US2332771A - Pen - Google Patents

Description

ocr. 26, 1943. E F, ALSTROM, JR 2,332,771

PEN

Filed Dec. 1, 1941 1 /Q 4Z 64I 66 65 65 576.75 '5f/6015556 .5350 l l I6 INVENTOR.

Patented Oct. 26, 1943 *l UNITED" s`TA'11a1sparigzfi'SiI'iy o'FFiCEf This invention relates to a newv writing instrument. More particularly, it relates `to an improved pen adapted to receive and hold a small quantity of ink.

The variety of fountain pens known in the art may for present purposes be divided Vup into two groups. One of these groups includes fountain are 'provided with the same sort of filling means.

Although numerous types of filling means are known, these have been developed in substany BEN Ernest F. Alstrom, Jr., Cicero, Ill. Application December 1, 1941, Serial No. 421,132 1 I tained WhOlly WithinY a chamber havingV rigid walls. i

C iother'objects Willappear hereinafter.

tially everycase for use in pens of the first' class mentioned above, namely, those which-are fin-` tended to'be carried about from place to place.

Whateverthe purpose may have been, however, these filling means are in general much better vadapted for pens which are" to be ycarried about 'from place to place since all of these various `filling means are so constructed and arranged as "to be diicultly accessible, the obvious purpose being, of course, to prevent accidental discharge l provide apen adapted to contain a quantity of ink and having readily accessible filling means.

j4`"A more specic object is to provide a pen adapted to be used in one place and having readily accessible means for drawing a small body ofink intothe pen whichjzis thereafter delivered to the pen point as necessary during writing. Y

Another object is to provide a .fountain pen of the self-lling type,rhaving the lling means located adjacent the pen point.. y

Still another object is `to Aprovide a fountain pen of the self-filling type, which may 'beY filled entirely with one hand simply by `shifting the grip on the pen a short distance from the normal writing position.: V L

A still-*further object is to provide a fountain pen havinga minimum of chambers and passages therein through which or into which ink DaSSeS.

ofthe self-filling type, in which theink-'is con#- -ing downwardly oroutwardly from the closed inl It-has now been found that these `objects may be accomplished by'providing a pen such Aas that illustrated iny the accompanying drawing, `in which .Y .Y ,Y ,Y i Figure-1 `is aview in perspective'of a pen ernbodying features of the present invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged detailed LView `of `the lower end of `the penshown 'in' Figure 1, 'partly in section, through the center; l

Figure 3 isfa View in perspective, illustrating the manner in Whichthe pen shownin Figures 1 and` '2is`filled; f 1 Figurefl is 'an exploded View inperspective of the vpen illustrated in Figures 1 and 2; Figure'5 is a View similar to Figure 2, illustrating another embodimentof the invention;l

Figure 6 isf'a viewin perspective of a portion of apen, illustrating still another embodiment of the invention; Figure 7'is a view, partly insection, of the lower end of a pen, illustrating theposition ofthe ink vsupply when the pen is inverted; y f Figure 8 is an enlarged vsection?ori'the line 8 8 in Figure 6; and i "Q Figure 9v isa view similarito Figure 8, taken during -the flling operation. n

Referring now more particularly to Figures 1, 2 and 4,'it will be' seen that a pen, designated gen# erally Il), i'sy shown which includes `ast`e1n I2,A`an

intermediate ilexible portion I4, andfaib'arrel I6. A chamber ISgis formedjcentrally in the lower end offbarrel IGand receives in its open lower end the usual feed bar v20 andpen point v22L These latter may beoffany desired type. Eirtendner or upper vend of chamber I8 is a rod 24 which terminates about midway lengthwise of Y -the chamber I8. Extending through rod`24 to the inner or upper end of barrell I6 is ja small chan# y neizs.

UAs is bestseen in Figure" 2, annular grooves 2s `and 3l! are provided on stem""-I`2Mand barrel4 I6'to flexiblemember I4.- An air-tight seal is provided between the flexible member I4 and the stemV I2 and Valso between the flexible member I4 andfthe barrelIS, thereby providing a chamber 32 which isV air-*tight except? forA the opening" provided by 'the'lchnnelZsjQA rod 34 of reduced diameter is formed on the innerend of the stemIZ and exutends downwardly in the chamber 32; terminating adjacent'theinner end of barrel I 6.v Ihe body or upper portion of the stem I2 may be of any desired shape, it being shown herein as a rod of gradually decreasing diameter from the inner end outwardly.

The pen I is operated, as shown in Figure 3, by immersing the lower end in a body of ink 36 in a container 38 and pressing the walls of the exible member I4 inwardly with two ngers 40 and 42, for example, from the position shown by the dotted,..lines.- 44-130. that shownby the solid lines, and then releasing the pressure.y lAs may best be seen in Figure 2, when the opposite sides of the flexible member I4 are pressed inwardly, the volume of chamber 32 is reduced, thus foreing air outwardly rthrough the channel into chamber I8 and thence outwardly through the feed bar 2B and the pen point 22;

inzFigure'S, increasing. the .volume Vof chamber. 32 and thus reducing the pressure within the pen? I il. Atmospheric.y pressure operating on the bodyi of ink 36.. thereupon forces:` a; small i quantity of.; ink

`throughzthefeed bar-2.0i andpeni22 intochamber Thereafter, when the pressure von the"l sides. of the` flexible member I4 is released, these spring backto their.Y `normal position illustrated by the dotted lines44v` .themOVementH-of the wallsA of-jilexibleqmember I I 4 by means of rod34fso; .that the quantity of; air expelled,when the; walls-J4 yarepushed jin-against rodi- 341is=less=than the; Volume of chamber I 8 below the lower end of the rod 24, whereby when the.l penis a vertical, position,` as -1 shown in Figureithefupper level of the full charge-of ink in chamber JIS. `lies below' the loWerend-of rodlfl. s I-hispreventsinlr frombeingdrawn up. through channel 26 `during the lling operation. In o rder to prevent `inkzfromiindingits way.` into channel 26 during handling orfuseqofthe pen, therod 24 is provided.y As may be seen. in,Figure '7,l the charnb.e1 '.:i8,L is-.maclel suiiiclclltly` large-and the i rodf24 isgrextendeddownwardly therein for a sufcientvdistance so; that whenrthe, pen IIl-isyup ended,. as. shown Vin .Eigure, a full: charge of, ink 41h-will have? its upper level .belowthefendof ,the rod 2.4; Ithas been found actual practice that this.-constructi on ccnnplete-ly-` preyentsftheink from;- working fits: Aany;substantial distance -into the. channel 2.6. v

i In the embodiment'shown in'IEigrures A1*,2 "ande, the flexible-member I 4-.which, as is apparentfrom the above` description, ,iss also. resilient, is preferably formed of a material which'has al considerable; degreeoff; resi-stance` teg flexing; -parvticularlyas respectsiorceapplieddengitudinally `of.the...tubu1ar member. I 4. vlf `themernber I4is formed-ofsuch a; rigid, ,but at; theY same `time vre,- silient. and. flexible,` materiali, the stern L2, can- .not,fread-ily.belZ bent with respecttothe:barrel- I G and-'.thefilexible. Imer'nberf` I4will .itself-1provide an .adecuia-teA connection between.l the. stem r I 2- and ,thel loarrel i161, suitable.. nexiblej andn resilient material, which islelso n'elatwely rigid-issfCellu- .loidl QBens consti-ucted.` asfshQW-n Figures-. 1, 2

.4; finwhichjthenexible member I4. isA formed into chamber 352. or evenl Figure '9;illustraltes the.

member I'fwhe'n the front. andejar. sideslfklr of,

00 as shown in'Figure 6, are pressed i'nw'a'r for y corresponding to rod-'34", serves ass'toy kSome mention has been made* above offsuitof relatively thin Celluloid, have been found to function quite satisfactorily, and it has been found that the Celluloid provides a sufficiently rigid connection between the stem I2 and barrel ,A

I6 so that other connection is not necessary. The pen 43, illustrated in Figure 5, is generally similar to pen lf3 and includes a stem 50, a Y resilient, flexible, cylindrical lmember 52, and a.,

barrel 54. One important difference` between pens -IU `and 48.,.is thatthe. ilexibleand resilienty member .52 is fformedfoutvof a` relatively non-V rigid material, such as a rubber composition.

The member 52 is secured in air-tight relation to the stem 5U and the barrel 54 in the same vmanner that the flexible memberv I4 issecured v to stem I2 and barrel I6 but, in order to provide greaterrigidity between stem 5!! and barrel 54,`

, `apintjis,providedwhich is imbedded centrally theinner end of the stem and rigidly secured' thereto, as at 5B. Pin 5,6 extends down,

.wardly from the stern 50 Ithrough.theiclqiarnber 6G, lthrough a central:-openingffGZfin bari and into chamberv 6 4., which correspondschamber I3 in barrel I6. The-ping56;@VA vrigidly securedl rin'V the brrel 54; andgserves" to give rigidity., tog-the pen structure148-.,A The@ lower end, 5t; orrodt fserves-I the lsame .purposeias the 'rod 214 inpen IE., A small-'channel 6, 81 extends centrally through thepin .5,6 yf1om fthe lowerpend upwardly vto aY pointwithin.. the, chamber; W

andA thence-,Opensutwardlyfatz;diametrcallyeoneposite points into fthe chamber, 61h, ,I 'Ihis channel 68 servesjthesame purposeasfehannel526,.',providg 1 ing connection .between chamber andjehamber 64'- Thefpin'- 5;@ isstillzfur'her. deSieneds-tofserre as a stopfory theewalls ofthe `flexible memberf .52 f f in. the same.,manner.Y as.- rod `34.clcgesyin penlr.. j The. @serai/i011; @tren 4814s the sameras..-thatl.0f

penlil andldoesfnot requir further description. i v Salmone andinas ,tratedy in Figures 6,- 8 and,` i 4trated Eieure.; includes@ stenalz'rrespend ingselerallr is Siem I han@ e'bafrl* Spending generally. to; barrel .16 @The .sisme menib@ lG-fpgsiiienedfbetweemstmiandnar; 1

exiblel member .1.8, shapedl asindicated inl. Fig,-

somewhat *easier topress inwardly an .1s-some what less liable to crack thanl is t ,',gzexible member` III-l which. is@generally-. cylindrcaly in shape. The design vofftlfle:vflex'ib merriber- 18 is particularly... suitable Where; this-.membe is formed ofI anexible, resilient material .Wl'iiehhs considerable rigidity, such,y for. eira.mple,1V as. Cel;- A.

luloid, mentioned above...

also illustrates the manner in which the' rodf'lli,

able flexible'materials from"'-iivlii'clr4 tol construct themem'ber's I4;"52 andfTGi-Itdstoibo under*- stood, however, that thesea-r'e merely/"illustrative invention. Members I4, 52fand'16imaf'y and are' notintended tolimitithelscope`offltlie f ".con'- Structed of any/desired* materialf.which?.hasfthev Anecessary resilience and;.flexibility@` 'The fact that these partsfdonot come imcontactwith-Ltle ink makes it unnecessary toselect materialsffor their constructionwh-ich areiinertwitlrrespect to '.Preierablypbut friet:inecessanlymheyrba- 14 corref extending inthe chamber; enclosedby members I4, 52 and 16 will be .rigijd'with both the stem and barrel where the resilient, flexible material does not also ihaveconsiderable rigidity;

Referring more particularly to `pens I U and l0, it will be understood thatgthe' rods 34 and I8 may extendu'pwardly from 'the barrel instead of downwardly from the stemaszshown, the` rods 34 and 18 beingmountedonthe ,Stem merely for the sake of conveniencefin construction,

`The passages. or channels 25 and mayvary somewhat in diameter. but are" preferably kept relativelysmall since they are .intended only to pass'airand since, in particular it is desired to avoid havinginklenter'these passages.- By Way of illustratiom it-may .be mentioned that pens have been constructed in which these openings have diameters of the order of 1&2 to 1/4 of an inch. `Such pens perform entirely satisfactory but it is contemplated that these openings may Vhave both largerand smaller dameters,fif de- Ysired.

In pen Ill-the rod 34 Yispreferablyjformed integral with stem I2. l It may, however, be formed separately and suitably securedthereto. Also, the rod 24 is preferably. formed integralA With-'the barrel I6 but it may likewise' be,A formed separatelyand suitably securedy in the barrel I6. In contrast,4 the pin 56 `in lpen 48 is `formed separately,`as illustrated; 'from either the stem 50 l or the barrel 54. It will be understood, however, that the pin 56 may be integral with either the barrel 50 or the stem 54, being suitably secured to the other member, if desired, in assembling the pen. The member 56 will, ofcourse, serve f to give substantial rigidity to the pen 48 if it is v merely secured either to the stem 50 or to the barrel 54, and then merely inserted in the other of the latter two members, and still more rigidity when secured in or to both members.

Both the stem and barrel of any of pens I0, 48 and 'IIJ may be formed of any desired material, for example, wood or any of the plastic materials from which fountain pen barrels are now made. To provide variety in construction and a more pleasing appearance, the stem may also be formed of one material and the barrel of another. Still another variation in construction consists in providing a transparent window about the lower end of the lower chamber, illustrated by chambers I8 and 64,whereby the quantity of ink within the pen may be readily seen. Many other variations in construction within the spirit of this invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

Some of the advantages of the present invention are suggested by the above description. One ofthe more outstanding of the advantages is the ease and facility with which the pen may be lled.` As is indicated by Figure 3, the position occupied by the fingers during the filling operation is substantially identical with that which they occupy in writing and they are removed only a short distance from the position which they` occupy in gripping the pen for writing.

Another related advantage is that the filling means are very easily accessible and do not require the removal of any parts in order to get at them. They likewise do not require the pulling down of a lever in order to accomplish the filling operation nor do they involve a complicated plunger construction. In addition, the usual rubber bulb is completely eliminated. and the portions of the pen through which the ink passes and with which it'comes into contact are materially reduced in number. In any pen structure the ink,1of course, necessarily comes into contact `with `the feed bar and thepoint. lIn the present structure; the only other part of the pen with which the ink"` is in contact is the chamber in the lower end of the barrel. Except for the small capillary means in .thefeed bar adjacent the pen point, the ink doesnot pass through any other small openings. This greatlyreduces the diculty due to clogging ofthe pen by reason of the use of poor grade inks or long disuse ofthe pen itself. l

Still a further advantage is kth'e great simplicity in the construction of the'pen. generally. 'I'he greater proportion of the parts ofthe pen .can

Y For desk use alarge volume is obviously unnecescated interiorly of said pen comprising two sep-` sary since a fresh supply of inkis usually readily available. `On the other hand, fivel dropsA of ink is a relatively large supply compared with pens which are not of the fountain t'ype. It has been found, for example, that as many as two thousand words or more may be written with one' charge, containing about live drops, as measured by dropping the ink offtheendofthe pen. l 1

Stillfother advantages will 'appear Vfrom -the foregoing description.

It is apparent that many widely different embodiments of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof,

and therefore it is not intended to be limited except as indicated in the appended claims.

The invention is herebyv claimed as follows:

1. A pen having a writing point, a space loarate chambers connected by a passageway of relatively small diameter opening into the lower of said chambers at a point adjacent the middle of said chamber lengthwise of the pen, capillary `means providing communication between the lower of said two chambers and said writing point, `for feeding ink to said writing point, said space being air-tight except for said capillary means, and the upper chamber being enclosed, at least in part, by a exible wall portion which also forms a part of the outer wall of said pen.

2. A pen having a barrel, a stem, a writing point mounted in one end of said barrel, and a flexible wall portion extending between the other end of -said barrel and said stem and formingr a part of the outer-,wall of saidpen, a chamber formed within said barrel adjacent said point and connected thereto by capillary means, for feeding ink from said chamber to said point, a passageway of relatively small diameter extending from a point adjacent the middle of said chamber lengthwise of the pen, upwardly through Y of said chambers `at a point adjacent the middleV of said chamber lengthwise of the pen, capillary means providing communication between the lower of said twoohambers and said Writing point,l

for feeding ink tof said writirig pointgsadf space being ain-tight!A except 'for said capillary means, the upper chanfib'erfbeingfenclosed,` atleast in part', ailexible welll-portion whicli'a'lso' forms a vpart ofthe outer wall of said pem'andfsaid two cham'-` bersbeing proportionedwithrespectto each other soi Athatntlie' maximum .quantity o-f ink which.. can bev drawnIk into theflowerof saidf chambersby flexing the wallof'rthe upper chamber` once has ai volume less thanzha'lf that ofthe/lower cham ber being enclosed, at least in part,.by.a iexible wall portion which also vforms aA part of the outerfwall of said-pen; and vsaid twoI chambers being proportioned with respect to each other so that the maximum quantity of ink which canfbe drawn'irito the lowerof said chambersby. flexing the Wall of the-:upper chamberoncehas avolume less `than -halfk that of theilow'er chamber and t draws acharge'o'f inktiintozsaid" lower-f' chamber iesstnan tnevomme'of thenwercnambeeabavethey point wheresaidpassageway opensf inte the lowerchamberi" 5. A penihavingia: barrelwithfaniopening': eX.-y

tending longitudinally .therethrough',g saidopen-4 Jing being of relatively `smalltdian'ieter;in` the iupper end of lthe barrel and having-ia; relaidv'elylargeidi ameter inr thelower 'end .whereby toprovidefa chamber, Va writingI pointt andafeedgbaii'gsecured in the lower end-Loffsaidfrchamber:including capillary` means foi: ieeding'inkvfrom said cha'mber:A to sad-t-point, a stemA positioned abovefffsvaid barrel, a relatively rigid, flexible wall'ipor'tionfpo-V sitioned` between vsaid'barrerandsaid stemfand forming a: part vofr the outer;wall/of said pen,. said flexiblewall portion fenclosinga `sec'ondcham'- berV into .which the: openingy inwsaid; barrel; opens 'and ink which `a `stop :member-for 4said exibl'e Wall portion, extends', vvsaid,A two chambersz'and) connectingypassageway being air-tightexceptrfor said'capil'lary"means'the smallA openingA in said barrel opening into the lowerl chamberiadjacent 1 the middle ythereof lengthwise fof .A the.- pen,

.and saidfchambers beingproportioned wthre'- speci; to eachE other so that-fthe maximum` fleureV ing of said `flexible-wall as :determinedby said stop which has a volume Jless than! that 'ofeither-the portion -ofV vthe lowerl` chamber: `below/.I the lower vend of? said'fsmall' opening crtl'xatz-thereabove;iy

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