IMPROVE- MENTS APPLICABLE TO APPARATUS FOR ROASTING MEAT AND OTHER EDIBLE SUBSTANCES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Thomas Moss, of Arundel Street, Strand, in
the County of Middlesex, Hotel Manager, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS APPLICABLE TO APPARATUS FOR ROASTING MEAT AND OTHER EDIBLE
SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 22nd December 1854, and dated the 21st July 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Thomas Moss at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
July 1854.
J, JOHN THOMAS Moss, of Arundel Street, Strand, in the County of
Middlesex, Hotel Manager, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO APPARATUS FOR ROASTING MEAT
AND OTHER EDIBLE SUBSTANCES " to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to construct spits and their appurtenances in
such a manner, that, although several joints may be roasting at one time, any
particular one may with facility be removed without disturbing the others; and
also to avoid the hole made in the meat by ordinary spits, which is both
unsightly and wasteful, or the compression of the meat by "cradle spits."
The shaft of the spit is slotted, and the holding dogs, whereby the joints are
supported, can therefore be moved nearer to or further from each other. These
dogs are held in the slotted spit by means of collars or wedges, and the points
of the dogs are also capable of moving laterally on their arms. Instead of
points, I sometimes make use of spring catches, which will hold such parts of

page_text: joints as the knuckles of legs or shoulders without making a hole in the joint.
The spit is also provided with a contrivance which will obviate the necessity of
employing any weight for counterbalancing the meat when mounted on the
spit, as by simply adjusting one end of the spit on a slot attached to the
driving wheel, the spit and its contents may be made to counterbalance
themselves, so that the apparatus is made adjustable. To effect this object,
one end of the spit, which is cranked,, is provided with a surface disc at or near
the extremity of the spit, which is passed through a hollow shaft, and a similar
disc on the end thereof, the two discs being so arranged that they may be
brought into surface contact and held there by a thumb screw at the end of
the spit shaft. The hollow shaft through which the end of the spit passes is
mounted in a moveable block, which is capable of sliding along a slot extending
across the chain wheel, whereby the spit is driven. This sliding block is
provided with an adjusting screw and nut, by turning which the position of the
block in the slot may be regulated, and the proper balance of the joints on the
spit adjusted with facility.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Thomas Moss in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th January 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
THOMAS Moss, of Arundel Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Hotel
Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of July, 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
John Thomas Moss, Her special licence that I, the said John Thomas Moss,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Thomas Moss, 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 APPLICABLE TO
APPARATUS FOR ROASTING MEAT AND OTHER EDIBLE SUBSTANCES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said John Thomas Moss, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain

page_text: 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 John Thomas Moss, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The spits in general use are of two kinds, called respectively "spear spits"
and "cradle spits." The spear spit has to be thrust through every joint
required to be roasted upon it, thereby producing a large hole through tho
centre of the meat, which is both unsightly and wasteful. Considerable skill
is necessary to pass the spit nicely through the joint, so that it shall balance
properly, and when several joints or pieces have to be roasted together upon
the same spit, the difficulty of balancing is greatly increased, and the cook finds
himself frequently under the necessity of re-spitting some of the joints, in order
to obtain uniform weight on every side of the spit during its rotation. Another
objection to this spit is found when one joint has to be taken from the fire
earlier than the others; for unless the joint to be removed be that which has
been last placed on the spit, others have to be taken off before the right one
can be unspitted, and the removal of one joint generally throws the remainder
out of balance, and the spit will not turn properly until the joints have been
re-adjusted.
With the "cradle spit" the same difficulties exist both with respect to the
removal of a joint and balancing; and although the hole in the meat is in this
case avoided, there is considerable pressure exerted by horizontal bars, which
impede the proper flow of the juices; the meat becomes heavy and deteriorated,
and loses in a great measure the chief advantages of horizontal roasting.
In the improved spit, which I now desire to secure by Letters Patent, all
these objections are entirely overcome. Any joint may be taken off or attached
without removing the others from the spit. There is no large hole through
the meat, neither is there any compression between collateral bars. The spit
is made self-adjusting, so that it can be balanced almost instantaneously,
however irregularly the joints may be placed upon it.
In order that my Invention may be clearly understood, I will now proceed
to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed. The same letters in the different
views have reference to similar parts of this Invention.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 a section, of my improved spit. Over
the main shaft A, A, which has a disc a firmly fixed thereon, is placed a loose

page_text: hollow shaft B, having a similar disc b attached. This.shaft B is, by preference,
square in transverse section, and allows the chain wheel C to move freely to
and from the discs a, b, but prevents the wheel itself turning on the shaft. This
hollow shaft B, with its disc b, is kept in close contact with the disc a by the
nut d, which travels on the tapped end of the shaft A at e. D is a crank; and
E, a slotted bar affixed thereto. This slotted bar is shewn in plan at. Fig. 3;
upon it the dogs (herein-after described) which carry the joints are placed. In
Fig. 3 the discs a, b, are seen apart. Fig. 4 is a face view of the chain wheel.
This, wheel has a moveable bearing c, which travels between guides d, d. The
shaft (B, Fig. 1,) is mounted in this bearing at è. f is a screw, fixed to the
bearing e, and working into the screw box g. This screw box is free to turn
in its bearings h, h, and by turning the end i with a key, the screw passes into
or out of the box g, according as it is turned to the right or to the left, carrying
the bearing c, and shaft (B, Fig. 1) at the same time nearer to or further from
the centre of the heavy rim k. It is this heavy rim k which acts as the
counterbalance to the irregularity of weight about the axis of the spit, occasioned
by placing the joints themselves out of balance.
Fig. 5 is a side elevation, and Fig. 6 is a plan; of one of my improved dogs,
drawn to a larger scale, for holding the joints' on the spit.' H is a standard,
having a sliding bar I passing through it. This bar can be held securely in
any part of its length by means of a wedge m, or other convenient means:
J, J; are prongs to be forced into the joint intendeil for roasting. The prong
J slides freely on the bar I, in order that its distance may be so regulated ifrom
the other that both prongs may enter the meat at the most suitable parts for
holding the meat securely and for avoiding the bones. The lower part of the
standard is of sufficient length to pass through the sletted bar. (E, Fig. 1.) A
wedge. M (Fig. 5), being driven into the opening L, fixes the dog firmly to the
bar. I sometimes place prongs on at right angles to those already described.
The dotted lines at Fig. 6 will shew the position they would then assume on
the dog. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of another kind of dog, which I find con-
venient for holding some descriptions of joints, such as the shanks of haunches
of mutton; the only differenco being that instead of securing the joints on
prongs, as in Fig. 6, they are held by the action of spring arms L, L, which
are fastened to the body of the standard at'n, n., The ends of these springs o, o,
can be raised a considerable distance, and will allow a part of the joint to pass
between them at p, where they cross each other, and on releasing the spring
arms the joint will be held securely.
་་་་་
The action of the spit is as follows:-The prongs of the dog, Figs. 5 and 6,
having been thrust into the meat intended for roasting, the dog with the joint

page_text: .'!
upon it is placed (as at, P, Figs., 1 and 2,) with its lower end passed through
the slotted bar, and the wedge M, being driven through the opening L, fastens
the dog in its proper position. The spit must now be suspended by any con-
venient means upon the kitchen table,; or. elsewhere, at r, r, and the discs a
and 6 separated, by releasing the nut d and withdrawing the shaft B a short
distance. The chain wheel then by its own gravity assumes such a position
that the heavy side will be downwards, and the cranked slotted bar with the
joint upon it will also by its gravitating force assume such a position that the
weight on either side of a line drawn vertically through the centre of the axis
A, A, will be equal to the weight on the opposite side, consequently the
weights on the two sides of the spit with the joint are equal. While the spit
remains suspended at,,, the dises a and b must be brought into close surface
contact by tightening the screw d.. (In large spits, on which heavy and nume-
rous joints have to be roasted, I affix a pin into one of the discs near the outer
edge, and bore a number of holes into the other at an equal distance from the
outer edge, so that the pin may take into any of the holes it may be opposite
to in its rotation. In bringing the discs together I insert the pin into the
nearest hole, and by this means render it impossible for one disc to rotate
without carrying the other with it; or the discs may be held together by a
thumb-screw or other convenient means). The spit with the joint may.now
be said to be "half balanced," and for the sake of distinction I will call this
the "vertical" balance. It is now necessary to obtain the "horizontal"
balance, which will complete the equilibrium throughout its entire rotation.
In order to obtain this "horizontal" balance I remove the wheel end of the
spit from its point of suspension at r, and place. the chain wheel on a flat
surface, such as a kitchen table. I then turn it one-fourth round, so that the
part of the wheel which was vertical in suspension shall now be horizontal.
If the spit and joint will not balance in this horizontal position, the wheel will
have a tendency to move to the right or left; I then turn the screw box g
by the key at i, so that the bush which carries the spit and joints will be
moved in the direction of the heaviest side of the spit; I thus make the chain
wheel become eccentric, and its heavier side counterbalance the heavier side
of the spit and joints, until the chain wheel itself remains at rest in the
"horizontal" position, when the spit will be found to balance properly in every
part of its rotation.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which it is
performed, I would observe that I do not confine myself to the precise details
of construction set forth in the Drawings as to the construction of the spit or
logs, nor to the mode of attaching the latter to the bar of the spit, so long as

page_text: the peculiar features of my Invention are adhered to; but what I claim and
desire to secure by Letters Patent is,―
First, a wheel, or its mechanical equivalent, which shall be capable of being
made more or less eccentric, to be used in combination with cranked, spear,
and other spits, for the purpose of securing their equilibrium or balance during
their entire rotation whilst carrying joints.
Second, the employment of dogs whose prongs are capable of sliding laterally
on their standards or supports, for the purpose of securing edible substances to
spits, as described; and also the employment of dogs with spring arms for the
like purpose.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Thomas Moss, have hereto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five..
JOHN T. MOSS. (L.B.)