Sheaffer Patents and what might have been (Capillary Filling and Capless Retractable)

[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

I've recently fallen down the rabbit hole of Sheaffer pens. The Triumph style nibs (Early lifetime ones and later style) just draw me in.

I'm also a nerd. As such, I like knowing how things work. A great way to understand how things work is to look up the patents filed by the inventors.

While looking for the patents for Touchdown and Snorkel filling systems
(Touchdown:https://patents.google.com/patent/US2610612)
(Snorkel as near as I could find:https://patents.google.com/patent/US2799247A)
Bonus:
(Triumph Vac Fill:https://patents.google.com/patent/US2474996A)

I found some other fascinating things that AFAIK were never put into production but would have likely changed things Vis-a-vis Parker if they had:

Secondary Ink Chamber and Shutoff Valve:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US2914028A/

Retractable Nib / Capless fountain pen
https://patents.google.com/patent/US3073286A/
https://patents.google.com/patent/US2949887A/

Extreme ways of dealing with over pressure
https://patents.google.com/patent/US2101304

And last but certainly NOT least CAPILLARY Filling Snorkel!
https://patents.google.com/patent/US2784699A

Snorkel with a Capillary reservoir but quick filling
https://patents.google.com/patent/US2949888A/

To the best of my (admittedly limited) knowledge, none of these things were put into production

It's fun to imagine how a capillary filling snorkel would have done against a Parker 61...

I hope this was entertaining and you learned something!