AN IMPROVED INSTRUMENT TO ASSIST THE HAND IN WRITING
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Abell, of Lambeth, in the County of Surrey,
Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED INSTRUMENT TO ASSIST
THE HAND IN WRITING."
Sealed the 20th April 1855, and dated the 23rd October 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward. Abell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd October 1854.
I, EDWARD ABELL, of Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED INSTRUMENT
TO ASSIST THE HAND IN WRITING "to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists of a small instrument, a portion of which is in
the form of a ring, so as to slip over the fore-finger, or the fore and middle
fingers together, and having underneath a short metal bar attached outside
the ring, so that one end shall be within the hand, while the other end projects
outwards over or towards the thumb, there affording a stay, rest, or fulcrum,
against which the stem of the pen or the like shall fall back against when held
as usual between the thumb and fore-fingers, thereby aiding and facilitating the
steady and more equable and correct use of the same when writing therewith.
The instrument may be made wholly of metal, or of other convenient mate-
rials, or of combinations thereof, and may be constructed with the ring and

page_text: tangetical bar separateable, or hinged or otherwise secured; or may sometimes
have several rings, which may also be narrow or broad enough to be portions
of a tube, and they can be made adjustable by screws, springs, or other
suitable arrangements.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Abell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd April 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
ABELL, of Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did; for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Edward Abell, Her special licence that I, the said Edward Abell, my
executors, administrators, and assigus, or such others as I, the said Edward
Abell, 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 "AN IMPROVED INSTRUMENT TO
ASSIST THE HAND IN WRITING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Edward Abell, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Abell, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My said Invention consists of a small instrument, a portion of which is in
the form of a ring, to slip over the fore-finger, or the fore and middle fingers
together, and having underneath a short metal or other bar, or projections
attached or attachable outside the ring, so situated, that while one end is
within the hand, the other end of the bar shall project outwards, over or

page_text: towards the thumb, there affording a stay, rest, or fulcrum, against which the
handle or stem of the pen or other writing instrument shall fall back when
held as usual between the thumb and fore-fingers, thereby aiding and facili-
tating the steady and more equable and correct use of the same when writing
therewith.
And for the better understanding of my said Invention, I will now proceed
to describe the details thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, in which the same letters refer to like parts throughout.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a view of one form of my improved instrument
or writers
A, B, C, is a wire or strip of metal, bent to a ring form at A, open at a,
while the ends B, C, arc bent tangetically to the ring A.
A is a complete ring, having a small plate at D.made to slide within the
groove b, c, of the bar B', C.
A is a ring cut through at a', but of sufficient spring to keep closed.
B, C, is a portion of an annular tube, slid on to the ring through the
opening a', and, being pressed outwards when the ring is on the finger, affords
a sufficient projecting rest for the pen..

page_text: Having thus fully described the construction of my said improvement, · I
would here observe that the instrument may be made wholly of. metal, or of
other convenient materials, or combinations thereof, and may be constructed.
with the ring and tangetical bar in one piece, or separateable, or hinged or
otherwise secured. The two projections also may be obtained by. a curved.
cylinder sliding on the ring, as in Figure 3, or be of any other required form
or shape. The instruments may sometimes: have several 'rings, made either
narrow or broad enough to be portions of a tube; and they may likewise be
made adjustable by screws, springs, or other suitable arrangements. And my
said Invention being susceptible of very numerous modifications, all in con-
formity with the principle of action illustrated in the methods already described,
by affording a sufficient rest for the pen without impeding its free use in
writing, I do not, therefore, restrict myself to any precise design, materials, or
dimensions; but what I do claim as my. Invention is, namely,
The peculiar construction and application of an instrument to assist the
band in writing, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Abell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of April, in the year of our Lord
1855.
EDWARD ABELL. (L.S.)