IMPROVEMENTS IN FOUNTAIN INKSTANDS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Henry Bull, of West Farms, in the County
of Westchester, and State of New York, United States of America,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by. the said James Henry Bull, at the
Office of the Commissioners of. Patents, with. his .Petition, on the 4th
- September 1855.
I, JAMES HENRY BULL, of West Farms, in the County of Westchester, and
State of New York, United States of America, do hereby declare:the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FOUNTAIN INKSTANDS" to be.as
follows:--
I construct my inkstand of porcelain, or any other suitable material, in which
is a fountain or reservoir, that is filled at. a screw plug hole in the bottom when
the inkstand is inverted. From this fountain the ink passes by an inclined
and curved passage or pipe into a supply or; service: cup, and fills the same up,
until the ink. therein rises to the top of the pipe or passage, and as no more air
can.then get into: the fountain the ink therein is. sustained by atmospheric
pressure. This operation is well-known; but my supply pipe from the fountain
to the service cup, while it is a gradual incline downwards, is. bent; also in a
curved form horizontally, so that should. the inkstand:be upset, or placed in any

page_text: improper position, the supply in the fountain cannot run out, because the
surface of the ink in the cup or in the supply pipe is always above or higher
than some part of the said pipe leading to the fountain, so that air thereto
is exluded. I also form in said inkstand a chamber, into which ink from
the fountain will run, when the air and ink become expanded under change
of temperature, and from which chamber the ink will again pass into the
fountain as the same cools, thus preventing an overflow of the service cup.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Henry Bull in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS. SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HENRY BULL, of West Farms, in the County of Westchester, and State of
New York, United States of America, send greeting.
*
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Henry Bull, Her special license that I, the said James
Henry Bull, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said James Henry Bull, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FOUNTAIN INKSTANDS," upon the condition. (amongst others). that I,
the said James Henry Bull, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 James Henry Bull, 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 Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked' thereon.(that is to say) :—".
Fig. 1 is a vertical section of my improved. inkstand as in use; Fig. 2 is a

page_text: sectional plan at and below the line 1, 1, of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a similar plan at
and below the line 2, 2, of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the
reverse side to Fig. 1. Similar marks of reference indicate the same parts.
The nature of my said Invention consists in so constructing a fountain
inkstand that the contents of the fountain cannot run out through the service
cup even if the stand be upset into any position; also in so arranging the
service cup relatively with the fountain, that all the ink contained in the
fountain will by its gravity run into and supply the service cup until the foun-
tain is entirely empty, and that without inclining or moving the stand. And
in order to prevent the expansion of air and ink contained in the fountain,
under variations of temperature, overflowing the service cup, I provide a
chamber into which the same passes, and again runs into the fountain, when
the contents thereof are again contracted by a decrease in temperature...
In the Drawing, a fountain A, of porcelain or other suitable material, is shewn
as formed with the cup B, and necessary passages and chambers. .c is the cup
or receptacle for ink, of the required size, and connected to the fountain A by
the curved inclined passage b. a is a screw plug, with an elastic, washer,
occupying a recess in the lower part (f.) of the, inkstand; and screwed into a
metal thimble 3, passing through the part 5 to the fountain A, which is to be
filled with ink. Through this thimble 3, when the inkstand.is held in an
inverted. position; and on turning the stand over after the plug, a has been
tightly screwed into place, the ink runs down the passage b into the cup с until
it fills up to the top. 4 of the passage b, which, excluding the- atmosphere,
retains the ink in the fountain, and when the ink is used up from the cup
sufficient to allow a bubble of air to pass into the fountain, the ink runs down
again to supply the cup.
On reference to Figs. 2 and 3, it will be seen that the passage b' is curved
horizontally, in such a manner that should the inkstand fall or be placed in
any improper position, the ink in the fountain cannot escape, because said
curved form of the passage ensures that ink will remain in the cup or in the
passage at some point on a higher level than some portion of- the inside of-the
passage b, stopping air from passing up into the fountain, and, consequently,
the ink from escaping. The precise form and position of this curved passage
might be varied, so long as air was effectually prevented from passing into the
fountain, except when the stand was nearly level, and the ink in the
below the top 4 of the passage, when said cup will be again replenished.
The air above the ink in the fountain and also the ink itself are both
subject to expansion and contraction under varying temperatures; therefore,
to prevent the cup c from being overflowed, I make use of a chamber d, below
cup c

page_text: 'the bottom e of the fountain, the bottom of which chamber d is slightly above
the level of the ink in the cup c, and connected to said cup by means of a
suitable passage g, so that the ink when driven into the cup c under change
of temperature will run into said chamber d, and afterwards flow back again
into the fountain when the temperature is less. The chamber d might be
varied in its form and position so long as acting in the same manner; and I
prefer that the passage g should be curved, as shewn, so as to be somewhat
similar in 'action' to the passage.b. 6 is a ring, by which a chain and cover to
the service cup may be attached; and this inkstand is to be of porcelain or any
other suitable material.
What I claim is, the method herein described and shewn of preventing the
escape of ink from the fountain, whenever the inkstand may be in an improper
position, by the use of a curved passage 6 connecting the fountain with the
service cup, in the manner and for the purposes specified.
b
And, in combination with the above, I claim tho method herein set forth
of passing all the ink from the fountain into the service cup, by placing
said service cup below the level of the bottom of the fountain, as specified.
I also claim the method herein set forth of preventing any overflow from
the service cup by means of the chamber d, acting in the manner and for the
*purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Henry Bull, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witnesses,
W. J. RENVILLE,
289, Broadway, N. Y.
LEMUEL W. SERRELL,
289, Broadway, New York.
JA H. BULL. (L.S.)