IMPROVEMENTS IN PENHOLDERS WITH INK RESERVOIR
Year: 1884

page_text: I WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, Fel Inst P.A, of the Agency for Foreign Patent
Solicitors, 6 Lord Street, Liverpool in the county of Lancaster, and 323 High
Holborn in the county of Middlesex Engineer do hereby declare the nature of
the said invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN PENHOLDERS WITH INK RESERVOIR,"
a communication from abroad by Martin Wettich of Cassel in the empire of
Germany Secretary of the Koeniglich Provinzial Schulkolligium to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object the construction of an improved penholder with
ink reservoir or "fountain pen suitable for use either as a drawing or writing pen;
the holder consists of two principal parts, the upper one forming the ink reservoir,
whilst the lower half contains an india rubber ball communicating by means of a
tube with the ink reservoir. A second tube reaches from the bottom of the ink
reservoir to about half way up the side of the same, passes through the side of the
reservoir and is bent downwards and connected by means of a piece of india rubber
tubing with another tube which passes down to the nib of the pen. The whole
arrangement forms a syphon from the ink reservoir to the pen, the india rubber
connection enabling the length of the syphon to be adjusted to the length of the
pen employed, and when compressed stop the action of the syphon; the ink
reservoir is filled through a tube passing through its top, which tube is hermetically
closed by a screw cap.
The india rubber ball below the reservoir is compressible by means of a plug or
projection passing through the side of the penholder in such a position that it is
controlled by the thumb of the right hand when the pen is in use.
In order to fill the reservoir with ink, the cap is screwed off the projecting pipe
which is then dipped into the ink. The penholder is then grasped so that the
india rubber portion of the syphon tube is compressed and the tube thereby closed:
The india rubber ball is then alternately compressed and released by means of
the plug described This causes the expulsion of the air from the interior of the

page_text: ball and ink reservoir, and subsequent suction of the ink into the ink reservoir.
As soon as the reservoir is half full, the apparatus is reversed, and the screw cap
fixed securely on the inlet pipe. When the pen is in use, a slight compression of
the india rubber ball suffices to start the syphon and causes a flow of ink to the
pen. A sharp indentation in the piece connecting the syphon tube with the pen
prevents any suction of ink backwards into the reservoir when the pressure on the
ball is relaxed..
An outer sheath projecting over the pen ensures the upper surface of the same
being kept moist. The apparatus is easily taken apart for the purpose of cleaning
or renewal.

page_text: I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON 6 Lord Street Liverpool do hereby declare
the nature of the said invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN PEN-HOLDERS WITH INK
RESERVOIR (a communication from abroad by Martin Wettich, Cassel) and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention has for its object the new or improved construction of a pen
holder with ink reservoir suitable for use either as a drawing or writing pen. In
the accompanying drawing Fig 1 is an exterior view of the pen-holder, the
figures 2 and 3 are sections through the same.
The penholder consists of two principal parts, an ink reservoir A and a shell B.
In the ink reservoir are lodged a suction tube a b, a pressure tube cd and a tube ef
conducting the ink to the pen. The tube a b is ordinarily closed at the top by the
screw cap k
On the lower end of the tube c d within the shell B is an india-rubber ball G.
A spring F fastened to A (see fig 3) serves for compressing the india rubber ball
provided with a screw or a button S passing through the side of B by means of
which screw the india rubber ball G is compressed. Over the lower end of the
tube e fis pushed a small tube r closed on one end and provided with a slit. This
small tube serves for regulating the length of the outlet tube e f according to the
length of the pen to be used, and for closing e f.
Protecting cases h and h¹ may be pushed over the extremities of the pen holder.
The reservoir is filled with ink in the following way:
After having removed the case h¹ and screwed off the cap k the tube is dipped
into the ink so that the orifice of the tube e f is also plunged into the ink; the
india-rubber ball is then alternately compressed and released by means of the
screw S
The ink is hereby sucked up and flows between the interior tube ef and the
exterior tube a b into the reservoir.
When the reservoir is filled, the cap k is screwed on the tube a b. When the
pen holder is to be used a slight pressure exerted upon the screw S will condense
the air in the reservoir, A, whereby the ink rises upward between the tubes e f
and a b and flows to the pen through the tube e f.
The pen holder can be taken asunder into two principal parts, so that the
india-rubber ball and other parts may easily be repaired or replaced by new ones.
One part contains the reservoir with the india rubber ball and the spring, and the
other part the shell B. In order to take asunder the pen holder the small screw S
is first screwed off, the projecting part of the screw F is then pressed down and the
parts of the penholder are separated from each other by drawing out,

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is
The construction of a penholder consisting of the combination of an india-rubber
ball G, with a small screw S, a spring F, a pressure tube cd, a suction tube a b, and
a tubeef, passing through the suction tube a b, and conducting the ink to the nib
of the pen.