Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Oct., 1886.
Complete Left, 7th Apr., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 10th May, 1887.
I, HERBERT ARTHUR COUCHMAN, of 7 Stanley Villas, Pembury Road, Tottenham,
in the County of Middlesex, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
In carving forks, as commonly constructed, the guard consists of a metallic bar, or
blade, centered at its lower end to that portion of the stem of the fork which is nearest
to the handle, being held in its raised, or lowered, position, as required, by means of a
spring. This spring is very liable to get out of order, or be broken, and consequently
the guard is soon rendered useless.
According to my present invention, I construct a guard of steel, or other suitable
material, which may be fitted to, or detached from, the fork at pleasure; the lower
part of such guard being so shaped as to fit the space between the two prongs of the
fork, and to embrace and clip over that portion of the fork which connects the said
prongs with the stem. The upper part of the guard is curved upwards so as to form
a protection to the hand of the person carving, and, if desired, may be so shaped as to
form a rest for the fork when it is laid upon the table. This improved guard may bo
easily detached from the fork by applying the thumb to its lower end and springing it
over the slight projection which is commonly found on the under side of the fork at
the part where the prongs are united to the stem. It will be understood that this
improved guard may be applied to a carving fork which has been rendered unsafe by
the breakage of the spring of the ordinary guard hereinbefore referred to.
When applying my invention to new carving forks, I sometimes form a slot, or
groove, with undercut sides in, or on, the cross bar, or stem, of the fork, for the
purpose of fitting my guard thereto. Or forks may be constructed in a variety of
ways in order to adapt them to my improved detachable guard.
Thated this Second day of October 1886
H. A. COUCHMAN.
Per W. H. Beck,
115, Cannon Street, London,
Agent.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Carving Forks and Safety Guards therefor.
I, HERBERT ARTHUR COUCHMAN, of 7 Stanley Villas, Pembury Road, Tottenham,
in the County of Middlesex, Engineer 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, reference being had to the accompanying
sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
In carving forks, as commonly constructed, the guards consist of a metallic bar or
blade hinged at its lower end to that portion of the stem of the fork which is nearest
to the handle, being held in its raised, or lowered position, as required, by means of a
spring. This spring is very liable to get out of order, or to be broken, and the
guard thereby rendered useless.
According to my present invention, I construct a guard of steel, or other suitable
inaterial, which may be applied to, or detached from, the fork at pleasure, as illustrated
in the drawings hereto annexed, in which Figure 1 represents a side view of a carving
fork with one of my detachable guards applied thereto; Figure 2 a back view of the
same, and Figures 3 and 4 side and front views respectively of the guard detached from
the fork.
A is the guard the lower part A¹ of which is so shaped as to pass between two
prongs B B of the fork and to embrace and clip over that portion of the fork which
connects the said prongs with the steni C. The upper part A' of the guard is curved
upwards and forwards so as to form a protection to the hand of the person carving.
The side cheeks D D serve to hold the guard securely in a central position on the
fork, preventing it from being displaced laterally, and if desired, these cheeks may be
prolonged downwards so that their ends may form a rest for the fork when it is laid
on the table, or any other suitable part of the guard may be prolonged for the same
purpose.
This improved guard may be easily detached from the fork by applying the thumb
to its extreme lower end A³, and springing the same over the slight projection E
which is commonly found on the underside of the fork at the part where the
prongs B B are united to the stem C. It will be understood that this improved guard
may be applied to new carving forks in substitution for the ordinary hinged guard, or
to forks which have been rendered unsafe by the breakage of the spring of the ordinary
guard, which guard will, by preference, have been removed in such case from its
slot F in the stem C.
When applying my invention to new carving forks, I sometimes form a slot or
groove with under cut or dovetailed sides in, or on, the cross bar, or stem of the fork
into which groove the lower part of my improved guard properly shaped for that

page_text: purpose, may be fitted instead of clipping over the portion of the fork which connects
the prongs to the stem as shown in the Drawings. Or forks may be constructed in
other ways in order to adapt them to my improved detachable guard.
The improved guard, as illustrated in the Drawings, is made of sheet metal, such as
steel for example, but it is obvious that it may be made of metal of other forms
such as wire for instance, or it may be stamped, forged, or cast, according to
circumstances.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:-
The detachable safety guard for application to old or new carving forks, constructed,
arranged and applied as herein before described, and illustrated in the Drawings hereto
annexed.