IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CUTTING AND CHOPPING BREAD AND OTHER SUBSTANCES."
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Oxley, of Garden Street, Sheffield, in the
County of York, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR CUTTING AND CHOPPING BREAD AND OTHER SUBSTANCES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Oxley at the
. Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
April 1862.
I, JAMES OXLEY, of Garden Street, Sheffield, in the County of York,
5 Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CUTTING AND CHOPPING BREAD AND OTHER
SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
apparatus for cutting, slicing, or chopping either bread, cheese, suet, vege-
tables, tobacco, leather, or any other substance capable of being cut by a
knife, and consists essentially in the employment of a knife which is connected
at each end to a lever vibrating on a centre on the table or base of the
apparatus. These levers may be of the same or different lengths respectively,
and may be worked either by hand or by the foot, as preferred. The material
to be cut is placed on a table, which may be made to travel under the knife
after each cut, or the table may remain stationary, and the material traversed
along it by means of a spring or by any self-acting contrivance actuated by

page_text: the knife mechanism. A-suitable guage is attached to the front lever of the
knife for the purpose of regulating the thickness of cut or the forward feed of
the substance. In some cases the table may be made to rotate, as, for
example, where it is used for chopping or mincing substances.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Oxley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th
October 1862.
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
OXLEY, of Garden Street, Sheffield, in the County of York, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Oxley, Her special license that I, the said James Oxley,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
James Oxley, my executors, administrators, or 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, exer-
cise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR CUTTING AND CHOPPING BREAD AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Oxley, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or
under the band and seal of one of them, 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 James Oxley, 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,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon, that is to say:―
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
apparatus for cutting, slicing, or chopping either bread, cheese, suet, vege-

page_text: tables, tobacco, leather, paper, or other substances of a like nature, and
consists essentially in the employment of a knife which is connected at each
end to a lever vibrating on a centre on the table or base of the apparatus, so
as to impart a draw cut to the knife. These levers may be of the same or
different lengths respectively, and may be worked either by hand or by
the foot, as preferred. The material to be cut is placed on a table or
platter, which may be made to travel under the knife after each cut, or the
table may remain stationary, and the material traversed along it by means of
a spring or by any self-acting contrivance actuated by the knife mechanism.
A suitable guage is attached to the front lever of the knife for the purpose of
regulating the thickness of cut or the forward feed of the substance. In
some cases the table or platter may be made to rotate, as, for example, where
it is used for chopping or mincing substances.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Sheet of Drawings represents a side elevation
of one form of my improved cutting or slicing apparatus; Figure 2 is a
corresponding plan of the same, partly in section; and Figure 3 is a back
elevation thereof.
A is the base of the apparatus, and B the cutting table for the reception of.
the loaf of bread or other substance intended to be cut on it; C is the knife,
which is jointed at its rear end to a lever or link D, the lower extremity of
which is centred at E upon a pivot or centre pin fixed to the base. The
front end of the knife is jointed to a second lever or link E working on a
fixed centre F in the base, and is provided with an actuating handle G.
When used as a bread slicer, a loaf FI is placed upon the table B,. being sup-
ported against the upright I, and pressed forward against a guage J by means
of a feed plate K acted upon by a spring or springs, L, L, contained inside the
table B. The guage J consists of an arm hinged at J¹ to the link or lever E,.
its forward end working to and fro through a slot or opening at M in the
upright I; against this guage the front end of the loaf is pressed by the
spring and feed, plate, herein-before referred to. The distance between
the
guage and the knife is always equal to the thickness of the slice cut off,
and this distance is regulated to suit any desired thickness of slice by making,
screw thread on the pin J', which connects the guage with the link E, and
forming a corresponding internal screw in the base of the guage arm, so

page_text: that by turning the screwed pin J', the guage may be moved nearer to or
further from the blade, the pin being held in a bearing a, a, at each end of
this bracket. The upright I, made of metal or wood, has a vertical guiding
slit made in it for the knife to work through, and to prevent this slit from
being worn, if made of wood, it may be faced on one side with a slotted metal
plate screwed to the upright itself. The feed plate K is formed in one piece,
with a handle K¹ for the facility of drawing it back, and is screwed to a metal
plate N sliding in a groove inside the table, the top of which table is remove-
able. O is a hinged catch attached to the sliding plate N, and capable of
having its front end depressed when the slide is drawn out for the purpose of
retaining it by abutting against the edge of the table or against a piece of
metal (Figure 1) screwed thereto. In order to allow of a long traverse of
the slide with a comparatively slight extension of the helical springs L, L, and
to compensate for their variable power at different degrees of extension, I
propose to connect these springs by means of a cord or gut P, P', and fuzee
and barrel Q, R. The cord P from the springs passes round the fuzee Q,
whilst the cord P', which is attached directly to the slide N, is wound round
the large barrel R, the fuzee and barrel being both fast on the same axis. A
loaf having been placed on the table B, and forced against the spikes c, c,
in the feed, the latter is released by raising the front end of the catch O, when
the loaf will be forced against the guage J, the latter being pushed forward
by reason of the elevated position of the knife. By depressing the handle G,
the knife is simultaneously depressed and drawn forward, thus making a
downward and a forward or draw cut, and severing a slice from the end of
the loaf. The slice so cut is separated or pushed from the end of the loaf by
means of an inclined piece or ridge S attached to the blade of the knife. As
the knife descends the guage is drawn back clear of the loaf, and when it is
raised again for the next cut, the guage advances in readiness for the next
cut, and the loaf is pressed against it by the action of the springs, as herein-
before described. In some cases, if desired, the guage may be dispensed with,
as well as the self-acting feeding mechanism, the loaf being fed forward by
the hand of the operator, so as to cut any size of slice required.
Figure 4 represents a slide elevation of a modified form of apparatus, in
which the back lever or link D is replaced by an inclined slotted bracket or
arm D fixed to the base or side of the table. In the slot Q of this bracket or
arm slides a pin passed through the end of the knife, so that as the blade is
depressed and drawn forward to make a cut by the action of the handle G, its
rear end will slide down the guiding slot d, and produce the draw cut desired.
The front end of the knife is attached, as before described, to a link or

page_text: lever E, but the fulcrum of this link is brought nearer the front by the base
plate. The tension of the feeding springs is regulated, as shewn in Figure 2,
by a stationary screw T and a nut U travelling along it, which nut forms the
attachment for the spring or springs.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used, or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general construction and arrangement of apparatus for cutting,
slicing, chopping, or mincing bread and other substances, as herein-before
described and illustrated by my Drawings.
Second, the combination of a knife blade with two links or levers, or their
equivalents, so disposed as to give a downward draw cut, in the manner and
for the purpose herein-before described.
Third, the combination of a guage and self-acting feed mechanism in
apparatus for cutting bread and other substances, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Oxley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
JAMES OXLEY. (L.S.)