Today in 1985, US Patent 4542682 A was issued, an invention of John C. Hancock, for his “Lauter Tuns.” Here’s the Abstract:

A lauter tun (10,100) has a bottom (16) comprising two flat plates (18,20) joined together on a straight line (see 22), each plate (18,20) sloping downwardly from the center-line to the peripheral wall (14) of the tun, such that during flushing, water flows down each slope to flush solids towards two large collection points (26) located at the lowest point of the bottom 16.