Fountain pen ink filling mechanism
In the earliest days, fountain pens were primarily dip pens. It wasn’t until the 19th century that American inventor Lewis Edson Waterman developed the fountain pen that used a capillary action system to draw ink, featuring side channels that allowed air to enter, enabling a steady flow of ink. This was when true fountain pens that could draw and store ink became available. Below are the various ink-filling methods for fountain pens:
1. The earliest self-filling fountain pens used ink cartridges, which were stored within the pen barrel. A metal plate was located beside the cartridge, and the pen barrel was equipped with a lever. By repeatedly pulling and pushing the lever, the metal plate would compress and relax the cartridge, allowing for ink to be drawn in.
2. The crescent-style filling works on a similar principle.
3. Following this principle, some designs incorporated a button at the end of the pen that, when pressed, would engage the metal plate inside the barrel to draw ink. However, due to the cartridges becoming hard over time, this filling method is now rarely used.
4. Later, a system was developed where the barrel could simply be unscrewed, and the end of the cylindrical ink reservoir could be submerged in ink. Inside the cylindrical reservoir, there was a thin rubber disc filled with small holes, allowing the ink to be drawn in through capillary action. However, the issue was that the ink reservoir couldn’t hold the ink securely; when the nib was pointed down, ink would easily drip out, leading to the design being quickly phased out.
5. There is also a drop-in filling method where ink is stored in the barrel.
6. A vacuum-filling method that utilizes negative pressure is released by pulling a button at the end of the pen.
7. The convenient disposable ink cartridge system is user-friendly.
8. There are small removable ink fillers.
9. Lastly, there is a rotary vacuum filling method where ink is stored in the barrel.
Up to now, fountain pens have evolved to hold a large amount of ink and possess extraordinarily precise designs, making the original cartridge system incomparable.