IMPROVEMENTS IN INKSTANDS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Emile Giojola, James Hopffe Gray, and
Philip Martinengo, all of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN INKSTANDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Emile Giojola,
James Hopffe Gray, and Philip Martinengo at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 7th June 1867.
We, CHARLES EMILE GIOJOLA, JAMES HOPFFE GRAY, and PHILIP MARTINENGO,
all of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN INKSTANDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in what are generally known as
"fountain" inkstands. For this purpose we apply an independant air passage
to inkstands of the above description, whereby a constant level of the liquid
is obtained in the dipping cup produced by the action of a column of air,
which causes a pressure upon the passage of the liquid, and thus prevents
it from flowing over out of the dipping cup. An orifice is formed in the
upper part of the air passage or column over the dipping cup for the passage
of air, and through which the ink or fluid can be poured to fill the reservoir
of the inkstand when required. The lower end of the air passage descends

page_text: an inch or thereabouts below the level of the mouth of the dipping cup between
it and the reservoir.
According to another part of our improvements we combine or construct
two or more ink holders with separate dipping cups and air passages, together
arranged and acting as previously described for convenience in use or for
holding ink of different colors or descriptions.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Emile Giojola, James Hopffe Gray, and Philip
Martinengo in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th December
1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHARLES
EMILE GIAJOLA, JAMES HOPFFE GRAY, and PHILIP MARTINENGO, all of
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Charles Emile Giajola, James Hopffe Gray, and Pbilip Martinengo, Her
special licence that we, the said Charles Emile Giajola, James Hopfle Gray,
and Philip Martinengo, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Charles Emile Giajola, James Hopffe Gray, and Philip
Martinengo, our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN INKSTANDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Charles
Emile Giajola, Jaimes Hopffe Gray, and Philip Martinengo, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, 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
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 we, the said Charles Emile Giajola, James Hopffe
Gray, and Philip Martinengo, do hereby declare the nature of our said Inven-

page_text: tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This Invention relates more particularly to fountain inkstands, and has for
its objects, first, to maintain an uniform level of ink or other writing fluid at
any required height in the dipping cup; and, secondly, to provide a more
facile means for filling, emptying, and cleansing the body or reservoir of the
said inkstand.
For effecting these objects we carry a tube horizontally into the body or
reservoir from the aperture, through which the ink ordinarily flows into the
dipping cup; this horizontal tube and dipping cup may form an integral part
of the inkstand or be fitted thereto; in practice, however, we propose te make
the cup and its horizontal inner tube in one piece with the body or reservoir.
Immediately over the horizontal inner tube we form a vertical air duct or
pneumatic tube; this air duct or pneumatic tube is open at the bottom end,
and terminates a short distance above the top of the horizontal inner tube of
the dipping cup; it is also provided with an aperture at or near the top,
through which the air passes down the tube to the surface of the fluid in the
body of the inkstand. The level of the opening at the bottom of the pneumatic
tube governs the surface level of the ink or writing fluid in the dipping cup,
which surface level can therefore be fixed higher or lower when forming the
inkstand by making the pneumatic tube shorter or longer. By varying the
length of the horizontal inner tube the effect of the pneumatic tube is modified,
and by varying the height of the pneumatic tube its effect is also modified.
The pneumatic tube also affords the means for filling the body or emptying
the reservoir with facility when placed in a horizontal position, and also
affords facility for cleansing the interior when necessary. In cases where from
the peculiar form of the body of the inkstand, such, for instance, as that where
a vase is adopted, and where there is not sufficient space for the inner horizontal
tube, we supply its effect by making a hole at the back of the vertical or
pneumatic tube a little above its lower extremity.
Having thus explained the nature and objects of our said Invention, and
generally the means by which we propose to effect the same, we now proceed
to describe the details, reference being made to the accompanying Drawing, to
which the following explanation applies.
EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1 is a section of a cylindrical inkstand shewn as when in use and
filled with ink. A is the body thereof, which may be made of earthenware,
porcelain, stone, glass, metal, or any other suitable material. B is the dipping

page_text: cup terminating at E, and in which the ink rises to the line 1, 1, level with
the bottom of the pneumatic tube inside the reservoir. C is the pneumatic
tube with an opening D through the body A, and over the dipping cup B at
the front of the inkstand.
Fig. 2 shews the same inkstand in a horizontal position, in which position
it is to be held while being filled through the opening D.
Fig. 3 is a front view of the same inkstand.
Fig. 4 shews the improved inkstand in the form of a vase, with a portion
of the body removed to shew the vertical tube and hole inside, the narrow
bottom not permitting the dipping cup B to have a long inner tube, as before
described at Figs. 1 and 2, and passing inside the body further than the
column of air produced by the tube C. This deficiency in the width of bottom
is supplied by means of a small hole F made a short distance above the lower
end of the vertical or pneumatic tube, by which hole a similar effect is
produced as by the long tube E.
We claim the formation of fountain inkstands with the horizontal inner
tube, and the vertical pneumatic tube as herein described, and the application
of the pneumatic balance between the dipping cup and body of inkstands, also
as herein described.
In witness whereof, we, the undersigned Charles Emile Giajola, James
Hopfle Gray, and Philip Martinengo, have hereunto set our hands
and seals, this Sixth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
CHARLES EMILE GIAJOLA. (L.S.)
JAMES HOPFFE GRAY.
PHILIP MARTINENGO.
(L.S.)
(L.S.)