The Squeeze-Bottle Inkstand: Press the Rubber, Fill the Cup

"A, A, is a common india rubber bottle, which composes the body or reservoir, of the inkstand, and which is shown separately in Fig. 2. Through this bottle passes a shaft of metal, wood, ivory, horn, or other suitable substance, which is tubular through the greater part of its length, and has at its upper end a cup into which the ink contained in the bottle may be forced whenever it may be required." "It will be seen that by this arrangement the ink will be effectually preserved from evaporation, and from exposure to the air, excepting in the small quantity contained in the cup; its depth in this may be readily regulated, so that there shall not be any danger of dipping the pen too deeply in it."

**Shaft.** Cut 12 cm of 3/8" brass tube. Drill a 3 mm hole through its wall 1 cm from one end: the side opening the ink enters by. **Bottle.** Push the drilled end of the tube down through the neck of the rubber bulb until it nearly touches the bottom, and seal the neck round the tube with epoxy. Drill a hardwood block, set the bulb in it as a foot, and glue it. **Cup.** Epoxy a PVC reducer from the fittings assortment on the tube's top as the cup. Cut a cork to plug the tube's upper end inside the cup. **Test.** With the cork out, squeeze the bulb, dip the tube end in ink and let the bulb draw it in; repeat until full. Squeeze until the cup holds ink, then put the cork in: the ink stays. Pull the cork: it drops back. Turn the stand on its side for a minute with the cork in and check for leaks. Then weigh it and an open jar of ink every day for a week.

**George Burnham** of Philadelphia received US 2,409, dated 30 December 1841, for the construction of inkstands. His shaft screwed into a foot through a hole in the bottle's bottom, a sliding cover could close the cup for travelling, a small cock could replace the stopper, and an air hole in the shaft's enlarged neck helped filling. His claim is the elastic bottle with the tubular shaft and cup. **Honest limits.** A rubber bulb, brass tube and PVC reducer stand in for his rubber bottle, shaft and cup, and epoxy for his tight fit. The notebook takes ink as dense as water; its sizes are examples. Your weighings are the result.