Improvements in Lemon Squeezers.
Year: 1889

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Date of Application, 20th Mar.. 1889
Complete Specification Left, 19th Dec., 1889-Accepted, 25th Jan., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Lemon Squeezers.
I, CORNELIUS CHAMBERS, of 13, Great Charles Street, Birmingham, Warwickshire,
Beer Machine Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention consists of the herein described improvements in lemon squeezers
which enable the juice of a lemon or of several lemons to be extracted in a very
short time.
In carrying out my invention I arrange for the lemon to be rolled between
surfaces one or both of which are arranged to move and are so shaped that, as the
lemon rolls along, the said surfaces become gradually nearer together thus causing the
lemon to be elongated and the juice thoroughly squeezed therefrom.
The said surfaces between which the lemon is rolled and squeezed may be
constructed and arranged in various ways such for instance as the following:-
:-
In this example of my invention I provide a roll by preference made of wood and
grooved or roughened on its periphery this roll is mounted on an axle revolving in
suitable bearings and provided with a suitable handle by which it can be turned.
Partly surrounding this roll is a trough by preference of semicircular form in which
the said roll is mounted eccentrically so that there is a space between the roll and
the top of the trough for the insertion of a lemon this space gradually diminishing
until at the bottom the trough almost touches the roll. A suitable spring or springs
is or are provided to act upon the spindle of he roll and press it downwardly towards
the bottom of the trough. The periphery of the roll forms one of the said surfaces
and the inside of the trough forms the other surface the inside of the trough being
grooved or roughened similarly to the surface of the roll. To squeeze a lemon the
end is usually first cut off and the lemon placed between the roll and the upper
side of the trough; on the roll being set in motion the lemon rolls round between
the roll and the surface of the trough and as these surfaces gradually become nearer
together the juice is squeezed from the lemon and runs out at the bottom of the
trough where as the roll continues to turn the spent lemon passes out also. The said
spring or springs which act upon the axle of the roll enable the machine to adapt
itself to lemons of various sizes and to give an uniform pressure on the lemon.
Instead of employing a revolving circular roll with the curved or trough shaped
surface as above described a sector or part of a roll may be used to oscillate to and
fro and the surface of this sector may gradually extend from the axis in a spiral form;
and the other or outer surface instead of being curved or trough shaped may be
straight. Or the two surfaces between which the lenon is rolled and squeezed may
both be straight one of them being inclined towards the other so that as the lemon
is rolled along the surfaces gradually become nearer together to extract the juice as
above described.
The object of grooving or roughening the surfaces above described is to enable
them to have a better grip upon the lemon.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Lemon Squeezers.
I, CORNELIUS CHAMBERS, of 13, Great Charles Street, Birmingham, Warwickshire,
Beer Machine Manufacturer, 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 :-
This invention has reference to lemon squeezers and it consists in the herein
described improvements in the same by which the lemon is rolled between two
surfaces which are so shaped that, as the lemon rolls along, the said surfaces become
gradually nearer together thus causing the lemon to be elongated and the juice
thoroughly squeezed therefrom.
On the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 represents in side elevation, Fig. 2 in front
elevation, and Fig. 3 in sectional side elevation, a lemon squeezer constructed
according to this invention ;. Fig. 4 represents in sectional side elevation, Fig. 5 in
side elevation, and Fig. 6 in plan a modified form of my invention.
The same letters of reference indicate the same or corresponding parts in all the
Figures of the drawings.
Referring firstly more particularly to the example illustrated by Figs. 1, 2 and 3,
I provide a roll a by preference made of wood and grooved or roughened on its
periphery and mounted on an axle b revolving in slotted bearings c¹² fixed to the
outer trough shaped frame d which is by preference made of wood and provided
with a suitable base d' by which it can be fixed to a counter e or otherwise suitably
supported. The shaft bis provided with a handle by which it can be turned.
Partly surrounding the roll a is a trough fitting in the outer casing d and made in
this example of semicircular form in which the roll a is mounted eccentrically su
that there is a space between the roll and the top of the inside of the trough for the
insertion of a lemon this space gradually diminishing until at the bottom the trough
almost touches the roll. The trough g is preferably made of glazed pottery-ware
so as to prevent its being acted upon by the lemon juice. The lower part of the
trough g is carried forward and made of a cup like form and perforated at g² for the
lemon juice to run through. Springs connected to the axle a and to studs j
fixed to the frame y act upon the spindle band the roll a and press the roll down-
wardly towards the bottom of the trough g. The periphery of this roll a forms one
of the said surfaces and the inside of the trough y forms the other surface the latter
surface being either smooth or grooved or otherwise roughened in any suitable
manner.
To squeeze a lemon the end of the same is first cut off and the lemon placed in the
space between the roll a and the inner upper side of the trough g the axis of the
lemon being about parallel with the axle b; on the roll being turned in the direction
shown by the arrow in Figs. 1 and 3 the lemon will roll round between the roll and
the surface of the trough y and as these surfaces gradually become nearer together
the juice is squeezed from the lemon and runs out through the holes y at the bottom
of the trough g and as the roll continues to turn the spent lemon passes out into the
cup g. The springs act upon the axle of the roll and enable the machine to
adapt itself to lemons of various sizes and to give an uniform pressure on the same;
but if desired the said springs may be dispensed with and in this case the bearings
for the axle 6 are made to fit the axle and maintain it in one position instead of being
slotted to allow of a side movement. The object of grooving or roughening the said
surface or surfaces is to enable them to have a better grip upon the lemon.
Instead of employing the revolving circular roll a in combination with the curved
or trough shaped surface g, as above described, it will be evident that a sector or part
of a roll may be used therewith and in this case the handle instead of turning round
would be simply moved in an arc to and fro. Moreover the surface of the sector
instead of forming part of the circumference of a circle can be arranged in somewhat
of a spiral form so that its distance from the axis b will gradually increase, and the

page_text: other or outer surface instead of being curved or trough shaped may be straight, as
in the example illustrated by Figs. 4, 5 and 6, where a is the toothed sector mounted
on the axle band arranged to be moved to and fro by the handle, the axle & being
carried by a frame d in which fits the pottery-ware part 9' provided with the flat or
approximately flat surface . It will be seen that the operation in this example is
similar to that herein before described and illustrated by Figs. 1, 2 and 3, that is to
say, the lemon is first placed between the curved surface a' and the flat surface g*
(see Fig. 4) and then when the handle fis pushed down the sector a will cause the
lemon to gradually roll down between the surface of the sector al and the surface g*
until the lemon roaches the lowest point (see Fig. 5) when the juice will have been
thoroughly squeezed out.
In conclusion would have it understood that I do not limit myself to the precise
details herein described and illustrated as the same may be varied without departing
from the nature of my invention.
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. The improvements in lemon squeezers hereinbefore described and illustrated by the
accompanying drawings, which consist in the employment of a roll or sector mounted
so as to be capable of angular movement in combination with a curved or flat surface
fixed a short distance therefrom, and with or without a spring or springs for pressing
the roll or sector towards the said flat or curved surface, these parts being so arranged
that when a lemon is inserted between the roll or sector and the flat or curved
surface, and the roll or sector is turned, the lemon will be rolled around and squeezed
between the said surface and the outer surface of the roll or sector, substantially as
and for the purpose set forth.
2. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the improved lemon
squeezer berein before described and illustrated by Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying
drawings.
3. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the improved lemon
squeezer hereinbefore described and illustrated by Figs. 4, 5 and 6 of the accompanying
drawings.
Dated this 18th day of December 1889.