The Shears-Cup Lemon Squeezer: Two Cups on Crossed Handles, a Slotted Recess for the Juice

"The cup B is made smaller than cup A, and works within it with its bottom down. This cup B is provided around its mouth with a flange, d, which catches upon the mouth of cup A when the two cups are brought together, as shown in Figure 1. These cups are provided with the handles C and D, which said handles are pivoted together at x, so that the cups may be separated or brought together similar to the blades of a pair of shears." "The space between the two cups allows the juice to be pressed out through the slots or openings without breaking the seed, and the slots are so formed and are of such a size as not to allow any seed to pass through them."

**Handles.** Cut two 25 cm lengths of 20 × 5 mm mild steel flat bar and drill each 8 cm from one end for an M6 pivot bolt, so they cross like shears. **Cups.** Cut the bottoms from two clean tin cans, one about 8 cm across and one about 6.5 cm, each 3 cm deep. In the larger one's base, hammer a small recess over a hole in a hardwood block, and cut four narrow slots in it radiating from the centre, 2 mm wide. Rivet a ring of tinplate round the smaller one's mouth as the flange d. **Assemble.** Rivet each cup to the short end of a handle so the smaller cup, bottom down, closes into the larger one when the handles are squeezed, and bolt the handles at the pivot. **Test.** Halve a lemon, put one half cut side down in the larger cup over a glass, and squeeze. Count the seeds left in the cup and in the glass, and weigh the juice.

**Thomas Reece and Arthur Clarke** of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, received US 61,251, dated 15 January 1867. The cups could be metal, galvanized, or wood tinned against the acid; the peculiar shape of cup A with its recess kept the squeezer from clogging or choking. Their claim is the two hinged handles with the two cups, one with a slotted recess and the other with a flange. **Honest limits.** Tin cans and flat bar stand in for their made-up cups and handles. The notebook ignores friction; its forces and lengths are examples. Your seed count and juice are the result.