IMPROVEMENTS IN CARVING FORKS WITH GUARDS."
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Fead Mosley, of Sheffield, in the County of York,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARVING FORKS WITH GUARDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Fead Mosley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th March 1879.
ROBERT FEAD MOSLEY, of Sheffield, in the County of York. “IMPROVEMENTS IN
CARVING-FORKS WITH GUARDS."
i
These improvements relate to guards for carving-forks, and consist in making
the guard with two prongs or legs, so that the connection between the guard
and the shank of the fork will be outside the said shank, thus admitting of the
shank being solid and not recessed as now ordinarily made; between the two
prongs or legs of the guard and formed therewith or fitted thereto is a spring
(or springs), the end of which bears on the shank, or in a recess formed in the
shank when the guard is placed in position for use, and the flat side of which acts
on the shank when the guard is out of use to keep the said guard in position along
or on the shank or bearing on the root of the prong of the fork. The guard may
be of the ordinary length, or the prongs or legs of the said guard may be extended
beyond the shank, and be of such a length as to form a rest which will keep the
shank and prongs of the fork clear of the table when the guard is open or in
position for use. The prongs of the guard can be connected together at their ends,
and the spring (or springs) can be so formed with or fitted to the guard as to act
on the under or upper side or both sides of the shank of the fork.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Robert Fead Mosley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 26th
September 1879.
ROBERT FEAD MOSLEY, of Sheffield, in the County of York. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CARVING FORKS WITH GUARDS."
These improvements consist in making the guard with two prongs or legs, so
that the connection between the guard and the shank of the fork will be outside
the said shank, thus admitting of the shauk being solid and not recessed as now
ordinarily made; between the two prongs or legs of the guard and formed there-
with or fitted thereto is a spring, the end of which bears on the shank when the
guard is placed in position for 'use, and the flat side of which acts on the shank
when the guard is out of use to keep the said guard in position along the shank.
The prongs or legs of the guard are extended beyond the shank, and are of such a
length as to form a rest which will keep the shank and prongs of the fork clear of
the table when the guard is open or in position for use.
In the accompanying Sheet of Drawings Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 are views of a
carving fork with my improved guard; Figure 1 is a side view in elevation with
the guard in position for use; Figure 2 is a side view in elevation with the guard
lying on the shank of the fork in the position it occupies when it is-out-of use;
Figure 3 is a plan of the fork and guard, the said guard being in the position it
occupies when out of use; Figure 4 is a front view of the guard showing the shank
of the fork in cross section.
A is the handle of the fork; B, the shank of the fork; C, the prongs of the fork;
Dis the improved guard; E, the spring of the guard formed in one piece with the
said guard; G is a pin fixed into the shank of the fork upon which the guard D.
turns H is the bolster of the fork; X, Y, is a dotted line showing the surface of
the table.
When the guard D is out of use it lays along the shank B, and the spring E acts
on the said shank and keeps the guard secure in this position; but when the guard
is required to assume a vertical position as shewn in Figure 1, the said guard is
turned on the pin or axis G until the end of the spring E enters the V shaped
recess between the axis G and the bolster H, where it will remain until pressure is
exerted to force the guard back again on to the shank of the fork, as in Figure 2.
Having now clearly described and ascertained the nature and object of my said
Invention, and specified in what manner the same is to be or may be performed and
carried into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in
part recited Letters Patent, "Improvements in Carving Forks with Guards," the
said forks having solid shanks, and the said guards having a spring in combination
therewith, as hereinbefore specified and described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Fead Mosley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty third day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.