IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, of
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris,
Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Armand le Comte
de Fontaine Moreau at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 27th November 1854.
I, PETER ARMAND le Comte DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of 4, South Street,
Finsbury, London, and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, Patent Agent, <lo
hereby declare the nature of the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF INKSTANDS" to be as follows:-
The Invention communicated to me consists, firstly, in establishing, by
means of a cock, a communication between the interior of the inkstand and
the atmosphere, through a small channel which crosses the tube, to which is
adapted the key of the cock.
Secondly, in adapting to the cock a fixed or moveable sucking or forcing
air pump, constructed of a small ball of vulcanized india-rubber perforated
with many holes.
I also construct the inkstand without any-cock, and adapt to the ball a
small tube, reference-being had-to-the-accompanying Drawing, on which
Figure 1 represents the inkstand; and Figure 2, the ball-and tube. In these

page_text: Figures a is the cup; b, the body of the inkstand; c, opening, serving to put
the ball in communication with the internal recipient; d, godet; e, vulcanized
india-rubber tube, soldered to the ball; f, vulcanized india-rubber ball; 7,
extremity of the tube e, which is adapted on the body of the inkstand.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 14th May 1855. "
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
ARMAND le Comte DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of 4, South Street, Finsbury,
London, and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, Her special license
that I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such, others as I, the said Peter Armand le
Comte de Fontaine Moreau, 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 of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF INKSTANDS," communicated to me from a foreigner
residing abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Peter
Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, should particularly-describo-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 Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine
Moreau, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawing-bereto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that
is to say:

page_text: The Invention communicated to me relates to a new mode of constructing
inkstands, by which the supply of ink to the bowl is regulated at discretion
or kept permanent, and which also secures the ink from the deteriorating
influences to which it is generally subjected.
The improvements consist, first, in establishing, by means of a cock, a
communication between the interior of the inkstand and the atmosphere,
through a small channel, which crosses the tube, to which is adapted the key
of the cock.
Secondly, in adapting to the cock a fixed or moveable sucking or forcing
pump, consisting of a small hollow ball of vulcanized india-rubber per-
forated with holes, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, which
represents a perspective elevation of the improved inkstand. A is a hollow
vulcanized india-rubber ball, cemented or otherwise secured to the standard
B; C, a small aperture in the ball. This ball may be made of any suitable
elastic material. D, an ordinary stop-cock, by which to regulate the admission
of air to the interior of the inkstand. E, a bowl or cup, at the bottom of
which is a small hole, communicating with the interior of the receiver F, which
must always contain sufficient ink, so that its level may be above the hole in
the cup E; G, an aperture through which the receiver may be filled or
cleansed. This aperture when the inkstand is in use must be closed air-tight
by a cork or other suitable means. -
In order to fill the bowl or cup E with ink as required, the stop-cock must
be opened by the right hand whilst the india-rubber ball A is pressed down-
wards by the fingers of the left hand, at the same time closing the hole C;
the air within being thus compressed forces the ink from the receiver into
the bowl. When there is a sufficient quantity of ink in the bowl, the stop-
cock is turned back, so as to cut off communication with the atmosphere; on
opening the stop-cock the compressed air escapes through the orifices in the
india-rubber ball, and the ink returns to the receiver by its own gravity.
Inkstands constructed with these improvements possess the advantage of
preserving the ink from dust, evaporation, and other injurious influences. The
sediment being deposited at the bottom of the receiver, only pure ink is
supplied to the bowl.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details of construction herein laid down so long
as the peculiar features of the Invention be retained; but what I claim as new,
and-intended-to-be-protected_by_the_herein-before in part recited Letters
Patant is

page_text: First, the general arrangement and construction of an inkstand as herein-
before described, and shewn in the Drawing.
Second, the adaptation of a hollow elastic ball in combination with a
stop-cock, for the purpose and in the manner herein-before described and
represented in the Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine
Moreau, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of May,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
L DE FONTAINE MOREAU. (L.S.)