IMPROVEMENTS IN TABLE CUTLERY, AND IN HANDLES FOR THE SAME AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TABLE CUTLERY, AND IN HANDLES FOR THE SAME
AND OTHER ARTICLES."—A communication from abroad by Owen
Wilson Taft, of the City, County, and State of New York, United
States of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 30th March 1875, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.

page_text: petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have
made solemn Declaration that it has been communicated to me from
abroad by Owen Wilson Taft, of the City, County, and State of New
York, United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, do
hereby declare that the following Complete Specification, under my
hand and seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, in
and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, that is to say :-
This Invention consists of a hollow handle for a carving or other
table knife, fork, or steel, with a tool or implement of convenience for
table use concealed in it, but so contrived that by opening the handle at
one end the implement can be readily applied to use, the object being to
contrive such articles having all the advantage of combined tools
without having the added tool in sight or in the way when the other is
in use.
The most preferable contrivance of the Invention is to have the handle
detachably connected to the shank or bolster of the principal implement
with the added tool formed on the latter, so as to project into the hollow
of the handle when it is attached, and so that the base portion of the
blade of the principal tool and the bolster form the handle of the added
tool; but I also contemplate other contrivances.
The improvement in handles for cutlery and other articles, con-
sists of a tube of sheet metal closed at one end, and attached at the
other end to the tang, bolster, or other appropriate part of the article for
which it is to serve for a handle, the said tube being corrugated or
fluted for stiffening the metal, so as to use thin cheap material, and for
ornamenting the handle, and the corrugations arranged spirally about a
the handle for the purpose of forming a screw thread whereby the
article to be attached may be screwed in, and securely held.
The Invention also consists of attaching hollow handles, or such as
have a socket in one end, of cutting and other articles to the shank
or tang of the blade, fork, or other object by means of a sheet-metal
bolster stamped, spun, or otherwise wrought into the proper shape, and

page_text: receiving the handle on its exterior portion by screw threads or other-
wise, and the tang or shank inside of it where it is fastened by solder,
or by screwing into a disc fastened in the end of the bolster, or by both
ways. This contrivance makes a bolster that can be made cheaper, and
be more easily ornamented than the solid forged bolster.
་
In the accompanying Drawing Figure 1 represents a sectional elevation
of a steel for table use having a corkscrew formed on the shank of the
steel, and concealed in the handle, which is detachably attached to the
bolster, so that by taking off the handle, and grasping the bolster and
the base of the steel in the hand, the corkscrew can be used.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of a handle constructed according to this
Invention with a part represented in longitudinal section.
Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of a hollow handle and bolster
showing the mode of attaching the bolster by solder, and by screwing
into a disc in the end of the bolster.
Figure 4 is a section showing the tang fastened in the bolster by
solder.
A is the body portion of the steel; B, the bolster; D, the shank; E,
the corkscrew formed on the shank; and F, the hollow handle, which
screws on to the shank at G. In this case the guard H of the steel
makes a good hold for the hand to pull strong on the corkscrew, but the
contrivance may be such that the handle F may be utilized to use the
added tool; but in that case it would be the tool that would be
detachable, the handle being so or not as might be preferred; for
example, the tool E might screw into the outer end of the handle, going
in one way to be concealed, and the other way to be attached for use.
In Figure 2 A¹ represents a tube of thin sheet metal of suitable size
and length for a handle, closed at the end B', open at the other end,
which is attached to the bolster C', and corrugated with spiral grooves
for stiffening and ornamenting the metal, and forming screw threads,
whereby the handle is attached to the bolster, which is correspondingly
screw threaded.
By making the handle of a sheet-metal tube I get the requisite size,
shape, and strength in a simpler and cheaper form than any other in
which a handle can at the present time be constructed, and by corru-

page_text: gating the metal as described I make it acceptable, so far as style is
concerned, and at the same time so stiffen the metal that much lighter
and cheaper metal may be used than would answer without the corru-
gations. And, furthermore, by making the corrugations of a spiral
character I add to the other advantages of the knife handle by affording
a means for securing the same to the article to be held.
In Figure 3 A² represents a hollow sheet-metal handle for cutlery and
other articles, which it is sought to attach to the said articles in a
simple, cheap, and efficient way by the use of a sheet-metal bolster B, to
which the handle is removably attached by screwing on a screw-threaded
portion C³, or in any suitable way. The bolster is contrived in the form
of a deep cup with a conical bottom portion D³, being produced pre-
ferably by stamping, but it may be spun. The handle will screw on to
either end, and the shank of the knife or other article may be connected
to either end when the handle screws on the bottom, as in Figure 3, and
the shank E' of the implement is attached to the large open end. The
latter will have a flange F² to receive a disc G³ also to make a guard
for a carving knife, and into which the shank will screw. But the handle
may be connected to the large or open cud, and the shank to the
small end, as in Figure 4, in which case the flange F and the disc G
will be dispensed with, and the solder H² will be relied on to fasten it.
The solder may also be used together with the disc, or not, as
preferred.
Other contrivances in respect of these particulars may be adopted.
It should be understood that by solder I mean any substance to be
applied by melting and pouring in or around the parts.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as new, and desire to
secure by Letters Patent is,---
1st. The combination with a hollow handle screw thread at one end
of steel A, having bolster B and shank D screw threaded at G, and
having secured in its end a corkscrew or other article of utility as and
for the purpose specified.
2ndly. As an improved article of manufacture a handle for cutlery
and other articles made of a thin sheet-metal tube closed at one end.
and stiffened and ornamented by flutes or corrugations arranged spirally

page_text: about the handle, so as to form screw threads, substantially as and for
the purpose described.
3rdly. The combination with a hollow handle of a sheet-metal bolster
or end piece removably connected by screw threads or equivalent device,
and in which a fork, steel, corkscrew, or analogous article is secured by
solder or analogous material, substantially as specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.