The Trap-Sealed Funnel Cover: The Kettle's Own Water Keeps the Steam In

"To prevent the escape of steam through the tube 8, a trap A is applied to the free or lower end of the tube 8. This trap rests on the bottom of the kettle and has formed on its upper edge the resilient arms a, which engage the tube 8 and retain the trap A in its operative relation to the free end of the tube 8 no matter what position the kettle may attain." "In practice it is to be understood that the trap is filled by the liquid poured into the kettle, and thereby forming a perfect seal for the tube."

**Funnel.** Choose a stainless steel kitchen funnel whose cone presses snugly into the kettle's fill opening in place of its lid. Measure from the funnel's seat to the kettle's floor. **Tube.** Cut copper tube that slips over the funnel's spout, long enough to end 1.5 cm above the floor. Wrap the spout with PTFE tape and push the tube on tightly. **Trap.** Choose a small, clean tin can that passes through the fill opening. With tin snips cut three tabs 1.5 cm deep into its rim and bend them inward so they spring against the tube and hold it central, with its end 1 cm above the can's floor. File every cut edge smooth. **Test.** Fill the kettle through the funnel until the trap is covered, and bring it to the boil. Hold a cold spoon over the funnel and another over the spout and see which one mists; then lift the funnel out and hold the spoon over the open fill hole.

**Wilbur S. Day** of Warren, Marshall County, Minnesota, filed US 806,243 on 2 May 1904; it was patented 5 December 1905. The funnel's body 7 is preferably bowl-shaped, its walls flaring slightly toward the top so it can be pressed into the edge of the opening 4 for a tight joint; the arms a hold the tube 8 central in the trap, and the trap is easily removed so the funnel can be used alone. His claim covers a receptacle with a top opening, a cover with a body fitting tightly in it and a depending tube, and a trap on the bottom with arms on its upper edge binding against the tube. **Honest limits.** A bought funnel, a copper tube taped to its spout and a tin can stand in for his one-piece cover and trap. The notebook treats the seal as a still column of water; its depths are examples. What your spoons show is the result.