Alcoholic beverage still with domed conduits for vapor flow and frustum apertures for concurrent vapor/liquid flow

Claim 2

A fractionating column for distilling liquid comprising a vertical walled structure defining inlet means and outlet means, a perforated plate means horizontally mounted across said walled structure, a first feed plate defining a plurality of transfer openings horizontally extending across said walled structure below said perforated plate means, a second feed plate horizontally extending across said walled structure and positioned below said first feed plate, said second feed plate defining a plurality of vapor feed openings and a plurality of transfer openings, a plurality of conduits communicating with said second feed plate in alignment with the vapor feed openings, each of said conduits being positioned around one of said feed openings to allow vapor to pass therethrough into a chamber formed by the walls of said vertical structure and said first and second feed plate, and a plurality of inverted cup shaped members having their concave surfaces mounted above said conduits and positioned between said conduits and said transfer openings so that said transfer openings are positioned exactly over the top of said inverted cup shaped members to form a serpentine flow path for vapor rising through said conduits and said transfer openings.

Claim 3

A fractionating column as claimed in claim 1, including a third feed plate defining a plurality of transfer openings and a plurality of vapor feed openings, a plurality of conduits secured to third feed plate, each of said conduits communicating with one of said vapor feed openings directly below the transfer openings of the next highest feed plate.

Claim 4

A fractionating column as claimed in claim 2 including a second perforated plate horizontally mounted across said vertical column below said feed plates, said second perforated plate being adapted to hold liquid mash and transmit gases from a pot still area positioned below said second perforated plate up into said fractionating column.

Claim 5

A fractionating column as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said inverted cup shaped members is hemispherical in shape with curved inner and outer walls and is connected to a conduit.

Claim 6

A fractionating column as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said transfer openings comprise a downwardly projecting truncated cone.

Claim 7

A fractionating column as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said vapor feed openings is an aperature defined by said feed plate having a diameter which does not exceed the diameter defined by the inside wall of each of said conduits.

Claim 8

A fractionating column with a continuous downward flow of liquid comprising a vertical walled structure defining inlet means and outlet means, a first perforated plate horizontally mounted across said wall structure, a plurality of distillation stage means mounted across said walled structure below said perforation plate, each of said distillation stage means comprising a top plate defining fluid transfer means, a second plate mounted below said top plate defining conduit entrance apertures and fluid transfer apertures, a plurality of conduits vertically mounted to said second plate over said entrance apertures, said conduits being axially aligned with said fluid transfer apertures a plurality of inverted cup shaped members centered and axially mounted over said conduits, each cup shaped member being adapted to distribute fluid over its outer surface received from the fluid transfer aperatures of the plate immediately positioned above while defining a serpentine flow path for gases passing from the lower stage through at least its associated conduit and transfer aperture, each of said inverted cup members comprising arcuate external and internal surfaces so that the reaction of the controlled heated gases rising from a lower stage heats the interior of the inverted cup area over which the fluid is flowing from above causing the fractionating of the downward flowing liquids.

Claim 9

A fractionating column with a continuous downward flow of liquid comprising a vertical walled structure defining inlet means and outlet means, a first perforated plate horizontally mounted across said wall structure, a plurality of distillation stage means mounted across said walled structure below said perforation plate, each of said distillation stage means comprising a top plate defining fluid transfer means, a second plate mounted below said top plate defining conduit entrance apertures and fluid transfer apertures, a plurality of conduits vertically mounted to said second plate over said entrance apertures, said conduits being axially aligned with said fluid transfer apertures a plurality of inverted cup shaped members centered and axially mounted over said conduits, each cup shaped member being adapted to distribute fluid over its outer surface received from the fluid transfer aperatures of the plate immediately positioned above while defining a serpentine flow path for gases passing from the lower stage through at least its associated conduit and transfer aperture, each of said inverted cup members comprising arcuate external and internal surfaces so that the reaction of the controlled heated gases rising from a lower stage heats the interior of the inverted cup area over which the fluid is flowing from above causing the fractionating of the downward flowing liquids.

Claim 10

A fractionatiang column as claimed in claim 7 wherein the plurality of conduits of one stage means are offset from the plurality of conduits of the adjacent stage means.

Claim 11

A fractionating column as claimed in claim 7 wherein the fluid transfer means of said top plate comprises at least a plurality of downwardly projecting truncated cones.