GB2291626A

GB2291626A - A pen holder

Info

Publication number: GB2291626A
Application number: GB9415276A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Clifford Jones
Original assignee: Ford Motor Co
Current assignee: Ford Motor Co
Priority date: 1994-07-23
Filing date: 1994-07-23
Publication date: 1996-01-31
Also published as: EP0694419B1; US5823494A; DE69501440D1; DE69501440T2; EP0694419A1; GB9415276D0

Description

- 1 A PEN HOLDER 2291626 This invention relates to a pen holder for

holding a pen in a secure position.

It is often desirable to be able to provide a holder for a pen, into which the pen can be easily inserted and yet whiqh holds the pen secure and ready f or use. This requirement exists for example in motor vehicles, but also 10 in other environments.

It is desirable that a pen holder should be easy to use, ie it should be easy to insert the pen into the holder and easy to remove the pen f rom the holder, and the holder should also be able to accommodate pens of varying sizes.

In this specification the term "pen,, is used to refer to writing implements generally, and includes in particular pencils and other elongate writing implements.

According to the invention, there is provided a pen holder comprising a base plate, a first reaction member having a reaction surface facing towards and spaced from the base plate, and a second reaction member with a reaction surface spaced from and facing away from the base plate, wherein the spacings of the reaction surfaces from the base plate and the distance between the react-ion surfaces in a direction generally parallel t-o the base plate are such that a uen can be wedged in a position where it: is in conta--t with the base plate and cIf the reaction surfaces, with the point of contact wit-h t-he firs-- con-a-- W4 reac---ion sur-face between th--- point-s c-;:

the or-her reaction sur-4aces.

s to s,,)a- in th- - al eg 'above' or 'height' refer to the situation where the base plate is horizontal. The invention is not however limited to an arrangement where the base plate is horizontal, and terms in the specification should be construed accordingly.

The firs.t. reaction surface is preferably formed by the underside of a bridge upstanding from the base plate, and the-second reaction surface is preferably formed by the 10 top of a wall which lies above the base plate.

When a pen is held in the holder, the pen body is stressed slightly in bending, and limbs of the bridge which stand up from the base plate are stressed in tension.- Although neither of these stresses is sufficient to noticeably distort either the pen or the bridge, the stresses are suffficient to ensure that friction produced between the pen and the various surfaces is suff icient to hold the pen firnnly in place.

The base piat-e may be flat or, as is preferred, may be dished to g-uide the tip oil the pen into the br idge. Where the base plate is dished, the wall upper surface may be fornmed by an edze of the dished region.

The pen holder may be moulded in one pie-ce from plastics mat-erial.

The distance ber-ween the and the wall 3 0 u:) ce -- su rf a c e- - S r e-f-.2 r a b 1v b e t w e e n 3 G a =. 7 0 m i l' 1 -i m e r_ r e s m o s t c r e f e r a a nc e t r e s 01 1 wall upper surface above the base plate is preferably 5 to 10 millimetres, most preferably 7 to 9 millimetres.

The pen holder can be mounted in substantially any orientation. To insert the pen in the holder is a single operation requiring only that the pen be pushed in in one direction.

The_ invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in 10 which- Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view through a first embodiment of the invention; is Figure 2 is cross-sectional view through a second embodiment of the invention; and Fic is a perspective vJ- lure 3 ---w of the second embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 shows a pen holder on a flat-- base plate 10 with a bridge 12 upstanding from the baseplate, and a raised wall 14. A pen 16 is held in this pen holder bY inserting the tip 18 of the pen under the bridge 12 until -he pen becomes wedged with a point near the tip 18 jammed against: the base plate, with an intermediate part jammed under the bridge 12 and with a part nearer the top end of the pen jammed aa4nsti the upper sur-face oil the wall 1.11.

It has been found that wit---h a relati4-7e!y low ir.sert-ien 4 n, o f force, an hold T the pen is ac.n.-J,-,jed keeps t_he pen secure, iDre-,-ens it: rat---"-Jncr and yet:

eas-, from the holder. In i:-,-s respect:

be noe,- ti-.ai the t:)iD end of: t-he pen is held abo-.,t-- - 4 surface 12 where it is easy to grip it to withdraw the pen from the holder.

Figure 2 shows an alternative embodiment where the tip 18 of the pen is located in a recess 20 of the baseplate.

By recessing that part of the baseplate where the pen is to lie, the tip of the pen is protected, the height of the bridge is reduced and the wall upper surface 14 can be formed by an edge of the recess.

The pen holder described above differs from many existing pen holders in that the pen body is stressed when held in the holder, and it is this stress which ensures that sufficient friction exists between the three pcints where the pen makes contact with the holder, to hold the pen in place.

G394 -:2-

Claims

Claims:

1. A pen holder comprising a base plate, a first reaction member having a reaction surface facing towards and spaced from the base plate, and a second reaction member with a reaction surface spaced from and facing away from the base plate, wherein the spacings of the reaction surfaces from the base plate and the distance between the reagtion surfaces in a direction generally parallel to the base plate are such that a pen can be wedged in a position where it is in contact with the base plate and both of the reaction surfaces, with the point of contact with the first reaction surface lying between the points of contact with the other reaction surfaces.

2. A pen holder as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the first reaction surface is formed by the underside of a bridge upstanding from the base plate.

3. A pen holder as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the second reaction surface is formed by the top of a wall which lies above the base plate.

4. A pen holder as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the base plate is flat.

5. A pen holder as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the base plate is dished to guide the tip of the pen into the bridTe.

6. A pen holder as claimed in Claim 5,,;herein the second react--in surface is form.ed by a,- ed,Te oil- the dished reSTion.

7. A P;-:--n holder as claimed in an,., oreced..ncT clairpt, wherein the base plate and the two reaction surfaces are moulded in one piece from plastics material.

A

8. A pen holder as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the longitudinal distance between the first reaction surface and the second reaction surface is between 30 and 70 millimetres.

9. - A pen holder as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the longitudinal distance between the first reaction surface and the second reaction surface is between 35 and 55 millimetres.

10. A pen holder as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the spacing between the base plar-e and the first reaction surface is in the range 10 to 20 millimetres.

11. A pen holder as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the spacing between the base plate and the first reaction surface is in the range 13 to 18 millimetres.

12. A pen holder as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the height of the second reaction surfrace above the base olate is 5 to 10 mill-4meres.

13. A per, holder as claimed in any preceding claim, ' t cf: the second react:4or. surface above wherein the heigh the base claze is 7 to 9 millimet-res.

1 _. 1 oen as herein describe,-', with reference ?-o ace.rnnanyinT