IMPROVE- MENTS IN INKSTANDS OR HOLDERS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thaddeus Hyatt, of Gloucester Gardens, Hyde
Park, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN INKSTANDS OR HOLDERS."
Sealed the 31st October 1871, and dated the 10th August 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thaddeus Hyatt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th August 1871.
I, THADDEUS HYATT, of Gloucester Gardens, Hyde Park, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN INKSTANDS OR HOLDERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a simple construction of inkstand or holder,
and has for its object the affording free access when required to the
interior of the inkstand for the purpose of cleansing the same, also the
checking to a considerable extent of the evaporation of the ink, and
maintaining it filtered or free from dust, also the complete and secure
closing of the inkstand in such a manner as to enable it to be used
when travelling with safety.

page_text: According to my Invention I make the ink holding part of the ink-
stand with a wide mouth having an internal screw thread therein, and
into this I screw a lid or disc having a dipping hole therein, and a knob
or provision for facilitating the turning or screwing of the disc upwards
or downwards.
The said disc may, however, be raised or lowered by a
lever, screw, or other well-known contrivance. In the main cavity of
the inkstand I place a sponge or other absorbent material, such, for
example, as what is known as india-rubber sponge, which may be made
to order to fit different sized inkstands; or I may use as the absorbent
material before referred to a piece of pile fabric of any suitable fibrous
material, manufactured in any well-known manner with a deep or long
pile, so that it will readily resume its position after compression and
reabsorb the ink. The absorbent when not compressed absorbs the whole
of the ink into its pores or cells, but when compressed by screwing down
or otherwise depressing the disc a portion of the ink is expelled and
caused to collect in the bottom of the dipping hole. So soon as the disc
is screwed upwards so as to release the sponge from pressure the ink
becomes again absorbed. In lieu of a sponge or other absorbent
material being placed inside the inkstand a diaphragm of any textile
fabric may be attached to and stretched across the bottom of the
dipping hole, or may be of the size of the interior of the inkstand,
and attached to a spiral spring, also of the diameter of the interior of
the inkstand, and fitted loosely therein, so that when the disc is elevated
clear of the surface of the ink no ink will appear in the dipping hole,
whilst at the same time the diaphragm in either case will effectually
exclude dust by being always against the under side of the dipping
hole. On screwing down the disc until the diaphragm is immersed the
ink will filter or be strained upwards through the fabric, and will
present itself in the bottom of the dipping hole for use. When not in
use I cover the entire top of the inkstand with a metal cap, which is
screwed on to a screw thread made round the exterior of the upper
edge of the inkstand, and forming a fluid-tight joint therewith, an
india-rubber or other suitable washer being interposed between the lid
and the inkstand. Thus securely closed the inkstand may be safely
packed amongst luggage when travelling.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thaddeus Hyatt in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th February 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THADDEUS
HYATT, of Gloucester Gardens, Hyde Park, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Thaddeus Hyatt, Her special license that
I, the said Thaddeus Hyatt, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Thaddeus Hyatt, my executors, adminis-
trators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein ex-
pressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN INKSTANDS OR
HOLDERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thaddeus
Hyatt, my exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thaddeus Hyatt, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :—
My said Invention relates to a simple mode of checking to a con-
siderable extent the evaporation of the ink in inkstands, and consists in
the employment for that purpose of a piece of sponge or equivalent
elastic porous body, which is fitted into the ink holder and takes up
the ink when not in use. Also to a mode of correcting the effects of
unavoidable evaporation, which consists in straining the ink at the
moment of using the same by the employment of a straining diaphragm,

page_text: which is lowered so as to descend into the body of the ink, and thereby
holds down the thicker portions of the ink, whilst the more fluid ink
passes up through the straining material, so as to be readily accessible
to the pen.
My Invention also has reference to a peculiar construction of ink
holder, whereby ready access is afforded when required to the interior
of the inkstand for the purpose of cleansing the same, whilst at the
same time provision is made for the complete and secure closing of the
inkstand in such a manner as to enable it to be used when travelling
with safety.
According to my Invention the ink holder consists of a cup, the
internal sides of which have a screw thread formed thereon extending
from the top to the bottom or nearly so of the said cup; into this I
screw an adjustable disc or internal plug, which forms the top or cover
of the cup, and has a dipping hole made through the centre thereof, and
is provided with a knob or hinged handle for facilitating the turning or
screwing of the said disc or internal plug upwards or downwards within
the cup. In order to more securely guard the ink I place in this cup a
nicely fitting piece of sponge, or equivalent elastic porous body; or I
may use as the absorbent material before referred to one or more layers
of pile fabric of any suitable fibrous material manufactured in any
well-known manner with a long pile, so that it will readily resume its
position after compression and reabsorb the ink. The said sponge or
elastic porous or absorbent body may be readily removed for the purpose
of cleaning the same and replaced again. The absorbent material when
not compressed absorbs the whole of the ink into its pores or cells, but
when compressed by screwing down the before-mentioned disc or plug a
portion of the ink is expressed, and is caused to collect in the bottom of
the dipping hole. So soon as the disc or plug is screwed upwards, so as
to release the sponge or other elastic porous material from pressure, the
ink becomes again absorbed. When I use a straining diaphragm, which
may be a piece of cloth, I either attach it to the under side of the
internal disc or plug, so as to extend across the bottom of the dipping
hole, or I attach it to a spiral spring or other support resting on the
bottom of the cup which holds the said diaphragm against the under
side of the dipping hole, so that on depressing the disc or internal plug
until the diaphragm is forced down into the ink, the latter will filter or
he strained upwards through the diaphragm, and will present itself in a

page_text: When
perfectly fluid state in the bottom of the dipping hole for use.
elevated the diaphragm follows the plug or disc, keeping the mouth of
the dipping hole closed.
When not in use the entire top of the inkstand
may be covered with a metal cap, which is screwed on to a screw thread
made round the exterior of the upper edge of the inkstand, and forms a
fluid-tight joint therewith by an india-rubber or other suitable washer
being interposed between the lid and the inkstand. Thus securely closed
the inkstand may be safely packed amongst luggage when travelling.
If desired the sponge and strainer may be combined together in the
same inkstand or holder.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Figures 1 and 2 of my Drawings represent sectional elevations of one
arrangement of my improved inkstand, Figure 1 representing it as when
not in use, and Figure 2 when in use.
A is the ink holder, of glass or other suitable material, having an
internal screw thread a moulded or otherwise formed therein; B is the
adjustable internal disc or plug formed with an external screw thread b
corresponding to the screw a. The screwed portion of this plug is by
preference cut away at intervals c, c, so as to leave screwed segments
only, as shewn clearly in the detail elevation and plan of the plug
detached at Figures 6 and 7, in order to prevent the ink from rising by
capillary attraction between the two series of screw threads; d is a
hinged cross handle for rotating the plug when it is required to raise or
lower the same, the said handle when not in use lying close down upon
the top of the plug and out of the way of the pen when in the act of
dipping; C represents a piece of natural sponge, or, which I prefer,
artificial sponge, of india-rubber or other suitable elastic porous material,
which, when allowed to expand (as shewn in Figure 1), absorbs the ink
into its cells, and thereby excludes all dust therefrom, but when com-
pressed by the screwing down of the plug B (as shewn in Figure 2) the
ink is expressed from the protecting cells of the sponge and rises through
the dipping hole at e, as shewn clearly in my Drawings. This hole e
may be of any convenient size, but I prefer to make it as small as
practicable when intended to be used without the straining diaphragm..

page_text: Figures 3 and 4 represent views similar to Figures 1 and 2, but shew
the application of a straining diaphragm C¹ of textile fabric, the said
strainer being attached to the mouth of the dipping cup, which is formed
with a lip and circumferential groove e¹ for the facility of attachment of
the strainer. The strainer may be combined with the sponge if preferred.
Figure 5 represents the strainer C¹ as being attached to an internal
helical spring or support D. When the plug B is elevated, as in Figures
3 and 5, the strainer will be above the level of the ink, and will keep the
bottom of the dipping hole closed, but when it is depressed or forced
down into the ink, as shewn in Figure 4, the strainer will allow the ink
to flow upwards through it, thereby straining away or keeping back the
thicker portions, and filling the dipping cup with easy flowing ink.
E, Figure 1, is a cap or cover screwed on to the top of the ink holder,
and made to form a fluid-tight joint therewith by the aid of the india-
rubber ring or washer f when it is required to pack the inkstands
amongst clothes or luggage.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
mo by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The application and use to and in ink holders of a piece of
sponge or other equivalent elastic porous body, which is fitted into the
interior of the inkholder, and takes up or absorbs the ink when not
under pressure, substantially as herein-before described.
Secondly. The application and use to and in ink holders of a moveable
straining diaphragm, which operates by being forced down into the body
of the ink, substantially as herein-before described.
Thirdly. The construction and use of an ink holder or cup having
screw threads formed on its interior, and in which an adjustable internal
screwed disc or plug forming the cover to the ink and having the
dipping hole made therein is fitted to move up and down, substantially
as and for the purpose herein-before described.
Fourthly. The combination of the ink holder A, adjustable disc or
plug B, with dipping hole made therein, and absorbent material C, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose herein-before described and illustrated
by Figures 1, 2, 6, and 7 of my Drawings.

page_text: Fifthly. The combination of the ink holder A, adjustable disc or
plug B, and straining diaphragm C', in conjunction or not with the
helical spring D, or with the piece of sponge or other elastic porous
body, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described and
illustrated by Figures 3, 4, and 5 of my Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thaddeus Hyatt, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, the Tenth day of February
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
THADDEUS HYATT. (L.S.)