IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE CLEANSING AND POLISHING OF FORKS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Martin, of Friar Street, Reading, in the
County of Berks, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR
APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE CLEANSING AND POLISHING OF FORKS."
Sealed the 29th September 1865, and dated the 4th April 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Martin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
April 1865.
I, CHARLES MARTIN, of Friar Street, Reading, in the County of Berks, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE CLEANSING AND POLISHING OF FORKS,"
to be as follows:-
The forks to be cleansed and polished are placed through apertures adapted
to receive them in a wheel or surface capable of revolving, and they are there
held by their handles in this wheel or surface by wedges or by other suitable
This wheel or other suitable surface is provided with a handle or
holder by which to give rotation or reciprocating motion to it, and it is placed
over and so that the prongs and stems of the forks held thereby may dip into

page_text: a box or receiver containing brickdust, sand, or other suitable cleansing or
polishing powder, and when rotary or reciprocating motion is given to the
wheel or other holding surface the action of the powder will be to effect the
desired cleansing and polishing.
In order, however, to clean between the prongs, I also apply a pair of
distended strands or bands, between which I apply the prongs, and by an
up-and-down or to-and-fro motion the parts between the prongs are readily
further cleansed and polished. These bands or straps are supported in a
compartment of the apparatus containing a small quantity of powder, which
may be used as required.
I also apply to the apparatus another rubber, upon which the inside of the
shanks of the forks may be rubbed, cleansed, and polished.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Martin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th
October 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
MARTIN, of Friar Street, Reading, in the County of Berks, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Martin, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Martin, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
Martin, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE CLEANSING AND POLISHING OF FORKS,'
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Martin, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
"

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Martin, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The forks to be cleansed and polished are placed through apertures adapted
to receive them in a wheel or surface capable of revolving, and they are there
held by their handles in this wheel or surface by wedges or by other suitable
means. This wheel or other suitable surface is provided with a handle or
holder by which to give rotation or reciprocating motion to it, and it is placed
over and so that the prongs and stems of the forks held thereby may dip into
a box or receiver containing brickdust, sand, or other suitable cleansing or
polishing powder, and when rotary or reciprocating motion is given to the
wheel or other holding surfaces the action of the powder on them will be to
effect the desired cleansing and polishing.
In order, however, to clean between the prongs, I also apply distended
strands or bands, between which I apply the prongs, and by an up-and-down
or to-and-fro motion, the parts between the prongs are readily further cleansed
and polished. These bands or straps are supported in a compartment of the
apparatus containing a small quantity of powder, which may be used as
required.
I also apply to the apparatus another rubber, upon which the inside of the
sbanks of the forks may be rubbed, cleansed, and polished.
And that the Invention may be fully understood, I will by the aid of the
accompanying Drawings proceed to describe means pursued by me.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS,
Figure 1 shows a plan view, and Figure 2 a side view, of apparatus
constructed according to my Invention; Figures 3 and 4 show vertical
sections, and Figure 5 sectional plan, of parts of the same. Figures 6, 7, 8,
9, 10, 11, and 12 show some of the parts separately, in order to their con-
struction and working being better understood. In each of the views the
same letters are used to indicate the same parts.
The apparatus as shown is adapted to receive, clean, and polish two different
kinds of forks, the part A being more especially adapted for those called
"steel" forks, and the part B being more especially adapted for silver or silver-
plated and other forks of similar shapes, but as the parts of each to receive

page_text: and hold the forks are similar, a description of one will serve as a description
of either, and like letters apply to the same parts of each portion of the
apparatus A and B.
a, a, are boxes to receive the cleansing powder, which for the cleansing of
"steel" forks may be common brickdust, but in the box for the cleansing of
silver and other such forks, whiting, or other fine powder may be employed.
The upper part of each box a is provided with a cover a¹ adapted to receive
one portion of the holding wheel or receiver C, and hold it in position with
capability of its revolving on the parts a. The part is formed with holes c, c,
through it, adapted to admit of the prongs and stems of the forks to be
cleansed passing through them. Each of these parts 6 is also provided with
projections d, d, to which are applied pieces of vulcanized or prepared india-
rubber, or other suitable padding e, e, between which and other similar
padding ff, the handles of the forks are held, as indicated by the red lines;
and in order to admit of the forks being readily placed in position and removed
as required, the paddings are applied to projections g' from another portion g
of the wheel C, and this portion g is capable of motion on an axis h carried by
the part b, and when forks have been placed in position between the paddings
e and f, of being pressed with the parts f, holding the handles of the forks
tightly between them and the parts e by means of set screws h¹, which pass
through projections & standing up from the part b. The part 9 of the wheel c
is formed with handles g, by which the operator may readily give a rotary or
reciprocating motion to the combined parts C, together with the forks held
thereby, and it is found that in either case a few rotations or reciprocations to
and fro are sufficient not only to remove all dirt, but also to effect a polishing;
i, i, i, are bands of leather, preferring for the purpose that description commonly
used for soldier's belts. The bands are suspended, as shown, between the
parts and in the box j, the lower part of which is formed to receive a
small quantity of powder. The object of these bands is to cleanse between
the prongs of the forks; for this purpose the fork as held in the hand of the
operator is placed so as to receive the bands between the prongs of it, and
then by a few up-and-down motions those parts become cleansed and polished;
occasionally the prongs of the forks may be dipped in the powder contained in
the box previous to the operation by the bands i; k is another rubber of
leather, upon which may be rubbed the shanks of the forks for cleansing and
polishing those parts.
Having thus described my Invention, and means by which I carry the
same into effect, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to

page_text: the precise details shown and described, as these may be varied; but what I
do claim is, the arranging and combining apparatus for effecting the cleansing
and polishing of forks by the friction of their motion in powder, in manner
substantially as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Martin, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
CHARLES MARTIN. (L.S.)