IMPROVEMENTS IN INKSTANDS AND IN THE MODE OF USING SOLUBLE CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES THEREWITH AS WRITING Ink
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Marston, of the Firm of Sampson Low,
Marston, Low, and Searle, of Fleet Street, in the City of London,
and Henry Kleinau, of King William Street, Strand, in the City of
Westminster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN INKSTANDS AND
IN THE MODE OF USING SOLUBLE CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES THEREWITH AS WRITING
Ink.”—A communication from abroad by Adolphe Teysonniere, of
Paris, France.
Bealed the 1st July, 1873, and dated the 8th May 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Marston and
Henry Kleinau at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 8th May 1873.
We, EDWARD MARSTON, of the Firm of Sampson Low, Marston, Low,
and Searle, of Fleet Street, in the City of London, and HENRY KLEINAU,
of King William Street, Strand, in the City of Westminster, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN INKSTANDS
AND IN THE MODE OF USING SOLUBLE CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES THEREWITH AS WRITING.
INK," to be as follows:
-
The object of this Invention is to produce an inkstand capable of

page_text: containing any suitable chemical coloring matter (soluble in water)
and also suitable filtering media whereby the colored solution produced
by dissolving the coloring matter in water will be strained so as to keep
back solid matters, leaving the saturated solution suitable to be used for
writing ink.
In carrying out the Invention the inkstand consists of a box or casing
made of any convenient shape of metal, glass, porcelain, or other
suitable material and divided internally by means of a perforated vertical
or horizontal partition into two compartments, each of which is pro-
vided with a screwed cap or other suitable cover to keep out the air.
In one of these compartments is placed the soluble coloring matter
contained in a bag or envelope made of bibulous paper or other porous
material. In the other compartment is placed sponge, wool, felted
fabric, or other porous substance, which will act as a filtering or
straining medium.
Projecting down from the opening in the cover of the filtering com-
partment is an inverted cone, the apex of which is cut off so as to form
a hole for the passage of the liquid coloring matter up into the interior
of the conc. The inkstand thus constructed having been supplied with
the requisite coloring matter and filtering media, the operation of the
apparatus is as follows:-Water is poured into the compartment
containing the solid coloring matter, which will be partially dissolved
until the water is completely saturated with the colour. The solution
will pass through the perforated partition into the filtering chamber, and
after filtration will rise up inside the cone into which pens may be
dipped to take up the ink. When all the liquid is used more ink may
be made by simply pouring more water into the compartment containing
the coloring matter. Water may be added in this manner dozens of times
and will thus continue to supply ink for months. For this reason the
Inventor intends to name this apparatus "The Magic Inexhaustible Ink-
stand."
If preferred the interior of the inkstand may be divided into two
chambers or compartments by means of a horizontal partition. As
another modification the partition may be altogether dispensed with,
and the filtration of the liquid may be effected by causing it to pass
through a disc or plug by some porous substance adapted to the dipping

page_text: chamber or conc. In fact the form of the inkstand may be varied ad
infinitum, while the principle of the Invention is retained, which is that
the solid soluble coloring matter should be confined in such a way that
while water can be supplied to dissolve it only the perfect dissolved
parts can pass through the filtering medium, so as to enter the dipping
chambor.
The soluble coloring matters which may be used for the purposes of the
Invention are ink powders or any ordinary ink evaporated to dryness or
to a suitable consistancey, evaporated extracts of dyewoods or soluble dyes
may be used.
All kinds of aniline colors or mixtures thereof to
produce any particular colors; also blue, blacks, indigo, Prussian bluc,
and other intense coloring matters which arc soluble in water may be
employed.
"
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Marston and Henry Kleinau in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 8th November 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDWARD
MARSTON, of the Firm of Sampson Low, Marston, Low, and Scarle, of
Fleet Street, in the City of London, and HENRY KLEINAU, of King
William Street, Strand, in the City or Westminster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors give
and grant unto us, the said Edward Marston and Henry Kleinau, Her
special licence that we, the said Edward Marston and Henry Kleinau,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the
said Edward Marston and Henry Kleinau, our exccutors, 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 ex-
pressed, 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 INKSTANDS
AND IN THE MODE OF USING SOLUBLE CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES THEREWITH AS WRITING
•

page_text: INK," being a communication to us from abroad by Adolph Teyson-
nière, of Paris, France, upon the condition (amongst others) that we;
the said Edward Marston and Henry Kleinau, our cxccutors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one
of their hands and scals, 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 Scal Patent
Office within six calender months next, and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Edward Marston and Henry
Kleinau, 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, reference being had
to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):
The object of this Invention is to provide an inkstand which shall be
capable for yielding ink for a long period (say several months) of an
uniform color and quality, by the simple application thereto from time
to time of pure water. This result is attained by the use of a dry
pigment or coloring matter (soluble in water), which pigment when
inserted in the inkstand will provide the source for a practically un-
limited supply of ink.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is an external clevation, and
Fig. 2 a vertical section of the form of inkstand preferred to be used in
obtaining a practically exhaustless supply of limpid ink. This inkstand
consists of a metal case divided into two compartments a and b by
means of a perforated vertical partition c. The soluble coloring matter
or pigment is contained in a porous bag or envelope d made by pre-
ference of unsized paper, and it is placed in the compartment b. The
metal cover of the inkstand is made with two openings which arc
intended to give access to the two compartments a, b. Attached to the
under side of the cover is a metal screen 6* which partially closes the
opening to the compartment b, thus protecting it against the admission
of dirt or dust, while a free passage is left for the supply of water to
the compartment. Pendent from the cover is an inverted truncated
cone e forming a dipping cup which projects down into the lower part
of the compartment a. The two openings in the cover are closed when

page_text: required by means of screw caps a¹ and 6', e', is a sponge inserted in the
compartment a for the purpose of keeping back from the dipping cup
any undissolved particles of the coloring matter or pigment which may
escape from the envelope d. When the case is fitted with a sponge or
equivalent filtering material and the pigment is placed in the compart-
ment b the cover is secured in its place by solder or otherwise, and the
inkstand is then ready for the market. When it is required to use the
inkstand it is only necessary to fill it or partially fill it with water and
leave it a short time for the water to act upon and dissolve out a portion
of the encased pigment.
Upon pouring water into the compartment 6 through the opening "₁
part of the coloring matter contained in the sack or bag d will be dis--
solved and will pass through the partition c into the compartment a,
from whence the color or ink may be taken by dipping the pen into the
cone e.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section of an inkstand which is divided internally.
into two compartments a and b, by means of the perforated horizontal
partition e¹, covered with a piece of felt or other porous fabric which
acts as a feltering or straining medium. In this case the compartment b
containing .the coloring matter is above the partition, and the ink
chamber is below the partition and the dipping cone opens into the com-.
partment a which contains the filtered ink.
Fig. 4 is a vertical section representing a modification of Fig. 3. In
this example the solid coloring matter is placed in the lower compart-
ment b, and access thereto for the purpose of adding water when
required is obtained by means of the narrow truncated cone f. The
dipping cone e is open to the upper compartment a into which the ink
filters.
Fig. 5 is another modification in which the perforated partition is
dispensed with so that there is only one chamber, but in order to prevent
the ink from becoming thick or muddy in the dipping cone e, the lower
end thereof is closed by a perforated disc and piece of sponge c³.
. Fig. 6 is a modification of Fig. 5. In this instance in place of the
perforated disc and piece of sponge c* the open end of the dipping
cone e is covered with a porous bag c³ which acts as the straining or
filtering medium. It will moreover be seen that in this instance there

page_text: is only one opening in the cover of the case, the water to dissolve the
coloring matter being supplied through the dipping cone e, but an addi-
tional opening may be provided if required.
Fig. 7 is another modification in which a separate filtering medium
adapted to the dipping cone is altogether dispensed with. The water to
dissolve the coloring matter is poured into the chamber through the
dipping conce as in Fig. 6, and the coloring matter is contained in a long
bag or sack d made of some woven or felted material which will act
as a filtering medium.
Fig. 8 is another modification in which the solid coloring matter is
not enclosed in any envelope, but is placed loosely at the bottom of the
chamber and is covered up by a perforated metal disc and a layer of
felt, sponge, or other filtering medium, as at c', Fig. 4.
Or
Fig. 9 is a modification of Fig. 8, with this difference, that in placo
of putting the coloring matter in a loose pulverulent state in the vessel,
it is caused to adhere to the bottom and sides of the vessel by deposition
from a concentrated solution. To this end before fixing on the cover_
the vessel is filled with a concentrated solution of the coloring matter,
say, aniline for example, which is then evaporated to dryness. Another,
and sometimes a third and fourth supply of the liquid is in like manner
supplied and evaporated, until a sufficient quantity of the solid coloring
matter has become deposited on the bottom and sides of the vessel.
the coloring matter in a state of powder, or in a granulated state, as
it is sold, may be made to adhere to the sides of the vessel by first
coating the same with a gummy solution and then applying thereto the
dry anilino pigment. At the bottom and central part of the vessel is
placed a shallow tube or ring g which, if desired, may be made porous
so as to act as a filtering or straining medium. It is preferred to
construct this shallow dipping chamber in this manner so as to act as a
strainer, but a simple glass or metal ring may be cemented at the bottom
of the vessel to form a dipping chamber, and to prevent the thick
muddy parts of the ink from getting into the dipping conc. The
arrangements above described and shewn in the accompanying Drawings,
represent the most perfect means of constructing inkstands suitable for
yielding a continuous supply of ink for a lengthened period. A similar
result may be attained without the filtering apparatus by coating the

page_text: whole or a considerable portion of the inner surface of the inkstand
with a consolidated pigment as above described, but we have found ono
of the above arrangements with a filtering apparatus to be preferable.
The manner of employing the Invention is as follows:-Water is
poured into the compartment containing the solid coloring matter, which
will be partially dissolved until the water is completely saturated with
the color.. The solution will pass through the filtering or straining
media, and after filtration will rise up inside the dipping cone e, into
which pens may be dipped to take up the ink. When all the liquid is
used more ink may be made by simply pouring more water into the
compartment containing the coloring matter, and thereby dissolving
more of the aniline or other coloring matter. Water may be added in
this manner dozens of times, and will thus continue to supply ink for
months until all the aniline or other solid coloring matter is dissolved.
For this reason the Inventor intends to name this apparatus "The Magic
Inexhaustible Inkstand."
It will be evident that the form of the inkstand may be varied
according to the taste of the manufacturer without departing from the
principle of the Invention, which is, that the solid soluble coloring
matter, whatever it may be, should be confined or arranged in such a
way, that while water can be supplied to dissolve it, only the perfectly
dissolved parts can pass through the filtering medium or be allowed to
enter the dipping chamber.
The soluble coloring matters which may be used for the purposes of
the Invention are by preference aniline (all colours), but ink powders or
any ordinary ink evaporated to dryness, or to a suitable consistency;
evaporated extracts of dycwoods or soluble dyes, may be used; indigo,
Prussian blue, and other intense coloring matters which are soluble iu
water may also be employed, but aniline colors are preferred as they
have been found in practice best adapted for the purposes of the
Invention.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements
in Inkstands and in the Mode of Using Soluble Chemical Substances
therewith as Writing Ink," as communicated to us by our foreign corre-
spondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
we wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters

page_text: Patent, we claim constructing inkstands and charging them with dry
pigments, in the manner and for the purpose above.described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Edward Marston and Henry
Kleinau, have hereunto set our hands and seals, the Thirtieth
day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight 5
hundred and seventy-threo.