Improvements in Apparatus for Tapping Casks, and for Automatically Closing the Orifice when the Tap is Withdrawn.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Oct., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 22nd July, 1896-Accepted 22nd Aug., 1896
Improvements in Apparatus for Tapping Casks, and for Automatically
Closing the Orifice when the Tap is Withdrawn.
I, JOHN PULLAR of No. 187 Hammersmith Road, Kensington, in the County
of London, Draper, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention has reference to a means or apparatus for automatically closing
the orifice when the tap is removed from a cask and for facilitating the insertion
and withdrawal of taps to, or from casks and such like vessels.
When beer casks and the like are emptied the users often withdraw the tap and
leave the tap hole uncorked, in consequence of which the residuary contents and
internal surfaces of the cask become sour and mal-odorous technically called
"casky" and this necessitates much labour and expense in cleaning, before the cask
is fit to be refilled.
Now my invention is intended to lessen, or prevent, the trouble which arises
from this cause and comprises a screw, or other, bush or the like, fixed permanently,
or removably, in the cask, a screw stopper fitted therein or forming part thereof
and adapted to be rotated by the tap when the latter is being inserted, or with-
drawn, and a tap with screw ferrule adapted to screw into the aforesaid bush or
into the stopper and formed at the end so as to act as a key by which the screw
stopper may be and is rotated evenly with the tap when the latter is being screwed
in or out.
The screw stopper is so arranged that when it is screwed to its most forward
position a ring, or collar, preferably provided with a washer, is seated against
a correspondingly formed seat, and thereby stops the outflow of the contents of the
cask if it contains liquid, or the inflow or access of air if the cask be empty, or
nearly so.
A series of perforations are preferably provided in the casing of the screw
stopper by which the contents of the cask is strained before it passes into and
through the tap.
When the cask is sent out full by the brewer the front end of the screw stopper
will be flush or nearly so (although this may be varied) with the front of the
bush, and in order to "tap the cask" the end of the appropriate tap is inserted
into or on to the keyed end of the screw stopper, and the tap, being then rotated,
will cause the screw stopper to rotate with it and to be carried inwards along the
thread of its screw, at the same time the screw-threaded end of the tap will engage
with the internal screw of the screw-stopper and thus follow the stopper as they
rotate until the tap is screwed home.
The screwing inwards of the central portion of the screw-stopper will have opened
the way for the contents of the cask to pass into the tap from which it may then be
drawn in the usual manner.
When the cask is emptied as far as is desired, the tap has only to be unscrewed
thereby rotating the screw stopper and causing it to follow the tap and to close
the opening securely as the tap leaves it without any special attention on the part
of the operator and thus securing that the tap hole shall always be closed when the
tap is removed.
The ease with which the tap is inserted or withdrawn is one of the advantages of
my invention.

page_text: The tap may, if desired, be constructed with a vent arrangement for the admission
of air so as to render the use of a vent peg unnecessary.
The screw stopper portion of the apparatus may if desired he made removable
from the bush so as to admit of the more easy and perfect cleansing of the cask
and apparatus.
Dated the 26th day of October 1895.
NEWNHAM BROWNE,
Agent for the Applicant.
Improvements in Apparatus for Tapping Casks, and for Automatically
Closing the Orifice when the Tap is Withdrawn.
I, JOHN PULLAR, of No. 187 Hammersmith Road, Kensington in the County
of London, Draper, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
My invention has reference to a means or apparatus for automatically closing the
orifice when the tap is removed from a cask and for facilitating the insertion and
withdrawal of taps to, or from, casks and such like vessels.
When beer casks and the like are emptied the users often withdraw the tap and
leave the tap hole uncorked, in consequence of which the residuary contents and
internal surfaces of the cask become sour and mal-odorous, technically called
"casky," and this necessitates much labour and expense in cleaning before the cask
is fit to be refilled.
Now my invention is intended to lessen, or prevent the trouble which arises
from this cause, and comprises a screw, or other, bush, or the like, fixed
permanently, or removably, in the cask, a screw stopper fitted therein or forming
part thereof and adapted to be rotated by the tap when the latter is being inserted
or withdrawn, and a tap with screw ferrule adapted to screw into the aforesaid bush,
or into the stopper and formed at the end so as to act as a key by which the screw
stopper may be and is rotated evenly with the tap when the latter is being screwed
in or out.
The screw stopper is so arranged that when it is screwed to its most forward
position a ring or collar preferably provided with a washer, is seated against
a correspondingly formed seat, and thereby stops the outflow of the contents of
the cask if it contains liquid, or the inflow or access of air if the cask be empty, or
nearly so.
A series of perforations are preferably provided in the screw stopper by
which the contents of the cask is strained before it passes into and through
the tap.
When the cask is sent out full by the brewer the front end of the screw stopper
will be flush or nearly so (although this may be varied) with the front of the bush,
and in order to "tap the cask the end of an appropriate tap is inserted into or
on to the keyed end of the screw stopper, and the tap, being then rotated, will
cause the screw stopper to rotate with it and to be carried inwards along the thread
of its screw, at the same time the screw-threaded end of the tap will engage with
the internal screw of the bush and thus follow the stopper as they rotate until the
tap is screwed home.
The screwing inwards of the screw stopper will have opened the way for the
contents of the cask to pass into the tap from which it may then be drawn in the
usual manner.
When the cask is emptied as far as is desired, the tap has only to be unscrewed
thereby rotating the serow-stopper and causing it to follow the top and to close the

page_text: opening securely as the tap leaves it without any special attention on the part of
the operator and thus securing that the tap hole shall always be closel when the
tap is removed.
The ease with which the tap is inserted or withdrawn is one of the advantages
of my invention.
The screw stopper portion of the apparatus may if desired be made removable
from the bush so as to admit of the more easy and perfect cleansing of the cask
and apparatus.
In the accompanying sheet of drawings
Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of my invention as applied to a cask, with
the tap screwed in and the stopper consequently open.
Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the tap alone from the back or inner end.
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the bush and stopper, the latter
being in the closed position, that is to say, the position it assumes when the tap is
withdrawn.
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal elevation partly in section of the bush. Fig. 5, a front
elevation of the same.
Fig. 6 is a longitudinal elevation partly in section of the stopper. Fig. 7 is a
transverse section thereof through the line xx in Fig. 6 and Fig. 8 is an end
elevation of the same.
Fig. 9 is a front elevation and Fig. 10 a side elevation partly in section, of a
locking nut.
Fig. 11 is a stopper with an extension into which a wooden tap may he
inserted.
The letters of reference refer to the same parts in all the figures.
A, is part of the cask shown in section. B, is a bush with a flange b forming
its face plate and a cylindrical portion preferably threaded externally as shown
at e to enable it to be screwed into the cask, and with an internal thread d. The
face plate b may be pierced to receive screws to attach it the more securely to
the cask and to prevent it being unintentionally rotated when the tap is being inserted
or withdrawn. E is a tap of any ordinary or convenient construction with a screw
threaded tail piece f made to fit and correspond with the screw thread d, and at
the end of such screw f of the tap is a projecting head or key k, of shape to
correspond with and fit a recess in the stopper J, and so that when the tap is
applied to the bush, the key k enters into the recess h in the stopper, and when
the tap is rotated to screw it into the bush, the head k carries the stopper J round
with it, thus causing it to move backwards, that is to say, towards the interior of
the cask, along its screw thread. The screw-threaded portion and the head k has a
central longitudinal channel Q corresponding with the channel m in the plug and
forming part of the passage way through the tap.
The stopper J is shown separately in Figs. 6, 7, and 8, in which h is the recess
for the key k; m is a central channel extending inwards from the recess h,
and n n are a series of channels froin the channel m to the exterior surface of the
stopper where they open into a cavity o preferably extending quite round the
stopper, so that when the stopper is in its most inward position, as shown in
Fig. 1, the cavity and channels m and n together with the channel Q form a
continuous passage through which the contents of the cask can pass into and through
the tap, but when the stopper is in its most forward position (after the removal of
the tap) as shown in Fig. 3 these channels are covered by the internal screw d of the
bush, and further the head p of the stopper with its washer are in close contact
with and seated on a shoulder q in the bush B, whereby a close joint is made and
the passage effectually stoppered.
Fig. 9 is a front elevation and Fig. 10 a side elevation, the lower half in
section, of a locking-nut shewn also on Fig. 1 and marked r, and having a
washer r, and which nut can be screwed up tight against the face 6 of the bush,
whereby the necessity of screwing the tap quite home is avoided thus enabling it
to be set vertically.

page_text: In order to provide for the use of wooden taps with the usual construction of
tail piece, that is to say, a tail piece adapted for being driven into the cask, I form
stoppers adapted for use with such taps as shown in Fig. 11; that is to say; with
a prolongation v, the interior of which v¹ tapers inwards, or is otherwise shaped to
receive and retain the tail end of such tap.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what I
claim is :-
(1.) The improvements in apparatus for tapping casks and for automatically
closing the orifice when the tap is withdrawn substantially as herein before
described.
(2.) The apparatus for tapping casks and closing the orifice when the tap is
withdrawn comprising a bush B adapted to be fixed in a cask, a screw stopper J
for closing the same and a tap E with a screw tail piece and key at the end thereof
adapted to operate the stopper and to screw into the bush substantially as
herein before described.
(3.) An apparatus for tapping casks and closing the orifice when the tap is
withdrawn herein before described with a nozzle v for adapting the apparatus
for use with a wooden tap with a plain tail piece substantially as described.
(4.) The combination in the apparatus herein before described of the bush B, the
stopper J, the tap E, the locking-nut r substantially as hereinbefore described and
shown in the drawings and for the purposes set forth.
Dated the 21st day of July 1896.
NEWNHAM BROWNE,
Agent for the Applicant.