IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OPENING OYSTERS, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR CUTTING OR SLICING BREAD AND OTHER SUBSTANCES AND FOR BREAKING HARD SUBSTANCES GENERALLY
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edwin Powley Alexander at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th November 1874.-A communication from abroad by Eugene
Louis Alfred Ménier, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
I, EDWIN POWLEY ALEXANDER, of 14, Southampton Buildings, in the
County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR OPENING OYSTERS, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR CUTTING OR SLICING BREAD
AND OTHER SUBSTANCES AND FOR BREAKING HARD SUBSTANCES GENERALLY," a
communication to me from abroad by Eugene Louis Alfred Ménier, of
Paris, in the Republic of France, to be as follows :—
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement
of apparatus for opening oysters, cutting or slicing bread, vegetables,
and other substances, and for breaking lump sugar and other hard
substances generally in a more effective and expeditious manner than
heretofore, which apparatus moreover may be efficiently used as an
oyster opener by persons who are unexperienced in the art of opening
oysters.

page_text: The improved apparatus consists essentially of a fixed knife and a
moveable cup shaped or other holder or support, or vice versa, the knife
being caused to penetrate between the shells of the oyster when used as
an oyster opener by passing through the hinge thereof, so as to
subdivide the ligament, thus leaving the shells of the oyster free to be
separated. The cup shaped holder is by preference moveable and the
knife fixed horizontally, but capable of adjustment to suit different sizes
of oysters. This knife, which is broad and pointed, is fixed in an upright
bracket opposite to the cup shaped holder which receives the lip of the
oyster about to be opened. The said holder is formed on the short
vertical arm of a bent lever which works on a fulcrum below. The
long arm of this lever is provided with a suitable handle and with a
counterweight adjustable or not along the arm of the lever. The whole
is mounted on a wooden or other convenient stand, and when required
for use the oyster is placed between the point of the knife and the cup
shaped holder, having its flat shell uppermost. The point of the knife
having been nicely adjusted between the shells at the hinge and the
oyster held by hand horizontally with its lip bearing against the concave
surface of the holder, the long arm of the bent lever is depressed, thereby
moving the holder forcibly towards the knife, which is then compelled to
penetrate between the shells, first dividing the hinge, and then as it passes
onwards immediately beneath the flat shell detaching the molusc
therefrom leaving the shells free to be separated.
It is obvious that various mechanical contrivances may be substituted
for the bent lever for actuating the holder or the knife as the case may
be, such, for example, as a screw spindle or a wedge or incline motion,
also that by employing a knife or tool adapted to the particular purpose
required, the same apparatus may be used for cutting or slicing bread,
vegetables, and other like substances, and for breaking lump sugar and
hard substances generally.