Improvements in and connected with Fountain-pens.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application 13th Jan., 1897
·Complete Specification Left. 11th Oct.. 1897-Accepted.. 27th Nov...1897
Improvements in and connected with Fountain-pens.
I, EDUARD REISERT, of Hennef on the Sieg, in the Province of the Rhine, German
Empire, engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention refers to fountain pens. My improvements in such pens relate in
general to the intercalation of a chamber (an intermediate chamber) between the
pen proper and the reservoir proper, and in particular to certain combinations and
arrangements of parts, as is all fully described hereinafter.
The walls of said intermediate chamber may be either 'elastic or rigid. 'If they
are elastic the ink is conveyed from the chamber' to the pen by an external pressure
exerted upon the elastic walls; but if the walls "are rigid an internal pressure is
applied. In this case I arrange within the chamber a hollow elastic' body, preferably
of india-rubber, that allows of being expanded, and I connect said body with a similar
body arranged outside said chamber, and adapted to receive the pressure which in
the case first mentioned was exerted upon the elastic walls of that chamber.
:
In order to make my invention more clear, I refer to the accompanying 'drawing,
in' which similar letters denote similar parts throughout the different' views, and in
which:
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through one form of construction of my improved
fountain-pen.
Figure 2 is a similar section' through another form of construction,
Figure 3 is a similar section through a third' form of construction,
Figure 4 shows a section through a' fourth form,
Figure 5 is a fifth-form, and
Figure 6 is a sixth form.
In the form of construction represented in Figure 1 the intermediate chamber
mentioned in the preamble is formed by a hollow elastic body a (preferably consisting
of india-rubber) which is put into communication with the reservoir ¹ of the shell
by means of a tube e. The other end of the body or chamber is connected' to a
pipe o that extends outwards and down to the pen. Said pipe has at its free end a
lateral aperture o' for letting out the ink, or letting it pass to the pen respectively.
The lower end of the tube e, i.e. the end which is situated within, or takes into,
the elastic body a is provided with a valve el adapted to temporarily close said tube ;
and the aperture o¹ of the pipe o is kept closed by a valve u which is secured to, or
held by, a springul. The elastic body a is situated at that portion of the shell of
the holder on which rests the thumb of the writing hand.
t
When the reservoir is filled with ink the latter enters also the intermediate
chamber a because of the valve e¹being then open. When 'thereafter pressure is
exerted upon the elastic wall of the chamber a by means of the thumb the valve c
-gets closed and the ink supplanted out of the chamber a passes into the pipe o and
overcomes in consequence of its pressure 'the spring u¹ of the valve'u so as to lift
this valve. A portion of the ink will, therefore, leave the pipe o and feed the pen,
the quantity of said portion being, of course, dependant of the strength of the
pressure which the chamber awas exposed to, or on the diminution of the interior
of said chamber resulting from that pressure.

page_text: As soon as the spring ¹ is able to overcome the decreasing pressure of the ink
within the pipe o, or as soon as the pressure of the thumb ceases, the valve e¹ opens
again and the chamber a gets re-filled from the reservoir i¹ up to its normal degree.
The channel provided at the upper end of the holder serves for letting air enter
the reservoir i¹.
The valve e need not indispensably be actuated in an automatic way but may be
operated in a compulsory manner, as shown in Figure 2. In this case the valve in
question is not a suction valve proper, but rather a sort of closing-valve, as will
become more clear from the detailed description following.
The form of construction represented in Figure 2 shows further that the delivery
valve u may be actuated not only directly, as in Figure 1, but also indirectly by the
ink acting upon the spring or lever ¹ of said valve. There results from this
arrangement a particular node of operation, as will presently be described.
The elastic chamber a (Figure 2) is situated completely within the shaft i the wall
of which latter is provided with a suitable cut-out for the actuation of said chamber.
The tube e serves again for leading the ink from the reservoir ¹ to and into the
chamber a, and the pipe o serves again for conveying the ink to the pen. The tube e
is closed at its lower end, but near to said end is a latteral aperture e², and opposite
to said aperture the wall of the chamber a is provided with an internal elastic
projection a¹ forming the closing valve for the aperture 2. The latter is closed by
said projection a¹ as soon as an external pressure by (the thumb of the writing hand)
is applied to the chamber a.
The spring or lever u' which holds the delivery valve u extends for a certain way
along the shell of the holder and is furnished with a crooked portion u² that takes
into a suitably arranged recess of said shell and lays against the lower portion a² of
the elastic chamber a.
When the reservoir ¹ is filled with ink the latter flows also into the chamber a in
consequence of the aperture e² of the tube e being open. If now ink is to be conveyed
to the pen the elastic wall of the chamber a is pressed so far inwards that not only
the aperture e² of tube e is closed by the elastic projection a¹, but after this closing a
further diminution of the inner space of the chamber a occurs, this being made
possible by the projection a¹ being elastic, as afore described. In consequence of
said diminution of space a portion of the ink contained within the chamber a is driven
into the lower portion a² of said chamber and said latter portion gets thus expanded
especially in the direction to the crooked portion u² of the spring or lever u¹. The
latter is thus moved off the outer surface of the shell i, and the valve u is thus lifted
off the aperture o¹ of the pipe o so that ink may flow over to the pen. In consequence
of a certain quantity of ink thus leaving the portion a² of the chamber a the
expansion of said portion vanishes and the spring u¹ presses again the valve u upon
the exit o¹ of the pipe o.
When then the chamber a is relieved from the pressure of the thumb the inwardly
bent wall of said chamber tends to inove outwards and to assume its former i c. original
position. This can occur as soon as the aperture e² of the tube e is left by the
projection a¹ so that then ink can pass from the reservoir into the chamber and fill
the latter up to the normal degree. In consequence, however, of the projection a
being elastic, and the inner space of the chamber a thus tending to increase before
the projection a¹ has left the aperture e², there is a possibility of the arising of an
airless space, that is to say, a space with rarefied air, within the chamber a, because
the elasticity of the respective portion of the chamber a tends to counteract the
pressure of the outer air.
To hinder such space with rarefied air from coming into
existence,-I make also use of the portion a² of the chamber a, as is described in the
following paragraph:
Up to the moment in which the projection a leaves the aperture e² the increasing
space of the main portion of the chamber a sucks ink from the portion a² of this
chamber, which can occur either in consequence of the pressure still existing within
said portion a² or in consequence of the wall of the portion a² getting bent inwards.
In fact, I prefer to let the wall forming the portion a² of the chamber be of a reduced

page_text: thickness, so that the pressure of the outer air is able to overcome the smaller
elasticity of said wall, but I wish it to be understood, that the thinner wall, or portion
of wall, need not indispensably be situated at the portion a² of the chamber, but, may
be situated, if desired, at any other portion or place of the same.
In Figure 3 I have shown a form of construction in which the intermediate chamber
is formed not by elastic but by rigid walls. 22 is said chamber; the latter
communicates with the reservoir ¹ by the channel e, the lower end of which is
provided with a suction-valve e¹. The chamber 22 contains a hollow elastic body 8
which is connected with a similar but larger body 82 by means of an intermediate
piece s¹. The hollow body 82 is situated about at the outside of the holder, and is
filled with air or a liquor, as is also the hollow body s and the connecting piece 8¹.
If pressure is applied to the india-rubber body s2 (by the thumb of the
writing hand) a portion of the air or liquor contained within said body is pressed
into the india-rubber body s of the chamber 22. Said latter body gets thus expanded,
and decreases consequently the free volume of the chamber 2, so that a corresponding
portion of the ink is driven out through the pipe o, in a similar manner as described
with regard to Figure 1.
A similar form of construction is shown in Figure 4. In this case the suction-
valve el of Figure 3 has been dispensed with, but the portion 83 of the hollow body 8
is formed into a sort of closing valve, said portions being situated opposite to the
end e² of the channel e. The portion s³ corresponds with regard to its function to
the projection a¹ of Figure 2; there is, however, the difference that the actuation of
said portion does not occur on a direct way, as in Figure 2, but on an indirect one.
Another difference resides in the pipe o (which leads the ink from the chamber i²
to the pen, being surrounded by an elastic body x, the inner space of which is put
into communication with the pipe o by means of an aperture o². The elastic body x
is in contact with the spring u¹ of the delivery valve u, or, in other words, said
spring lies against a certain portion of said body. The ink on being conveyed from
the chamber to the pen enters not the pipe o only but the body x, too, so that the
latter is expanded corresponding to the expansion of the hollow body 83 of the
chamber There occurs then exactly the same effect as has been described
with regard to Figure 2, i.e. with regard to the co-operation of the portion a² of the
elastic chamber a and of the crooked portion u² of the spring or lever u¹ of the
delivery valve, as will be clear without a further detailed description.
Whilst in all the forms of construction described up to this place of my
specification, the pipe o is a rigid one, there is represented in Figure 5 a form of
construction, in which an elastic pipe o, i.e. a hose has been made use of. This pipe
or hose consists preferably of india rubber, and it is closed at 03 by the legs of a
clamp ; the latter forins thus à substitute for the delivery valves of the forms of
construction afore described.
Supplanting the ink out of the chamber 22 is also effected by means of an
expansible hollow body s which in its turn is operated from the exterior body 82 by.
the mediation of the connecting piece s¹. The parts 8 81 82 consist in this case of
one piece, and I prefer to let the part 82 have a slightly stronger thickness than the
part s. The manner of operation is very much the same as has been described with
regard to Figure 4, and I think I may abstain from dwelling a second time upon that
operation.
In the form of construction shown in Figure 6 the intermediate chamber or body a
consists again of an elastic material, but is elongated in the direction to the upper
end of the holder, and forms in said elongated portion the channel e which again
serves for feeding the chamber from the reservoir i¹. If the body a receives pressure
at the place a³, then the channel e is closed and the ink contained within the
intermediate chamber is separated from the ink contained within said reservoir.
When thereafter the elastic body is still further compressed, the ink is driven
from the intermediate chamber into the pipe or hose o, or to the pen respectively.
In order to facilitate compressing the channel e just at the plate a³ I prefer to
furnish the holder with a lever d, which in the form of construction shown is

page_text: fulcrumed at f. The elastic body a is thus actuated by the mediation of said lever
the configuration of the active portion of which is distinctly to be seen from the
drawing.
Dated this 13th day of January 1897
J. P. BAYLY,
18 Fulham Place, London, W., Agent for the Applicant.
Improvements in and connected with rota-pens.
I, EDUARD REISERT, of Hennef on the Sieg, in the Province of the Rhine, German
Empire, engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:—
This invention refers to fountain-pens. My improvements in such pens relate in
general to the intercalation of a chamber (an intermediate chamber) between the pen
proper and the reservoir proper, an in particular to certain combinations and
arrangements of parts, as is all fully described hereinafter.
The walls of said intermediate chamber may be either elastic or rigid. If they are
elastic the ink is conveyed from the chamber to the pen by an external pressure
exerted upon the elastic walls; but if the walls are rigid an internal pressure is applied.
In this case I arrange within the chamber a hollow elastic body, preferably of india-
rubber, that allows of expansion, and connect said body with a similar body arranged
outside said chamber, and adapted to receive the pressure which in the case first
mentioned was exerted upon the elastic walls of that chamber.
In order to make my invention more clear, I refer to the drawing left with the
provisional specification, in which similar letters denote similar parts throughout the
different views and in which:
Figure 1, is a longitudinal section through one form of construction of my improved
fountain-pen.
Figure 2, is a similar section through another form of construction,
Figure 3, is a similar section through a third form of construction,
Figure 4, shows a section through a fourth form,
Figure 5, is a fifth form, and
Figure 6, is a sixth form.
In the form of construction represented in Figure 1 the intermediate chamber
mentioned in the preamble is formed by a hollow elastic body a (preferably consisting
of india-rubber) which is put into communication with the reservoir of the shell i
by means of a tube e. The other end of the body or chamber a is connected to a
pipe o that extends outwards and down to the pen. Said pipe has at its free end a
lateral aperture o¹ to allow the ink to escape or to permit the same to pass to the pen
respectively.
The lower end of the tube e, i.e. the end which is situated within, or takes into,
the elastic body a is provided with a valve el adapted to temporarily close said tube;
and the aperture o¹ of the pipe o is kept closed by a valve u which is secured to, or
held by, a spring u¹. The elastic body a is situated at that portion of the shell of the
holder on which the thumb of the hand rests when writing.
As soon as the reservoir is filled with ink the latter enters also the intermediate
chamber a as the valve e¹ is then open. When thereafter pressure is exerted upon
the elastic wall of the chamber a by the writer's thumb, the valve e¹ closes, and the
ink supplanted or ejected from the chamber a passes into the pipe o and in consequence
of its pressure overcomes the spring u¹ of the valve u in such manner as to lift this

page_text: valve. A portion of the ink will, therefore, leave the pipe o and feed the pen, the
quantity of said portion being, of course, dependent on the strength of the pressure
upon the chamber a, or on the diminution of the volume of the interior of said
chamber resulting from that pressure.
As soon as the spring u¹ overcomes the decreasing pressure of the ink within the
pipe o, or as soon as the pressure of the thumb ceases, the valve e¹ opens again and
the chamber a is re-filled from the reservoir up to its normal degree. The channel?
provided at the upper end of the holder serves for letting air enter the reservoir i¹.
The valve el need not indispensably be automatically actuated but may be arranged
to be operated in the manner shown in Figure 2. In this case the valve in question
is not a suction valve proper, but rather a sort of closing-valve, as will become more
clear from the detailed description following..
The form of construction represented in Figure 2 further shows that also the
delivery valve u may be actuated not only directly, as in Figure 1, but also indirectly
by the ink acting upon the spring or lever ul of said valve. This construction has
an especial mode of operation, as will presently be described.
The elastic chamber a (Figure 2 is situated completely within the shaft i, the
wall of which latter is provided with a suitable cut-out for the actuation of said
chamber. The tube e serves also here the purpose of leading the ink from the
reservoir to and into the chamber a, and the pipe o also in this construction
conveys the ink to the pen. The tube e is closed at its lower end, but near to said
end is a lateral aperture e², and opposite to the said aperture the wall of the chamber a
is provided with an internal elastic projection a¹ forming the closing-valve for the
aperture 2. The latter is closed by said projection a³ as soon as an external pressure
(by the thumb whilst using the pen) is applied to the chamber a.
The spring or lever u¹ which holds the delivery valve u extends from a fixed
distance along the shell i, or the holder is furnished with a crooked portion u² that
takes into a suitably arranged recess of said shell and rests against the lower portion a²
of the elastic chamber a.
When the reservoir is filled with ink, the latters flows also into the chamber a in
consequence of the aperture a² of the tube e being open. If now ink is to be
conveyed to the pen the elastic wall of the chamber a is pressed so far inwards that
not only the aperture a² of tube e is closed by the elastic projection a¹, but
subsequeny a further diminution of the inner space of the chamber a takes place in
consequence of the projection a¹ being elastic, as afore described. This contraction
or diminution of space causes a portion of the ink contained within the chamber a to
be driven into the lower portion 2 of said chamber which results in said latter
portion expanding especially in the direction to the crooked portion u² of the spring
or lever u¹. The latter is thus moved off the outer surface of the shell i, and the
valve u is thus lifted from the aperture o¹ of the pipe o so that ink may flow over to
the pen. In consequence however of a certain quantity of ink thus escaping from
the portion a² of the chamber a the expansion of said portion vanishes and the
spring u presses against the valve u upon the exit o¹ of the pipe o.
When the chamber a is relieved from the pressure of the thumb, the inwardly
bent wall of said chamber tends to move outwards and to assume its former, i.e.,
original position. This occurs as soon as the projection a¹ no longer bears against
the aperture e² of the tube e so that then ink can pass from the reservoir i¹ into the
chamber and fill the latter to the normal degree. In consequence, however, of the
projection a being elastic, and the inner space of the chamber a thus tending to
increase before the projection a' has left the aperture a², there is a possibility of a
vacuum, that is to say, a space with rarefied air, within the chamber a, as the
elasticity of the respective portion of the chamber a tends to counteract the pressure
of the outer air. To obviate a vacuum I also make use of the portion of the
chamber a, as described in the following paragraph.
Up to the moment in which the projection a¹ leaves the aperture e² the increasing
space of the main portion of the chamber a withdraws ink by suction from the
portion a2 of this chamber, which can occur either in consequence of the pressure.

page_text: still existing within said portion a², or in consequence of the wall of the portion a²
becoming bent inwards. In fact, I prefer to construct the wall forming the portion a²
of the chamber be of a reduced thickness, so that the pressure of the outer air is able
to overcome the smaller elasticity of said wall, but. I wish it to be understood, that
the thinner wall, or portion of wall, need not indispensably be located at the
portion of the chamber, but, may be situated, if desired, at any other portion or
place of the same.
In Figure 3 I have shown a form of construction in which the intermediate
chamber is formed not by elastic but by rigid walls. This said chamber is shown
at 2; the latter communicates with the reservoir by the channel e, the lower end
of which is provided with a suction-valve e¹. The chamber 2 contains a hollow
elastic body s which is connected with a similar but larger body s2 by means of an
intermediate piece s¹. The hollow body s2 is located approximately at the outside of
the holder, and is filled with air or a liquid, as is also the hollow body s and the
connecting piece s¹.
If whilst writing, pressure be applied by the thumb, to the india-rubber body, 82, a
portion of the air or liquid contained, within said body is pressed into the india-
rubber body s of the chamber 22. Said latter body thus becomes expanded, and
consequently decreases the free volume of the chamber 2, so that a corresponding
portion of the ink is ejected through the pipe o, in a similar manner as described
with regard to Figure 1.
§3
A similar form of construction is shown in Figure 4. In this case the suction-
valve el of Figure 3 is dispensed with, and the portion s3 of the hollow body s formed
into a sort of closing valve, said portion s3 being located opposite to the end e² of the
channel e. The portion corresponds with regard to its function to the
projection a¹ of Figure 2; there is, however, this difference that the actuation of said
portion is indirectly effected in contra distinction to the direct method of operation
shown in Figure 2.
Another difference resides in the pipe o (which leads the ink from the chamber 2
to the pen) being surrounded by an elastic body x, the inner space of which is
arranged to communicate with the pipe o by means of an aperture o². The elastic
body is in contact with the spring ul of the delivery valve u, or, in other words,
said spring rests against a certain portion of said body. The ink on being conveyed
from the chamber 2 to the pen enters not only the pipe o but also into the body x,
so that the latter is correspondingly expanded to the size of the hollow body s³ of the
chamber 2. Exactly the same result is thus obtained as has been described with
regard to Figure 2, i.e. relative to the co-operation of the portion a² of the elastic
chamber and of the crooked portion u² of the spring or lever u¹ of the delivery valve,
as will be clear without a further detailed description.
Whilst in all the forms of construction I have hitherto shown, the pipe o is a rigid
one, Figure 5 represents a form of construction, in which an elastic pipe o, i.e.
flexible tube has been made use of. This pipe or tube consists preferably of india-
rubber, and it is closed at os by the extremities of a clamp z; the latter forms thus
a substitute for the delivery valves of the previous forms of construction hereinbefore
described.
Supplanting the ink out of the chamber 22 may also be effected by means of an
expansible hollow body s which in its turn is operated from the exterior body &² by
the mediation of the connecting piece s¹. The parts s s¹ s² consist in this case of one
piece, and I prefer to make the part 2 slightly thicker than the part 8. The manner
in which same operates is very much the same as has been described with regard to
Figure 4, and I think I may abstain from repetition.
In the form of construction shown in Figure 6 the intermediate chamber or body a
consists again of an elastic material, but is elongated in the direction towards the
upper end of the holder, and forms in said elongated portion the channel e which
again serves for feeding the chamber from the reservoir ¹. If the body a receives
pressure at the point a³, then the channel e is closed and the ink contained within the
intermediate chamber is separated from the ink contained within said reservoir.

page_text: When thereafter the elastic body is still further compressed, the ink is driven from
the intermediate chamber into the pipe or tube o, or to the pen respectively.
In order to facilitate compressing the channel e just at the place a³ I prefer to
furnish the holder with a lever d, which in the form of construction shown in
fulcrumed at f. The elastic body a is thus actuated by the mediation of said lever,
the form of the working portion of which is distinctly to be seen from the drawing.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a fountain-pen the combination with the reservoir for the ink and with the
pen proper, of an elastic chamber a intercalated between said reservoir and pen,
the chamber being connected with the ink reservoir by means of a return valve e e¹,
and with the pen proper by means of a tube o having a delivery valve u, as and for
the purpose herein before set forth.
2. In a fountain-pen, the combination with the reservoir for the ink and with the
pen proper of an elastic chamber intercalated between said reservoir and pen,
the chamber being connected with the reservoir by means of a tube e having a lateral
aperture e² before said chamber and having an inner elastic projection a¹ for
opening and closing the said aperture and connected with the pen proper by means
of a tube o, having a lateral aperture o', a spring u' being arranged for opening and
closing the aperture o' as and for the purpose herein before set forth.
3. In a fountain-pen, the combination with a reservoir for the ink and the pen
proper of a rigid chamber 2 intercalated between the pen proper and the reservoir
said chamber being connected with the reservoir by a tube e, having a return valve e¹
and connected with the pen by means of a tube o having a delivery valve u u¹, and
with a hollow india rubber body s partly located in said chamber 2, as and for the
purpose hereinbefore set forth.
4. In a fountain-pen the combination with the reservoir for the ink and the pen
proper of a rigid chamber 22 intercalated between said pen and the reservoir and with
a hollow india rubber body partly located in said chamber, and a part 3 fastened
inside said body and forming a closing valve for the channel e connecting the ink
reservoir, and the chamber 22, and with an elastic body x, surrounding the tube o for
conducting the ink from the chamber 22 to the pen, said pipe o having a lateral
aperture o for introducing the ink into the body a, and with a delivery valve u for
conveying the ink into the pen, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
5. In a fountain-pen, the combination with the reservoir for the ink and the pen
proper, of a rigid chamber 22 intercalated between said pen, and with a hollow elastic
body partly located in said chamber and forming a closing-valve for the channel, and
with a clamp to close the tube o and adapted to open the same when the ink is
forced into said tube, as and for the purpose set forth.
6. In a fountain-pen, the combination with the reservoir for the ink and the pen
proper, of an elastic body, having a channel to conduct the ink from the reservoir to the
chamber a, and of a channel o for introducing the ink from the chamber a into the
pen, and with a lever d for closing the channel and for forcing the ink into the channel
and with a clamp z for closing the channel o and opening the same by pressure
against the chamber «, as and for the purpose set forth.
J. P. BAYLY
18 Fulhain Place, London, W. Agent for the Applicant.