Improvements in Ink-stands.
Year: 1890

page_text: Improvements in Ink-stands.
I, JOHN LARKIN, of Bradford, in the County of McKean and State of
Pennsylvania, United States of America, Inventor, 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 and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to an improvement in automatically acting inkstands, and it
consists in the combination and arrangement of parts which will be more fully
described hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.
The object of my invention is to produce an ink-stand in which the ink is made
to rise into a funnel, which projects above the top of the well or body by a slight
pressure of the pen, and to provide the body with an automatically acting valve so
that the air which may have become expanded by heat can freely escape, and thus
not interfere with the automatic action of the inkstand.
The accompanying drawing represents a vertical section of an inkstand which
embodies my invention.
A represents the body, well or chamber which contains the ink and which may
be made of any suitable material and given any form that may be preferred.
Placed upon the top of this well, body or chamber is the cover B which closes
the inkstand air-tight at this point. Through the centre of this cover B is made
a vertical opening through which the stem C of the funnel D extends and has a
slight vertical play.
Attached to the lower end of this stem is a ball G which is made of rubber or
other elastic material and which has an opening H made through its bottom, so
that the ink in the well will always flow into the ball and find its level. No
matter how small a quantity of ink there may be in the bottom of the well this
ink will flow into the ball and find its level, and thus be ready for action.
When the pressure of the pen is applied to the cone, its downward movement
serves to compress the ball, and the air which is inside of the ball acting upon the
ink contained in it, at once forces the ink up through the stem into the funnel.
As soon as the pressure of the pen is released the funnel rises again and an
additional quantity of ink from the body runs into the ball.
Upon the stem is made a shoulder I which serves to limit the distance that
the ball shall move the cone upward and thus it is immaterial what the quantity
of ink in the well may be as the cone will always rise just as high as this
shoulder will permit.
Through the top is made an air passage, opening, or escape O, and the outer
end of this passage or escape is closed by a perforated plug P. Placed in this
passage, which is smaller at its inner than its outer end, is the vertically moving
valve R which is conical at both of its ends, and the passage or escape and the
inner end of the hollowed-out plug are made to correspond to the shape of
the valve. This plug has just a slight vertical play and is intended to allow the
escape of any air in the well or body which may become expanded by heat. As
soon as the air expands, its pressure upon the top of the ink causes it to rise
through the stem into the funnel, where it not only evaporates but where it
thickens upon the funnel. As long as the ink rises into the funnel the automatic
action of the inkstand is destroyed and hence it becomes necessary that there
should be a free escape for any unnecessary amount of air which may be in the
well or body. This valve is made conical at both of its ends so that in case the
inkstand should be upset it instantly closes the opening through the cap, covering
or plug and hence prevents any escape of the ink at this point.
The operation of the inkstand is as follows :-
The ink rises to its level inside of the ball and remains there until a pressure

page_text: is exerted upon the cone or funnel and then the downward movement of the stem
forces that portion of the ball through which the inlet opening is made against
the bottom of the well or body and closes this opening so that no air can escape
at this point. The top of the ball being forced downward or compressed by the
action of the stem causes the pressure of the air in the ball upon the top of the
ink to force this ink up into the cone in a sufficient quantity to supply the pen.
The moment the pressure of the pen is released, the elasticity of the ball instantly
moves the cone upward as far as the shoulder upon its stem will allow and then a
fresh supply of ink flows into the ball from the well. Should the inkstand be kept
in a very warm room, or the rays of the sun fall upon the inkstand, the air inside
of the well will expand, and then this expanded air, instead of acting injuriously
upon the body of ink in the well, simply escapes through the automatically acting
valve, and hence the ink will never rise into the funnel unless the funnel is
depressed for that purpose. The opening through the top B is just sufficiently
large to allow the stem to have a free vertical play and no more and hence nо
leakage can ever take place at this point. The shoulder upon the stem is so
regulated in relation to the cone that the cone has just sufficient movement to
cause the ball to fill the cone with ink, and hence no overflow can ever take place
by the depression of the cone. As the rising of the ink into the funnel is
controlled tirely by the compression of the air inside of the ball, it is perfectly
immaterial whether the cover B is air-tight or not, or is even used, so long as
there is a guide by which the funnel is held in a vertical position.
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 :-
1. The combination of the body of the inkstand provided with a cover, with the
vertically moving cone provided with a stem which extends through the cover,
and an elastic ball or body having an opening for. the inflow of ink, and which is
applied to the lower end of the stem, substantially as shown.
2. The combination of the body provided with an air-tight cover, the vertically
moving cone provided with a shouldered stem which regulates the amount of
movement that the cone shall have, and an elastic body which is applied to the
lower end of the cone and having an opening in its lower end for the admission of
ink, whereby the said opening is closed by the body of the ink reservoir, substantially
as described.
3. The combination with an inkstand, of an automatically acting valve which is
applied thereto for the escape of rarefied air, substantially as set forth.
4. The combination of an automatically acting inkstand with an air passage or
outlet, a perforated plug or cover applied to the outer end of this outlet and a
valve which is made conical at both of its ends, substantially as specified.
5. The combination with an air-tight ink chamber or reservoir, of an elastic
hollow body, a, vertically moving feeding stem which is secured thereto for
collapsing the said body and an automatically acting valve for allowing an excess
of air to escape, substantially as shown and described.
Dated this 27th December 1890
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.