IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING AND WORKING APPARATUS FOR FILTERING BEER AND OTHER LIQUIDS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Arthur Waller, of the City of Dublin, Engi-
neer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING AND WORKING
APPARATUS FOR FILTERING BEER AND OTHER LIQUIDS."
Sealed the 2nd August 1867, and dated the 6th February 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Arthur Waller at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th February 1867.
I, GEORG ARTHUR WALLER, of the City of Dublin, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING
AND WORKING APPARATUS FOR FILTERING BEER AND OTHER LIQUIDS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to a' former Invention for which I obtained Letters
Patent, dated 7th June 1860, No. 1408. My present improvements consist
in an improved arrangement of the curtain, described in the Specification of
the said Letters Patent, in an improved scraper for cleansing the inside of the
apparatus, and in an.iinproved arrangement for making the joint where the
scraper rod passes through the head of the machine all as hereafter described.
The lower edge of the curtain is attached to a wire or elastic ring, and the
curtain is held in position by bars carried from the inside of the lid at the

page_text: head of the machine, and by rings upon these bars. Near the lower end of
the bars and within the curtain an india-rubber ring of larger inner diameter
than the wire ring is secured to keep the curtain pressed out so as to make a
joint; this rubber ring thus makes the jointat the head, and takes the place for
this purpose of the circular scraper described in the said Specification. I now
make the scraper in the form of a segment of a circle instead of circular as
formerly, or I use a flat or curved plate of wood or metal alone, or faced with
a strip of rubber, and the scraper rod carries a washer of rubber or rope yarn
or other suitable material, which when the scraper is drawn close to the lid
when the filtering is proceeding forms a staunch joint with the lid through
which the scraper rod passes.
My Invention further consists in working the apparatus in one of its forms
with the cylinder horizontal or inclined to either end, instead of being vertical
as hitherto; no water bag is used, and the pressure is obtained by the yeast
or other liquid being pumped in at the head, the filtered liquid running into a
vessel below. When required to scrape, some of the yeast or liquid is run off
into the vessel from which the pump draws, and the scraper is worked to
accumulate the thick yeast at the further end of the cylinder. A lid at this
further end is then taken off,and the pressed yeast removed, the liquid portion
being first run off into the yeast vessel. When I work the apparatus with
the cylinder inclined I prefer the head of the machine to be lower than the
opposite end when the filtering is proceeding, and to reverse the position when
required to scrape.
The improvements in the curtain and scraper as before described are
however equally applicable to an upright cylinder as described in my former
cification, and whether the pressure be obtained by means of a water bag
or by directly pumping in the liquid to be filtered,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Arthur Waller in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th August 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
ARTHUR WALLER, of the City of Dublin, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord One

page_text: thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, giveand grant unto me, thesaid George
Arthur Waller, Her special liceuce that I, the said George Arthur Waller,
my executors, administrators, and assigns,or such others as I, the said George
Arthur Waller, my executors, administrators, 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 Mau, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CON-
STRUCTING AND WORKING APPARATUS FOR FILTERING BEER AND OTHER LIQUIDS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Arthur Waller,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 mouths next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I,the said George Arthur Waller, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, 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 :-
This Invention relates to a former Invention for which I obtained Letters
Patent, da 17th June 1860, No. 1408. My present improvements
consist in aproved arrangement of the curtain, described in the Speci-
fication of the said Letters Patent, in an improved scraper for cleansing the
inside of the apparatus,
and in an improved arrangement for making the joint
where the scraper rod passes through the head of the machine, allas hereafter
described; also, in working the apparatus in one of its forms with the
cylinder horizontal or inclined, instead of being vertical as hitherto, and in
carrying on the working or operation, as hereaf, explained.
My improvements will be fully understood by the lowing description and
the accompanying Drawings.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my apparatus in the position it occupies
when at work; Figure 2 is a section showing the apparatus in the position it
occupies when the scraping is being performed; Figure 3 is a sectionshowing
the curtain and scraper more particularly.
I form a strong cylinder with perforated sides in the following in aner :-

page_text: A coil of strong wire is bound to rods which are secured at each end to flat
are further
rings of the same internal diameter as the wire; these end rings.
connected by four or more bars of suitable strength which project beyond them,
so as to admit of solid unetal lids being affixed to the cylinder at each end by
means of colters or clips passing through or attaching to the bars. The whole
cylinder is generally suspended at its centre of gravity by means of trunnions
on a ring surrounding the longitudinal bars, and which trunnions work in
bearings to admit of either end of the cylinder being raised or lowered; or
such a cylinder may be formed of solid metal or wood either grooved or per-
forated. Between the rings which terminate the cylinder and the lids which
rest on shoulders left for this purpose on the longitudinal bars, there is a
space to contain one or more rings of strong wire (s, s, Figure 3), which serve
to distend and keep in position tubes of canvas or other suitable material
(a, a, Figure 3), with which I line the cylinder. These tubes a, a, are at
one end either sewn on the rings as shown in Figure 3, or the rings are
placed within the tube and placed in position, when the end of the tube is
folded over into the cylinder; the latter arrangement is by preference always
adopted at one and generally at both ends of the cylinder.
In order to form a staunch and easily made joint between the lids and the
filtering tube lining the cylinder I affix a flexible curtain (d, Figure 2)
generally formed of close linen or cotton material to the lid, which drops
within the filtering tubes, as more particularly shewn in Figure 3. The
edges of this curtain are attached to wire or elastic rings (p, p, Figure 3),
and it is kept stretched and in contact with the inside of the filtering tube by
means of a light circular frame consisting of three flat rings (b, b,) attached to
the lid by upright bars passing through it, and secured by nuts carrying two
rubber or elastic rings c, c; the upper ring serves to unite the curtain to the
lid, the lower to ensure its contact with the inside of the filtering tube;
contact is further induced when pressure is applied, within the cylinder, and
a staunch joint thus readily and completely secured. The upper ring of rubber
may be replaced by caulking with oakum or similar substance. g, h, Figures
2 and 3, is a scraper to work on the internal surface of the cylinder, to which
scraper the plate i of rubber is fitted; this is carried by a plate or ring of
metal, and may be either a segment of a circle, as in Figures 2 and 3, or I
use a flat or curved plate of wood or metal alone, or faced with a strip of
rubber. It is carried by a rod or handle, of which by preference the portion h
is formed of metal and the portion g of wood; this rod passes through a hole
in the centre of the lid A, Figure 2, and is provided with a flat plate or

page_text: shoulder which carries a washer of rubber, rope, yaru, or other suitable
material; this being drawn close to the head when the filtering is proceeding
forms a staunch joint from the effect of the internal pressure, and renders a
stuffing box unnecessary. The scraper may be made of wood or metal
suitably curved without the plate of rubber i. D, Figures 1 and 2, is a
trough to receive the substance to be filtered; C, a trough to receive the
filtered liquid E is a tray to catch the filtered liquid and to direct it to the
trough C. The cylinder is provided with a suspending chain or a rest at one
or both ends, to prevent it from falling below the inclination convenient for
work.
The mode of working the apparatus is as follows:-It is by preference in
the position represented in Figure 1. The liquid to be filtered is pumped
out of the trough D, and forced into the apparatus through the inlet tap e,the
connecting pipe f between the force pump and the tape being wholly or
partly formed of flexible material so as to admit of the cylinder being moved
on its bearings without disconnection. The liquid is forced through the
filtering tubes a, a, Figure 3, and falls into the trough C. When the filtrate
has accumulated on the interior of the filtering tubes, and the flow of filtered
liquid is checked in consequence, the tap e, Figure 2, is closed, the cylinder
is raised to the position shown in Figure 2, a portion of the liquid within is
run off or returned through the outlet tap k to the trough 1, and the scraper
is worked so as to accumulate the filtrate to the end B of the machine. The
cylinder is now replaced in the position shewn in Figure 1, and the pumping
and occasional scraping continued until a sufficient quantity of the filtrate
accumulates at the end B; then the whole of the liquid remaining in the
cylinder is run into the trough D through the tap k, the cover B taken off,
and the solid filtrate at that end of the machine removed. On the removal or
the cover A one or more of the filtering tubes may be removed and a clean
one substituted, and the apparatus is ready for another operation.
Instead of a force pump, the pressure within the cylinder may be obtained
by placing the liquid to be filtered in a cistern at a higher elevation and con-
nected to the tape; or such a vessel of small size may be used in conjunction
with the pump,being kept full by the overflow of its safety valve or otherwise,
and used for the inore rapid filling of the machine at first or after the scraping
process.
When the filtering is on an extensive scale, as in sugar refining, for example,
I adopt an arrangement of the apparatus as represented in Figure 4. The
cylinder is constructed as in the foriner case, but is placed in a fixed vertical

page_text: position, the top and bottom rings being attached to plates of wood or metal
(A and B) which serve to connect the several cylinders together, to collect
the filtered liquor, and which if necessary are affixed to side plates C so as
to form a close casing to which steam or hot air may be admitted by a
tap D, so as to keep the filtering surfaces in a heated atmosphere, as is
necessary in the filtering of solutions of sugar. In this apparatus the muddy
liquid is pumped or allowed to enter at the top of the cylinder; the filtering
and scraping is carried on, substantially as before described, while the filtered
liquor is drawn off at the tap E, and the filtrate is accumulated at the bottom
of the cylinder. When it is necessary to remove some or the whole of the
liquid contents for the purpose of scraping down or to take out the solid
filtrate, I employ a valve constructed substantially as shown in the Figure,and
placed at the upper extremity of a tube F, which passes through a hole in the
bottom lid, and which is rendered staunch when the filtering is proceeding, in
the same manner as is the scraper passing through the top lid, it being also
provided with a flat plate or shoulder carrying a washer of rubber or rope
yarn. When it is required to run off the fluid portion of the contents of the
cylinder this valve is pushed upwards through the solid filtrate which has
accumulated at the bottom of the cylinder so as to reach the liquid portion of
the contents, and then opened by a wire or rod passing through the tube, and
the liquid allowed to run out. The bottom of the cylinder is also in some
cases furnished with a valve to allow of a portion of the solid matter to be
forced out without removing the lid.
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 Constructing and Working Apparatus for Filtering Beer and other
Liquids,
First, the arrangement and mode of fitting, substantially as herein-before
described, of the curtain for obtaining a secure joint to the lid of a filtering
cylinder.
Second, the form or forms or construction of the scraper, substantially as
herein-before described.
Third, the method or arrangement,substantially as herein-before described,
of making the joint where the scraper passes through the lid of the
cylinder.
Fourth, the employment of a filtering cylinder mounted in an inclined of
horizontal position, and so that the inclination may be varied or reversed,
substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described.

page_text: Fifth, the mode of working the apparatus, substantially as herein-before
escribed.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Arthur Waller, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-seven.
G. ARTHUR WALLER. (L.S.)