IMPROVE- MENTS IN INKSTANDS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Griffith Brewer, of 89, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN INKSTANDS." - A communication from abroad by Albert
Rittmeyer, of St. Gall, Switzerland.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Griffith Brewer
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 3rd November 1864.
I, EDWARD GRIFFITH BREWER, of 89, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN INKSTANDS," (a communication to me from abroad by
Albert Rittmeyer, of St. Gall, Switzerland,) to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to provide an inkstand capable of containing
several sorts of ink at the same time, as well as a distinct pen for each ink,
and it is constructed in the following manner :-For the sake of clearness I
will limit my description to an inkstand intended to contain three sorts of ink,
black, red, and blue, for example. The inkstand may be said to be composed
of four distinct parts; he base plate or foot, the bottom of the ink holder,
the inside or internal cover, and the outside cover. The base plate or foot is

page_text: by preference round, in the centre of which there is a spindle on which the
parts composing the inkstand, and hereafter described, are mounted. The
bottom of the ink holder is formed with three chambers for the reception of
the ink vessels, which are colored to correspond with the three chambers,
and is free to revolve on the main spindle. The inside cover of the ink holder
is made immovable, and is somewhat smaller than the holder itself, and has a
portion cut out to correspond in size with one of the three chambers. The
outside cover is placed a short distance above the inside cover, and it surrounds
the bottom of the ink holder. It is provided with a slot to fit over a pin on
the bottom of the ink holder, so as to keep it in proper position to prevent the
colors becoming disarranged, and to allow the apertures in the outer cover to
correspond with the ink holders. Pipes are fitted adjacent to the apertures
just mentioned for the reception of pens, and there is a pipe or pipes to
carry a stick or sticks for stirring up the ink.
The inkstand is lifted by a piece of wire or handle attached to the centre
spindle, and according to the colour of the ink required for use so the aperture
in the cover is made to correspond with the vessel containing that color, the
cover being set opposite the writer. If for example red ink is required to be
used, the cover must be slightly turned until the aperture in the red part of
the cover is placed above the part cut out of the inside cover, and consequently
above the red ink holder, the box or bottom of the ink holder always turning
with its cover.
It is the same for the other coloured inks. At the time one
is open the others will be closed, so that it is impossible to dip the pen into
the wrong hole; and when the inkstand is not required for use, all the ink
holders are closed by a movement similar to that which exposes one at a time.
Each pen is colored to correspond with its ink, and the holders for the pens
are free to turn with the cover and box, thus each pen is presented for the
ink required for use. Where copying ink is used I prefer to distinguish it
from the black by the color violet or lilac.
Although I have described the inkstand as constructed for three inks only,
yet it is evident that inkstands can be made in a similar manner to contain
less or more.
Inkstands constructed in the manner before described are made by pre-
ference of metal, but they may be made of porcelain, glass, gutta percha,
or other material according to the positions they are intended to occupy,
or the purposes to which they may be applied.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Griffith Brewer in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd May 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
GRIFFITH BREWER, of 89, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Edward Griffith Brewer, Her special licence that I, the said
Edward Griffith Brewer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Edward Griffith Brewer, 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 INKSTANDS," (a communication to me from
abroad by Albert Rittneyer, of St. Gall, Switzerland,) upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Edward Griffith Brewer, 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.
4
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Griffith Brewer, 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 Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
The object of this Invention is to provide an inkstand capable of containing
several sorts of ink at the same time, as well as a distinct pen for each ink,
and it is constructed in the following manner :-For the sake of clearness I
will limit my description to an inkstand intended to contain three sorts of ink,
black, red, and blue, for example. The inkstand may be said to be composed
of four distinct parts; the base plate or foot, the bottom of the ink holder,

page_text: the inside or internal cover, and the outside cover. The base plate or foot is
by preference round; in the centre of which there is a spindle on which the
parts composing the inkstand, and hereafter described, are mounted. The
bottom of the ink holder is formed with three chambers for the reception of
the ink vessels, which are colored to correspond with the three chambers, and
iš free to revolve on the main spindle. The inside cover of the ink holder is
made immovable, and is somewhat smaller than the holder itself, and has a
portion cut out to correspond in size with one of the three chambers. The
outside cover is placed a short distance above the inside cover, and it sur-
rounds the bottom of the ink holder. It is provided with a slot to fit over a
pin on the bottom of the ink holder so as to keep it in proper position to
prevent the colors becoming disarranged and to allow the apertures in the
outer cover to correspond with the ink holders. Pipes are fitted adjacent to
the apertures just mentioned for the reception of pens, and there is a pipe or
pipes to carry. a stick or sticks for stirring up the ink.
The inkstand is lifted by a piece of wire or handle attached to the centre
spindle, and according to the color of the ink required for use so the aperture
in the cover is made to correspond with the vessel containing that color, the
cover being set opposite the writer. If, for example, red ink is required to
be used, the cover must be slightly turned until the aperture in the red part
of the cover is placed above the part cut out of the inside cover and conse-
quently above the red ink holder, the box or bottom of the ink holder always
turning with its cover; it is the same for the other colored inks. At the time
one is open the others will be closed, so that it is impossible to dip the pen
into the wrong hole, and when the inkstand is not required for use all the ink
holders are closed by a movement similar to that which exposes one at a time.
Each pen is colored to correspond with its ink, and the holders for the pens
are free to turn with the cover and box, thus each pen is presented for the
ink required for use. Where copying ink is used I prefer to distinguish it
from the black by the color violet or lilac. Although I have described the
inkstand as constructed for three inks only, yet it is evident that inkstands
can be made in a similar manner to contain less or more.
Inkstands constructed in the manner before described are made by pre-
ference of metal, but they may be made of porcelain; glass, gutta percha, or
other material, according to the positions they are intended to occupy or the
purposes to which they may be applied.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a view in plan, and Figure 2
a side elevation of the base plate and spindle upon which the parts of the ink-
stand are mounted; Figure 3 is a side elevation, and Figure 4 is a plan of

page_text: the bottom of the ink holder for containing the vessels shown at Figures 5,
5%, and 5b, for holding the ink; Figure 6 is a side elevation and Figure 7:
a plan of the inside cover of the ink holder; Figures 8 and 9 are views of
the outside cover.; Figure 10 is a longitudinal section; and Figure 11 a
perspective view of the inkstand complete. Similar letters of reference, refer;
to like parts in all the Figures..
.
"
The bottom B of the ink holder contains three chambers 9 for the reception
of ink holders 9, 9, 9, 9. Each holder has its particular place, and is inserted
in the compartment colored to correspond with the ink it contains. The
bottom or case B is placed on the spindle a, and is free to turn thereon.
The side of the case has a small, metal or other piece fixed to it, as at s, and
the cover D has a slot t formed in it to fit over the piece s, so that when the
cover is mounted on that portion of the spindle marked b, with the slot t
over the piece s, the colors of the ink are made to correspond. The cover D.
has three openings m, m, m, formed at top, and these when the. cover
placed as before described come exactly over the vessels g, g. The inside
cover C is mounted on the spindle, and is immoveable thereon by means of
the bayonet joint l, d; it has but one slot or opening to correspond with the
ink vessels. Thus by turning the outer cover only one ink is exposed at a
time, and according to the color required so the cover D must be turned until
it is presented below the part i cut out in the inside cover C. c is a handle
inserted in the spindle by which the inkstand is lifted from place to place;
0, 0, 0, are receptacles placed round the cover D to hold pen holders, and each
is colored to correspond with the ink it is intended to be used with. The
holders move with the cover D, thus each is ready for use as its corresponding
ink is exposed. To use the inkstand with facility, the part cut out of the
inside cover is placed opposite the writer, and supposing black ink is required
for use, he turns the outside cover D until that color is opposite the cut out
parti; the pen holder then corresponds with the ink and is ready for use.
Should the cover be turned by accident while the black ink is being used, the
writer cannot place his black ink pen into the red or other ink holder, for
the pens opposite each cover prevent it, and the same rule applies, no matter
what colored ink is in use. p, p, p, are small apertures formed on the side of
the outside cover, one for each ink, to contain a stick for stirring up the ink
in the vessels. All the ink holders are covered when the inkstand is not
required for use by giving the outer cover a quarter turn; a space between
two compartments m, m, then covers the cut out part in the inside cover C.
If desired a spring or springs may be placed at the bottom of the case con-
taining the ink vessels, and in this manner the parts are kept tightly together

page_text: so that no air is admitted to the ink, and evaporation thereof thereby
prevented.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not limit myself
to the precise arrangements shown and described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the Invention; but I claim the construction and
arrangement of inkstands capable of containing several sorts of inks, together
with any mere modification thereof, substantially in manner and for the pur-
poses herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Griffith Brewer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
GLAMUSON,
89, Chancery Lane, W.C.
EDW³. G. BREWER. (L.S.)