A NEW OR IMPROVED INSTRUMENT TO BE USED IN CUTTING LOAVES OF BREAD AND OTHER ARTICLES OF FOOD
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Barrows, of Handsworth, in the County of
Stafford, Wine Merchant, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
INSTRUMENT TO BE USED IN CUTTING LOAVES OF BREAD AND OTHER ARTICLES
OF FOOD."
Scaled the 16th January 1855, and dated the 19th August 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Barrows at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th August 1854.
I, JOSEPH BARROWS, of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford, Wine
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR
IMPROVED INSTRUMENT TO BE USED IN CUTTING LOAVES OF BREAD AND OTHER
ARTICLES OF Food" to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists of a holder or clamp to be attached to bread
trays, cheese trays, and such other articles as are or may be used for holding
articles of food. The object of iny said Invention is to hold the loaves and
other articles while being cut, without the necessity of touching them with the
hands, and to act also as a safeguard.. The accompanying Drawing illustrates
the application of my Invention to a bread tray. The edge of the tray is
indicated in dotted lines. Figure 1 is a plan; and Figure 2, an elevation.
a, a, are plates of metal or other suitable substance, having points b, b, b;
screws c, c, passing through the sides of the tray, and connected with the said

page_text: plates a, a, permit of the adjustment of the said plates to a greater or less
distance from one another. When a loaf is placed in the tray, the plates a, a,
which had previously been separated to permit of the introduction of the loaf,
are made to approach each other, and grasp the said loaf firmly, the points
b, b, b, entering the said loaf. The tray may thus be taken hold of by one
hand by means of the handle e, and the loaf cut by the other. d is a guard,
which secures the hand holding the handle e from accident, by the slipping of
the knife in the other hand. The moving parts are concealed under the
edge of the tray. The mechanism, by which the clamping or holding of the
loaf is effected, as well as the form of the guard, may be varied without
departing from the nature of my Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Barrows in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th February 1855..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
BARROWS, of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford, Wine Merchant, send
greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Joseph Barrows, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Barrows, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Barrows, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED INSTRUMENT
TO BE USED IN CUTTING LOAVES OF BREAD AND OTHER ARTICLES OF FOOD," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I; the 'said Joseph Barrows, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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. .

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Barrows, 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
thereof (that is to say):
My said Invention consists in constructing trays for bread, cheese, and other
articles of food in the manner herein-after particularly explained and illus-
trated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, attaching holders or
clamps to the said trays, whereby the loaves and other articles of food in the
said trays may be held firmly while being cut, without the necessity of touching.
them with the hand.
My said Invention also affords security against accident, by the slipping of
the knife while cutting articles of food held therein. Figure 1 represents a
bread tray constructed according to my Invention, in side elevation; Figure 2
represents the same in plan; and Figure 3 represents an end elevation of the
same. a, a, are plates of metal or other suitable substance of the shape
represented, and furnished with points or projections b, b; screws c, c,
working in screw boxes, situated in the sides of the tray are connected with
the said plates a, a, and by turning the heads or thumb plates of the said
screws, the said plates a, a, may be brought from a greater or less distance
from one another. Springs d, d, keep the plates a, a, in a position at right
angles to the screws c, c, but permit of the said plates taking an oblique
position, in order to bear firmly against the loaf or other article of food.
When a loaf or other article of food is placed in the said tray, the plates a, a,
which had previously been separated, to permit of the introduction of the loaf
or other article of food, are made to approach each other and grasp the said
loaf or article of food firmly. This is effected by turning the screws c, c; the
points b, b, enter the loaf, and hold the same firmly. The tray may be held
with one hand by the handle e, while the loaf or other articles may be cut with
the other hand. The parts f, f, act as guards, that is to say, they secure the
hand holding the handle e from accident, from the slipping of the knife in the
other hand. The handle e may be turned down, as represented in Figure 3.
When raised into a vertical position, the said handle is fixed by a spring catch
g, the construction of which will be understood by an inspection of the said
Figure 3. The moving parts a, c, d, are partially concealed under the edge
of the tray. Although I have only described my Invention with reference to
a tray for holding loaves of bread or other similar articles of food, such as
currant and other cakes, yet my said Invention, by being applied to trays of
different forms and sizes, may be used in cutting all such articles of food as arc
sufficiently hard to be held therein. The mechanism by which the clamping

page_text: or holding of the article of food is effected, as well as the form of the guard,
may be varied, to suit the form of the tray to which they are to be applied, as
well as the different articles of food held in the said tray.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I claim as my
Invention an instrument to be used in cutting loaves of bread or other articles
of food constructed in the manner herein described, and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing, that is to say, a tray having clamping mechanism for
holding the article of food while being cut, and a guard for preventing accidents
while using the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Burrows, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOSEPH BARROWS. (L.S.)