Year: 1886

page_text: I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Cº, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of my invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to that class of writing instruments in which ink is
automatically supplied to a pen from a hollow holder or reservoir, and which are
commonly termed Fountain-pens.
The object of the invention is to provide for the ready transmission of the ink
from the holder to the pen without the aid of the special devices commonly
employed and considered necessary for such purpose. To this end it comprises a
novel construction of a fountain-pen with a reservoir closed at its upper or outer
end and having a suitable opening at its lower extremity, and a slit writing pen
having its slit carried upward within, and in immediate communication with, the
ink-space of said reservoir in such manner that the volume, of ink being in direct
contact with the inner end of the slit ensures the action of the latter as a channel
or conduit to conduct the requisite current of ink to the point of the pen during
the operation of writing, thereby dispensing, as herein before indicated, with the
special devices or appliances heretofore considered necessary in this class of writing
instruments.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 is a rear view, drawn to an enlarged scale, of a fountain-pen embodying
my said invention.
Figure 2 is a side view and partial section of the same.
Figure 3 is a cross section thereof taken on the line x, of Figures 1 and 2.
Figures 4, 5 and 6 are like views of a pen showing a modification of my said
invention.
Figure 7 is a longitudinal sectional view still further illustrating my said
invention.
Figure 8 is a view from the underside, and,
Figure 9 is a transverse sectional view, on the line, x, of Figure 8, showing
another modification of my said invention.

page_text: Figures 10 and 11 are corresponding views of another modification of my said
invention.
Referring first to Figures 1, 2 and 3, A is the holder or reservoir which is hollow
or tubular and closed at its upper or outer end, as shown at a and open at its
lower end. This construction of the holder is common to the several modifications
of my said invention. To the lower end of said reservoir is fitted the pen B.
As shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 aforesaid, the pen is formed in one piece with
the holder or reservoir A very much as a pen is provided upon the tubular portion
of a quill on the well known quill-pen, but, in the present case, the slit c is carried
inward or upward until its inner end communicates with the interior of the tubular
holder A, that is to say, with the ink reservoir contained or provided therein. The
ink, sustained in the said reservoir by atmospheric pressure from below, passes by
capillary attraction and by gravity direct to said slit, and as the ink is exhausted
from the point of the pen by adhesion of the ink to the paper or surface written
upon in the operation of writing, a constant flow to and along the said slit is
secured, thereby providing the requisite supply to the point of the pen so long as
the operation of writing is continued, and this without the aid of any additional
mechanical device to conduct the ink to the slit and thence to the point of the pen.
As shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6, the pen B is thrust bodily into the open lower
end of the reservoir A, its edges fitting into grooves or recesses provided for their
reception in the interior surface of the holder, the pen being thus held in position
with its slit c extended upward or inward with its inner extremity in such relation
to the space occupied by the ink that the latter may pass directly into the inner
portion of the slit c, and be thence transmitted to the point of the pen. When
desired, the reservoir A may, for convenience in filling and changing pens, be made
in two parts d, e, screwed together as shown in Figures 4 and 5, the lower one
constituting a socket in which the pen is inserted in position and relation to the
ink-reservoir as hereinbefore explained.
In the modification shown in Figure 7, the pen B is inserted directly within the
open lower end of the reservoir A, substantially as described with reference to
Figures 4, 5 and 6. Extending inward from the pen and preferably attached
thereto, or, if desired, integral therewith as represented in said Figure, is an
inwardly projecting tongue ƒ which constitutes a feeding stem and which, by the
additional surface presented to the ink within the reservoir, provides an additional
means for directing the ink downward within the reservoir to the inner end of the
slit of the pen.
.
Referring to Figures 8 and 9, the pen is formed in one with the reservoir as in
Figures 1, 2 and 3, except that, instead of being formed at the upper side of the
reservoir, it is provided at the lower side, which is made concave in cross section
as shown in Figure 9, the ink passing to the slit of the pen (said slit being
extended into the ink-reservoir as in the other modifications of my said invention)
at the back or upper side of the latter and thence through said slit to the point.
In the modification shown in Figures 10 and 11, the pen is arranged at the under-
side of the reservoir in substantially the same relation therewith as in Figures 8
and 9, with this modification, that the underside of the lower end of the reservoir
is formed into a socket to receive the inner portion of the pen, and is formed with
a longitudinal slot e¹, coincident with the slit of the pen, which said slot in fact
forms part of the ink-reservoir thereof and which is so arranged that the ink may
pass readily therefrom to and into the inner end of said slit and thence to the
point of the pen as in the other modification hereinbefore described of my said
invention.
It is to be observed that, in order to ensure the herein described feeding action
of the slit o of the pen, it is requisite that the back of the pen should be of such
thickness that the opposing flat surfaces of said slit shall afford substantial
adhesive attraction to the ink, in other words a substantially capillary attraction
which will ensure the flow of the ink downward from the top of the slit as fast as
the same is exhausted from the bottom thereof...

page_text: When desired, the opening at the lower end of the reservoir may be in duplicate
as shown in Figure 12, in other words may be divided into two compartments into
one of which the pen may be inserted and secured as shown in said Figure.
It is to be understood that, when desired, the reservoir A may be made with its
lower end detachable for convenience in filling the reservoir and changing the pen.
When desired, the reservoir may be provided with the ordinary air-tube as shown
at C, in Figure 10, thus admitting air to the lower end of the reservoir. It will
be observed that, as represented in the drawing, the whole reservoir is closed at its
upper end and open at its lower end, air being admitted through the opening at
the lower end to supply the place of the ink withdrawn from the reservoir in the
act or operation of writing. It will further be observed that, when an air-tube is
used to permit the inflow of air at the lower end of the reservoir as aforesaid, the
opening formed directly in the lower end may be proportionally diminished to
simply permit the flow of ink to the pen.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is:-
First. The combination, with the reservoir of a fountain-pen closed throughout,
except at its permanently open lower end, of a pen the slit whereof extends from
the point of the pen upwards or inwards to or into the said open lower end of the
reservoir to form the channel for the passage of the ink from said open lower end
to the point of the pen, substantially as, and for the purpose, herein set forth.
Second. A reservoir or tubular holder constructed with longitudinal grooves
in the inner walls of its lower end, in combination with a pen the lateral edges of
which fit into said grooves, thereby ensuring the retention of the pen in place,
substantially as, and for the purpose, herein set forth.
Third. The combination, with the reservoir of a fountain-pen closed throughout,
except at its permanently open lower end, of an internal feeding stem fixed in its
relation with the said reservoir, and arranged to assist the flow of ink downward
in the said reservoir to feed the ink toward the pen in the act of writing, and to
aid in filling the pen when the reservoir is reversed, substantially as, and for the
purpose, herein set forth.
D1
1
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.