purifier is a
véssel made with an air-tight lid, and has a tubular orifice near the top and
another near the bottom; the vessel is filled with the porous substance, and
the lower orifice is connected with the generator, the upper orifice is connected
with, the gas holder, from which the gas is conveyed by pipes to the casks.
When no liquors are drawn off the gas inflates the holder until it is full,
when the increased pressure expels the acid from the generator, and the action
is arrested:
I apply this gas to bottles thus:-I take a cork' or stopper C, Figure 6, in
which I make 2 holes near to and parallel with the axis. In one hole I
insert a short tube A, leaving sufficient projection on the outside to attach the
flexible tube from the gas generator.
In the other hole I insert a longer.
tube B; the outer portion is. bent for the purpose of pouring. If this cork is'
inserted in a bottle or vessel containing fluid it can be poured out by inclining
the bottle to the bent tube B, at the same time the gas will enter and supply
its place. The bent tube B may be closed with a cork or capsule when not.
in use.
The gas purified as described may be conveyed to the cask or vessel by a
flexible tube attached to a hollow vent secured in the cask, or by attaching
the flexible tube to the nozzle of one of the syphon taps now in use after the
beer is tapped; but in this latter case. the generator cock must' not be turned
on until it be ascertained that the cask requires vent, or some of the beer will
be lost..
'
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my improve.
ments in apparatus for supplying carbonic acid gas to casks and other vessels'
from which beer, wine, and other fermented liquors are drawn,→
First, the employment in such apparatus of a purifying chamber and materia!
substantially as herein-before described, so that the gas, may be delivered to
the cask or other vessel free from acid vapours.
Second, the several arrangements of apparatus, substantially as herein-"
before described with reference to Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the accompanying

page_text: Third, the arrangement of the apparatus with a separate purifier for supply-
ing. several casks at once from one generator, substantially as herein-before
described.
Fourth, constructing corks or stoppers for supplying carbonic acid gas to
bottles, substantially as herein-before described with reference to Figure 6 of
the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Adolphus Watkins, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of February, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-six.
CHAS. A. WATKINS. (L.B.)