Improvements in Egg Cutter Guides.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 19th May, 1896-4ccepted, 20th June, 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Egg Cutter Guides.
1, HIRAM BOND EVEREST, of Riverside, County of Riverside and State of
California, United States of America, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My improvement relates to that class of egg cutting devices in which the egg is
placed in a cup and the top is severed by a knife which sweeps across it at right
angles. Such devices are well known. In ordinary devices of the class the knife
or cutter is attached by a pivot, or else is free and acts against a fulcrum to produce
the cutting action. In either case it has short radius and but small movement.
An egg has a thin skin or membrane inside the shell which is very tenacious,
especially when the egg is cooked, and as the shell is brittle the egg is liable to be
crushed by such movement and small pieces of the shell will be mixed with the
contents. To obviate this difficulty the knife in my device is caused to have a long
stroke and considerable momentum, in which case when it strikes the egg a
clean cut is made and the shell is substantially unbroken around the edges where
it severed.
My invention consists in a device of peculiar construction for accomplishing this
result as hereinafter described and embodied in the claims.
In the drawings,
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the device with the knife in position to give the
stroke;
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same;
Fig. 3 is an edge view partially in section;
The egg A is placed in a cup B, preferably the small end upward. The holder
and guide consists of two members or parts C and D. The part C is a long
straight handle, similar in form to a spoon handle, the outer end, a, being preferably
turned downward as shown, forming a hand hole. Said part C forms the guide for
an ordinary table knife E, which constitutes the cutter. The other part, Ď, of the
holder, is simply a socket piece with its outer end b curved upward to facilitate the
entrance of the knife between the parts in making the stroke. These parts are
pivoted together at c, so that the upper part D can be swung off to one side, as
indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2; or it can be swung back in a straight line
with the part C, in which case both parts are extended in one length to facilitate
washing. Both parts are enlarged at this end, and are provided with coincident
openings d d, which fit over the upper end of the egg, the lower one holding it
down in the cup while the cut is being made. The opening in the bottom
member C is beveled to fit the incline of the egg, while that in the upper part is
either square-edged or beveled, the opening being made a little smaller than that
in the bottom member, but not quite touching the egg, by which means it prevents
the top of the egg from being thrown off after being severed.
The two members or parts are situated at such a distance apart that the knife
has free passage through between them as far back as the pivot.
When the holder is to be used it is fitted over the egg, the long handle extending
outward horizontally and being held between the fingers of the operator. The
knife E is then laid across the handle at the outer end as shown in full lines.
A quick stroke is given to the knife, the top of the handle forming a guide to the
same, and the knife entering between the two parts is held firmly in position and

page_text: the egg is severed with a clean cut, the upper part being held by the contracted
opening of the upper member as before described. The full and dotted lines
in Fig. 2 show the two positions of the knife.
An important feature in this invention is the long handle C extended outward
horizontally and forming an open guide on which a free knife can be placed and be
given a long stroke to sever the egg with a quick blow. By this means a clean
cut is made, leaving the edges of the shell substantially unbroken, and without
being fractured and mixed with the interior of the egg. This long handle also
facilitates the handling of the device.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is,-
1st. A holder and guide for egg cutters, consisting of two members or parts
attached together at one end, and provided with openings adapted to fit over the
egg, the lower member being extended in the form of a handle and serving as an
open guide for a free knife in cutting the egg, as herein shown and described.
2nd. A holder and guide for egg cutters, consisting of two members or parts
attached together at one end, the lower member being extended in the form of a
handle and serving as an open guide for a free knife in cutting the egg, both
members being provided with sockets for fitting over the egg, and the opening in
the upper member being of slightly smaller diameter than that in the lower
one but not touching the egg, and serving to hold the end of the egg in place
when severed as described.
3rd. The improved egg cutter guide, consisting of a handle member having, near
one end, a transverse opening of proper size to fit an egg at the desired cutting
point, another and shorter member extending over and slightly above the handle
member and parallel with it, said upper or shorter member having also a transverse
opening of smaller size than that in the handle member, but not small enough to
touch the egg, and a pivotal connection between said members at the side of
said openings, remote from the handle, the latter being flat on its entire upper
surface to permit the clear stroke of a knife, as and for the purposes specified.
Dated this 19th day of May 1896.
ALLISON BROS.,
Agents for the Applicant.