in the construction of Carving Forks
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 31st May, 1887
Complete Left, 29th Feb., 1888
Complete Accepted, 29th Mar:, 1888
I, HANBURY JOHN HENRY THOMAS of Woodbank, Dore, County of Derby
Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention of improvements in the construction of Carving Forks, relates
particularly to guards of such forks, which are so constructed that when the prongs
of the fork are forced into a joint of meat (for example) the guard is automatically
raised from the horizontal to the vertical position, remaining in that position so
long as there is pressure on the handle and when withdrawn the guard automatically
closes.
This action is accomplished by making the prongs with a shank having a limited
sliding movement inside the body of the fork in which it is encased and which is
attached to the handle, the end of the shank being attached by any suitable joint, to
the lower part of the guard, in such a manner that when the prongs and shank are
pushed back, the guard is turned upon its axis and the guard finger is raised to the
desired position, which is the extent of its movement in that direction. When the
prongs are drawn in the opposite direction to extract the fork from the meat,
the guard falls back into its horizontal or closed position, this may also be accom-
plished by the action of a spring (or other method), placed at the back of the shank
of the prongs, or in any suitable position, or it may be allowed to slip back by the
weight of the prongs.
The body of the fork may be secured to the handle by means of a tang or other
ordinary method or where a metallic handle is used, the body and the handle may be
made in one piece.
ROBT. F DRURY,
Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: I, HANBURY JOHN HENRY THOMAS of Woodbank, Dore, County of Derby
Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
My invention of improvements in the construction of Carving Forks, relates more.
particularly to the guards of such forks and to the manner of raising the guards to
the position required when in use, and in order that the invention may be clearly
understood, I have illustrated it in the annexed sheet of drawings.
Fig. 1. is a partly sectional view of a fork showing the working parts when the
guard is closed.
Fig. 2. the same when the guard is open.
Fig. 3. plan of the sliding prongs.
Fig. 4. the push piece.
I construct the guard and the body of the fork in such a manner that the act of
forcing the prongs into a joint of meat will raise the guard automatically from the
horizontal or closed position to the vertical or open position.
To accomplish this result, I construct the metallic portion of the fork in two
principal parts, namely the body to which the guard is secured and which is attached
to the handle by the usual means, and the prongs which are connected to a shank..
The body is marked A in Figs. 1 & 2, the prongs and shank being marked B, and
also shown separately in Fig. 3.
The body is made hollow or tubular, and has a slot or opening, through which the
butt end of the guard is placed, and is secured by means of a cross pin upon which it
works.
The end of the shank B is fitted into the opening of the body A, and is capable of
a short longitudinal sliding movement; it is also provided with a slot C, through
which the butt end of the guard passes as shown in Figs. 1 & 2, the slot C is seen in
Fig. 3. A portion of the shank is also cut away at D, so as not to engage with the
cross pin, but to permit the sliding movement of the shank B, before mentioned.
In the opening or slot C, I fix a pushpiece E, which when the prongs are pushed
back and into the body; engages with the guard and forces it into an upright or
open position, as shown in Fig. 2, but on withdrawing the fork from the meat, the two
parts A & B are drawn back to their normal position and the guard falls to its closed
position as shown in Fig. 1.
Although I have described and shown one method of carrying my invention into
effect, the details of construction may be considerably varied without departing from
my invention, thus instead of a push piece acting against the front of the guard, a
short connecting piece may be connected to the back of the guard and to the end of
the tang B, by which the same result would be attained.
The fork may be made of any suitable metal, or combination of materials.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim, is :-
1-A carving fork, having a tubular body A, and a sliding part B, connected with
the prongs, arranged to automatically raise the guard, substantially as described and
illustrated.
2-A carving fork having a sliding movement so arranged that when pressure is
put upon the prongs the guard will be automatically raised, substantially as herein-
before described.
ROBT. F. DRURY,
Agent for the Applicant.