IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS, APPARATUS, OR ARTICLES FOR HOLDING AND SUPPLYING INK
Year: 1860

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alexander Bain at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition on the 16th July
1860.
I, ALEXANDER BAIN, of Clerkenwell Green, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS
IN MEANS, APPARATUS, OR ARTICLES FOR HOLDING AND SUPPLYING INK," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to raise from an ink holder a supply of ink
For this
for use without having to dip into or expose the main contents.
purpose in one arrangement the neck and stopper of the vessel holding the
main supply are so contrived that the stopper acts in the neck as a sort of
piston or instrument for acting on or compressing the air within the vessel, and
so forces up or raises a supply of ink into a cup or small receiver provided for
the purpose, and also serves for lowering or emptying the contents thereof into
the larger vessel. To this end the neck and stopper are constructed straight
instead of conical at their contiguous surfaces, and the stopper fits in the neck
with such accuracy that it may be worked up and down in it, but yet prevent
air from entering throughout its travel equally, except at a part where a
special means for admitting air when required is provided, and which in the
arrangement preferred consists in forming a recess at the side of the stopper
at its lower part, or of the neck at its upper part, or in other arrangements; or
the air may be admitted by removing the stopper out of the neck. To avoid
expansion of the stopper the neck should be at least fully as long as it. The

page_text: contiguous surfaces of stopper and neck may be smooth or threaded. A cup,
small vessel, or receiver is sunk in, fitted on, or connected to the stopper, a
tube passing into it, and descending into the capacity of the larger or main
vessel.
In another arrangement, instead of the stopper fitting within the neck it
may fit outside or around it, the contiguous surfaces of neck and stopper being
straight, and fitting with due accuracy and closeness, but with means of admit-
ting air when required. On depressing the stopper in or on the neck, a
supply of ink will be forced up through the tube into the cup or small
receiver. The latter may be emptied by raising the stopper, and when high
enough for air to pass in, its contents will return into the main vessel. To
avoid spirting, entry of air, and premature descent of the supply raised,
arrangements may be provided, a washer may be interposed between the rims
of stopper and neck, or a pin may be passed loosely through the tube, having
a washer or disc at each end outside the tube held on by a stud or otherwise,
so that when the stopper is depressed, the lower washer coming against the
bottom of the larger vessel, will close the lower end of the tube, and prevent
the descent of the ink. To prevent spirting, the upper end of the tube may be
closed by a cap and perforated at the sides for the passage of ink. The
stopper may have a rim projecting outward for convenience of handling,
and rim may project inward over the edge of the cup to avoid spilling.
Other arrangements may be adopted for the foregoing purposes.