A NEW AND IMPROVED INK REGULATOR AND INDICATOR
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Macfarlane, of Draycott Street, Chelsea,
in the County of Middlesex, Professor of Music, for the Invention of
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Macfarlane at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd December 1863.
I, GEORGE MACFARLANE, of Draycott Street, Chelsea, in the County of
Middlesex, Professor of Music, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW AND IMPROVED INK REGULATOR AND INDICATOR," to be as
follows:-
My Invention is intended to be applied to all inkstands and to all the
ordinary ink bottles in general use on inkstands, and to ink bottles not on
inkstands, or to any vessel containing ink for the purpose of writing from,
however small or large the mouth of the vessel may be.
The purpose of my Invention is for regulating and indicating the quantity
of ink the writer wishes his pen to take up at each dip, by which blotting
is prevented and a saving of the ink besides cleanliness effected.
My Invention is effected by means of a convenient sized dipping cup made of
brass or any other metal, which, being pierced through, admits the ink at the
bottom as well as at the top. This cup bas a projecting flange or (shoulder)
at the lower end which causes the ink to quickly enter. The cup will remain
when it is placed in the bottle or vessel until required to be lowered to increase
the quantity of ink within it, or raised to lessen the quantity of ink within it.

page_text: The process of raising or lowering the cup is instantaneously at the command
of the writer.
The cup is supported by an arm of brass or any other metal, which is
placed or made to fit into the bottle or vessel containing the ink. The upper
end of the arm is fitted into a nut which is made to slide freely up or down
on a pillar, the movement being effected by another nut under it which moves
up or down the pillar by means of a screw; the under nut may also be kept
in its place or when it is placed on the pillar by means of a spring in the nut
pressing on the pillar. On the pillar is the screw or male thread to any con-
venient length, and in the upper nut is the female screw working in the pillar ;
when the spring is used to support the under nut there is no thread on the
pillar or nut. The pillar has one or more slots all or part of its length, on
which a notch or notches in the upper nut works to keep it from moving
round and steadying it. The pillar has a loaded base or it may be made of
solid metal, and may be of a round or square, semicircular, or any con-
venient form or shape. The pillar can be either screwed or fastened into
the base for moveable purposes, and it can also be screwed or fastened into
inkstands, writing desks, counters, and other places for stationery purposes,
or may be made ornamental or otherwise. The cup, which is of a conical or
other form suitable to ink bottles or vessels containing ink for writing purposes,
may be soldered, brased, or otherwise joined to the supporting arm, or the cup
and arm may be made of one piece of solid metal or other materials. The
cup may be made of brass or any other metal, also of ivory, wood, amber,
glass, china, earthenware, or other suitable material. When the cup is of
other than a conical shape or form I use a wire netting of convenient sized
meshes for the bottom of the cup, or I pierce the bottom of the cup with a
series of round or other shaped holes. The upper nut is made to support
several arms or cups at the same time, by which several writers may
be accommodated with cups from the same pillar, which pillar may be made
of all suitable sizes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Macfarlane in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 2nd June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE 8
MACFARLANE, of Draycott Street, Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, Pro-
fessor of Music, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh
year of her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said George Macfarlane, Her special licence that I, the
said George Macfarlane, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said George Macfarlane, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "A NEW AND IMPROVED INK REGULATOR AND INDICATOR,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Macfarlane,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their 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 I, the said George Macfarlane, 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 and accompanying Drawing, that is to say:
My Invention has for its object to regulate and indicate the quantity of ink
a writer takes up at each dip of his pen, by which means blotting is prevented
and a saving of ink and cleanliness in writing are effected, besides, saving the
writer the trouble of seeing that his pen is not overcharged with ink..
This is effected by the employment of a dipping cup, which may be adjusted
at any height in the bottle or vessel containing the ink, this cup having one
or more openings at bottom to admit of the ink rising in it to any desired
height. It will be understood that this end may be attained by various
arrangements of mechanism. I have, however, shewn in the accompanying
Drawing as examples, two arrangements which I have found to answer the
purpose, one of which is represented at Figs. 1, 2, and 3; Fig. 1 being a side
elevation, Fig. 2 a vertical section, and Fig. 8 a plan view.
a, (Fig. 2) is the dipping cup, which is mounted on a vertical rod 6 attached
to a horizontal arm 6*, set in a hollow arm c, in which it may be adjusted at
any length by a set screw d. The arm c has at its other end a socket at c*,
which is set loosely on and capable of moving up or down on a screwed rod or

page_text: pillar e, set upon a stand e*, and upon which rod or pillar it is worked and
adjusted at any required point by means of a screw nut f, which may be milled
at its edge. It will now be understood that on turning the screw f by the
thumb and finger the dipping cup may be set at any desired height in the
ink bottle g.
It will be understood that the ink bottle being entirely inde-
pendent of the dipping cup, may be removed at pleasure. The dipping cup
on inspection will indicate at once to the eye the amount of dip which it
contains.
Another arrangement is represented at Figs. 4, 5, and 6, in which the arm
is shortened, and the base e forms the rim of the bottle, and the bottle itself
has weight sufficient to keep the pillar upright. Fig. 4 is an elevation, Fig. 5
a vertical section, and Fig. 6 a plan view.
The dipping cup a is attached to the arm b, which has a female screw cat
its other end working on the screwed pillar d, set in a step d* on the rim or
base e forming the top of the ink bottle, and which may be fastened thereon
by a thumb screw for otherwise, so as to be removable for cleaning, refilling,
&c. The pillar d has a milled head at f*, on turning which by the thumb
and finger in either direction the female screw c will be caused to travel up or
down on the pillar d, carrying with it the arm d, and consequently the dipping
cup a. The pillar may be so placed as that the screw and arm are under the
rim and inside the bottle. The metal top e may (in either arrangement,
especially in large bottles) be provided with a barrel h (made of glass, metal,
or any other suitable material, and either perforated. or plain), projecting
down some distance into the ink bottle for the dipping cup to slide on for the
purpose of preventing a space being left between the dipping cup and ink
bottle into which the pen might slip, or dirt, dust, or other extraneous matters
enter and injure the ink.
It will be understood that various modifications may be made in the con-
struction and arrangement of the various parts. For example, the pillar
carrying the arm which supports the dipping cup, instead of being set in a
moveable stand, may be screwed into a desk, table, or counter, so as to be a
fixture. This pillar also, instead of being a screw, may be made plain and of
any sectional form, and the socket carrying the arm made to slide up and
down on it and be set at any required point by an adjusting screw or a spring
or mere friction. The pillar may also be made to carry several arms and
their dipping cups, which arm or arms may be made stationary, and the ink
bottle or bottles moved up or down and set at any desired point with respect
to the dipping cup or cups.
Instead of leaving the bottom of the dipping cup open, in some cases, where

page_text: the ink is thick or impure, a bottom of perforated metal or wire gauze may be
placed, through which the ink will rise, and the cup is then to be so long as
to prevent the pen from going down too far. The gauze will act as a strainer,
and prevent the entrance of lumps or extraneous matters into the ink; in this
case the end of the cup may be made cylindrical instead of conical. When
the cup is enclosed in a barrel or cylinder, as shewn at Fig. 5, the said barrel
or cylinder may be presented with a perforated bottom or sides for the above
purpose.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the best means
with which I am acquainted of carrying the same into effect, I desire it to be
understood that I do not confine myself to the arrangement or construction of
parts above shewn and described, as they may be modified in various ways
without departing from the nature and object of my Invention, but that which
I claim as my Invention is, the application to ink bottles or ink holders of an
adjustable dipping cup, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Macfarlane, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
GEORGE MACFARLANE. (L.S.)