Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 10th May, 1887.
Specification Accepted, 10th June, 1887.
We, SILAS REYNOLDS DIVINE, of North Tarrytown, County of Westchester, State of
New York, United States of America, Chemist, and GEORGE FREDERICK MORGAN,
of 20 Park Place, in the City of New York, County and State of New York, United
States of America, Merchant, 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 :—
Our invention relates to aerated beverages, and it consists in the means for producing
aerated beverages hereinafter described, consisting in a concreted carbonated alkali
and a concreted acid in individual masses, in proper relative proportions, enclosed in
an envelope common to both, and a partition therein separating the alkali from the
acid; and also in the method or process of aerating beverages by the use of
the described concreted carbonated alkali and concreted acid.
In carrying out our invention we employ sodium carbonate or bicarbonate, or
potassium bicarbonate or analogous carbonated alkalies, as a source from which to
obtain carbonic acid to carbonate waters as beverages.
The acids we employ are preferably vegetable acids; such, for example, as citric,
tartaric, or malic; but some inorganic acids, which are innocuous to health may be
used, such as phosphoric acid or acid phosphates; and in place of these acids the
bisulphates of some alkalies, such as the bisulphate of potash or the bisulphate of soda,
giving an acid reaction, may be used, the excess of acid therefrom being neutralized
with the carbonated alkalies and evolving carbonic acid.
We form a composition of matter by taking a carbonated alkali and preferably a
neutral adhesive material, such as gum-arabic, sugar or glucose and mixing them
together in the form of powders, then moistening the mixture with water and then
moulding or pressing the plastic mass into determined forms, preferably into cylinders,
and finally allowing the forms to dry out and harden. We prefer to employ the
neutral adhesive material to cause the particles of the carbonated alkali to cohere and
form a concreted mass when hardened. The adhesive material used, may, if desired,
be moistened before being incorporated with the carbonated alkali instead of afterwards.

page_text: In employing gum we find it desirable to use one part of gum to twenty parts of the
alkali; and in employing sugar or glucose we find it desirable to use from ten to
thirty parts of sugar or glucose to one hundred parts of the alkali; we find these
proportions will effect the desired cohesion in forming the described concreted
masses. When beverages are to be produced in which sugar is desired, we employ
the sugar to cohere the alkali in the concreted masses, and in such cases the
proportion of sugar may be increased above that hereinbefore stated to such quantity
as will give the sweetness required. When beverages are desired in which there is to
be no sweetness we prefer to employ the gum as the coherent material.
We employ this concreted composition of carbonated alkali and adhesive material in
fabricating aerated beverages, and we preferably employ it in connection with the
powdered crystals of an acid, as herein before specified, concreted into a mass, in an
individual form or stick.
The acid may be concreted by moistening the powdered acid crystals with water and
then moulding the plastic mass into the desired form, preferably into a cylinder of the
same diameter as the alkali cylinders, and allowing the cylinder to crystallize or
harden.
In carrying out our invention we take a stick or cylinder of the described concreted
carbonated alkali and a stick or cylinder of the concreted acid, having the relative
proportions hereinafter specified, and enclose said cylinders in an envelope common to
both and with a partition therein separating the alkali from the acid cylinders.
In the drawing A indicates the concreted cylinder of carbonated alkali and gum or
sugar; B the concreted cylinder of acid; C the dividing partition and D the common
envelope. The dividing partition is preferably composed of stout paraffined paper so
as to be impervious, and the envelope of tin-foil or other suitable material.
The article of manufacture thus constituted furnishes, in a form convenient for
handling and transport, the materials for fabricating aerated or carbonated beverages
in which the carbonic acid is absorbed by the water, without the employment of
elaborate apparatus, and so that the beverages on being decanted will retain a pleasant
sparkle."
66
In using our invention to produce an aerated beverage we remove the acid and
alkali cylinders from the envelope and place them in a determined and proper quantity
of water, as hereinafter specified, in a suitable vessel or bottle which is then hermetically
closed.
We are aware that a carbonated alkali and an acid have been heretofore put up, in
powders, in packages in determined proportions, as for example Seidlitz Powders, and
have been employed to generate gas in an open or closed vessel containing water.
But the nature and scope of our invention are essentially different to such powdered
substances. The alkali and acid being in the form of powders they dissolve almost
instantly in water, and the carbonic acid is consequently evolved with great rapidity,
and, in the case of an open vessel, passes quickly and simultaneously to the surface of
the water and escapes, a small percentage only being absorbed by the water, while in
case it is desired to close the vessel, the generation of gas is so rapid that its escape is
effected together with a portion of the water before the vessel can be closed. When
our improved cylinders of concreted alkali and acid are employed the cylinders will
dissolve slowly in the water, and the evolution of the carbonic acid will be corre
spondingly gradual, the pressure in the vessel being gradually increased and the gas
as it is slowly generated and rises in fine bubbles being readily absorbed by the water,
so that when the vessel is opened and the beverage is decanted it will possess a
continuing "life" and "sparkle."
The relative proportions in which the concreted carbonated alkali and concreted acid
are employed are such as will liberate carbonic acid in a known volume to correspond
to the capacity of the vessel in which the beverage is to be formed and the pressure to
be desired. To produce an aerated beverage with a pressure of from four to five
atmospheres, which is desirable in fabricating a pleasant and palatable drink, we
employ about sixty grains of sodium bicarbonate, as the alkali, to about forty five

page_text: grains of citric acid, to carbonate about eight ounces of water and give an apparently
neutral solution. By increasing or decreasing the proportion of the acid a solution
will be produced which will be distinctively acid or alkaline respectively.
A desired flavor may be incorporated with the concreted alkaline cylinder, so as to
produce a flavored beverage. Well known essential oils employed for flavoring may
be used. The oil may be mixed with the gum or sugar, or with the moistened plastic
mass of the carbonated alkali, previous to the drying or hardening of said cylinders.
The proportions in which the flavors are introduced may be varied at pleasure.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is :-
1. As an article of manufacture a concreted carbonated alkali and a concreted
vegetable acid, in individual masses, and in the relative proportions specified enclosed
in an envelope common to both masses, and with a partition therein separating said
masses, as and for the purpose specified.
2. The method of producing an aerated water which consists in immersing concreted
carbonated alkali and concreted vegetable acid, in individual masses, in relative
proportions as specified, in a determined volume of water, in a closed bottle or vessel,
and allowing the alkali and acid to dissolve, thus evolving carbonic acid which is
absorbed by the water, as set forth.
Dated this 16th day of April 1887.
SILAS REYNOLDS DIVINE.
GEORGE FREDERICK MORGAN.