EP0516915B1 - Piston filling device for a writing implement, especially for a fountain pen - Google Patents

Abstract

In order to improve a piston filling device for a writing implement, especially for a fountain pen (10), which device has a reservoir (48) with a visual area (11a), an ink conducting system (20) which is arranged in the region of a gripping piece (18), a receiver (21) for a writing tip, in particular a nib (22), a shaft (15) which is arranged with a portion (15a) engaging over a bearing portion (14) of the reservoir (48), and a rotary end (26) arranged rotatably on the shaft (15) for actuating the piston filling device, in such a way that the construction is just as simple as it is reliable in operation, and that in a writing implement a number of different gripping pieces and/or shaft designs can be used, it is proposed that a visual part (11) be provided which encloses the reservoir (48) with the visual area (11a) and the bearing portion (14) for the shaft (15) and a bearing portion (16) for the gripping piece (18) with a space (19) arranged on the inside for receiving the ink conducting system (20) and for the receiver (21) of the nib (22), and that the visual part (11) be of integral construction. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a piston filling system for a writing instrument, in particular for a fountain pen, which has a shaft with a rotatably arranged rotary foot for actuating the piston filling system, a handle with a receptacle for a writing tip, in particular a nib, and with an ink guide system, and one between the The shaft and the handle are arranged with a visible area between the shaft and the handle and with a tank space connected to the ink supply system, the end of the visible part opposite the writing tip being overlapped by the shaft as a supporting section and the end of the visible part facing the writing tip the handle is connected.

Such a piston filling system for a writing instrument is known from FR-A-823.674. This writing instrument consists of a barrel, a handle which receives an ink-guide system with a writing tip and a visible part arranged between the barrel and the handle, which is overlapped by the barrel at its end opposite the writing tip, while the end of the viewing part facing the writing tip is covered with the handle a screw connection is connected. The visible part forms the ink-carrying space; it does not take up the ink-guiding system with the writing tip, which is arranged in the handle. The screw connection between the visible part and the handle often leads to leaks with the result that in the connection area between the sight piece and the grip piece of writing fluid, such as ink, can escape. The result is inked stains. Even welded or adhesive connections instead of a screw connection do not prevent the occurrence of leaks. These leaks in the connection area between the visible part and the handle are created by the pressure forces exerted on the writing instrument when writing, the handling and the holding of the writing instrument in the hand of the writer influencing the magnitude of these pressure forces. In addition, the ink-carrying space is directly connected to the handle, so that ink in the ink-carrying space is in contact with the handle. As a result, handles made of wood, precious metals or easily discolored plastics cannot be used, since a handle made of wood absorbs ink and becomes unsightly, a handle made of a high-quality precious metal discolors and becomes crystal clear or with the action of ink bright colors colored plastics are subject to color changes due to the action of ink.

A fountain pen is already known from FR-PS 823 674, in which it is provided that an integral part forms the tank space with the viewing area. The part is then screwed onto this part at one end with the piston filling system, which can be actuated by means of a swivel base, while the sleeve-like part has an internal thread at its other end, into which an insertion section of the handle piece containing the ink guidance system can be screwed.

This results in a piston chamber in which the ink is in front of the ink guide up to the end stop of the piston, and a writing tip is used as a foreign part.

Leakages can occur between the piston chamber with the integrated visible part and the writing tip, namely the fountain pen tip with ink guide and the writing pen. If the tip is put on or attached as a foreign part, the problem of leakage arises and only plastic tips can be used.

The basic structure of a piston filling system for the tank space of a writing instrument is known from DE-OS 38 26 691. Here, a piston filling system for an ink writing device is proposed, in which a separately attached writing tip is used.

An anti-rotation device for the piston carrying the piston of a piston filling system in the form of a bush arranged in the fountain pen shaft, which has a non-circular opening for guiding the spindle and is provided with a tooth profile at its lower end, is known from DE-GM 18 80 659.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve a piston filling system for writing instruments of the type mentioned at the outset in such a way that the structure is just as simple how it is designed to be reliable and that handle pieces and / or shaft designs made from a wide variety of materials can be used in the writing instrument without these coming into contact with the writing fluid.

This object is achieved in a piston filling system of the type mentioned by the features characterized in claim 1.

With this configuration, it is advantageously achieved that the entire ink-fillable space, including the receptacle, in particular the sleeve, is in one piece for the ink regulator as the ink guide system and the writing tip.

A major advantage of this new design is that the visible part, which includes the tank space, the visible area, the space for receiving the ink guide system and the pen, is designed in one piece and no leaks due to glue points or welds, etc. can occur due to this construction. In contrast to the known embodiments, the writing tip is no longer used as a foreign part, and the use of writing tips and grips made of any materials is possible.

Overall, with the configuration according to the invention, a one-piece design of the ink-carrying space or area of a writing instrument has been created, as a result of which there are no problems with regard to leaks, sticking, etc.

Furthermore, the one-piece design of the visible part offers the advantage that handle pieces of various materials can be placed in the grip area without influencing the technology of the ink guidance system. This is not possible with the known piston filling systems, especially when these materials are attacked by ink, namely metal, wood and essentially all non-plastics.

Another advantage of the one-piece design of the visible part is that there are the same advantages for the shaft as for the handle, namely that, for example, shafts made of metal or other "non-plastic" materials can be used without the ink in Piston space can attack this material or can be permanently influenced by this other material. Due to the one-piece design of the visible part, there are great possibilities for variation or the outer shape of a writing instrument provided with this piston filling system. The piston filling system is used on a large number of writing instruments with an ink regulator at the front and a writing tip, e.g. Roller, fine line or the like. possible.

In order to form a simple plug-in connection of the swivel base with the shaft, it is provided that the swivel base is inserted into the shaft with an insertion section and is arranged in a rotatably mounted manner for actuating the piston filling system.

It is advantageously provided that the swivel base is arranged on the cylindrical piece-like shaft, which is open at both ends, and is designed as a cylindrical piece and has the narrower plug-in section which can be inserted into the shaft interior and a wider one which can be placed with a radial surface on a radial end surface of the shaft Has rotary section.

In order to enable the swivel base to be fixed axially on the shaft, it is advantageously provided that an annular bead is formed on the free end of the insertion section, with which a step-shaped, radially circumferential shoulder can be snapped behind in the interior of the shaft, the swivel foot being engaged by the bead Heel is rotatable relative to the shaft, but is held axially fixed. In principle, the design of the bulge and of the recessed shoulder does not matter, because a different design can also be provided here, for example in the form of individual projecting sections on the insertion section, which engage in corresponding recesses in the interior of the shaft, it being necessary to ensure that that the elements of the plug-in section engage in the corresponding recesses of the shaft so that they snap into place and hold the plug-in section and thus the swivel base rotatably but axially fixed relative to the shaft. Here, for example, an embodiment in the form of several hemispherical elevations which engage in an annular groove is also conceivable in order to create such a latching.

In order to enable and facilitate the engagement, it is advantageously provided that the insertion section is provided with at least one longitudinal slot running in the longitudinal direction of the insertion section.

Furthermore, it is preferably provided that a cylindrical nut sleeve can be introduced into the shaft, which has a nut thread on its inner wall surface and which can be inserted at least with one insertion section into the insertion section of the rotating foot, the outer diameter of the insertion section roughly corresponding to the inner diameter of the insertion section of the rotating foot corresponds.

The design of the swivel base and the latching in the shaft in connection with the nut sleeve offers the advantages over known systems that the assembly is considerably simplified, that fewer parts are required and that an optimal functional reliability is guaranteed. The fact that the swivel base has the annular bead on its insertion section in the front area, which engages behind the annular undercut in the shaft during assembly, creates a rotatable connection. It can be provided that the insertion section is provided with two longitudinal slots in the region of the latching element, so that two resilient halves are formed. As a result, the plug-in section of the swivel base can be snapped into the shaft even more easily and can also be easily dismantled. However, after inserting the nut sleeve, the insertion section of the rotating foot is locked by the outer diameter of the nut sleeve, so that loosening or jumping out of the rotating foot, for example when the filling mechanism is actuated, is prevented.

This design provides a very significant advantage over the known systems, which consists in the fact that this simple plug-in connection of the swivel foot acting on the inner piston mechanism means that the mechanics work in any assembly position. With other, already known piston fountain pens, the rotating foot runs in a separate thread in the opposite direction to the thread run of the piston spindle inside. And if both thread sequences are not precisely graduated in the turning path, the piston stroke inside is not correct. Here it can e.g. happen that the swivel base in the rear area is unscrewed from its guide thread before the piston strikes the inside of the front area of the piston chamber. In the opposite case, it may be possible that the swivel base in its guide thread is already at the end stop before the piston inside has already reached its maximum, which would lead to a lower ink absorption volume.

To form the filling mechanism, in particular for a fountain pen, it is provided that a spindle is arranged in the nut sleeve, which axially fixedly carries at one end the piston arranged in the tank space of the visible part. At the end of the visible part facing the swivel base there is advantageously a toothing, preferably in the form of a tooth edge with triangular teeth, into which a correspondingly shaped toothing, preferably is also in the form of a serrated edge with triangular serrations of an anti-rotation part engaging, the anti-rotation element being designed as a cylinder sleeve in which the spindle carrying the piston at its end facing away from the swivel base is axially displaceable but non-rotatably mounted. For this purpose, the spindle is flattened on at least one, but preferably on two opposite sides, and the cylinder sleeve is provided with a corresponding cross-section as an anti-rotation device, so that the spindle is held against rotation when the rotating foot is turned. The piston with the spindle is moved by turning the swivel base, since tooth-like extensions are arranged at the free end of the insertion section of the nut sleeve, which engage in a corresponding tooth profile in the interior of the swivel base to produce a rotationally fixed connection between the swivel base and the nut sleeve and from Internal thread of the nut sleeve a forward or backward movement is transmitted to the spindle provided with a corresponding external thread and axially supported on the swivel base at one end, so that the piston is set into a corresponding forward or backward movement within the tank space of the visible part. The medium, for example ink, is sucked in by the backward movement of the piston after the ink guide system has been immersed in a corresponding reservoir in the tank space, with the nut sleeve being supported axially on the visible part via the anti-rotation part during a backward movement. A flattening of the spindle is known per se, but is new and particularly advantageous in connection with the one-piece visible part is the jagged edge connection between the anti-rotation part and the visible part.

The shaft that is to be attached to the visible part can optionally be provided with an internal thread and screwed onto an external thread attached to the visible part behind the viewing window, if necessary with the addition of adhesive or in the case of materials in which an internal thread in this form only is difficult to manufacture, e.g. a wooden shaft, this can also be glued over the inner surfaces to the outer surfaces of the inner body in the piston chamber area.

With two identical plastic materials, ultrasonic welding is also advantageously possible.

So that when the fountain pen is immersed in an inkwell for filling, the ink cannot migrate up due to the capillary effect in the space between the inside of the handle and the outside of the visible part, which then crawls out at the end of the handle to the part of the window that is visible to the outside, there is a rubber ring on the inside attached for sealing. This is an additional safety measure if the adhesive applied when the handle is punctured should not be closed moisture-tight all around.

It has therefore been created a connection and design so that the locking of the swivel foot in the shaft enters into a rotatable connection and via the Nut sleeve is secured against disengagement. Advantageous refinements and developments of the invention are characterized in the subclaims.

Fig. 1

in einer schematischen Darstellung in einem senkrechten Schnitt ein Kolbenfüllsystem in einem Füllhalter, und

Fig. 2 und 3

in einer Seitenansicht und in einer Ansicht von unten (gemäß Pfeil III) einen Drehfuß bei einem Kolbenfüllsystem gemäß Figur 1.

An embodiment of the invention is explained below with reference to the drawing. Show it

Fig . 1

in a schematic representation in a vertical section, a piston filling system in a fountain pen, and

Fig . 2 and 3

in a side view and in a view from below (according to arrow III) a swivel base in a piston filling system according to FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1, a fountain pen 10 is equipped as a writing instrument with a refillable tank-piston system and has an essentially cylindrical, graduated viewing part 11 with a viewing area designed as a viewing window 11a, which consists of a main part forming part of the outer surface 12 with the viewing window 11a 13 each with narrower stepped further sections arranged at one end of the main part 13. In this case, a first support section 14 of the visible part 11 arranged on one side of the main part 13 carries the shaft part 15 pushed onto it with a section 15a and covering the support section 14, while the second support section 16 is formed on the opposite side on the main part 13 its outer surface 17 carries the grip piece 18 and in the interior 19 the ink guide system 20, one on the ink guide system 20 Recording 21 for a spring 22 is formed. In the interior 23 of the main part 13 and the first section 14 of the visible part 11, the tank space 48 is formed, which has a connection 24 to the ink guide system 20.

To form the piston filling system, the shaft part 15, referred to below as the shaft, is provided at its free end 25, not pushed onto the visible part 11, with a rotating foot 26 which is designed as a cylindrical piece and consists of an insertion section 28 which can be inserted into the interior 27 of the shaft 15 and one for the operation of the piston filling system provided rotary section 29. The insertion section 28 is narrower and the cross-section of the interior 27 of the shaft 15 is designed for insertion, while the wider rotary section 29 is equal in its outer diameter or slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the shaft 15, with a radial, the Shaft 15 facing surface 30 is formed, which can be applied to a radial end surface 31 in the region of the end 25 of the shaft 15 in the assembled state.

The free end 32 of the insertion section 28 is provided with an annular bead 33, the bead 33 rising with a stepped transition 34 on the outer surface of the insertion section 28 and at the same time forming the end of the insertion section 28. The front region of the bead 33 has a phase 35 in order to facilitate the insertion of the insertion section 28 into the interior 27 of the shaft 15. On the inner surface 36 of the shaft interior 27 a step-shaped shoulder 37 is formed in the form of a recess which can be gripped behind by the bead 33 with the step-shaped transition 34 so that the bead 33 engages behind the shoulder 37 in the shaft interior 27.

In order to facilitate the insertion of the plug-in section 28 into the interior 27 of the shaft 15, the plug-in section 28 has two longitudinal slots 38, so that two mutually resilient parts 28a, 28b result which allow the plug-in section 28 to be inserted without problems.

To secure the insertion section 28 of the swivel base 26, a cylindrical nut sleeve 39 is inserted into the shaft 15, which has an internal thread 41 on its inner wall surface 40, an insertion section 42 of the nut sleeve 39 being insertable into the interior 43 of the swivel base. The outside diameter DA1 of the insertion cutout 42 corresponds to the inside diameter DI1 of the insertion section 28, the insertion section 42 extending into the region of the bead 33 of the insertion section 28, so that the bead 33 locks behind the shoulder 37 of the shaft 15. The nut sleeve 39 has a guide section 42b adjoining the insertion section 42a, the outer diameter DA2 of which corresponds to the inner diameter DI2 of the shaft 15, so that the nut sleeve is rotatably guided in the shaft 15. Since the insertion section 42a is non-rotatably connected to the swivel base 26, the nut sleeve 39 is rotatable in the shaft 15, but via the Swivel base 26 held axially immovable. In the internal thread 41 of the nut sleeve 39, a spindle 44 with an external thread 45 is screwed, which carries at its end 46 facing away from the swivel base 26 a piston 47, the cross section of which can be correspondingly displaced in the tank space 48 formed by the main part 13 and the first section 14 .

Arranged in the shaft 15 is an anti-rotation part 49, the side toothing 50 of which, in the form of a toothed edge, corresponds to a toothing 51 at the end 11a of the visible part 11 in the shaft 15 and holds the anti-rotation part 49 in a rotationally fixed manner. Via the axial fixation of the nut sleeve to the swivel base, which is axially fixed by the latching, the anti-rotation device, which is supported on one side by the teeth on the visible part, is also axially fixed. The anti-rotation part 49 is designed as a cylinder sleeve through which the spindle 44 is passed. Since the spindle 44 is flattened on two opposite sides and the anti-rotation part 49 has a corresponding through-opening 52, which corresponds to the outer profile of the spindle 44, the spindle is guided axially by the anti-rotation part 49 and held non-rotatably.

If the rotary foot 26 is now rotated to fill or empty the tank space 48, the rotary movement is transmitted to the nut sleeve 39, which in turn transmits the rotary movement to the external thread 45 via the internal thread 41. Since the spindle 44 is axially displaceable but non-rotatably in the shaft 15 via the anti-rotation part 49, this results in a forward or Backward movement of the spindle 44 and thus the piston 47 in the tank chamber 48 is generated. The spindle 44 is therefore secured against rotation by the anti-rotation device 49 arranged approximately at the end of the tank space 48, and at the same time a secure mounting is created by the locking of the rotating foot 26 in the shaft 15. As a result, an extremely functionally reliable piston filling system has been created which consists of a few parts.

The piston 47 is designed in such a way that it completely seals off the tank chamber 48 from the swivel base 26 and, during a backward movement, draws a liquid medium into the tank chamber 48 via the ink guide system 20 and the connection 24, while a corresponding forward movement introduces one into the tank chamber 48 Medium is pressed via the connection 24 to the ink guide system 20. The connection 24 is designed as a partition between the tank space 48 and the interior 19, the partition expanding a nozzle-shaped extension, which extends into the tank space 48, in which a tubular flow channel 24a for the flow of the medium between the tank space and the Interior 19, in which the ink guide system 20 is arranged, and vice versa. The ink supply system has an insertion tube 24b which extends through the flow channel 24a to the end of the nozzle.

In order to ensure the rotatability of the nut sleeve 39 with the swivel foot 26, the latter is provided in its interior 43 with a tooth profile 53 formed from a number of individual teeth or beads, into which corresponding tooth-like extensions 54 engage at the end of the nut sleeve 39 and thus lead to a non-rotatable toothing between swivel base 26 and nut sleeve 39. The end tip 44a of the spindle 44 is supported axially on the swivel base 26 (FIG. 3).

So that when the fountain pen is immersed in an inkwell (not shown in the drawing) for filling, the ink cannot migrate as a result of the capillary action in the space between the inside of the handle and the transparent body on the outside ink, which then at the end of the handle to the externally visible part of the Viewing window crawls out, it is provided that in the area of the stepped transition 13a between the main part 13 having the viewing window 11a and the section 16 of the viewing part 11 carrying the handle 18, a rubber ring 55 is arranged on the outside as a seal, the transition 13a for receiving the rubber ring 55 is rounded. The main part has an indentation 56 which extends up to the step-shaped transition 13a and shortens the viewing window 11a with respect to the total length of the main part 13, into which an overlapping section 18a of the grip piece 18, which is less thick than the grip piece 18, is inserted and thus the Covering 13a additionally holds the rubber ring 55.

The support section 16, in its transition away from the transition 13a, has a recess 16a in front of it, into which an overlapping section 18b having a greater thickness than the grip piece 18 is inserted.

The individual parts of the fountain pen are made of a suitable plastic with the exception of the metallic nib. In this case, a fully transparent or at least translucent plastic is preferably selected for the visible part, while the other parts are preferably made from introduced plastic material.

Claims (11)

1. Piston filling device for a writing implement, especially for a fountain pen which comprises a shank (15) with a rotatable bottom portion (26) for actuating the piston filling device, a gripping section (18) with an accommodation space (21) for a writing point, in particular a nib (22) and with an ink conducting device (20) and a viewing portion (14) disposed between the shank (15) and the gripping section (18) having a viewing window (11a) located b etween the shank (15) and the gripping section (18) and with a reservoir space (48) communicating with the ink conducting device (20), in which the end of the viewing portion (11) located oppositely to the writing point of the viewing portion (11) is engaged over in the mode of a supporting section (14) by the shank (15) and the end of the viewing portion (11) facing the writing point communicates with the gripping section (18),
   characterized in that
   the piston filling device comprises a one-piece viewing portion (11) provided with the reservoir space (48) extending as far as the gripping section (18) and possessing an ink-carrying space of one-piece construction with the viewing window or area (11a) and with a first supporting section (14) for the shank (15) and with a second supporting section (16) for the gripping section (18) having a space (19) constructed in the interior of the second supporting section (16) for accommodating the ink conducting device (20) and for the accommodation (21) of the nib so that the entire ink conducting system is disposed within the viewing portion (11) forming the second supporting section (16) for the gripping section (18).
2. Piston filling device according to Claim 1,
   characterized in that
   the sleeve-like gripping section (18) can be slipped or secured on to the second supporting section (16) of the viewing portion (11) on the outside or retained by being bonded on to the same.
3. Piston filling device according to Claim 2,
   characterized in that,
   within the area of the step-like transitional region (13a) between a main portion (13) comprising the viewing window (11a) and the second supporting section (16) of the viewing portion (11) bearing the gripping section (18), a rubber ring (55) is disposed on the outside in the form of a seal.
4. Piston filling device according to any of Claims 1 to 3,
   characterized in that
   the shank (15) is slidable or screwable upon the first supporting section (14) of the viewing portion (11) and retained on the same.
5. Piston filling device according to any of Claims 1 to 4,
   characterized in that
   the rotatable bottom portion (26) is plugged with an insertion section (28) into the shank (15) and retained there so as to be rotatable for the actuation of the piston filling device.
6. Piston filling device according to any of Claims 1 to 5,
   characterized in that
   the rotatable bottom portion (26) is disposed on the cylindrical piece-like shank (15) on the open free end (25) of the same and is constructed in the form of a cylindrical member and possesses the narrower insertion section (28) which can be plugged into the shank interior (27) and a broader rotatable section (29) that can be made to bear, with a radial surface (30), against a radial terminal surface area (31) of the shank.
7. Piston filling device according to Claim 6,
   characterized in that
   an annular bead (33) is formed on a free end (32) of the insertion section (28), with the aid of which a step-like, radially circumferential shoulder (34) in the shank interior (27) can be gripped from behind in a snap-locking fashion, in which the rotatable bottom portion (26), in relation to the shank (15), is mounted so as to be rotatable, but axially fixated.
8. Piston filling device according to Claim 7,
   characterized in that
   the plugging section (28) is provided with at least one longitudinal slot (38) proceeding in the longitudinal direction of the insertion section.
9. Piston filling device according to either Claim 7 or 8,
   characterized in that,
   into the shank (15), a cylindrical nut sleeve (39) can be inserted which, on its inner wall area (40), possesses a female thread (41) and which is insertable with at least one plug-in section (42) into the insertion section (28) of the rotatable bottom portion (26), in which the external diameter (DA1) of the plug-in section (42) corresponds to the internal diameter (DI1) of the insertion section (28).
10. Piston filling device according to any of Claims 1 to 9,
    characterized in that,
    on one end (11b) of the viewing portion (11), a serration (51) is provided, into which a serration (50) of a rotation-preventing member (49) engages, the rotation-preventing member (49) being constructed in the form of a cylindrical sleeve, in which one end facing away from the rotatable bottom portion, supports a spindle (44) carrying a piston (43) in such a way as to be axially, but non-rotatably, displaceable.
11. Piston filling device according to any of Claims 1 to 10,
    characterized in that,
    on the free end of the plug-in section (42a) of the nut sleeve (39), tooth-like extensions (54) are disposed which engage into a corresponding toothed section (53) in the interior (43) of the rotatable bottom portion (26) for producing a rotation-proof connection between the rotatable bottom portion (26) and the nut sleeve (39).

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