IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARA- TION OF COPYING INKS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARA-
TION OF COPYING INKS."-A communication from abroad by Adolphe
Tevsonnière of Paris in the Republic of France.
Sealed the 16th January 1874, and dated the 22nd November 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 22nd November 1873.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PREPARATION OF COPYING INKS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to provide a copying ink which by the
simple addition thereto of water will afford a perennial supply of limpid
fluid to the dipping cup or cone of inkstands.

page_text: The difficulty hitherto experienced in rendering copying inks amenable
to the treatment to which inks employed in what are known as perpetual
inkstands are subjected has arisen from the tendency of the dissolved
colouring matters to form an insoluble deposit in the ink pot. To
prevent this result it is now proposed to acidify the ink compound,
and thereby to provide a dissolving agent which will counteract the
chemical action which imparts insolubility to the ink.
In preparing the ink compound any suitable or well-known mixture
of ink powders capable of yielding by the addition of water a strong
colored solution may be used, and to these are to be added gum and sugar
or the equivalent therefor, as is now practised is preparing copying inks.
To render this compound capable of being employed as above indicated
bi-oxalate of potash or oxalic acid is is added in excess, in proportions
varying according to the ingredients used, and thus the tendency of the
dissolved color to deposit will be removed.
In order to ensure a limpid ink the solid compound is applied to a
filtering inkstand such as is described in the Specification of a Patent
granted to Edward Marston and Henry Kleinau, as a communication from
the present Inventor, and bearing date May 8th 1873, No. 1670. In this
inkstand the color as it is dissolved out by the application of water
thereto passes through a porous medium which keeps back any semi-solid
matters and allows only the limpid fluid to reach the dipping cup or
cone. This filtering process is important as otherwise the copying ink
would be liable from its "tacky" nature to present a semi-fluid mass to
the nibs of the pen.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd May 1874.
"
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the 3
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the

page_text: thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,
my executors, administrators, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF COPYING INKS," being a com-
munication to me from abroad by Adolphe Teysonniére, of Paris, in
the Republic of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 (that is to say):
The object of this Invention is to provide a copying ink which by the
simple addition thereto of water will afford a perennial supply of limpid
ink to the dipping cup or cone of inkstands.
The difficulty hitherto experienced in rendering copying inks amenable
to the treatment to which inks employed in what are known as perpetual
inkstands are subjected has arisen from the tendency of the dissolved
coloring matters to undergo a chemical change which results in the
formation of an insoluble deposit in the inkpot, rendering the ink more
or less thick and ropy and causing it to lose its fluidity or quality of
flowing readily from the pen. To prevent this change from taking
place it is now proposed to acidify the ink compound and thereby to
provide a dissolving agent which will counteract the chemical action
mentioned above and prevent the formation of the insoluble ropy matter,
cither by dissolving the same in the first stages of its formation when it

page_text: is presented to the dissolving agent in its nascent state, or, which is
more probable, by exercising a preservative or so to speak antiseptic
action, which prevents the chemical change that imparts insolubility to
the ink from occurring at all.
In preparing the ink compound any suitable or well-known mixture
of ink powders or dry preparation of ink capable of yielding by. the
addition of water a strong colored solution may be used, but the ink
preparation which I prefer to employ is that mixture of extract of
logwood, chromic acid, and aniline black for which I obtained a Patent
bearing date September Thirtieth, One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-three. To any of these ink preparations as a basis are to be
added gum and sugar or the equivalent therefor as is now practised in
preparing copying inks. To render this compound capable of being
employed as above indicated bin-oxalate of potash or other soluble salt of
oxalic acid or oxalic acid is added in excess in proportions varying
according to the ingredients used, and thus the tendency of the coloring
matter to undergo chemical decomposition and deposit the thick ropy
matter will be removed.
In order to ensure a limpid ink the solid compound is applied to a
filtering inkstand such as is described in the Specification of a Patent
granted to Edward Marston and Henry Kleinau, as a communication
from the present Inventor, and bearing date May Eighth, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-three, No. 1670. In this inkstand the color
as it is dissolved out by the application of water thereto passes through
a porous medium which acts as a filter and keeps back any solid or
semi-solid matters, and allows only the limpid fluid to reach the dipping
cup or cone. This filtering process is important, as otherwise the
copying ink would be liable from its "tacky" nature to present a semi-
fluid mass to the nibs of the
pen.
With respect to the proportions in which the oxalic acid or its com-
pounds are to be used in preparing the ink, it may be said that these
are too variable to permit of any exact formula being given, but it may
be laid down as a principle that in all cases there must be an excess of
oxalic acid or one of its soluble compounds present, as for example
where chromic acid is used in the ink preparation the quantity of oxalic
acid must somewhat exceed that of the chromic acid.
It will of course be understood that the proportion of the oxalate of
any kind used in the place of oxalic acid must be calculated from the

page_text: quantity of real oxalic acid which it is known to contain and which can
be estimated according to its chemical equivalent in the manner well-
known to chemists.
Having now set forth the nature of the said Invention of "Improve-
ments in the Preparation of Copying Inks," which has been communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent as aforesaid, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that
I claim, the combination of binoxalate of potash or other acid oxalate or
of oxalic acid with an ink powder or its equivalent prepared to yield ink
when dissolved in water, such coloring material having been prepared
by the admixture therewith of sugar, dextrine, or its equivalent, to give
to it the property of a copying ink.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of May,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.