IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RACKING AND DECANTING LIQUIDS (TERMED LABURTHE'S APPARATUS').
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of the Firm of John Gedge
and Son, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
RACKING AND DECANTING LIQUIDS (TERMED LABURTHE'S APPARATUS')."—
A communication from abroad by Clément Laburthe, of No. 15, Passage
des Petites Ecuries. Paris: France. Merchant.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Gedge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th December 1868.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of
No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR RACKING AND DECANTING LIQUIDS (TERMED LABURTHE'S APPA-
RATUS,')" (a communication to me from abroad by Clément Laburthe,
of No. 15, Passage des Petites Ecuries, Paris, France, Merchant,) to be as
follows:-
This apparatus is composed, firstly, of a pneumatic pump or other agency,
so arranged as to introduce air into the cask or other vessel which it is desired
to empty.
Secondly, of a hollow conical elbow of copper, cast iron, or other material,
which is screwed to the upper orifice of the cask or vessel.

page_text: Thirdly, of a syphon, one end of which fits on to the said elbow pipe and
the other to the orifice of the cask or vessel into which the liquid is to be
passed.
Fourthly, of a caoutchouc tube fitted to the lower part of the pump barrel,
and which conducts the air from this pump into the cask to be emptied. The
length of this tube will be regulated by the distance to which the liquid is to
be brought from a full cask to an empty one. A valve is placed at each end
of the caoutchouc tube to oppose the recoil of the air.
It will be evident that on working the pump air is sent into the full cask
or other vessel. This air compresses the liquid, which is forced to escape by
the syphon and runs out into the empty cask or vessel, so that by this appa-
ratus nothing is more easy than the decanting of liquids, raising them at the
same time to such height as may be desired. .
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 17th June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I; WILLIAM
EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of Number 11, Wellington
Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Gedge, Her special licence that I, the said William
Edward Gedge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Edward Gedge, 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
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RACKING AND DECANTING LIQUIDS (TERMED LABURTHE'S
APPARATUS')," (a communication to him from abroad by Clément Laburthe,
of Number 15, Passage des Petites Ecuries, Paris, France, Merchant,)
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward
Gedge, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe

page_text: 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 Edward Gedge, 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawing hereunto
annexed and forming part of this Specification, and to the figures and letters
of reference placed thereon :-
The apparatus, the subject of this Invention, is intended to be applied,
firstly, to racking off liquids by the bunghole.
Secondly, to tunning wines by taking the liquid from the vase or basin at
the foot of the vat or vintage tub, and conducting it into the vessels which are
to receive it by pipes of suitable material.
And, thirdly, to take, raise, and conduct uncovered liquids, such as water
from the sea, rivers, canals, wells, or cisterns.
On the Drawing the apparatus for racking off liquids from one cask to
another is shewn at Figures 1, 2, and 3. A indicates a pneumatic pump; B, a
caoutchouc tube, which conducts air into the cask; C, hollow (bung) (shewn
separately at Figure 2), which communicates with B by a small hollow tube.
The top of this bung (which is termed elbow joint in the Provisional Specifica-
tion) joints hermetically to the siphon, and the air coming from A by B goes
into the cask E by the space which is left between the siphon and the bottom
of the bung; D, siphon, the horizontal tube fitting a on band b¹ on c (see
Figure 8); E, cask from which the liquid is being racked off; F, cask which
is being filled; S, valves to prevent return of air. The bung or stopper C
(see Figure 2) is composed of a hollow tube a by which the air arrives; b,
free space left between the siphon and the sides of the bung; c, point where
the siphon hermetically closes the bung; d, passage of air from the bung into
the cask to be emptied. The air compressing the liquid, this latter is forced to
escape by the siphon entering at D and leaving at X (see Figure 1). D",
Figure 3, tube lengthening D when it is desired to leave the lees or residue:
(Figure 2), small solid piece, used only for symmetry to balance the hollow
tube a.
The air arriving by S, B, S, and C, compresses the liquid, which is
forced to escape by the lower end of the siphon, and passing by D' issues
at X.
e
The parts of apparatus used in raising water are shewn, Figures 4, 5, 6,
and 7. A, pneumatic pump, similar to that above mentioned. B, caoutchouc

page_text: tube conducting the air. c and c" (Figure 5), two openings which replaces
the bunghole C, being similar to that already described. D, siphon which
raises the liquids. R (see Figure 7), cock which is placed at most con-
venient parts of the tube B. This pneumatic cock receives the air by a and
directs it at will by b and c. It is a branch to send air alternately into two
recipients, and which has openings to permit the air which has been used to
escape. F, receivers, which fill and empty under the action of the pump.
S, inner valves by which the receivers fill. The tubes may be made of any
suitable material, and their size will be proportioned to the distance and the
height to which the liquids are to be transported.
"In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Gedge, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
W F CEDCE
WF CEDCE
(z.s.)