JP2021133532A - Writing instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a writing instrument including a retroreflective material to be further improved in a visual effect by causing an interference color different according to an incident angle of light to be added to a retroreflective light.SOLUTION: The writing instrument 1 includes a writing instrument body 11 and a retroreflective material 21 arranged at least at a part of an exterior part in the writing instrument body. The retroreflective material 21 includes a plurality of transparent fine spheres 24 and a light-transmissive interference layer 25 arranged on back surfaces of the transparent fine spheres. The light-transmissive interference layers are provided with gradation in an optical layer thickness in a range of 100 to 600 nm at a part through which incident light passes so as to cause an interference color of a visible light wavelength different according to an incident angle of the light.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an improvement of a writing instrument in which at least a part of the writing instrument body is provided with a retroreflective material.

With the diversification of the types of writing instruments, for example, a decorative ring can be attached to a part of the shaft tube to emphasize the sense of quality, and a famous character can be attached to a part of the cap or clip to make it fashionable or a collection. Writing utensils such as placing emphasis are provided.
Such high-class designs and eye-catching decorations will occupy a large weight in customers' choice of writing tools at stores, which will differentiate the products. It will be an important issue in planning.

Patent Document 1 discloses a writing instrument aiming at a decorative effect by light reflection by, for example, applying a retroreflective material to the side surface of a barrel as a part of applying a decorative means to a part of the exterior of the writing instrument as described above. Has been done.
According to the writing tool disclosed in Patent Document 1, a prism-type retroreflective surface is integrally provided on the barrel. According to this, by applying the retroreflective surface to the cavity of the mold in advance, the prism type retroreflective surface can be integrally formed on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft cylinder at the time of injection molding of the shaft cylinder. Therefore, it is stated that a writing instrument having a retroreflective surface can be provided at low cost without increasing the number of parts of the writing instrument.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-232479

By the way, according to the writing tool disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, although the prism type retroreflective surface is provided on the side surface of the barrel, the reflected light obtained by this prism type retroreflective surface is the reflected light of only a single color. It becomes.
Therefore, according to the writing tool disclosed in Patent Document 1, although a certain effect of enhancing the visibility by the reflected light can be obtained under the condition of retroreflective light as in the case of direct light irradiation, this is monotonous. Since it is reflected light, the appeal effect is insufficient, and it must be said that the visual effect is not enough.

Therefore, the main problem to be solved by the present invention is that, under the condition of retroreflective light, an interference color having a visible light wavelength that differs depending on the incident angle of light is added to the retroreflective light, thereby producing a visual effect. The point is to provide a writing tool decorated with a retroreflective material capable of obtaining reflected light with further improved light.

The writing tool according to the present invention made to solve the above-mentioned problems is composed of a writing tool main body and a retroreflective material arranged at least a part of an exterior portion of the writing tool main body, and the retroreflective material is composed of a retroreflective material. It has a plurality of transparent microspheres and a light-transmitting interference layer arranged on the back side of the transparent microspheres, and the light-transmitting interference layer produces interference colors having different visible light wavelengths depending on the incident angle of light. As described above, the optical layer thickness of the portion through which the incident light passes is characterized by having a gradation in the range of 100 to 600 nm.

In this case, at least one metal compound selected from the group consisting of zinc sulfide, titanium dioxide, indium oxide, tin oxide, zirconium dioxide and magnesium oxide is preferably used for the interference layer of the retroreflective material.

According to the writing instrument according to the present invention, the retroreflective material arranged on the writing instrument main body is composed of a plurality of transparent microspheres and a light-transmitting interference layer arranged in contact with the back surface side thereof. Then, depending on the angle of incidence of light on the transparent microspheres, the optical layer thickness of the interference layer is made different, and a gradation is added to the interference layer.

As a result, the interference color differs depending on the incident angle of the light, for example, an iridescent interference color is generated, and this iridescent interference color is added to the retroreflected light by the transparent microspheres to further improve the visual effect. The reflected light can be obtained.
Therefore, by providing the retroreflective material having the above-mentioned optical characteristics, it is possible to provide a writing tool that can be further differentiated in stores and the like.

The appearance configuration of the writing instrument according to the present invention is shown, (A) is a perspective view, and (B) is a front view. It is an enlarged cross-sectional view which showed an example of the retroreflective material arranged in a part of the writing instrument shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram explaining one preferable form and action of an interference layer in a retroreflective material. It is an enlarged view of the main part which showed the example which attached the retroreflective material to the writing instrument main body. It is an enlarged view of the main part which showed another example of attaching a retroreflective material to a writing instrument body.

The writing tool according to the present invention will be described based on the embodiment shown in the figure.
FIG. 1 shows an external configuration for a knock-type ballpoint pen as a writing instrument. The writing instrument 1 is composed of a writing instrument main body 11 and a retroreflective material 21 attached to at least a part of the exterior portion of the writing instrument main body. It is composed.

In the writing tool main body 11, a mouth tip portion 13 is attached to the front end portion of the shaft cylinder 12, and a knock operation rod 14 is arranged at the rear end portion of the shaft cylinder 12 so as to be movable in the axial direction. Further, a clip 15 is attached along the side surface of the shaft cylinder 12 on the rear end side. In the writing tool main body 11, the shaft cylinder 12, the mouth tip portion is 13, the knock operation rod 14 and the clip 15 are made of resin material. Is molded by.

By knocking the knock operation rod 14 arranged at the rear end of the barrel 12, the tip of the ballpoint pen refill housed in the barrel 12, that is, the ballpoint pen tip (not shown) is moved to the tip of the mouth 13. It protrudes from the tip opening 13a and is ready for writing. It is well known that by knocking the knock operation rod 14 again in this state, the ballpoint pen refill retracts in the barrel 12 and the ballpoint pen tip is housed in the tip opening 13a.

In the writing tool 1 shown in this example, a retroreflective material 21 is attached to the front surface of the clip 15 in the writing tool main body 11 along the longitudinal direction of the clip 15.
The retroreflective material 21 uses a plurality of transparent microspheres (so-called glass beads) as a light reflector, and its basic configuration is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, the retroreflective material 21 includes a base layer 22, a coating layer 23, glass beads (transparent microspheres) 24, an interference layer 25, a pattern forming layer 26, and an adhesive resin layer (adhesive layer) 27 in this order from above. It is formed by being laminated.
Then, the retroreflective material 21 is adhered to the base material 28 such as a film by utilizing the adhesive resin layer (adhesive layer) 27.

The base layer 22 is preferably made of a resin film or paper, which is required when the retroreflective material 21 is laminated and assembled and when the retroreflective material 21 is stored as a single item, and is reflexive. When the reflective material 21 is mounted on the writing tool main body 11, both the base layer 22 and the lower coating layer 23 are separated from the retroreflective material 21.
As a result, the retroreflective material 21 is an open type (with the glass beads 24 exposed) as shown on the left side of FIG. The coating layer 23 is a colorless and transparent resin layer such as polyethylene.

Glass beads (transparent microspheres) 24 are arranged below the coating layer 23, and glass beads 24 having a refractive index of around 1.9 are selected, and those having a sphere diameter in the range of 38 to 85 μm are selected. preferable. The refraction focal position of the glass beads 24 coincides with the surface of the lower hemisphere of the glass beads 24.
The interference layer 25 is composed of a light-transmitting metal compound whose lower surface of the glass beads 24 is vapor-deposited and coated. As this metal compound, for example, zinc sulfide (ZnS), which has a higher refractive index than the glass beads 24, can be preferably used.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the interference layer 25 is formed in a layer on the lower side of the glass beads 24 arranged in a plane along the glass beads, and the interference layer 25 is preferably shown in FIG. As described above, it is desirable that the glass beads 24 and the pattern forming layer 26 are arranged with a gradation in the optical layer thickness range of 100 to 600 nm.

According to this, under the condition of retroreflective, the optical layer thickness in the interference layer 25 exerts an action different depending on the angle of incidence of light on the glass beads 24, and iridescent reflected light which is important for improving visibility is produced. It has been found that it can be obtained.
That is, when the incident angle of the light is changed, the color of the reflected light from the glass beads 24 changes from orange to red, reddish purple, purple, bluish purple, blue, bluish green, green, yellowish green, and yellow, for example. You can observe how it changes to rainbow colors.

From the above results, in this embodiment, it is preferable to select the optical layer thickness of the interference layer 25 in the range of 100 nm to 600 nm, and according to the retroreflective material 21 provided with such an interference layer 25. , Appearance color, reflected light color and reflection performance can be obtained in a well-balanced manner at an extremely high level.

In order to give a gradation to the interference layer 25 as shown in FIG. 3, glass beads 24 are arranged along the surface of the coating layer 23 shown in FIG. 2, and ZnS is applied to the glass beads 24 held by the coating layer 23. A thin film is deposited. At this time, since the hemispherical portion of the glass beads 24 has irregularities on the surface, a gradation occurs in the thickness of the ZnS thin film. That is, a change in thickness to thinness occurs from the apex of the glass bead 24 toward another portion.
As a result, an interference layer 25 made of a crescent-shaped ZnS thin film can be formed along the glass beads 24 as shown in FIG.

Here, in FIG. 3, the white arrow toward the glass bead 24 and the white arrow outward from the glass bead 24 indicate the incident light and the reflected light of the light to the glass bead 24.
As shown in FIG. 3, since the interference layer 25 has a change in layer thickness, the incident angles of light on the glass beads 24 under the condition of retroreflection are shown on the left side, the central part, and the right side. When the temperature is changed to 90 degrees, 60 degrees, and 30 degrees in order, the incident light is collected and reflected (interfered) by the interference layer portions 25a, 25b, and 25c. Changes (T90>T60> T30).

Therefore, since the wavelength of the light emphasized (attenuated) by the interference action of light changes remarkably, a so-called iridescent interference color in which the interference color differs depending on the incident angle can be clearly obtained.
Examples of the metal compound used for the interference layer 25 having a refractive index higher than that of the glass beads 24 include titanium dioxide, indium oxide, tin oxide, zirconium dioxide, magnesium oxide, and the like, in addition to zinc sulfide. Can be done.

Returning to FIG. 2, the pattern forming layer 26 is arranged below the interference layer 25. As an example, the transparent resin layer (transparent layer) 26a, the reflective colored resin layer 26b, and the like are arranged in the pattern forming layer 26. The colored resin layer 26c and the like are arranged in a pattern along the surface direction. These can be visually recognized as patterned patterns or patterns under the condition of diffused light in which light is reflected and scattered as in a normal environment.
In this embodiment, the transparent resin layer 26a, the reflective colored resin layer 26b, and the colored resin layer 26c are provided, but the entire pattern forming layer 26 is covered with the transparent resin layer 26a, the reflective colored resin layer 26b, and the colored resin layer. Needless to say, any of 26c may be used.

An adhesive resin layer 27 is arranged below the pattern forming layer 26, and the adhesive resin layer 27 is a layer for adhering the retroreflective material 21 to the base material 28. When the retroreflective material 21 is adhered to the writing tool main body 11, the base material 28 is peeled off and used.

In order to attach the retroreflective material 21 to the clip 15 of the writing tool main body 11 as shown in FIG. 1, the position of the retroreflective material 21 on the front surface of the clip 15 is adjusted from the thickness of the retroreflective material 21. It is desirable that recesses are formed in advance by deep engraving.
Then, the retroreflective material 21 is accommodated along the recess, and the retroreflective material 21 is covered with a transparent resin material (not shown) to clip the retroreflective material 21 as shown in FIG. It can be attached to 15.

The writing tool according to the present invention may preferably adopt a configuration in which the retroreflective material 21 is attached to the exterior portion of, for example, the barrel 12 other than the clip shown in the figure.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main part showing an example thereof, reference numeral 12 shown in FIG. 4 indicates a part of the shaft cylinder, and a retroreflective material is provided at a desired position on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft cylinder 12. 21 is attached using the adhesive resin layer 27. The retroreflective material 21 is covered with an outer cylinder 31 formed of a transparent material. As the outer cylinder (cover member) 31, a thin-walled polyethylene tube or the like having flexibility can be preferably used.
Even in this case as well, it is desirable to form a recess corresponding to the thickness of the retroreflective material 21 in advance at a predetermined position of the shaft cylinder 12 to which the retroreflective material 21 is attached.

Further, the example shown in FIG. 5 also shows another example in which the retroreflective material 21 is attached to a part of the barrel 12. In this example, the retroreflective material 21 is pre-mounted on the inner surface of the outer cylinder (cover member) 31 formed of the transparent material. Then, by attaching the outer cylinder 31 along the peripheral side surface of the shaft cylinder 12, the retroreflective material 21 can be similarly arranged toward the outside of the shaft cylinder 12.

In this case, it is necessary to apply an adhesive or the like to the surface of the retroreflective material 21, that is, the arrangement side of the glass beads 24, and to bond the retroreflective material 21 to the inner surface of the outer cylinder 31 in advance. Become.
According to the example shown in FIG. 5, by using a thin polyethylene tube or the like as the outer cylinder (cover member) 31, the outer cylinder 31 is flexibly deformed due to its flexibility. As a result, the retroreflective material 21 can be arranged in close contact with the barrel 12.

When the retroreflective material 21 is attached to the clip 15 or a part of the barrel 12, the glass beads 24 of the retroreflective material 21 are used by using an outer cylinder such as a transparent resin material or a polyethylene tube as described above. It is preferable to cover the side, which can prevent the glass beads 24 from falling off during long-term use of the writing instrument.

According to the writing tool according to the present invention described above, a retroreflective material having a plurality of transparent microspheres (glass beads) and a light-transmitting interfering layer arranged in contact with the back surface side thereof is arranged. Under the condition of retroreflective, iridescent interference color is added to the retroreflective light by the transparent microspheres, and it is possible to obtain the reflected light that is more gorgeous and has improved visual effect.
Therefore, according to the writing tool according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain the action and effect described in the above-mentioned effect column of the invention, such as being able to provide a writing tool that can be further differentiated in stores and the like.

In the embodiment described above, an example in which the present invention is applied to a ballpoint pen as a writing instrument is shown. However, in addition to the above-mentioned ballpoint pen, the present invention includes, for example, a marking pen, a mechanical pencil, a fountain pen, and further thermal discoloration. It can also be used in a writing instrument equipped with an erasing tool capable of erasing a writing line written with ink or the like, and the same effect can be obtained.

1 Writing tool 11 Writing tool body 12 Shaft cylinder 13 Mouth tip 13a Tip opening 14 Knock operation rod 15 Clip 21 Retroreflective material 22 Foundation layer 23 Coating layer 24 Transparent microspheres (glass beads)
25 Interference layer 26 Design forming layer 27 Adhesive resin layer 28 Base material 31 Outer cylinder (cover member)

Claims (2)

It is composed of a writing tool main body and a retroreflective material arranged at least a part of the exterior portion of the writing tool main body.
The retroreflective material has a plurality of transparent microspheres and a light-transmitting interference layer arranged on the back surface side of the transparent microspheres.
The light-transmitting interference layer has a gradation in the range of 100 to 600 nm in the optical layer thickness of the portion through which the incident light passes so as to generate an interference color having a visible light wavelength that differs depending on the incident angle of the light. A writing tool characterized by that. The writing tool according to claim 1, wherein the interference layer is made of at least one metal compound selected from the group consisting of zinc sulfide, titanium dioxide, indium oxide, tin oxide, zirconium dioxide and magnesium oxide.

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