A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OR CONTRIVANCE FOR HOLDING OR SUSPENDING THE LIDS OR COVERS OF VEGETABLE DISHES. WHICH IS APPLICABLE ALSO TO OTHER COVERED VESSELS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Toft, of Gravelly Hill, in the County of
Warwick, Modeller, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE
OR CONTRIVANCE FOR HOLDING OR SUSPENDING THE LIDS OR COVERS OF
VEGETABLE DISHES. WHICH IS APPLICABLE ALSO TO OTHER COVERED VESSELS."
Sealed the 12th April 1873, and dated the 6th November 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Toft at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th November 1872.
I, CHARLES TOFT, of Gravelly Hill, in the County of Warwick,
Modeller, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A
NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OR CONTRIVANCE FOR HOLDING OR SUSPENDING THE LIDS
OR COVERS OF VEGETABLE DISHES, WHICH IS APPLICABLE ALSO TO OTHER COVERED
VESSELS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is by the means herein-after described so to
hold or suspend the lids or covers of vegetable dishes or vessels of a like
character that they may at pleasure either rest firmly and securely in

page_text: the recess in the dish provided for them, or be raised to any required
height over the dish when it is wished to remove its contents.
My improvements consist substantially in providing a metal rod or
upright, the lower extremity of which goes through the centre of the
dish and is secured underneath by a screw or any other convenient
means. An aperture of proper size being made through the centre of
the cover the said cover is placed upon the dish, the said rod or upright
going through the centre aperture so provided in the cover, and it is
thus caused to rest securely within the recess in its dish, whilst the
aperture in the cover through which the rod passes being provided with 1
a suitable spring (which is by preference of a metallic character, though
in some cases india-rubber or some other elastic substance of a like
nature may be employed), the normal tendency of which is to press
inwards against the rod or upright, the said cover is caused to remain at
any elevation on the rod to which it may be raised. By preference a 1
hollow space or recess in the upper part of the rod may be provided in
which the cover may more readily take in when raised to a proper height,
but this is a matter of detail and is not essential..
As a modification of my Invention it may be in some cases desirable
to dispense with the spring with which the cover is generally fitted, and 2
which presses against the centre rod or upright as before explained; and
when this is so desired I cause the said rod or upright or that part of it
over which the cover works to be either fluted or beaded instead of
being quite concentric in shape. And the said cover having correspond-
ing raised parts or recesses (as the case may be) works smoothly over 2
the said rod or upright and is raised upon it in the same manner as
before described, but when raised to a sufficient height the said cover is
allowed to turn or partly turn upon the rod by means of the upper part
of the rod being of smaller circumference than its lower part, and being
made here concentric in form; the said cover upon being turned or 3
partly turned in this recess rests securely therein by reason of the .
beaded or raised parts of the centre of the cover coming against and
resting against the corresponding beads or raised parts of the rod or
upright.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Toft in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 5th May 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
TOFT, of Gravelly Hill, in the County of Warwick, Modeller, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-sixth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Charles Toft, Her special licence that I, the
said Charles Toft, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Charles Toft, 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 MODE OR CONTRIVANCE
FOR HOLDING OR SUSPENDING THE LIDS OR COVERS OF VEGETABLE DISHES,
WHICH IS APPLICABLE ALSO TO OTHER COVERED VESSELS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Charles Toft, 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 Charles Toft, 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 (that is to say) :-
The object of this Invention is by the means herein-after described so to
hold or suspend the lids or covers of vegetable dishes or other covered
vessels that they may at pleasure either rest firmly and securely in the
recess in the dish provided for them, or be raised to any required height
up the rod over the dish when it is wished to remove its contents.

page_text: My improvements consist substantially in providing a metal rod or
upright the lower extremity of which goes through the centre of the
dish, and is secured underneath by a screw or any other convenient
means. An aperture of proper size being made through the centre of
the cover the said cover is placed upon the dish, the said rod or upright
going through the centre aperture so provided in the cover, and it is
thus caused to rest securely within the recess in its dish, whilst the
aperture in the cover through which the rod passes being provided with
a suitable spring (which is by preference of a metallic character, though
in some cases india-rubber, or some other elastic substance of a like
nature may be employed), the normal tendency of which is to press
inwards against the rod or upright, the said cover is caused to remain at
any elevation on the rod to which it may be raised. By preference a
hollow space or recess in the upper part of the rod may be provided
and the same hollow space or recess may also be provided at suitable
distances upon the said rod, in either of which said spaces or recesses the
cover may more readily take in when raised to a proper height, but this
is a matter of detail and is not essential.
As a modification of my Invention it may be in some cases desirable
to dispense with the spring with which the cover is generally fitted, and
which presses against the centre rod or upright as before explained, and
when this is so desired I cause the said rod or upright or that part of it
over which the cover works, to be either fluted or beaded instead of
being quite concentric in shape, and the said cover having corresponding
raised parts or recesses (as the case may be) works smoothly over the
said rod or upright, and is raised upon it in the same manner as before
described, but when raised to a sufficient height the said cover is allowed
to turn or partly turn upon the rod by means of the upper part of the
rod being of smaller circumference than its lower part, and being made
here concentric in form the said cover upon being turned or partly
turned in this recess rests securely therein by reason of the beaded or
raised parts of the centre of the cover coming against and resting
against the corresponding beads or raised parts of the rod or upright.
My Invention is designed primarily for the lids or covers of vegetable
dishes or vessels of a like character, but it is obvious that it may be
applied to other purposes where it is convenient to have the lid or cover
of any covered vessel permanently attached to the body of the said
vessel instead of being detached and separate therefrom.

page_text: value.
That my Invention may be better understood I have annexed Drawings
thereof, which I now proceed to describe.
Fig. 1 is an external elevation; Fig. 2 a vertical section, and Fig. 3 a
plan of a vegetable dish constructed according to my Invention.
a is a metal rod or upright which passes through and is secured to the
centre of the dish 6 by means of the screw nut c, and the internal flange
or collar d. The cover e of the dish b has a central hole through which
the metal rod a passes, a lining or bush f and a screw cap g being by
preference fitted thereto. A spring ½ acting upon a slide or wearing
piece causes a grip upon the metal rod a sufficient to ensure the
suspension of the cover at any desired height.
Instead of relying wholly upon the friction of the slide i upon the
metal rod a, recesses or grooves k may be formed in the metal rod to
receive the internal edge of the slide i, the said slide i being forced into
either of the said recesses or grooves as soon as the cover is raised to a
proper height. By pressing the button the slide and its spring may
be forced backwards out of contact with the metal rod, and the cover
may be then easily raised or lowered. I do not however confine myself
to the details of the arrangements described above. Any mechanical
equivalent may be employed to cause the lid to be locked upon the
central metal rod a at any desired height.
Figs. 4, 5, and 6 shew a modification by which the spring is disposed
of altogether. a is the central rod, which in this case has a series of
flutes or grooves b, b, formed in it, or the rod may have any other shape
not concentric in section. The cover c has a central hole a large enough
to admit the exterior of the rod a, and at one part of the hole a pro-
jection e is formed, which projection is capable of sliding up and down
one of the grooves or flutes b, b, or other irregular non-concentric part
of the rod a. The top of the rod a is reduced in diameter so as to
allow the cover c to rotate thereon when raised sufficiently high, and so
as to form a ledge or shoulder upon which the projection e may rest
when it is desired to support the cover above the dish.

page_text: In some cases it may be convenient that the metal rod or upright a shall
not be continued through the body of the dish, and in these cases (which
occur where the whole of the body of the dish is desired to be reserved
for its contents) a metal bearing is thrown across from either side of the
dish, and the lower extremity of the rod or upright is then affixed therein
and secured to the centre of the same in the same manner, as though it
took into the centre of the dish as before described.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the manner
in which the same is or may be performed, I desire it to be understood
that without limiting myself to the precise details herein-before described
(as these may be varied or modified to some extent without departing
from the nature of my said Invention), what I desire to claim to be pro-
tected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the new or
improved mode or contrivance for holding or suspending lids or covers
for the purposes herein described, and which consists substantially in
bolding or suspending the said covers over the vessels to which they
may be applied by means of a central metal rod or upright, upon which
the said covers are free to slide upwards and downwards at pleasure,
and are locked or secured upon the said central metal rod at any desired
height, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in the
Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Toft, have hereunto set my
Witness,
G. R. HOLLAND,
Birmingham.
CHARLES TOFT. (L.S.)