Improved Apparatus for Ascertaining at any time the Amount of Carbonic Acid Contained in Cylinders used in Beer Forcing Apparatus
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Feb., 1894-Accepted, 14th Apr., 1894
CUMPLEIE
DIMIFICATION
Improved Apparatus for Ascertaining at any time the Amount of
Carbonic Acid Contained in Cylinders used in Beer Forcing
Apparatus.
A communication by JOSEF GÜNTERT, of Ludwigsburg, Würtemberg, in the
Empire of Germany, Mineral Water Manufacturer.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of The Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street,
Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster, and 323, High Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention has for its object to enable innkeepers, restaurant proprietors and
the like, who employ carbonic acid cylinders for drawing beer, which cylinders are
placed in communication with the barrel, both to check the amount of carbonic
acid contained in the cylinders and also to readily read off on a scale the actual
contents of the cylinder whilst in use. The amount of beer drawn off may be at
once calculated from this, and thus the apparatus forms to a certain extent a means
of checking off the consumption of beer.
On the accompanying drawing, this improved apparatus is shown in Figures 1,
2 and 3 in two vertical elevations and a plan view, whilst Figure 4 is a horizontal
section of the same.
Instead of placing the carbonic acid cylinder B on the ground or on a fixed frame,
it is placed in a dish C which is supported on springs d by means of rods c, and is
hield or steadied by means of a clamp which can be fitted thereon and which is
attached to one of the rods c. The rods c are supported by two cross bars a' and a
in an exactly vertical position, which cross bars are attached to the frame A. The
rods are attached at their upper ends to the crosspiece D. The springs d are placed
round each of the bars e between D and a. A pointer E is arranged in a support e
of the frame A and turns on the pivot o, and this pointer is operated by the cross
piece D by means of the pivot o'. The pointer moves with its free end over a
scale F which may be vertically adjusted on the frame by means of a wing screw
nut. The division of the scale F corresponds to the amount of carbonic acid
contained in the cylinder, which usually amounts to 10 kilogrammes, that is to
say the scale is divided from 1 to 10, whilst a further division of 10 lines or the
like may be made between each two lines, so that the whole scale may be
divided into 100 parts and the movement of the pointer from one division to the
When the
next corresponds to a weight of 100 grammes of carbonic acid.
cylinder is full, the pointer stands at zero, and when empty at 10 on the scale.
As the actual weight of the cylinders varies slightly each time a fresh cylinder
is inserted in the apparatus, the scale must be adjusted so that the pointer
stands at its zero point. If the pointer E does not rise up to the division 10,
the cylinder is not full, that is to say, it does not contain the normal quantity of
10 kilogrammes of carbonic acid. The apparatus thus affords a means of ascertaining
and checking the total contents of the cylinder. The actual amount drawn from
the cylinder may at any time be ascertained by reading off the position of the pointer
on the scale. According as the scale is more or less finely subdivided, the quantity
of carbonic acid removed may be ascertained more or less exactly.
The advantage of the apparatus is thus a double one as the actual amount of

page_text: carbonic acid contained at the moment as well as the amount of liquor drawn off
may be checked, and as the apparatus may be made very cheap and put up con-
veniently, the beer seller has in it an extremely suitable means of checking the
amount of beer drawn.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is-
An improved apparatus for ascertaining or checking at any time the amount of
carbonic acid contained in the cylinders of beer forcing apparatus, consisting of a
frame C in which the carbonic acid cylinder is placed, which frame rests on
springs d and rises or descends according to the varying contents of the cylinder,
and imparts its movement to a pointer which is pivoted to the fixed frame G so
that this movement may be read off on a scale F which has divisions corresponding
to the amount of carbonic acid contained in the cylinder, and which scale is made
adjustable in order to allow of the varying tare of the cylinders being compensated
for substantially as described and shown on the accompanying drawing.
Dated this 1st day of February 1894.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents.