IMPROVEMENTS IN PIRES FOR CONveying Beer and other LIQUIDS.”
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Horatio Bycroft, of Burton-on-Trent, in the
County of Stafford, Plumber, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PIRES FOR CONveying Beer and other LIQUIDS.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Horatio Bycroft at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th August 1874.
I, HORATIO BYCROFT, of Burton-on-Trent, in the County of Stafford,
Plumber, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PIPES FOR CONVEYING BEER AND OTHER LIQUIDS," to be as
follows:-
My Invention has for its object to supersede the use of lead and other
-metal pipes commonly employed for the conveying of beer from casks
to beer pumps or beer engines, and for other like purposes. The said
lead or other metal pipes contaminate and injure beer which is allowed
to remain long in them to such an extent as to render the said beer

page_text: unfit to be drunk. A more or less injurious effect is produced by tho
said pipes on other liquids remaining long in contact with them.
In making pipes for conveying beer and other liquids according to
my Invention I take glass tubing cut into lengths and of a diameter
varying according to the particular use to which the pipe or pipes is or 5
are to be applied. These lengths of glass tubing are connected together
by tubular junction pieces of vulcanized india-rubber fitting tightly on
the ends of the lengths of tubing, and fixed thereto by a binding of wire
or cord, or the said junction pieces are made to clip the tubes tightly by
means of springs. The ends of the lengths of glass tubing are so situated 1
in the india-rubber collars or junction pieces that the said ends do not
come into contact when the lengths are inclined to ono another at a
considerable anglo.
Instead of connecting the lengths of tubing by the clastic collars or
junction pieces described the said collars may be dispensed with, and 1
each length of tubing be provided at its ends with the parts of a ball-
and-socket joint, the ball part of one of tho said joints being made at
one end of the length of tube, and the socket part at the other. By.
means of spring binders fixed to collars on the ends of the lengths of
tubing the said ends are held closely together, and a secure junction is 2
effected.
Although I prefer to uso glass for making pipes according to my
Invention, yet I do not limit myself thereto, as other materials may be
employed with like effect, such for example as carthenware, or china, or
enamelled iron, or enamelled copper tubing.
2
Pipes made according to my Invention are flexible, and are without
action on beer, water, or such liquids as aro usually conveyed in pipes.
They are not liable to decay as lead pipes are. They are very cleanly,
and can be readily taken to pieces and cleaned, and quickly put together
again. Should any length requiro to be removed and replaced it can be 3
readily done.
Where flexibility is not required, or where it is not required in any
particular part of the pipe, the lengths of tubing may be connected by
being screwed or otherwise rigidly connected together end to end.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Horatio Bycroft in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 30th January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HORATIO
BYCROFT, of Burton-on-Trent, in the County of Stafford, Plumber, send
greeting.
•
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Horatio Bycroft, Her special license
that I, the said Horatio Bycroft, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Horatio Bycroft, 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, sliould 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 PIPES FOR CONVEYING BEER AND OTHER LIQUIDS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Horatio Bycroft, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain tho
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 Scal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Horatio Bycroft, 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 tho
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention has for its object to supersede the use of lead.and other
metal pipes commonly employed for the conveying of beer from casks
to beer pumps or beer engines, and for other like
The said
purposes.
lend or other metal nines contaminate and iniure beer which is allowed

page_text: to be drunk. A more or less injurious effect is produced by the said
pipes on other liquids remaining long in contact with them.
In making pipes for conveying beer and other liquids according to my
Invention I take glass tubing cut into lengths and of a diameter varying
according to the particular use to which the pipe or pipes is or are to be
applied. These lengths of glass tubing are connected together by tubular
junction pieces of vulcanized india-rubber fitting tightly on the ends of
the lengths of tubing, and fixed thereto by a binding of wire or cord;
or the said junction pieces are made to clip the tubes tightly by means
of springs. The ends of, the, lengths of glass tubing, are so situated in 1
the india-rubber collars or junction picces that the said ends do not como
into contact when the lengths are inclined to one another at a consi-
derable angle.
Instead of connecting the lengths of tubing by the clastic collars or
junction pieces described the said collars may be dispensed with, and 1
each length of tubing be provided at its ends with the parts of a ball-
and-socket joint, the ball part of one of the said joints being made at
one end of the length of tube, and the socket part at the other. By
means of spring binders fixed to collars on the ends of the lengths of
tubing the said cnds are held closely together, and a securo junction is 2
effected.
Although I prefer to use glass for making pipes according to my
Invention, yet I do not limit myself thereto, as other materials may be
employed with like effect, such for example as carthenware or china, or
enamelled iron, or enamelled copper tubing, and the pipes constructed 2
according to my Invention may be made of any required. size.
Pipes made according to my Invention are flexible, and are without
action on beer, water, or such liquids as are usually conveyed in pipes.
They are not liable to decay as lead pipes are. They are very cleanly,
and can be readily taken to picces and cleaned and quickly put together 3
again. Should any length require to be removed and replaced it can bo
readily donc.
Where flexibility is not required, or whero it is not required in any
particular part of the pipe, the lengths of tubing may be connected
by being screwed or otherwise rigidly connected together end to end. 3
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to

page_text: describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation a series of beer casks supported
on the usual thrawl or support a, cach cask being provided with a pipe
marked 6 for conveying the beer to the beer pump or beer engine. Each
of the said conveying pipes is composed of a series of lengths of glass
tubing, or tubing of the kind herein-before described, the said lengths
of tubing being connected together by junction picces marked c.
The several methods or arrangements which I adopt for connecting
the lengths of glass (or other) tubing together are illustrated in the
other Figures of the Drawing, which I will now proceed to describe.
The arrangements for connecting the lengths of glass or other tubing arc
drawn of the full size..
Figure 2 represents in section and Figure 3 in elevation the arrange-
ment in which the ends of the lengths of glass tubing b, b, are connected
together by a tubular junction piece or clastic collar d of vulcanized
india-rubber, the said junction piece or collar fitting tightly on the ends
of the lengths b, b. The opposed ends of the joined lengths of tubing
b, b, Figures 2 and 3, do not abut against each other, as shown in the
section. The tubular junction piece or elastic collar d is fixed on the
ends of the lengths of tubing b by means of spring-like split rings
marked e, e, which by their clasticity press firmly upon and clip the
collar d and hold it securely on the ends of the glass lengths b, b; or
bindings of copper wire, or cord, or other bindings, may be used in place
of the spring-like split rings e, c.
Figure 4 represents in section and Figure 5 in elevation the arrange-
ment in which a ball-and-socket joint is employed for connecting the
lengths of glass tubing together. On the end of the length of glass
tubing is the ball part of the joint, and on the end of the length of
glass tubing d' is the socket part d³ of the joint; the said ball-and-
socket parts ď³, ď³, fitting one another accurately. The parts d, ď³, of
the joint are held firmly together by the elastic collar of india-rubber f
made to surround the joint, the ends of the said elastic collar being
-bound to the glass lengths d, d, by bindings of copper wire-at g, 9, or
by spring-like split rings or spring bindings as at e, e, Figure 3.
Instead of making the ball part of the joint in one piece with one of
the lengths of glass tubing, as last described, the said ball part may bo

page_text: ·
made of a separate metal piece, the said metal piece being connected to
the end of the length of glass tubing by a union joint. This modification
iş illustrated in section in Figure 6, and elevation in Figure 7, where his
the separate metal ball part of the joint, and i is the metal screw collar of
the union joint screwed upon the end of the ball part and made to
embrace the flange % on the end of the glass length. Or instead of
making the ball and socket parts of the joint come into direct contact.
when the two lengths are connected together an india-rubber cupped
washer may be interposed between the abutting surfaces of the ball and
socket parts for effecting a tight junction. This arrangement is
represented in section in Figure 8 and elevation in Figure 9, where the
india-rubber cupped washer between the ball and socket parts d³, d³, of
the lengths d³, d*, is marked l.
By constructing the joint in the manner last described the ball-and-
socket parts do not require to be ground as in the arrangement Figures 4,
5, 6, and 7, to produce a tight joint. In Figures 8 and 9 the india-
rubber or elastic collar is marked f, and the wire or other bindings are
marked g, g.
Figure 10 represents in section, and Figure 11 in side and end elevation
an arrangement in which the india-rubber or clastic collar is dispensed
with, and in place thereof flanges are made near the ball-and-socket parts
of the joint, springs acting on the said flanges to press the joint parts of
the lengths together. In the said Figures 10 and 11 m, m, are the
flanges near the ball-and-socket parts of the joint, and n are the coiled
springs by which the said flanges are pressed together for forming a
tight joint. The binding springs n pass through cross slots in the
flangesim, m; (sce the end clevation of Figuro 11) and the said springs
bear against the flanges by means of the cross pins represented, which
are passed through cycs-in-the-ends of-the-springs: By:withdrawing the
cross pins: the flanges are released, and, the lengths of glass tubing may
bei scparated.
Figure 12 represents in section, and Figure 13 in side and end clevation
a modification of the arrangement last described. In this arrangement
the two flanges m, m, are situated some distance apart, and the binding
coiled springs n, instead of being passed through slots in the flanges are
passed through holes in the flanges.
All the junctions of the glass lengths herein-before described are
flexible, but where a rigid connection is required in any particular part

page_text: of the pipe composed of the lengths represented, a rigid connection or
joint may be made in the manner represented in section in Figure 14
and elevation in Figure 15. In this arrangement one of the lengths of
glass tubing has a socket p upon it, in which the plain end of the other
length to be joined is placed, the two ends of the lengths being secured
together by the collar q of india-rubber or by cement placed in the
socket
P.
Although I have only represented pipes constructed according to my
Invention for conveying beer to beer engines, yet the said pipes are
equally applicable to the conveying of water and other liquids.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illus-
trated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature
of my Invention, but I claim as my Invention the improvements in pipes
for conveying beer and other liquids herein-before described and illus-
trated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, making the said
pipes of lengths of tubing of glass, earthenware, china, or enamelled
iron or copper, the said lengths of tubing being connected together at
their ends either by flexible or by rigid joints or connections, constructed
substantially as herein-before described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Horatio Bycroft, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Twenty-seventh day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
Witness,
THOMAS DAYSON,
Burton-on-Trent.
HORATIO BYCROFT. (L.S.)