IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR INDICATING WHEN EGGS, VEGETABLES, AND OTHER WAT COOKED OR HRATED
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Henry Smith, of Colchester, in the
County of Essex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS
AND APPARATUS FOR INDICATING WHEN EGGS, VEGETABLES, AND OTHER
WAT COOKED OR HRATED"
2
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Henry Smith
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 2nd April 1869.
I, GEORGE HENRY SMITH, of Colchester, in the County of Essex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR INDICATING WHEN EGGS, VEGETABLES, AND OTHER
SUBSTANCES ARE SUFFICIENTLY COOKED OR HEATED," to be as follows:-
Firstly. For cooking eggs I construct a pan with a perforated bottom
working on a hinge so as to open and shut with a clasp, and to the lid
or top of the said pan I fix a whistle or other alarum capable of being
operated upon by the pressure of steam, the said alarum having a piece
of gauze wire placed over the mouth thereof to prevent priming or

page_text: choking. The eggs are placed in the pan by opening the perforated
bottom, the said pan being then put in an ordinary saucepan supplied
with sufficient cold water to cover the eggs, and it will be found that
as soon as the water reaches boiling point pressure is formed inside the
pan having the whistle attached thereto and a shrill whistle will result
therefrom, thus shewing that the attention of the cook is required.
Secondly. For cooking potatoes, cabbage, and other vegetables that
are sufficiently cooked when they become soft, I use a whistle fixed on
the top of an ordinary pan lid, the said whistle having an opening at
the top thereof to allow the escape of steam, and in the centre of this
opening I fix a guide for a rod or fork of sufficient length to reach from
the top of the whistle to the bottom of the pan and arranged to slide
up and down in the said guide. The said rod or fork has a spherical
ball or cone which acts as a valve on the top of the whistle, the ball or
cone being weighted so as to cause the rod or fork to pierce the potatoes
or other vegetables when boiled to the requisite softness, and it will be
evident that by means of this simple contrivance as soon as the rod or
fork pierces the vegetables it will drop to the bottom of the pan, thereby
closing the opening at the top of the pan lid and allowing the steam to
escape out of the whistle only, thus indicating that the potatoes or other
vegetables are sufficiently cooked.
This Invention may be also applied to the heating or melting of
various other substances.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Henry Smith in the Great Seal Patent 2
Office on the 1st October 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HENRY SMITH, of Colchester, in the County of Essex, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 3
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George Henry Smith, Her special

page_text: licence that I, the said George Henry Smith, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Henry Smith, 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 "IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR INDICATING WHEN EGGS,
VEGETABLES, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES ARE SUFFICIENTLY COOKED OR HEATED," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Henry Smith,
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 Henry Smith, 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 accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings (that is to say) :-
This Invention consists in means and apparatus for indicating when
eggs, vegetables, and other edibles or substances are sufficiently boiled
or cooked.
Firstly. For cooking eggs I construct a pan A, (Fig. 1) with a
perforated bottom A' working on a hinge so as to open and shut with
a clasp, and to the top of the said pan I fix a whistle B or other alarum
capable of being operated upon by the pressure of steam, the said
alarum having a piece of wire gauze placed over the mouth thereof to
prevent priming or choking. The eggs C are placed in the pan A by
opening the perforated bottom A', the said pan being then put in an
ordinary saucepan D supplied with sufficient cold water to cover the
eggs, and it will be found that as soon as the water reaches boiling
point, pressure is formed inside the pan A having the whistle attached
thereto, and a shrill whistle will result therefrom, thus indicating that
the attention of the cook is required.
Secondly. For cooking potatoes, cabbage, and other vegetables that
are sufficiently cooked when they become soft, I use a whistle fixed on

page_text: the top of an ordinary pan lid (see Fig. 2), the said whistle having an
opening E therein to allow the escape of steam, and in the centre of
this whistle I fix a guide F for a rod or fork G of sufficient length to
reach from the top of the whistle to the bottom of the pan, and arranged
to slide up and down in the said guide F. The rod or fork G has a
spherical ball or cone H which acts as a valve on the top of the whistle,
the ball or cone being weighted so as to cause the rod or fork to pierce
the potatoes or other vegetables I when boiled to the requisite softness,
and it will be evident that by means of this simple contrivance as soon
as the rod or fork pierces the vegetables it will drop to the bottom of
the pan, thereby closing the opening at the top of the pan lid and
allowing the steam to escape out of the whistle only, thus indicating
that the potatoes or other vegetables are sufficiently cooked.
This Invention may be also applied to the heating or melting of various
other substances.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of my said Inven-
tion, I claim, the means and apparatus for indicating when eggs,
vegetables, and other substances are sufficiently cooked or boiled, as
herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Henry Smith, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of September,
in the year of our Lord 1869.
GEORGE HENKY SMITH. (L.S.)