IMPROVEMENTS IN NUT CRACKERS.
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Ireland, of Handsworth, in the County
of Stafford, Manager of Works, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN NUT CRACKERS.
"
Scaled the 8th April 1870, and dated the 25th October 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Ireland at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th October 1869.
I, GEORGE IRELAND, of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford,
Manager of Works, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN NUT-CRACKERS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in constructing nut-crackers in the manner
herein-after described, whereby the said nut-crackers are made capable of
cracking nuts of different sizes without the necessity of turning back the
arms or levers as is required in ordinary nut-crackers; besides this
advantage there is no tendency in the nut to slip or escape from the said
nut-crackers during use.
In constructing nut-crackers according to my Invention I use two.
levers as usual, but instead of jointing them at their extreme ends I

page_text: joint them a short distance from their ends so as to form arms of unequal
lengths, the said levers crossing each other and being jointed by a joint
somewhat similar to that of a pair of ordinary forceps. The arms of the
levers situated above and below the joint are made to form the gripping
parts of the nut-cracker by which the nuts are cracked, that is to
say, the short arms of the levers above the joint are made of a cup shape,
the concave sides of the cupped arms being presented to each other.
Between these arms a small nut may be cracked, the concave figure of
the said arms preventing the nut slipping from between them in use.
Immediately below the joint the levers are made of a curved or bow
figure, the said curved or bow parts being terminated by handles. The
concave sides of the bows described are presented to each other and
enclose a space greater than that enclosed by the short cupped arms
above the joint.
The gripping parts last described are suited for cracking large nuts
such as wallnuts. The concave or acting faces of these gripping parts
are hollowed out for the purpose of preventing the slipping of the nuts
from between them during use.
The position of the acting parts may be reversed, that is to say, the
larger gripping parts may be situated above the joint and the smaller
gripping parts below the joint, but I prefer the arrangement first
described.
Nut-crackers of the construction described may be made wholly of
metal or partly of metal and partly of a non-metallic material.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Ireland in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th April 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
IRELAND, of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford, Manager of Works,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give

page_text: and grant unto me, the said George Ireland, Her special licence that I,
the said George Ireland, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said George Ireland, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN NUT-CRACKERS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said George Ireland, 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 Ireland, 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 Invention consists in constructing nut-crackers in the manner
herein-after described, whereby the said nut-crackers are made capable
of cracking nuts of different sizes without the necessity for turning
back the arms or levers as is required in ordinary nut-crackers. Besides
this advantage there is no tendency in the nut to slip or escape from
the said nut-crackers during use,
In constructing nut-crackers according to my Invention I use two
levers as usual, but instead of jointing them at their extreme ends I
joint them a short distance from their ends so as to form arms of unequal
lengths, the said levers crossing each other, and being jointed by a joint
somewhat similar to that of a pair of ordinary forceps. The arms of
the levers situated above and below the joint are made to form the
gripping parts of the nut-cracker by which the nuts are cracked, that
is to say, the short arms of the levers above the joint are made of a cup
shape, the concave sides of the cupped arms being presented to each
other. Between these arms a small nut may be cracked, the concave
figure of the said arms preventing the nut slipping from between them
in use. Immediately below the joint the levers are made of a curved or
bow figure, the said curved or bow parts being terminated by handles.

page_text: The concave sides of the bows described are presented to each other, and
enclose a space greater than that enclosed by the short cupped arms
above the joint.
The gripping parts last described are suited for cracking large nuts,
such as walnuts. The concave or acting faces of these gripping parts
are hollowed out for the purpose of preventing the slipping of the nuts
from between them during use. The position of the acting parts may
be reversed, that is to say, the larger gripping parts may be situated
above the joint and the smaller gripping parts below the joint, but I
prefer the arrangement first described.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 represent several nut-crackers constructed
according to my Invention, Figure 1 representing a front elevation of
one form of my Invention, and Figures 2 and 3 side elevations of
another form of my Invention but of different ornamental patterns.
I will first describe the nut-cracker represented in Figure 1; a, a,
b, 62, are the two levers of the nut-cracker terminated by the handles
d, d. The said levers cross each other a short distance from their ends,
and are jointed together where they cross by the joint c. The arms
a, b, of the levers a, a, b, b, above the joint c, and the arms a², 62, of
the said levers below the joint c, constitute the gripping parts by which
the nuts are cracked. The gripping parts a, b, above the joint are made
of a cup shape, the concave sides being presented to each other as repre-
sented. The gripping parts a, b, below the joint are made of a curved
or bow figure, the said parts being terminated by the handles d, d. The
gripping parts a, b, are suited for cracking small nuts, and the larger
gripping parts a², 62, are suited for cracking large nuts, such as walnuts.
The concave or acting faces of the gripping parts a, b, are hollowed out for
the purpose of preventing the slipping of the nuts from between them
The same object is obtained in the gripping parts a, b, by
their cupped figure.
during use.
The nut-crackers represented in Figures 2 and 3 are constructed in
the manner described with respect to Figure 1, excepting that in place
of making the larger gripping parts a², b², of an open curved or bow
figure, as represented in the said Figure 1, the said larger gripping parts
are made of a cup figure similar to the smaller gripping parts above the

page_text: joint. The parts of the nut-crackers, Figures 2 and 3, are marked with
the same letters of reference as corresponding parts in Figure 1. The
concave figure of the gripping parts above and below the joints of the
nut-crackers, Figures 2 and 3, is represented in the sections at Figure 3.
The position of the gripping parts a, b, a, b, of the nut-crackers
may be reversed, that is, the larger gripping parts a², 62, may be situated
above the joint c, and the smaller gripping parts a, b, below the said
joint.
The nut-crackers may be made of any desired ornamental pattern,
and wholly of metal and partly of metal and partly of a non-metallic
material.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illus-
trated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
my Invention; but I claim as my Invention the improvements in nut-
crackers herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing, that is to say, constructing nut-crackers of two levers made
to cross each other at a short distance from their ends and jointed
together where they cross the parts of the levers above and immediately
below the joint forming the gripping or acting portions by which the
nuts are cracked, substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Ireland, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Thirteenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
GEORGE IRELAND. (L.S.)