IMPROVE- MENTS IN VESSELS FOR CONTAINING AND PRESERVING FLUIDS.
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Vincent Scully, Esquire, and Bennett Johns Heywood,
Gentleman, both of the City of Dublin, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN VESSELS FOR CONTAINING AND PRESERVING FLUIDS.
Bennett Johns Heywood at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 25th July 1855.
We, VINCENT SCULLY, Esquire, and BENNETT JOHNS HEYWOOD, Gentleman,
both of the City of Dublin, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN VESSELS FOR CONTAINING AND PRESERVING FLUIDS" to be
as follows:-
The chief object of this Iuvention is to construct air-tight vessels for hold-
ing liquids, and for discharging the same when required without admitting air
to assist in the displacement of the liquid. To this end, we provide a means of
contracting the vessels as the liquid they contain is withdrawn.
In constructing, for example, a vessel for containing beer, we fit a cylin-
drical vessel (made by preference of glass) with a moveable head or piston,
the periphery of which is packed to make it work air-tight in the cylinder.
When, therefore, the vessel is filled with beer the piston will be at its highest
position, and as the beer is drawn off from below by a suitable tap the piston
will descend by the pressure of the atmosphere, and thus avoid the necessity
for admitting air into the vessel.

page_text: In some cases, in order to increase the capacity of a vessel of a given
diameter, we propose to construct our expanding vessel on the telescope prin-
ciple, making the joints air-tight. Expanding and contracting vessels, whether
made of rigid or flexible materials, we also propose to apply to the filling of a
font, or ink cup in connection therewith, and to the withdrawal of the ink or
other liquid therefrom when no longer required for use.
Another arrangement which we propose to adopt for holding ink or other
liquid, and preventing all unnecessary exposure of the same to the air, is to
provide two cylinders, which shall fit the one within the other, and form a
reservoir. The periphery of these cylinders we pierce at corresponding points
in order to gain access to the interior. When it is required to close the orifice,
this is effected by giving one of the cylinders a slight axial motion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Vincent Scully and Bennett Johns Heywood in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 25th January 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, VINCENT
SCULLY, Esquire, and BENNETT JOHNS HEYWOOD, Gentleman, both of the City
of Dublin, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of July, 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 us,
the said Vincent Scully and Bennett Johns Heywood, Her special licence that
we, the said Vincent Scully and Bennett Johns Heywood, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Vincent Scully and
Bennett Johns Heywood, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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
VESSELS FOR CONTAINING AND PRESERVING FLUIDS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Vincent Scully and Bennett Johns Heywood, by
an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and
seal of one of us, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and

page_text: 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 Bennett Johns Heywood, on behalf of
myself and of the said Vincent Scully, do hereby declare the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be parti-
cularly 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) :-
-
This Invention relates, firstly, to a mode of constructing that class of air-
tight vessels for holding liquids which permit of the withdrawal of liquids
therefrom without admitting air into contact with the remaining liquid con-
tained in the vessel.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 shews, in side elevation, and Fig. 2,
in vertical section, a vessel, constructed according to our Invention, for con-
taining claret, the object being to permit of the withdrawal from time to time
of small quantities while the freshness of the remainder is preserved. a, a, is
an ornamental vase or urn, fitted with a removable cover band a tap c.
Within the vase is a cylindrical case d, into which fits a piston e, provided
with a central knob to raise it, and a lever valve to admit air below the piston
when it is required to be raised. This case d is permanently secured to the
vase; or, when the vessel is not required to possess an ornamental appear-
ance, the vase or ornamental outer case may be dispensed with, and the
cylindrical case will then be mounted on a suitable foot or pedestal. In
communication with the case d is the tap c, by which the liquor is drawn
off. The piston being properly packed, by preference with a tubular band
of vulcanised india-rubber, will prevent the atmospheric air from passing
down to the liquid between the piston and the case; but as the liquid is
withdrawn from beneath it, the pressure of the atmosphere will force down
the piston a distance proportionate to the amount of liquid displaced. If
it should be found that the pressure of the atmosphere was unequal to the
task of overcoming the lateral pressure of the packing, the piston might be
weighted, to insure its descent immediately on the turning on of the tap c. In
order to refill the case, it is only necessary to remove the cover b and lift out
the piston, and the cylindrical case is then ready to receive the liquid. The
piston and cover are then replaced.
Our Invention relates, secondly, to improved means of constructing ink-
stands, the object being to prevent the undue evaporation of the ink, and thus
to preserve it in a fluid state. Figures 3, 4, and 5 represent, in exterior and
sectional elevation, an arrangement of inkstand, the ink chamber a of which is

page_text: made air-tight, and is provided with a flexible bottom b, which permits of the
capacity of the chamber being increased or decreased, as required. The ink
chamber a is fitted with a loose stand c, the face of which is made concave, as
shewn at Fig. 4, to receive the extended diaphragm or flexible bottom b. To
the upper part of the chamber a dipping cup d is fitted, and a tube e, forming
a continuation of the dipping cup, reaches nearly to the bottom of the ink
chamber. The ink vessel is filled through the dipping cup, the air in the
vessel being allowed to escape by a vent in the upper part of the vessel, which
vent is afterwards to be closed air-tight. When it is required to use the ink-
stand, the ink vessel is removed from the loose stand c, and placed on the table
or desk, with its flexible bottom in contact therewith; an upward pressure will
thus be put on the flexible bottom, and the capacity of the vessel will thus be
contracted. The effect of this contraction will be to force the ink upwards
into the dipping cup, as shewn at Fig. 5; and when by repeated dippings the
supply thereto is exhausted, it will only be necessary to lift the vessel for a
moment from the table to allow of the expansion of the flexible bottom, and
a consequent indraft of air, and on returning the ink vessel to the table, ink
will rise into the dipping cup, as before.
Fig. 6 represents, in sectional elevation, a novel arrangement of inkstand
constructed on the well-known fountain principle. a is a cylindrical ink vessel,
fitted with a piston b, the rod b* of which is made hollow, and attached to the
piston by a swivel joint. At its upper end this rod carries a dipping cup c,
which is provided with ink by the depression of the piston, which, acting upon
the surface of the ink, will cause it to mount into the cup. A screw thread is
formed on the piston rod *, to work in a thread tapped in the centre of the
cover d. By turning, therefore, the rod either to the right or left, the piston
may be raised or lowered, as required, and the ink forced up into the ink
cup or withdrawn therefrom. To fill the ink vessel a, the cover d is removed
and the piston lifted out of the vessel.
Another arrangement which we propose to adopt for holding ink and
other liquids, and preventing all unnecessary exposure of the same to the
outer air, is shewn in side elevation at Fig. 7, and in cross section at Fig. 8.
This inkstand or holder consists simply of two concentric cylinders a and b,
set one within the other, and supported by a pillar c and stand d. The inner
cylinder a, which contains the ink, we prefer to make of glass, and we form an
opening therein to permit of the easy access of a pen to the interior. The
outer cylinder or ring b we prefer to make of metal, and we form in its peri-
phery an opening corresponding to that in the ink vessel. When the inkstand
is not in use, we turn the inner cylinder on its axis, and thereby close its

page_text: orifice, as shewn at Fig. 8; but when the inkstand is required to be used, we
bring the openings in the two cylinders a and b into coincidence. For the
purpose of making the inner cylinder work smoothly, we propose to pack it
with a ring of cork or other suitable material, as shewn in the Drawing.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention, and explained the manner
of carrying the samo into effect, we wish it to be understood that under the
above in part recited Letters Patent we claim,―
First, the application to vessels for preserving fluids of an air-tight floating
piston, constructed and operating as above explained.
Secondly, the construction of inkstand, as described with reference to Figures
3, 4, and 5, wherein the rise and fall of the ink to and from the ink cup is
effected by the action of gravity.
Thirdly, we claim, in fountain inkstands, mounting the dipping cup on the
hollow piston rod, as explained.
And, lastly, the combination of concentric cylinders with orifices in their
periphery, for the purpose above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Bennett Johns Heywood, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of January, in the
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
year of
)
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
BENNETT JOHNS HEYWOOD. (L.S.)