IMPROVEMENTS IN AUTOMATIC EGG-BOILERS
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Frank Wirth at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd January 1879. A communication from
Friedrich Wilhelm Wittmeyer, of Hasserode, near Wernigerode, in the German
Empire.
FRANK WIRTH, of the Firm of Wirth and Company, Patent Solicitors, at
Frankfort on the Main, in the Empire of Germany. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AUTOMATIC
EGG-BOILERS." [A communication from Friedrich Wilhelm Wittmeyer, of Hasserode,
noar Wernigerode, in the German Empire.]
This Invention relates to an apparatus which is designed to operate automatically
for removing eggs from the water when they have been sufficiently cooked
therein.
The said apparatus is constructed as follows, that is to say:-I provide a hollow
column containing a float which, with a rod attached thereto, can play up and down
within the said column. An adjustable ring on the said rod may be regulated by
a screw. In order that the water contained in the column may not rise above a
certain level an escape opening is provided. At the foot of the said column a cock
is placed, by which the flow of water out of the apparatus may be regulated, the
water passing into the vessel in which the eggs are being boiled. The said column
is provided with two arms, one of which carries near its extremity a pivot, and the
other arm carries two pivots. A cord wheel is placed on the first named pivot, and
on one of the other pivots is a drum with a toothed catch wheel attached thereto.
On the other pivot a catch lever is placed. One end of the said lever is fork-shaped,
and passes on either side of the aforesaid rod.
In order that the float may be taken out of the column the forked end of the
said lever is made to fold up somewhat like the blade of a knife, or it may be made
to push back like a bolt. A spring keeps the catch on the lever continually pressed
on the toothed wheel.
A cord or chain passes over the aforesaid cord wheel and over the drum, and is
wound round the latter. To one end of the chain is attached a wire basket, in
which the eggs are placed; the other end of the cord or chain carries a balance
weight. The said balance weight consists of a series of weights placed on a slide
or holder, each equalling one, two, three, or more eggs.
The said apparatus is used in the following manner, that is to say -The forked
end of the lever is pushed back, and the float lifted out of the column, which is then
filled with water up to the escape opening. The float is then replaced and the fork
put in its former position. The necessary weights are then placed on the slide or
holder to counterbalance the eggs to bo boiled. The apparatus is now placed

page_text: alongside the boiling vessel, and the egg basket is let down into the same, the afore-
said cock being then opened.
When the water has run out of the column, according to whether the tap is
opened for either fast or slow running, the rod and float have sunk until they rest
on the fork of the catch lever, thus lifting the latter and setting the weight at
liberty, which lifts the eggs out of the water. The length of time the eggs are to
be boiled is regulated by fastening the said adjustable sliding ring higher or lower
on the rod, which can be provided with marks or a scale for this purpose. A small
signal bell may be attached to the apparatus to give notice when the eggs are cooked
sufficiently.