IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC PENS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Duncan Cameron, of the Firm of Macniven and
Cameron, of Edinburgh, Wholesale Stationers, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC PENS."
Sealed the 15th July 1870, and dated the 26th February 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Duncan Cameron at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th February 1870.
I, DUNCAN CAMERON, of the Firm of Macniven and Cameron, of
Edinburgh, Wholesale Stationers, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC PENS," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to give to metallic pens the power of
holding a larger quantity of ink than pens of the ordinary construction,
and at the same time to give them greater strength and facility in
writing. In making a metallic pen according to my Invention I give
to the body of the pen a bowl shape by curving the sides and nibs or
combining with the ordinary convexity of the body a downward curvature

page_text: of the nibs. By thus constructing the body and nibs the pen is made
capable of taking up a larger quantity of ink than the ordinary pen,
and thus possesses to a great extent the advantages of a fountain pen
without the usual complication and disadvantages of a fountain pen.
In giving to the body and nibs the bowl figure described the said nibs
make in writing a less obtuse angle with the paper than the ordinary
pen.. In order to remedy the danger of "spirting," which this form
of body might occasion I turn up the extreme point of the pen so as
to make it in writing come in contact with the paper at the required
angle. By thus combining the bowl shape of the body and nibs with
the turned up point the pen not only possesses the power of taking up
a large quantity of ink and of writing with great case, but is also
stronger than ordinary pens.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Duncan Cameron in the Great Seal Patent Office on 1
the 19th August 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DUNCAN
CAMERON, of the Firm of Macniven and Cameron, of Edinburgh,
Wholesale Stationers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me,. the said Duncan Cameron, Her special licence
that I, the said Duncan Cameron, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Duncan Cameron, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN. METALLIC PENS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Duncan Cameron, my executors, or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their; or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain, the nature of the said Invention, and

page_text: 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 Duncan Cameron, 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)
The object of my Invention is to give to metallic pens the power of
holding a larger quantity of ink than pens of the ordinary construction,
and at the same time to give them greater strength and facility in
writing. In making a metallic pen according to my Invention I give to
the body of the pen a bowl shape by curving the sides and nibs or
combining with the ordinary convexity of the body a downward
curvature of the nibs. By thus constructing the body and nibs the pen
is made capable of taking up a larger quantity of ink than the ordinary
pen, and thus possesses to a great extent the advantages of a fountain
pen without the usual complication and disadvantages of a fountain pen.
In giving to the body and nibs the bowl figure described the said nibs
make in writing a less obtuse angle with the paper than the ordinary
pen. In order to remedy the danger of "spirting" which this form of
body might occasion I turn up the extreme point of the pen so as to
make it in writing come in contact with the paper at the required angle.
By thus combining the bowl shape of the body and nibs with the turned
up point the pen not only possesses the power of taking up a large
quantity of ink and of writing with great case, but is also stronger than
ordinary pens.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents in side elevation,
Figure 2 in front elevation, and Figure 3 in section a metallic pen
constructed according to my Invention.
a is the bowl-shaped body of the pen, and b is the turned up point of
the said pen. By an examination of the Drawing it will be seen that
the bowl-shaped body is made by curving the sides and nibs of the pen
downwards, or combining with the ordinary convexity of the body a
downward curvature of the nibs (see the elevation Figure 1 and section
Figure 3). The shape of the turned up point of the pen and its
position with respect to the nibs by which the said nibs are made to
come in contact with the paper at the required angle will also be seen by
reference to the Drawing.

page_text: Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illus-
trated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
my Invention; but I claim as my Invention, the improvements in
metallic pens herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing, that is to say, the combination with a bowl-shaped body or
body in which the nibs are curved downwards of a turned up point,
substantially as and for the purposes described and illustrated
In witness whereof, I, the_said Duncan-Cameron,-have-herc-1
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of August,
in the year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and
seventy.
Witness,
ALEXANDER POW,
Edinburgh.
DUNCAN CAMERON. (L.S.)