IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANICAL PENS OR DEVICES FOR PERFORATING WRITING DRAWING OR MARKING AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH A communication from abroad by
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson of 47 Lincoln's Inn Fields in the
County of Middlesex Gentleman. for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MECHANICAL PENS OR DEVICES FOR PERFORATING WRITING DRAWING OR
MARKING AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH A communication
from abroad by Ignacio Henestrosa of Paris in the Republic of France.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th December 1881.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON of 47 Lincoln's Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman "IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANICAL PENS OR DEVICES FOR PERFORATING
WRITING DRAWING OR MARKING AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
A communication from abroad by Ignacio Henestrosa of Paris in the Republic of
France,
""
This Invention relates to pens provided with a reciprocating pricker or device
for producing, perforations indentations or marks and to apparatus for supporting
and operating the same.
By means of the improved pens and apparatus a large number of copies of a
manuscript drawing or design may be produced by a person unacquainted with the
art of drawing. The improved pens may also be used with great advantage by
lithographers and draughtsmen in cases where it is required to produce certain
descriptions of shading by means of a multitude of dots as these pens are capable
of forming dots with great rapidity. In this case the needle or pricker is removed
and a small pencil of lead or other suitable material is inserted in its place. The
number of dots indentations or perforations produced in a given time is regulated
by employing differential pulleys or multiplying gear. The pens may also bo
employed for cutting out patterns or designs of all descriptions the cutting action
being obtained by increasing the rate of speed so as to bring the perforations closer
together. The improved apparatus for supporting the pen and working the pricker
as hereinafter described takes the whole weight of the pen which is necessarily
considerable off the hand of the operator.

page_text: In carrying out this Invention the improved pen is provided with a reciprocating
pricker or marker enclosed and guided in a case or holder of inetal or other suitable
materials This case is so constructed as to allow the point of the pricker to
protrude to the desired extent and when adjusted with a view to obtaining this result
the case is secured in position by a set screw or nut. The upper extremity of the
pricker is attached to a slide which is constantly pressed upwards by a spring and
carries a friction roller turning on points. This roller is in contact with a small
grooved pulley having a series of alternate projections and depressions or cam
surfaces upon its periphery and receiving motion from any suitable inotor through
the intervention of an elastic band. The extremities of the slide work in suitable
guides carried by a frame attached to the case of the pen. By causing the small
grooved pulley to rotate rapidly the passage of each projection on the periphery of
the said pulley over the friction roller depresses the needle or pricker which is
raised immediately after the passage of each projection by the spring and thus
partakes of a rapid reciprocating motion.
The required reciprocating action may also be obtained by causing the cam
surfaces to act against a rod or plunger sliding in a tube or guide and secured to
the upper extremity of the pricker. This plunger is raised in a similar manner to
the slide by a suitable spring.
According to another modification the axis of the small pulley carries a small
triangular cam enclosed in a movable or reciprocating frame connected to the upper
extremity of the pricker. This cam inay also be mounted on an independent nxis
carrying a pinion in gear with a toothed wheel fast on the axis of the small pulley
in order to obtain-a-more-rapid-action-of-the-needle-or-pricker-and-it-is-obvious-
that various other equivalent mechanical arrangements may be employed for
producing the required reciprocating motion.
The support for the pen consists of a horizontal overhanging arm carried by an
upright bar fitted to a table. A hollow cylinder or drum of wood or metal is
supported by the said arm and driven by pulleys worked by treadles for example.
An elastic band of wire or india rubber carried round the cylinder serves to
transmit motion to the small pulley herein before described on the pen and also
bears the weight of the said pen. If preferred inelastic bands rods, flexible shafts,
chain or bevel gear or other equivalent devices may be employed to transmit
motion to the pen but in this case a spring should be interposed between the
actuating mechanism and the needle or pricker in order to obtain the required
elasticity. For example the bearings of the axis of the cylinder may be supported
by springs or springs may be employed in the construction of the pen itself in
order to produce the same effect.
In order to work the improved pens and apparatus paper or other suitable
material is laid upon the table underneath the pen and a rapid reciprocating motion
being imparted to the pricker as herein before described a series of perforations are
produced in the paper as the pen is guided over the surface of the latter by the
hand of the operator. In order to obtain a number of copies as many sheets may
be piled upon the table as the pricker is capable of penetrating and the pen may
be guided over the paper so as to produce an original design or writing or so as to
follow any design or manuscript laid upon the top of the pile of paper.
In order to facilitate the manipulation of heavy mechanical or electric pens
according to this Invention a horizontal wire is stretched in a frame so as to form
a rail for a pulley or small traveller supporting the pen by means of an elastic or
inelastic band in the latter case a spring is interposed between the pen and the
motor as herein before described.
A rigid bar may be employed as a rail in lieu of the wire herein before described.
The extremities of this bar are carried by springs arranged above or below the bar.
The support may be so constructed as to be capable of being clamped to any
ordinary desk or table and motion may be imparted to the cylinder or druin by
means of clockwork.
The pen may be supported by means of a stand resting directly upon the ground.

page_text: The stand is provided with a vertical rod capable of sliding in the foot or lower
part of the stand and being fixed at any desired height by a pinching screw.
The upper extremity of this rod is connected to a plate hinged to another plato
attached to the horizontal overhanging arm carrying the cylinder or drun which
imparts motion to the pricker through the intervention of an india rubber band.
The cylinder driving the pricker is worked in this case by a treadle connected with
a large pulley at the lower part of the stand driving a small pulley fast on the axis
of the cylinder.
The overhanging arm or arms supporting the cylinder may be arranged upon
pivots so as to be capable of moving at right angles to the upper part of the
vertical rod.
The cylinder may be worked by clockwork contained in the base of the support
or by any other suitable means and differential pulleys or multiplying gear may be
employed to increase the speed if required.
The band or cord for transmitting motion from the driving pulley to the cylinder
may be carried over guide pulleys if necessary and the cylinder may be carried
on flexible or spring arms or other equivalent device capable of turning in a
horizontal plane
The mode of suspending the pen by means of an elastic support as herein beforc
described is also applicable to other mechanical and electric pens and removes the
chief objections to the practical employment of pens of this description

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th June 1882.
"
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON of 47 Lincoln's Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman "IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANICAL PENS OR DEVICES FOR PERFORATING
WRITING DRAWING OR MARKING AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
A communication from abroad by Ignacio Henestrosa of Paris in the Republic of
France.
This Invention relates to pens provided with a reciprocating pricker or device
for producing perforations indentations or marks and to apparatus for supporting
and operating the same.
These improved mechanical pens are capable of being employed for reproducing
manuscripts and obtaining a large number of copies of all descriptions of writing
as well as for making copies of drawings or designs produced by hand or
otherwise.
By means of the improved pens and apparatus hereinafter described a large
number of copies of a manuscript drawing or design may be produced by a person
unacquainted with the art of drawing. For this purpose a copy serving as a
pattern is first prepared upon tracing paper by placing the drawing or writing
which is to be reproduced either over or under the tracing paper and pricking the
design through both sheets.
The improved pens may also be used with great advantage by lithographers and
draughtsmen in cases where it is required to produce certain descriptions of shading
by means of a multitude of dots, as these pens are capable of forming dots with
great rapidity; (at the rate of from twelve to fourteen thousand per minute for
example). In this case, the needle or pricker is removed and a small pencil of lead
or other suitable material is inserted in its place. The number of dots indentations
or perforations produced in a given time is regulated, by employing differential
pulleys or multiplying gear according to the speed or precision required. The pens
may also be employed for cutting out patterns or designs of all descriptions, the
cutting action being obtained by increasing the rate of speed so as to bring the
perforations closer together.
The pens is supported by various means as hereinafter described, being in
connection with a toothed wheel or a cylinder actuated by any suitable motor,
clockwork mechanism or the like but preferably driven by a flywheel and a
treadle as being the most simple and practical arrangement. The support for the
pen may be attached to a table or be placed on a desk or again it may be entirely
independent. The said support carries a cylinder or pulley imparting motion to
the pen and acting as a point of support from which the pen is suspended in the
most favorable position for working. The improved apparatus for supporting the
pen and working the pricker as hereinafter described takes the whole weight of
the pen (which is necessarily considerable) off the hand of the operator. The
requisite elasticity in the connections may be obtained by various means, such for
example, as an elastic driving band of wire or india rubber which serves as a
support for the pen and also imparts motion directly to the pricker or by attaching
the pen to a rigid rod or wire and interposing a spring or flexible connection
between the pricker and the driving mechanism in order to compensate for the
rigidity of the support.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to

page_text: the several Figures on the annexed Sheets of Drawings the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the corresponding Figures.
Figure 1, Sheet 1 is a longitudinal section of a pen constructed according to this
Invention and Figures 2 to 5 represent modifications of the same.
Figures 6 to 10, Sheet and 11 to 17 Sheet 3 illustrate various modes of
constructing and arranging the apparatus for supporting and working pens provided
with reciprocating prickers as hereinafter described.
The improved pens illustrated in detail in Sheet 1 are provided with a
reciprocating pricker or inarker a enclosed and guided in a case or holder a¹ of
metal or other suitable materials. This case is so constructed as to allow the point
of the pricker to protrude to the desired extent and when adjusted with a view to
obtaining this result the case is secured in position by a set screw or nut e.
The
upper extremity of the pricker in Figure 1 is attached to a sliding cross head C
which is constantly pressed upwards by a helical spring r and carries a friction
roller A, turning on centre points. This roller is in contact with a small grooved
pulley B having a series of alternate projectious and depressions or cam surfaces
upon its periphery and receiving motion from any suitable motor through the
intervention of an endless cord or band. The extremities of the cross-head work
in suitable guides x, x¹ carried by a frame D attached to the case of the pen. By
causing the pulley B to rotate rapidly the passage of each projection on the
periphery of the said pulley over the friction roller A depresses the needle or
pricker which is raised immediately after the passage of each projection by the
spring and thus partakes of a rapid reciprocating motion.
The modification illustrated in Figure 2 differs from that represented in Figure 1
only in the elongation of the sliding crosshead C which is guided at in the
upper part of the frane D as shewn.
In the arrangement illustrated in Figure 3 the cam surfaces on the pulley B act
against a rod A steadied by a guide and secured to the upper extremity of the
pricker u. This plunger is raised in a similar manner to the slide C by a spring r.
According to another modification illustrated in Figure 4 the axis of the pulley B
carries a small triangular cam 7 working in a reciprocating frame A connected to
the upper extremity of the pricker and thus imparts to the latter a rapid
reciprocating motion.
This cam working in the movable frame A, may be mounted on an independent
axis carrying a pinion b' in gear with a toothed wheel b fixed on the axis of the
pulley B in order to obtain a more rapid action of the pricker and it is obvious
that various other equivalent mechanical arrangements may be employed for
producing the required reciprocating motion.
Figure 6 is a view in perspective illustrating the mode of working a pen P
constructed as herein before described, a support S is fitted to a table and carries &
hollow cylinder or drum C of wood or inetal driven by a pulley underneath the
table worked by treadles p, p¹. An elastic band F of wire or india rubber carried
round the cylinder C serves to transmit motion to the small pulley B on the pen P
herein before described and also bears the weight of the said pen. If preferred non-
elastic bands rods, flexible shafts chain or bevel gear or other equivalent devices
may be employed to transmit motion to the pen but in this case a spring should be
interposed between the actuating mechanism and the needle or pricker in order to
obtain the required elasticity.
For example, the bearings of the axis of the cylinder C, may be supported by
weak springs or springs may be employed in the construction of the pen itself in
order to produce the same effect.
In order to work the improved pens and apparatus paper or other suitable
material is laid upon the table underneath the pen and a rapid reciprocating motion
being imparted to the pricker as hereinbefore described a series of perforations are
produced in the paper as the pen is guided over the surface of the latter by the
hand of the operator. In order to obtain a number of copies as many sheets may
be piled upon the table as the pricker is capable of penetrating and the pen may

page_text: be guided over the paper so as to produce an original design or writing or so as
to follow any design or manuscript laid upon the top of the pile of paper.
The support S may be so constructed as to be capable of being clamped to any
ordinary desk or table and motion may be imparted to the druin C by means of
clock work M as shown in Fig. 7.
Figures 8 9 and 10 illustrate various means of suspending the pen in order to
facilitate the manipulation of heavy mechanical or electric pens as next hereinafter
.described.
In Figure 8 a horizontal wire t t is stretched in a frame M and acts as a rail for
a pulley or small traveller supporting the pen by means of an elastic or inelastic
band in the latter case a spring is interposed between the pen and the motor as
herein before described.
According to another arrangement illustrated in Figure 9 a rigid bar T is employed
in lieu of the wire t t. The extremities of this bar are carried by helical or other
springs 7, 7, arranged beneath the bar T as shewn in Figure 9 or above the said
bar as in Figure 10.
Figure 11 illustrates an arrangement in which the support for the pen is carried
by a stand P resting directly upon the ground. This stand may be telescopic and
capable of being folded up into a comparatively small compass as illustrated in
Figure 12. This support may be used with any ordinary table or de-k for which
purpose the stand is provided with a vertical rod p¹ capable of sliding telescopically
in the stand P and of being fixed at any desired height by a pinching screw w.
The upper extremity of this rod is connected to a plate p hinged to another
_plate_pattached_to_a_horizontal_overhanging-arm-or-support-8-carrying-the-
cylinder or drum C which imparts motion to the pricker through the intervention
of an india rubber band as hereinbefore described.
The cylinder C is worked by a treadle u connected with a pulley v at the
lower part of the stand driving a smaller pulley v' fast on the axis of the cylinder.
When it is desired to increase the speed of rotation of the cylinder C the
arrangement illustrated in side elevation, plan, and end elevation in Figure 13, 14
and 15 respectively may be adopted in which the pulley v drives an intermediate
pulley another pulley being fast on the axis of the latter and serving to
transmit increased speed to a pulley and thence to the axis of the cylinder C.
In this case the cylinder C is carried by two arms s¹ projecting from the arm s
which may be mounted upon pivots so as to be capable of moving in a
horizontal plane.
The cylinder C may be worked by clockwork M Figure 16 contained in the base
of the support which may be folded up into the position shown by the dotted lines
as described with reference to Figures 11 and 12 differential pulleys or other
suitable gear being employed to increase the speed if required.
The band or cord for transmitting motion from the driving pulley to the
cylinder may if necessary, be carried over guide pulleys provided on the table and
on the support and the cylinder may be carried on flexible or spring arms Tas
shewn in Figure 17 or other equivalent device capable of turning in a horizontal
plane upon the stand or support.
The mode of suspending the pen by means of an elastic support as herein before
described is also applicable to other mechanical and electric pens (such as the
Edison electric pen for example) and removes the chief objectious to the practical
employment of pens of this description.
The power necessary for driving the pen may be derived from any convenient
source. In the vicinity of workshops whero power driven by machinery is
employed a small shaft may be extended into the office or apartment where the
pen is to be used and the pen may be suspended from such shaft by an elastic
band. A band of india rubber is the most simple and practical means for
transmitting the motion but a flexible shaft or device such as are employed for f
working certain tools may be employed in lieu of the elastic band for transmitting
motion to the pricker or the required effect may be obtained by means of a vertical

page_text: L
shaft connected with the pricker by the intervention of bevel or chain gear. In all
these cases however the elastic means of suspension herein before described aro
essential in order to enable the pen to be manipulated with facility.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the 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 me by the herein before in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
First: The improvements in mechanical pens or devices for perforating writing
drawing or marking substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in
Figures 1 to 5 of the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. The employment in combination with mechanical and electric pens of
elastic or flexible supports substantially as herein before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawings.
--
Thirdly The combination with the pens claimed by the preceding first claiming
clause of the apparatus for imparting motion to the pricker or needle of the said
pens substantially as herein before described and illustrated under various
modifications.
Fourthly: Constructing supports for mechanical or electric pens substantially as
herein before described and illustrated in Figures 11 to 16 of the accompanying
Drawings to enable the said supports to be folded into a small compass when
not in use.
.
In witness whereof, I the said John Henry Johnson have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal the Sixteenth day of June One thousand
eight hundred and eighty two
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)