Today in 1979, US Patent 4144914 A was issued, an invention of John W. Nilon and Thomas J. King, for their “Apparatus for Rapidly Dispensing Beer into Open Cups.” Here’s the Abstract:

Beer is stored in vessels located in a refrigerated storage area before passing through dispensing lines connected to a plurality of dispensing taps. The dispensing lines are maintained in heat-exchanging relationship with cooling apparatus which further depresses the temperature of the beer below that of the refrigerated storage area. By the time the beer reaches the cooling taps, the temperature of the beer is sufficiently depressed so as to permit the beer to be dispensed at a high rate into drinking containers which pass beneath the taps.

Today in 1968, US Patent D210566 S was issued, an invention of Frederic C. Jay, for his “Keg Cradle.” There’s no Abstract, and in the description there isn’t much beyond the self-evident claim that it’s a keg cradle.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the keg cradle embodying my new design, the keg being indicated in broken lines for illustrative purposes only.

Today in 1940, US Patent 2194319 A was issued, an invention of John Panagopoulos, for his “Beer Drawing System.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

Among the objects of the invention are to provide an installation of the above type in which the brew from the kegs is dispensed at a remote spigot usually on the floor above the keg, the brew being cooled and maintained not only within the kegs but also through its course of flow to the remote faucet at the bar.

Today in 1959, US Patent 2877790 A was issued, an invention of Emil Clemens Horst, for his “Self-Closing Valve for Tap Bushings of Kegs.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

The present invention relates to self-closing valves, and more particularly to valves used with tap bushings of beverage kegs for sealing off the interior of the kegs except during such time that said kegs are on tap for dispensing the contents therefrom.

Today in 1934, US Patent 1950714 A was issued, an invention of Ernest Joseph D’Aoust and Herbert Lawrence Dickens, for their “Container and Cooler.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

The invention relates to a container and cooler, as described in the present specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawing that forms part of the same.

The invention consists essentially of the unit combining the means for refrigerating and the container as pointed out in the claim for novelty following a description in detail of the parts making up the unit.

The objects of the invention are to cool liquids such as beer, especially contents being continually drawn upon thereby making it possible to maintain the volume of liquid in constant use in a palatable condition while a considerable volume remains unchilled, which are ideal conditions for dispensing beer and many liquids, especially where they are sold by the glass; to facilitate the transport of beer and some other beverages, particularly those beverages liable to deterioration from changes of temperature and therefore deliver the container with its contents in as fit a state as when it left the brewery, factory or other production centre; to utilize dry ice, artificial ice, natural ice or chemical refrigerants to the best advantage for cooling containers and introduce the cooling medium with ease; and generally to provide for restaurants, hotels, merchants, dwellings and places of entertainment, a convenient form of container from which the beverage will be delivered in a wholesome condition and which will not materially add to the cost of the invention to the consumer.

Today in 1917, US Patent 1218724 A was issued, an invention of William F. Vosseler, for his “Beer Cooler.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention relates to beer coolers of the type in which a coil is provided through which the beer must pass in the presence of a cooling medium.

The simplest Way of cooling beer as it is pumped from a barrel to a faucet is to send it through a coil which is packed in ice. In coils for this purpose, there must be as little obstruction to the flow of beer as possible. There must be also as much of an exposure to the ice as possible.

Accordingly in the Patent No. 1,099,329, of June 9th, 1914, to William Vosseler, is described a device in which an open coil is mounted in an ice box so that ice can be packed down inside the coil as well vas around it. This is the best way of quickly and adequately cooling the beer as it passes through a cooler, but it opens the way to a number of difficulties. The first of these is that to make a strong coil which will Withstand the jamming down in it of ice, it is hard to provide against agitating the beer during its passage through the coil. In the next place, it is difficult to hold the coil in place in the box against these strains, and finally it is requisite to make the whole structure as inexpensive as possible.

It is the object of my invention herein to provide against these difficulties so as to have an open coil of great durability and cheapness, in which there is little or no obstruction to the flow of the beer to cause it to foam out of the faucet, which is very undesirable.

Today in 1940, US Patent 2193445 A was issued, an invention of Siesel E. Canaday, for his “Beer Keg.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

The invention relates to a beer keg of the type in which beer is transportedfrom the brewery to the user and which is designed to be cooled in the original container and from which container the cooled beer is vended from time to time.

In this type of beerkeg a cooling coil is dissition accessible from the outside of the keg for ready and quick attachment to a cooling system at the users place of business.

Today in 1867, US Patent 62864 A was issued, an invention of Thomas Marsh, for his “Beer Faucet.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

The invention herein described can be advantageously used for tapping a cask which .contains beer or other fluid confined under pressure. ‘The common method of tapping a beer cask, employed, is, first, to force inward, to the distance perhaps of half the thickness of the head of the cask, the plug which is always inserted in a hole made in one of the heads” for this purpose, and then placing the faucet or spigot upon its end against the plug so partially driven in, with a well-directed blow replug the hole with the end of the faucet. and at the same operation expel -into the interior of the Cask the former plug which filled the hole. It often happens that the pressure exerted by the beer is so great as to be able to resist the introduction of the faucet, especially if the latter is not exactly fitted to the hole, in which case the contents of the Cask will escape. The invention ‘described is intended to afford a convenient and certain means for tapping a cask in place of the means above described.