IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PENHOLDERS, AND HANDLES FOR PENHOLDERS."
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Goodyear, junior, of Leicester Square, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF PENHOLDERS, AND HANDLES FOR PENHOLDERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Goodyear at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
September 1856.
I, CHARLES GOODYEAR, junior, of Leicester Square, in the County of Middle-
sex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF PENHOLDERS, AND HANDLES FOR PENHOLDERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the application of protean or india-rubber hard
compound to the manufacture of penholders.
I take sheets or bands of caoutchouc, prepared in the usual manner for
vulcanizing or hardening, which I prefer should be about of an inch in
thickness. This I cut into strips of convenient length and width. I then take
rods of tinned steel or other material, of convenient size and shape, upon which
I form a tube, either parallel or tapering to a point, by winding the strips of
prepared caoutchouc thereon, commencing at one end and winding spirally
towards the other end. These rods, so covered, are afterwards placed in boxes
of pulverized talc, plaster of Paris, or other material, and there exposed to
suitable degrees of heat for a sufficient length of time to produce the requisite
degree of hardness, as is well understood. The hollow stem of india-rubber
hard compound thus formed may be used as a handle for a metal penholder,
as wood is now used, or it may be made into a penholder by introducing a
plug of the same material into the larger or open end of the stem, such plug

page_text: being so formed as to fit the interior of the stem tightly at a short distance
from the end, and more loosely towards the end, so that the metal pen may be
firmly held by inserting it between the plug and the stem.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Goodyear in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th March 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
GOODYEAR, junior, of Leicester Square, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles Goodyear, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Goodyear, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
Goodyear, 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
MANUFACTURE OF PENHOLDERS, AND HANDLES FOR PENHOLDERS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Charles Goodyear, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Charles Goodyear, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention consists in the application of protean or india-rubber hard
compound in the manufacture of penholders.
I take sheets or bands of caoutchouc, prepared in the usual manner for
vulcanizing or hardening, and which may be composed partly of gutta percha
or any similar substance, although I prefer the usual compound of about two-

page_text: thirds caoutchouc and one-third sulphur, which proportions may, however, be
widely varied at the will of the manufacturer. For the present purpose, the
prepared caoutchouc compound should be spread in the usual manner, about
th of an inch in thickness. This I cut into strips of convenient length and
width. I then take rods of tinned steel or other material, of convenient size
and shape, upon which I form a tube, either parallel or tapering to a point,
by winding the strips of prepared caoutchouc thereon, commencing at one end
and winding spirally towards the other end. These rods, so covered, are after-
wards placed in boxes of pulverized talc, plaster of Paris, or other material,
and there exposed to suitable degress of heat for a sufficient length of time to
produce the requisite degree of hardness, as is well understood. The hollow
stem of india-rubber hard compound thus formed may be used as a handle for
a metal penholder, as wood is now used, or it may be made into a penholder
by introducing a plug of the same material into the larger or open end of the
stem, such plug being so formed as to fit the interior of the stem tightly at a
short distance from the end, and more loosely towards the end, so that the
metal pen may be firmly held by inserting it between the plug and the stem.
The penholders thus made in spirals may have the edges joined to each other,
or the edges may at the upper part be prevented joining or adhering to each
other, commencing a short distance from the bottom (say, two inches). This
may be done by covering the edges with pulverized talc or other similar
substance, where it is desired to prevent the adhesion. The advantage of
penholders so made is, that they are pliable and ornamental.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, I wish it to be under-
stood that what I claim as my Invention is, the manufacture of hollow pen-
holders, or stems or handles for penholders, of "protean," or india-rubber
hard compound, formed upon rods, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Goodyear, jun', have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
JNO. ALCOCK.
CHAS GOODYEAR, Jr. (L.S.)