IMPROVEMENTS IN BEER ENGINES
Year: 1861

page_text: Sealed the 26th July 1861, and dated the 29th January 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Walter Friend
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th January 1861.
I, JOHN WALTER FRIEND, of Freemantle, Southampton, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BEER ENGINES," to
be as follows (that is to say):-
My Invention has reference to improvements in beer engines, with the view
to render them less complex and costly in construction than hitherto, and
enable them to be worked by the knee or foot in place of the hand, as at
present, and consists in causing the pumps and pipes through which the beer
is drawn from the barrel to be arranged and fixed vertically beneath the bar
or counter, in such manner as to be worked through the medium of side bars
(in connection with the piston rod) actuated by means of a treadle or lever
and counterbalance weight attached to the same, a draught chamber or vessel
fitted with a tap and syphon being employed for obtaining a continuous flow
of liquor through the tap when required by the action of the treadle, which,
when depressed, causes the side levers to raise the piston and charge the

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Walter Friend in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th July 1861.
L
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WALTER FRIEND, of Freemantle, Southampton, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Walter Friend, Her special licence that I, the said John Walter Friend,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such other as I, the said John
Walter Friend, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BEER ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Walter Friend, my executors 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 Walter Friend, do hereby declaro
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, and the Drawings therein referred to (that is to say) :-
My Invention hus reference to improvements in beer engines, with the view
to render them less complex and costly in construction than hitherto, and
enable them to be worked by the knee or foot in place of the hand, as at
present, and consists in causing the pumps and pipes through which the beer
is drawn from the barrel to be arranged and fixed vertically beneath the bar
or counter, in such manner as to be worked through the medium of side bars

page_text: (in connection with the piston rod) actuated by means of a treadle or lever, a
draught chamber or vessel fitted with a syphon tap being employed for
obtaining a continuous flow of liquor through the same when required by the
action of the treadle, which, when depressed, causes the side levers to raise
the piston and charge the pump, from whence the liquor is conveyed to the
draught chamber through the intervention of a connecting pipe.
And in order that my Invention may be more fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I now proceed to describe it by the aid of the accompanying
Drawings, reference being had to the letters and figures thereon marked
(that is to say):-
Fig. 1 represents a front view of a beer engine fitted or provided with my
improvements; and Fig. 2, a side view thereof, showing the application of the
same. In each Figure the same letters of reference denote similar corre-
sponding parts.
A, A, the pump barrel or cylinder, fitted with a piston in the ordinary
manner, and secured to the bar or counter through the medium of lugs or
ears B, B; C, C, piston rod; D, D, cross-head; E, E, side motion rods or
bars; F, F, treadle for actuating the same, through the medium of the foot,
as represented; G, G, centre upon which the same works; H, H, pivot joint
connecting the treadle with the side levers; I, I, pipe communicating from
the cellar to the pump barrel; J, J, draught chamber or vessel for receiving
the supply from the pump barrel through the connecting pipe K, K;
L, L, brackets, stay, or shelf, upon which the same is secured; M, M, syphon
tap, through which a continuous flow of the liquor is obtained when required,
the air tube of which terminates at the upper portion of the chamber, as
shown; N, N, bar or counter; 0, 0, openings or apertures in the same for
In
the reception of the foot when actuating the treadle; P, P, floor.
conclusion to the foregoing description, I would here briefly note that the
treadles may be arranged below the floor, and actuated in like manner
through the medium of a stud, pin, or block projecting through the same, or
receive motion from the knee by a suitable adaptation of the treadle and side
rods or bars, and that, if necessary, a counterbalance weight may be employed
in connection with the treadle for facilitating the return stroke of the piston.
Having now described the nature of this my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I would have it clearly under-
stood that I do not claim as of my Invention the exclusive use of the several
parts herein-before mentioned and described, except when the same are
employed in and for the purposes of my said Invention, which I hereby

page_text: declare to consist in the mode of actuating beer engines by the foot or knee
through the medium of levers or treadles, so as to obtain a coutinuous flow
of liquor, in the manner and for the purposes herein-before set forth and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Walter Friend, have hereunto set
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
my
JOHN WALTER FRIEND. (LS.)
Witness,
F. R. DARKIN CAMPBELL,
Clerk to Messrs. Weatherdon & Co.,
77, Chancery Lane.