The Toggle-Lever Lemon Squeezer: Cutters, a Hood and a Jaw That Presses Harder as It Closes

"Upon the back of said metal portion of the jaw is a link, as at K, one end of which is pivoted to the jaw, as shown at Fig. 1, and the other end is pivoted to a point on the working-lever F′, which is supported in a bracket-arm that is attached to the main frame. The relative position of the two attachments or pivots in the working-lever is such that the upper end of the connecting-link travels in the arc of a circle, and therefore there is a compound motion that operates as a toggle-lever, by which the moving jaw is forced down with any desired force to squeeze the lemon." "The hood, being made much deeper than the jaw is thick, closes upon the cap before the jaw begins to compress the lemon to a sufficient degree to expel the juice from it, so that all the juice is thereby confined with the cup and passes through its perforated bottom, which also serves as a strainer to separate the coarser portions of the pulp and seeds from the juice."

**Frame.** Make an upright hardwood frame with a bracket at the top and a foot that clamps to the bench edge with a clamp, as Sammis's binding screw B. **Cup and cutters.** Cut the bottom 4 cm off a tin can and punch its base all over. Solder two crossed stainless steel blades, edges up and curved, across the base, with a short pointed nail at the centre as F. Set the cup on a ledge in the frame. **Jaw, link and lever.** Hinge a hardwood jaw, faced with a metal plate, to the frame beside the cup so it swings down onto it. Pivot a long working lever on the bracket, and join it to the jaw's back with a flat-bar link, placed so the link comes nearly straight as the jaw closes. Put a small rubber pad under the link's end on the jaw, as the spring H′. **Hood.** Hinge a tin hood deeper than the jaw to the frame so it drops over the cup ahead of the jaw. **Funnel.** Hang a funnel under the cup with a disc of fine mesh on its rim as the second strainer. **Test.** Put a whole lemon on the cutters, pull the lever down, and weigh the juice. Watch the force rise near the end of the stroke.

**Edward M. Sammis** of New York, New York, filed US 172,505 on 18 June 1875; it is dated 18 January 1876. His cup C fitted a recess in the frame by a projection E, the jaw G was preferably wood on a metal plate with an arm H pivoted to the frame, the hood M was lowered by a spring N, the funnel cup O swung aside on a pivot and carried a second strainer R of wire gauze, and a shelf U, adjustable by set screws W, held a vessel beneath. His claims cover the frame, cup, follower, arm and link with the lever; the follower's spring and link; the hood; and the shelf. **Honest limits.** Hardwood, tin and flat bar stand in for his cast frame and parts. The notebook treats the linkage as a simple toggle; its push and angles are examples. Your juice is the result.