IMPROVEMENTS IN PENS USED FOR WRITING
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Macintyre Cameron and Duncan Cameron,
of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain, for the
Invention TS TE PERS WAED FOR: WRITING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Macintyre Cameron
...and Duncan Cameron at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 6th October 1865.
We ROBERT MACINTYRE CAMERON and DUNCAN. CAMERON, of Edinburgh,
in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain, do hereby declare the nature
of the said. Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PENS USED FOR WRITING," to be as:
follows that is to say
**
This Invention which consists of certain improvements to be employed in
the construction' of pens used for writing; has for its object the production of!
a pen which shall travel over the surface of a rough, straw, or other, paper
without it's being able to be stopped in its course by any of the projections:
which are usually found on papers of an inferior quality. The. mode in.;

page_text: which this improvement is effected is by slightly turning off at an upward
angle the extreme tips of the nibs; by this arrangement a narrow rounded
surface is applied to the paper in lieu of a sharp point, as in pens hitherto
ordinarily constructed. The formation of the nibs in the manner herein-
before described may be effected at any convenient part of the manufacture
during which the pen is formed, but it is preferable to carry out this part of
the process before the pen is hardened and tempered. The mechanical act
by which the nibs are thus arranged consists in passing them through or
between a set or sets of dies or matrices which are made with curved inden-
tations or projections, by which the peculiar method of construction is trans-
mitted to the nibs.
As constituting the present Invention, and as novel and original, it is
intended to claim the construction of pens for writing in the manner herein-
before described, as well as the construction and use of dies or matrices for
their manufacture; it is, however, to be understood that they may be similarly
'constructed by other suitable means.
SPECIFICATION in. pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Macintyre. Cameron and Duncan Cameron in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd April 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT ;
MACINTYRE CAMERON and DUNCAN CAMERON, both of Edinburgh, in the
County of Mid Lothian, North Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of a
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Robert.Macintyre Cameron and Duncan Cameron, Her special license.
that we, the said. Robert. Macintyre Cameron and Duncan Cameron, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Robert:
Macintyre Cameron and. Duncan Cameron, our, executors, administrators, or
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,

page_text: Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PENS USED FOR WRITING," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that we, the said Robert Macintyre Cameron
and Duncan Cameron, by an instrument in writing under our hands
and seals, 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 we; the said Robert Macintyre Cameron and
Duncan Cameron, do hereby declare the nature of our 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:
Our said Invention, which consists of certain improvements to be employed
in the construction of pens used for writing, has' for its object the production
of a pen which shall travel" over the surface of a rough, straw, or other paper
without its being liable to be 'stopped in its course by any of the projections
which are usually found on papers of an inferior quality. The mode in
which this improvement is effected is by slightly turning off in an upward
direction the extreme tips of the nibs; by this arrangement a 'narrow rounded
surface is applied to the paper in lieu of a sharp point, as in pens hitherto
ordinarily constructed. The formation of the nibs in the manner herein-
before described is effected as herein-after more particularly set forth.
And in order that our said Invention may be properly understood, we shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the system, mode; or manner under
which the same is or may be used or carried into practical effect, referénce
being had to the several Figures upon the explanatory Sheet of Drawings
which we have hereunto appended, and in which corresponding parts are
indicated by corresponding letters of reference, that is to say :-
Figure 1 is a side elevation 'drawn to a large scale of one form of 'pen
constructed according to this present Invention; Figure 2 is a plan directly
corresponding to Figure 1; Figure 8 is a side elevation of another or- more
ordinary form of pen, having our said: improvements embodied. therewith;
and Figure 4 is a plan corresponding to Figure 3.
Although in the appended Sheet of Drawings we have shown only two
forms of penis, still it is to be understood that all kinds and forms of steel pens
besides those' we have now shown are or may be made in accordance with our
:I contion...

page_text: .:. In carrying: this Invention into effect, after the blanks from which the pens
are to be produced are punched from the plate, these, are transferred to
another punching machine fitted with a punch and matrix corresponding
to: the form of the hole A, Figures 2 and 4, from which the split is afterwards
extended: to the tips of the nibs, and as soon as the hole is punched the blank
has the curved or other shaped indentation B, Figures Iand: 2, formed on it
by being acted upon by a die and matrix correspondingly formed. As soon as
this indentation is made the blank is transferred: to the bending die and matrix,
by which the longitudinally. curved form is imparted to it.:
After having passed through the berein-before mentioned mechanical processes
the pens are hardened by being placed in an iron hardening box or hardening
boxes, which are heated in a suitable furnace until the hardening temperature
is reached, and when in the heated state they are immersed into a bath of oil,
where they remain until cool, after which the pens are tempered and split.
Up to this stage of the manufacture the general routine is much the same as
that ordinarily employed in the making of metallic pens, but in order, to
produce a pen possessing the qualities: herein-before; described it is necessary
that the extremities of the nibs should be to a slight, extent eurved in an
upward direction; and-it is here intended to be distinctly expressed and under
stood that the part of the nibs produced in a direction tending upwards from
the body of the pen is, turned by preference in the form of a segment of a
circle: instead of in a direction strictly angular, as we have found by ex-
periment. that the circular turn of the nibs enables a much finer stroke, to be
produced in writing with the improved, pens than can be effected with nibs
turned up at a rectilinear angle.
There are several ways in which the turning of the nibs may be effected,
and this is the last stage of the manufacture. The mode in which it is
preferred to curve or turn the nibs is as follows:-After the pens are hardened,
split, and otherwise finished, their extreme tips are passed into or between a
pair of pressers or rollers, which are caused to draw in and squeeze, or press
upon the portion of the pen to be curved. This action of the pressers or
rollers is effected. by any well-known approaching and receding system, of
mechanism, such as is used in other preceding-stages of steel pen manufac
ture.
Having now described the nature of our said. Invention, and the manner
in which the same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, we
would observe, in conclusion, that: what we consider to be our particular
Invention secured to us in the herein-before in part recited Letters Patentais,

page_text: the construction of pens possessing the improved qualities in the manner
substantially herein-before described and shown in the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Robert Macintyre Cameron and Duncan
Cameron, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Thirty-first'
day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-six.
R. M. CAMERON.
(L.B.)
DUNCAN CAMERON. (L.B.)