IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OR SLICING CUCUMBERS AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sidney Grafton, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OR SLICING CUCUMBERS AND OTHER
SUBSTANCES,"
Sealed the 2nd March 1869, and dated the 4th September 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Sidney Grafton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th September 1808.
I, SIDNEY GRAFTON; of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Iк-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OF APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OR SLICING CUCUMBERS
AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the arrangements or combinations herein.
after described of the parts of machinery or apparatus for cutting or
slicing cucumbers, bread, soap, and other substances, whereby the
cutting or slicing is effected very uniformly and with great ease.

page_text: In constructing a machine or apparatus for slicing cucumbers
according to my Invention I arrange or combine the parts in the
following manner:-I take a hollow cylindrical case of metal open at
both ends, the said case being provided by preference with longitudinal
flutes or corrugations, that is, flutes or corrugations situated parallel to
the axis of the hollow case. In one of the flutes or corrugations of the
case I place a screw, the ends of which screw work in bearings fixed at
the ends of the said case. On the said screw is a travelling plate or
holder by which the cucumber is held while being cut or sliced. This
plate or holder consists of a ring, on the inner edge of which claws or
teeth are made which fix the cucumber securely thereto. On the outer
edge of the said ring is a screw box which works upon the longitudinal
screw situated in one of the flutes or corrugations of the case.
rotation of the plate or holder on the screw is prevented by the said plate
or holder bearing against the inner side of the case. By turning the
screw in one or other direction the travelling plate or holder may be
made to travel in one or other direction upon the screw and approach
one or other end of the case or cylinder. On the ends of the screw, and
working outside and nearly in contact with the ends of the case, knives
or cutters are fixed, the free ends of the said knives or cutters having
winches or handles upon them for the purpose of giving a rotatory
motion to the said knives or cutters, the rotatory motion of the knives
or cutters at the same time giving motion to the screw and the travelling
plate or holder upon .it.
The
In using my Invention the cucumber is fixed in the travelling plate
or holder by its claws or teeth, one end of the cucumber projecting from
the open end of the case. By working the knife or cutter at that end
of the screw at which the cucumber is situated the end of the cucumber
is sliced, a fresh portion of the cucumber being fed to the cutter at each
rotation of the said cutter. When the cucumber on one side of the
holder has been sliced, by working the knife or cutter at the other end
of the screw the holder and cucumber are advanced in the contrary
direction, and the said cucumber is cut or sliced by the said second knife
or cutter, the removal of the uncut portion of the cucumber from the
holder and its replacement therein are thus prevented. Instead of a
fluted case a plain cylindrical case may be used, the case being furnished
with a flute or longitudinal depression for the screw to work in. The
machine or apparatus described may be used for cutting other substances
besides cucumbers.

page_text: The parts of the machine or apparatus may be modified in the
following manner:-I dispense with the screw and travelling plate or
holder, and use either the corrugated or plain cylindrical case or an open
frame supported on legs. When an open frame is used the article to be
cut or sliced is laid in the trough of the frame. I joint the knife or
cutter to one side of the frame, and adjust it the required distance from
the end of the frame by means of a slot and screw, or in any other
convenient way. This arrangement of my Invention is particularly
applicable for cutting or slicing bread, soap, and other substances.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Sidney Grafton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 2nd March 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SIDNEY
GRAFTON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Sidney Grafton, Her special licence
that I, the said Sidney Grafton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Sidney Grafton, 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
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OR SLICING CUCUMBERS AND OTHER
SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Sidney Grafton, 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

page_text: months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent,
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Sidney Grafton, 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 :-
My Invention consists of the arrangement or combination herein-after
described of the parts of machinery or apparatus for cutting or slicing
cucumbers and other substances, such as carrots and parsnips, whereby
the cutting or slicing is effected very uniformly and with great ease.
The machinery or apparatus constituting my Invention consists
essentially of a fluted or corrugated hollow cylindrical case open at
both ends, in which case a travelling plate or holder works, by which
the cucumber or other article is held while being cut or sliced. A
screw situated in one of the flutes of the case passes through a screw
box on the plate or holder. By turning this screw motion may be
given to the travelling plate or holder. On the ends of the screw
and outside the ends of the case are knives or cutters, by giving a
rotatory motion to one or other of which cutters the cucumber or other
article fixed in the plate or holder described is advanced from the
open end of the case at which the knife or cutter is situated and cut
or sliced by the said knife or cutter.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents in side elevation a
machine or apparatus constructed according to my Invention; Figure 2
is a longitudinal section, and Figure 3 an end elevation of the same;
Figure 4 represents in front elevation and section a portion of the same.
The same letters of reference are employed to indicate the same parts
in each Figure.
My Invention is particularly adapted for cutting or slicing cucumbers,
and I will describe it as used for that purpose.
a is a hollow cylindrical case of metal open at both ends, the said
case being provided with longitudinal flutes or corrugations marked 6,
that is, flutes or corrugations situated parallel to the axis of the said
hollow case a. In one of the said flutes or corrugations 6 of the case a
n screw c is placed (seo the section Figure 2), the ends of the said screw
working in bearings at d fixed at the ends of the said case. On the
said screw c is a travelling plate or holder e, by which the cucumber

page_text: is held while being cut or sliced. This plate or holder e consists of a
ring on the inner edge of which claws or teeth f are made, which
claws or teeth fix the cucumber securely to the holder. The plate or
holder e is shown separately in Figure 4. . On the outer edge of the said
ring-like holder e is a screw box e, which works upon the longitudinal
screw c, as represented. The rotation of the plate or holder e on the
screw c is prevented by the said plate or holder bearing against the
inside of the case; hence by turning the said screw in one or other
direction the travelling plate or holder e may be made to travel in one
or other direction upon the said screw and approach one or other end
of the case a. On the ends of the screw c, and working outside and
nearly in contact with the ends of the case a, knives or cutters g, h, are
fixed, the free ends of the said knives or cutters having winches or
handes g, h, upon them for the purpose of giving a rotatory motion to
the said knives or cutters, the rotatory motion of the said knives or
cutters at the same time giving motion to the screw cand the travelling
plate or holder e upon it. The shape of the acting edge of the knives or
cutters is best seen in Figure 2. I prefer to make the knives or cutters
of ivory or other similar non-metallic material, but metallic knives or
cutters may be used.
In using. the machine or apparatus the cucumber is fixed in the
travelling plate or holder e by its claws or teeth f, one end of the
cucumber projecting from the open end of the case a. The apparatus
being held by one hand the knife or cutter g or h at that end of the
screw o at which the part of the cucumber to be cut or sliced is situated
is worked by the other hand. By the rotation of the said knife or cutter
the end of the cucumber is cut or sliced, a fresh portion being fed to
the knife or cutter at each rotation. When the cucumber on one side
of the travelling holder e has been cut or sliced by then working
the knife or cutter at the other end of the screw the said holder and
cucumber are advanced in the contrary direction, and the other part of
the cucumber is cut or slicod by the said second knife or cutter, the
removal of the uncut portion of the cucumber from the holder and its
replacement therein are thus rendered unnecessary.
Instead of the fluted or corrugated case described and represented a
plain cylindrical case may be used, the said plain case being furnished
with a flute or corrugation for the screw e to work in. I prefer however
to use a fluted case, as the flutes strengthen the case and give an

page_text: ornamental appearance to the machine or apparatus and afford a
convenient means of holding it.
The machine or apparatus described and represented may be used
for cutting or slicing other vegetable substances having more or less
the figure of cucumbers.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that.
I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described, as the
same may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention;
but I claim as my Invention the combination or arrangement of the
parts of machinery or apparatus for cutting or slicing cucumbers and
other substances, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Sidney Grafton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
SIDNEY GRAFTON. (L.S.)