Today in 1963, US Patent 3077202 A was issued, an invention of Hilbert R. Perlick, for his “Beer Keg Tap.” There’s no Abstract, but the description makes plain the aims of this patent, and what improvement it’s bring to the tapping of beer kegs:

With a view toward overcoming the danger inherent in beer keg taps heretofore available, this invention has as its purpose to provide simple means to positively assure against accidental ejection of the tap rod from the keg, by equipping the beer keg tap with a self-energizing unidirecional clutch means carried by the body thereof and operable to automatically grip the tap rod and secure it against outward movement.

Another object of this invention is to provide a beer keg tap having a self-energizing unidirectional clutch means to grip the tap rod and hold it against outward movement in which this safety feature is so designed and constructed that the attainment of the desired objective is accomplished with a minimum structural change to the existing tap and in which only one of its elements, namely the packing gland or top nut requires any modification whatsoever.