Improvements in Apparatus for Making Infusions.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Nov., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 3rd Aug., 1895-Accepted, 7th Sept., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Making Infusions.
I, JOHN REED FOTHERGILL, of 46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
According to my invention apparatus for making infusions whether of tea,
coffee or other substances is so constructed that in an automatic manner the liquor
and the substance (which I will assume to be tea) of which the liquor is an infusion,
will be separated within a given time. For this purpose a float operated by liquor
entering the float chamber from the vessel in which the infusion has been made,
or by the escape of liquid from the float chamber is caused to liberate a receiver
containing the tea, which receiver is thereupon by spring or weight or float
caused to remove the tea from the liquor, or the float is made to operate a valve
thus permitting the liquor to flow from the tea. Apparatus to act on the principle
of my invention as above set forth may be variously constructed.
By my invention I am enabled to obviate the evils which in some cases result
(as is well known) when the liquor is allowed to remain too long in contact with
the substance of which it is a decoction as for example in the case of tea, which
if left to soak too long imparts its tannin to the infusion thus making the infusion
unpalatable, deleterious, and productive of serious dispeptic and other disorders..
DI L Ch of November 1801
J. R. FOTHERGILL.
W. Lloyd Wise,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.
Improvements in Apparatus for Making Infusions.
I, JOHN REED FOTHERGILL, of 46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting 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:—
According to my invention, apparatus for making infusions-whether of tea,
coffee, or other substances-is so constructed that in an automatic manner the
liquor and the substance (which I will assume to be tea) of which the liquor is an
infusion, will be separated within a given time. For this purpose a float, operated
by liquor entering the float-chamber from the vessel in which the infusion has been
made, or by the escape of liquid from the float chamber, is caused to liberate a
receiver containing the tea, which receiver is thereupon, by spring or weight or
float, caused to remove the tea from the liquor; or the float is made to operate a
valve, thus permitting the liquor to flow from the tea. Apparatus to act on the
principle of my invention as above set forth may be variously constructed.
By my invention I am enabled to obviate the evils which in some cases result
(as is well known) when the liquor is allowed to remain too long in contact with

page_text: :
the substance of which it is a decoction-as, for example, in the case of tea, which
if left to soak too long, imparts its tannin to the infusion, thus making the infusion
unpalatable, deleterious, and productive of serious dispeptic and other disorders.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section showing one construction of apparatus
according to this invention, the receiver being shown in the position that i
occupies whilst an infusion is being made; and
Fig. 2 is a plan of the apparatus with the lid of the infusion vessel removed;
Fig. 3 is a similar view to Fig. 1, but with the receiver in the position that it
occupies after removal from the infusion.
1 is a vessel, in the form of an ordinary tea-pot, in which an infusion is to be
made. It is provided with a separate chamber 2 containing a float 3 by the action
of which the separation of the liquor and the tea is controlled. 4 is a passage by
which liquid can flow from the vessel 1 to the chamber 2, the rate of flow being
controlled by a valve 5 the spindle 5* of which is provided at the top with a milled
head 6 by which the valve can be readily adjusted. 7 is the receiver to hold the
substance of wbich an infusion is required. It is made of perforated material or
wire-gauze, in two parts, viz. a main portion and a cover, which may be hinged
together, or as shown, made to fit one within the other. This receiver is attached,
in the example now being described, to the top of a float 8 and is provided with a
flange 9, adapted when the receiver is in its raised position, to bear against the
underside of the lid 10 of the vessel 1, a spring-catch (not shown) being provided,
if desired, to maintain it in this position. To the receiver 7 are fixed pins 11
arranged to slide between pairs of vertical guides 12 fixed at opposite sides of the
vessel 1. 13 is a double bell-crank pivoted at 14 and connected at 13 to the
float 3, its lower bent arms 13b being arranged to project over the pins 11 when
the parts are in the positions shown in Fig. 1.
The vessel 1 being empty, the operation of making an infusion, say of tea, is as
follows:
The lid 10 having been turned back about its hinge 10%, the receiver 7 and its
float 8 are removed from the vessel and the desired amount of tea put into the
former. The receiver and float are then put back and pushed down into the
position shown in Fig. 1, the pins 11 forcing back, in their downward movement,
the arms 13b of the bell-crank lever 13, which are afterwards returned by the
weight of the float 3, and by bearing upon the pins 11, retain the receiver and its
float in the lowered position shown. The vessel is now filled with hot water, which
inimediately begins to flow through the passage 4 past valve 5 into the float-
chamber 2, where, after a time determined by the amount to which the
valve 5 is opened, it ultimately lifts the float 3 to such an extent as to disengage
the arms 13b of the lever 13 from the pins 11 and thereby liberate the receiver 7,
which is then carried up by its float 8 and so removed from the liquor. The
receiver 7 then either merely floats on the surface of the liquor, or is retained in
its raised position by the spring catch herein before mentioned. In order that the
infusion-vessel 1 and the float-chamber 2 may readily become empty simultaneously
there may be provided a pipe or covered passage 15 leading from the chamber 2,
along the bottom of the chamber, 1, and up inside the spout 16.
Fig. 4 is a partial longitudinal vertical section illustrating an arrangement
similar to that shown in Figs. 1, and 3, but in which a coiled spring 17 enclosed
by telescopic tubes 18, one of which is fixed to the receiver 7 and the other to the
vessel 1, is used instead of the float 8 for automatically raising the receiver 7 after
liberation.
Fig. 5 is a vertical central section showing a construction of apparatus according
to this invention in which the controlling float operates a valve so as to allow the
liquor to flow away from the tea.
In this arrangement, the infusion vessel 1 and the float chamber 2 form a separat
article, which, in the example shown, is inserted in a vessel 19 mounted on:
stand 20 and provided with a tap 21, but which may be adapted to an ordinary

page_text: tea-urn. The vessel 1 is provided in its bottom with a valve 22, which is
connected, by a lever 23, rod 24, cross-head 25, and rods 26, with the float 3,
which in this case is aunular and surrounds a tube 27 which encloses the rod 24.
The weight of the lever 23 and connexions on the float-side of its fulcrum 23*
may, if desired, be counterbalanced to some extent by means of a weight 23b
attached to the lever on the other side of its fulcrum. 28 is a regulable valve for
controlling the flow of liquid from the float-chamber 2 into the vessel 19. The
receiver 7 is provided with a dished cover 7, both the receiver and its cover being
made of perforated material or wire-gauze, and with a rim 7b which normally rests
on a ledge 1 projecting inwardly from the wall of the vessel 1 near the top thereof,
so that the lid 1b of the vessel 1, when closed, retains in place both the receiver 7
and its cover 7*.
To make an infusion of tea with this apparatus, the tea is first put into the
receiver 7, water is then poured into the float chamber 2 until it reaches the top of the
pipe 27, whereby the valve 22 is closed, and the vessel 1 immediately filled with
hot water. The valve 28 having been properly regulated, the running of the
water out of the float-chamber 2 into the vessel 19 will cause the valve 22 to be
opened by the float 3 so as to allow the liquor in the vessel 1 to separate from the
tea and flow into the vessel 19 after being in contact with the tea for a sufficient
time for making the infusion.
The modified arrangement illustrated in Fig. 6 differs from that just described
only in the fact that the valve 22 is attached directly to the rod 24. In order that
there shall be no communication between the infusion vessel 1 and the float
chamber 2, the latter has a separate bottom 2 and a tube 29 the valve 28, is
provided to connect the float chamber directly with the interior of the vessel 19,
and control the flow of the liquor therefrom.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. Apparatus for making infusions in which a float caused to assume a different
level by liquor entering a float chamber from the vessel in which the infusion has
been made, or by the escape of liquid from the float chamber, is made to liberate
a receiver containing the tea or other substance of which an infusion is made or to
operate a discharge valve, whereupon the receiver is automatically caused to remove
the tea or other substance from the infusion, or the infusion is allowed to flow from
the tea or other substance substantially as described.
2. My improved apparatus for making infusions constructed arranged and
operating substantially as herein before described with reference respectively to
and shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive; or modified according to Fig. 4, and in
Fig. 5; or modified according to Fig. 6 of the drawings annexed.
Dated this 3rd day of August 1895.