AN IMPROVEMENT IN INKSTANDS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Lawrence, of Coleman Street, in the
City of London, Merchant, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
INKSTANDS."A communication from abroad by Phineas Lawrence, of
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Lawrence at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th May 1865.
I, BENJAMIN LAWRENCE, of Coleman Street, in the City of London,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN INKSTANDS," being a communication to him from abroad by
Phineas Lawrence, of the City and State of New York, United States of
America, to be as follows:-
The inkstand is composed of a glass or other vessel with an opening or
neck at the upper part, through which is passed a removable pipe enlarge:l at
its upper end to form a bowl. The aforesaid vessel is formed without a
bottom, so that an elastic diaphragm may be employed for the bottom of the
ink receptacle. This elastic diaphragm is composed of india-rubber or other
suitable material confined air-tight to the lower edges of the ink vessel by

page_text: means of a rim of metal or other material, which forms a base for the
inkstand; across this base is a rod having a head or turning button outside
the base, and a cam, projection, or excentric near its middle portion
and below the centre of the aforesaid elastic diaphragm, so that by turning
the said rod the excentric will press up the elastic diaphragm, and cause the
ink to rise in the bowl at the end of the pipe that descends into the ink, the
air or ink in the upper portion of the inkstand above the lower end of the
pipe from the bowl not being able to escape. On the outside of the
inkstand the glass or other material of which it is made projects in the form
of ledges that are highest at their outer edges, so that upon these ledges
pens or pencils may be laid, thus the inkstand itself becomes a pen. rack or
holder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Lawrence in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 30th November 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
LAWRENCE, of Coleman Street, in the City of London, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Benjamin Lawrence, Her special licence that I, the said
Benjamin Lawrence, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Benjamin Lawrence, 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN INKSTANDS," communicated to ine
from abroad by Phineas Lawrence, of the City and State of New York,
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Benjamin Lawrence, my executors or administrators, by an in-
strument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and

page_text: cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Benjamin Lawrence, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof as communicated to me, reference being had to
the accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
The inkstand constructed according to this Invention is composed of a
glass or other vessel with an opening or neck at the upper part, through
which is passed a removable pipe enlarged at its upper end to form a bowl.
The vessel is formed without a bottom, that is to say, it has not a bottom in
a piece with it, nor has it a rigid bottom, but an elastic diaphragm is
employed to form the bottom thereof, so that the glass or other vessel, together
with this diaphragm, forms a receptacle or holder for the ink; the diaphragm
is confined air-tight to the lower edges of the body of the vessel by means of
a rim or plate of metal or other material, which forms the base of the ink-
stand; across this base is a rod carrying a head stud or turning button at
the outside of the base; it also carries a cam, projection, or excentric at or
near its middle portion below the centre of the elastic diaphragm, so that by
turning the rod this excentric will press up the elastic diaphragm, and cause
the ink to rise in the bowl at the top of the pipe which descends into the ink.
On the outside of the inkstand the glass or other material of which it is
made may project in the form of ledges, highest at their outer edges; pens or
pencils may be laid upon these ledges; the inkstand itself will thus serve as a
pen rack.
I now proceed more particularly to describe in what manner the Invention
may be carried into effect. Figure 1 is an elevation and Figures 2 and 3
vertical sections of an inkstand constructed according to this Invention ;
Figure 4 is a plan of the under side with the base plate removed.
A, A, is a glass vessel formed without a bottom, that is to say, it has no
bottom of glass, nor has it a rigid bottom, but it is closed at bottom by an
india-rubber diaphragm B, which thus serves as a bottom to the vessel A, and
the parts A and B combined form.a receptacle or holder for the ink. The
diaphragin is secured air-tight to the lower edges of the glass A by a metal
rim C formed on a base plate D. is a thin flexible metal plate secured
under the diaphragm B by the rim C. The vessel has an opening or neck a
at its upper end, into which is fitted a pipe E open at each end, and enlarged
at its upper end so as to form a bowl or cup e fis a caoutchouc packing

page_text: ring fitted round the pipe E to exclude the entry of air between the pipe E
and the neck a; g is a rod or axis extending across and supported in the base
plate D, in which it is free to turn. It carries at one end outside the base
plate a button G, by which the rod may be turned. H is a cylinder attached
to the rod g at the centre of the length of the same. The rod does not pass
through the middle of the cylinder, but is attached to the cylinder at one
side of the latter, so that the cylinder forms an excentric. When the rod g is
turned so as to turn the excentric upward it presses up the diaphragms B
and i at the centre, as in Figure 2, and thereby forces ink through the pipe E
into the bowl e. When the rod is turned in the contrary direction so as to
move the excentric away from the diaphragms, as in Figure 3, the ink descends
from the bowl into the body of the vessel A. j is a small leather disc attached
to the diaphragm i for the cylinder II to work against. Instead of using a
packing ring, the inside of the neck a and the outside of the pipe E may be
ground so as to fit together truly. K, K, are ledges cast or formed in a piece
with the vessel A at the sides of the same; they are highest at their outer
edges, and form supports for pens or pencils; thus the inkholder also itself
forms a pen rack.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same may be performed, I declare that I claim,--
First, an inkstand or inkholder constructed of a vessel having at top a
removable pipe, and at bottom a flexible diaphragm moved by a cam,
excentric, or projection, the said parts being arranged, combined, and operated,
substantially as described, in such manner that ink may rise and descend in
manner set forth.
Second, the construction of an inkstand with ledges cast or formed thereon
in a piece therewith, and made highest at the outer edges, in the manner
and for the purpose described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Lawrence, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
H. R. COOPER.
BENJM. LAWRENCE. (L.S.)