EP0065430B1 - Writing tip for a fountain pen - Google Patents

Abstract

A pen point for writing with an ink, having a pen nib with two nib points separated by a slit. The surfaces of the nib points perpendicular to the slit have, over a part of their length, a film chemically inert to the ink and wettable thereby, thus forming two lips which substantially cover the slit and abut with one another when the nib is in an unflexed state. The lips extend substantially from the slit origin to the nib tips and consist of a varnish, a plastic material or a metal. The pen point is manufactured by a process wherein a pen nib having two nib points and a slit therebetween is coated with a continuous film of material, chemically inert to the ink and wettable thereby, with the film then being divided to form the two lips.

Description

The present invention relates to a writing device for a pen stylus.

The writing feathers having at their end two beaks separated by a slit. This slot has a double function, on the one hand, to give the pen the flexibility desired, on the other hand, to ensure the supply in still of the writing tip. To this end, the pen is applied against a power supply unit comprising several channels connected to the ink tank and arranged opposite the pen slot (FR-A-983 957).

This slot is generally formed by cutting the pen, using, for example, a grinding wheel or any other instrument of this type, then the beaks of the writing tip are brought into contact with one of the other. Although the grinding wheels used in this technique are particularly fine, it is not possible, for mechanical reasons, to lower the thickness of the grinding wheels below a certain threshold, corresponding to a width of slot minimum.

However, an excessively large width of this slot has a serious drawback when the stylographer is subjected to a shock or a sudden impulse, because, under the effect of this shock, the pen enters into vibration and strikes the ink layer brought from the tank through the supply channels. The ink is thus projected through the groove of the pen, which has the consequence of causing multiple soiling of the external face thereof.

To reduce the width of the pen slot and thus limit this drawback, one could consider making this slot by shearing the pen, but this technique has the disadvantage of subjecting the pen to far too large deformations.

The object of the present invention is to propose a writing device for a pen stylographer in which the pen itself comprises a slot of usual dimensions, which can thus be produced by known techniques, but which is equipped with a simple and inexpensive to implement, in order to limit soiling by spraying ink when the stylograph is subjected to an impact or a sudden impulse.

To this end, the subject of the invention is a writing device for a stylographer comprising an ink supply unit and a pen with two nozzles, these two nozzles being separated by a slot, the ink supply of the pen being provided by at least one channel of the power supply unit in communication with an ink tank, on the one hand, and with said slot, on the other hand, the internal and / or external faces of the two nibs of the pen comprise, over a part of their length, a film of a material compatible with the ink and capable of being wetted by it, this device being characterized in that the films form two lips, these lips extending under and / or on the slot and being contiguous in the pen rest position. In FR-A-983 957 there are no lips, contiguous in the rest position.

Indeed, the plaintiff has established that a feather thus equipped on each of its beaks with a film these films forming at the right of the slot two lips covering the latter in the rest position, prevents accidental soiling of the free surface of the pen, when the pen is subjected to a shock, without opposing a normal ink supply of the writing tip.

Said films can be placed both on the outer face of the pen and on its inner face, between the latter and the feed channel.

Advantageously, in order to facilitate the ink supply of the pen, the lips will extend to the writing tip of the pen.

They may be made of any material compatible with the ink and suitable for being wetted by it, possibly after a surface treatment.

One can use, for example, liquid varnishes, which one coats the beaks of the feather and which adhere to them while drying. Mention will in particular be made of varnishes based on cellulose acetate or acetobutyrate.

It is also possible to use plastics, in particular of the type of A B S (acrylonitrilebutadiene-styrene copolymers) or polytetrafluoroethylene, which is optionally treated at the surface in order to increase their wettability.

It is also possible to deposit a metallic film, in particular gold, on the spouts, the deposited metal possibly being identical to that of the feather.

The thickness of the film covering the beaks of the feather is not critical. It is generally of the order of a few hundredths to a few tenths of a millimeter.

The film can be deposited on each of the beaks in continuous form by completely covering the slit of the feather, the film obtained being then cut in line with the slit, either by a tear, following a simple separation of the beaks of the feather, or using means known in the art such as laser beam, etc. so as to form two lips, contiguous in the rest position. Such a manufacturing process also falls within the scope of the present invention. Finally, the feathers forming part of the writing device described above constitute another object of the invention.

• La figure 1 est une coupe longitudinale de l'extrémité d'un dispositif d'écriture conforme à l'invention, suivant la ligne 1-1 de la figure 2;
• La figure 2 est une vue de dessus de l'extrémité du dispositif d'écriture de la figure 1, avec la plume en position de repos;
• La figure 3 est une vue analogue à la figure 2, avec les deux becs de la plume écartés l'un de l'autre;
• La figure 4 est une coupe transversale de ce même dispositif, suivant la ligne IV-IV de la figure 1;
• La figure 5 est une coupe de détail d'une variante du dispositif de la figure 1 ;
• La figure 6 est une coupe analogue à la figure 5 d'une autre forme de réalisation de l'invention.

The accompanying drawings, which are not limiting, illustrate the implementation of the invention. In these drawings:

• Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the end of a writing device according to the invention, along line 1-1 of Figure 2;
• Figure 2 is a top view of the end mite the writing device of Figure 1, with the pen in the rest position;
• Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, with the two tips of the pen apart from one another;
• Figure 4 is a cross section of the same device, along the line IV-IV of Figure 1;
• Figure 5 is a detail section of a variant of the device of Figure 1;
• Figure 6 is a section similar to Figure 5 of another embodiment of the invention.

The writing device shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 comprises, in itself, a pen 1 supported by an ink supply unit 2, comprising a supply channel 3, which communicates with an ink tank (not shown) and whose free surface is turned towards the internal face of the pen 1.

The pen 1 comprises two beaks 4a, 4b, separated by a slot 5 and ending with a writing tip 6a, 6b. In the rest position (FIG. 2), the two points 6a, 6b are substantially in contact with one another, and can deviate, when the pen is supported on the paper in the writing position (FIG. 3, on which the spacing of the points has however been exaggerated for greater clarity). When the stylographer equipped with this writing device receives a shock, the pen 1 vibrates and repeatedly strikes the ink contained in the channel 3, and projects it through the slot 5 with the effect of dirtying the outer side of the feather.

To remedy this drawback, in accordance with the invention, the tips 4a and 4b of the pen are coated, on one of their faces - their internal face, in the case of FIGS. 1 to 5 - with a film forming two lips, respectively 7a, 7b, of a material compatible with the ink, that is to say chemically inert with respect to it, and wettable by the latter. These films extend over at least part of the length of the spouts and are in mutual contact over this entire length, thus covering the slot 5, as seen for example in FIGS. 2 and 4.

In this way, the lips 7a and 7b which cover the slit 5 in the rest position prevent ink splashes through that, without opposing the ink supply to the pen, and more particularly , writing tips 6a, 6b.

Quite the contrary, the lips 7a, 7b, can favor the ink supply, when the points 6a and 6b are spaced apart from one another, when the pen is pressed against the paper (FIG. 3). Indeed, while this spacing normally has the effect of reducing the ink film, which then no longer comes into contact with the tips 6a, 6b, it suffices, to remedy this drawback, to extend the lips 7a, 7b up to at the end of the pen (see Figure 5, where the bodies already described retain the same reference numbers), to minimize their separation and thus promote the accessibility of the tips 6a, 6b, to the ink film.

It is clear that the lips 7a or 7b can be indifferently arranged on the internal face or on the external face of the feather (see FIG. 6, on which the organs described above retain the same references assigned to the index '), while performing the same function.

The invention therefore provides a simple and easy-to-use means for opposing ink splashes, under the effect of a shock, through the slit of a pen of a stylographer, and thus to avoid the dirt on the outside of the feather which usually results.

Claims (7)

1. A writing device for fountain pens comprising an ink supply block (2) and a pen nib (1) with two tips (4a, 4b) separated by a slit (5), the ink supply for the nib being provided by at least one channel in the supply block in communication with an ink reservoir, on the one hand, and with said slit on the other, the internal and/or external faces of the two tips (4a, 4b) of the nib comprise, over a part of their length, a film of a material compatible with the ink and adapted to be wetted thereby, this device being characterized in that the films form two lips (7a, 7b) which extend under and/or over the slit (5), and are in jointing relation in the rest position of the nib.

2. The writing device according to claim 1, characterized in that said lips (7a, 7b) extend substantially from the origin of the slit (5) of the nib as far as the end (6a, 6b) of the tips (4a, 4b).

3. Writing device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said lips (7a, 7b) are formed by a varnish, more particularly a cellulose acetate or acetobutyrate based varnish.

4. Writing device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said lips (7a, 7b) are formed by a plastic material, more especially an acrylonitrilebutadiene-styrene copolymer or polytetrafluorethylene, possibly having been subjected to a surface treatment for increasing the wettability thereof.

5. Writing device according to one of claims 1 and 4, characterized in that said lips (7a, 7b) are formed by a metal, identical or not to that of the nib.

6. A fountain pen nib for forming a writing device according to one of claims 1 to 5, comprising two tips (4a, 4b) separated by a slit, the internal and/or external faces of the two tips of the nib comprising, over a part of their length a film of a material compatible with the ink and adapted to be wetted thereby, this nib being characterized in that the films form two lips (7a, 7b) which extend under and/or over the slit (5) and are in jointing relation in the rest position of the nib.

7. A process for manufacturing a fountain pen nib according to claim 6, characterized in that, on the two tips, (4a, 4b) and the slit (5) of the nib, is deposited a single continuous film of a material compatible with the ink and wettable thereby and in that said film is then cut at right angles to the slit (5).

Images