Improvements in Recording Pens.
Year: 1896

page_text: Improvements in Recording Pens.
1, AUGUST DITTMAR, Engineer, of 18 Blythswood Drive in the City of
Glasgow do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention bas for its object the providing of all kinds of recording
instruments, in which a line is drawn on paper by means of an ink pen,
with ;-
Firstly. A pen containing a considerable supply of ink.
Secondly. A pen which draws a line of uniform thickness in any direction in the
plane of the paper.
Thirdly. A pen which operates when it is just in contact with the paper.
Fourthly. A pen so formed that it cannot scratch the paper.
For this purposo I construct an ink pot, preferably made of thin sheet metal
which is not corroded by the ink, & provided with a removable cover which is
binged, screwed or otherwise attached to the pot.
Near the top and through the side of the pot is provided an orifice through
which passes a metal tube of very fine or capillary bore and comparatively thick
walls.
This tube is bent so that one end projects outside, the other end being situated
Dear the bottom inside the pot. The tube is fixed to the pot by being soldered
thereto at the orifice.
The projecting part of the tube, which constitutes the point of the pen, is
tapered and has its end rounded off; and is preferably made so as to be detachable
from the other part of the bent tube, the one telescoping or screwing into the
other.
The part of the tube inside the ink pot is preferably made of larger bore than
the projecting part, special care being taken to gradually taper out the smaller
bore to the size of the larger, thus preventing any abrupt change in the diameter
of the bore.
Dated this 21st day of Amount 1908
1, AUGUST DITTMAR, Engineer, of 18 Blythswood Drive, in the City of
Glasgow, 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
3 and by the following statement :-
My invention has for its object the providing of all kinds of recording

page_text: instruments in which a line is drawn on paper by means of an ink pen.
with :-
1st. A pen containing a considerable supply of ink.
2nd. A pen which draws a line of uniform thickness in any direction in the
plane of the paper.
3rd. A pen which operates when it is just in contact with the paper.
4th. A pen.so formed that it cannot scratch the paper.
In order to satisfy these conditions, I make use of the capillary action of tubes
of small bore.
Figure I shows an enlarged vertical section and plan of one of the forms of pens
made according to my invention but the shape and details may be varied according
to the purpose for which it is required.
"A is a pot or roservoir containing the ink. "B" is a capillary tube, the one
end of which "C" reaches nearly to the bottom of the reservoir "A," the other
end of which projects more or less, and preferably, in a horizontal direction,
the end "D" acting as the point of the pen.
The reservoir "A" is provided with a cover "E" some part or all of which is
easily removable so as to admit of the reservoir being filled with ink.
In the cover or somewhere near the top of the reservoir an air hole "F" is
made in order to admit air to replace the ink which hus beca used.
The bore of the capillary tube may vary considerably and need not be so small
throughout its length as it is at the point "D." The bore at the point "D"
will be governed by the thickness of ink line desired. The bore of the rest of the
tube need only be sufficiently small to raise the ink to the point "D."
There is very little risk of the flow of ink being stopped by any solid particle
being carried up the tube as the bore of the tube along the length inside the
reservoir is considerably wider than at the point "D.".
In Figure I the tube "B" is shown made in one piece and inserted through a
hole "G" in the side of the reservoir, but it is obvious that the tube may be made
in two pieces, the outside part being fitted on in any convenient way to the inside
part or that the tube "B" could be brought out through the cover to which it is
attached. It may often be more convenient to have the tube "B" made in two
pieces, as this allows for points of different bores boing adapted to the inside part,
should different thicknesses of ink lines be desired.
Figure II shows one form in which the tube is brought out through the cover
and in which the point is detachable.
For ordinary purposes where lightness of the pen is not essential it is preferably
made of some metal or alloy which is not corroded by the ink but it is obvious
that it may be made from different substances for example, glass.
When made of glass the constraction of the pen is modified in so far as the
reservoir and cover are in one piece.
Figure 1 shows an enlarged longitudinal section of one form of the pen made of
glass.
The size and form of the pen or substance of which it is made will depend upon
the particular purpose for which it is required.
The pen can be easily fixed to the pointer of the recording instrument in any
convenient way, for example, as in Figure I where "H" is the pointer, its end
being pushed into sockets "1" "I," which consist of two small pieces of split
tube attached to the reservoir "A."
It is desirable in order to obtain most satisfactory results that the part "DG"
of the tube should not deviate far from the horizontal, as otherwise the influence
of gravity tends to the forming of a drop of ink at the point "D." When the
part "DG" is nearly horizontal no ink will flow till the point touches the paper.
In the form of glass pen however, shown in Figure III, when the capillary bore is
exceedingly small at and near the point "D," this part of the tube may be bent as
shown in the figure.

page_text: 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 :-
The improved recording ink pen acting by capillary attraction and consisting of
an ink reservoir and a capillary tube, the one end of which reaches nearly to the
bottom of the ink reservoir and the other end of which forms the writing pen.
substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 29th day of October 1896.
AUGUST DITTMAR.