AN TMPROVEMENT IN NUT CRACKERS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Isaiah James Machin, of Leigh Street, in
the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN
TMPROVEMENT IN NUT CRACKERS"
Sealed the 26th July 1853, and dated the 9th February 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Isaiah James
Machin at the Office of the Commissioners. of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 9th February 1853.
I, ISAIAH JAMES MACHIN, of Leigh Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN NUT CRACKERS" to be as follows:-
My improvement relates to screw nut crackers, wherein the nut
is cracked between the interior of a ring and the head of a screw,
which passes through a female screw or nut, tapped in one side of
the ring, and compresses the nut between it and the ring.
The head of such screw has hitherto been made a fixture, whereby
the kernel of the nut is liable to be crushed after the shell has been
cracked. Now my improvement consists in making the head of the

page_text: screw moveable, or capable of turning around its axis, whereby the
head of the screw remains steady during the time the screw is
being turned, and thus obviates the above disadvantage.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said Isaiah James Machin in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 9th August 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
ISAIAH JAMES MACHIN, of Leigh Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Isaiah James Machin, Her special
licence that I, the said Isaiah James Machin, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, .or such others as I, the said Isaiah James
Machin, my executors, administrators, an dassigns, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN NUT CRACKERS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I,the said Isaiah James Machin, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Isaiah James Machin, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-

page_text: tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to
the drawings annexed, that is to say:
My said Invention has relation to that description of nut crackers
called "Screw Nut Crackers," wherein the nut is cracked between
the interior of a ring of metal or other suitable material, and the
head.
ead.or, end of a screw, which passes through a female screw or nut
tapped in one side of the ring, and compresses the nut against the
interior of the ring. The pressing end or head of such screw has
hitherto been made a fixture; whereby the kernel of the nut is
liable to be crushed after the shell has been cracked. Now my
Invention consists in making the pressing end or head of the screw
in nut crackers of this description moveable, or capable of turning
around its axis; by which arrangement the head of the screw
remains steadily in contact with the nut, during the time the screw
is being turned, instead of turning with the screw as heretofore, and
thus the kernel of the nut is preserved from being broken or crushed
after the shell has been cracked.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS..
Figure 1, is a side view, and Figure 2, a section of a screw nut
cracker having my improvement applied thereto. A, is the ring;
B, the screw which passes through the female screw or nut C,
tapped in the side of the ring; D, is the pressing end of the screw,
which is capable of turning around the pin or screw a, as above
explained, and is also attached to the screw B, by means of that pin
or screw; E, is an ornamental thumb piece, by which the screw B
is turned; F, is that part of the ring against which the nut is
pressed whilst being cracked, and which is made rather wider than
the other parts of the ring, and roughened slightly, for the purpose
of preventing the nut from slipping.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that
what I claim is-
The improvement in screw nut crackers produced by making the
pressing end or head of the screw moveable, or capable of turning

page_text: around its axis, as represented in the Drawings, and herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Isaiah James Machin, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of August,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
ISAIAH JAMES MACHIN. (L.S.)
ISAIAH JAMES MACHIN. (L.S.)