IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ATTEMPERATING OR REGULATING THE TEMPERATURE OF FERMENTING AND OTHER LIQUIDS."
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Harding, of Exeter, in the County of Devon, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ATTEMPERATING OR
REGULATING THE TEMPERATURE OF FERMENTING AND OTHER LIQUIDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Harding at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd August 1878.
"
JOSEPH HARDING, of Exeter, in the County of Devon. IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR ATTEMPERATING OR REGULATING THE TEMPERATURE OF FER-
MENTING AND OTHER LIQUIDS."
i
My Invention relates to apparatus for attemperating or regulating the temperature
of fermenting and other liquids, and consists in constructing or lining the walls or
sides, or a portion of the walls or sides, of a combined fermenting vat and attem-
perator with hollow of tiles composed of glass, porcelain, clay, or other similar
material which will not absorb or retain acid, and which will at the same time act
as attemperators or refrigerators by causing either hot or cold water, as required, to
flow through or within the interior of the hollow tiles, which are made of suitable
form to create a reverse flow of the attemperating water.
My Invention is applicable for the fermentation of all alcoholic beverages, whether
wine, beer, cider, and the like, as well as in the production of vinegar.
The interior portion of the vessels, which come in contact with the fermenting
liquid or the fluids which require a regulation of heat, being glazed are non-
absorbent, and cannot retain any acids or objectionable matter, and having a smooth
surface can be effectually cleaned with a minimum amount of trouble..
The circulation of the attemperating liquid through the hollow sides (and bottom,
if desired) of the fermenting vats dispenses with the necessity of coils or any
apparatus in the fermenting mass.
:

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Joseph Harding in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd February
1879.
JOSEPH HARDING, of Exeter, in the County of Devon. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR ATTEMPERATING OR REGULATING THE TEMPERATURE OF FER-
MENTING AND OTHER LIQUIDS."
My said Invention relates to apparatus applicable in the fermentation of alcoholic
beverages, whether wine, beer, cider, or the like, for attemperating or regulating
the temperature of such liquids, also in the production of vinegar, and for attem-
perating or regulating the temperature of other liquids, such, for example, as beer
in a manufactured state, milk, and liquids generally requiring the temperature to be
regulated. My said Invention consists in constructing or lining the walls or sides,
or the walls or sides and bottom, or a portion thereof, of a combined vat and at-
temperator with hollow or tubular tiles, composed either wholly or partly of glass,
porcelian, clay, or other similar material, the object being to provide in contact
with the liquid requiring a regulation of heat a glazed or non-absorbent surface,
which is not susceptible of retaining acids or objectionable matter, and admits of
being cleaned with facility, whilst at the same time the said hollow or tubular lining
tiles form a series of passages, through which the attemperating liquid (hot or cold,
as required) is allowed to flow or circulate in a to-and-fro, zig-zag, or circuitous
direction, thus acting through the sides or thickness of the tiles upon the liquid
requiring to be attemperated, and entirely dispensing with the use of coils or cir-
culating apparatus in the interior of the vat.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer
to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the same letters of
reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings represent vertical sections taken
respectively along the lines 1.2 and 3.4, Figure 3; and Figure 3 is a horizontal
section, taken along the line 5.6 (Figure 1), of a combined fermenting vat and
attemperator constructed according to my said Invention; and Figure 4 represents
a perspective view of one of the hollow or tubular lining tiles, herein-before referred
to, detached.
In carrying out my said Invention I erect a structure A of brickwork or
masonry, which in the example illustrated is shewn of a square shape, but may be
made of any other suitable form. This structure is lined with hollow or tubular
tiles B (one of which is shewn in detail in Figure 4), composed either wholly or
on their inner surface only of glass, porcelain, clay, or other similar glazed or non-
absorbent material, the apertures a in which tiles form passages for the circulation
of the attemperating liquid.
The apparatus may be so arranged that the passages in the several sides of the
structure shall be in intercommunication, but the arrangement illustrated in the
Drawing is preferred, in which the passages on each side of the structure are inde-
pendent of the passages in the contiguous sides, each two adjoining sides being
separated by solid angle tiles B!.
A certain number of the hollow or tubular tiles, videlicet, those marked B³, are
provided with an aperture b, so as to form communications between the passages a
of the superposed rows of tiles. By means of this arrangement the attemperating,
liquid is caused to circulate in a to-and-fro or zig-zag direction through the whole
series of rows in succession in its passage from the inlet c to the outlet d, so that
the whole of its attemperating capacity is made available by the liquid being caused
to traverse nearly the whole area of the sides of the apparatus, and thus act upon
the whole depth of liquid requiring to be attemperated.
The tiles are provided with mortices e, e¹, and tenons ff', (Figure 4) for the

page_text: facility of interlocking or securely uniting the several tiles of a row, and the several
superposed rows with which each side is lined.
It is preferred to make the upper part or crown of the apparatus of a dome or
vaulted shape, as shewn at C, and the space above the roof C is utilized for the
reception of a tank D for the supply of the attemperating liquid to the apertures c
leading to the passages a, the said tank being fitted with a pipe g, having an open
cup g¹ for the admission of the liquid from any convenient source, and with an
overflow pipe h for the egress of any surplus liquid. At the centre of the roof C
there is formed a man-hole i for the facility of obtaining access to the interior of
the apparatus for cleaning and the like, and above the man-hole there is erected a
cistern E having a contracted orifice k, through which the yeast separated in the
vat below is projected upwards so as to be retained in the cistern, and thus be pre-
vented from returning into and becoming mixed again with the beer contained in
the vat. The orifice k is formed by the man-hole i being partially covered with a
frame, which may be removed in order to obtain access to the interior of the
apparatus.
When the apparatus is intended to be used for attemperating or regulating the
temperature of liquids generally the tiles are arranged in a similar manner, such
slight modifications only being made as the particular purpose for which the appa-
ratus is to be employed renders necessary.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said In-
vention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect,
I would observe in conclusion that I do not confine myself to the precise shape,
locution, proportions, or materials of the tiles, or the mode of connecting them
together, or to the arrangements of the passages or the details of the apparatus
generally, as the same may be variously modified without departing from the
principle of my said Invention, but what I consider to be novel and original, and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is, an apparatus for attemperating or regulating the temperature of
fermenting and other liquids, constructed or lined with hollow or tubular tiles
having a glazed or non-absorbent surface on the side which is in contact with the
liquid to be attemperated, and forming passages for the circulation of the attempe-
rating liquid, substantially as and for the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Harding, have to this my. Specification
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of January, One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-nine.
JOSEPH HARDING. (L.S.)