Improvements in Oyster Openers.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Feb., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 4th Nov., 1893-Accepted, 9th Dec., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Oyster Openers.
I, ROBERT LETHBRIDGE TAPSCOTT of 62 Croxteth Road, Liverpool in the
County of Lancaster Civil Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
Improvements in oyster openers consisting of a curved bar, with one end working
in a grooved frame; and having attached to the middle a steel blade; and
terminating at the other end with a handle. The oyster is held in position by a
pair of pincers; and by means of moveable blocks it is brought to the height,
required by the stop-block, which checks the fall of the handle and the depth of
penetration of the blade.
Dated this Fourth day of February 1893.
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R. LETHBRIDGE TAPSCOTT.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Oyster Openers.
I ROBERT LETHBRIDGE TAPSCOTT of 62 Croxteth Road Liverpool in the
County of Lancaster Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this inven
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The object of my invention is to provide means whereby oysters may be opened.
For this purpose I provide a knife fixed to a rectangular bar of iron, with a handle
at one end and at the other end fixed to a base plate by means of a pivot passing
through and kept in place by brackets. Between the pivot and the attachment for
the knife the bar is bent so that the two parts are at right angles to each other.
An iron plate is fixed to the base plate to receive the thin end of the shells of the
oyster. In order to control the distance, the knife is required to descend, a stop-
block is provided having a projection at its lower end sliding in a groove in an
upright bar to which it is secured by a screw passing through both. The knife is
screwed to a collar sliding on the rectangular bar which is kept in place by a screw
through its top.
The accompanying drawings shew the apparatus.
Figure 1. elevation.
Figure nlan
Figure 3. knife.
The different parts are denoted by the following letters :-L rectangular bar,.
H handle, C pivot, R collar attaching knife to rectangular bar, K knife, D brackets,
fixed to base plate and supporting pivot, O oyster, P pincers holding oyster, A. iron
plate, B base plate, S stop-block sliding on upright, U grooved upright fixed to
base plate, T screw holding stop-block to upright.
In applying this invention the oyster is placed in the pincers P with the
narrow hinged end of the shells uppermost and the curved shell towards the pivot
and the flat shell towards the handle, and in this position it is placed in the
apparatus thus having the thin broad end of the shells resting on the plate A. It.
is then inclined so as to correspond with the direction of the knife and as the
handle H is pressed down the knife descends and severs the hinge holding the two.
shells together, it then descends further, when by controlling the pincers, the point
is kept towards the flat shell till it meets the muscle of the oyster which it severs.
near its attachment to the flat shell.
Figure 3. knife.
The different parts are denoted by the following letters :-L rectangular bar,.
H handle, C pivot, R collar attaching knife to rectangular bar, K knife, D brackets,.
fixed to base plate and supporting pivot, O oyster, P pincers holding oyster, A. iron
plate, B base plate, S stop-block sliding on upright, U grooved upright fixed to
base plate, T screw holding stop-block to upright.
In applying this invention the oyster O is placed in the pincers P with the
narrow hinged end of the shells uppermost and the curved shell towards the pivot
and the flat shell towards the handle, and in this position it is placed in the
apparatus thus having the thin broad end of the shells resting on the plate A. It.
is then inclined so as to correspond with the direction of the knife and as the
handle H is pressed down the knife descends and severs the hinge holding the two
shells together, it then descends further, when by controlling the pincers, the point
is kept towards the flat shell till it meets the muscle of the oyster which it severs.
near its attachment to the flat shell.

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The flat shell is then loose and the oyster remains in the curved shell so that
when the pincers are opened the shells fall away separately. The stop-block is
provided to save the knife point from striking the plate A or to limit its descent.
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 :-
The combination of the mechanical appliances for severing the hinge holding the
shells of the oyster together, substantially as and for the purpose herein described
and-shown-upon-the-drawings.
Dated this Third day of November 1902
R. LETHBRIDGE TAPSCOTT.