Today in 1909, US Patent 932284 A was issued, an invention of William Gee, for his “System For Dispensing Beverages.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
This invention relates to dispensing beverages, and particularly to cleaning and dispensing systems wherein the beverage is forced from a keg or a series of kegs through cooled piping to the service bar, and in which means for automatically cleaning the entire system forms a component part. In such systems the beer is carried through long coils of piping in order to expose a large surface of the same to the cooling medium, whereby no matter how rapid the flow the beer dispensed from the faucets is always cooled sufficiently. But because of the necessary employment of long coils of pipe there is always stored therein after tapping the kegs comparatively large quantities of beer, which if not removed when the bar is closed will spoil as a result of flattening and prolonged chemical action between the beer and the piping.
It is the object of my invention to introduce into such a system means operated from a single controller, which also operates the cleaning means of the system; to automatically cut off the flow of beer from the supply source and return such as remains in the pipe coils back into the kegs for proper preservation for future use; and to provide additional automatically operated means whereby said pipe coils, after the beer has been forced therefrom into the kegs or after a keg has been exhausted, may be blown out at will through the medium of compressed air or gas, and thereby cause any particles of beer adhering to the walls of the piping to be removed through the faucets.
