Year: 1832

page_text: LONDON:
PRINTED BY GEORGE E. EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE,
PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY :
PUBLISHED AT THE GREAT SEAL PATENT OFFICE,
25, SOUTHAMPTON BUILDINGS, HOLBORN.

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WOODS the elder, of Newcastle Street, Farringdon Steet, in the City of
London, Steel Pen Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present inost Excellent Majesty King William the
Fourth, by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain,
bearing date at Westminster, the Eleventh day of October, in the third
year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Woods, His especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William Woods, my exors,
admors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said William Woods, my
exors, adññiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times hereafter during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Inven-
tion of "A CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
METAL PENS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I,
the said William Woods, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within two
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had;
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Woods, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention

page_text: and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof (that is to say) :—
=
These metal pens differ from all other metal pens in their action, which is
far superior to that of other metal pens, and which said superiority of action
is not obtained as hitherto by making holes, apertures, perforations, or extra
slits through the steel or other proper metal or combinations of metal of which
they are constructed, but by means of ribbed indentations, furrows, grooves,
cavities, or channels forming a succession or series of thinner parts than the
general substance of the steel or other metal, and each of which said thinned
parts yields in its turn accordingly as the pen is more or less pressed upon
in writing with it, and much in a similar manner to the action of a quill pen
with only one slit in it; and indeed these improved metal pens in consequence
thereof are found to write with all the ease, freedom, and pleasantness of a
quill pen, at the same time possessing the superior delicacy, accuracy, elegance,
and durability of a steel pen. The superior freedom of action in these im-
proved metal pens arises chiefly from the indented grooves or ribbed depres-
sions acting universally and in conjunction with the central slit, and greatly
aiding its expansion and contraction or opening and closing, and by means
thereof a greater degree of pliancy or elasticity is produced than has ever
been found to exist in any steel or other metal pens hitherto made; and
they may also be formed not only with short slits but of different thicknesses
of steel or other proper metal, by varying the depths and numbers of the
indentations or grooves accordingly, and thereby producing a power of expan-
sion and contraction acting in a greater or lesser degree to any extent which
can be possibly required, and far exceeding in real effect all the apertures and
extra slits which have hitherto been tried in metal pens; and, which is of
immense importance, the grooves or indentations can be made of different
lengths and depths, and of varied widths, and more or less numerous on all parts
of the pens, either externally or internally, or both externally and internally,
according to the length and width of each pen, and where holes, slits, or apertures
could not be made at all; and the grooves, indentations, or depressions, may
likewise be made ornamental as well as useful, according to the taste of the
maker; for instance, they may be made in rectilinear, curvilinear, or oblique
directions on all parts of the outside of the pen, from its top to the extremeties
of its nibs or point, and either above or below the shoulders at any con-
venient distance from each other, all round or across the pen; and the
grooves or depressions may also cross each other obliquely, horizontally, or
transversely, thereby forming at the same time obtuse and acute angles. The

page_text: grooves may also be made so as to form circles, ovals, squares, triangles,
rectangles, or any other form or figure which can be bounded by straight or
curved lines. These pens possess a perfect flexibility commencing from their
points to the upper extremity of the slit, so as to expand and contract equally
as easily and freely as a slip of quill, whalebone, or steel of the thinnest sub-
stance, and yet they may be made of thicker steel or other proper metal than
most other metal pens. These improved metal pens may either be made of a'
rounded form or with flat sides, that is to say, either curved or rounding on
their outsides over their slits, or with a flat side on each side of the centre
slit, and forming an obtuse angle on the back, extending the whole length of
the slit. The ribbed grooves or depressions also afford another advantage.
to these metal pens; namely, that of preventing the ink from flowing too
suddenly down upon the paper in writing with them, and yet they never fail,
when properly supplied with ink, to make perfect use up and down strokes
in large and small hand writing, and also one and the same metal pen will be
equally capable of performing the smallest and finest writing, as well as a
beautiful and bold large hand, in the greatest perfection.
.
The various Figures, from 1 to 24 inclusive, of metal pens contained in
the Drawing annexed as aforesaid to this Specification, represent the indenta-
tions, grooves, &c., in their real forms, and sizes, not, however, meaning or in-
tending thereby to limit or confine myself to the use or employment of those
various representations only, but to claim the power of encreasing or diminish-
ing the widths or depths and numbers of the grooves, as well also as of
changing their positions or directions, as occasion may require, and according
to the nature and objects of the said improved metal pens.
Figs. 1, 7, and 8, represent metal pens, having several narrow and deep
grooves or furrows made across and nearly at right angle to the central slits,
and at rather wide intervals or distances apart; and they, as well as in all
the other Figures, may be made either on the external or internal parts of the
pens, or upon both, as circumstances may require. Figs. 2 and 4 have several
wider and shallower grooves or furrows made across at right angles to their
central slits. Figs. 3, 10, and 15, represent metal pens with grooves placed
obliquely with respect to their central slits. Fig. 6, a metal pen, having grooves
parallel to its central slit. Figs. 9, 11, and 23, are metal pens, having
narrow and numerous slits made across their central slits in opposite directions.
Fig. 18 is a metal pen, having grooves, furrows, or channels out in its
substance, after being previously bent into the angular shape shewn in the
section, Fig. 26, the other part of it being rounded, as shewn in Fig. 25, the
said grooves pointing downwards towards the point of the pen. Fig. 12 is a

page_text: metal pen, having numerous furrows or grooves made in it, after being
previously shaped as in the last Figure, and the grooves pointing upwards.
The other Figures represent various combinations of grooves, furrows,.or
channels formed upon the external or internal surfaces of metal pens, or upon
both surfaces if required, but which do not need particular references thereto.
Fig. 27 is a section upon a magnified scale through the metal of which one
of my improved metal pins may be made, and in which a, a, a, a, represent
grooves, furrows, or channels, cut or otherwise made in the substance of the
metal, and leaving solid ribs between the said grooves, furrows, or channels
a, a, a, a, these said grooves, furrows, or channels being represented as being
partly closed or narrowed by the bending or curving of the metal pen in use,
of course the straightening of the metal pen or bending it in the contrary
direction would open the said grooves, furrows, or channels more or less.
With respect to the metal or composition of metals of which my said
improved metal pens may be made, I shall in most cases give the preference
to rolled, flattened, or laminated steel, hardened and tempered in any of the
well-known methods.. I can also employ gold, silver, electrum, or German
silver, brass, zinc, or any other fit and proper metal or composition of
metals.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Woods, have hereunto set my
hand seal, this Twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.