Patent GB-547882-A (GB)
Title: Improved device for peeling vegetables or fruits
IPC: A47J17/02
Filed: 1941-03-11
Abstract: 547,882. Cabbage &c. shredder. VAUGHAN NOVELTY MANUFACTURING CO. March 11, 1941. Nos. 3294 and 3295. Convention dates, Feb. 23, 1940 and July 26, 1940. [Class 5 (i)] [Also in Group VI] A peeler for potatoes, apples, &c. in some forms applicable also as a shredder for cabbages, &c. comprises a blade 18 journalled to rotate in a handle 10 to the extent permitted by stops or abutments co-acting with the blade, and a spring tending to retain the blade rotarily in a normal position. The handle is formed from strip steel and the two ends pressed flat together as at 12, Figs. 1, 5, are slotted to provide upper and lower fingers 14 which are spaced apart a sufficient distance to accommodate the root portion 16 of the blade. This root portion is rolled around and securely fixed to a shaft 30 extending axially through the handle and rotatably mounted therein at its outer end. The blade is U-shaped, and the engagement of the ribs 20 with the upper finger 14 limits the extent to which there can be relative rotation between the blade and the handle. The side 24 of the slot 22 in the blade is formed with a sharp cutting edge, the opposite side 26 of the slot being rounded to slide freely.over the potato surface. The outer end 28 of the blade is sharpened for use in removing eyes, &c. The spring rotates the blade into engagement with one of the stops so that at the end of a peeling stroke the tool is prepared automatically for the next stroke. In a modified construction, Fig. 12, intended for right or left hand operation as desired, the peeler handle 45 is formed of strip steel with one free end welded in face-to-face contact with the inside of the portion 46 of the strip approaching the other end, and the blade slot has a cutting edge 48 on each side. The inner end of the blade is rolled over and secured to a shaft 30 which for a portion of its length towards its outer end is flattened, as at 49, for engagement 'with the free outer end of a blade spring 52 secured to the handle, the inner end 55 of the spring having a semi-circular shape to straddle the shaft in front of a collar 56. The journal 32 permits slight longitudinal motion of the shaft and blade relative to the handle, but the spring tends to retain the shaft in its drawn-back position in which a stop 51 is in the path of rotation of the flat portion 49. In use, after the handle has been grasped by one hand the blade is pulled out by the other hand to free the flat portion 49 from the stop. The blade is then turned so that the cutting edges are down upon the work, whereupon the blade is released, the spring draws it back towards the handle, the stop again becomes operative to limit the rotation of the shaft, and the end 54 of the spring bearing upon one or the other side of the flattened portion 49 rotates the blade into a position mid-way between the limits provided by the stop. Part 47 of the handle serves as a finger rest for peeling operation, in which the tool is brought towards the operator, or as a thumb rest for a shredding operation, in which the tool is pushed away from the operator.