IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING FLUIDS FROM BARRELS AND OTHER VESSELS." APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING FLUIDS FROM BARRELS AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Hill, of Manchester, in the County of Lan-
caster, Machine Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING FLUIDS FROM BARRELS AND OTHER VESSELS."
APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING FLUIDS FROM BARRELS AND OTHER VESSELS.”
Sealed the 3rd March 1876, and dated the 26th November 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Hill at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th November 1875.
I, JOHN HILL, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Machine
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING FLUIDS FROM BARRELS AND OTHER VESSELS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in an improved apparatus for drawing beer or
other fluids from barrels or other vessels without having to tilt them.
The apparatus is inserted through the bung or other hole, and it
consists of four or other convenient number of arms with corks which
float on the top of the liquor. At the under side of this float is a rose

page_text: to which I attach a flexible tube sufficiently long to reach to the bottom.
of the barrel or other vessel; the end of the flexible tube is attached to
a plug which is made to fit the bung or other hole.
To the upper
end of the plug I attach a pipe which conveys the liquid to the ordinary
pumps.
By means of the improved floating apparatus the pure liquid is drawn
from a little below the surface until the contents of the barrel or other
vessel are all drawn off.
For hand drawing a pipe is connected to the plug and acts as a syphon;
the bottom of the pipe reaches below the barrel and a tap is connected
to the end.
Instead of the floats above referred to the liquor may be drawn through
a rose at the bottom of the pipe, which is inserted into the barrel through
the bung hole. The liquor is drawn through a strainer or filtering bag;
this strainer or filter may be attached to the pipes for drawing beer in
the ordinary manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent.
filed by the said John Hill in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th May 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HILL, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Hill, Her special
licence that I, the said John Hill, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Hill, 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

page_text: Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING FLUIDS FROM BARRELS AND OTHER VESSELS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Hill, my exe-
cutors 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 John Hill, 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 (that is to say) :-
This Invention consists in certain improved apparatus for drawing
beer or other fluids from barrels or other vessels without having to tilt
them.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood I will proceed
to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a
section through a beer or other barrel to which my improved apparatus
is applied. a is a brass or other plug fitting into the bung hole; to the
inner end of this plug is connected the flexible tube b, to the end of
which is fixed the rose c, above which is a rim to which the wires of the
cork or other floats d are hinged. When the bung has been removed
the apparatus can be inserted into the barrel by bringing the four floats
in a line with the flexible tube b, as shewn in Fig. 2; and as soon as
the apparatus is within the barrel the floats expand and bear on the
surface of the beer, as shewn in Figs. 1 and 3, thereby keeping the rose
a little below the surface. The pipe e which conveys the liquid to the
ordinary pumps is connected by an ordinary union to the upper end of
the plug a, and consequently when the pump is worked the pure beer
or other liquid is drawn off. The flexible tube 6 must be of sufficient
length to allow the rose to descend to near the bottom of the barrel, as
shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 1, so that all the pure contents may be
drawn off leaving the sediment only at the bottom.
Figs. 4 and 5 represent a modification of my improved apparatus; in
this instance Fig. 4 shews the apparatus in the position it occupies when
the barrel is full or partly full, and Fig. 5 when empty. The wooden

page_text: bung a is made in two parts, fitting in the bung hole and holding the
rigid tube to which is jointed the branch tube 6' furnished with a
rose c and with floats d. The joint is surrounded by an india-rubber
bag or other water-tight cover, and the hinge is made with a stop
to limit the lift of the branch tube b¹. To the lower end of the
rigid tube is fixed the stay f, which bears upon the bottom of the
barrel. When the liquor lowers below the level of the floats & the rose
at the end of the branch tube 'descends gradually in the arc of a
circle, as shewn by the dotted line, and when all the pure contents have
been drawn off the branch tube 6' assumes the position shewn in
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6 represents another modification of my Invention; in this case
the lower end of the tube b is forked, and to each branch is jointed a
flexible tube b¹, the lower ends of which are connected to the rose c;
this rose rises and falls on the stay f which bears on the bottom of the
barrel. To the rose c is jointed a spring catch g, which takes into the
teeth of a rack or a screw on the stay. By this arrangement the rose
descends in a straight line as the liquid is drawn off, and the spring
catch taking into the teeth of the rack or screw prevents the rose
rising until it is released by hand when the apparatus is taken out of the
barrel.
Fig. 7 represents my improved apparatus for filtering or straining the
beer or other liquid when being drawn off. To the tube b is fixed the
case h, the lower end of which is open and is held a little above
the bottom of the barrel by short pointed stays. Near the bottom of
the case is the rose c, and to the rose or to the lower end of the case
is fixed the filter bag i. The lower end of the case h below the
rose c is perforated to allow the fluid to enter. When beer or other
liquid is drawn off by the ordinary pump it is clarified by passing
through the filter or strainer. This straining or filtering apparatus may
also be applied to ordinary taps for drawing beer or other liquid from
barrels.
Fig. 8 represents an apparatus very similar to that shewn in Figs. 4 and 5.
In this instance a flexible tube 6' is used instead of a jointed branch
tube, as shewn in Fig. 4; this flexible tube 62 is prevented from rising
above a certain height by a cord attached to the stay f. The drawing-
off pipe e, connected to the tube b, is brought down in front of the

page_text: barrel, and to its end is connected the flexible tube j furnished with a
tap k, the whole forming a syphon. In order to commence drawing
off the liquid the attendant must draw the air out of the syphon
through the tap k, after which it will flow when required until the
barrel is empty.
The hand drawing apparatus is applicable to any of the apparatus
above described.
By means of the various improved floating apparatus, shewn and
described, the pure liquid is drawn from a little below the surface of the
beer or other liquid, and consequently below any scum that might be
floating thereon, until the contents of the barrel or other vessel are all
drawn off.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention and described several
convenient nodes of performing the same, I wish it to be understood
that I do not intend to limit myself to the details given, but what I
claim is,―
First. The improved self-acting apparatus, shewn and described, by
which the rose is kept below the surface of the beer or other liquid in
the barrel until all the pure contents are drawn off.
Secondly. The improved apparatus, shewn and described in reference
to Fig. 7, for straining or filtering liquids while being drawn out of the
barrel.
And, thirdly. The improved hand drawing apparatus, shewn and
described in reference to Fig. 8.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hill, have hereto set set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-six.