Syphons with Beer and similar Drinks.
Year: 1884

page_text: Syphons with Beer and similar Drinks.
I, PETER JENSEN of 33 Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex Fellow of
the Institute of Patent Agents do hereby declare the nature of said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CHARGING 'SYPHONS
WITH BEER AND SIMILAR DRINKS a communication to me from abroad by
Frederik Heymann owner of the brewery Svanholm, Copenhagen Denmark to be
as follows:
Heretofore the efforts to charge syphons with beer porter and similar drinks
have not been successful owing to the circumstance that when beer is subjected to
so strong a carbonic acid pressure as is required for drawing it off from the syphon
it comes out of the latter as a thick firm froth which is quite unsuitable for
drinking. This hindrance may of course be overcome by charging less beer into
the syphon, as the carbon dioxide in the remaining space then. has not to expand
so much during the drawing off, but the quantity of beer in the syphon then
becomes so small, that the syphons become unsuitable. In the present invention
the defect is surmounted by not producing the gas. pressure as in syphons for soda
water by carbon dioxide, but by means of another gas or air which either not at
all or in a much less degree than the dioxide is absorbed by the beer while the
amount of carbon dioxide in the syphon is regulated according to the desired
frothiness of the beer on leaving the syphon..
i
The said gas or air which is not or hardly at all absorbed by the beer, and
whereby the pressure in the syphon is produced, will in the following be called
indifferent air. As air however, as is well, known contains fermenting germs or
spores which are very deletrious to the keeping of the beer, it has before
application to be passed through red hot pipes or through cotton wool or through
both, and if the keeping of the beer has to be made a special point, pure nitrogen
is by preference used.
'
:
The commercial and practical charging of the syphons with beer and the like
as aforesaid viz:-so as to establish a certain definite proportion between the

page_text: quantities of beer and of carbon dioxide and a certain air pressure which is higher
than that which corresponds to the quantity of dioxide in the beer may of course
be carried out in various ways.
I may thus first draw the air out of the syphon leaving only a small pressure say
less than
atmosphere.
The beer contained in a vessel and having the desired quantity of dioxide and
at a corresponding pressure is then let into the syphon to say about of its
contents. Lastly the desired higher pressure is produced in the syphon by letting
into it indifferent air from a reservoir in which it is kept under the required
pressure (say for instance 5 atmospheres).
The apparatus is as follows. A vessel is kept vacuous by connection with an
air exhausting pump. There is another reservoir which is kept constantly
automatically charged to a certain extent with beer under carbon dioxide pressure.
Lastly there is a reservoir for indifferent air, which by means of a force pump is
forced into it, the pressure in it being so regulated by a safety valve at the top,
that the surplus air pumped into the reservoir may by a pipe from the safety valve
be carried back to the pipe for supplying the indifferent air to the pump. Pipes
from all three reservoirs are connected with a common cock which has a lower
shank into which the spout of the syphon can be placed during the bottling or
charging. The cock plug has a knee shaped passage whereby the syphon can be
connected to any one of the three pipe connections to the reservoirs.
In the bottling the interior of the syphon is first connected with the vacuum
vessel, then with the beer vessel and then with the vessel for indifferent air. The
aforesaid partial charging of the beer vessel may be done from a supply vessel at a
higher level by a pipe entering at the bottom of the beer vessel, while by means of
a pump carbon dioxide. is pressed into the lower part of the beer vessel by a
perforated pipe, so that the gas bubbles up through the beer to complete saturation
thereof, the pressure therein being regulated by a safety valve at the top whereby
also the surplus gas escapes by a pipe which carries it back to the gas supply pipe
for the pump. The pressure in the vessel again regulates the liquid level therein
as the level in the beer supply vessel over the level of the beer in the beer vessel
must always correspond with the pressure in the latter so that the liquid level
therein will be able to vary as much as the height of the beer supply vessel.
The above mode has the defect, that the beer becomes very frothy at its inlet
into the syphon; it is true that the froth disappears when the indifferent air is let
in, but the froth formation has the effect that the bottling is not done so quickly as
by the following mode of working viz.
According to this the air is first exhausted from the syphon, but thereupon the
indifferent air is forced in at a pressure slighly higher than that of the 'atmosphere,
and so regulated that the pressure during the following beer bottling becomes just
as high as it is to be finally in the syphon. The beer is now charged into the
syphon wherein it with its regulated amount of carbon dioxide by forcing in of
indifferent air is brought up to such a pressure that the charging from the reservoir
to the.syphon may go on until the syphon has become charged sufficiently with
beer (say 'to about 4ths) whereupon the further charging stops of itself because of
the increase of pressure produced in the syphon.
The apparatus may be as follows. It contains the same three reservoirs as
before namely a vacuum vessel with air pump, a vessel for indifferent air with air
pump safety valve and return overflow pipe, and a reservoir for beer under slight
carbon dioxide pressure, and arranged as before. The indifferent air however is in
this case kept under a low pressure. The beer reservoir is not connected with the
common cock which is of the form described but the beer is by a pump forced
therefrom by a pipe into a reservoir whereinto indifferent air has been previously
pumped by the same pump and a pipe from the reservoir for indifferent air, so that
the beer in the former reservoir comes under a sufficiently high pressure 'so that it
may thence be bottled into the syphons by the common cock wherewith it is also
connected, the pressure being regulated by a safety valve on a return flow pipe

page_text: between it and the beer reservoir at their lower ends, so that the surplus of the
beer pumped into the extra reservoir for indifferent air may flow back to the beer
reservoir through this pipe. When the pumping of beer into the extra indifferent
air reservoir has begun, a pipe connection serves to maintain the quantity of
indifferent air therein because a certain though small part of it is constantly
absorbed by the beer,
In the bottling the syphon is as before put up into the shank on the cock and by
suitable regulation of its plug the air is first drawn out of the syphon by the vacuum
reservoir whereupon indifferent air is let into it from the reservoir therefor, and
lastly the beer charged into it from the extra indifferent air reservoir whereupon
the cock is closed.

page_text: 1.
Syphons with Beer and similar Drinks.
"
I, PETER JENSEN of 33 Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex Fellow of
the Institute of Patent Agents do hereby declare the nature of said invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CHARGING SYPHONS
WITH BEER AND SIMILAR DRINKS a communication to me from abroad by
Frederik Heymann, owner of the brewery Svanholm, Copenhagen, Denmark, and
in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
:―
Heretofore the efforts to charge syphons with beer porter and similar drinks
have not been successful owing to the circumstance that when beer is subjected to
so strong a carbonic acid pressure as is required for drawing it off from the syphon,
it comes out of the latter as a thick firin froth which is quite unsuitable for
drinking. This hindrance may of course be overcome by charging less beer into
the syphon, as the carbon dioxide in the remaining space then has not to expand so
much during the drawing off, but the quantity of beer in the syphon then becomes
so small, that the syphons become unsaleable. In the present invention the defect
is surmounted by not producing the gas pressure as in syphons for soda water by
carbon dioxide, but by means of another gas or air which either not at all or in a
much less degree than the dioxide is absorbed by the beer while the amount of
carbon dioxide in the syphon is regulated according to the desired frothiness of the
beer on leaving the syphon.
The said gas or air which is not or hardly at all absorbed by the beer, and
whereby the pressure in the syphon is produced will in the following be called
indifferent or inert air. Various gases or air may be used for the purpose.
As air
however as is well known contains fermenting germs or spores which are very
deleterious to the keeping of the beer, it has before application to be passed
through red hot pipes or through cotton wool or through both, and if the keeping
of the beer has to be made a special point: pure nitrogen is by preference used.
The commercial and practical charging of the syphons with beer and the like as
aforesaid viz: so as to establish a certain definite proportion between the quantities
of beer and of carbon dioxide, and a certain air pressure which is higher than that
which corresponds to the quantity of dioxide in the beer may of course be carried
out in various ways. I shall describe two as examples.
FIRST MODE.
1 first draw the air out of the syphon leaving only a small pressure say
less than atmosphere. The beer contained in a vessel and having the desired
quantity of dioxide and at a corresponding pressure is then let into the syphon
to say about of its contents. Lastly the desired higher pressure is produced in
the syphon by letting into it indifferent or inert air from a reservoir in which it is

page_text: The apparatus is shown at Figure 1 and is as follows: A vessel A is kept
vacuous by connection with an air exhausting pump. There is another reservoir B
which is kept constantly automatically charged to a certain extent with beer under
carbon dioxide pressure. Lastly there is a reservoir C for inert air, which by means
of a force pump c is forced into it, the pressure in it being so regulated by a safety
valve a at the top, that the surplus air pumped into the reservoir may by a pipe b
from the safety valve be carried back to the pipe d for supplying the inert air to
the pump c. Pipes from all three reservoirs A B and C are connected with a
common cock g which has a lower shank into which the spout of the syphon can
be placed during the bottling or charging. This cock is shown at Figure 2 in
vertical and horizontal section. As shown the cock plug has a kneeshaped passage
whereby the syphon can be connected to any one of the three pipe connections to
the reservoirs A B and C.
0711
In the bottling the interior of the syphon is first by means of the cock g
connected with the vacuum vessel A, then with the beer vessel B and then
with the vessel C for inert air whereupon the cock g is closed. The aforesaid
partial charging of the beer vessel B may as shewn at Figure 4 be done
from a supply vessel T at a higher level by a pipe entering at the bottom of
the beer vessel B, while by means of a pump h, Figure 1, carbon dioxide is
pressed into the lower part of the beer vessel B by a perforated pipe k BO
that the gas bubbles up through the beer to complete saturation thereof, the
pressure therein being regulated by a safety valve at the top whereby, also the
surplus gas escapes by a pipe i which carries it back to the gas supply pipe for
the pump. The pressure in the vessel again regulates the liquid level therein, as
the level in the beer supply vessel T over the level of the beer in the beer vessel B
'must always correspond with the pressure in the latter, so that the liquid. level
therein will be able to vary as much as the height of the beer supply vessel T.
The above mode has the defect, that the beer, becomes very frothy at its inlet
into the syphon; it is true that the froth disappears when the inert air is let in,
but the froth formation has the effect that the bottling is not done so quickly as by
the following mode of working viz:
SECOND MODE
According to this the air is first exhausted from the syphon as before but
thereupon the inert air is forced in at a pressure slightly higher than that of the
atmosphere, and so regulated that the pressure during the following beer bottling
becomes just as high as it is to be finally in the syphon. The beer is now charged
into the syphon from a reservoir wherein it, with its regulated amount of carbon
dioxide by forcing in of inert air, is brought up to such a pressure that the
charging from the reservoir to the syphon may go on until the syphon has become
charged sufficiently with beer (say to about 4) whereupon the further charging
stops of itself because of the increase of pressure produced in the syphon.
The apparatus may be as shown at Figure 3. It contains the same three
reservoirs A B and C as before namely a vacuum vessel A with air pump f, a
vessel C for inert air with air pump c safety valve a and return overflow pipe b,
and a reservoir B for beer under slight carbon dioxide pressure, and arranged as
before as shown at Figure 4. The inert air however is in this case kept under &
low pressure in the vessel C. The beer reservoir B is not connected with the
common cock g which is of the form described with reference to Figures 1 and 4,
but the beer is by a pump r forced therefrom by a pipe 7 into a reservoir D where-
into inert air has been previously pumped by the same pump r and a pipe n from
the reservoir C for inert air, so that the beer in the former reservoir D comes under
a sufficiently high pressure, so that it may thence be bottled into the syphons by
the common cock g wherewith it is also connected, the pressure in D being
regulated by a safety valve p on a return flow pipe between it and the beer
reservoir B at their lower ends, so that the surplus of the beer pumped into the

page_text: "
extra reservoir D for indifferent air may flow back to the beer reservoir B through
this pipe. When the pumping of beer into the extra inert air reservoir D has
begun, a pipe connection n ser ves to maintain the quantity of inert air therein
because a certain though small part of it is constantly absorbed by the beer.
In the bottling the syphon is as before put up into the shank on the cock g, and
by suitable regulation of its plug the air is first drawn out of the syphon by the
vacuum reservoir A whereupon inert air is let into it from the reservoir C therefor,
and lastly the beer is charged into it from the extra indifferent air reservoir D
whereupon the cock is closed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me I declare
that what I claim is
First. The mode of preserving beer and similar gas-containing drinks in syphons
namely by keeping it under a gaseous pressure resulting partly from carbon dioxide
and partly from another gas or air which only in a slight degree is absorbed by the
liquid substantially as set forth.
Second.-The two aforesaid modes of charging syphons viz: either by firstly
drawing out the air, then forcing in the liquid under carbon dioxide pressure and
then forcing in compressed air, or firstly drawing out the air, then forcing in
slightly compressed air and then forcing in the liquid under high pressure, sub-
stantially as set forth.
Third. The apparatus consisting of the vessels with pumps, valves and piping
belonging thereto and the charging cock which by being turned once causes all the
three actions which together effect the charging to take place in the right order,
substantially as set forth.