IMPROVEMENTS IN FOUNTAIN PENS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FOUNTAIN PENS."-A communi-
cation from Newell A. Prince, of New York, in the United States of
America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Potition, on the
24th February 1855..
J, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FOUNTAIN PENS," a
communication from Newell A. Prince, of New York, in the United States of
America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the general form and arrangement of fountain
pens, whereby they are rendered more efficient when in action, and less
liable to corrosion from the action of the ink, as it is proposed to manu-
facture them principally of hard vulcanized india-rubber.
The principal
improvements consist in the employment of a spring or tongue, which is
fixed in the tube that feeds the pen, such spring and feeding tube being

page_text: placed either on the upper or under side of the pen, so that the spring
which bears upon the pen is made to vibrate inside the feeding tube by the
action of the pen in writing, and causes the ink contained in the reservoir or
penholder to flow out of a lateral aperture in the feeding tube, and so supplies
the pen.
When the spring and tube are placed above the pen a small conical
plug is fitted on to the end of the spring, which plug fits into the feeding aper-
ture, and prevents the ink from running out when the pen is not in use; but
when the pen is deflected back during writing, it presses against the conical
plug, and allows of a small quantity of ink to escape from the aperture. The
reservoir may either be filled by the action of the mouth or by a piston.
In the former case a small thumb screw is fitted on to a cap on the top of the
bolder, and by slackening this screw slightly the ink may be drawn into the
reservoir by the action of the mouth. When the reservoir is full the screw
is made tight again, and the pen is ready for use. When a piston is used for
drawing up the ink into the reservoir, a small cap is fitted on to the top of the
holder, and a conical recess formed in the interior of such cap; a corre-
sponding conical shoulder is also formed on the piston rod just above the
piston, so that when the piston is drawn up this conical projection fits into its
corresponding recess, and effectually excludes the air from the interior of the
reservoir. When not in use, a protecting cap or sheath is fitted over the pen
and feeding tube, when it may be worn in the pocket with safety.
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 24th August 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
nie, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all

page_text: 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 FOUNTAIN PENS," a communication from Newell A. Prince, of New York, in
the United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Henry Johnson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 John Henry Johnson, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The said Invention relates to the general form and arrangement of fountain
pens, whereby they are rendered more efficient when in action, and less liable
to corrosion from the action of the ink, since it is proposed to manufacture
them principally of hard vulcanized india-rubber. The principal improve-
ments consist in the employment of a spring or tongue, which is fixed in the
tube that feeds the pen, such spring and feeding tube being placed either on
the upper or under side of the pen, so that the spring which bears upon the
pen is made to vibrate inside the feeding tube by the action of the pen in
writing, and causes the ink contained in the reservoir or penholder to flow out
of a lateral aperture in the feeding tube, and so supplies the pen. When the
spring and tube are placed above the pen a small conical plug is fitted on to
the end of the spring, which plug fits into the feeding aperture, and prevents
the ink from running out when the pen is not in use; but when the pen is
deflected back during writing, it presses against the conical plug, and allows
a small quantity of ink to escape from the aperture. The reservoir may either
be filled by the action of the mouth or by a piston. In the former case a
small thumb screw is fitted into a cap on the top of the holder, and by
slackening this screw slightly or removing it the ink may be drawn into the
reservoir by the action of the month. When the reservoir is full the screw
is made tight again, and the pen is ready for use. When a piston is used for
drawing up the ink into the reservoir, a small cap is fitted on to the top of the
holder, and a conical recess formed in the interior of such cap. A corre-
sponding conical shoulder is also formed on the piston rod just above the
piston, so that when the piston is drawn up this conical projection fits into its

page_text: corresponding recess, and effectually excludes the air from the interior of the
reservoir. When not in use, a protecting cap or sheath is fitted over the pen
and feeding tube, when it may be worn in the pocket with safety.
And in order that the said Invention may be more properly understood, I
shall now proceed to describe and refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of
Drawings hereunto annexed.
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of the pen in a portable state, suitable
for carrying in the pocket. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partially broken away,
with the cap or sheath removed, ready for use. Fig. 3 represents an elevation
of the back of the pen. Fig. 4 is a view of the under side of the same.
Fig. 5 is a complete longitudinal section of the pen. Fig. 6 is a section,
with the piston rod drawn back. Fig. 7 represents a section of the feeding
tube and spring. Fig. 8 is a transverse section of the same. Fig. 9 is a cross
section of the tube or reservoir. Fig. 10 represents the pen below the feeding
tube and spring. Fig. 11 is a view of the feeding tube and back of the pen.
Fig. 12 is a reverse view of Fig. 11. Fig. 13 is a longitudinal section of the
pen. Fig. 14 shews the piston rod extended, and the pen ready for use.
Fig. 15 is a view of the pen used without the piston, but with a screw and
orifice at the top. Fig. 16 is a longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 17 is a
section of the feeding tube, with spring and small orifice near the pen; and
Fig. 18 represents the pen out of use.
The main reservoir tube A, Fig. 5, may be about four or five inches long,
and about one quarter of an inch in diameter, the inner surface being made
as smooth as possible. The piston rod B is about the same length as the
reservoir tube. The lower part of the piston fits the tube, as shewn in Figs. 5
and 6, while the upper part is made conical, as at C, Fig. 6; this part fits
the conical sent in the screw cap D. This screw cap is screwed into the top
of the reservoir tube, and in its centre is a hole through which the piston rod
traverses, and when drawn out to its full extent the conical part C fits the
scat in the cap, and prevents the ink from escaping at the top, and also prevents
the air from entering the reservoir tube. In the lower end of the reservoir
tube A, Fig. 5, a small feeding tube E is inserted, which has a central holc,
about an eighth of an inch in diameter, passing through it, the hole being the
largest of the upper end of the tube; near the lower end of the feeding tube
an aperturo is made, perpendicular to the bore thereof, from which the ink
issues to feed the pen. Within the feeding tube, Fig. 5, is fixed a thin flat spring
F, the upper end of which is made of sufficient width to allow it to bear upon
the sides of the tube, so that by pressing it in it is wedged fast into the tube,
as seen in Fig. 7; the rest of the spring is narrower than the diameter of the

page_text: feeding tube, so that it may vibrate freely by the action of the pen in writing.
The lower end of the spring is bent at nearly a right angle, so that the end
of it projects through the aperture and comes in contact with the under part
of the pen.
As soon as the pen in writing is lifted from the orifice in the
feeding tube, the end of the spring F follows it, so that the constant motion of
the pen when in use aids in supplying it with ink, as the ink is attracted or
drawn up by the spring, and is as it vibrates kept in contact with the pen.
The upper end of the feeding tube fits, as before stated, into the cylindrical
bore of the reservoir or holder, but a part or arc of its periphery is equal to
the breadth of the steel or other pen used, and near to its lower end is filed
away to allow the pen to be slipped in between the feeder and the inside of
the tube. The pen must set closely to the lower end of the feeding tube at
the orifice where the ink feeds the pen, the point of the pen being about one
quarter of an inch distant from the orifice. When the feeding tube is placed
above the pen, as shown in Fig. 13, the end of the spring F has at right
angles with its length a conical plug that fits in the hole at the end of the
feeder, as at G, Fig. 13, and closes it when the pen is not in use.
The pen
stands outward a little from the feeder, the conical plug just touching it, and
as the pen moves when pressed upon the paper, the plug is forced back and
the ink flows from the hole. Figs. 15, 16, & 18 show the structure of the
fountain pen when the piston is dispensed with, the reservoir being filled with
ink by the suction of the month. The cap D is screwed into the reservoir at H,
making an air-tight joint; it has a small hole through its centre, at the top
of which there is a small thumb screw J, which when closed prevents any air
from entering the reservoir at its upper end. To fill the main tube, the lower
aperture is immersed in ink, and the screw J is turned back, when on applying
the suction of the mouth the air will be drawn out around the thread of the
screw and the ink will take its place. The screw is then tightened up in its
seat at K. When the piston is used for filling, as herein-before described, the
piston rod is drawn back to the piston, shown in Fig. 14, and the ink follows
through the lower aperture. The cap L, Figs. 1 and 18, fits upon the reservoir
tube at M, thereby enclosing the pen and its feeder. The material preferred
for constructing this fountain pen is "Goodyear's hard rubber," as it is
casily wrought, and is not corroded or in the least degree injured by the ink.
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 I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion
to describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without

page_text: deviating from the principles or main features of the said Invention; but 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 application and use of the spring or tongue fixed in the feeding
tube of a fountain pen for the purpose of keeping up a constant supply of ink
to the pen by the vibration of the same during writing, as herein-before
described.
Second, the application and use of the piston for filling the pen and also the
conical seating for excluding air from the ink reservoir.
Third, the application and use of the cap and thumb screw, wherein the
screw is so arranged that by turning it back slightly the air may be exhausted
from the tube by the suction of the mouth, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of August, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-five.