Wednesday’s ad is entitled Looking Over the Vacation Trophies, and the illustration was done in 1952 by Douglass Crockwell. It’s #74 in a series entitled “Home Life in America,” also known as the Beer Belongs series of ads that the United States Brewers Foundation ran from 1945 to 1956. In this ad, one couple invited another over to their home only to bore them with snapshots and souvenirs from a vacation they recently took. It’s a good thing they’re also serving beer. Their guests are going to need beer to get through the evening.
Archives for June 15, 2016
Patent No. 2443550A: Beer Control And Pipe-Cleaning Apparatus
Today in 1948, US Patent 2443550 A was issued, an invention of Michael J. Zwosta, for his “Beer Control and Pipe-Cleaning Apparatus.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described this way in the application:
This invention relates to beverage dispensing apparatus in which pipe connections extend from the beverage containers to the dispensing faucets and :air or carbonic gas pipes extend from a pump or tank to the beverage containers for supplying the pressure needed to raise the beverage from the containers to the dispensing faucets. More especially, this invention relates to arrangements for cleaning the beverage piping.
The pipe cleaning operation in such dispensing apparatus in general use today, is performed with special portable apparatus which necessitates disconnecting the pipe system from the beverage containers for cleaning and flushing. The operation is usually performed when the beverage dispensing apparatus is not in use and when it is performed during service hours service is necessarily discontinued during the pendency of the operation. This method is poor at best; it does not encourage or permit of sufficiently frequent and sufficiently thorough cleaning operations to insure at all times the best sanitary and palatable conditions. It also causes a serious loss of beverage contained in the pipe lines extending from the containers to the dispensing faucets. In addition to these serious shortcomings, this method is inconvenient and costly.
To overcome these objections, methods and apparatus have been invented for cleaning the pipe lines without causing loss of beverage and without disconnecting the pipe lines from the beverage containers. Invariably, however, these new methods and apparatus are complicated and impractical. In most cases the beverage in the pipe lines is saved by driving it back into the containers before the cleaning operation is started. This is an undesirable practice for the reason, among others, that the beverage from the unclean pipes would have a deleterious effect upon the beverage in the containers. Thus, despite the great shortcomings of the first mentioned method, the last mentioned methods and apparatus have not been generally accepted.
The principal object of the present invention is to provide a practical method and means for encouraging and permitting the frequent cleaning of the pipe system at any time during as well as outside of service hours, without loss of beverage, without the necessity for returning the containers, without the necessity for disconnecting the pipe lines from the beverage containers and without the employment of special portable apparatus.
Another object is to provide apparatus of the character described, having easily accessible controls located in the immediate vicinity of the dispensing faucets.
A further object is the provision of safety control means which function automatically to prevent accidental fouling of the cleaning and flushing system, as for example, the passage of cleaning fluid into the beverage containers.
Patent No. 2321631A: Fluid Pressure Controlling Apparatus
Today in 1943, US Patent 2321631 A was issued, an invention of Ludvik Sibal, for his “Fluid Pressure Controlling Apparatus.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described this way in the application:
This invention relates to improvements of fluid pressure controlling apparatuses (gases, liquids,
etc.) and it is the principal object of the invention to provide means for adding gas or liquid pressure to containers from which their contents are being discharged at such a rate that the total pressure head at the point where the fluid flows out of said containers remains practically constant even during the discharge period.This apparatus is constructed with the special object in view of making it applicable to the so called government tanks in the breweries, from which beer is being drawn to the bottle or can filling machines. In these tanks the beer stands under a gaseous pressure (air or otherwise) the level of which is so chosen as to insure a smooth filling process by the filling machine to which the beer is discharged from the government; tanks. The pressure at the filling machine must be kept constant during the filling process and therefore it is necessary and important that the pressure at the point of flow out of the government tanks likewise be kept constant. The total pressure at the point of discharge from the government tanks is composed of two components: (1) the weight of the beer and (2) the gas pressure within said tanks. As the beer is being drawn from the tanks, the total pressure head causing flow at the point of discharge from the tanks is being decreased due to the decreasing weight of the beer. To make up for this loss in pressure head, gas pressure must be supplied to the tanks until the original desired total pressure head is again reached at the point of discharge. This is usually accomplished by a control man whose duty it is to sight the pressure gauge reading or beer level and to adjust the gas valve accordingly.
The main purpose of this apparatus is to eliminate the human factor of such pressure regulation thus making the regulation as nearly free from all human errors and neglects as is humanly possible. Also my design is such that it is best applicable to breweries and other enterprises where apparatus of this kind must withstand severe mistreatment and where it is necessary to thoroughly wash its interior as well as exterior.
This invention provides an apparatus which, when connected by means of a conduit such as .a pipe or a hose to the point at which the discharge occurs from a tank, throws on or oil? a sensitive snap-action electric (magnetic) mercury switch whenever the pressure head changes slightly in the tank at the point of discharge. This snap action switch is connected by means of electric conduits to a solenoid valve in the gas line leading to the tank, and when contact is made, the solenoid valve is actuated by the electric current so that it opens and admits the gas to flow into the tank thus increasing the total pressure head to the original desired level. As soon as this desired total pressure head is reached, the snap action switch automatically turns off and the gas valve closes.
Patent No. 2084200A: Barrel Tap
Today in 1937, US Patent 2084200 A was issued, an invention of Albert Karlson, for his “Barrel Tap.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described this way in the application:
This invention relates to new and useful improvements in appliances pertaining to barrels, especially beer barrels, and to the methods of opening and drawing the contents from the latv ter; andit has” for its object to provide means, whereby said latter barrels may be opened and the beer drawn from these in a manner that will eliminate the comparatively great waste and spill of the contents, which now usually occurs in the opening of such barrels, while my device at the same time incidentally secures the retention in the barrels of the gases and fumes so essential to good and palatable beer.
Patent No. 7735412B2: Apparatus For Distributed Production Of Beer
Today in 2010, US Patent 7735412 B2 was issued, an invention of William E. Burdick, assigned to the Granite City Food and Brewery, Ltd., for his “Apparatus for Distributed Production of Beer.” Here’s the Abstract:
A commercial multiple barrel beer brewing apparatus includes a brew kettle at a first location; a hopped wort holding vessel; a chiller for chilling the hopped wort stored in the holding vessel to a temperature range of approximately 29° F. to 40° F.; a transportation vessel on a vehicle to transport chilled hopped wort to a brew pub; a first conduit between the chilled hopped wort holding vessel and the transportation vessel; a fermentation vessel located a brew pub; and a second conduit between the transportation vessel and the fermentation vessel.
Patent No. 1143243A: Keg Refrigerator
Today in 1915, US Patent 1143243 A was issued, an invention of Leopold H. Vogel and John Burrows, for their beer or keg “Refrigerator.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described this way in the application:
This invention relates to an improved refrigerator to he used in connection with a bar for serving liquors and the like.