AN IMPROVED INK OR MUCILAGE STAND
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED INK OR MUCILAGE
STAND." -A communication from abroad by Doctor Franklin
Thomas Grimes, of Liberty, in the State of Missouri, United States
of America.
Sealed the 4th November 1870, and dated the 31st May 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 31st May 1870.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
5 Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED INK OR MUCILAGE STAND,"
to be as follows:
This Invention relates to that class of inkstands in which the space; if
any, in the reservoir above the ink is a vacuum. With the inkstand is

page_text: combined a central enclosed funnel and a diaphragm placed across the
stand below the funnel and approximating to its lower end, so that when
the stand is filled with ink and all air is excluded from it the pressure of
the atmosphere may keep the ink out of the funnel and the ink may
keep air out of the stand, so that but a small surface of ink will be
exposed to evaporation, and the ink will be kept shallow at the place
where it is entered by the pen. In combination with the diaphragm
there is a tube (provided with a cap or stopper) by which the stand
(when inverted) may be filled from the bottom, and which when the
stand is turned upright and the tube is closed at its lower end serves as
a fountain into which to dip the pen, or the tube may be permanently
closed at its lower end, and the stand filled through a cork neck in the
top of the stand. The ink is caused to rise in the fountain or pen tube
by air passing into the reservoir at the space or opening between the end
of the funnel and the diaphragm, which causes the ink or other fluids to
rise until it rises above and covers the orifice or space between the end
of the funnel and the diaphragm, when the fluid acts as a valve to
exclude the air from the ink reservoir and arrests the rise of ink in the
funnel. Partitions are placed in the ink reservoir so as to divide the
latter into separate compartments, in order that if the vacuum be
destroyed in one part of the reservoir by an irruption of air it may still
be preserved in the remaining portions.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 29th November 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her
special licence that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward

page_text: 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
"AN IMPROVED INK OR MUCILAGE STAND," being a communication to me
from abroad by Franklin Thomas Grimes, of Liberty, in the State
of Missouri, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Edward 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 William Edward 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, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say):-
This Invention relates to inkstands and mucilage bottles of what are
known as the fountain kind in which the ink or mucilage is supplied
for use to the mouth of a closed reservoir in which there is a vacuum or
partial vacuum above the surface of the liquid, and in which the liquid
is consequently maintained at a higher level than it is within the mouth
where it is subject to atmospheric pressure.
One feature of the Invention consists in a filling tube in the bottom
of the inkstand or bottle through which it is filled with the liquid while
in an inverted position, and which (after it has been closed by a screw
cap or other tight fitting stopper, and after the filled inkstand or bottle
has been placed right side up) forms in conjunction with a funnel pro-
jecting from the top to the open upper end of the tube a well to which
the liquid is supplied from a fountain reservoir.
Another feature consists in providing in the fountain reservoir par-
titions by which it is divided into compartments, in each of which the
liquid is separated from that in the other compartments, and in each of
which a separate vacuum is formed for the purpose herein-after explained.

page_text: These partitions are combined with the central funnel which forms the
mouth of the inkstand or bottle, and from which the contents may be
dipped by a pen or brush. The whole constitute an inkstand or bottle
of very simple and cheap construction and one which acts with a very
high degree of perfection.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a central vertical section of
an inkstand which may be used as a bottle for mucilage or other material
if desired; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same in the plane indicated
by the line x, x, in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan or top view of the same.
The inkstand or bottle may be made of glass, porcelain, or other
suitable material, and may be of the square form represented or any
other suitable form. The bottom is recessed externally as shewn at a, a,
in Fig. 1 to give it sufficient height to make room for the filling tube A,
which also constitutes the bottom part of the well. The upper end of
the tube is flush with the interior. of the bottom. In the top of the
bottle over the filling tube or. well A is the central dipping funnel B,
the lower part or throat of which should preferably extend a short
distance into the filling tube A, though this is not absolutely necessary.
The whole of the interior portion c, c, of the inkstand or bottle (sur-
rounding the dipping funnel) constitutes a reservoir which is perfectly
closed except an annular opening e, e, (see Fig. 1) left between the
throat of the funnel and the filling tube or bottom of the well, and this
reservoir may be divided by any number of vertical partitions b, b, into
a corresponding number of separate compartments which have no
communication with each other except through the annular opening e, e,
above mentioned, and through small openings provided in the partitions
close to the annular opening. The inkstand or bottle thus constructed
is completed by a close stopper fitted to the filling tube A. This stopper
should preferably be composed of a metal screw cap D screwed on to a
screw thread on the extension of the tube and kept tight by a disc d of
cork or other suitable packing material interposed between it and the
end of the tube.
To fill the inkstand or bottle a cork or stopper is first inserted into the
throat of the dipping funnel B. The inkstand or bottle is then inverted
and the screw cap. D. removed, and the liquid is then poured into the
reservoir through the filling tube A. After. it is full the screw cap D is
replaced and screwed up tight, the inkstand or bottle is then
turned over
on its bottom, and the cork or temporary stopper is removed from the

page_text: dipping funnel. A portion of the liquid will then descend from the
reservoir and rise in the funnel leaving a vacuum in the upper part of
the reservoir formerly occupied by the liquid. This vacuum is formed
on the principle of what is known as the Torricellian vacuum, and the
liquid in the funnel forms a valve to exhaust air from the reservoir and
to prevent any further flow of the liquid therefrom until enough has,
been dipped from the funnel to allow a small quantity of air to pass.
under its lower edge, when more liquid will run out and renew the valve,
after which the flow will again be stopped. The filling tube is by means.
of the screw cap and funnel converted into a supply well which will
remain full of liquid while any remains in the reservoir, and will contain
a sufficient depth of liquid to supply the pen or brush when dipped into
it through the funnel. Whon the funnel and well are so constructed
and arranged that the bottom of the funnel dips into the well as shewn
in Fig. 1 the liquid covers the bottom of the well with a less quantity
than would be required were they not thus constructed and arranged,
and by regulating the distance between the bottom of the funnel and
bottom of the well the depth of liquid which will remain in the well
and lower part of the dipping funnel is regulated.
The vertical partitions b, b, extending from the top to the bottom of
the reservoir and dividing the reservoir into two compartments serve a
two-fold purpose, first, if the exterior wall of the compartments should
be broken, the liquid from the others would not be lost; second, when
the air passes into one compartment the liquid flows out of that com-
partment and a less quantity finds its way into the dipping funnel than
would were the reservoir without partitions.
Having now described the Invention which has been communicated
to me as aforesaid, and having explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters
Patent,―
First. The construction of fountain inkstands or mucilage bottles.
with a filling tube and a dipping funnel, constituting also a well below
or at the bottom of the reservoir as and for the purposes herein set
forth.
Second. Dividing the reservoir of a fountain inkstand or bottle into
separate compartments by vertical partitions for the purposes herein
Jaseviled

page_text: Third. The combination and arrangement of the central funnel, the
well, and the divided fountain reservoir as and for the purposes herein
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of 5
November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy.