US2243342A - Pen and method of manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Description

May 27, 1941. I uss ETAL 2,243,342

PEN AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME Filed Feb. 15, 1939 3 Sheets-Shejet 1" FIG I.

INVENTORS:

ATTORNEYS.

a 1941- R. s. Huss ETAL- 2,243,342

PEN AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME Filed Feb. 15, 1939 3 s eets-sheet 2 HG JYK ill l,,,, 1,11,, r p //mlllllllll By wk Mfils more,

ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 27, 194i FEN AND METHOD .OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME sylvania Application February 15, 1939, Serial No. 256,484.

6 Claims. 4131. 113-32) This invention relates generally to pens and methods of their manufacture, and more particularly to p ns having a ball or folded over point.

It is now no longer new to form pens with:

either ball points or folded over points. Various forms of both ball folded over points and numerous ways of manufacturing them are now known to the art. In ome pens of this general type, the upper face of the point is designed for fine writing and the lower face for heavy writing. In all, there is a smoothness of writing action which is not alwa '5 present in the ordinary sharp pointed pen which sticks into the paper from time to time. The ball and folded point type also show superior wearing qualities.

However, the ball and folded over pen points have brought to the art certain manufacturing dificulties and a certain tendency to crack in the manufacturing process. Efforts have been made in the art to avoid these difficulties, such as Hawkes contribution in United States Patent No. 1,365,318, granted January 11, 1921. Halpin and Henwood in United States Patent No.

2,030,918 have also given this problem attention and developed a method involving a particular type of metal and specifically detailed steps.

Therefore, the main object of this invention is to provide an improved form of pen of the ball or folded over point type which may be manufactured easily and eificiently. Another object is the provision of a pen of long life and'smooth writing qualities. Another object is the provision of an elastic method of manufacture which is not limited to specific types of heat treatments or to specific metals and materials. Another object of this invention is to provide a method of folding sheet metal in the manufacture of pens of this general character which will relieve the tendency to crack at the fold which is the outstanding weakness in the pens now in the art. Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description of certain specific embodiments of this invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. I is a perspective View of a finished pen point having a ball or folded over point and embodying the hereinafter described invention.

Fig. II is an end view of the pen point shown in Fig. I.

Fig. III is a face view of a pen blank which has just been died out of sheet stock in the practice of the hereinafter described invention.

Fig. IV is a face View of the pen blank of Fig.

III with an elongated boss formed in-the point portion thereof.

Fig. V is a face view of the above mentioned pen blank having the embossed point portion bent in the direction of the curvature of the boss.

Fig. VI is a faceview of the above mentioned pen blank showing the embossed portion of the point folded back upon itself so that a portion of the original boss lies on the top face of the pen and other portion of the boss lies on the bottom face of the pen.

Fig. VII is a partial enlarged section taken as indicated by the lines VII-VII in Fig. III.

Fig. VIII is a partial enlarged section taken as indicated by the lines VI I-VIII in Fig. IV.

Fig. IX is a partial enlarged section taken-as indicated by the lines IX-IX of Fig. V.

Fig. X is a partial enlarged section taken as indicated by the lines XX in Fig. VI showing particularly the minute cavity formed between the folds of the folded over portion of the pen point. v

Fig. X1 is a transverse enlarged section taken as indicated by the lines XI--XI in Fig. VI.

Fig. XII is a partial face view of a pen blank embossed for folding over at the embossed area according to a modification of the invention illustrated in the above figures. r

Fig. XIII is a partial enlarged section taken along the lines XIII-XIII of Fig. XII.

Fig. XIV is an enlarged end view showing the point of the pen blank illustrated in Figs. XII and XIII.

Fig. XV is a partial sectional View of the dies used in forming the boss in the point portion of the pen blank, the apparatus being to some extent diagrammatically indicated.

Fig. XVI is a plan view partially in section of the tools and apparatus employed in bending the embossed pen point at the embossed area, the apparatus and tools being indicated to some extent diagrammatically.

Fig. XVII is a. partial sectional view taken about the lines XVII-XVII in Fig. XVI.

Fig. XVIII is a side view partially in section of apparatus and tools used in the final stage of the formation of the folded over or ball pen point in which the edges of the folded portions are pressed closely together, leaving a minute cavity therebetween due to the convexity of the original boss.

Fig. XIX shows a face view of a pen blank with a different form of boss to provide in the finished pen point different curvatures for the writing points formed on the upper and lower faces of the pen.

Fig. XX is a partial enlarged section taken as indicated by the lines XX-X X in Fig. XIX.

Fig. XXI is a partial enlarged sectional view showing the embossed pen blank of Figs. X X and XX folded over according to the method illustrated in the figures referred to above.

Fig. XXII is a transverse sectional view taken as indicated by the lines XXII-XXII in Fig. XXI.

Fig. XXIII shows a face view of a pen blank having two contiguous bosses formed on the point thereof according to a modification of the invention illustrated in the above mentioned figures.

Fig. XXIV is a partial enlarged sectional View taken as indicated by the lines XXIV--XXIV in Fig. XXIII.

Fig. XXV is an enlarged sectional view of the blank shown in Figs. XXIII and XXIV after it has been folded over at the embossed portion thereof according to the method illustrated in the above figures.

Fig. XXVI is a transverse sectional view taken along the lines XXVIXXVI of Fig. XXV.

Fig. XXVII is a side view partially in section showing the apparatus and tools employed in forming the double embossment shown in Fig. XXIII, the apparatus and tools being to some extent diagrammatically shown.

Fig. XXVIII is aside view partially in section showing the apparatus and tools employed in bending the pen blank shown in Fig. XXIII at the embossed area according to the general method illustrated in the figures described above.

Fig. XXIX shows' aside view partially in section of the apparatus employed in the final stages of completing the fold initiated by the apparatus shown in Fig. XXVIII and resulting in the closely folded over pen point shown in Figs. XXV and XXVI.

Fig. XXX is a partial face view illustrating a further variation and showing notches formed in the sides of the pen blank of Fig. III as an additional step before folding, said notches being positioned where the fold is to be made.

Fig. IQiXI is a partial face view showing the notches of the blank of Fig. XXX after embossment.

In describing the embodiments of this invention shown in the drawings, a specific terminology will be adopted for the purpose of clarity, but it is to be understood that it is not intended thereby to limit the invention to this detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof. Each term adopted is intended to include all equivalents thereof which operate in a substantially similar manner to accomplish a substantially similar result. I'his invention is applicable to pens made from all materials and includes materials requiring heat treatment at certain stages as well as those not requiring heat treatment.

In the practice of this invention a fiat pen blank is stamped out from sheet or strip stock according to well accepted methods in the art as appears in Figs. III and VII. The material of this strip may be any of the common pen materials, such as stainless steel, nickel silver, brass, carbon steel and others. If carbon steel is selected the usual heat treatment steps now in general use in connection with pen manufacture from carbon steel stock remain appropriate. It should be emphasized that this invention is in no way limited by heat treatment steps but on the contrary comprehensively includes in its application methods of pen making which do not involve heat treatment steps with those methods which do.

The pen blank of Figs. III and VII is now embossed on its point portion forming an elongated boss I rounded at each end as appears in Figs. IV and VIII being concave on one side and convex on the other. If carbon steel or the like is used, this embossing should of course be done in the proper condition with respect to temper. The embossing is accomplished by means of a shaping die 2 having a depression 3 formed therein according to the configuration of the boss I to be formed. A cooperating punch die 4 is adjustably mounted in a holder 5. A set screw 6 is provided for fixing and maintaining the adjustment of the punch die 4. The lower end of the punch die 4 is rounded according to the configuration of the depression 3 and of the boss I. Fig. XV shows punch die 4 and shaping die 2 under pressure and forming a boss I in the pen blank Hi positioned between these dies 2 and 4. For the purpose of clarity the means for cooperatively actuating the dies 2 and 4 has been omitted and it may be left to the choice of skilled artisan from the well developed art relating to such means.

The embossed pen blank 10 is now ready to have its point bent back on itself at the embossed area about the dot-and-dash line in Fig. VIII. To effect this operation, the blank I!) is firmly clamped under pressure in a vise-like apparatus diagrammatically shown in Fig. XVII with the convex face of the boss I up. This apparatus consists of an upper element II and a lower element 12. The mechanical details of the cooperative actuation of these elements H and I2 which are omitted for the sake of clarity are well within the compass of the skilled artisan. The element I2 is equipped with a projecting bending edge [3 around which the embossed portion of the blank I0 is bent as indicated in Fig. XVII by means of bending tools I4 and IS. The details of the machinery for the operation of bending tools l4 and I5 may be left to the skilled artisan. It is hardly necessary to remark that operations of the type described above may be performed either by hand or by appropriate machinery well understood in the art.

The pen blank I0 is positioned between elements H and I2 with about half of the boss I projecting over the bending edge I3. Guides I! are provided for accurate positioning. The bending tool 14 is then moved in the direction indicated by the-arrow in Fig. XVII which bends the projecting portion of the embossed tip over the bending edge l3 into the position shown in Fig. XVII. The position of the projecting portion of the boss I before bending is indicated in broken lines. As soon as bending tool I4 is retracted, bending tool I5 is moved in the direction of the arrow bending the projecting portion of the embossed tip further and toward the underside of the bending edge I3. When the bending tool I5 is retracted the pen blank 10 is ready for the further forming steps, and appears as in Figs. V and IX. The further bending steps directed to continuing this initial bending of the embossed portion of blank ID are new carried on by other dies similar tothose referred to above or by simple hand tools until the final stage is reached in which the outer portion of the embossed end of the blank ll] is bent closely back upon itself forming a minute cavity 18 between the folds, as appears in Fig. XVIII. The

die elements I9 and 20 are concavely formed according to the designed configuration of the fin- 'ished pen point and guides 2| are provided for accurate positioning of the blank ID. The upper die 23 may give a different curvature or convexity from the curvature given by the lower die l9 if desired and in this way there may be provided a pen point which will Write with different line thickness by writing with the top or bottom face of the pen point. When the pen point has reached this stage of formation, it appears as in Figs. VI, X and XI, and the blank is ready for finishing in any of the usual ways well known to the art. The raising to form the blank I into a pen with an arched cross-section may precede or follow the slitting 22 of the point portion of the blank ID to form pen nibs. It has been found that saw slitting as practiced in the art is satisfactory. It is unnecessary to enlarged upon these and other finishing steps, however. The finished pen as shown in Figs. I and II with a folded or ball point 23 illustrates a preferred embodiment of this invention. It will be noted that in the above specific process, the folded back portion of the pen point lies on the under face of the pen. Of course, the invention could be practiced similarly by having the folded back portion lie on the upper face of the pen without losing any of the essential advantages and utility of the invention. It should be remarked that the preliminary boss which prepares the metal for subsequent bending might be formed in the stock before the initial dieing out of the pen blank shown in Fig. III; and the folding might precede the dieing out also. Another variation might involve a partial blanking out which is completed after the folding operation; for example, the metal stock could be embossed, then partially blanked out to form the point portion and folded while still attached to the metal stock, the complete blanking out following as a subsequent step.

Thus by a simple and economic method it becomes possible to provide a pen of the ball or fold over point type. Also it has been found that the employment of an embossment substantially diminishes the cracking and frequency of breakage at the fold. A microscopic examination of the folded edge of pens formed in this way shows them singularly free from the usual fractures so frequently found in pen points folded without the preliminary embossment which prepares the structure of the metal for subsequent folding. Hence this invention provides an improved methd of pen-making which results in a pen having an increased life-span as well as improved writing qualities.

Let us now turn to certain modifications which have been developed according to the teaching of the above described invention. In Fig. XII there is shown a pen blank it formed with an elongated boss I after the manner described above. In this modification, the folding over is done at the inner edge of the boss I or along the dot-and-dash line in Fig. XII instead of at the central portion as described in the above mentioned method. Fig. XIII shows the result of folding at the inner end of the boss I instead of at the central portion thereof. In this modification the folding places the boss I on the under face of the pen but of course the folding could be done in the other direction as above. It will be noted that in this way according to the practice of this invention it is possible to provide a folded over pen point having a flat upper face and a convex Writing point on the lower face thereof. This type of pen point has the same general advantages as the pen point formed according to the method described above, but is a variation in the form of the pen which may better fulfill the requirements of certain portions of the buying public.

A further modification of the invention described above is found in varying the shape of the convex boss I described above. In Figs. XIX, XX, XXI and XXII it will be seen that a boss Ia has been formed having a relatively sharp curvature at the inner end 30 thereofand a relatively flat curvature at the other end 3! thereof. This results in providing different degrees of curvature in the top and bottom writing faces of the ball point in the finished pen. When this particular form of boss la is employed. the method of folding proceeds in a manner similar to that already fully described above. It is obvious that this boss la may be subjected to other changes which will occur to one skilled in the art and following the requirements of the pen market. This specific form of pen effectively provides a writing boss which has the usual writing advantages of the ball point. It is, of course, a matter of choice whether the thin line is written by the upper face or the lower face. The same advantages of wearing quality are found in this modification.

We now turn to another modification of the above described invention which involves the use of a double embossment illustrated in Fig. XXIII. The embossed area on the point is formed with substantially contiguous embossments 33 and 34 which are of different lengths and curvatures as will appear by reference to Fig. XXIV. This double embossment is performed by the use of a die 35 having concavities 36 and 31 formed therein according to the configuration of the design of the bosses 33 and 34. Two punch dies 39 and 40 are adjustably mounted in a holder 4| being held in place by set screws 42 and 43. The

lower ends of the punch dies 39 and 40 are formed with a convex configuration which conforms to the concave configuration of the depressions 35 and 31 in die 35 and with the configuration of the finished bosses 33 and 34 to be formed.

After the double embossment has been performed by the tools and apparatus of Fig. XXVII the blank 32 is clamped tightly between elements 45 and 43, being accurately positioned between guides 48. The positioning of the blank 32 is such that the boss 33 of the double embossed area of the blank 32 extends over a projecting bending edge 43. Then by means of the tools 5| and 52 the boss 33 is bent over along the dotand-dash line shown in Fig. XXIV and under the bending edge 49 according to the bending operation described above. Additional bending steps will then follow as described above with appropriate machinery or tools, the final step being illustrated in Fig. XXIX in which forming elements 53 and 54 closely fold the double embossed area of the point back upon itself so that the bosses 33 and 34 are pressed together with their concave faces forming a minute cavity lab between the folds. The usual guides 55 are provided to insure accuracy. The pen point now appears as shown in Figs. XXV and XXVI with a. ball point having different curvatures for the upper and lower faces thereof. This type of pen retains the general advantages inherent in the invention described above. Because of the preliminary embossing, cracking at the fold is relieved in the finished pen.

A further modification of this invention involves the forming of indentations or notches 50 at the sides of the point of the pen blank ID as a preliminary to folding the blank Hi. These notches 50 are placed where the blank I!) is to be later folded and their use results in avoiding protrusions or fins of metal which to a greater or lesser extent occur when folding is done Without the preliminary notches 50. As will appear in Fig. XXX, these notches 50 are preferably formed in semi-circular form and should be small enough to leave sufiicient metal at the pen point for strength. These preliminary notches 50 may be used to advantage with any of the above described variations of this invention.

Thus the invention herein described with suggested modifications thereof provides an economical and efficient method for the manufacture of pens which are generally of the ball or folded point type. The invention also provides a pen with increased wearing qualities due to the substantial avoidance of minute fractures incident to the folding of sheet stock without the formation of a preliminary boss.

While this invention has been described above in considerable detail and certain modifications thereof suggested, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

We claim:

1. A pen having a folded over point, and oppositely disposed bosses formed on said folded over portions, said bosses being of different sizes.

2. A method of manufacturing a pen point which includes the forming of a concavo-convex boss in the tip portion, and bending the tip at a point intermediate the ends of said boss so that the tip portion is bent back into engagement with itself whereby convex writing surfaces are formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the tip of said pen point.

3. A method of manufacturing a pen point whichincludes the forming of a concavo-convex boss in the tip portion, said boss being larger at. one end than at the other end thereof, and thereafter folding said tip portion at a point intermediate the ends of the concavo-convex boss and back into engagement with itself so that the smaller portion of the boss and the larger portion thereof extend convexly from different faces of the finished pen point, whereby the writing surfaces formed on the different faces of the pen point will write with different line thicknesses.

4. A method of manufacturing a pen point which includes the forming of two concavoconvex-bosses in the tip portion, and bending the tip portion at a point intermediate the two bosses, said tip portion being bent back onto and intoengagement with itself whereby the convex surfaces of said bosses are disposed on the upper and lower surfaces of said pen point as writing surfaces.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein notches are formed in the sides of the pen blank at the place where the pen blank is to be folded and before said folding.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein said concavo-convex boss is formed by a die stamping operation, thereby toughening said metal.

RAYMOND S. HUSS. ROY E. STROH. JOSEPH M. ASHMORE.

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