IMPROVEMENTS IN INKSTANDS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Garrett Tongue, of the Firm of Tongue
& Birkbeck, Patent Agents & Engineers, of 34, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN INKSTANDS."-A communication
from abroad by Jean Benoit Mallat, Pen Manufacturer, of Paris,
France.
Scaled the 13th May 1875, and dated the 21st November 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Garrett Tongue
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 21st November 1874.
I, JOHN GARRETT TONGUE, of the Firm of Tongue and Birkbeck,
Patent Agents and Engineers, of 34, Southampton Buildings, Chancery
Lanc, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN INKSTANDS," (a communication. to
me from abroad by Jean Benoit Mallat, Pen Manufacturer, of Paris,
France,) to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in inkhorns or inkstands
having an independent air reservoir which can be dismounted at will,
and thus prevent the ink from passing into the interior of the reservoir.

page_text: By means of a moveable diaphragm the air contained in the reservoir
forces up the ink by means of a screw, and is regulated at a convenient
height in order to dip the pen into the ink.
In raising the diaphragm the ink redescends into the body of the
inkstand, and is kept there for any length of time in a clear state.
The body of the inkstand is cast not only with an elbow tube for the
purpose of receiving the air in the reservoir, but likewise with a cup in
which the pen is to be dipped to take up the ink. The cup descends in
the form of a tube nearly to the bottom of the inkstand in order to
deliver a constant supply of ink. The cup is closed by a lid, the end
being mounted in a socket fixed in the centre of the inkstand. The lid
presents a small lateral tongue which fits exactly on to the cup.
The independent air reservoir is composed of two parts jointed
together when a diaphragm of india-rubber is fixed in the interior, to the
upper part of which is a small grooved piece in order to receive a screw
which has a button on its end. In turning the screw the diaphragm
descends in order to compress the air in the interior of the body of the
sinkstand, and force up the ink in the cup to the required height.
The reservoir is fixed in the tube by means of a coating of cork, india-
rubber, or of any other suitable material.
This atmospheric inkstand is easily cleansed as the air reservoir and
the lid can be easily removed. The upper part has several projections
which serve to hold penholders or other articles.
E
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the John Garrett Tongue in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th May 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GARRETT TONGUE, of the Firm of Tongue and Birkbeck, Patent Agents
and Engineers, of 34, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the

page_text: thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Garrett Tongue, Her
special license that I, the said John Garrett Tongue, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Jolin Garrett
Tongue, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all tinics
thereafter during the term therein expressed, 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," a communication to me from
abroad by Jean Benoit Mallat, Pen Manufacturer, of Paris, France,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Garrett
Tongue, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Garrett Tongue, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :—
This Invention relates to improvements in inkhorns or inkstands
having an independent air reservoir which can be dismounted or dis-
5 connected at will, and thus prevent the ink from passing into the
interior of the reservoir.
By means of a moveable diaphragm the air contained in the reservoir
forces up the ink by means of a screw, and is regulated at a convenient
height in order to dip the pen into the ink.
In raising the diaphragm the ink redescends into the body of the
inkstand, and is kept there for any length of time in a limpid state, and
in order that these improvements may be clearly understood and readily
carried into practice I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a vertical section taken on the line 1, 2, of Figure 2,
which shows a plan of an inkstand arranged and constructed in
accordance with these improvements.

page_text: The body of the inkstand A. is cast not only with an elbow tube a for
the purpose of receiving the air in the reservoir B, but likewise with a
cup c in which the pen is to be dipped to take up the ink. The cup c
descends in the form of a tube c¹ nearly to the bottom of the inkstand,
in order to deliver a constant supply of ink. The cup is closed by a
lid C, the end being mounted in a socket C' fixed in the centre of the
inkstand. The lid presents a small lateral tongue c² which fits exactly
on to the cup c.
The independent air reservoir B is composed of two parts jointed
together, when a diaphragm of india-rubber D is fixed in the interior to
-the upper part of which is a small grooved piece d, in order to receive a
screw E which has a button on its end. In turning the screw E the
diaphragm descends in order to compress the air in the interior of the
body of the inkstand, and force up the ink in the cup c to the
required height.
The reservoir B is fixed in the tube a by means of a coating of cork,
india-rubber, or of any other suitable material.
This atmospheric inkstand is easily cleansed as the air reservoir B
and the lid C can be casily removed. The upper part has several pro-
jections e which serve to hold penholders or other articles.
Having thus described the nature of these improvements and the
manner of carrying the same into practice, what I claim on behalf of the
said Jean Benoit Mallat is, the improved arrangement and combination
of inkstands, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein.
before described and represented in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Garrett Tongue, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Fifteenth day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.