The Fountain Pen Patent Archive

The instruments that put ink under pressure

19th century patent

Patent drawing showing eleven figures of an early two-part ink fountain device, including a steel pen tip, a tracing pen, a hair-pencil brush, sectional views revealing an internal guiding pin, and long and short tubular handles.IMPROVEMENT IN INK-FOUNTAINSElijah Jordan · November 20, 1849Patent drawing showing a fountain pen labeled 'READY WRITER' in full assembled view, plus cross-sections and detail views of the internal rod, conical valves, spring, and slide mechanism inside the hollow pen holder.IMPROVEMENT IN FOUNTAIN PEN-HOLDERSCharles Cleveland · June 1, 1852Patent drawing of an early fountain pen showing a long tapered tube with a cap and internal rod at top, an ink reservoir plate and nib at the bottom, with two small detail views of the piston's underside labeled Fig. 2 and Fig. 3.FOUNTAIN-PENA. F. Warren and C. M. H. Warren · March 11, 1856Technical patent drawing showing a slender fountain pen with an internal sliding feed-tube mechanism, valve-seat, and metallic nib, illustrated in six labeled cross-sectional and external views.IMPROVED FOUNTAIN-PENAustin G. Day · July 29, 1856Patent drawing of a cylindrical fountain pen with a slitted tapering metal point, showing an assembled outside view, an end view, a cross-section revealing an internal ink reservoir and cap, and a detached tube with the point spread open into separate nibs.FOUNTAIN-PENNelson B. Slayton · August 26, 1856Patent drawing showing a hand-held cylindrical paint reservoir with a plunger rod ending in a finger loop, connected to a tapering quadrilateral pen with an adjustable side and screw collar, plus detail views of the internal slotted feeder plates and a separate beam attachment with a sliding center pin for drawing circular stripes.IMPROVED PAINTER'S STRIPING-INSTRUMENT.James J. McCormick and George Crossingham · November 24, 1857Patent drawing of a slender tapered tool resembling a fountain pen, with a threaded cap and small air hole at the top, an internal rod running to a pointed tip, and accompanying cross-section and end-view diagrams labeled with letters A through i.CLOTH-DOTTER.Sylvanus S. Gould · May 30, 1865Two line drawings of a pen nib: Fig. 1 shows a side section of the pen with a curved hinged flap along its concave underside, and Fig. 2 shows an inner view of the nib with the flap labeled B, pivot points marked c and c, and the nib point marked b.IMPROVEMENT IN PENS.Robert Hirst · March 24, 1868Patent drawing showing five small views (A through E) of a metal pen-fountain device: elongated tapered tongue pieces with perforated, dotted textured surfaces labeled with letters a, b, c, e, f, illustrating front, rear, side, bottom, and top views of the fountain clasped around a pen nib and shank.IMPROVEMENT IN PENS.E. L. Pratt · May 11, 1869Patent drawing of a slender fountain pen holder with a knobbed cap, showing four figures: full-length exterior views (Figs. 1 and 2) with an internal elastic strip and finger slide near the nib, and two cross-sectional close-ups (Figs. 3 and 4) illustrating the valve strip in closed and open positions.IMPROVEMENT IN FOUNTAIN-PENS.Francis C. Cone · October 11, 1870Patent drawing showing a longitudinal cross-section of a fountain pen with a valve rod running through a tube, alongside three separate detail views of pen-point tips with brush tufts inside tapered nib holders.IMPROVEMENT IN FOUNTAIN-PENSJohn Goodyear · July 15, 1873Patent drawing of a 19th-century fountain pen showing a glass ink-fountain handle screwed to a tubular base with a nib, feed tube, wick, and adjustable cap, alongside cross-sections labeled with reference letters A through N.IMPROVEMENT IN FOUNTAIN-PENSDavid L. Latourette · February 10, 1874Line drawing of a dip pen holder with a nib and a small curved metal ink-retaining attachment shown both installed and removed, labeled with letters A, B, C, C1, and C2.IMPROVEMENT IN FOUNTAIN-PENSWilliam H. Sprague · October 31, 1876Patent drawing showing four figures of a fountain pen: a full longitudinal cross-section labeled Fig.1 with threaded cap, needle, valve, and tapering writing tube; a similar full pen view labeled Fig.2 showing the internal rod and needle; an enlarged detail of the tubular point and valve seat labeled Fig.3; and a side view labeled Fig.4 showing the needle and capillary tube feeding an ordinary pen nib.IMPROVEMENT IN FOUNTAIN-PENSAlonzo T. Cross · April 10, 1877Patent drawing of a 19th-century fountain pen shown in cross-section (Fig. 1) revealing an inner valve-spindle, air-tube, and nested chambers, with separate views of the cap and threaded nut assembly (Fig. 2), the outer air-tube (Fig. 3), and close-up edge and side views of a flattened ink needle (Figs. 4 and 5).IMPROVEMENT IN FOUNTAIN-PENSAlonzo T. Cross · May 1, 1877Patent drawing of a 19th-century fountain pen in longitudinal section showing the nib, air-tube, ink reservoir, and vent cap, with side cross-section views of the adjustable tube components.Improvement in Fountain-PensAlonzo T. Cross · November 19, 1878Two line drawings show a quill-like pen nib with a curved spoon-shaped ink reservoir hinged along its upper back, labeled A for the pen and B for the spoon, with a cross-section below showing the internal ink channel.IMPROVEMENT IN FOUNTAIN-PENS.Jonathan Sprague Bard · November 25, 1879Patent drawing of a fountain pen showing a long central section labeled A with a detailed nib and feed assembly at the tip, plus smaller cross-section and modification diagrams labeled Figs. 2 through 11.FOUNTAIN-PEN.Laforest A. Shattuck · September 25, 1888Patent drawing showing a rubber bottle nozzle with a triangular slit blade on top, a beaded rim for attaching to a bottle neck, and cross-section views revealing internal slits labeled a, b, c, e, and i.RESERVOIR-BRUSH.Walter H. Underwood · May 21, 1889Patent drawing of a fountain pen attachment showing a spiral coil-shaped ink reservoir wrapped around the pen shaft near the nib, secured by a collar labeled B, with a detailed close-up of the perforated coil in Figure 3.FOUNTAIN-PENAndrew M. Fox · August 27, 1889Patent drawing showing several views of a flexible rubber bottle tip with a slit-bearing spreading surface, mounted on a ribbed mucilage bottle neck, alongside cross-sections and alternate tip shapes.SPREADING-TIP FOR LIQUID-RECEPTACLES.Walter H. Underwood · February 11, 1890Patent drawing of a fountain pen showing a long cylindrical holder with a screw cap at top, an internal reservoir tube, and an enlarged detail of a split nib with rearward projections connected to a small elastic tube.FOUNTAIN-PEN.Iwan Golwer · March 5, 1895Patent drawing of a long-handled marking pen with a broad central blade and curved side blades at the tip, alongside diagrams showing the blade arrangements and resulting shaded ink marks.MARKING AND SHADING PEN.Frederick G. Baldwin · November 5, 1895Patent drawing showing twelve figures of a fountain pen including full-length views, cross-sections of the barrel and valve stem, an enlarged nib perspective, and detailed plan views of the feeder and regulating valve mechanism.FOUNTAIN-PEN.Carl J. Renz · January 25, 1898Line drawing of a dip pen with a clamp-like metal fountain reservoir clipped over the nib, shown from several angles including a full pen view, top, bottom, edge, and cross-section.DETACHABLE FOUNTAIN OR RESERVOIR FOR PENS.James K. Young · February 14, 1899