IMPROVEMENTS IN CARVING FORKS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Smith, of 29, Henrictta Street, Covent
Garden, in the County of Middlesex, Electroplater, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARVING FORKS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th October 1873.
I, HENRY SMITH, of 29, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, in the
County of Middlesex, Electroplater, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARVING FORKS," to be as follows :-
So far as I am acquainted with them the only or the principal
methods in which guards have hitherto been applied to carving forks
are but two, and consist the more common one in the application of an
inside spring which holds the guard securely in the raised or lowered
position accordingly as the guard may be placed, and the other method
in the application of a weighted lever or projection on or from the guard
passing below and depending from the body of the fork to which it is

page_text: It is to be understood that the Invention includes the combination as
well as the separate employment of all or some of the several improve-
ments so far as such combination may be found convenient or desirable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th April 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
SMITH, of 29, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, in the County of
Middlesex, Electroplater, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Smith, Her special
licence, that I, the said Henry Smith, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Smith, my exccutors,
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
CARVING FORKS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Henry Smith, 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 within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Smith, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-

page_text: employed a tumbler or stop piece not hinged to the guard but pinned or
hinged to the body of the fork.
In the several Figures or some of them a is the handle, 6 the body,
and c the prongs, all of which are of the ordinary construction excepting
that the body is grooved, chased, countersunk, or made properly to receive
the moving parts as shewn. d, e, f, is the hinged guard, a being the
finger plate or piece projecting from the back; e, a lug through which
the guard is pinned or hinged to the body of the fork, and f the fore
part or remainder of the guard.
1. It is evident that by pressing with one finger on the finger plate d
when the guard is in the down position, Figures 2 and 2ª, the guard may
be brought into and maintained in the erect position, Figures 1 and 1*.
The several parts a, b, c, d, e, f, and foregoing. description of them
sufficiently illustrate the first feature or division of the Invention. The
remaining parts and description of them illustrate the second feature or
division.
The two illustrations, namely at the several Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and at
the several Figures 1º, 2º, 3º, 4", respectively being furnished as examples
of the said second feature or division which may be varied at pleasure
in accordance therewith. In the first set of Figures m is the falling
piece, hinged strut, or prop pinned or hinged to the guard by a forked
attachment, and when the guard is erect bearing against or in a step or
recess on or in the body of the fork. In the second set of Figures n,
o, p, is the tumbler or stop piece pinned or hinged to the body beach
end standing somewhat above or proud of the general surface of the
body but the middle portion lying within a recess. The lug e by which
the guard d, e, f, is hinged to the body is extended or formed with a
return piece e* generally parallel to the part ƒ and between the parts e*
and f; the end ọ of the tumbler lies when the guard is down, but when
the guard is erect this end bears against the under side of the return
piece.
It is evident that as described the falling piece m and tumble n, o, p,
will either of them maintain the ercct position of the guard until
released, the former by lifting out its step or recess, the latter by working
it on its pin or hinge o which may be done by pressing on its end p
when the guard will fall or may be made to assume the folded or down
position.

page_text: And in a similar or equivalent manner any other convenient falling
piece, tumbler, catch, stop piece, spike, stud, pin, hinged strut, or prop
may be employed for the purpose.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of April, in the year of our Lord &
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.