CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO, OR IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF, CASKS, BARRELS, OR OTHER VESSELS INTENDED TO CONTAIN WINE, BEER, FERMENTED LIQUORS, OR OTHER LIQUIDS OR SUBSTANCES WHICH ARE LIABLE TO FERMENTATION OR DECOMPOSITION FROM EXPOSURE TO THE ACTION OF THE ATMOSPHERE
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
RYAN, of Liverpool Street, in the City of London, Surgeon, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Seventh day of December, in the eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Ryan, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said John Ryan, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said John Ryan, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad,
and in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, my Inven-
tion of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO, OR IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF, CASKS,
BARRELS, OR OTHER VESSELS INTENDED TO CONTAIN WINE, BEER, FERMENTED
LIQUORS, OR OTHER LIQUIDS OR SUBSTANCES WHICH ARE LIABLE TO FERMENTATION OR
DECOMPOSITION FROM EXPOSURE TO THE ACTION OF THE ATMOSPHERE;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said John Ryan,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's

page_text: High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Ryan, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof (reference being
had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
The object of my Invention consists in a peculiar method of excluding the
air from wine, beer, fermented liquors, or other liquids or substances liable
to fermentation or decomposition, which arise from the influence or action
of the atmosphere.
In the accompanying Drawing, I have shewn several modes of carrying out
my Invention. Fig. 1 represents in section a cask for holding fermented
liquor for exportation. a, a, is the wooden cask, and b, b, a flexible bag,
which forms an air-tight lining to the interior of the cask. Into this bag
(which may be formed of any suitable substance) the liquid is poured through
an opening at c, which is then closed by a bung or valve. While the bag is
being filled with liquid the air will escape from the cask through the vent
hole d, and when the liquor is drawn off the air will enter the cask at the
hole d. e is
a common tap for drawing off the liquor.
Fig. 2 shews in section a modified arrangement, embracing the same
principle of the air bag, which in this plan floats upon the liquid in the cask,
and is in communication with the atmosphere by means of the cock c.
Supposing the liquor to have been drawn out of the cask a, and it is now
required to fill it again, the cask is lifted on its end and the cock è is opened;
the liquor is then poured into the cask through the búng hole d, and the air
contained in the flexible bag b will be driven out by the pressure of the liquor,
which, as it rises in the cask, will expel all the air from the bag. The cask
then being full of liquor, and consequently devoid of air, the bung is replaced,
and the cask of liquor is fit for exportation to any climate. When the liquid
is drawn from the cask, the space vacated by the liquor will be immediately
filled by the proportionate extension of the bag, into which air must be
freely admitted. This cask may be tapped in the same way as the ordinary s
Barrels.
Fig. 3 is a section of a cylindrical vessel for holding beer, or any other liquor
after it has undergone the process of fermentation.
from the tun f by opening the cock ÿ in the pipe c;
The liquor is drawn
it then flows into the

page_text: cylindrical vessel a, and raises the floating piston 6*, to. which the flexible bag b
is attached. The air, as the piston 6* rises, is expelled from the bag at d, and
the liquor, when required for use, is drawn off at the cock e. If it is required
to detach this vessel from the tun, a valve, shewn at c*, may be applied, which
will close the opening for the entrance of the liquor, and allow of the pipe c
being removed.
Figure 4 represents in section a cylindrical vessel, which I denominate a
"fermenting vat." In this vessel I propose to carry on the action of fermen-
tation, and when the "head" falls, or when it is thought desirable from any
cause to stop the fermentation, I apply the flexible bag b, furnished with a
piston 6 to the vessel, securing the upper edge of the bag to the vessel by a
cord or other means, as shewn at.c, c; the piston floating upon the top.of the
liquor will effectually exclude all air, and at once check the fermentation.
In drawing off certain liquids from a full vessel, it is found that the quantity
differs considerably. according to the depth in the vessel at which it is drawn,
the most pure liquor being found generally in the middle, as the heavy particles
or dregs settle at the bottom, and the light particles of scum float, upon the top
of the liquid.
;
At Fig. 5. is a sectional elevation of an apparatus which I propose to employ
for drawing off the central or most pure portion of any liquid. It consists of
a cylinder a, furnished with a flexible air bag 6, at the bottom of which is a
piston 6, which floats upon the top of the liquid. c is a false bottom, having
a circular opening at its centre, which forms a recess for the-reception of
flexible tubes d and d*, and conical strainer e. The upper end of the flexible
tube d is attached to the centre of the piston 6*, and the lower end of the
tube d is fastened to the bottom of the vessel a; the flexible tubes are
furnished at their junction with the strainer.e. f is the valve through which
the liquid is introduced into the vessel, and g a cock for drawing off the liquid.
The flexible tubes are kept-from-collapsing by a coiled.spring h, h: The liquid
enters the holes in-the-strainer e, and flows down the tube d.and through the
cock g. As the piston 6* descends upon the decrease in the quantity of liquid,
the springs h, h, will contract the tubes d and d equally, and preserve the
strainer e in the centre of the liquid.
Fig. 6 represents a vessel for preserving animal and vegetable matters, and
also a plan by which I am enabled to extract the same in small quantities as
required. The vessel a, a, is, for greater convenience, furnished with pivots
which are mounted in bearings on the framing b, so as to allow of the bottom
of the vessel being turned upwards. Attached to. the cover c is the flexible
bag d, which is open to the atmosphere. The bottom e of the vessel has an

page_text: h is a
opening, which is closed by a sliding piece f connected to the arm g.
chamber furnished with a cock i. This chamber is fastened on to the bottom
of the vessel a, a, by pins or any other suitable means. In order to fill the
vessel the chamber h is removed, and the bottom e turned upwards; the slide f
is then withdrawn from the hole, and the substance (whatever it may be)
thrown into the vessel; the hole is then closed, and the vessel is exhausted of
air by means of an air pump in connection with the cock j; the chamber
may then be attached to the vessel as before. When it is desired to take out a
portion of the substance contained in the vessel, an air pump is applied to the
cock i, and the air in the chamber h exhausted. The slide f is then drawn back,
and the substance will fall down and fill up the vacuum; the slide is then
pushed forward again to cover the hole in the bottom, and the substance thus
deposited in the chamber h may be removed. It is almost unnecessary to
remark, that the bag d will expand and fill up the space vacated by the
substance thus taken from the vessel a. By this plan vegetables of all
descriptions, and butter, lard, &c., may be préserved fresh and pure for con-
siderable periods. In order to facilitate the filling of the casks or tanks to which
my improvements are applied, an air pump may be affixed to the opening
which admits the air, and the flexible bag or air chamber may be quickly
exhausted.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner of carrying the same
into operation, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the
particular forms and arrangements of apparatus shewn in the Drawing, as
many other forms and arrangements may be devised of carrying out my
improvements. But I claim as the Invention secured to me by the above in
part recited Letters Patent,-
Firstly, the application of flexible bags or diaphragms to casks and other
vessels, as above described, by which the pressure of the atmosphere is or may
be maintained upon liquids, and upon animal and vegetable substances confined
in air-tight vessels, so as to allow them free egress at the openings or cocks
provided for that purpose; and,
Secondly, the peculiar arrangement of apparatus described with reference to
Fig. 5 of the Drawing, whereby the central portion of any body of liquid may
be drawn off from a cask or tank.
. In witness whereof, I, the said John Ryan, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
JOHN (L.S.) RYAN.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Seventh day of June, in
the year above mentioned, the aforesaid John Ryan came before our Lady the
Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And also the
Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute
in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Seventh day of June in the year above written.