The Fountain Pen Patent Archive

The instruments that put ink under pressure

Hard rubber pen

Patent drawing of a 19th-century fountain pen showing a full perspective view with nib and cap (Fig. 1), a longitudinal cross-section revealing an internal conical valve and wire (Fig. 2), and small end-on views of the threaded cap and feed mechanism (Figs. 3-5).IMPROVEMENT IN FOUNTAIN-PENS.David O. Macomber · August 28, 1849Patent 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, 1849A patent drawing sheet showing multiple views of an early hard-rubber fountain pen, including its cap, nib, feeding-tube with internal spring, and a full-length assembled pen labeled Fig. 15 with reservoir tube, piston rod, and pointed nib.IMPROVED FOUNTAIN-PENNewell A. Prince · January 23, 1855Patent drawing showing a pen nib with an attached perforated metal ink reservoir, including a top view, a cross-section, and a plan view of the detached reservoir.IMPROVEMENT IN PENSE. L. Pratt · February 18, 1868Patent drawing of an antique dip pen showing a side view of the full pen body and four detail views of the split, spring-loaded nib point with labeled openings, tongues, and grooves.IMPROVEMENT IN WRITING-PENSRichard H. Chinn · January 21, 1873Line drawing of a dip pen holder with a rectangular slot for a cylindrical solid-ink cartridge, shown in elevation, underside, top, and cross-section views alongside the cartridge itself.IMPROVEMENT IN WRITING-PENSLeopold Beral Bertram · November 14, 1876Patent drawing showing a fountain pen in full elevation and in cross-section, revealing an internal tube-and-valve mechanism with a spiral spring, a spoon-shaped ink bowl, and a metal nib point.IMPROVEMENT IN FOUNTAIN-PENSThéophile Prioux · March 25, 1879Patent drawing of a Victorian-era fountain pen showing the barrel, sliding tubes, internal valve mechanism, nib assembly, and a curved metal fountain attachment clipped beneath the pen point, with cross-sectional detail views of the pump and valve components.IMPROVEMENT IN FOUNTAIN-PENSGeorge Wells · May 27, 1879Two 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 sheet showing a slender cylindrical hard-rubber fountain pen in full perspective, a longitudinal cross-section revealing internal plug and channel parts, several circular detail cross-sections labeled with letters, and two close-up perspective views of the split pen point with nibs closed and open.FOUNTAIN-PENPaul E. Wirt · November 13, 1883Patent 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, 1895