AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OR SLICING FRUIT, VEGETABLES, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Kent, of High Holborn, in the County
of Middlesex, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OR SLICING FRUIT, VEGETABLES, AND OTHER
SUBSTANCES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Kent at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th December 1875.
I, GEORGE KENT, of High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CUTTING OR SLICING FRUIT, VEGETABLES, AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
The said Invention relates to a simple, chcap, and efficient apparatus
for cutting or slicing fruit and vegetables of various kinds, and for
similar purposes. It is chiefly designed for domestic use, for cutting
oranges for marmalade, slicing cucumbers, cutting vegetables for soup,
and for other like purposes.

page_text: The said apparatus is constructed as follows:-It has a bracket or
frame of cast iron or other suitable material, which is formed with jaws
provided with a pinching screw, whereby it may be readily secured
upon a table, board, or slab. The said bracket extends up above the
jaws, and at its upper part supports a rotating cylinder or drum pro-
vided with knives or blades. This drum may have a shaft or journal
at one end only or at both ends, the said journals being fitted to turn
freely in suitable bearings formed or fixed on the bracket, or the drum
may be fitted to turn upon a fixed shaft or bolt. On the projecting
end of one of the said journals is a toothed pinion which gears with a
wheel fixed on a short shaft or journal turning in bearings formed on
any convenient part of the bracket, the said wheel being provided with
a crank or handle.
The said cylinder or drum is made of brass or other suitable material,
and may be of any required dimensions. For ordinary purposes. I
prefer to make it from three to six inches in diameter, and about the
same in width. It is hollow and open at one end, and has a rim or
flange at each end.
The knives or blades are thin flat pieces of steel placed upon the outer
periphery of the said drum, and through apertures cut in the said rims
or flanges. The said knives should extend obliquely across the
periphery of the drum, and slots or openings are formed through the
periphery of the drum, over which slots the said knives are placed in
such a manner as to leave a slight space between their cutting edges
and the adjacent sides of the said slots.
I prefer that the knives should be made slightly taper and of such a
length, that when new or first put in place their widest ends will project
beyond the end of the drum so that as they wear or are reduced in
width, by sharpening they can be set further in, and be thereby kept in
the proper position to perform their work effectually. The said knives
rest with their back edges upon small projections secured to the inside
of the drum, and are pressed outward by springs also fixed within the
said drum. And to render the said knives adjustable to allow the
materials to be cut more or less fine or small, I provide small screws
which are passed through the said flanges, and by turning which the
said knives may be forced inward against the pressure of the springs.
At the front of the said drum or cylinder I place a feed table formed
of galvanized iron or other suitable material, and whose inner edge may

page_text: be arranged in close proximity to the periphery of the drum, so that as
the said drum rotates the knives will pass just clear of the said edge.
This table is fixed upon an arm of the aforesaid bracket, and may be
secured thereon by screws passing through long holes or slots in the
said arm, or by other devices which will permit the said table or plate to
be readily adjusted, with regard to the drum or cylinder. But I prefer
to provide it with a top plate which is adjustable by means of a screw
placed under the said table, and whose head projects in front of the
same in a convenient position to be turned in either direction to set the
said plate nearer to or farther from the said knives. And I arrange in
combination with this table and sliding plate, and above the same a
fluted or corrugated feed roller, which is rotated through the medium
of a pawl and ratchet wheel, by a cam on the side of the drum, or by
toothed wheels. The said feed roller is held in its bearings by pivoted
hooks which allow the said roller to be readily removed and replaced.
The fruit, vegetables, or other substances to be cut or sliced are
placed on this table or plate and pressed up to the knives, while the
cylinder or drum is rotated by turning the said handle. The slices cut
by the said knives pass through the apertures under the same, and
through the aforesaid slots into the interior of the drum, and are
discharged therefrom by a spout or other means into any convenient
receptaclc.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Kent in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th June 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
KENT, of High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said George Kent, Her special
licence that I, the said George Kent, my executors, administrators, and
assigus, or such others as I, the said George Kent, my executors, admi-

page_text: nistrators, 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 "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
CUTTING OR SLICING FRUIT, VEGETABLES, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Kent, 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 George Kent, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings forming a part of this Specification:-
The said Invention relates to a simple, cheap, and efficient apparatus
for cutting or slicing fruit and vegetables of various kinds, and for
similar purposes.
It is chiefly designed for domestic use for cutting
oranges for marmalade, slicing, cucumbers, cutting vegetables for soup,
and for other like operations.
My improved apparatus is constructed as shewn in the accompanying
Drawings, in which,―
Figure 1 is a plan or top view of the said apparatus.
Figure 2 is an elevation of one side; and Figure 3 is an elevation of
the other side of the same.
Figure 4 is a front elevation of the said apparatus.
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawings.
The said apparatus has a bracket or frame a of cast iron or other
suitable material, which is formed with jaws a¹ provided with a pinching
screw b, whereby it may be readily secured upon a table, board, bench,
or slab. The bracket a extends up above the said jaws, and at its upper
part supports a rotating cylinder or drum c provided with knives or
blades d. This drum may have a shaft or journal e at one end only, as

page_text: shewn, or at both ends, the said journal or journals being fitted to turn
freely in suitable bearings formed or fixed on the bracket; or the drum c
may be fitted to turn upon a fixed axis or bolt. On the projecting end
of the shaft or journal e is a toothed pinion f which gears with a
wheel g fixed on a short shaft or journal turning in bearings formed
on any convenient part of the bracket a, the said wheel
vided with a crank or handle i.
being pro-
The cylinder or drum c is made of brass or other suitable material,
and may be of any required dimensions. For ordinary purposes I
prefer to make it with a diameter and length of from three to six
inches. It is hollow and open at the end farthest from the bracket a,
as shewn in Figure 3, and has a rim or flange c¹ at each end.
The knives or blades d are thin flat pieces of steel placed upon the
outer periphery of the said drum, and extended through apertures cut
in the said rims or flanges: The said knives should extend obliquely
across the periphery of the drum, as shewn in Figure 1, and slots or
openings are formed through the periphery of the drum, over which
slots the knives d are placed in such a manner as to leave a slight space
between their cutting edges and the adjacent sides of the said slots, as
shewn in Figure 3.
I prefer that the knives & should be made slightly taper, as shewn,
and of such a length that when new or first put in place, their widest
ends will project beyond the end of the drum c at one side of the
apparatus, so that as they wear or are reduced in width, by sharpening
they can be set further in or to the other side, and be thereby always
kept in the proper position to perform their work effectually. The said
knives rest with their back edges under small projections c³ secured to
the inside of the drum, and are pressed outward by springs j also fixed
within the said drum. And to render the said knives adjustable to
allow the materials to be cut more or less fine or small, I provide small
screws which are passed through the said flanges, and by turning
which the knives & may be forced inward against the pressure of the
springs j.
J
My method of securing the knives in the drum allows them to be
removed for sharpening or other purposes by simply drawing them out
endwise.

page_text: formed of galvanized iron or other suitable material, and whose inner
edge may be arranged in close proximity to the periphery of the drum c,
as shewn in Figure 3, so that as the said drum rotates, the knives & will
pass just clear of the said edge. This table is fixed upon an arm a² of
the aforesaid bracket, and may be secured thereon by screws passing
through long holes or slots in the said arm, or by other devices which
will permit the said table or plate to be readily adjusted with regard to
the drum or cylinder. But I prefer to provide it with a top plate m
which is adjustable by means of a screw n placed under the said table 7,
and whose head n¹ projects in front of the same in a convenient position
to be turned in either direction to set the said plate me nearer to or
farther from the knives d. And I arrange in combination with this
table and sliding plate m, and above the same, a fluted or corrugated
feed roller o, which is rotated through the medium of a pawl and
ratchet wheel p, q, by a cam or cam groove » on the side of the drum c,
or by means of toothed wheels geared with the shaft or journal of the
drum. The feed roller o is held in its bearings by caps o¹ or pivoted
hooks which allow the said roller to be readily removed and replaced.
The fruit, vegetables, or other articles or substances to be cut or
sliced are placed on this table or plate and pressed up to the knives,
while the cylinder or drum c is rotated by turning the handle. The
slices cut by the knives & pass through the spaces under the same,
and through the aforesaid slots into the interior of the drum c, and are
discharged at the open end of the same through a spout or otherwise
into any convenient receptacle.
The said apparatus will be found very useful for cutting ice into
flakes and for other cutting or slicing operations.
Having thus fully described my said Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I wish it understood that I claim,-
First. In an apparatus or machine for cutting or slicing fruit,
vegetables, and other substances, the hollow rotating drum or cylinder
provided on its periphery with knives placed over slots in the same,
arranged in combination with springs and set screws, and adjustable
thereby, as above set forth and for the purpose specified.
Second. In such an apparatus or machine, the feed table, adjustable
in relation to the said rotating drum and knives, and provided with a

page_text: fluted or other suitable feed roller, arranged and operating as above set
forth.
Third. The apparatus or machine for slicing fruit, vegetables, and
other substances with the rotating cylinder or drum fitted with adjust-
able knives, the adjustable feed table and roller, and the other parts of
the said apparatus or machine, constructed as shewn in the accompany-
ing Drawings and operating as above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Kent, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of June, in the
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
year of our
Witness,
R. H. HAILSTONE,
57, Adelaide Road,
London.
GEO. KENT. (L.S.)