IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING TABLE CUTLERY
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Vincent Driver, Commercial Traveller, and John
Wallace, Mechanical Engineer, both of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
CLEANING AND POLISHING TABLE CUTLERY."
Sealed the 18th February 1874, and dated the 4th September 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Vincent Driver and
John Wallace at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 4th September 1878.
We, VINCENT DRIVER, Commercial-Traveller,-and-JOHN WALLACE,
Mechanical Engineer, both of Manchester, in the County of Lancester,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING TABLE CUTLERY," to be as
follows:-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Vincent Driver and
John Wallace at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 4th September 1878.
We, VINCENT DRIVER, Commercial-Traveller,-and-JOHN WALLACE,
Mechanical Engineer, both of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING TABLE CUTLERY," to be as
follows:-
Our Invention relates to apparatus employed in the cleaning of knives
and forks, and has for its object to produce apparatus efficient for the
said purpose at a comparatively low cost,

page_text: Over a bed covered with leather or other suitable material we mount
a hopper to contain the polishing powder, the lower surface of the said
hopper being also covered with leather or other suitable material with
the exception of a slot or opening through which the said powder has
access to the cleaning surfaces; the said hopper is pressed towards the b
bed by means of caoutchouc springs, or by means of spiral or other
shaped metal springs; and the central part of the lower cleaning surface
is pressed upwards by means of a spring.
If preferred the said hopper may be hinged to the bed, and in place of
springs it may be pressed downwards by a weighted lever.
One edge or both edges of the hopper, or a part fixed thereto or
mounted thereon, is covered with leather of a form suitable for cleaning
the curved shoulders of the knife blades, and a brush for cleaning forks
is attached to a convenient part of the apparatus.
1
The knife blades are cleaned by being moved to and fro between the 1
filed by the said Vincent Driver and John Wallace in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 28th February 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, VINCENT 2
DRIVER, Commercial Traveller, and JOHN WALLACE, Mechanical
Engineer, both of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, 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 2
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,..
give and grant unto us, the said Vincent Driver and John Wallace,
Hér special license that we, the said Vincent Driver and John.
Wallace, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 3
we, the said Vincent Driver and John Wallace, 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,

page_text: 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 APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING TABLE CUTLERY,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Vincent Driver
and John Wallace, by an instrument in writing under our hands and
seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 John Wallace, for myself and on
behalf of the said Vincent Driver, 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
and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
Our Invention relates to apparatus employed in the cleaning of knives
and forks, and has for its object to produce apparatus efficient for the
said purpose at a comparatively low cost.
Over a bed covered with leather or other suitable material we mount
a hopper to contain the polishing powder, the lower surface of the said
hopper being also covered with leather or other suitable material with
the exception of a slot or opening through which the said powder has
access to the cleaning surfaces; the said hopper is pressed towards the
bed by means of caoutchouc springs, or by means of spiral or other
shaped metal springs, and the central part of the lower cleaning surface
is pressed upwards by means of a spring.
If preferred the said hopper may be hinged to the béd, and in place of
springs it may be pressed downwards by a weighted lever.
One edge or both edges of the hopper, or a part fixed thereto or
mounted thereon, is or are covered with leather of a form suitable for
cleaning the curved shoulders of the knife blades, and a brush for
cleaning forks is attached to a convenient part of the apparatus.
The knife blades are cleaned by being moved to and fro between the
two cleaning surfaces on the bed and on the under side of the hopper.
..And in order that our Invention may be fully understood we will
How refer to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, which are made.

page_text: about the full size, and are marked with letters of reference, similar
marks indicating corresponding parts in the various Figures.
In the said Drawings Fig. 1 represents a front view of the aforesaid
apparatus as constructed by us when carrying our Invention into effect;
Fig. 2 being an end view, Fig. 3 a vertical longitudinal section, and
Fig. 4 a vertical cross section of the same apparatus.
In the said Figures a is a casting which forms the bed of the apparatus,
and 6 is a second casting which acts as a hopper to contain the polishing
powder; a piece of wood c is secured in a dovetail recess formed in the
upper part of the bed a; and the under surface of the hopper is also 1
partly covered with the piece of wood d; and to the said pieces of wood
are cemented the leather coverings e and f; the bed and hopper are
each formed with “lugs” h, h, which are suitably formed to receive the
rings of vulcanised caoutchouc i, i, which act as springs to press the
hopper downwards towards the bed casting; the said hopper is formed 1
with projecting pieces k, k, which pass through slots formed in the bed
and slide with some freedom between ribs 7, 1, which are cast on the
inside of the said bed, the said hopper being thus retained in position
with freedom to rise and fall under the control of the springs i, i; a slot
is formed in the wooden bed c, and within the said slot is placed a steel 2
spring m which presses against the under side of the central part of the
leather covering e, or against a piece of vulcanised caoutchouc interposed
between the said spring and the said leather covering, and thus causes
the said central part to assume an elastic rounded form, the action of
the leather upon the surface of a knife blade being thereby improved; 2
a slot or opening n is formed in the hopper, and also in the wood lining d,
and the leather covering f. the said openings being made of a suitable
size to permit a sufficient supply of polishing powder to find its way to
the polishing surfaces; horns o, o, cast on the hopper sustain a block of
wood p, the upper surface of which is covered with leather, and which 3
is formed as a brush at one end. The leather covered surface is useful
for cleaning the shoulders of knives, and for otherwise finishing the
polishing, if required; and the brush is intended to be used in the
cleaning of forks.
Fig. 5 illustrates a modification which may be made in the apparatus. 3

page_text: the pressure of the polishing surfaces upon the knife may be regulated
by turning the screw 9.
In Fig. 6 a further modification is indicated. In this example spiral
steel springs, one of which is seen at 8, are substituted for the aforesaid
caoutchouc springs.
Having now fully described and indicated the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which we carry or may carry the same
into practical effect, we would in conclusion have it to be understood
that we claim, the general arrangement and methods of construction of
apparatus substantially as and for the purpose set forth and indicated
herein-before and in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Wallace, for myself and on
behalf of the said Vincent Driver, have hereunto set my
hand
and seal, this Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.