Today in 1890, US Patent 430526 A was issued, an invention of Joseph J. De Kinder and Hermann Roemer, for their “Bottle Filling Machine.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described this way in the application:
Our invention relates to bottle-filling machines; and it consists of certain improvements, which are fully set forth in the following specification, and shown in the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.
While our invention relates to bottle-filling machines in general, it is especially adapted to beer-bottling, in which heretofore great difficulty has been experienced by reason of the great tendency of the beer to foam and of the difficulty of accomplishing the proper feeding of the beer from the barrel and of the loss of carbonic acid by exposure to the atmosphere. It is the object of our invention to overcome these difficulties and to accomplish a regular feeding of the liquid from the reservoir or supply without objectionable foaming in the bottles 0r Overflowing of the liquid.
In carrying out our invention we employ a convenient receptacle or vessel provided With delivery-tubes for delivering the liquid to the bottles, and connect this vessel with the barrel or supply-reservoir, and by means of certain devices, hereinafter more fully described, control the flow of the liquor from the barrel or reservoir by the level of the liquor in the delivery-vessel. By this means the supply of liquor in the delivery-vessel is replenished from the reservoir as the liquor is allowed to flow into the bottles Without the possibility of overflowing, for the moment the liquor in the delivery-vessel reaches a certain height the flowing of the liquor from the reservoir is automatically stopped and cannot begin again until the liquor-level has again fallen. This We accomplish by controlling the supply of air to the barrel or reservoir, as is hereinafter more fully described.
