IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS: POR OPENING OYSTERS
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GUSTAVE
FRANCOIS' PICAULT, of Rue Dauphine, Paris, in the Republic of France,
Cutler, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Seventh day of June,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, in the twelfth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Gustave Francois Picault, my exors; adiñors; and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said: Gustave Francois
Picault, my exors, adiñors, and assigns; and such others as I, the said Gustave
Francois Picault, my exors, adiñors, or assigns should at any time agree with;
and no others, from time to time, and at all times during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS: POR OPENING OYSTERS;" in which said. Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Gustave Francois Picault,
should cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument. in- writing
under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Gustave Francois Picault, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Inven-

page_text: tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
The apparatus, heretofore employed for opening oysters, has simply consisted
of a knife and a board or other surface, both being separate instruments, and
in opening an oyster by the aid thereof, the person places the concave shell on
the board or other surface, his hand holding the back of the oyster, and by the
knife, which is held in an inclined position, the person causes the shell to be
opened at the front part, raising the flat shell and leaving the oyster on the flat
shell, cutting it out of the under or concave shell. Now, according to my
Invention, I combine an instrument or stop for receiving and resisting part of
the edge of the shells with a knife. or cutter, such two parts being combined
with mechanical means for causing these parts to act and come towards each
other, and it should be in such manner, that the knife (or point thereof) shall
enter at the back or hinge of the shell, and remove the oyster from the flat or
upper shell and leave it in the hollow or lower shell. The mechanical means
for putting such two parts into action may be varied, and the shapes of the two
parts might be varied so long as they are arranged so as to be put into action
in the manner above mentioned.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shews a diagram, by which the nature and mode of action of my
Invention will readily be understood; a, an oyster, the upper or flat shell
being upwards, and the under or hollow shell downwards; b is the stop or
instrument for receiving and resisting one part of the edge of the shell; c is a
knife, the most convenient construction for which have shewn in various
views in Figure 2. The most convenient arrangement of mechanical means
for carrying out my Invention is shewn in plan at Figure 3, where the two
parts or instruments b, c, are mounted in or carried by two levers d, e.
Figure 4 shews a side view of the apparatus; and Figure 5, a transverse
section of the parts when closed together. The two levers d, e, move on a
common axis f, and the lower part thereof forms a leg for the instrument, and
each of the levers has a leg g; and when the apparatus is for large oysters and
the parts consequently heavy, I apply small wheels or rollers to such legs g, or
to one of them.
In opening an oyster by the aid of this apparatus, the person should place
the front edge thereof in the instrument 6, and then by moving the knife its
point will enter in at the hinge or joint at the back of the shells, which is

page_text: found to be the most convenient position for the entry, and then the other part
of the knife will be caused to enter without acting on the shells or being
blunted thereby, and the sharp edge will come into action in such manner as
to cut the oyster off the upper or flat shell.
In place of the two parts b and c being moveable, one part may be fixed and
the other moved, in which case I believe it better to cause the part b to be the
one fixed or stationary.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood, that I do not claim any of the
parts separately, nor do I confine myself to the details as shewn, so long as
the peculiar character of my Invention be retained; but what I claim is the
mode, herein described, of combining parts into one apparatus for opening
oysters.
In witness whereof, I, the said Gustave Francois Picault, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eight day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine