Year: 1895

page_text: A communication from the Firm of MABIE, TODD and BARD, of 130 Fulton
Street, New York, United States of America, Merchants.
I, ANDREW CALVIN WATTS of 93 Cheapside in the City of London, Merchant,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to fountain penholders and more particularly to those
known as the Swan and its chief object is to construct a fountain penholder in such
manner that its reservoir can be filled with ink without unscrewing or opening the
reservoir in any way whereby the inconveniences hitherto experienced namely
leakage, if the parts are not sufficiently screwed up, and liability to breakage if
they are screwed up too tightly, are avoided.
According to this invention the nib, the ink conductor and the reservoir are so
arranged and combined that the ink filler can be applied to the nib itself the ink
being drawn or passed down one face of the nib while the air escapes or passes
out along the other face of the nib.
I will describe the invention as applied to the Swan fountain penholder. There
is an ink conductor extending a considerable distance into the reservoir and split
into two prongs for about three fourths more or less of its length. These prongs
are grooved or chanelled longitudinally. Between the grooved prongs is a longi-
tudinal wire of non corrosive material which extends from the unsplit or back
end of the ink conductor and passes through the nib holder, its front end lying
between the nib and the under or lower prong.
The prongs pass through the nib holder, the upper prong resting above the nib
and the lower prong which is preferably shorter being underneath the nib, both
resting flatly in their respective places.
Each of the prongs has transverse grooves near the point of the nib the upper
prong having preferably three of such transverse grooves and the under prong two
of Buch grooves.
When it is desired to fill the reservoir the penholder is held in an upright
position and the ink filler (which may for convenience be curved at its point)
is applied to the top of the nib. The ink flows or is drawn down into the
reservoir along the face of the pen and the air escapes or passes out along the
other face.
•
"
1
100

page_text: A communication from the Firm of MABIE, TODD and BARD, of 130 Fulton
Street, New York, United States of America, Merchants.
1, ANDREW CALVIN WATTS, of 93 Cheapside, in the City of London,
Merchant, 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 :—
This invention relates to fountain penholders, and more particularly to those
known as the Swan, and its chief object is to construct a fountain penholder in
such manner that its reservoir can be filled with ink without unscrewing or
opening the reservoir in any way, whereby the inconveniences hitherto experienced
are avoided.
"Every user of a fountain pen must recognize the inconvenience of refilling the
reservoir in the ordinary manner, that is, by unscrewing the nozzle or nib holding
section, and then injecting the ink from an ink filler into the open end of the barrel
or reservoir, and again screwing on the nozzle. If the nozzle is not screwed
sufficiently tight, there is liability to leakage; and on the other hand if it is
screwed up too tightly the parts are liable to become so cemented with ink that
there is liability of breakage in the attempt to unscrew it. There is also liability
of smearing the fingers with ink, and there is danger of filling the reservoir too
full so that it overflows. With many fountain pens the act of screwing back the
nozzle into the barrel causes an overflow of ink through the nozzle, or the spattering
of the ink by the compression of air in the reservoir, which can only escape through
the film of ink contained in the interstices within the nozzle. The advantage of a
fountain pen which can be filled by an ordinary glass filler from the exterior
and without unscrewing the nozzle, must therefore be apparent.
According to this invention the nib or writing pen, the ink conductor or feed
bar and the reservoir, are so arranged and combined that when the penholder is
held inverted the ink filler can be applied to the nib itself, the ink being drawn or
passed down one face of the nib while the air escapes or passes out along the other
face of the nib. To this end in carrying out the invention, the construction is so
adapted that the entering ink is conducted down through the nozzle and to the
closed end of the reservoir through capillary spaces or along capillary surfaces,
and under such degree of capillary control as to prevent it from overflowing into
the other spaces or interstices which are provided through the nozzle, and which
are thus kept clear or free for the unobstructed outflow of the air which is
expelled from the reservoir by the inflowing ink. It is believed to be a law of the
movement of fluids that the ink will be attracted to and will fill those spaces which.
are most minute or wherein the surfaces are closest together, while the air will
seek the larger spaces where it is able to retain a nearer approach to cylindrical
or spherical form. If the longitudinal passages or interstices through the nozzle
had free communication with one another, and were of approximately uniform
shape and size, a stream of ink introduced at the exterior would How down through
the narrowest interstices, and at the same time would flow therefrom laterally into
the other interstices, and would fill all the interstices or spaces in the nozzle and
remain hanging or clinging against the surfaces thereof, and would seek to flow
down simultaneously through all the interstices, so that its flow would continue
only until the air in the reservoir was sufficiently compressed to sustain the column
of ink thus accumulated in the nozzle above, whereupon it would be impossible to
introduce any further quantity of ink. This is what occurs in almost any ordinary

page_text: fountain pen when attempting to fill it from the exterior. These difficulties are
overcome in this invention by providing passages or interstices through the nozzle
which are of such shape as to afford capillary spaces of unequal size, or having
surfaces unequally separated from one another, so that a descending stream of ink
shall cling to the surfaces most closely adjacent, and shall leave the wider spaces
free for the outflow of air as it is expelled from the reservoir. An absolute
separation between different interstices for at least a part of their length is also
desirable, and is readily effected by employing the nib itself as a partition dividing
the nozzle. The ink being injected against one side of the nib, flows down on that
side, enters and fills the minutest capillary spaces or the narrowest portions of the
spaces, and descends against these surfaces, which are extended downward far
enough to conduct it to the lower portion of the reservoir and carry it past the
upwardly flowing current of air, without causing the ink to be diverted laterally in
such manner as to overflow into and fill and obstruct the other interstices or spaces
through which the air is given vent. Preferably I employ one or more ink
feeders or feed bars extending continuously from the slit in the pen nib through
the nozzle and to within a short distance of the closed end of the reservoir, but
the mechanical construction of such feed bars may be greatly varied.
I will describe the invention as applied to the Swan fountain penholder. There
is an ink conductor or feed bar extending a considerable distance into the reservoir,
and split into two prongs or legs for about three-fourths, more or less, of its length.
These prongs or legs are grooved or channeled longitudinally. Between the
grooved prongs or legs is a longitudinal wire of non-corrosive material, which
extends from the unsplit or back end of the ink conductor, and passes through
the nib holder or nozzle, its front end lying between the nib and the under or
lower prong. The prongs pass through the nib holder or nozzle, the upper prong
resting above the nib, and the lower prong, which is preferably shorter, being
underneath the nib, both resting flatly in their respective places. Each of the
prongs has transverse grooves or notches near the point of the nib, the upper
prong having preferably three of such transverse grooves or notches, and the
under prong two.
When it is desired to fill the reservoir, the penholder is held in an upright
inverted position, and the ink filler (which may for convenience be curved at its
point) is applied to the top or upper portion of the nib. The ink flows or is
drawn down into the reservoir along one face of the nib, and the air escapes or
passes out along the other face.
The construction thus described is shown in Figs. 1 to 6 of the accompanying
drawings, wherein,
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal mid-section;
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the nozzle, nib and ink conductor removed from
the barrel;
Fig. 3 is an elevation of the ink conductor detached ;
Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are transverse sections on a larger scale cut on the lines 4, 5
and 6 respectively in Fig. 1 ;
Fig. 7 is an elevation showing the operation of injecting ink.
Referring to the drawings, let A designate the reservoir holder and B the writing
pen or nib.
In such penholders, it is customary to have the reservoir closed at its
upper or rear end, and partially closed or obstructed at its lower or nib holding end,
commonly called the "nozzle or nib holder. For convenience of construction the
holder A is made in two parts, namely, a barrel C, and nozzle or nib holder D,
which are screwed together, and which in ordinary fountain pens are unscrewed in
order to fill the reservoir with ink. The reservoir is the hollow space within the
holder A. The writing pen or nib B, which may be a gold, steel or other pen,
may be variously fitted or mounted in the nozzle, but preferably so that its shank
shall constitute a partition dividing the bore or throat through the nozzle.
It is common in the Swan fountain pen and in others to provide an ink conductor
or feed bar or tube extending through the nozzle and either under or over the nib,

page_text: and projecting into the mass of ink in the reservoir to a greater or less distance so
as to form a capillary feeder for drawing the ink down from the reservoir to the
slit in the nib. In some cases two or more such bars are employed, sometimes
being arranged both above and below the nib, and sometimes being tubular and
provided with an internal wire or rod to subdivide the tubular bore and control the
air bubbles. In any case such feeders or conductors by passing through the nozzle,
divide the opening or passage therethrough into small spaces called "capillary
interstices." These spaces have to be small enough so that their bounding surfaces
approach so closely together as to have a capillary control over the ink which
enters the interstices, so that this ink shall be restrained from falling or dropping
out, while no obstacle is presented to its being drawn through them as required in
writing to supply the nib. According to the present invention these ink feeders
are so constructed as to impart to them a new function-namely, that of conducting
the ink into the reservoir when filling the penholder, as well as of conducting it
from the reservoir down to the pen slit in the act of writing. I therefore call them
"ink conductors." They may be one or more in number, and they may constitute
the sole means for subdividing the passage through the nozzle into capillary
interstices, or other means may be provided for that purpose in addition.
I will now proceed to describe in detail the specific construction as applied to the
Swan pen as shown in Figs. 1 to 7.
Thus
The ink conductor is formed by taking a straight tube E, preferably of hard
rubber, and slitting it through the middle from one end nearly to the other so that
it is divided into two legs or prongs, and then by softening the rubber by heat
these are bent slightly so that they stand as shown in Fig. 3. Preferably the
tube is slitted through on one side entirely to the end, forming a slit a.
the greater part of the tube is divided into two legs or prongs lettered F and G
respectively, which constitute two feed bars or essentially two jak conductors.
They might be wholly disconnected, but for convenience they remain connected
through the undivided portion of the tube. The feed bars or prongs are curved
or channeled longitudinally by the presence in each of a portion of the bore of the
tube. This structure, which as a whole I will call the ink conductor, is thrust
through the nozzle or nib holder D with its two bars F G emerging at the front
respectively, above and below the nib B, and extending parallel with the shank of
the nib and communicating with the slit thereof, so that they serve as feeders for
the ink when the fountain pen is in use.
In the construction shown, the nib B is fixed in place by its shank, which is
slightly narrowed, being forced into diametrically opposite grooves bb in the
nozzle, as shown in Fig. 4.
In order further to reduce the size of the capillary interstices, the longitudinal
wire H, preferably of silver, is thrust through the ink conductor from the rear,
being long enough to emerge beyond the end of the feed bars & beneath the
nib. It is preferably formed with an eye c at its inner end to prevent its slipping
out, and when in place is held by friction.
By referring to Fig. 4, it is seen that this construction provides a number of
different shaped interstices within the nozzle of the penholder, and communicating
more or less directly with the surfaces of the uib. On top of the nib are a
half-round interstice I and two bifurcated interstices 22, their two branches
tapering off until their side walls come into contact. Beneath the nib are two
tapering interstices 3 3, against its under surface, a meniscus-shaped interstice 4
between the wire H and the bar G, and an extended arrow interstice 5 between
the outer face of this bar and the inner wall of the nozzle. Back of the shank
of the nib and in the plane of the section in Fig. 5, the parts are somewhat
differently disposed, leaving the interstices as shown in Fig. 5. Still farther back
the parts are disposed as shown in Fig. 6.
To fill this fountain pen without unscrewing the nozzle, it is held inverted and
an ordinary ink filler, shown at J in Fig. 7, and consisting of a glass tube drawn
to a point and fitted with a compressible rubber bulb, being first filled with ink,

page_text: has its tube placed against the nib in the position shown in Fig. 7, whereupon
by pressing the bulb slowly the ink is expelled in a steady stream against the
nib and ink conductor, and descends along one of the prongs or feed bars thereof
into the reservoir, which occurs without its flow being interrupted by the air
which is displaced by the entering ink, and which flows out or exhales through
the interstices not occupied by the ink. For example, placing the filler J against.
the concave side of the nib and directly over the bar G, the ink delivered from it
enters into the interstices where shown in solid black in Fig. 4, and flows down as
shown in solid black in Figs. 5 and 6, while the interstices shown in white remain
open for free exhalation of air. The swelling apart of the bars F G within the
reservoir in the manner shown, is found to be practically desirable with this
construction, since without this feature the inflow is less free. The bowing apart
of the prongs of the conductor, seems to have the effect of so separating their walls
as to admit air between them, so that the air escaping from the reservoir may pass.
through the unoccupied space marked d in Fig. 5. The described course of the
ink is that taken upon first introducing ink when all the surfaces in the holder are
dry, so that by taking the fountain pen apart, this course may be determined by
noting which surfaces are wetted, but in the ordinary use of a fountain pen it is
refilled while the external surfaces are still moist, in which case the ink may
descend by some slightly different path, although in no essentially different manner,
since experiments show that the filling of the reservoir occurs fully as well, and
generally even better, when the interior surfaces are wet. The flow of the ink
into all the spaces or interstices so as to choke them and prevent escape of air, is
caused in part by the partition that is afforded by the shauk portion of the nib B,
which divides the nozzle and serves to impart direction to the ink, so that it has
already started and is rapidly moving downward before it has any possible com-
munication with the interstices on the opposite side of the nib. After leaving the
nib, the ink clings to those surfaces nearest it, and being drawn down by gravitation
as rapidly as it is introduced, does not accumulate or overflow and leap across to
the more remote surfaces. Consequently the larger spaces are left free for the
outflow of air.
The provision of transverse grooves or notches ee in the outer ends of the bars F
and G, has the effect of affording free and ample cominunication between the
supply of ink and the nib, so that the fountain pen is enabled to supply rapidly
and continuously a large volume of ink when required for shading or heavy writing,
these notches constituting thus a sort of supplementary reservoir. Aside from this
feature, the operation of this improved fountain pen in writing is substantially the
same as that of other fountain pens of this same general character.
Figs. 8, 9 and 10 of the accompanying drawings show how this invention may
be modified by subdividing the ink conductor into two distinct feed bars F' and G₁
and turning them back to back in the manner shown in Figs. 9 and 10, which are
transverse sections on the lines 9 and 10 in Fig. 8. A wire H' is introduced to
partly fill the longitudinal channel in the bar G'. Within the reservoir the bars
or conductors separate or flare apart as shown in Fig. 8.
Figs. 11 to 14 show a further modification in which only one elongated feed bar
or ink conductor is employed extending to or near the closed end of the reservoir.
Figs. 12, 13 and 14 are transverse sections on the lines 12, 13 and 14 in Fig. 11.
The ink conductor lettered F2 extends along the top of the nib and through the
nozzle into the reservoir. Beneath the pen, and extending partway through the
nozzle, is a bar G2 which constitutes a partial conductor, its main purpose, however,
being to obstruct the flow through the nozzle sufficiently to form restricted
interstices.
The construction of the ink conductors as half-round or grooved bars or tube
sections is not essential, as bars of other shapes may be substituted, but those
shapes which introduce segments of circles are found to give the most effective
results. This invention may be otherwise considerably modified in construction
without departing from its essential features.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A fountain penholder having continuous interstices through its nozzle of
varying widths, graduated to fill with ink and bubbles of air in writing to control
the flow, and so proportioned that when the pen is inverted and ink is supplied to
the exterior, the ink descends into the reservoir through the narrower spaces and
leaves a wider space or interstice unobstructed for exhalation of air whereby the
holder may be refilled without unscrewing the nozzle, substantially as set forth.
2. A fountain penholder constructed with a reservoir closed. at its rear end, and
having its nib holding end or nozzle obstructed to form capillary spaces or
interstices of varying widths, including narrower portions for attracting ink and
wider portions extending continuously from the reservoir to the exterior for the
escape of air, so that in filling the inverted pen the ink will descend in the narrower
spaces, and the wider ones will be left free for the outflow of air, and an ink
conductor constituting part of the obstruction of said nozzle, extending through
the latter from the exterior, and prolonged within the reservoir to near the closed
end thereof, whereby in filling to serve as a guide to the entering ink to carry it
to the lower part of the reservoir past the contained air, to avoid imprisoning the
latter or obstructing its escape, substantially as set forth.
3. A fountain penholder constructed with a reservoir closed at its rear end and
having its nib holding end or nozzle obstructed to form capillary spaces or
interstices of varying widths, including narrower portions for attracting ink and
wider portions extending continuously from the reservoir to the exterior for the
escape of air, so that in filling the inverted pen the ink will descend in the narrower
spaces and the wider ones will be left free for the outflow of air, and an ink
conductor constituting part of the obstruction of said nozzle, extending through
the latter from the exterior, and prolonged within the reservoir to near the closed
end thereof, and the pen-nib arranged in the nozzle to divide its bore and serve as
a partition separating the interstices on opposite sides of it so as in filling the
penbolder to tend to prevent the entering ink introduced into the interstices on one
side thereof, from overflowing into those on the opposite side, and thereby choking
them against the free escape of air, substantially as set forth.
4. A fountain penholder constructed with a reservoir closed at its rear end and
having its nib holding end or nozzle obstructed, the obstructed passage through
said nozzle formed as capillary spaces or interstices, with the nib arranged in the
nozzle to divide its bore, and two iuk conductors or feed bars constituting part of
the obstruction of said nozzle, arranged on opposite sides of the nib and extending
from the exterior through the nozzle and into the reservoir, and one or both
prolonged within the reservoir to near the closed end thereof and forming a
continuous longitudinal capillary conductor to which the ink may cling as it
descends into the inverted holder in filling, substantially as set forth.
5. In a fountain penholder, the combination with the reservoir and nib, of two
ink conductors or feed bars mounted on opposite sides of the nib, loosely filling the
nozzle of the holder so as to leave interstices around them, and extending from the
exterior through the nozzle and into the ink reservoir, and longitudinally grooved
or rounded to form approximately segments of circles in cross-section, whereby
they serve as feeders for taking the ink to the nib, and in filling the inverted
holder one of them may serve to conduct the entering ink into the reservoir,
substantially as set forth.
6. In a fountain penholder, the combination with the reservoir and nib, of an
ink conductor comprising two feed bars F and G mounted on opposite sides of the
nib, and longitudinally grooved on their sides next the nib, extended through the
nozzle and into the ink reservoir, and flared apart in the latter to form a free
passage between them for movement of air.
7. In a fountain penholder, the combination with the reservoir and nib, of an

page_text: ink conductor consisting of a divided tube E, the legs or prongs F G of which
constitute feed bars extending through the nozzle and lying against opposite sides
of the nib, said bars being flared or bowed apart within the ink reservoir to form
a space between them for movement of air.
8. In a fountain penholder, the combination with the reservoir and nib, of two
feed bars extending along the nib and through the nozzle, and one or both
prolonged into the reservoir to near the closed end thereof, and a wire extended
along one of said feed bars from the rear part of the reservoir to the nib,
substantially as set forth.
9. In a fountain penholder, the combination with a reservoir and nib, of an ink
conductor consisting of a longitudinally grooved bar extended through the nozzle
into the ink reservoir and along the nib, and constructed with transverse grooves
or notches e e in its portion communicating with the surface of the nib.
Dated this 25th day of November 1895.
J. C. MEWBURN & ELLIS,
55 & 56 Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.