Improvements in and connected with Brewers' and similar Thermographs.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Apr., 1893-Accepted, 27th May, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Brewers' and similar
Thermographs.
A communication from ADOLF WALTHER, of St. Louis, State of Missouri,
United States of America, Brewer.
I, CHARLES AUBREY DAY of 321 High Holborn, in the County of London,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The improvement under consideration has to do with the temperature within
the mash-tub or vat during the mashing of the malt. The quality of the brew
of beer depends, among other things, upon the temperatures at which the brewing
occurs, so much so that a variation of even a very few degrees, and for a brief
period only, changes the character of the brew, and accordingly it is essential
not only that the brewing shall be initiated at the proper temperature but also
that it shall be carried on at the proper, different, temperatures until the operation
is completed. A common practice has been to employ thermometers of ordinary
construction whereby the temperatures of the mash-tub can be noted from time
to time during the brewing. But to enable the temperatures to be more accurately
determined, and variations in temperature more readily noted, and further to
enable a record to be kept of the temperatures throughout the brewing operation,
is the object of the present improvement which consists in a bulb or equivalent
construction containing a fluid, such as ether, sensitive to heat and which promptly
expands and contracts as the temperature varies, and adaptable for use within a
mash-tub, in combination with a pressure-recording gage, substantially as herein-
after set forth and claimed, aided, by the annexed drawing, making part of this
Specification, in which-
Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a vat such as is used in brewing, a portion
of the shell of the vat being broken away to exhibit the interior, and the gage
and bulb being shown in position.
Figure 2 is a view in sectional elevation, and upon an enlarged scale, exhibiting
the gage and bulb, and including a portion of the vat containing the bulb and
Figure 3 is a detail.
The same letters of reference denote the same parts.
The tub or vat A, is of any of the customary designs saving as it may be
modified or supplemented by the improvement under consideration. The recording
gage, B, is also substantially of the usual construction. C represents the bulb. It
may be arranged either within the interior, a, of the vat, substantially as shown, or
it may be otherwise located so long as it is exposed to the temperature prevailing
within the vat. Its shape also may vary.
What is considered a desirable form is
exhibited, namely, a thin copper tube, c, closed at its ends by the heads, c', c³, and
the heads preferably connected by means of the tie-rods e³. A tube c, serves to
establish connection between the interior of the bulb and the gage, the head c²,
being perforated to admit the tube which leads thence through the shell, a', of the
at, and connecting with the gage preferably at the point 6, at which the pressure
s usually introduced into such a gage. In practice the tube c, is sufficiently
liable to enable that part of it which is within the vat, to be bent to enable the
ulb to be arranged near the side of the vat, and out of the way of the stirrers, a²,
ubstantially as shown. Any suitable means not shown may serve to support the
ulb in position.
The operation of the improved mechanism is as follows: the brewing is carried
n in the usual way within the vat; meanwhile the strip, b', within the gage, upon

page_text: which the record is made, is moved past the recording pencil, 63, in the ordinary
manner; the temperature within the vat causes the ether within the bulb to gasify
and expand or contract as the case may be; the pressures corresponding to such
expansions and contractions are noted upon any convenient parts, such for instance
as the upright bar, 63, in the gage; the strip 1, is ruled horizontally in the usual
manner to enable the pressures to be readily ascertained, the marking upon the
bar corresponding to the positions of the lines 64; the usual time-marks 6³ also
appear upon the strip. The line, 6, traced upon the strip in this way thus
indicates the pressures, and consequently the temperatures, prevailing within the
vat from the beginning to the end of the brew, and the inspector, after the operation
has ceased, obtains a record thereof.
The recording strip, b, within the gage, may be prepared for work such as is
under consideration by having the temperatures corresponding to the horizontal
lines, 64, upon the strip marked directly thereon, substantially as is indicated at 6',
Figure 3, in which view the numbers 47, 52, etc., respectively are the temperatures
(Fahrenheit, Reaumur etc., as the case may be) corresponding to the lines. Or
said temperatures may be marked upon the bar ³, or the temperature-markings
may be upon both the strip and the bar as in Figure 3. The time-marks, b³,
divide the strip vertically into sections belonging respectively to the hours
indicated, and thus the record shows also the periods when the various temperatures
are respectively obtained. The present improvement, in its application, is not
restricted to brewing apparatus exclusively, as it can, and for a similar or
analogous purpose, be used in connection with distilling, sugar-making or other
apparatus, having chambers in which it is desirable to keep an accurate record
of the temperature prevailing therein. It is not always essential to use in the
bulb a fluid which gasifies before it exerts a pressure upon the recording gage.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
1. The hereindescribed method of recording temperatures during a brewing
operation.
2. The combination of a bulb and a pressure-recording gage, said bulb being
adapted for use as described in a mash-tub or other analogous apparatus, said gage
having temperature markings corresponding to the pressures, and said bulb and
gage being connected, substantially as described.
3. The combination of the bulb, the pressure recording gage, and the tube
connecting the bulb and gage, substantially as described.
Dated this 4th day of April 1893.
DAY, DAVIES & HUNT,
321, High Holborn, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.