US808341A - Beer-tap. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED DEC. 26, 1905. M. J. CHAPLIN.

BEER TAP.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 4, 1904,

UNITED STATESA PATENT OFFICE.

MANLEY J. OHAPLI, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDW'ARD KAUFMANN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

BEER-TAP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 2c, 1905.

Application led NOVGDlbBI 4, 1904. Serial No. 231,326.

To all whom, it may concern: r

Be it known that I, MANLEY J. OHAPLIN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Beer-Taps, of which the following is a specication.

My invention relates to taps for beer-casks and the like, and has for its principal objects to provide a tap which may be connected to the cask by insertion of the discharge-pipe; to provide atap having movable locking members which are held in their inoperative position by gravity; to dispense with the use of spring members to hold the looking members in their inoperative position; to provide a tap having locking members mounted inside of the barrel, where they are protected from accidental injury when not in place, and other objects hereinafter more fully appearing.

My invention consists in the parts and in the arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and wherein like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur, Figure 1 is aview of the tap in elevation, the tap being in placer in the bung-hole of a cask and the discharge-pipe being in place. Fig. 2 is a central vertical sectional view through the tap and the bung-hole of the cask, the locking members being shown in the position in which they normally rest when the discharge-pipe is not in place. Fig. 3 is a vertical central sectional view through the tap and the bung-hole of a cask, the discharge-pipe being shown in place. Fig. 4 is a sectional perspective view of the barrel of the tap. Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2. Fig'. 6 is a perspective view of the removable washer-seat. Fig. 7 is a perspective view, and Fig. 8 is aside elevational View, of one of the locking members, the inclination of the flange 13 being somewhat exaggerated for the purpose of clearness. Fig. 9 is a sectional perspective view of the bushing for the bung-hole of a cask, and Fig. 10 is a sectional perspective view of the packing-sleeve.

The subject of the present invention is a tap to be used in forcing' liquid from casks or similar receptacles. rThis practice may be applied to a number of liquids and is the prevalent practice in the case of beer. Hence the invention has been entitled a beer-tap, al-

though it is not intended to limit my patent to taps used in delivering beer.

The bung-hole of a cask 1 is provided with a metallic bushing 2, which is screw-threaded on its exterior and provided at its upper end with an internal annular ange 3. The cask may be closed for shipment by inserting a cork iu the bushing just as a cork is ordinarily inserted in the bung-hole of casks.

The tap comprises a barrel 4, which is substantially cylindrical, having a large upper section, a small lower section, and an intermediate-sized middle section. The lower section is just the proper size to fit easily inside theannular iange 3 of the bushing 2. The Lipper end of the upper section of the barrel is exteriorly screw-threaded. A tubular projection 5 projects laterally from the upper section of the barrel. A nipple 6 is screwed in said projection and affords means for connecting a flexible tube or hose communicating with the source of pneumatic pressure Upon the outside of the barrel a substantially cylindrical packing sleeve 7 is arranged. The packing-sleeve is cut away at one side to accommodate the .tubular projection 5. At its lower end its diameter is enlarged, and near its lower end it is provided with an internal annular rib 8. The internal diameter of the annular rib is slightly larger than the exterior diameter of the middle section of the barrel. Thus when the packing'- sleeve is in place on the barrel a groove opening downwardly is formed by the enlarged lower end of the packing-sleeve, the internal annular rib 8, and the middle section of the barrel. In the groove so formed is placed a gasket 9, the thickness of which is slightly more than the depth of the groove. An internally-screW-threaded cap 10 fits upon the upper end of the barrel. It may be screwed down upon the barrel far enough to engage the packing-sleeve, and thus force the latter downwardly. A shoulder or offset 11 is formed where the middle section of the barrel joins the large upper section thereof. Upon this shoulder two locking members 12 are supported. Each of said locking members comprises a substantially semicylindrical ange 13, from which the body depends. The body of the locking member is reduced in Width from the middle to its lower end. A radial projection 14 is provided at the lower end of the locking member. The flange IOO 13 is not quite perpendicular to the axis of l the locking member, but is slightly inclined. l/Vhen held in a vertical position, the ends of the flange are lower than the intermediate portions thereof. Consequently when the l locking members are held in their vertical positions by the discharge-pipe only the ends thereof rest upon the shoulder 11 of the barrel of the tap. The thickness of the locking members is substantially' the same as the thickness of the wall of the barrel 4. The locking members depend into the small lower section of the barrel. The walls of the latter are cut away at diametrically opposite points to accommodate the reduced lower ends of the locking members, the projections 14 of which project through the holes so formed. Thus when the locking members are held in a vertical position the projections 14 will extend under the annular iange 3 of the bushing 2 in the bung-hole of the cask. At the same time the lower end of the middle section of the barrel rests upon the top of the bushing. The length of the locking members is such that the distance between the lower end of the middle section of the barrel and the upper surface of the projections 14 is but little more than the thickness of the annular flange 3 of the bushing 2. The position of the tap in the bushing is thus fixed with little room for play up and down. A gasket-seat 15 rests upon the flange 13 of the locking members 12. This gasket-seat may have its form varied considerably; but it is preferred to make it as shown in Figs. 2 and 6. It is substantially a short hollow cylinder provided with a relatively large peripheral groove semicircular in cross-section and with a number of radial holes 16 through the walls and leadingI from the bottom of the groove. This gasketseat is arranged at the same vertical height as the projection 5 on the barrel. By reason of the peripheral groove on the gasket-seat the gas under pressure admitted through the tubular projection can pass around the gasket-seat and through all the holes therein to the interior thereof. A wide gasket 17 is seated upon the gasketseat and extends slightly above the top of the barrel. A washer 18 is interposed between the top of the gasket 17 and the cap 10.

Vhen the tap is in use, adischarge-jiipe 19 extends through it and into the cask. The discharge-pipe engages and holds the locking members in their locking positions.

The operation of the tap will now be described. When the tap is not in place in a cask, there is no discharge-pipe in it. The locking members being supported on the shoulder 11, the ends of the locking members will swing inwardly until their centers of gravity lie in the vertical plane through the points of contact of the ends of the iianges with the shoulder and until the projections 14 no longer project through the openings in the small section of the barrel. Should there be friction too great to be overcome by the weight of the locking members, the weight ofthe gasket 17 and gasket-seat 15 upon the outer edge of the inclined flange 13 of the locking members will tilt the same and swing the projections 14 of the locking members inwardly, so that they will no longer project through the openings in the small section of the' barrel. The gasket and gasket-seat further serve to hold the locking members in their inoperative position when the tap isinclined to the verticala position in which one or the other of the projections of the locking members might project through the openings in theA barrels if they were left free to swing' outwardly. A cork being in the bung-hole, it maybe pushed part way in by the tap, the latter being forced in until the lower end of the middle section of the barrel strikes the bushing. Then the discharge-pipe may be inserted and the cork pushed in by it. The locking members are engaged by the discharge-pipe and pushed outwardly, so that their projections 14 take under the annular flange 3 of the bushing 2. The discharge-pipe being lowered to its proper position, the joints between the tap and the eask and between the pipe and the tap are tightened by screwing down the cap 10. The cap 10 bears upon the gasket 17 and upon the packing-sleeve 7, which bears upon the gasket 9. Thus the packing-sleeve must move downwardly with the cap, and both gaskets will be compressed, the joints being tightened thereby. The connection is now air-tight. The tube or hose leading to the source of pneumatic pressure may now be connected to the nipple 6. The beer or liquid in the cask or receptacle may thus be put under pressure and. forced through the discharge-pipe.

Ubviously my device is capable of considerable modilication within the scope of my invention, and therefore I do not wish to be limited to the specific construction shown and described.

i/Vhat l claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A tap comprising a barrel having an internal shoulder, a discharge-pipe removably mounted in said barrel, and locking members having a rocking bearing on said shoulder and arranged to be thrown into locking position by said discharge-pipe.

2. A tap comprising a barrel having an internal shoulder and a reduced lower end provided with openings through its walls, and locking members mounted upon said shoulder to have pivotal movement and arranged to extend through said openings in certain posi.- tions.

3. A tap comprising a barrel arranged to be inserted in the bung-hole of a cask, adisehargepipe removably mounted in said barrel, locking members movably mounted in said barrel and arranged to be thrown into locking posi- IIO ISO

tion by said discharge-pipe, paeking-glands for the joints between said pipe and said barrel and between said barrel and said Cask, and means connecting said glands whereby both said glands may be tightened simultaneously.

4. A tap comprising a barrel adapted to be inserted in the bung-hole of a Cask, locking members pivotally mounted in said barrel, a gasket-seat mounted upon said locking members and arranged to swing the lower ends of said locking members inwardly, a gasket upon said gasket-seat and a cap on said barrel and engaging said gasket.

5. The combination of a bushing provided with an internal annular flange and a tap comprising a barrel adapted to be inserted in said bushing, members for locking said barrel in said bushing` mounted in said barrel and arranged to engage said annular ange, means for holding said locking members out of looking position, and a discharge-pipe removably mounted in said barrel, said pipe holding said looking members in looking position when in place in said barrel.

6. A tap Comprising a barrel adapted to be inserted in the bung-hole of a Cask, and provided with an internal shoulder, looking members provided with substantially semieylindrieal flanges inclined downwardly from the outer to the inner sides of said looking members, said anges resting upon said shoulders, and means resting on said ianges to tilt said looking members.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subseribing witnesses, at St. Louis, Missouri, this 2d day of November, 1904.

MANLEY J. CHAPLIN.

Witnesses:

FRED F. REIsNER, J. B. MEGOWN.

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