AN IMPROVED FOUNTAIN PEN
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
mau,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED FOUNTAIN PEN." A com-
munication.
Sealed the 5th December 1856, and dated the 8th July 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 8th July 1856.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patenis, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED FOUNTAIN PEN," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to the adaptation of fountain pens of a slit taper
tube (tapering to a point), which forms the nibs of the pen. This tube is
rigidly connected with an ink reservoir, which is closed except at its con-
nection with the said tube. The ink remains confined within the reservoir
and tube when the instrument is at rest, but it is caused to flow through the
tube and down the slits thereof, and to issue from the point when the point is
removed in contact with a sheet of paper or other substance suitable for
Price SL

page_text: receiving an inscription in ink. A tendency is given to the nibs of the pen to
spring outwards, and they are pressed together by means of a threaded collar,
which works on a screw cut on the split tube, and bears against a conical or
inclined projection formed on the tube to receive the pressure of the collar.
The pen, if provided with not less than three slits, works like a lead pencil,
that is to say it marks with its mains
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th January 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and graut unto me, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her spécial license that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigus, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, iny 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 FOUNTAIN PEN," being a communication from abroad, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instru-
ment 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 immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates

page_text: to the adaptation to fountain pens of a slit taper tube, which tapers to a point
and forms the nibs of the pen. The tube is rigidly connected with an ink
reservoir, which is closed except at its connection with the tube. The ink
remains confined within the reservoir and tube when the instrument is notin
use, but it is caused to flow through the tube and down the slits thereof, and
to issue from the point when the point is moved in contact with a sheet of
paper or other substance suitable for receiving an inscription in ink. The peu,
if provided with not less than three slits, works like a lead pencil (that is to
say) it marks with its point turned in any position.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing. Fig. 1 is a
longitudinal outside view of the pen in condition for writing; Fig. 2 is a view
looking endwise towards the point of the same; Fig. 3 is a central longi-
tudinal section of the same in the line a, a, indicated in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a
longitudinal view, partly in section, of the pen in the condition in which it may
be carried in the pocket; Fig. 5 is a central longitudinal section of the pen
detached from the reservoir, showing the divided point spread open; Figures
6 and 7 are views to explain the manner of constructing the pen. Similar
letters of reference indicate corresponding parts wherever they occur in the
several Figures.
"
A is the tube constituting the pen; B is the ink reservoir, consisting of a
cylindrical tube, and serving as the stem of the pen. It is tapered for a short
distance towards the end, to which the tube A is attached. The tube A is
secured to the reservoir by soldering, or other convenient means Imme-
diately below the connection of the tube A with the reservoir, the said tube is
provided with a screw thread a upon its exterior, and from the bottom of this
screw thread the said tube is enlarged conically for a short distance, as
indicated by b, and from the bottom of this conically enlarged portion the
tube tapers to a point of greater or less fineness. The tube is slit from the
point up as far as the bottom of the screw thread; the slits which, in the
example represented, are four in number, are indicated by lines c, c, in Figs.
1, 2, 3. The screw thread a is fitted with a nut d, at the bottom of which is
a cup d', having a conical interior to fit the conical portion b of the tube, for
the purpose of keeping the slits c,c,as close as may be desired. The reservoir
B is provided with a screw cap e, which is only removed for the purpose of
filling it, and then screwed on tightly, an air-tight junction of the cap with
the reservoir being secured by means of a washer of leather or other yielding
substance. This air-tight junction must be at all times preserved, as sufficient
air will find its way through the slits c, c,and run up the sides of the interior
of the pen and reservoir to supply the place of the ink which flows from the

page_text: pen.
As a matter of convenience, a portion C of the penholder is made in
the form of a moveable cap, to be placed as usual with pocket penholders or
the upper part of the exterior of the reservoir, as shewn in Figs. 1 and 3
when the pen is used, or to be inverted and placed on the lower part, to serve
as a protection to the point of the pen when carried in the pocket, or pu
away when not in use. This, however, is only one of many ways of con
structing the penholder, which it is not necessary here to describe. On this
point it is sufficient to say, that the reservoir and pen may be fitted with a
holder of almost any of the constructions employed for common pens, or ever
pointed pencils.
The method in which it is proposed generally to construct the pen is, first.
to make a metal tube, of the form shewn in Figures 6 and 7, (the former
being a longitudinal, and the latter an end view), which is done by taking a
piece of tube of parallel bore of a size equal to that intended for the interior
of the upper part of the pen, say one-sixteenth of an inch, and of an external
diameter, say of three-sixteenths of an inch, and turning it in a lathe, thet op
part being turned to a size and form to be fitted and soldered to the reservoir;
the part to a proper size to have the screw cut on it; the part to form the
cone, which is to be received in the cup of the nut; and the lower part, which
is to form the tapering point of the pen, to a cylindrical form, leaving the last-
named portion of the tube thicker or thinner, according as it may be desired
to make the pen hard or flexible. After cutting the screw, the slits are cut at
equal distances apart of the taper form indicated by e, in Fig. 5, leaving the
desired number of nibs g,g. The nut is next put on, and the tube secured to
the reservoir, and then, by screwing down the nut, the conical cup is made
to compress the nibs together. The point formed by the union of the several
nibs may then be ground to the degree of fineness desired. When thus con-
structed, the nibs of the pen, if made of elastic metal, will have spring enough
to open or separate of themselves,and increase the width of the slits when the
nut is turned upward on the screw, and by adjusting the nut higher or lower,
the pen may be set to make coarser or finer marks. When the pen is put
away after use, it will be desirable always to screw down the nut to draw the
slits c, c, as close as possible.
The ink to be used in this pen is such as is used in common pens for writing
purposes, or any liquid of similar character.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of the Invention,as com-
municated to me by my foreign correspondent, I wish it to be understood that
I do not confine myself to the precise method of constructing the pen as
herein described, as I have only intended to describe a method of construction

page_text: that has been found satisfactory; but what I claim as new under the above
in part recited Letters Patent is, the fountain pen, consisting of a tube tapering
to a point, and slit from the point up two or more sides, such tube being in
connection with an ink reservoir closed at top, and capable of feeding the
nibs or point of the tube with ink when the said point is moved in contact
with a surface of suitable character to receive an inscription in ink, sub-
stantially as herein described. And, I also claim regulating the pen to the
degree of fineness required for the writing or marks by means of a screw threada
and cone b on the exterior of the tube, and a nut. d carrying a conical cup
d fitted to the said screw thread and cone, and acting in opposition to the
elasticity of the nibs g, g, of the tube, substantially as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, 1, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eighth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)