CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON PENS, ON PENHOLDERS, ON APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING INK TO PENS, AND ON APPA- RATUS FOR MAKING OF PENS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS WERE COMMUNICATED TO ME BY CERTAIN FOREIGNERS RESIDING ABROAD, AND PARTS INVENTED BY MYSELF
Year: 1835

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
CLEVELAND, of Falcon Square, in the City of London, Clerk, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Royal Letters Patent, bearing date at Westminster, the Ninth day of
February, in the fifth year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Cleveland, His especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Charles
Cleveland, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Charles Cleveland, shall at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England and Wales and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, an Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON
PENS, ON PENHOLDERS, ON APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING INK TO PENS, AND ON APPA-
RATUS FOR MAKING OF PENS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS WERE COMMUNICATED
TO ME BY CERTAIN FOREIGNERS RESIDING ABROAD, AND PARTS INVENTED BY MYSELF;"
in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said
Charles Cleveland, by an instrument in writing undèr my hand and seal, par-
ticularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said improvements, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be

page_text: inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said 5
Charles Cleveland, do hereby declare that the nature of the said improve-
ments, and the manner in which the same are to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in manner following (that is to say) :--
These improvements I divide into four general heads, as applying,—
First, to a peculiar kind of metallic pen.
Second, to certain peculiar sorts and constructions of penholders.
Third, to apparatus for giving suitable supplies of ink to pens. And,
Fourth, to apparatus for cutting and making pens from quills.
The improvement on pens, constituting the first head of the Invention, con-
sists in peculiar modes of forming the points of the nibs of metal pens of
greater substance of metal than usual, in order to prevent the liability of the
points catching in or perforating the paper in the act of writing, and for the
purpose of giving sufficient pliability to such nibs I reduce the substance of
the metal of which the other parts of the pen is formed to any required sub-
stance; and in tempering such pens to obtain permanent elasticity I cause the
points of the nibs to be left particularly hard, by inserting them into a bed of
clay when the pens undergo the process of tempering; or this hardening of
the points of the pens might be obtained by other known means.
In some
cases I apply to the barrels of these and other kind of metallic pens rigid
bands or ferrules of metal, which may be moved up or down the barrel of the
pen for the purpose of regulating the elasticity or pliability of the nibs by
more or less confining their action at the longitudinal slits or openings.
The second head of the Invention, comprehending certain peculiar sorts and
constructions of penholders, consists, in the first place, in making the shells or
cases for penholders of papier maché for the advantages of lightness, cheap-
ness, and external ornament; secondly, in attaching to a penholder a shell in
the form of a pen, and producing the nibs by two small parallel rods of metal,
which nibs may be lengthened or shortened at pleasure merely by sliding the
rods to the length of nibs desired; thirdly, in forming the shield of the holder
with a recess suited to receive the barrel or stem of a narrow metallic pen to
be confined by a fixed clip and a sliding ferrule for the purpose of regulating
the flexibility of the nibs.
The third head, consisting of an apparatus for supplying ink to pens, may be
denominated a fountain penholder, in which a piston acts in a cylindrical

page_text: chamber for the purpose of filling the chamber with ink, by exhausting the
air on the principle and in the manner of a pump or syringe, the ink being
allowed to flow out to feed the nibs of the pen by its own gravity through a
small tube, the egress of which is regulated by an air valve.
The fourth head is an apparatus of an improved construction for making
pens, consisting of a small portable machine, into which the barrel of the
quill is to be introduced for the purpose of being cut and nibbed and slit into
the form of an ordinary quill pen, as usually cut by a knife.
In the accompanying Drawings Figure 1 represents a piece of sheet steel,
which should be in thickness about what is denominated twenty-four gage, out
of which plate or sheet several pens, as Figure 2, have been cut by the ordinary
operations of the screw press. Previously to cutting the pens I produce in the
metal plates a groove, as at a, a, a, by means of a planing machine, or by any
other suitable and expeditious apparatus, and when so grooved the pens, punched
out and shaped, will assume the appearance represented in profile at Figure 3,
having thickened nibs. Instead of grooving the plate of metal in the way
described, I sometimes by means of rollers reduce the substance of the plate
of metal generally, leaving ribs at certain distances apart by means of a
groove cut in one of the rollers, and on cutting the pens from these ribbed
plates I take care that the ends of the nibs shall be formed out of the thick
or ribbed parts of the plates. By these means I obtain sufficient thickness of
the nibs to prevent their catching into or penetrating the paper in the act of
writing, and at the same time sufficient flexibility of the nibs to allow the pens
to write freely and pleasantly. The sliding clip or ferrule, which is to regulate
the flexibility of the nibs of a pen, is shewn attached to the barrel of a metallic
pen in Figure 4. This Figure exhibits a finished pen having three slits; is
the clip or ferrule, capable of being slidden along the barrel. When it is
intended to stiffen the nibs, the clip or ferrule is to be moved towards the
points of the pen; when a greater degree of freedom of action is required,
the ferrule or clip 6 must be slidden up the barrel. In this way the length of
the slits or openings of the pen may be regulated, and any desired degree of
flexibility of the nibs may be attained by moving the slide. The improved
penholder, shewn at Figures 5 and 6, has a shield of metal c formed with any
convenient slits or openings to give more or less flexibility, as may be required.
d is a tube capable of sliding within the shield by means of a thumb piece e.
Into a plug of cork or any other suitable material fixed in the tube d, the ends
of two fine rods of metal for forming the nibs are inserted, as shewn in f,
in Figure 7. The outer extremities of these rods are passed through clips g
in the ends of the shield. It will be perceived that any desired length of nibs

page_text: may be obtained by sliding the tube forward or backward, and that the spring
of the nibs in the act of writing will depend upon their length and on the
flexibility of the shield. Figures 8 and 9 exhibit another form of shield and
holder, h having a recess or indentation i, i, to receive the stem or barrel of
the pen k, as at Figure 10. The stem or barrel of the pen is confined in the
holder h by two clips or projecting pieces, and the flexibility of the nib is
regulated by sliding the ferrule b, as before described.
The fountain penholder is shewn at Figure 11, an external view, and in
longitudinal section at Figure 12, all the parts being in these Figures connected
in their proper positions. Figures 13, 14, and 15 skew the several parts de-
tached, the respective letters of reference pointing out the same parts. Figure 13
shews the fountain penholder in another position, its cap piece being detached.
Figures 14 and 15 represent the several parts of the penholder separated.
a, a, is a cylindrical chamber or reservoir to contain the ink. bis the fountain
tube for conducting the ink to the pen; this tube has a socket piece and plug c
which screws into the end of the cylindrical ink chamber, and throug a large
orifice in the plug c the ink is intended to flow. A shield d fits into the socket
of the plug c, and the pen e is held either on the inside or outside of the
shield d by small clips. A piston rod f, made fast to the knob or head g, is
inserted into the chamber a, working through a guide collar h, and a tight
piston within the chamber a may be occasionally connected to the rod by
means of the left-handed screw at the end of the rod. The parts being all
put together, as shewn at Figures 11 and 13, the knob g and rod f must be so
turned as to cause the screw at the end of the rod f to take fast hold of the
piston i, the piston must then be slidden along the cylinder towards the plug c
for the purpose of expressing the air. The end of the bent tube being
then inserted into a vessel containing ink, on drawing the piston i up the
cylinder, the ink will by the external pressure of the air be caused to follow
and occupy the interior. The rod f must now be disengaged from the piston i,
and the latter allowed to remain stationary at the back end of the chamber, as
shewn in the section, Figure 12, when the rod f may be pushed forward into
the chamber, and the cap piece 7 put on, as shewn in Figure 12, which renders
the apparatus ready for use. As the ink cannot flow out of the chamber a
without allowing the air to occupy its place, a small air valve m having a
conical stopper is formed in the plug c, which, when closed, prevents the ingress
of air to the chamber, and consequently stops the flow of the ink through the
tube; but when this valve m is opened the air is admitted into the chamber,
allowing the ink to discharge itself by its own gravity, and which then flows
through the bent tube toward the nibs of the pen. It will be perceived that

page_text: a small nib projects from the air valve m through the side of the socket c;
this is intended to be acted upon by an angular notch in the cap piece 7, which,
when the cap is put over the pen, operates as a bayonet fastening, and in
pushing the cap piece home on the socket c causes the valve m to be closed,
but in drawing off the cap piece previously to using the pen the nib of the
valve m will be drawn forward, and consequently the air valve be opened,
allowing the ink to flow freely through the fountain tube to the pen in the act
of writing. This air valve may be differently constructed, and may be acted
upon by a lever, or other convenient mode, under the command of the hand in
the act of writing.
The improved pen cutter, which forms the fourth head of the Invention, is
shewn in several positions in the Drawing. Figure 16 is a side view of the
improved instrument, Figure 17 is a back view of the same, and Figure 18
may be called a front view, the instrument in this Figure being thrown open.
The construction of an instrument of this kind for cutting quills is well known,
I therefore desire it to be understood that my Invention of improvements in
apparatus for cutting pens consists, first, in making the ordinary cutters a, a,
in two separate pieces; secondly, in forming them with square edges, the
object of which is that they may be readily sharpened when required; thirdly,
in so mounting the slitting cutter b that it may be adjusted to produce any
length of slit required. These cutters may be attached in any convenient way
to one of the chaps of the instrument, which opens upon a hinge joint at c,
the counter cutter or bed d of the ordinary form and construction being
attached to the other chap. The slitting cutter 6 I propose to move longitu-
dinally by a finger screw f, or by any other convenient means. A quill g being
placed in the instrument, as shewn at Figure 16, and the upper chap raised, a
curved cut will be formed in the barrel of the quill by the curved cutter h,
and on drawing the quill out of the instrument a portion of the barrel will
have become cut or scooped away, the quill being by that means prepared for
the subsequent operation of cutting or nibbing and slitting. On introducing
the quill again into the instrument in its thus prepared state, and closing the
chaps, the nibs will be formed by the shear-like action of the cutters a, a, and
the counter cutter or bed d, and the central cutter 6 will at the same time
penetrate the quill and produce the required slit. Figure 19 shews the cutters
a, a, and b separate and detached from the instrument.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Cleveland, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventh day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.
CHARLES (L.S.) CLEVELAND.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventh day of August, in the
sixth year of the reign of His Majesty King William the Fourth, the said
Charles Cleveland came before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and
acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein con-
tained and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument aforesaid
was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year
of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Eighth day of August, One thousand eight hundred and
thirty-five.