IMPROVEMENT IN PEN-WIPERS.
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Boynton, of Euston Road, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of “IMPROVEMENT IN PEN-WIPERS.'
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Boynton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th June 1871.
"
I, JAMES BOYNTON, of Euston Road, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENT IN
PEN-WIPERS," to be as follows
-
The pen-wiper consists of a pad fixed on the top of a base or pedestal,
and a second or movable pad placed immediately over and facing the
first and mounted on a central stem sliding within the pedestal. The
top pad is free to be rotated, and a spring beneath its stem serves to
raise and keep it slightly apart from the lower pad. When the pen is
introduced between the pads the upper one is closed down upon it and
at the same time partially rotated so that it will effectually clear the
pen, of the ink; the friction of the two pad surfaces upon one another.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Boynton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th December 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
BOYNTON, of Euston Road, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Boynton, Her special licence that I,
the said James Boynton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James Boynton, 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, usc, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENT IN PEN-WIPERS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Boynton, my
exccutors or administrators, by an instrument 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 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 James Boynton, my do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 Sheet of Drawings
bereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say:
The pen-wiper consists of a pad fixed on the top of a base or pedestal,
and a second or movable pad placed immediately over and facing the
first and mounted on a central stem sliding within the pedestal. The

page_text: top pad is free to be rotated, and a spring beneath its stem serves to
raise and keep it slightly apart from the lower pad. When the pen is
introduced between the pads the upper one is pressed or closed down
upon it by hand, and at the same time partially rotated so that it will
effectually clean the pen of the ink, the friction produced by turning
the two pad surfaces upon one another at same time removes the dried
ink remaining on the pad from previous use. The pedestal or base may
either serve as a paper weight or it may form part of an inkstand.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a central vertical section of the pen-wiper stand;
and Figure 2 is a perspective view of the same as applied to a table
inkstand of which it forms the handle. Similar reference letters indicate
the same parts in both Figures.
a is the pedestal carrying the lower pad surface b; and c is a movable
head fixed on a sliding rod or spindle a fitted within the pedestal a.
This head c is also provided with a pad surface e facing the bottom
pad and raised slightly apart therefrom by a spiral or other spring f
contained within a recess f¹ formed at the lower part of the pedestal.
The lower end of spindle d is provided with a head or stop a to
limit its upward movement. The parts a, c, and d may be made of
wood, and the exterior surfaces may be stained, polished, or suitably
ornamented, or they may be made of brass or other metal gilt or silvered
if desired. The material I employ for the pads is a cut pile fabric
known and sold as "Utrecht velvet" glued to the two surfaces 6 and e.
By the use of this material combined with the rotary action of the
pads a self-cleaning penwiper is obtained, as the ink deposited on the
pile of the fabric is rubbed off when dry by the friction of the fibres
when the pads are brought in contact as above described (a coarse or
common quality answers best). The pedestal a may either be fixed in
a foot pieco g, as shown in Figure 1, which may also be weighted or
loaded to serve as a paper weight if necessary, or it may be attached
to an inkstand, as in Figure 2, or otherwise arranged.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to
be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. The combination with the fixed pad b of a movable rotating
pad c mounted on a central sliding stem or spindle and operated sub-
stantially as herein-before described and illustrated in the Drawings.
•

page_text: 2ndly. I claim the use and application in a rotating pen-wiper con-
structed as above described of the fabric herein-before specified as and
for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Boynton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of December, in the year of 5
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.