Today in 2005, US Patent 6968773 B1 was issued, an invention of Kurt Stippler and Klaus-Karl Wasmuht, assigned to Anton Steinecker Maschinenfabrik Gmbh, for their “Vessel and Wort Processing Method for Producing Beer.” Here’s the Abstract:

A vessel and a method for thermally treating wort in beer brewing, wherein a wort guiding screen or cone is placed inside the vessel and a feed pipe ending above the wort guiding screen or cone is used to discharge wort from above onto the wort guiding screen or cone. The wort boiling method has the wort discharged onto an inclined, heated guiding surface from which it flows down and spreads into a sheet and is thereby heated.