IMPROVEMENTS IN Apparatus FOR TUNNING OR CLEANSING ALES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hodson, of
Burton-on-Trent, in the
County of Stafford, for the Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS IN Apparatus
FOR TUNNING OR CLEANSING ALES."
Sealed the 24th April 1874, and dated the 22nd December 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hodson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd December 1873.
I, WILLIAM HODSON, of Burton-on-Trent, in the County of Stafford,
do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR TUNNING OR CLEANSING ALES," to be as follows:
_
In tunning or cleansing ale it is usual to run the wort from working
squares into wooden casks called unions, these unions are supported on
pivots in a frame, and are capable of revolution for the purpose of being
cleaned; in the centre of the cask is a bung hole in which is inserted a
copper tube technically called a swan neck, which tube is bent at the
top for the purpose of taking off the yeast from the ale in the tunning
cask into a receiver usually placed about two feet above the cask. This
receiver is placed at a slight incline so that any ale which is taken up
together with the yeast by the swan neck is caused to flow down the

page_text: receiver into a vessel, from which it is allowed to pass through a pipe
into the suspended cask for the purpose of keeping the cask as nearly as
possible filled.
As the level of the beer in the cask and in the copper tube or swan
neck cannot be seen, considerable difficulty is always experienced by
reason of too much or too little ale being forced up the swan neck, and
this cannot be discovered until the whole of the swan neck is filled with
ale.
Now my Invention consists in remedying this defect by causing the
swan neck to be made of glass or other transparent material, so that the
workman in charge can at once see when the ale itself is being forced
into the swan neck, and by turning a tap in the pipe communicating
between the overflow reservoir and the cask at once prevent more ale
being forced into the cask than is requisite.
The glass swan necks also enable a correct indication of the progress
of purifying or cleansing the ale from the barm or yeast to be arrived at
and present the great advantages of being excellent conductors and easily
washed or cleansed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Hodson in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 18th June 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HODSON, of Burton-on-Trent, in the County of Stafford, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Hodson, Her special
license that I, the said William Hodson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Hodson, my executors,
administrators, or 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 TUNNING OR CLEANSING ALES," upon the condition (amongst.
others) that I, the said William Hodson, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 William Hodson, 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 Drawings
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
In tunning or cleansing ale it is usual to run the wort from working
squares into wooden casks called unions, these unions are supported on
pivots in a frame, and are capable of revolution for the purpose of being
cleaned, in the centre of the cask is a bung hole in which is inserted a
copper tube technically called a swan neck, which tube is bent at the
top for the purpose of taking off the yeast from the ale in the tunning
cask into a receiver usually placed about two feet above the cask. This
receiver is placed at a slight incline so that any ale which is taken up
together with the yeast by the swan neck is caused to flow down the
receiver into a vessel, from which it is allowed to pass through a pipo.
into the suspended cask for the purpose of keeping the cask as nearly as
possible filled.
As the level of the beer in the cask and in the upper tube or swan
neck cannot be seen, considerable difficulty is always experienced by
reason of too much or too little ale being forced up the swan neck, and
this cannot be discovered until the whole of the swan neck is filled with
ale.
Now my Invention consists in remedying this defect by causing the
swan neck to be made of glass or other transparent material, so that the
workman in charge can at once see when the ale itself is being forced
into the swan neck, and by turning a tap in the pipe communicating
between the overflow reservoir and the cask at once prevent more ale
being forced into the cask than is requisite.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose

page_text: shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Figure 1 represents a part side elevation of a sett of unions or casks
fitted with my Invention, and Figure 2 an end elevation of the same.
A represents one of a series of "working squares" containing the
wort or ale to be tunned or cleansed; B, B, are the main pipes provided
with suitable stop-cocks, and leading from the bottom of the working
square A over and in front of the ends of the casks or unions C, C, with
which they respectively communicate by branch pipes b, b, each of
which is provided with a suitable stop-cock, and passes through the
centre of one end of each cask or union C, as shewn. The casks or
unions C, C, revolve on pivots or journals D, D, D, in suitable bearings
forming parts of or attached to a framing E secured to the floor of the
union room. Through the middle and highest point of the body of each
of the casks or unions, C, C, is a bung hole into which is inserted a
tube F made of glass or other transparent material, and technically
termed a "
swan neck." A ring or washer of india-rubber or other clastic
material is placed round the end of this glass tube or swan neck,"
where the latter is inserted into the cask or union for the purpose of pre-
serving a tight joint at that part. Each swan neck F is also bent at its
upper end and dips thereat into a receiver G extending across and along
over the casks or unions C, C, and opening at its end into an overflow
vessel or reservoir H. The receiver G inclines slightly towards the latter
and is usually placed about two feet above the casks or unions C, C;
x, x, are branch pipes connecting the overflow vessel or reservoir H with
the main pipes B, B, and provided with suitable stop-cocks y, y, as
shewn.
The wort or ale to be tunned or cleansed is run from the "working
square" A through the main pipes B, B, and branches b, b, into the
casks or unions C, C, whence the yeast is taken or passed off through
the bent tubes or swan necks F, F, into the receiver G, from which it
flows into the vessel or receiver H, and from the latter any ale that may
have been taken up with the yeast is allowed to pass through the branch
pipes x, x, into the main pipes B, B, and thence through the branches a
b, b, b, back into the casks or unions C, C, for the purpose of keeping
the latter as nearly as possible filled, or at one uniform level.

page_text: Hitherto the bent tubes or swan necks have been constructed of
metal and a difficulty has been thereby experienced in determining the
proper level of the beer in the same, and in the said casks or unions
owing to its being invisible to the eye of the attendant, consequently too
much or too little beer was forced up the bent tubes or swan necks,"
and the latter became unduly or only partially filled.
66
In constructing the bent tubes or swan necks of glass or other
transparent material this defect is entirely remedied, the attendant
being able at once to see when the ale itself is being forced up them, and
by turning the stop-cocks y, y, in the branch pipes x, x, he is able to
regulate the supply of ale coming from the vessel or reservoir H to the
casks or unions C, C, at pleasure.
The glass swan necks also enable a correct indication of the progress
of purifying or cleansing the ale from the barm or yeast to be arrived at,
and present the great advantage of being excellent conductors of heat
and easily washed or cleansed.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to
be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, constructing
the bent tubes or what are technically known as swan necks," in casks
or unions for tunning or cleansing ale of glass or other transparent
material, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described and
illustrated by my Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hodson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of
June, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
30 Witness,
WILLIAM HODSON. (L.S.)
LAURENCE BURLEIGH,
Truman, Hanbury, Buxton, & Co's. Brewery,
Brick Lane,
Spitalfields.