Today in 1883, US Patent 272089 A was issued, an invention of Egbert B. Ruggles, for his “Beer-Pump.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
My invention relates to the class of devices I5 used for drawing ale, beer, and the like from barrels or casks from a point at a distance from and usually above the barrel, and it is perhaps best described as a beer-pump, although adapted for use with many other liquids.`
The invention consists in the peculiar combination of an air-pump and a faucet with a connecting-lever, by which both are operated, and by means of which the pressure in the barrel usually reduced by drawing of its contents is constantly maintained at any desired degree by the same movement of the hand that opens and closes the faucet.
