Today in 2012, US Patent 8250968 B2 was issued, an invention of Dietmar Lohner, Christian Wetzl and Robert Gruber, assigned to Krones Ag, for their “Wort Copper with an External Boiler.” Here’s the Abstract:

A wort copper and a method of boiling wort, with the wort copper having an external boiler arranged outside of the wort copper, which cyclically heats wort from the wort copper, wherein the heated wort is re-supplied to the wort copper, and comprises an infeed tube and a rising pipe, through which wort heated by the external boiler rises upwards in the wort copper, as well as at least one intake opening is provided in the rising line for sucking in wort from a wort reservoir of the wort copper, wherein the cross-sectional surface of the rising pipe enlarges at least section-wise towards the upper end of the rising pipe.