EP0314893A1 - Ink lead for a fountain pen - Google Patents

Abstract

The ink conductor for a fountain pen has a main body (1) which has radial ink receiving chambers (2), the rear end of which main body can be connected to the ink reservoir of the fountain pen and which has an axially extending groove on the nib resting side for receiving an insert part (10), an air duct (5) and at least one capillary ink supply duct being formed between said insert part and the base of the groove. The front end of the ink supply duct opens out into an ink pad space (30) which is formed between the main body (1) and the insert part (10) and is connected to the nib resting surface via a capillary ink discharge gap which is present between the front end region of the insert part (10) and the main body (1). The ink discharge gap extends from the axial centre plane, running through the centre of the groove, of the ink conductor to both its sides and, at least partially, to the rear. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to an ink conductor for a fountain pen, with a main body having radial ink receiving chambers, the rear end of which can be connected to the ink reservoir of the ink fountain pen and which has an axially extending groove on the spring support side for receiving an insert, between and the bottom of the groove an air duct and at least one capillary ink supply duct are formed.

In a known ink conductor of this type (DE-AS 1 034 066), two capillary ink supply channels run in the groove base of the air channel formed in the main body and connect the rear end of the main body to the spring support surface, the two ink supply channels in the region of the front end of the main body otherwise deviate from a straight line and are curved in the direction of the spring support surface, so that they emerge there and there is a direct wetting of the underside of the spring with ink from the ink supply channels.

In practice it has been shown that in many cases the ink film between the spring and the outlet openings the ink supply channels tear off when the spring is expanded somewhat by increased writing pressure and is lifted off the spring contact surface of the ink guide. Furthermore, it can happen, especially in the case of nibs for larger line widths in the case of strongly fluctuating writing pressure, that the ink supply channels are not able to readily provide the larger amount of ink required for the short-sided increased writing pressure.

It is an object of the invention to provide an ink guide in which the ink film between it and the spring does not tear, even with increased writing pressure.

To achieve this object, an ink conductor of the type mentioned at the outset is designed in such a way that the front end of the ink supply channel opens into an ink cushion space formed between the main body and insert part and that the ink cushion space has a capillary ink outlet gap with the spring contact surface which is present between the front end region of the insert part and main body is connected, which extends from the axial center plane of the ink conductor running through the center of the groove to the two sides thereof and at least with partial sections to the rear.

In the case of the ink conductor according to the invention, the ink is not supplied to the spring directly from the capillary ink supply channel or from the capillary ink supply channels, but from an ink cushion space fed by the latter, so that even in the event of greater ink consumption, this forms a kind of buffer Ink pad room sufficient ink can be sucked up. This surprisingly results in a practically complete damping of the pressure fluctuations that otherwise occur in the area of the transition to the spring and cause the ink meniscus to withdraw, and are caused by the pressure fluctuations in the ink supply space due to the consumption of ink and the entry of air.

The supply of the ink from the ink cushion space to the nib takes place via a capillary ink outlet gap, which lies with its front area directly below the nib slot and extends both to the side and to the rear, so that in the idle state or with little writing pressure, the nib is wetted over the entire Ink outlet gap including the area immediately below the spring slot takes place, even if the spring is not arranged exactly in the center. With increased writing pressure, which leads to a spreading of the spring, the ink film between the region of the ink outlet gap and the spring lying immediately below the spring slot can be interrupted, but an ink film reliably remains, which closes between the remaining region of the ink outlet gap and the spring both sides of the spring slot.

In addition, a strong evaporation of ink from the ink cushion space is prevented by the ink outlet gap. When ink evaporates, ink is also sucked up again from the ink supply channel into the ink cushion space and the ink outlet gap is thus always fed, which results in very good writing behavior.

The ink exit gap can, for example, be U-shaped, the legs of the U extending rearward and diverging rearward, and the transition from the base of the U to its legs being able to take place over a rounded region or over an angular region.

It is also possible to make the ink outlet gap V-shaped or to make it arcuate, so that the ends of the sheet lie further back than the central region thereof.

In order to ensure the supply of ink to the nib especially when using nibs for larger line widths, the distance between adjacent wall areas of the main body and insert part which delimit the ink cushion space can continuously decrease from the mouth area of the ink supply channel to the ink outlet gap. In this way, a relatively large volume of ink is accumulated in the ink cushion space, which due to the narrowing of the ink cushion space in the direction of the ink outlet gap, which acts more reliably there, is reliably conveyed to the ink outlet gap and thus to the pen.

In the case of an ink guide constructed in this way, the ink cushion space can taper in a wedge shape in the axial central plane of the ink guide that runs through the center of the groove.

As already mentioned above, the provision of the ink cushion space and the ink outlet gap according to the invention ensures reliable ink supply to the nib even under difficult writing conditions, so that the ink line according to the invention is suitable for nibs with a smaller line width as well as for nibs with a larger line width.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the ink supply channel or the ink supply channels are formed on the underside of the insert.

In this way, it is possible to provide a single shape of a main body for the ink guide and to adapt it to the use for nibs of different line widths by using an appropriately designed insert part, the ink supply channel or channels of which are dimensioned so that they have the sufficient Convey the amount of ink to the front end of the ink guide, and which is shaped so that it forms, together with the main body, an ink cushion space and an ink outlet gap with dimensions suitable for the respective operating case.

When using such an insert, transverse channels can be provided on its underside for connection to the radial ink receiving chambers.

In order to be able to position the insert part exactly in the main body, so that an ink outlet gap of the desired dimension is obtained within the narrowest tolerances, positioning projections can be formed on the side walls of the insert part.

It has also proven to be advantageous to design the radius of curvature of the outer surface of the insert part in the area of the spring support surface to be greater than the radius of curvature of the circumferential direction of the outer surface of the main body, so that the radius of curvature of the outer surface of the insert part corresponds exactly to the radius of curvature of the spring, which leads to a further improvement the ink supply leads to this.

• Figur 1 zeigt eine Draufsicht auf einen Tintenleiter.
• Figur 2 zeigt eine Ansicht des Tintenleiters aus Figur 1 von hinten (rechts).
• Figur 3 zeigt eine Ansicht des Tintenleiters aus Figur 1 von vorn (links).
• Figur 4 zeigt teilweise als Seitenansicht und teilweise im Schnitt den Hauptkörper des Tintenleiters gemäß Figuren 1 bis 3.
• Figur 5 zeigt eine Draufsicht auf den Hauptkörper aus Figur 4.
• Figur 6 zeigt einen Schnitt entlang der Linie VI-VI aus Figur 5.
• Figur 7 zeigt einen Schnitt entlang der Linie VII-VII aus Figur 4.
• Figur 8 zeigt einen Schnitt entlang der Linie VIII-VIII aus Figur 4.
• Figur 9 zeigt eine Seitenansicht des Einsatzteils des Tintenleiters gemäß Figuren 1 bis 3.
• Figur 10 zeigt eine Ansicht des Einsatzteils aus Figur 9 von unten.
• Figur 11 zeigt einen Schnitt entlang der Linie XI-XI aus Figur 10.
• Figur 12 zeigt in einem vergrößerten Teilschnitt den vorde­ren Endbereich des Tintenleiters gemäß Figuren 1 bis 3.
• Figur 13 zeigt eine vergrößerte Teil-Draufsicht auf den vorderen Endbereich des Tintenleiters gemäß Figu­ren 1 bis 3.
• Figur 14 zeigt in einer Darstellung entsprechend Figur 13 einen Tintenleiter mit V-förmigem Tintenaus­trittsspalt.
• Figur 15 zeigt in einer Darstellung entsprechend Figuren 13 und 14 einen Tintenleiter mit bogenförmigem Austrittsspalt.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the figures.

• Figure 1 shows a top view of an ink guide.
• FIG. 2 shows a view of the ink guide from FIG. 1 from the rear (right).
• FIG. 3 shows a view of the ink guide from FIG. 1 from the front (left).
• FIG. 4 shows partly as a side view and partly in section the main body of the ink guide according to FIGS. 1 to 3.
• FIG. 5 shows a top view of the main body from FIG. 4.
• FIG. 6 shows a section along the line VI-VI from FIG. 5.
• FIG. 7 shows a section along the line VII-VII from FIG. 4.
• FIG. 8 shows a section along the line VIII-VIII from FIG. 4.
• FIG. 9 shows a side view of the insert part of the ink guide according to FIGS. 1 to 3.
• FIG. 10 shows a view of the insert part from FIG. 9 from below.
• FIG. 11 shows a section along the line XI-XI from FIG. 10.
• FIG. 12 shows an enlarged partial section of the front end region of the ink guide according to FIGS. 1 to 3.
• FIG. 13 shows an enlarged partial top view of the front end region of the ink guide according to FIGS. 1 to 3.
• FIG. 14 shows, in a representation corresponding to FIG. 13, an ink conductor with a V-shaped ink outlet gap.
• FIG. 15 shows, in a representation corresponding to FIGS. 13 and 14, an ink conductor with an arcuate outlet gap.

The ink guide shown in Figures 1 to 13 consists of a main body 1 and an insert 10. Both components are usually made of plastic and can be manufactured by injection molding.

The main body shown in detail in FIGS. 4 to 6 can be firmly connected to a fountain pen with its rear end (right end in FIGS. 4 and 5). In a central region, it has ink receiving chambers 2 arranged radially in the usual way. An axially extending groove 4 extends from the rear end of the main body and has an essentially rectangular cross section and ends at a surface 33 at the front end. In the bottom of the groove 4 there is an air channel 7 at the rear end, which in the assembled state is connected to the ink supply space and at the front end of which a conventional pressure control path 6 begins. An air duct 5 extends axially forwards from this pressure control section 6 and is connected to the foremost ink receiving chamber 3 via a transverse incision (FIG. 6).

As shown, the base area lying in front of the air inlet duct 3 and no longer traversed by the air duct extends 31 of the groove 4 into an obliquely upwardly extending surface 32 which ends at the surface 33, while the side walls of the groove 4 form wall sections 34 and 35 which converge towards the front from the transition to the surface 32. The boundary surface 33 of the groove lies at a short distance behind the front end surface 9 of the main body 1.

The insert 10 is shaped so that it fits into the groove 4 and extends from the rear end to just before the wall 33.

The insert 10 has on its underside two capillary-shaped ink supply channels 11, 12 which start from the rear end of the insert 10 and end shortly before its front end. Cross channels 17 are also formed on the underside of the insert part 1 (FIGS. 9 and 12), which in the assembled state connect the air channel 5 formed in the main body 1 to the radial ink receiving chambers 2.

On the upper side, the insert part 10 in the area behind the shoulder 22 (FIGS. 1 and 9) is curved in the circumferential direction corresponding to the main body 1 receiving the insert part 10, while the area 23 which forms the spring support surface and lies in front of the shoulder 22 (FIGS. 1 and 9) has a larger radius of curvature, which corresponds to the inner radius R (FIG. 3) of the nib to be attached, while the surfaces of the main body 1 adjoining in the circumferential direction have a smaller radius of curvature.

As can be seen from FIGS. 9 and 10, the lower surface of the insert part 10 runs in the front area as a surface section 20 obliquely up to the front end surface 21 of the insert part 10. Furthermore, the Side walls in the front end region converge as side wall sections 18 and 19 to the front end surface 21. Shortly before the transition to the side wall sections 18 and 19, positioning projections 13 and 14 are formed on the side walls, which engage when the insert part 10 is inserted into the groove 4 of the main body 1 stand with the air inlet duct 3 (Figure 1). A further positioning within the groove 4 takes place by means of the projections 16 and 15 provided on the side wall sections 18 and 19, which come to bear against the side wall sections 34 and 35 of the groove 4 in the main body 1 (FIG. 13).

If the insert 10 is inserted into the main body 1, an air channel 5 is provided in a known manner between these two components on the one hand, which is connected to the radial ink receiving chambers 2 via transverse grooves 17, and on the other hand capillary ink supply channels 11, 12 are formed, which the Ensure ink is supplied from the fountain pen ink reservoir to the front end of the ink guide. However, a deviation from the known arrangements can be seen in the fact that the capillary ink supply channels 11 and 12 are formed in the insert part 10.

The capillary ink supply channels 11 and 12 run in a straight line over their entire longitudinal extent and, as can be seen particularly in FIG. 12, open into an ink cushion space 30 at their front end. This ink cushion space becomes on its underside from the wall section 31 of the groove 4 and the rising wall section 32 in the main body 1 and on its upper side delimited by the inclined wall section 20 on the underside of the insert part 10. Laterally, as can be seen in particular in FIG. 13, the limitation is made at the front end by the wall 33 and on the sides by the wall section te 41 and 42 of the main body 1. As a result of the different inclinations of the wall section 32 of the main body 1 and the wall section 20 of the insert part 10, the ink cushion space 30 tapers forwardly from the mouth region of the ink supply channels 11 and 12.

As also shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the front end surface 21 of the insert part 10 runs at a small distance from the surface 33 of the main body 33, and the side wall sections 18 and 19 of the insert part 10 run at a corresponding distance from the side wall sections 41 and 42 of the main body 1, so that between these walls a capillary, to the spring receiving surface open ink outlet gap is formed, which is symmetrical to the axial central plane 25 of the ink guide and is substantially U-shaped (Figure 13), the base 40 of the U being transverse to the plane 25 and the legs 41, 42 of the U diverge backward from the base 40.

This results in a very large contact area between the ink outlet gap 40, 41, 42 and the spring when the spring is attached, the spring slot extending across the base 40. In this way, even if the spring is spread out comparatively strongly and is partially lifted off the spring support surface, good contact is always maintained between regions of the ink outlet gap 40, 41, 42, thereby ensuring the presence of an ink film between the latter and the spring, in particular there sufficient ink can always be supplied from the ink cushion space 30 tapering in the direction of the ink outlet gap 40, 41, 42.

While an essentially U-shaped ink outlet gap is shown in FIG. 14, the same has the same in the rest How the ink guide according to Figures 1 to 13 constructed ink guide according to Figure 14 has a V-shaped ink outlet gap with two legs 41 'and 42', which are symmetrical on both sides of the axial central plane.

Another form of an ink exit gap is shown in FIG. This ink outlet gap 44˝ is arc-shaped, approximately circular-arc-shaped and ends at the rear at points 45˝ and 46˝, which are arranged significantly further outwards and behind its most forward central region.

Since both the ink line according to FIG. 14 and the ink line according to FIG. 15 are constructed in the same way as the ink line according to FIGS. 1 to 13, no further reference numerals have been included in FIGS. 14 and 15, and no additional explanations are required.

Claims (10)

1.Ink conductor for a fountain pen, with a main body (1) having radial ink receiving chambers (2), the rear end of which can be connected to the ink reservoir of the fountain pen and which has an axially extending groove (4) on the spring support side for receiving an insert (10) , between the and the bottom of the groove (4) an air channel (5) and at least one capillary ink supply channel (11, 12) are formed, characterized in that the front end of the ink supply channel (11, 12) into a between the main body (1) and insert part (10) formed ink cushion space (30) opens and that the ink cushion space (30) via an existing between the front end region of the insert part (10) and main body (1), capillary ink outlet gap (eg 40, 41, 42) is connected to the spring support surface , which extends from the axial central plane (25) of the ink guide through the center of the groove (4) to the two sides thereof and at least with partial abs cut (41, 42) extends to the rear. 2. Ink guide according to claim 1, characterized in that the ink outlet gap (40, 41, 42) is U-shaped. 3. Ink guide according to claim 1, characterized in that the ink outlet gap (41 ', 42') is V-shaped. 4. Ink guide according to claim 1, characterized in that the ink outlet gap (44˝) is arcuate, so that the ends (45˝, 46˝) of the sheet are further back than its central region. 5. Ink guide according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the distance between the adjacent, the ink cushion space (30) delimiting wall areas (eg 20, 32) of the main body (1) and insert (10) from the mouth area of the ink supply channel (11, 12) to the ink outlet gap (40, 41, 42) continuously decreases. 6. Ink guide according to claim 5, characterized in that the ink cushion space (30) in the through the center of the groove (4) extending, axial central plane (25) of the ink guide tapers forward wedge-shaped. 7. Ink guide according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the ink supply channel (11, 12) is formed on the underside of the insert part (10). 8. Ink guide according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that on the underside of the insert part (10) transverse channels (17) are provided for connection to the radial ink receiving chambers (2). 9. Ink guide according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that in the front end region of the insert part (10) on the side walls (19; 18) positioning projections (15; 16) are formed. 10. Ink guide according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the radius of curvature of the outer surface (23) of the insert (10) in the region of the spring support surface is greater than the radius of curvature of the outer surface of the main body (1) adjoining in the circumferential direction.

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