AN IM- PROVEMENT IN FORK GUARDS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Duncan Preston Cunningham, Gentleman,
of Bury House, Alverstoke, Hants, for the Invention of "AN IM-
PROVEMENT IN FORK GUARDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Duncan Preston
Cunningham at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 20th February 1872.
I, HENRY DUNCAN PRESTON CUNNINGHAM, Gentleman, of Bury
House, Alverstoke, Hants, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN FORK GUARDS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in constructing the guards of forks so that
they shall come up to their guard by the action of a balance weight or
counterpoise. For this purpose I fit the guard so that it moves upon
an axis upon the fork, and I prolong the guard to the under side of the
fork sufficiently and with such an amount of substance or otherwise
arrange it so as to obtain the action of a counterpoise to the upper part.
Thus when the fork is taken up for use the guard at once flies or moves

page_text: up ready for service, being in fact self-acting. When the fork is not in
use the guard shuts down and occupies but little space in the knife tray
or other receptacle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Duncan Preston Cunningham in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 20th August 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
DUNCAN PRESTON CUNNINGHAM, Gentleman, of Bury House, Alverstoke,
Hants, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Henry Duncan Preston Cunningham, Her
special licence that I, the said Henry Duncan Preston Cunningham, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Henry Duncan Preston Cunningham, 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, excrcise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN FORK GUARDS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Duncan
Preston Cunningham, 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 Henry Duncan Preston Cunningham,
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 thereof, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-

page_text: My invention consists in constructing the guards of forks so that
they shall come up to their guard by the action of a balance weight or
counterpoise. For this purpose I fit the guard so that it moves upon
an axis upon the fork, and I prolong the guard to the under side of the
fork sufficiently and with such an amount of substance or otherwise
arrange it so as to obtain the action of a counterpoise to the upper or
guard part. Thus when the fork is taken up for use the guard at once
flies or moves up ready for use, being in fact self-acting. When the
fork is placed upon the table the guard shuts down, and the balance
weight if below the fork may act as a rest to keep the prongs off the
table.
Figure 1 of the annexed Drawings is a side view of a carving fork
which is provided with a guard constructed according to my Invention.
A is the fork, the stem of which is formed with a vertical slot or
aperture right through it to receive the guard represented by B and C,
B being the guard proper, and C the part continued or prolonged
underneath the fork and which forms a balance weight or counterpoise.
The guard works upon an axis at E. Thus when the fork is taken up
for use the weight C causes the guard B to fly or move up to its guard
position as shewn in Figure 2. When the fork is laid down the pressure
on the part at C causes the guard part B to shut down as seen in
Figure 1. In this state the part C forms a balance rest keeping the
prongs up from the table, or the surface upon which the fork may rest,
provided of course there be sufficient weight in the handle of the fork
for that purpose. D is a finger piece for the purpose of keeping the
guard in position by means of the finger in case it should be necessary
to raise the prongs of the fork much above the handle when carving,
such as when cutting under the prongs as seen in Figure 3, in which
position my Invention affords a guard both below as well as above the
fork.
Figure 4 represents a form of my Invention in which the balance
weight C is applied above the stem of the fork forming a back continua-
tion of the guard B. The weight is so shaped that it can be con-
veniently pressed down by the finger for the purpose of keeping it in
position should the handle end be much raised.
Figure 5 represents a form of my Invention in which the counterpoise
C is arranged by continuations from the rear part of the guard B on
each side of the stem of the fork. In this case (and in the arrangement

page_text: shewn in Figure 4) the slot or aperture need not be carried through the
fork, a recess as seen at F being sufficient. The continuations may be
on both sides as in Figure 6; or one continuation on one side only of
the fork may be used.
Figure 7 represents another form of my Invention in which the guard
is arranged to embrace the fork on each side. The guard is formed with
a slot in it (see Figure 8) large enough to allow the fork to be inserted
into it. The guard is then secured to the fork by a pin which passes
through guard and fork and forms the axis upon which the guard moves
up and down. In this arrangement no slot or aperture is required in
the fork.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Duncan Preston Cunningham,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of
August One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.