The Cam-Lever Lemon Squeezer: A Cam on a Shaft Presses the Plunger, Springs Lift It

"Two standards, E E, are attached to the frame A, one on each side, in the upper portions of which standards are bearings for a shaft, f, to which is attached, midway of its length, a cam-lever, G, arranged for contact of its face or bearing-surface with the upper side of the board or plate, which carries the plunger. J is a spring, which may be of rubber or metal, having its lower end attached to the board or plate C, and its upper end attached to the standard E." "When the cam-lever G is depressed its face or bearing-surface presses upon the board or plate C, and forces the plunger into the bowl upon the lemon."

**Frame and bowl.** Make a hardwood board frame on four legs, tall enough for a dish beneath, with a hole in it. Fit a tin-can bowl with a punched base into the hole. **Plate and plunger.** Hinge a hardwood plate to one end of the frame with a butt hinge, and screw a hardwood plunger to its underside so it enters the bowl. **Standards and cam.** Screw two hardwood standards to the frame's sides beside the plate and run a steel rod across between them as the shaft f. Cut a hardwood cam lever with a curved face whose distance from the shaft grows by about 15 mm over 60° of turn, drill it for the shaft, and fix it in the middle of the rod with a pin. **Springs.** Hook two extension springs from the plate to the standards so they lift the plate when the cam is raised. **Test.** Put a half lemon in the bowl over a dish and press the lever down. Compare the juice with a half pressed by pushing the plate down by hand.

**A. Clarence Weeks** of New York, New York, filed US 165,638 on 26 April 1875; it is dated 13 July 1875. His frame A had feet or legs a, the bowl B had perforations b, the plate C was hinged to one end of the frame, and there could be one spring or two. His claim is the frame with the perforated bowl and standards, the pivoted plate with its plunger, the springs, and the shaft with its cam lever. **Honest limits.** Hardwood, a tin bowl and a steel rod stand in for his parts. The notebook gives the average force without friction; its forces, lengths and angles are examples. Your juice is the result.