JP6665005B2 - Grip member - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a grip member that surrounds a barrel of a writing instrument.

  2. Description of the Related Art A writing instrument (for example, Japanese Patent No. 4043305 (Patent Document 1)) in which an outer surface of a shaft cylinder is surrounded by a grip member having elasticity such as rubber has been known. The grip member absorbs a force applied to the user's finger by its elasticity when the writing instrument user grips the writing instrument, thereby reducing fatigue, and furthermore, a large frictional force between the shaft cylinder and the finger. To prevent the user's finger from undesirably slipping on the barrel. As a result, the grip and writing comfort of the writing instrument are improved.

  By the way, what degree of elasticity of the grip member makes the user feel that the writing instrument having the grip member is comfortable to grip is different depending on the preference of the user. That is, some users feel that a softer grip member gives a better grip, and others feel that a harder grip member gives a better grip. For this reason, it has been desired to develop a grip member that feels comfortable for many users, but it has been difficult to realize such a grip member.

Japanese Patent No. 4043305

  As a result of intensive studies, the present inventor has found that the aforementioned problem can be solved by providing the grip member with a region that provides a relatively soft grip and a region that provides a relatively hard grip. .

  The present invention is based on the above findings. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a grip member that feels comfortable to be gripped by many users.

The grip member of the present invention has a tubular shape surrounding a shaft barrel of a writing instrument,
A plurality of blocks each having a region with a large thickness and a region with a small thickness are formed on the outer surface and are surrounded on all sides by grooves.

  According to the present invention, a region having a large thickness is greatly deformed, and a region having a small thickness is slightly deformed. Specifically, in an area where the thickness is large, the entire block is largely compressed and deformed due to the thickness and the presence of the four-sided grooves, whereas in an area where the thickness is small, the block is small and is compressed and deformed. This provides a soft grip to the user in areas with a large wall thickness, and provides a firm grip to the user in a region with a small wall thickness, so that a grip that many users feel comfortable to grip is provided. A member can be provided.

  In addition, since the block is surrounded on all sides by the grooves, it is possible to prevent the user's finger from slipping in the circumferential direction of the grip member by being caught in the grooves. Further, by the user's finger being caught in the groove, undesired sliding in the axial direction of the grip member can be suppressed.

  Preferably, the block has a large thickness in a region where the thickness is large, and has a small thickness in a region where the thickness is small. In this case, since the compressive deformation of the block of the grip member is facilitated particularly in a region where the wall thickness is large, a softer gripping feeling can be provided in the region.

Preferably, the grip member has an inner region having a larger thickness and an inner region having a smaller thickness in an inner region where no groove is formed,
The region where the thickness is large corresponds to an inner region where the thickness is large,
The region where the thickness is small corresponds to the inner region where the thickness is small.

  In this case, particularly in a region where the wall thickness is large, the balance between the compression deformation and the bending deformation is improved, and it is possible to provide a grip member that feels more comfortable for many users to grip.

  According to the present invention, a region having a large wall thickness is largely deformed, and a region having a small wall thickness is slightly deformed, so that a soft grip feeling is provided to a user in a region having a large wall thickness, and a region having a small wall thickness is provided. In this case, the user is provided with a hard grip feeling, so that it is possible to provide a grip member that many users feel is comfortable.

1 is a schematic plan view illustrating a writing instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1B is a schematic side view showing the writing instrument of FIG. 1A, and is a schematic side view showing a state in which the writing portion of the writing body is extended from the tip of the barrel. 1B is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing the writing instrument of FIG. 1A. FIG. 1B is a partial schematic perspective view showing a state where the front shaft and the grip member of the writing instrument of FIG. 1A are assembled. FIG. 1B is a schematic perspective view showing a front shaft of the writing instrument of FIG. 1A. FIG. 4 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a front shaft and a grip member of FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a front shaft and a grip member of FIG. 3. FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII of FIG. 1A, in which a cursive body in the barrel is omitted. FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII of FIG. FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IX-IX of FIG.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1A is a schematic plan view showing a writing instrument 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a schematic side view showing the writing instrument 100 of FIG. It is a schematic side view which shows the state extended from the 10 front-end | tip. FIG. 2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing the writing instrument 100 of FIG. 1A.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 2, a writing instrument 100 according to the present embodiment includes a front cylinder 20 having a front shaft 20 and a rear shaft 30 connected to the front shaft 20 by, for example, riding over. It has a grip member 40 surrounding the outer surface of 20 in the circumferential direction, and a writing body 50 housed in the shaft cylinder 10 so as to be able to protrude and retract. As an example, the front shaft 20 and the rear shaft 30 are made of resin, and the grip member 40 is made of rubber. In the illustrated example, the writing implement 100 is a ballpoint pen.

  The shaft cylinder 10 (the front shaft 20) has a first opening 21 formed at the front end thereof so that the writing portion 51 of the writing body 50 can protrude. Further, the barrel 10 (the front shaft 20) has a first engagement portion 22 on the inner surface of the front region. The writing body 50 has a second engaging portion 52 on the outer surface of the front shaft 20 behind (to the right in FIG. 2) the first engaging portion 22. A coil spring 60 is arranged in a compressed state between the first and second engaging portions 22 and 52. The coil spring 60 biases the writing body 50 rearward in the axial direction of the barrel 10 (to the right in FIGS. 1A and 2). The rear end 50e of the writing body 50 is in contact with the rotating cam 23 provided in the rear area in the rear shaft 30 to restrict the axial cylinder 10 from moving relatively rearward in the axial direction. The compressed state is maintained.

  The knock member 70 is a member for projecting the writing body 50 from the first opening 21 of the front shaft 20 against the urging force of the coil spring 60. The knock member 70 moves the writing body 50 in the axial direction forward of the barrel 10 (to the left in FIGS. 1A and 2) so that the writing portion 51 of the writing body 50 protrudes outward from the first opening 21. Between the protruding position (see FIG. 1B) corresponding to the pressed state and the immersion position (see FIG. 1A) corresponding to the state where the writing unit 51 of the writing body 50 is immersed in the front shaft 20. I have. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the rear end 70 e of the knock member 70 protrudes outward from the second opening 31 at the rear end of the rear shaft 30 at both the protruding position and the retracted position.

  Note that the writing implement 100 of the present embodiment has a rotating cam 23 for switching the appearance and retraction of the writing core 51 of the writing body 50 and a cam groove (not shown) engaged with the rotating cam 23 in the barrel 10. A cam mechanism is provided. As will be described in detail later, when the knocking member 70 is pressed (knocked) in a state where the writing portion 51 of the writing body 50 is immersed in the front shaft 20 (see FIG. 1A), the rotating cam 23 is inserted into the cam groove. The writing portion 51 of the writing body 50 slides out from the first opening 21 of the front shaft 20 to the outside, and the rotating cam 23 is rotated by the action of the cam mechanism, whereby the shaft cylinder 10 is rotated. The relative movement of the writing body 50 to the rear in the axial direction is prohibited, and this protruding state is maintained even after the pressing operation is completed. When the knock member 70 is pressed again (knock operation) in this protruding state, the relative movement of the writing body 50 in the axial direction rearward of the barrel 10 is allowed by the action of the cam mechanism, and the urging force of the coil spring 60 is applied. Thereby, the writing body 50 and the knocking member 70 are pushed back in the axial direction rearward, and the initial state is restored.

  Next, FIG. 3 is a partial schematic perspective view showing a state where the front shaft 20 and the grip member 40 of the writing instrument 100 of FIG. 1A are assembled. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing the front shaft 20 of the writing instrument 100 of FIG. 1A, FIG. 5 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing the front shaft 20 and the grip member 40 of FIG. 3, and FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a front shaft 20 and a grip member 40 of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the outer surface of the front shaft 20 of the writing instrument 100 according to the present embodiment is surrounded by a grip member 40. The grip member 40 can be manufactured together with the front shaft 20 by, for example, two-color molding. On the outer surface of the grip member 40, one of sixteen axially extending grooves 41 extending at equal intervals in the axial direction and the other 18 of grooves 42 extending at equal intervals in the orthogonal direction from one of the grooves are formed respectively. I have. That is, the outer surface of the grip member 40 of the present embodiment is divided into a plurality of rectangular regions (blocks 40b) surrounded on one side by one groove 41 and the other groove 42.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the front shaft 20 of the present embodiment has a front end region 24 which is a region not surrounded by the grip member 40, and a covering region 25 surrounded by the grip member 40. ing. The front end region 24 has an annular cross section and is tapered forward (to the lower left in FIG. 4). The outer diameter of the rear end of the front end region 24 is larger than the outer diameter of the front end of the covering region 25 by the thickness of the grip member 40, and when the covering region 25 is surrounded by the grip member 40, the front end region No step is formed between the rear end of the grip 24 and the front end of the grip member 40.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the outer surface of the covering region 25 has a chamfer 26. The chamfered portion 26 is an oval region formed by cutting the outer surface of the cylindrical covering region 25. Although only two chamfers 26 are shown in FIG. 4, actually, the chamfers 26 are provided at three positions in the circumferential direction of the front shaft 20 at equal intervals. In FIG. 5, the cross section of the covering region 25 of the front shaft 20 is visible, but the chamfered portion 26 does not appear in the cross section 25a of the upper portion, and the thickness of the covering region 25 is constant in the axial direction. . On the other hand, a chamfered portion 26 appears on the cross section 25b of the lower portion, and the thickness of the front shaft 20 varies in the axial direction (decreases in the chamfered portion 26).

  As shown in FIG. 6, the inner surface of the front shaft 20 has a substantially circular cross section. The outer surface of the grip member 40 has a substantially circular cross section. Here, the term “substantially circular” means that the contour of the inner surface is circular when irregularities existing on the inner surface of the front shaft 20 are neglected, or one groove 41 formed on the outer surface of the grip member 40. This means that the outline (ridge) of each block 40b ignoring the concave portion due to the other groove 42 is circular. As shown in FIG. 6, the inner surface of the grip member 40 and the outer surface of the covering region 25 of the front shaft 20, particularly, the chamfered portions 26 provided on the inner surface of the grip member 40 and the covering region 25 come into contact without any gap. I have.

  That is, at the portion corresponding to the chamfered portion 26, the thickness of the grip member 40 varies. Further, the thickness of the covering region 25 of the front shaft 20 varies along the circumferential direction due to the presence of the chamfered portion 26. The region 43 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is large surrounds the region where the thickness of the front shaft 20 is small, that is, the outer surface of the chamfered portion 26, and the region 44 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is small is Surrounds the outer surface of the thick region 27.

  Here, the configurations of the front shaft 20 and the grip member 40 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII of FIG. 1A, FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII of FIG. 1A, and FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX of FIG. 1A. 7 to 9, illustration of the writing body 50 in the front shaft 20 is omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, at the position of the line VII-VII and the position of the line VIII-VIII in FIG. 1A, the chamfered portion 26 exists in the covering region 25 of the front shaft 20, and the thickness of the front shaft 20 is changed. The chamfered portion 26, which is a region having a small thickness, and the region 27 having a large thickness of the front shaft 20 are alternately present at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. As described above, the thick region 43 of the grip member 40 surrounds the outer surface of the chamfer 26, and the thin region 44 of the grip member 40 is the outer surface of the thick region 27 of the front shaft 20. Surrounds.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the thickness of the block 40b (rectangular area) formed on the outer surface of the grip member 40 varies. Specifically, in the block 40b, the thickness of the block 40b is large (thickness d1) in the region 43 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is large, and the thickness of the block 40b is small in the region 44 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is small. Small (thickness d2). Such a variation in the thickness of the block 40b is particularly remarkable in FIG. A line VIII-VIII in FIG. 1A corresponding to FIG. 8 corresponds to a position where the thickness of the chamfered portion 26 is the largest and the width in the circumferential direction is the largest. For this reason, the chamfered portion 26 in FIG. 8 has the smallest thickness of the front shaft 20, and the grip member 40 surrounding the outer surface of the chamfered portion 26 has the largest thickness. As shown in FIG. 8, in the region 43 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is large, the maximum thickness of the block 40b is d1 '(> d1). On the other hand, in the region 44 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is small in FIG. 8, the maximum thickness of the block 40b is d2, which is almost the same as that in FIG.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the grip member 40 includes an outer region 45 in which one groove 41 extending in the axial direction and the other groove 42 extending in the orthogonal direction from the one groove 41 are formed. An inner region 46 (a region radially inward of the outer region 45) in which the one groove 41 and the other groove 42 are not formed. The inner region 46 has an inner region 46a having a large thickness and an inner region 46b having a small thickness. The thick region 43 of the grip member 40 corresponds to the thick inner region 46a, and the thin region 44 of the grip member 40 corresponds to the thin inner region 46a. are doing. Here, “corresponding” means that they are present at substantially the same position in the circumferential direction of the grip member 40.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9, in a region behind the chamfered portion 26 in the covering region 25 of the front shaft 20, the thickness of the front shaft 20 is constant, and the thickness of the grip member 40 is also constant. . Further, the thickness of the block 40b is also constant.

  Next, the operation of the writing instrument 100 of the present invention will be described.

  First, the knock member 70 is pressed (knocked) on the barrel 10 by the user. Accordingly, the writing body 50 relatively moves axially forward of the barrel 10 while compressing the coil spring 60, and the writing portion 51 of the writing body 50 is exposed outward from the opening 21 at the front end of the front shaft 20. At the time of this relative movement, the writing body 50 is not allowed to move relatively backward in the axial direction of the barrel 10 by the cam mechanism 23, and the protruding state of the writing section 51 is maintained even after the pressing operation (knock operation) is completed. Is done. Then, the grip member 40 is gripped by the user, and writing is performed on a writing target surface such as a paper surface.

  When gripped by a user, grip member 40 of the present embodiment provides different gripping feelings depending on the area where the user's finger is pressed. Specifically, when the user's finger is pressed against the thick region 43 of the grip member 40, the user is provided with a soft grip feeling. On the other hand, when the user's finger is pressed against the region 44 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is small, the user is provided with a hard grip feeling. As described above, the region 43 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is large and the region 44 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is small are alternately arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction at three locations. When a finger (for example, a thumb) is pressed against the thick region 43 of the grip member 40, other fingers (for example, the index finger and the middle finger) are also pressed against the remaining two thick regions 43. Similarly, when a user's finger (eg, thumb) is pressed against the small thickness region 44 of the grip member 40, the other fingers (eg, the index finger and the middle finger) usually have the remaining two small thickness regions. 44.

  At the time of this gripping, the grip member 40 is compressed and deformed in the radial direction by a force applied by the user's finger. In particular, when the user's finger is pressed against the thick region 43 of the grip member 40, the user's finger is compressed and deformed more than when the user's finger is pressed against the small thickness region 44 with the same force. You. Further, as described above, in the region 43 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is large, the thickness of the block 40b is provided thicker than in the region 44 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is small, so that the user's finger is pressed against the block 40b. In this case, the individual blocks 40b of the grip member 40 surrounded by grooves on all sides are easily bent and deformed in all directions. Thus, in the region 43 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is large, a soft grip feeling is provided to the user.

  On the other hand, when the user's finger is pressed against the region 44 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is small, the grip 40 is compressed and deformed smaller than when the user's finger is pressed against the region 43 where the thickness is large. You. Furthermore, since the thickness of the block 40b is also minimum in the region 44 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is small, the block 40b is bent and deformed only by a small amount. Therefore, in the region 44 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is small, a hard grip feeling is provided to the user. Further, in the present embodiment, the outer surface of the chamfered portion 26 of the front shaft 20 and the inner surface of the thick region 43 of the grip member 40 are in contact without any gap, and the cross section of the contact surface is non-circular. By doing so, the relative rotation of the grip member 40 with respect to the front shaft 20 is prevented (see FIGS. 7 and 8).

  When the writing by the writing implement 100 is completed, the knock member 70 is pressed again (knock operation) forward by the user in the axial direction of the barrel 10. Thereby, the writing body 50 is relatively moved in front of the barrel 10 against the urging force of the coil spring 60. At the time of this relative movement, the writing body 50 is brought into a state in which it can be relatively moved axially rearward of the barrel 10 by the cam mechanism 23. When the pressing operation (knock operation) is completed, the urging force of the coil spring 60 causes the shaft cylinder 10 to move relatively rearward in the axial direction, and the initial state, that is, the writing portion 51 of the writing body 50 is immersed in the shaft cylinder 10. The state is restored.

  According to this embodiment as described above, the region 43 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is large is greatly deformed, and the region where the thickness 44 of the grip member 40 is small is slightly deformed. Specifically, in the region 43 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is large, the entire block 40b is largely compressed and deformed by the thickness and the existence of the grooves 41 and 42, while the region where the thickness of the grip member 40 is small is provided. At 44, the block 40b is compressed and deformed small. This provides a soft grip to the user in the region 43 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is large, and provides a hard grip to the user in the region 44 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is small. It is possible to provide the grip member 40 which feels comfortable for the user to grip.

  Further, since the block 40b is surrounded on all sides by the grooves 41 and 42, the user's finger can be prevented from undesirably slipping in the circumferential direction of the grip member 40 by being caught in one of the grooves 41. Furthermore, by the user's finger being caught in the other groove 42, undesired sliding in the axial direction of the grip member 40 can be suppressed.

  The block 40b has a large thickness in a region 43 where the grip member 40 has a large thickness, and has a small thickness in a region 44 where the grip member 40 has a small thickness. For this reason, the compression deformation of the block 40b of the grip member 40 becomes easy particularly in the region 43 where the thickness of the grip member 40 is large, so that a softer gripping feeling can be provided in the region.

  The grip member 40 of the present embodiment has an inner region 46a having a large thickness and an inner region 46b having a small thickness in the inner region 46 where the one groove 41 and the other groove 42 are not formed. are doing. The thick region 43 corresponds to the thick inner region 46a, and the thin region 44 corresponds to the thin inner region 46b. Thus, particularly in the region 43 where the wall thickness is large, the balance between the compression deformation and the bending deformation is improved, and it is possible to provide the grip member 40 that many users feel more comfortable to grip.

  In the present embodiment, the block 40b (rectangular region) is formed by one groove 41 extending in the axial direction and the other groove extending in the orthogonal direction from one groove. May be formed with a block 40b (annular region) surrounded on all sides by an annular groove.

  In the present embodiment, when the thickness of the block 40b is not constant, the maximum thickness is defined as the thickness of the block.

  Further, in the present embodiment, a ballpoint pen has been described as an example of the writing implement 100, but the writing implement 100 is not limited to this. The present invention can be applied to various writing instruments such as a mechanical pen, a felt-tip pen, and a correction pen by appropriately selecting the writing body 50.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 shaft cylinder 20 front shaft 21 first opening 22 first engagement portion 23 rotating cam 24 front end region 25 covering region 25 a upper section 25 b lower section 26 chamfered section 27 front shaft thick section 30 rear Shaft 31 Second opening 40 Grip member 40b Block 41 One groove 42 The other groove 43 A region where the thickness of the grip member is large 44 A region where the thickness of the grip member is small 45 An outer region 46 An inner region 46a A thickness is large Inner area 46b Inner area 50 with small wall thickness Writing body 50e Rear end 51 of writing body Writing part 52 Second engaging part 60 Coil spring 70 Knock member 70e Rear end 100 of knock member Writing implement

Claims (3)

A cylindrical grip member surrounding the barrel of the writing implement,
The grip member includes a plurality of blocks each having a region having a large thickness and a region having a small thickness, and being surrounded on one side by one groove extending in the front-rear direction on the outer surface and the other groove extending in the circumferential direction on the outer surface. Has,
The region where the thickness is large and the region where the thickness is small are arranged along the circumferential direction,
The grip member, wherein a depth of the other groove in the region where the thickness is large is larger than a depth of the other groove in a region where the thickness is small. The grip member according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of blocks have a large thickness in the region where the thickness is large, and have a small thickness in a region where the thickness is small. The grip member has an inner region having a larger thickness and an inner region having a smaller thickness in an inner region where a groove is not formed,
The region where the thickness is large corresponds to an inner region where the thickness is large,
The grip member according to claim 1, wherein the region having a small thickness corresponds to an inner region having a small thickness.

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