US663341A - Means for drying interiors of vats or casks and leading out all injurious gases. - Google Patents

Description

No. 663,344. Patented Dec. 4, I900. a. GROESSL.

MEANS FOR DRYING INTERIORS 0F VATS 0R CASKS AND LEADING OUT ALL INJURIOUS GASES.

(Application filed Apr. Q7, 1900.) (No Model.)

Nrrn stars GEORGE GROESSL, OF GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN.

MEANS FOR DRYING INTERIORS 0F VATS OR CASKS AND LEADING'OUT ALL INJURIOUS GASES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 663,341, dated December 4, 1900. Application filed April 27, 1900. Serial No. 14,618. (No model) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE GROESSL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Green Bay, in the county of Brown and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Means for Drying the Interiors of Vats or Casks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for drying the interiors of vats and casks and leading out all injurious gases.

In the manufacture of the large vats and casks used in brewing, which have a capacity ranging from ten to one thousand barrels, the

usual practice is to varnish the interior in order to make the vats air-tight and gastight. The carbonic-acid gas in these large receptacles being under'inore or less pressure will escape through the pores of the wood and force a passage at points where no visible outlets exist unless the precaution is taken of applying varnish to fill the pores of the wood and the joints between the parts of which the vat is composed. For this purpose it is essential that the interior of the vat or cask be absolutely dry, as the presence of sap or moisture in the cells of the wood not only prevents the adhesion of the shellac and its penetration into the pores of the wood, but is extremely apt to produce bubbles in the varnish, besides changing its color to white, due to the infiltration of an infinite number of minute particles of air in the varnish. It has been customary, therefore, to drive off the moisture from the interior surfaces of such vats by heat, for which purpose an oven fired with coke, wood-coal, or similar material has ordinarily been used. It has been found, however, that the heated gases and other products of combustion are liable to affect the men working in the interior of the vat unpleasantly and even injuriously, besides which, if the first coat is applied during the continuance of the drying process, gases are produced from the shellac varnish by the heat, which are disagreeable and even 0bnoxious.

It is the object of my invention to entirely remove these objections and to provide simple and efficient means for heating the interiors of vats and casks by which all gases generated by evaporation from the varnish shall be drawn into the heater and either consumed or carried oif through a draft-pipe which discharges outside the vat, the gaseous products of combustion which are not fully consumed being caused to follow a similar path, whereby the air in the vat is kept in normal condition.

It is my purpose also to secure a more perfect combustion of the fuel used in the heater, whereby a greater heat will be produced from a given quantity of fuel, and to produce a strong uniform heat by which the work of varnishing the interior can proceed steadily and be finished in less time than has been possible prior to my invention.

I aim also to prevent all possible danger of the alcoholic vapor from the varnish catching fire and to secure a proper ventilation by the entrance of a suitable quantity of pure air from the exterior.

My invention also comprises other novel and useful features, all of which will be fully explained in the following specification and then particularly pointed out and defined in the claims at the close thereof.

For the purposes of said description reference is had. to the accompanying drawings, in Which Figure 1 is a central vertical section of a vat or cask, showing my invention in operation. Fig. 2 is a similar section showing the application of the invention to a vat or cask, which rests upon its bilge instead of standing upright, as in Fig. 1.

The reference-numeral 1 in said drawings indicates a vat or cask, such as is commonly used in brewing and having any capacityas, for example, from ten to one thousand barrels of beer. The vat is provided with a manhole 2 and a bung-hole 3, the latter being at the highest point in the vat, while the manhole is located as near the bottom as practi cable for obvious reasons.

My heater consists of a fire-box 4, capable of insertion through the manhole 2. It is supported by any suitable form of base 5 and is placed at about the center of the bottom wall of the vat for a purpose which will be presently explained. From its upper part a draft-pipe 6 rises, provided with a suitable number of elbows 7, whereby it is conducted to a point directly under the bung-hole 3,

through which the upper end of said pipe projects. The diameter of this pipe diminishes from the point where it unites with the heater until it is reduced sufficiently to enable it to pass through the bung-hole, leaving a small free space or opening between the latter and the pipe, forming an outlet, so the gases can be drawn from the upper part of the cask, thus ventilating the same. The heater is provided with a close-fitting door 8 and a damper 9 of suitable construction to regulate and control the draft.

The arrangement in Fig. 2 of the drawings does not materially difier from that in Fig. 1, the only modification being that inasmuch as the vat or cask rests upon its bilge instead of standing on end, as shown in Fig. 1, the firebox or oven 4 of the heater is preferably arranged upon the lower horizontal side of said cask, whereas in Fig. 1 the cask is shown as being upright, with the heater placed on the head or end. I may employ any preferred type of oven or heater and the fuel burned therein may be of any kind suitable for the purpose. I prefer, however, to use woodcoal, coke, or similar material.

By placing the heater substantially in the center of the cask or vat I am enabled to insure a thorough interior ventilation, as the draft produced by the heater will draw in a current of fresh air from the outside through the manhole, which is covered with a temporary door or closing device D, in which at the bottom provision is made for the entrance of the draft, as shown at d. This temporary door is used only while the heater is in use and is removed after the operation has been completed. Opportunity is also given thereby for a great-er length of the draft-pipe 6 and a proportionate increase of heat-radiating surface. A more perfect distribution of the heat and a higher and more nearly uniform temperature are produced from a given quantity of fuel, this being largely due to the more abundant supply of oxygen to support combustion and the better control of the draft.

The door 8 can be kept closed, and as it is close-fitting no opening is left except the damper 9 in said door, which regulates the draft. As this draft constantly flows inward through said damper there is no possibility that the alcoholic vapor from the varnish will .catch fire, should one or more coats of varnish be applied before the drying operation is completed, as is frequently the case. On the contrary, they will have no contact with the flames until they have entered the heater, where they will be entirely consumed.

Heretofore and prior to my invention workmen have generally manifested considerable unwillingness to varnish the interiors of these vats, owing to the noxious character of the air they were compelled to breathe and for other reasons already referred to. In the practical use of my invention, however, I have found that this disinclination has enti rely disappeared and that the workmen now do the varnishing cheerfully and Without the slightest objection. The draft may be further regulated by the ordinary damper 9 inserted in the draft-pipe.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. The combination with a vat,or cask, having a manhole located as near the bottom as possible, and provided with a temporary door having a damper, of a heater arranged within said cask and having a draft-pipe passing through a bung-hole above said heater, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a vat, or cask, of a centrally-arranged heater within the same havinga draft-pipe passing up to and through an upper bung-hole, and said cask being provided with a manhole as close to its bottom as possible, and provided with a temporary door having a damperin its lowest part, said heater having a close-fitting door and damper, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I t have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing wit- GEORGE GROESSL.

Witnesses:

HENRY RAHR, FRED A. RAHR.

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