GB2161798A - Beer barrel - Google Patents

Abstract

A fabricated metal beer barrel has a side wall 3 into which is fitted a housing ring 1 with a screw-threaded counterbore 5 providing a side shive opening. A closure assembly which screws into the counterbore 5 comprises a screw-threaded retainer ring 9, which has a central tapered aperture 13, and a wooden tapered racking bung 14 which seats in the aperture 13 and is fitted into the retainer ring 9 from the inner side of the latter. The housing ring 1 has an internal shoulder which the inner side face of the bung 14 engages when the retainer ring 9 is screwed into the counterbore 5. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Beer Barrels The invention relates to beer barrels, and in pårtic- ular to beer barrels of fabricated metal construction which are provided with a side shive hole to receive a racking bung for use as a beer cask.

Such barrels are sometimes constructed as dualpurpose containers, to allow alternative use as a beer keg, in which case they are provided with a central screw-threaded pressure neck at one end.

This neck, commonly referrd to as "Barnes" pressure neck, receives a screw-in combination fitting through which the barrel is pressurized and through which the keg beer leaves the barrel.

For sealing of the shive hole a tapered racking bung is used, hammered tightly into the taper shive hole. For removal of the bung a chisel-like tool is driven into the bung and then used to lever it-out. Although such use of a wooden bung is favoured, as its porosity allows the barrel to "breathe", it has considerable disadvantages.

One of the foregoing disadvantages is that the bung has to be hammered in with considerable force, which precludes the use of a single-skin container in the shive region. Thus internal reinforcement is applied in the form of a so-called 'patch plate" surrounding the shive hole and secured by a peripheral weld to the inner wall of the barrel. The necessity for such reinforcement increases the cost and complexity of manufacture, and increases the difficulty and cost of repair of a damaged barrel. In addition, with the constant hammering-in of bungs the shock loading in time results in weld failure producing a leak between the inner space of the barrel and the occluded space between the patch plate and the barrel wall which forms a bacterial trap not amenable to sterilization or other cleaning process.

Another disadvantage of an internal patch plate is that damage td the usual integral rolling rings of the barrel, such damage being more or less unavoidable in use, can result in deformation of the patch plate region with resultant problems of drainage through the shive hole. Such damage is in addition not normally repairable in a satisfactory manner.- A further disadvantage of the normal shive arrangement is that driving in of the bung-removal tool tends to split the bung into two or more pieces, and these often fall into the barrel. The shive hole itself is often damaged by the tool, causing sealing problems at the taper surface.

A still further disadvantage is that if a barrel is used as a beer keg over-pressurization can result in the bung being forced out of the shive hole, with attendant hazard and wastage of beer. Expanding mandrel arrangements are available to replace the usual wooden bung, but these are difficult and time-consuming to fit and remove.

The main object of the invention is to provide a beer barrel with a shive opening which receives a wooden bung, but without the latter having to be hammered into position or removed in the conventional manner, and with which the racking bung cannot be forced out by internal pressure when the barrel is used as a beer keg. A further object is to provide such a barrel which can be constructed as a dual-purpose container without the provision of the usual end pressure- neck, According to the invention a fabricated metal beer barrel has a screw-threaded side shive opening adapted to receive a closure assembly comprising a screw-threaded retainer ring which fits the shive opening and which has a central aperture providing a taper seat for a wooden taper bung fitted into the retainer ring from the inner side of the latter.

Thus the bung is fitted into the retainer ring away from the barrel, conveniently in a suitable press, before the complete closure assembly is screwed into the shive hole using a suitable tool.

As a result a single-skin container can be used without a reinforcing patch plate in the region of the shive opening, thus avoiding the disadvantages of such a patch plate which were earlier referred to. The retainer ring has a reverse taper as compared with the normal shive opening, and hence the bung cannot be forced out by internal pressure if the barrel is used as a beer keg.

Preferably the retainer ring has cross slots or is otherwise formed for engagement by a tool used for fitting and removal, such as a peg or pin wrench. The screw-threaded shive opening which receives the retainer ring is preferably formed as a housing ring welded into a side hole in the wall of the barrel, and this housing ring may have an internal shoulder which prevents the wooden bung being knocked out of the fitted retainer ring into the barrel. An O-ring may provide a seal between this shoulder and the closure assembly, and this 0ring may seat in an annular groove in the inner end face of the retainer ring. The wooden bung which fits the retainer ring may have a central taper bore which, in known manner, receives a socalled "spilling plug". Such plugs are available in a range of hardness, and thus porosity, so that an appropriate "breathing" action can be selected.

When this arrangement is employed with the present invention the plug bore in the bung is as usual so that, as the bung is reversed as compared with the usual shive construction, the plug is also prefitted from the inner side of the closure assembly.

As the invention provides a screw-threaded shive opening this can be used to fit a combination fitting for use as a beer keg, so that the barrel becomes a dual-purpose container without fitting of the normal end pressure neck thus reducing the cost and simplifying the construction of a universal container. The combination fitting used can be of normal form but will also be cheapened as the dip tube will be considerably shorter, as it only has to reach across the diameter of the barrel instead of extending over the length thereof as at present.

The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawing which illustrates, by way of example, a preferred shive/ racking bung assembly in exploded view and axial cross-section. A metal annular housing ring 1 has a peripheral rectangular-section recess 2 by which it seats in a circular opening in the wall 3 of the barrel of which it forms a component part. The barrel is otherwise of conventional shape and construction (including an end keystone fitting) and hence is not illustrated generally, the shive opening as usual being positioned centrally of the length of the barrel. The housing ring 1-fits flush to the inner surface of the wall 3 and it is secured to the latter by an internal peripheral weld at 4.An outer side counterbore 5 in the housing ring 1 is screw threaded at 6 over most of its depth leaving a short unthreaded length in which an O-ring 7 is housed, this O-ring seating against the resultant inner side flange 8 at the inner end of the counterbore 5.

A metal retainer ring 9 has an external screw thread 10 which fits the screw thread 6, and at the outer side it is formed with diametral cross slots 11 which enable it to be screwed tightly into the screw-threaded shive opening provided by the housing ring 1 using a suitable fitting wrench (not shown). At the inner side the retainer ring 9 has an annular groove 12 in which the O-ring also seats to provide a seal for the fitted retainer ring 9. The central aperture of the retainer ring 9 provides a taper seat 13 for a staridard wooden racking bung 14 which in this example, as shown, has a central taper bore for a standard spilling plug (not shown).

Although this embodiment utilises a standard bung 14 and a standard spilling plug it will be ap preciated that these are fitted with a reversed taper as compared with conventional shive arrange ments. Thus the bung 14 and spilling plug are fitted into the retainer ring 9 from the inner side of the latter, before the resultant closure assembly is fitted into the screw-threaded shive opening provided by the housing ring 1. This fitting, using a suitable small press, does not subject the barrel itself to any stress and thus reinforcement of the latter in the region of the shive opening is not necessary. When the retainer ring 9 is screwed into the housing ring 1 the larger diameter inner end of the bung 14 seats against the flange 8, so that it is held firmly in position seated in the retainer ring 9.

Although the invention can be applied with metal beer barrels generally, whether of stainless steel or aluminium alloy construction, the embodi ment illustrated is designed more specifically for use with a stainless steel barrel. Thus the housing ring 1 is of stainless steel and the retainer ring is conveniently of brass, with typical dimensions of the component parts being as follows: Housing ring OD 2.75 inch (approx 7.00 cm) Housing ring thickness 0.8125 inch (approx 2.06 cm) Housing ring through bore 1.875 inch dia (ap prox 2.22 cm) Housing ring screw thread 2.50 inch dia (approx 6.35 cm) 14 TPl.Whitworth form Retainer ring thickness 0.6875 inch (approx 1.75 cm) Retainer ring taper bore 9.4" minimum dia 1.8125 inch (approx4.60 cm)

Claims (11)

1. A fabricated metal beer barrel with a screwthreaded side shive opening to receive a closure assembly comprising a screw- threaded retainer ring which fits the shive opening and which hays a central aperture providing a taper seat for a wooden tapered bung fitted into the retainer ring from the inner side of the latter.

2. A beer barrel according to claim 1, wherein the barrel is of single-skin construction in the region of the shive opening.

3. A beer barrel according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the retainer ring is formed on its outer side for engagement by a tool used for fitting and removal.

4. A beer barrel according to claim 3, wherein the retainer ring is formed for engagement by a peg or pin wrench.

5. A beer barrel according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the screw-threaded shive opening which receives the retainer ring is formed as a housing ring welded into a side hole in the wall of the barrel.

6. A beer barrel according to claim 5, wherein said housing ring has an internal shoulder which in use prevents the wooden bung being knocked out of the fitted retainer ring into the barrel.

7. A beer barrel according to claim 6, wherein a sealing ring provides a seal between said internal shoulder and the closure assembly.

8. A beer barrel according to claim 7, wherein said sealing ring is an O-ring and the inner end face of the retainer ring has an annular groove in which the O-ring seats.

9. A beer barrel according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said wooden bung has a central taper bore which receives-a so-called "spiling plug" which is fitted from the inner side of the closure assembly.

10. A beer barrel constructed substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

11. A closure assembly for the shive opening of a beer barrel, substantially as herein described with reference fo the accompanying drawing.