IMPROVEMENTS IN VESSELS POR CONTAINING OIL OR OTHER LIQUIDS AND IN DEVICES FOR. DRAWING THE CONTENTS FROM THE SAME
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthew Andrew, of Melbourne, in the Colony
of Victoria, Australia, now of No. 8, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Matthew. Andrew at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th April 1869.
.
1, MATTHEW ANDREW, of Melbourne, in the Colony of Victoria,
Australia, now of No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN VESSELS POR CONTAINING OIL OR OTHER LIQUIDS AND
IN DEVICES FOR. DRAWING THE CONTENTS FROM THE SAME," to be as follows:-
These improvements relate mainly to providing a vessel containing oil
or other liquid with devices which I call capsule taps, which are. con-
structed and attached to the said vessels in the following manner :-
Price 8d1

page_text: A hole is cut in any suitable part of the vessel in the ordinary manner,
chrough which hole the said vessel is filled. A cap or cover is soldered
over this hole, and a central hole is pierced in the said cap. In this
hole is inserted a tube or pipe slightly smaller in external diameter than
the hole, but of sufficient diameter to serve as a tap. One end of this
tube or pipe is pressed somewhat open for the purpose of preventing its
being withdrawn more than a certain distance. Near this end of the
tube a hole is made in the side thereof for the entrance of the liquid to
be drawn from the vessel. Over this end of the tube a box tube is
placed having a cork, leather, or other lining extending for a short
distance from the open end thereof so as to fit tightly round the first-
mentioned tube. In the side of this box tube is a hole, which also
extends through the cork or other lining thereof and corresponds with
the hole in the side of the smaller tube so as to permit the free passage
of the contained liquid when the smaller tube is drawn forward until
its side hole is opposite the side hole of the box tube. The open end of
the said box tube is cut or sloped in such a manner that when it is
soldered to the cap or cover herein-before mentioned it forms a slight
angle therewith. This tube is closed at the outer end and a hole is
made underneath it to allow the liquid to pass through in a downward
direction when the tube is drawn out to its full extent by means of a
small ring fastened to the end of the tube, and when the tube is pushed
in the ingress of liquid to the box tube is stopped. The above-described
cap or cover to which is attached as before-mentioned the box tube
containing the smaller tube forms at once a capsule and a tap; and as
a means of protection to the tap to prevent its being opened before the
vessel reaches its final destination the smaller tube is pressed in and the
ring being laid flat a thin piece of brass or other metal is soldered over
the face of the cap or cover. When the vessel which has been filled with
the oil or other liquid requires to be closed this capsule tap has simply to
be soldered upon the hole cut in the said vessel, and when required the
tap in the capsule is made available by removing the piece of brass or
other metal soldered on the face of the capsule tap.
In a modification of my Invention a small tube is made of brass,
copper, tin, glass, porcelain, or any other suitable material and L-shaped,
the upright portion being preferably about one and one-half inches
long and the horizontal part about three-quarters of an inch, and its
diameter being suitable for drawing off the liquid from the vessel.

page_text: In the side of the horizontal part of this tube a hole is made at an angle
to the upright portion of the tube of about eighty degrees to admit the
liquid to flow through the tube, and the hole at the end of this horizontal
part of the tube is hermetically closed. A piece of cork or any other
suitable lining is fitted closely round the horizontal part of the tube,
and tightly over this cork or other lining is fitted an external tube or
band made of tin or any other convenient substance so as exactly to
cover the cork or other lining. In the centre of this external tube or
band, and also in the cork or other lining, a hole is made to correspond
in size and position with the hole before described as made in the side
of the horizontal part of the tube. The cap or cover is depressed or
indented in such a way that the tube, as above described, will con-
veniently lie therein, sufficient margin around being left not depressed,
by which it can be soldered over the hole cut in the tin or other vessel
for filling the same. In this cap or cover a hole is made exactly
corresponding in position with the hole already described in the external
tube or band. The horizontal tube being laid in the depressed or
indented part of the cap or cover the external tube or band is soldered
to the cap or cover or otherwise firmly fixed thereto, but in such a way
that the holes shall coincide. The end of the upright tube is closed
and a hole is made near it in such a position as to give the liquid at
its exit a downward direction. Over the depressed or indented part of
the cap or cover a thin piece of brass or other metal is soldered. This
capsule tap is now ready to be used for securing the oil or other liquid
in the can or other vessel by being soldered over the hole made for
filling, and when it is desired to draw the contents from the said vessel
it is only needful to remove the thin piece of brass or other metal to
make the said capsule tap available. The form or construction of these
capsule taps may be varied, but they must always be adapted to the
main object of my Invention, which is to secure liquids in a vessel by
such a capsule as will also serve the purpose of a tap to draw off the
contained liquid without causing any external projection upon such
vessel as would interfere with the convenient packing of the same for
transportation.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Matthew Andrew in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th October 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MATTHEW
ANDREW, of Melbourne, in the Colony of Victoria, Australia, now of
No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Matthew Andrew, Her special licence that
I, the said Matthew Andrew, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Matthew Andrew, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 V IEIS FOR
CONTAINING OIL OR OTHER LIQUIDS AND IN DEVICES FOR DRAWING THE CONTENTS
FROM THE SAME," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Matthew Andrew, 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 Matthew Andrew, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing
forming a part of this Specification :-
The object of my improvements is to provide vessels containing oil,
beer, or other liquid with devices which I call capsule taps, the same
being constructed and attached to the said vessels as herein-after
described.

page_text: The Drawing illustrates several modifications in the form of my
Invention.
Figure 1 is a front view of part of a vessel provided with one of my
improved taps; Figure 2 is a section on the line x, x, Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a front view of a modification of my Invention; Figure 4
is a section on the line y, y, Figure 3; Figure 5 is a section on the
line z, z, Figure 4; Figure 6 is a front view of my improved tap as
applied to a beer cask; Figure 7 is a section on the line 2, z¹, Figure 6.
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawing.
A hole is cut in any suitable part of the vessel a in the ordinary
manner, through which hole the said vessel is filled with the oil or other
liquid. A cap or cover bis soldered over this hole, and a central hole is
pierced in the said cap. In this hole is inserted a tube or pipe c slightly
smaller in external diameter than the hole, but of sufficient diameter to
serve as a tap. The inner end of this tube or pipe is pressed somewhat
open for the purpose of preventing its being withdrawn more than a
certain distance. Near this end of the tube a hole c¹ is made in the
side thereof for the passage of the liquid to be drawn from the vessel a.
The tube c is fitted within a box tube or socket d, which has a cork,
leather, or other lining extending for a short distance from the open
end thereof, and made to fit tightly around the tube c. In the side of
this box tube d is a hole d2, which also extends through the cork or
other lining thereof, and which corresponds with the hole in the
side of the small tube c, so as to permit the free passage of the contained
liquid when the said small tube is properly drawn forward, as shewn in
Figure 2. The outer end of the said box tube is sloped or bevelled in
such a manner that when it is soldered to the cap or cover b it forms a
slight angle therewith. The tube c has a hole at its outer end, and
this hole should be made at the under side of the said tube, as shewn, to
allow the liquid to pass through it and escape in a downward direction
when the tube c is drawn out to its full extent. When the tube is
pushed in the holes c¹ and d³ are closed, and the ingress of the liquid to
the box tube is stopped. The tube c has fastened to its outer end a
ring 3, which forms a convenient means for drawing out the said tube.
The cap or cover b thus provided with the box tube d containing the
smaller tube c forms at once a capsule and a tap; and as a means of
protection to the said tap to prevent its being opened before the vessel a
reaches its final destination the smaller tube c is pressed in with the

page_text: small flange c4 resting upon the cover b; the ring c³, which is formed
with a hinge or joint for the purpose, is turned down and laid flat upon
the said cover, and a thin piece of brass or other metal e is soldered over
the face of the cap or cover b. When the vessel a has been filled with
the oil or other liquid, and it is desired to close the same, the cover b of
the capsule tap has simply to be soldered upon the bole cut in the said
vessel, and when required the tap is made available by removing the
piece e of brass or other metal soldered on the face of the said capsule
tap.
In the modification of my Invention illustrated in Figures 3, 4, and 5,
the small tube c, which is made of brass, copper, tin, glass, porcelain, or
any other suitable material, is L-shaped, the upright portion from 1 to 2
being preferably about one and one-half inches long, and the horizontal
part from 1 to 3 about three-quarters of an inch, and its diameter being
suitable for drawing off the oil or other liquid from the vessel. The
hole is made in the side of the horizontal part of this tube to admit
the liquid to flow through the same. The cork or other suitable lining d¹
is fitted closely around the horizontal part of the tube, and within the
external tube or socket d, which is made of tin or any other convenient
material so as exactly to cover the cork or other lining. In the centre
of this external tube or socket, and also in the cork or other liuing, is
made the hole d², which corresponds in size and-position with the hole c¹
in the side of the horizontal part of the tube c. The cap or cover b is
depressed or indented in such a way that the tube c when formed as
above described will conveniently lie therein, a sufficient margin 61
around being left not depressed, by which it can be soldered over the
hole cut in the tin or other vessel a for filling the same.
In this cap
or cover a hole is made exactly corresponding in position with the hole
already described in the external tube d. The horizontal tube being
laid in the depressed or indented part of the cap or cover b the external
tube d is soldered to the said cap or cover or otherwise firmly fixed
thereto, but in such a way that the holes shall coincide. The tube c
has a hole c² made at its outer end in such a position as to give the
liquid at its exit a downward direction, as shewn in Figure 4. When
this tap is turned back within the recess it will leave no part projecting
above the surface of the cover b, and I then solder or otherwise secure
over the said recess or indented portion of the cap the thin piece e of
brass or other metal, as herein-before described. The capsule tap can

page_text: then be attached to the can or vessel a by being soldered over the hole
made for filling the same, and when it is desired to draw the contents
from the said vessel the thin piece of metal can be readily removed, and
the tube c turned into the position shewn in Figure 4, the holes in the
tubes being thereby made to communicate with each other and permit
the liquid to escape.
I do not confine myself to the precise form or construction of these
capsule taps berein described and illustrated, as they may be varied
within certain limits, but they must always be adapted to the main
object of my Invention, which is to secure oil or other liquid in a vessel
by a capsule that will also serve the purpose of a tap to draw off the
contained liquids without causing any external projection upon such
vessel as would interfere with the convenient packing of the same for
transportation.
The construction of the ale or beer tap illustrated in Figures 6 and 7
is substantially the same as that of the tap shewn in Figures 1 and 2.
In addition, however, to the parts herein-before described a portion of
the outside of the said ale tap is surrounded by a ring f of cork, as
shewn in Figure 7, which is properly secured to the said tube to prevent
its slipping. By means of this cork f the tap is rendered capable of
being tightly fitted in the hole of the cask or other vessel in which it is
to be inserted. The inside of the capsule e which is placed over the tap
to protect it during its transport is so packed with iron or other suitable
material that the head of the tap will be capable of sustaining without
injury the blows cf a hammer or mallet in being driven into the cask or
other vessel. The said ale tap may be made either horizontal, as shewn,
or may be inclined or set at an angle to the capsule plate e, as in
Figure 2.
Having thus fully described my said Invention, I claim,-
First. A capsule tap, consisting of the cap or cover b, the adjustable
tube c, and outer tube or socket d, the said tubes being provided with
cork or other suitable lining or packing, and with holes or apertures
arranged to be opened and closed by the adjustment of the tube c, which
is formed and arranged to leave no part projecting beyond the cover b,
and is secured by a thin plate or sheet of metal e, all substantially as
and for the purposes set forth.
Second. A can or vessel for containing oil or other liquid provided
with one of the said capsule taps, substantially as set forth.

page_text: Third. The capsule tap, illustrated in Figures 6 and 7, consisting of
the inner and outer tubes c and d, and cover b, and provided with cork
inside and outside of the outer tube d, substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Matthew Andrew, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
MATT. ANDREW. (L.s.)