IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF INKSTANDS, APPLICABLE IN PART TO OTHER VESSELS FOR THE RECEPTION OF FLUIDS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Vincent Scully, Esquire, and Bennett Johns Hey-
wood, Gentleman, both of the City of Dublin, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF INKSTANDS, APPLICABLE IN PART TO
OTHER VESSELS FOR THE RECEPTION OF FLUIDS."
Sealed the 8th July 1856, and dated the 16th January 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Vincent Scully and Bennett
Johns Heywood at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 16th January 1856:
We, VINCENT SCULLY, Esquire, and BENNETT JOHNS HEYWOOD, Gentleman,
both of the City of Dublin, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF INKSTANDS, APPLICABLE IN PART
TO OTHER VESSELS FOR THE RECEPTION OF FLUIDS, to be as follows:-
The chief object of this Invention is to provide a means for filling a dipping
cup with ink, and withdrawing the ink when not required to be used. For
this purpose, we fit into the air-tight cover of the inkstand a perforated valve,
composed, by preference, of vulcanized india-rubber, which, with a self-closing
valve below it (whether made of flexible or rigid material) will, when pressed
upon, act as a pump, and force in or withdraw air from the inkstand. To
force air into the ink vessel, the hole in the upper valve is closed by the finger,
and the. valve being at the same time depressed, a portion of the air confined

page_text: between it and the lower valve (which latter is made, by preference, of a disc
of vulcanized india-rubber, slit or perforated to form an air passage,) will be
forced into the vessel, and, pressing on the surface of the ink, will cause it to
rise into the cup through a tube provided for the purpose. By providing the
upper valve with a hollow stem or pressing piece, which may be brought into
contact with the lower valve, the depression of the upper valve will ensure a
simultaneous opening of the lower one. In order, therefore, to withdraw the
ink, it is only necessary to press down the top valve, leaving at the same time
its air passage open. The like effect may be obtained by connecting the two
valves permanently together.
Our improved self-closing valve (with or without the pressing piece) may be
applied with advantage to other vessels intended to receive fluids for retention
or ejection; such, for example, as infants' feeding bottles, syringes, beer barrels,
and collapsible air vessels.
In place of applying the double valve to inkstands for the purpose above
explained, the same object may be effected by providing the ink cup with a
hinged or other cover, which when closed fits air-tight over it, and is furnished
with a disc of india-rubber. By pressing the finger on the india-rubber when
the cover is over the ink cup, the confined air will be compressed and forced
into the ink vessel, and on the removal of the pressure the ink will rise into
the cup. The withdrawal of the ink from the cup may be effected by opening
an air vent in the ink vessel for the escape of air.
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 16th July 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM. THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, VINCENT
SCULLY, Esquire, of the City of Dublin, and BENNETT JOHNS HEYWOOD, late of
the City of Dublin, but now of Leicester Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, 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,

page_text: 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 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 THE CONSTRUC-
TION OF INKSTANDS, APPLICABLE IN PART TO OTHER VESSELS FOR THE RECEPTION OF
FLUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Vincent
Scully and Bennett Johns Ileywood, 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 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 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 particu-'
larly described and ascertained in and by the following statement, referenco
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed and to the letters and figures'
marked thereon (that is to say):-
This, Invention relates, firstly, to the application to inkstands of certain novel.
means for filling the dipping cup with ink, and withdrawing the ink there-
from when not required to be used. For this purpose, we fit in an opening of
the cover of an air-tight inkstand a double or compound flexible valve, of a'
peculiar construction, composed, by preference, of two discs or dish-shaped
pieces of vulcanized india-rubber, the upper one being pierced to allow air to
pass upwards through it when air is required to be withdrawn from the inkstan:!,
and the lower one being made self-closing, so as when pressed upon to serve
as an ingress, egress, or cut-off valve, as required. By the action of this com-
pound valve air is forced in or withdrawn from the inkstand, and, simultaneously,
the rise of the ink to, or its descent from, the dipping cup is effected.
The Invention relates, secondly, to the application of valves acting on the
self-closing principle to certain other uses, the arrangement of the valves in
each example being specially adapted to the purpose to which it is applied.
i
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 shews the improved inkstand in
sectional elevation; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same; and Fig. 3 is a section
of the valves, taken at right angles to Fig. 1. The peculiarity of this instkand,
in contradistinction to others in which the pressure of air is employed to force
ink into the dipping cup, is the use of a self-closing valve, which opens

page_text: when under pressure to permit the passage of compressed air into an air-tight
vessel containing the iuk, and closes when that pressure is withdrawn, the
effect of the air so admitted into the vessel being to press upon the surface of
the ink, and thereby to cause it to escape at any given outlet. a, a, represents an
air-tight vessel, into which dips a tube b, pendent from the under side of the
cover c of the inkstand. The bore of this tube 6 terminates in a dipping cup d..
which is to be kept supplied with ink so long as the inkstand is in use. * Fixed
in the cover c are two valves, formed of dish-shaped discs of vulcanized india-
rubber c, e* These valves have a tendency to retain the position. shown at
Fig. 1. The upper disc e is pierced at its centre to allow of the free passage
through of the air in either direction. A shoulder or projection is formed on
the upper face of the under valve e*, so that when the upper valve is depressed,
it will come in contact therewith, and force the lower valve into the position
shewn by dots in the detached view, Fig. 3. This lower valve e is pierced:
or cut through at or near its. centre, and when 'thus depressed, the cut in
it will open, and thus afford a passage for air into or out of the vessel a, as
circumstances may require.
Now, supposing that ink has been supplied to the ink vessel, and that it is
required to fill the dipping cup d with ink, the valvė e is pressed down, the
finger which imparts the pressure closing at the same time the central air:
passage formed therein: The air between the valves e and will thus be
compressed, and, finally, forced through the opening in the lower valve into:
the ink vessel a. The pressure of air within the vessel a being now superior
to that of the atmosphere, the ink will be impelled upwards into the dipping
cup, and the finger being now withdrawn from, the upper valve e, that valve-
will rise to its former position. This action may be repeated as many times as
is requisite to fill the dipping cup. In order to withdraw the ink. from.the.cup,
it is only necessary to press down the lower valve with the finger until it opens,
leaving at the same time the air passage in the upper valve uncovered. The
atmospheric pressure within and without the vessel.a-will-then become.equal-
ized, and the ink in the cup will, consequently, return to the vessel a. By this
means the evaporation and consequent thickening of the ink is obviated.
Fig. 4 shews, in longitudinal section, a syringe for surgical purposes, fitted
with the self-closing valve. In this application of the valve a rigid support
is provided for it, to prevent it from acting in opposite directions. . a, a, arc
two valves, formed of discs of thin vulcanized sheet rubber, the edges of which
are held firmly between the parts b, 6, and c, c, which are screwed together,
and caused to nip the edges of their respective discs. These discs are slit
across, as shewn in the detached view, Fig. 5, and they serve to. close. the

page_text: ends of a chamber d, formed by a tubo of vulcanized rubber, attached to the
collars c, c: Supply and discharge pipes e, f,.are fitted to the opposite ends:
of the instrument, the same being provided with suitable terminations: for?
receiving and discharging the fluid to be injected."
This class of syringe is, "as is well known, set in action by the alternate.
pressure and-release of pressure of the hand upon the flexible tubular chamber
d; the valves a will then ultimately yield to the pressure of the water (in one!
direction only), and opening will allow the water to pass through. The removal
of the pressure of the fluid from the valves will cause them instantly to close.>
This self-closing valve is also applicable to beer barrels, for passing air-
therein as the beer is withdrawn, and admitting only so much air as is required
to fill the space occupied by the withdrawn liquor.
Fig. 6 shews the mode of applying the valve to this use: it consists of a
hollow vent peg, which is to be driven or screwed into the vent peg-hole of the
barrel. The air passage in the peg is closed by one or more thin discs of
vulcanized india-rubber. (slit, as shewn at Fig. 5), and secured in position by
means of a cap piece, through which a hole is made for the admission of air.
When the pressure of air in the cask is reduced by the withdrawing of beer
therefrom below the pressure of the atmosphere, air will force its way through
the valve and enter the cask, but immediately the equilibrium of pressure is
restored, the valve will close. The air contained in the cask will, therefore,
never be displaced by fresh air, and thus the tendency of the beer to sour by
frequent contact with the atmosphere will be removed. We may remark, that
a self-acting vent peg constructed on this principle may with advantage be
applied to barrels containing beer under the process of fermentation, for the
purpose of discharging the carbonic acid.
Fig. 7 shews in side view, and Fig. 8 in longitudinal section, an infant's
feeding bottle, with our improvement applied thereto. a is a hollow plug for
admitting the food as usual. This plug is formed after the manner of the vent
peg just described, and provided with an india-rubber valve a, which is capable
of yielding to the pressure of the air as the child withdraws the food from the
vent by suction, and thus of permitting air to pass into the bottle to occupy
the displaced food. A nipple 6 is fitted as usual to the bottle for the infant
to suck at. A modification of this arrangement is shewn in longitudinal section
at Fig. 9, and in end view at Fig. 10.
In this example, the cover of the bottle is moulded in vulcanized india-rubber,
and sprung on to the neck of the bottle. This cover is fitted with two valves,
the one opening outwards, and the other inwards. The food is withdrawn by the
infant from the nipple valve a, and air enters the bottle to take the place of the

page_text: food by the air valve b. This same arrangement of valves may with advantage be.
applied by brewers to beer barrels, the valvo which opens outwards being for.
the discharge of the carbonic acid gas, and the other valve for the subsequent.
admission of air to the barrel. This valvular cover we propose to fix on the
top of a hollow vent peg, and thus to facilitate the application to barrels.
Having now set forth the nature and object of our Invention of "improve-
ments in the construction of inkstands, applicable in part to other vessels for
the reception of fluids," and explained, the manner of carrying the same into
effect, we wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent, we claim,→
First, the means herein set forth for forcing the ink into the cup of fountain
inkstands, and withdrawing it therefrom when not required for use.
Secondly, the application of the self-closing valves to syringes, infants' feeding
bottles, beer barrels, and other vessels for the reception of fluids.
In witness whereof, I, the said Bennett Johns Heywood, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
BENNETT JOHNS HEYWOOD. (L.S.)