Untitled record

Application filed July 11,1891. Serial No. 399,131. (No model.)

To dll whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, John H. Vinton, of Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Meth5 ods of and Apparatus for Charging Soda-Water, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

io This invention relates to apparatus for charging liquid with gas, more especially in the production of what is commonly known as “soda-water.”

Prior to my invention it has been customarj⁷15 to fill the fountain or receptacle about twothirds or three-quarters full of water and charge the same with gas, the fountain or receptacle during the operation of charging being rocked or suspended in suitable manner 20 by a frame pivoted at some distance above the fountain and moved in the arc of a circle to.thereby agitate the water within the fountain or receptacle that it may take up or absorb the gas and thus become charged there25 with. It is desirable to charge the water with the gas as thoroughly as possible through and through, for if it is not thoroughly charged the gas will in a short time be exhausted before the water has been entirely utilized.

This invention has for its object to so move the fountain or receptacle during the operation of charging the water with gas that the entire quantity of water will become thoroughly charged with the gas, and thus permit 35 the fountain to be used for a longer period than has hitherto been possible.

In accordance with this invention the fountain or receptacle instead of being rocked or moved bodily in the arc of a circle about a 40 center located at some distance above it is reciprocated in a straight line, thereby producing a greatly-increased agitation or swash of the water contained in the fountain or receptacle to more thoroughly charge the same with 45 the gas, as will be hereinafter described.

One part of this invention^-comprehends the method of charging fluid with gas, which consists in placing the fluid in a fountain or receptacle, admitting gas thereto, and sub50 jecting the fluid in the receptacle to a horizontal reciprocating movement in a straight line to thereby agitate the entire mass of the fluid contained therein to thoroughly charge the same with the gas.

This invention in apparatus for charging 55 water with gas includes a horizontally-movable frame consisting of side members joined by supporting members having a seat or rest for the fountain or receptacle containing fluid to be charged, an outwardly and upwardly in- 60 clined support, against which one end of the fountain or receptacle is placed, a strap at the opposite end of the frame, and a wedge to be placed between said strap and fountain to hold the latter in place, and means to re- 65 ciprocate said frame, substantially as will be described.

Other features of this invention will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification. 70

Figure 1 represents in elevation an apparatus embodying this invention, and Fig. 2 a right-hand end view of the same.

^Referring to the drawings, one form of apparatus embodying this invention is shown, 75 in which the frame A is of suitable construction to carry the fountain or receptacle containing the fluid to be charged, the said frame, as represented, consisting of the two side members A' A', joined at or near their oppo- 80 site ends by supporting members A², (represented in dotted lines, Fig. 1,) the said supporting members being provided with suitable recesses or seats a, (one or more iu number,) in which may rest the fountains or re- 85 ceptacles B, containing fluid to be charged with gas.

Retaining devices to hold the fountains or receptacles in position on the frame A are herein represented as consisting of holding 90 irons or supports b, bolted or otherwise secured to the front supporting member A², (see Fig. 2,) against which the fountains or receptacles b are wedged or fastened by means of wedges c, driven between the rear ends of the 95 fountains, and the strap or bar d, bolted or otherwise secured to the frame, as represented best iu Fig. 1. The side members A' of the. frame have fixed to their under sides Tshaped or other suitable rails or bearing-sur- 100 faces e, which, as herein represented, rest upon a series of rolls or wheels f, adapted to roll on suitable rails g, resting upon the floor or foundation. The rolls or wheels /, as here

485,244 in represented, are mounted loosely on axles connected together outside the wheels to maintain the latter at proper distances from each other by side bars f².

In practice the frame A, carrying the fountains or receptacles containing the fluid to be charged will be reciprocated or rolled back and forth on the rolls f and track g by any suitable means to agitate the fluid, the said io frame being herein represented as connected by means of an eccentric-rod m, with an eccentric m', fast on a shaft m², mounted to rotate in suitable bearings N, said shaft also carrying suitable fast and loose pulleys to ro15 tate the same, and a balance-wheel W, all as represented in Fig. 1.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows, viz: The fountains or receptacles containing the clear water or fluid to be charged 20 are placed in the frame A, and secured in place by means of suitable wedges c, the fountains or receptacles being connected by tubes i, with any usual or suitable gas-generator. (Not shown.) Gas being admitted 25 to the fountain or receptacle through the tubes t, the shaft n² will be set in motion, and the eccentric n' through its eccentric-rod m will communicate a reciprocating movement to the frame A, causing the fluid or water 30 contained in the fountains or receptacles carried thereby to be agitated or swashed at each movement, thereby becoming thoroughly mixed or charged with the gas. This operation is continued until the usual gage in35 dicates that gas is no longer passing to the fountain or receptacle, showing that the water lias taken up all the gas possible, when the apparatus may be stopped, the fountains or receptacles removed in condition for use, 40 and others substituted to be treated in like manner.

The seats for the fountains or receptacles and the holding-rods b may, and preferably will, be covered or lined with thick felt to 45 protect the fountains and give a slightlyyielding support therefor.

In apparatus of this class as heretofore constructed the fountains have been mounted in a suitable frame and rocked about their 50 centers or moved bodily in the arc of a circle about a center located at some distance above.

In subjecting the fountain and its contained fluid to such an action the agitation or swashing of the fluid as the fountain 55 changes its direction of movement is considably offset or counteracted by the centrifugal force, which tends to hold the liquid on the bottom of the fountain, which tends to prevent its swashing, thereby lengthening the 60 time required for charging the fluid and at the same time preventing as thorough a mixture or charging of the fluid with gas as would be the case if the centrifugal force did not enter into the operation.

In the method of charging the fluid or wa- 65 ter presented in this present invention the fountain containing the fluid is moved in a a straight line instead of in the arc of a circle. Therefore no centrifugal force whatever enters into the operation, the only force 7c tending to agitate the fluid being the momentum gathered during the movement in one direction, which as the fountain or receptacle changes its movement to the opposite direction causes the fluid to swash violently at the 75 ends of the fountain and thereby become thoroughly mixed or charged with the gas which is present in the fountain. By employing this method the water may be charged with gas in less time that formerly and much 80 more thoroughly.