AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC PENS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Michael Turnor, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Steel Pen and Penholder Manufacturer, for an Invention of
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC PENS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Michael Turnor at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd March 1881.
MICHAEL TURNOR, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Steel Pen and
Penholder Manufacturer. "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC
PENS."
The object of my Invention is to prevent or diminish the tendency to scratching
and spurting in metallic pens, and and thereby to render the said pens suitable for
writing on any kind of paper without the risk of spurting or sticking in the
paper.
Metallic pens made according to my Invention produce little fatigue in writing,
and the flow of ink to the part of the pen by which the writing is effected is more
uniform than in metallic pens of the ordinary kind.
In metallic pens of the ordinary kind the lower part of the pen, or the part in
which the slit and piercings are made, tapers towards the point, the point or
writing part of the pen being the part of smallest diameter.
In making metallic pens according to my Invention I taper the portion of the
lower part of the pen in the ordinary way, but instead of continuing the tapering
to the extreme end of the pen, I increase the diameter near the point so as to form
an enlargement at the end or writing part of the pen, the said enlargement forming
by preference a rounded termination to the pen, and making with the contracted
part to which it is joined a shoulder having a large angle. By this method of
constructing the pen it presents in whatever position it may be held by the writer
either a curved part or a part having an angle less acute than that of an ordinary.
metallic pen, and hence there is little or no tendency in the pen either to pierce the
paper or to be obstructed by the inequalities of rough paper. The shoulder
described regulates the passage of ink to the end of the pen, retaining it by
capillary attraction so as to prevent a sudden flow when the pen is too much
charged with ink, and thus reducing the tendency to blotting.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, and of an
Order of the Lord Chancellor, filed by the said Michael Turnor in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 24th December 1881.
MICHAEL TURNOR, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Steel Pen and
Penholder Manufacturer. "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC.
PENS."
The object of my Invention is to prevent or diminish the tendency to scratching
and spurting in metallic pens, and thereby to render the said pens suitable for
writing on any kind of paper without the risk of spurting or sticking in the
paper.
Metallic pens made according to my Invention produce little fatigue in writing,
and the flow of ink to the part of the pen by which the writing is effected is more
uniform than in metallic pens of the ordinary kind.
In metallic pens of the ordinary kind the lower part of the pen, or the part in
which the slit and piercings are made, tapers towards the point, the point or
writing part of the pen being the part of smallest diameter.
In making metallic pens according to my Invention, I taper the portion of the
lower part of the pen in the ordinary way, but instead of continuing the tapering
to the extreme end of the pen, I increase the diameter near the point so as to form
an enlargement at the end or writing part of the pen, the said enlargement forming
by preference a rounded termination to the pen, and making with the contracted
part to which it is joined a shoulder having a large angle. By this method of
constructing the pen it presents in whatever position it may be held by the writer
either a curved part or a part having an angle less acute than that of an ordinary
metallic pen, and hence there is little or no tendency in the pen either to pierce
the paper or to be obstructed by the inequalities of rough paper. The shoulder
described regulates the passage of ink to the end of the pen, retaining it by
capillary attraction so as to prevent a sudden flow when the pen is too much
charged with ink, and thus reducing the tendency to blotting. The contraction
where the shoulder sets in gives great elasticity to the point of the pen in addition
to the elasticity produced by the ordinary piercings.
☐ Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents in front elevation, and
Figure 2, in side elevation a metallic pen, the point end of which is constructed
according to my Invention. In the said Figures 1 and 2 the enlargement at the
point of the pen is marked a, and has a circular figure so as to present a rounded
and broad surface to the paper. The said circular enlargement a joins the parts of
the nibs above it at the contracted part or neck b, constituting a shoulder to the
said enlargement a. The shoulder 6 formed at the point end of the pen gives to
the pen an elasticity near the point not possessed by any other kinds of metallic
pens, having curved or circular points, as well as regulates the flow of ink in
writing. In using a fully charged pen of the ordinary kind there is great tendency
in the ink to run down the straight and tapering sides of the pen and to blot the
paper. In pens made according to my Invention the shoulder b near the point,
besides giving the elasticity described, regulates the passage of the ink to the point
of the pen by retaining it by capillary attraction, so as to prevent a sudden flow
when the pen is too much charged with ink, and thus producing great uniformity
in the supply of ink to the point.
I do not limit myself to the shape of the enlargement and shoulder at the point
end of the pen, as they may be variously shaped.
I have represented in Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6, pens having different shaped points
as examples of the manner in which the shape of the enlargement and shoulder
may be varied.

page_text: In Figure 3 the curved or rounded enlargement a has a butterfly shape, that is,
it has a greater breadth than the circular enlargement, Figures 1 and 2, and in
Figure 4 the enlargement a has a shield or heart like shape, the shoulder joining
the nibs at nearly a right angle.
In Figure 5 the enlarged point of the pen is flat or square and the shoulder
inclined, while in Figure 6 the shoulder is curved.
My Invention is applicable to barrel pens as well as to slip pens.
I am aware that metallic pens having curved or so called circular points are
commonly made by metallic pen manufacturers, and I lay no claim thereto.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my Invention
the improvement or improvements in metallic peus herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, making at the point of the
pen an enlargement, which enlargement is connected to the nibs of the pen by
means of a contraction or neck, substantially as and for the purposes described and
illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Michael Turnor, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Sixteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
37, Temple Street,
Birmingham.
MICHAEL TURNOR. (L.S.).