IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TAKING OFF LIQUIDS FROM CASKS AND OTHER VESSELS, AND SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas William Plum, of 54, Threadneedle Street,
London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TAKING
OFF LIQUIDS FROM CASKS AND OTHER VESSELS, AND SIMILAR PURPOSES."
Sealed the 14th June 1867, and dated the 31st December 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas William Plum at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st December 1866.
I, THOMAS WILLIAM PLUM, of 54, Threadneedle Street, London, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA-
BATUS FOR TAKING OFF LIQUIDS FROM CASKS AND OTHER VESSELS, AND SIMILAR
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
For drawing liquids from casks I make my suction pipes and syphons
partly or wholly of flexible material; the inserting end or portion of the
suction pipe, tube, or syphon that is to be put into the liquid to be drawn I
make of flexible tubing, that is, of india-rubber or any other suitable flexible
material; and I cause the said suction or inserting end to float upon or near
the surface of the liquid to be drawn by attaching to the flexible tube sufficient
buoyant material or air vessels in any convenient manner; I also attach to
the extreme end of the suction pipe or inserting portion of the tube or syphon
a valve and strainer of any suitable form or construction, and of any suitable
material; such valve to open inwards, and by means of the weights of the
said valve (or otherwise) being properly adjusted I cause the opening

page_text: through which the liquid enters the suction pipe or syphon to be and remain
sufficiently under the surface of the liquid to prevent air being drawn into the
pipe or syphon.
For applying my syphons or floating tubes to casks and similar vessels I
use a plug of wood or other material for holding the tube and forming a
stopper in place of either cork or bung. For vats and similar vessels I use a
syphon with a flexible floating suction end, as before described, and with a
proper fixing arrangement; I also use a flexible floating tube attached to
the inside of any ordinary tap, the tube being of sufficient length to float the
suction end just under the surface of the liquid at any height; or, if preferred,
a metal pipe of half the height (more or less) of the vat may be used as a
stand pipe with a flexible floating tube of length sufficient to reach to the top
and the bottom. For syphons to be used for drawing milk from under cream
I use a flexible tube, and insert into the end of it a tube of wood or other
material of length sufficient to stand in the milk pan, and allow the flexible
tube to pass or lay over, clear of the contents, to the outside of the pan. I
place a valve at the suction end of this syphon, and also a tap or valve, if
required, to the outer or delivery end. I also draw milk from cream by using
pans with suitable tap valve or plug to allow the milk to run from the
bottom of the pan.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas William Plum in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th June 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WILLIAM PLUM, of 54, Threadneedle 'Street, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas William Plum, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
William Plum, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Thomas William Plum, 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 Man, an Invention for "Im-

page_text: PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TAKING OFF LIQUIDS FROM CASES AND OTHER VESSELS,
AND SIMILAR PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas William Plum, my executors or administrators," by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Thomas William Plum, 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 consists of improvements in apparatus for taking off liquids
from casks and other vessels, and similar purposes, in manner following:-
First, I use a tube of any suitable length made of wood or gutta percha, or
india-rubber, or other suitable material, or of two or more of such materials
combined according to circumstances, as a "floating end" for taps, suction
pipes, syphons, and other pipes for drawing off liquids from casks, vats,
cisterns, tanks, and other vessels; I cause one end of the said tube to float
upon or towards the top of any liquid into which it may be inserted, either by
its own gravity, giving it the requisite form and material for that purpose, or
I use cork of suitable shape, or I form air spaces in or around the tube; the
manner of doing so, shewn in Drawing, part of Fig. 1, is a simple and con-
venient mode of forming an air space for securing by proper adjustment
adequate floating power; this tube I prefer to make of light wood, and to
form the air space by the use of two pieces of cork a and c, having the air space b
between them; this tube is (for use) attached to the tap, suction pipe, syphon,
&c. by means of a length (more or less according to requirements) of india-
rubber or other sufficiently flexible tubing, as shewn in Drawing, Fig. 1. The
floating or "float end" tube is thus permitted to adapt itself to the position
required for taking off liquids, first, at the highest attainable point at or
towards the upper part of any vessel to which it is applied, and then of
following the diminishing contents as the liquid is drawn to as low a point as
practicable, so as to take off all that can be taken off without "tilting" or
otherwise disturbing the vessel; the said tube may be made with or without
a metal strainer, as shewn at d¹ and d³.
Second, when the floating tube is used in the manner shewn in Figs. 2 and
4, i. e. for drawing liquids from casks by means of a tap, I convert the same

page_text: into a "syphon" or "syphon tap" by increasing the length (according to
circumstances) of the delivery tube or nozzle; and instead of the tap being
made to "shut off" in the usual manner I make the "stop" or "shut off"
at the lower end of the delivery tube or nozzle, or at a point low enough to
retain a sufficient column of liquid for drawing in the manner of a syphon
from the required depth below the horizontal line of the barrel of the tap.
Fig. 1 illustrates one mode of doing this, but I do not confine myself to the
use of this particular form of tap, any ordinary method of "shut off" may be
applied to the purpose so long as the object of retaining a sufficient column of
liquid to secure the syphon action is attained, the length of such column being
regulated by the requirements of different sizes and shapes of casks and vessels
to which it is intended to be applied.
Third, Figs. 3, 5, and 6 shew respectively the manner of using the said
Invention for the various purposes of suction pipe, syphon, and stand pipe;
when used for syphon or suction pipe the tube may be passed through a plug
or stopper (Fig. 7) of wood, cork, or other material, with a flexible self-venting
diaphragm.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be made and used, I declare that my claim is for the
employment of a tube attached to taps, pipes, and syphons for drawing off
liquids from casks and other vessels in the manner described from the upper
part of their contents, and continuing to draw at any level to which the
contents may be reduced, in the manner and by the means described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas William Plum, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
THO. W. PLUM. (L.S.)