Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Patent No. 940438A: Beer Faucet

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Today in 1909, US Patent 940438 A was issued, an invention of Theron Davis, for his “Beer Faucet.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention relates to improvements in the type of beer faucet in which a chambered head carries a ball valve which is raised by a finger operated by an exterior lever, so that the beer may flow past the valve, and my invention improves the type of faucet and provides a simple means than has heretofore been employed for guiding the ball, and also provides a very simple` means for removing the washers and guide from the chamber in which the ball valve is located.

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Patent No. 3285365A: Apparatus Particularly For Use In Harvesting Hops

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Today in 1966, US Patent 3285365 A was issued, an invention of Le Roy T. Longton, for his “Apparatus Particularly for Use in Harvesting Hops.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to an apparatus particularly for use in the harvesting of hop vines.

Conventionally, the harvesters of hops stand on a platform of fixed height behind a truck which may move slowly down the rows of hops in a field. The height of the overhead hop trellises varies considerably from field-to-field and may also vary within one field because of ground irregularities and variations in the length of the trellis poles upon which the overhead wires are supported. The result has been that the worker-supporting platform is frequently too high or too low with respect to the vines to be cut by the workers therefore making it difficult for the workers to reach the vines, and generally rendering the operation inefficient. Another problem is the necessity for packing the bulky hop vines in the harvesting truck. conventionally, this has been done by the workers descending from the platform and walking around on the hop vines in the truck to pack or consolidate the vines. This is obviously an inefficient and time-wasting procedure.

It is the general object of this invention to provide a simplified mobile apparatus which will greatly increase the efficiency of the hops harvesting operation by the provision of worker supporting means which is quickly adjustable vertically and also the provision of an adjustable power-operated means for packing the vines down in the body or box of a truck or wagon.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the above-mentioned character which is constructed as an attachment unit for a farm tractor and readily mountable thereon.

Another object is to provide a hop vine harvesting attachment for tractors which is hydraulically powered and operated from a hydraulic pump on the tractor and a simple control device in a convenient location to be used by the tractor driver.

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Patent No. D352417S: Beer Keg

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Today in 1994, US Patent D352417 S was issued, an invention of Richard A. Petroske and James E. Richardson, assigned to the Miller Brewing Company, for their “Beer Keg.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

The ornamental design for a beer keg, as shown and described.

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Patent No. 1008914A: Hop-Picker

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Today in 1911, US Patent 1008914 A was issued, an invention of Emil Clemens Horst, for his “Hop-Picker.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to hop-pickers, or devices for removing the hops from the vines.

The invention is applicable either as a device for picking the hops by hand, or for picking t-hem entirely by machinery; essentially the same principle being employed in either instance.

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Patent No. 2868247A: Bottle Filling Apparatus

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Today in 1956, US Patent 2868247 A was issued, an invention of Aloysius J. Feit and Sydney R. Weisberg, for their “Bottle Filling Apparatus.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

Among the principal objects of the present invention are: to provide bottle filling apparatus where the opening of a valve discharging fluid or other material into a lbottle is initiated by the depression of an actuator member by the bottle as it is positioned below a supply outlet controlled by the valve, where the valve is closed preferably automatically by an automatic timer and, under certain circumstances, upon operation of a manual switch, and where the valve is thereafter prevented from again opening until the bottle is removed from the actuator member and another bottle is moved against the same to depress the actuator member to begin a new filling cycle; to provide bottle filling apparatus of the type above described wherein, although the actuator member may be spring urged to an extended position, the actuator member is held in its depressed position at least during the actual filling operation so that the bottle need not he forced against the actuator member during the filling operation, making the system particularly suitable in the filling of very light bottles where the bottles would otherwise require an externally applied force to keep the bottles in the proper filling position against the actuator member; to provide bottle filling apparatus as just described wherein the aforementioned valve is an electrically controlled valve, such as a solenoid valve, which is associated with a control circuit which selectively provides for controlling the solenoid valve either through an automatic electric timer or a manual switch, and which becomes operative to control the valve after the aforesaid actuator member has been depressed to thereby provide flexibility of operation; to provide apparatus as just described wherein there is further provided during manual or timer operation a means for instantaneously shutting off the valve should this be desired for any reason, such as due to a malfunction in the control circuit or timer control circuit which fails to shut off the solenoid valve; to provide such apparatus where means is provided for readily shifting the position of the supply outlet so that the apparatus may be readily adapted for use with bottles of different sizes; and to provide such apparatus which is inexpensive to manufacture and is reliable in operation.

In accordance with the invention, the aforesaid actuator member is preferably arranged to move the. armature of a relay into a position where the contacts controlled thereby initiate, preferably through electric timer, opening of a control valve, preferably a solenoid valve, and also the energization of the relay which holds the actuator member in its depressed position. In such case, the armature, which is spring biased away from the relay core, does not apply any backward force to the bottle which would tend to push it out of alignment with the supply outlet. Both the solenoid valve and the relay are preferably connected in series with a set of contacts controlled by the electric timer which contacts close for an adjustable interval to open the solenoid valve and energize the relay, and open at the termination of such interval to close the solenoid valve and de-energize the relay. An emergency cut-off switch in series with the solenoid valve is provided for instantaneously shutting off the solenoid valve independently of the timer, where this is necessary or desirable. The electric timer is not re-set for a new cycle of operation until the bottle is removed from the actuator member. Once the bottle is filled, the overall weight of the bottle is usually sufficient to hold the actuator member fully depressed even after the relay is de-energized. The resetting of the electric timer is effected by removing the bottle to return the relay contacts to their normal positions, and, upon subsequent closing of the actuator member, a new timing interval is initiated.

In the interest of system flexibility, switching means are provided for disabling the timer circuit from operation and for inserting the relay in series with its own contacts and also the latter in series with the solenoid valve so that, upon depression of the aforementioned actuator member, a holding circuit is established for the relay and the solenoid valve is opened. Closing of the solenoid valve and defenergization of the relay is effected through manual operation of the switching means.

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Patent No. 3063841A: Method Of Dispensing Liquid

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Today in 1962, US Patent 3063841 A was issued, an invention of Michael Edward Ash, assigned to Guinness Son & Co Ltd, for his “Method of Dispensing Liquid.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

I claim: l. A method of dispensing a beverage under pressure from apressurized system into a drinking vessel so as to ensure a fine, regular and enduring head on the beverage in said vessel which comprises the steps of providing in solution in said beverage a mixture of carbon dioxide and an oxygen-free inert gas and applying a counter-pressure to said beverage which acts to maintain the pressure of the mixed gases in solution in said beverage throughout the dispensing operation without substantial variation of the partial pressure of either of said gases and also acts to expel the beverage from said system through a delivery passage and tap to the outlet thereof.

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Patent No. 1246803A: Beer-Pipe Cleaner

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Today in 1917, US Patent 1246803 A was issued, an invention of Giuseppi Doti, for his “Beer-Pipe Cleaner.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to a beer pipe cleaner, and the primary object of the invention is to provide a device, by means of which any one or a number of beer pipes or coils may be cleaned, by being first subjected to warm water, after which the beer pipes are flushed or rinsed by cold water.

A further object of this invention is to provide a frame work, which is constructed of a plurality of pipes having branches, and to connect the frame work of pipe structures to a city water supply pipe, and also to an ordinary barrel or keg tap, so that warm water may be forced upwardly out of a barrel into the pipes of the frame work, and outwardly therethrough into and through the beer pipes, for cleansing the beer pipes, after which the flow of hot water is cut oil, and valves for controlling the cold water are opened which permit cold water to flow through the pipe frame work and through the beer pipes.

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Patent No. 3410458A: Beer Tapping Device

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Today in 1968, US Patent 3410458 A was issued, an invention of Mack S. Johnston, for his “Beer Tapping Device.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to a beer tapping device and especially to an improved adapter for attachment in the beer outlet of a standard keg. It comprises a unit insertable from outside the keg and having a transition element forming a part of separate liquid and gas passageways. At least the liquid passage through the transition element has its lower end offset to take optimum advantage of the limited space available, while at the same time rendering the unit compatible with existing systems.

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Patent No. 871073A: Beer Tapper

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Today in 1907, US Patent 871073 A was issued, an invention of Richard B. Spikes, for his “Beer Tapper.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention is in the nature of a new beer tapper, for simultaneously drawing beer from a barrel and admitting compressed air, and it consists in a novel construction and arrangement of tapping devices, part of which are permanently fixed in the barrel, and part of which are retained at the bar or dispensing place and are applied by the bar keeper by being coupled on to the permanently attached members on the barrel; an important feature of my invention being a spring pressed conical valve interposed between the stationary parts of the bung casing and the removable coupling, which valve carries registering ports for air and beer and is adjusted by the application and removal of the said coupling and serves to insure a tight fit of the movable parts over each other as hereinafter fully described with reference to the drawing, in which Figure 1 is a central section of the beer tapper shown applied to a barrel part of which is indicated at X. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the bung casing. Fig. 3 is a top perspective view of the spring valve. Fig. 4 is a bottom perspective view of the detachable coupling, and Fig. 5 is a sectional detail of the bung casing.

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Patent No. 549699A: Hop Separator

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Today in 1895, US Patent 549699 A was issued, an invention of Christian Abele, for his “Hop Separator.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention relates to an improvement in separators, in which the material to be operated upon is given repeated trajectory movements during its passage on an incline.

The machine which I have here illustrated is particularly well adapted for separating the foreign substance from hops; but it may be used for general separating purposes, and I therefore wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the particular use named.

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