US3097739A - Dispensing magazine for ball point refill cartridges - Google Patents

Description

July 16, 1963 R. J. BURNHAM DISPENSING MAGAZINE FOR BALL POINT REFILL CARTRIDGES Filed Dec. 18, 1961 R m V m fro? 5/5 BY 56m. 44L

United States Patent 3,097,739 DISPENSING MAGAZINE FOR BALL POINT REFILL CARTRIDGES Robert Jay Burnham, 179-39 Tudor Road, Jamaica 32, N.Y. Filed Dec. 18, 1961, Ser. No. 160,199 6 Claims. (Cl. 206--56) This invent-ion [relates to a dispensing magazine for ball point refill cartridges.

It is an object of my invention to provide a magazine of the character described which consists of extremely few parts and can be manufactured at a very low cost so that ball point nefill cartridges can be sold to the public in sizable handy lots of a dozen or so cartridges per lot at a price which is comparable per cartridge with the prices of the same cartridges sold in smaller lots and held together by less attractive packaging means such, for instance, as plastic envelopes and bubble packages.

It is another object of my invention to provide a dispensing magazine of the character described which is specially constructed and arranged for simple and positive manual ejection of ball point refill cart-ridges without the encumbrance of an ejection mechanism.

It is another object of my invention to provide a. dis pensing magazine of the character described which can he factory-loaded simply and easily, and can, if desired, subsequently be reloaded in the field after its original supply of refill cartridges has been exhausted.

It is another object of my invention to provide -a dispensing magazine of the character described which is specially constructed and arranged to protect the ball points of the refill cartridges while the cartridges are located within the magazine.

It is another object of my invention to provide a dispensing magazine of the character described which is uniquely devised to facilitate insertion, subsequent to loading of refill cartridges therein, of a leaf spring for urging the uppermost cartridge in the magazine to a correct preejection position.

It is another object of my invention to provide a dispensing magazine of the character described which is arranged to display visually the state of its contents, i.e., the approximate number of refill cartridges left at any time within the magazine, and at the same time to conceal the b-iassing leaf spring when the magazine is full so that the magazine will have an attractive counter appearance.

It is another object of my invention to provide a dispensing magazine of the character described in which the visual display means is arranged to serve the further function of permitting reinsertion into the magazine of fresh cartridges or of cartridges which have been ejected.

It is another object of my invention to provide a dispensing magazine of the character described which may be made by mass production methods such, for instance, as injection molding, Without, however, sacrificing stiffness or rigidity so that the magazine is rugged and foolproof.

It is another object of my invention to provide a dispensing magazine of the character described in which provision is made to minimize frictional contact between the stack of cartridges and the internal surface of the magazine whereby the cartridges may be maintained in a parallel stacked arrangement with the aid of a leaf spring which is not unduly strong whereby the axial pressure exerted on a cartridge for ejection of the same from the magazine need not be overly great.

0ther objects of my invention in part will be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

My invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the magazine hereinafter described, and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the various possible embodimenm of my invention,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a magazine constructed in accordance with my invention, the same being shown partially full and in the process of having a ball point refill cartridge dispensed therefrom;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the magazine with the front half of the casing removed;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partially broken away sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the rear half of the easing; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the magazine showing a step in the insention of the biassing leaf spring.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 denotes a magazine constructed in accordance with and embodying my invention and designed and arranged for the dispensing one at a time of ball point refill cartridges 12 from a stack of the same contained therein.

The cantridges 12 are entirely conventional; however, in order to describe with accuracy their cooperation with the magazine, the external configuration of the cartridge will be detailed. Each said cartridge consists of an ink tube 14 which is an elongated straight slender sleeve having an essentially cylindrical configuration, or, more exactly described, a configuration which is cylindrical over its entire exterior periphery except for a pinch 16, or crimp, intermediate its ends and nearer the front end of the ink tube than the rear. At the pinch the maximum transverse dimension of the tube exceeds the diameter of the cylindrical portion of the tube. Said pinch is provided for well-known cooperation with certain structural elements of standard ball point pens.

At the front end of the ink tube 14 a shoulder 18 defines the zone of demarcation between the ink tube and a socalled point 20. The point is a short tube coaxial with the ink tube 14 and extending forwardly therefrom, the diameter of the point being less than diameter of the ink tube. The front end of the point is tapered and at its tip there is captively mounted a writing ball 22'.

The materials of the various parts of the cartridge 12 are self-form-maintaining. Usually the ink tube is made of metal, although some tubes are fabricated from plastic. The point and the ball conventionally consist of metal. Obviously, all of the cartridges in the magazine 10 as originally sold are freshly prepared and are ready to be inserted into a ball point pen, hence they will be full of ball point ink.

The magazine 10 consists of only three parts. Two of these parts are the halves of the casing and the third part is a leaf spring. More particularly, the parts constitute a front casing half 24, a rear casing half 26 and a narrow leaf spring 28.

The two halves of the casing may be intercoupled in any suitable fashion, for example by friction interfitting, i.e. having one part forced into the other, by snap lock interfit-ting, or by =au-togenous welding, either with the use of heat or a solvent, or through the medium of a cementitious adhesive. In the form of my invention shown herein each of the two halves of the casing is formed with a squat peripheral flange and the flange of one of the halves, specifically the rear half, is shaped and dimensioned to be a tight frictional press fit within the peripheral flange of the front half. Alternatively, the two flanges could be identically shaped and dimensioned and each half properly sized so as to provide the correct interior dimensions for the casing which will be described hereinafter. 'I'hereupon the edges of the flanges can be abutted and held to one another, as by welding or adhesion, or the peripheral flanges further can be provided with male and female interlockable elements, e.g. recesses and cooperating slightly resilient snap-in tongues so that the two halves can be snapped together. In any event in a complete casing the two halves are securely interengaged with one another either permanently or detachably. Inasmuch as the particular structure used for interengagement is not a feature of my invention I shall not dwell upon the same any further except to indicate that one arrangement for such interengagement, to wit, the internesting arrangement, is clearly shown in FIG. 3.

When completed, i.e. with the front and rear halves interengaged, the casing comprises a broad fiat front wall 30 and a broad flat rear wall 32, said walls being parallel and coextensive. The completed casing further includes a top wall 34 and a bottom wall 36. These walls are narrow, straight and parallel and are coextensive with one another. Moreover, the casing includes a left end wall 38 and a right end wall 40. These two walls likewise are narrow and straight and are parallel to and coextensive with one another.

The top wall, bottom wall, left end wall and right end wall hold the front and rear walls apart from one another so that there is provided within the casing a high thin long hollow interior space the length of which is slightly in excess of the lengths of the individual cartridges and the height of which is somewhat in excess of the sum of the external diameters of the ink tubes 14 of all the cartridges in a stack when the magazine is ready for sale. The distance between the front and rear walls, ie the breadth of the interior space of the casing, is barely in excess of the maximum cross-sectional dimension of a cartridge, this being the maximum width of a pinch 16.

The casing is fabricated from any sturdy self-formmaintaining opaque material. It may, for instance, be made of sheet metal; however, due to the somewhat complex configuration of the casing in accordance with my invention and which will be described in detail hereinafter, I prefer to fabricate the casing by molding, e.g. by injection molding, from an opaque synthetic thermoplastic. One such synthetic thermoplastic which I have found to be satisfactory is a so-called high impact resin which is a mixture of polystyrene and a copolymer of butadiene and styrene. This resin has the advantages that it has a high tensile strength, it is comparatively inexpensive, articles of thin section molded therefrom are not brittle, and it can be pleasantly colored to provide an attractive appearance.

The high thin long hollow interior space of the casing is deliberately made with a breadth that is greater than the diameter of an ink tube in order, as noted, to provide additional space for accommodation of the pinches 16 regardless of their angular positions whereby to avoid the possibility of binding of cartridges within the casing. However, this oversize internal breadth tends to cause the cartridges to be transversely offset from one another in the stack, i.e. not to be in vertical registration within the magazine. Moreover, such offsetting may have the effect of jamming the ink tubes against the internal surfaces of the front and rear walls. I have prevented this from occurring by artificially reducing the effective breadth of the interior of the casing in zones remote from the vertical region in which the pinches 16 are located in a stack of cartridges contained within the magazine.

The reduction means takes the form of at least two linear protuberances raised on the inside face of the front wall or the rear wall of the casing. The length of said linear pro-tuber-ances runs perpendicular to the lengths of the cartridges contained within the casing, that is to say, the lengths of the protuberances extend in a general direction having a substantial component parallel to the lengths of the left end wall and the right end wall.

In the preferred form of my invention shown in the accompanying drawings, said protuberances assume the shapes of straight vertical ribs. Although the reduction in internal width may be accomplished by providing only two ribs on either the front wall or the rear wall, I prefer to include two such ribs on each front wall and rear wall. These ribs may or may not be in transverse registry, i.e. front-to-back registry. The positions of the ribs are not critical for the purpose of reducing the effective internal breadth of the casing providing that the ribs are arranged to be spaced forwardly and rearwardly of the pinches 16 so that they will not contact the same. All of the ribs may be located so as to engage the ink tube 14 or one or more ribs may be located to engage the tubular points 20. Desirably, one rib is located near the left end wall 38 and the other near the right end wall 40 so as to provide nicely spaced side (lateral) engagement for all the cartridges in the stack.

Specifficially, I provide each front wall 30 and each rear wall 32 with an integral right hand rib 42 and an integral left hand rib 44. Both of these ribs are parallel to one another and to the two end walls 38, 40. The upper ends of the two ribs 32, 44 terminate short of the inner surface of the top wall 34 by a distance at least about equal to the diameter of an ink tube 14 but preferably not greater than one and one-half times such diameter. Accordingly these ribs will not engage the uppermost cartridge in the stack contained within the magazine but will engage the next to the uppermost cartridge in the stack and all the remaining cartridges in the stack.

The ribs are sufficiently long to engage all such cartridges. However the lowermost ends of the ribs are spaced from the bottom wall 36 since a full magazine does not have cartridges all the way down to the bottom wall because it is desired to provide sufficient clearance for accommodation of the stressed leaf spring 28.

The rib 42 on the front and rear walls between them define an effective transverse dimension (breadth) just barely in excess of the diameter of the cylindrical portions of the ink tubes 14, e.g. a few thousandths of an inch greater, taking into account tolerances in the manufacture of the ink tubes and tolerances in the fabrication of the casing. Thus the space between the ribs 42 will serve to maintain the ink tubes in a substantially registered vertical stack one substantially directly above the other and each ink tube will slide either on one or the other of the ribs 42, being individually and at random displaced unnoticeably out of vertical registration to enable such engagement to take place.

The left hand ribs 44 engage the left hand ends of the cartridges 12 in an essentially similar manner. However, at least one and optionally both of the left hand ribs 44 are located to engage the cartridges, not at the ink tubes 14, but, rather, at the tubular points 20 immediately adjacent the shoulders 18. Hence the ribs 44 will be slightly higher than the ribs 42 and between them will define an effective transverse dimension (breadth) barely larger than the diameters of the points 20 taking into account manufacturing tolerances.

The right hand side of the rib (or ribs) 44 against which the shoulders 18 ride is spaced from the interior surface of the left hand wall 38 of the casing by a distance slightly greater than the distance from the shoulder 18 to the tip of the writing ball 22 in order to prevent the writing ball from contacting the inner surface of the left end wall 38. This arrangement prevents the balls from pressing against the wall 38 while they are held in the magazine and thereby preserves freshness of the cartridges. It will be appreciated that this axial leftwardly locating effect for the cartridges can be secured by having only one rib 44 positioned to be abutted by the shoulders 18 and having the other rib dimensioned and located to engage a portion of the ink tubes forward of the pinches 16. However, I have found it convenient to make the two left hand ribs 44 transversely registered so that they both are adapted to be engaged by the shoulders 18.

The leaf spring 28 is made from an elongated narrow shaped strip of thin resilient material such, for instance, as spring Phosphor bronze or spring steel. In its relaxed, i.e. idle, position, the leaf spring 28 assumes the configuration of a V with a rounded bottom 46, i.e. retroverted Ibend, such as shown, for example, in FIG. 5. When the leaf spring is in position (its method of introduction into the casing will be described in detail hereinafter) the tips of the legs of the leaf spring are spread apart and bear against the internal surface of the bottom wall 36 as shown, for example, in FIG. 2. The bend 46 is more or less centrally disposed between the walls 38, 40 and bears against the underside of the lowermost cartridge in the stack whereby to bias the stack upwardly. The spring is so dimensioned, i.e. is of such a height in idle position (shown in FIG. 5), that it will bias the lowermost cartridge upwardly even when this lowermost cartridge is the last, i.e. the uppermost, cartridge in the stack. As the cartridges are dispensed, the spring reverts more closely to its unbiased state, with the tips of its legs approaching one another. When the magazine is full the tips of the legs are Widely spread apart.

I provide a dispensing aperture 48 at the upper left hand corner of the dispensing casing, to wit, at the upper end of the left end wall 38. The top side of this dispensing aperture is in line with, i.e., in the same plane as the internal flat surface of the narrow top wall 34. The sides of the dispensing aperture are substantially in the same planes as the internal surfaces of the flat broad front and rear walls 3t), 32 so that the dispensing aperture can fully accommodate the maximum transverse dimension of an ink tube, to Wit, at the pinch 16. The height of the dispensing aperture is at least equal to its width but is less than one and one-half times its Width, whereby the height of the dispensing aperture can accommodate the maximum transverse dimension of an ink tube but is not large enough to permit ejection of the next-to-the-top cartridge in the stack. it thus will be seen that the dispensing aperture is in axial alignment with the uppermost cartridge in the stack when said cartridge is in its normal position pressed against the top wall of the casing by the spring 28 and that said dispensing aperture properly disposed to permit free ejecting passage of said uppermost cartridge therethrough when the cartridge is moved in an axial direction toward the left hand side of the dispenser.

A highly simplified arrangement is included to permit an axial ejecting force to be applied to the uppermost cartridge in the stack. Inasmuch as the cost of the dispenser preferably should be held to a minimum since the sales price of a full magazine should be about equal to the price of the cartridges alone, it is desirable to enable the axial force to be applied without the interposition of any moving mechanical elements such, for instance, as a slider. To this end I form an ejecting notch 52 at the upper right hand corner of the casing (at the end opposite the dispensing aperture). Said notch exposes the interior of the casing by in part eliminating the right hand end of the top wall 34 and in part eliminating the upper end of the right end wall 40. Phrased differently, the notch 52 is so located as, in effect, to constitute a removal of the upper part of the right end wall and the right part of the top wall.

The length of said notch in a direction parallel to the top Wall is not particularly critical; it is only necessary that it be somewhat longer than the thickness of the front wall 38. Nevertheless, I prefer that the length of the ejecting notch be at least in the neighborhood of about one-quarter to one-half inch longer than the thickness of the front wall so that the length of the uppermost cartridges which will project from the magazine upon initiation of dispensing will be sutficient to be grasped between a persons fingers.

The height of the notch, that is to say, the vertical height of the internal surface of the casing which is ex,- posed by the notch 52 at the right hand wall 40, is a substantial fraction of the diameter of an ink tube. Preferably such height of the notch is between one quarter and the full diameter of an ink tube. Particularly satisfactory results are obtained when the height of the notch is about equal to one-half of the diameter of the ink tube whereby the upper half of the rear (right hand) end of the uppermost cartridge in the stack will be exposed above the cut away top of the right end wall 40.

To dispense a cartridge the user presses a finger, most usually his thumb, against the exposed rear end of the uppermost cartridge 12 in the magazine and pushes to- 'ward the left. The fleshy portion of the tip of his finger may be pressed against the back of the uppermost cartridge to provide the required axial leftward thrust. Alternatively a fingernail may be pressed against the exposed rear surface of the uppermost cartridge in the stack and pressed toward the left. In this fashion the uppermost cartridge in the stack will be pushed toward the left a distance equal to the horizontal length of the ejecting notch 52 whereby a considerable portion of the front end of this uppermost cartridge will protrude from the dispensing aperture 48 as shown in FIG. 1. This protruding front end then will be grasped between the users fingers and pulled out of the magazine.

It may be observed that during the aforesaid action a leftward force is exerted by the leftwardly moving uppermost cartridge in the stack on the next lowermost cartridge in the stack due to frictional contact between these two cartridges; however this next to the uppermost cartridge is prevented from being dispensed by the fact that it is not in alignment with the dispensing aperture and by the leftward checking movement of the ribs 44 at least one of which will be engaged by the shoulder 18 of this next to the uppermost cartridge.

As soon as the uppermost cartridge has been withdrawn ah the cartridges remaining in the stack will shift upwardly by a distance equal to the diameter of one ink tube so that the next to the uppermost cartridge now is pressed against the inner surface of the top wall 34 and becomes the uppermost cartridge. The remaining cartridges will assume a relationship parallel to the uppermost cartridge due to the fact that the biasing spring 28 presses against the lowermost cartridge intermediate the ends thereof so that any skewing action of the cartridges which would make them assume a position parallel to the top Wall is overcome.

It is highly desirable to provide the magazine with an indicator which enables the user to ascertain visually how far the stack of cartridges has been depleted whereby he need not wait until the very last cartridge is dispensed before he purchases a fresh magazine or refills the par tially exhausted magazine. Such indication could be provided by fabricating the casing from a synthetic plastic which is transparent or translucent so that the approximate number of cartridges remaining within the magazine could be seen at a glance; however this arrangement is aesthetically undesirable since it also would expose to view the leaf spring 28. i

To avoid such exposure, particularly in a full magazine on public dispiay for sale I provide an alternate and particularly simple indicating means constituting one or more open windows 54, in one or both, and preferably both, the front and rear walls. The open windows have a substantial vertical extent that terminates at the top near about the next to the top cartridge and at the bottom near about the next to the bottommost cartridge. The width of the open windows may vary considerably in order to secure any desired appearance.

It will be appreciated that the width merely need be suflicient to expose to view cartridges within the magazine; but in order to serve other functions, I prefer to provide open windows in registration in the front and back walls which windows individually are at least wide enough for the user to insert the tip of a finger into the same. Optionally, two such open windows may be provided in each of the front and rear Walls. By including the open windows not only am I able to provide an indication of the number of cartridges left in the magazine and reduce the quantity of plastic employed, but I also permit a user to grasp the cartridges in a stack through the windows and depress the entire stack against the leaf spring whereby to leave a clear space above the uppermost cartridge in the stack into which, if desired, the user can slip fresh cartridges and thereby replenish the magazine. The fresh cartridges are introduced ball point first through the ejecting notch and after sufficient c'artridges have been fully inserted manual pressure on the stack is released and the spring 28 will bring the cartridges into parallelism with the newly uppermost cartridge pressing against the top wall of the casing.

Although the foregoing method can be utilized for initially filling the magazines at the factory I prefer to use another and simpler method. One such other method consists in inserting a full complement of cartridges into either half of the casing which is provided with a peripheral flange and before the other half of the casing is mounted thereon. Thus while the front, for example, half of the casing is off and the rear half is in the position shown in FIG. 2 a group of cartridges is placed in the rear half and the spring flexed and set into position. Thereafter the front half is mounted on the rear half.

Another method of loading, and the one which 1 pre-' fer, is to intergage the two halves of the casing while both halves are empty, that is to say, while there are in the casing, neither cartridges nor spring. Then, before the spring is inserted, a set of cartridges are thrust, one after the other, through the ejection notch 52 ball point foremost in the direction of the left end wall 38.

In order to predetermine the maximum number of cartridges that can be loaded in the magazine I provide a horizontal stop nib 56 which is parallel to the bottom wall 36 and is spaced above the same. The rib starts at the left end wall 38 and extends toward the right end wall 40 but only runs for a short distance, e.g. one-quarter to one-half inch. The stop rib is located diagonally opposite to the ejection notch 52 and will determine the lowest position of the ball point end of the bottom cartridge inserted into the ejection notch when the magazine initially is being filled. It will be appreciated that cartridge after cartridge may be inserted until the space within the casing from the stop rib 56 to the top wall 34 is filled.

Thereafter the spring 28 is inserted in the clear space which remains at the bottom of the interior of the casing. The spring is introduced through an insertion aperture 58 adjacent a bottom corner and in the left end wall 38. Either end of the spring is first introduced up to the bend 46, then the bend is forced through the aperture 58 and the other end is pushed into the casing. The spring is of the proper size so that at this time when it is spread the most it will extend all the way across the bottom of the casing and thereby will be automatically substantially self-centering.

Inasmuch as the stop rib 56 is below the bottom edges of the open windows 54 the highest point of the spring which is the bend 46 will be concealed by the opaque material of the front and rear walls. The spring will be visible subsequently after several cartridges have been dispensed but this is not considered detrimental.

Attention is drawn to the fact that by locating the insertion aperture 58 in a position in which it is beneath the stop rib 56 any possible interference between the end of the spring being introduced and the lowermost cartridge in the stack is prevented. Moreover, by having the rib 56 adjacent the left end wall of the casing in which wall the dispensing aperture 48 is located there is no chance that the end of the spring being introduced can mutilate the writing ball of the lowermost cartridge.

Attention further is drawn to the fact that the spring inserting aperture 58 has a height which is less than the diameter of the point 20 of the cartridge whereby even if the stop rib 56 is made short so that the aperture 58 is accessible to the ball point of the lowermost cartridge, said point cannot protrude therethrough. Furthermore, it will be observed that the height of the rib 56 is, or if two registered ribs 56 are provided on the front and rear walls their combined heights are, such that the effective breadth of the interior space thereat is less than the diameter of the point whereby to enable said rib or ribs to function as stops.

It thus will be seen that I have provided a magazine which achieves the several objects of my invention, and which is well adapted to meet the demands of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter illustrated or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be considered as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A magazine for successively singly dispensing therefrom the uppermost cartridge of a stack of vertically registered ball point cartridges contained therein, wherein each of the cartridges constitutes an ink tube having a pinch intermediate its ends and having a point of smaller diameter extending forwardly from the front end of the ink tube and defining a shoulder in conjunction with the ink tube, the front end of the point being provided with a writing ball, said pinch having at least one transverse dimension exceeding the maximum transverse dimension of the balance of the ink tube: said magazine comprising, a hollow rectangular casing of opaque material having a front wall, a rear wall, a top wall, a bottom wall and two end walls, the interior of said casing defining a high thin long hollow rectangular space in which said stack is located, the dimension of said space between the front and back walls slightly exceeding the maximum transverse dimensions of the pinches, the dimension of said space between the end walls slightly exceeding the lengths of the cartridges and the dimension of the space between the top and bottom walls substantially exceeding the combined maximum transverse dimensions, exclusive of the pinches, of all the ink tubes in the stack, at least the front or back Wall of the casing being provided with a different rib near each end wall and extending in a direction having a substantial component parallel thereto, one rib being located nearer the rear ends than the front ends of the cartridges in the stack and the other rib being located nearer the front ends than the rear ends of said cartridges, the lib nearer the rear ends reducing the internal dimension of the space between the front and back walls to a dimension slightly in excess of the maximum transverse dimensions of the ink tubes exclusive of the pinches, the other rib reducing the internal dimension of the space between the front and back walls to a dimension slightly in excess of the maximum transverse dimension of the cartridges in the region of said other rib, said other rib being located for abutment by the shoulders of the cartridges with the ball points spaced from the adjacent end wall of the casing, the upper ends of said ribs terminating short of the upper wall by a distance at least about equal to the diameter of an ink tube, one end wall of the casing being provided with a dispensing aperture adjacent the top wall and in axial alignment with the uppermost cartridge, said dispensing aperture having a size and shape to freely pass a cartridge therethrough, said casing further being provided with an ejecting notch in the top wall and in the other end wall which ejecting notch exposes the rear end and a portion of the side of the uppermost cartridge in the stack for access to a users finger for the direct manual application of forward thrust on said cartridge, and a leaf spring constituting two legs joined by a bend, said leaf spring being located with its ends spread and engaging the internal surface of the bottom wall of the casing and with its bend pressing against the lowermost cartridge in the stack intermediate the ends thereof, at least one window being provided in the front wall and in the rear wall, said windows being coextensive at least to a substantial extent, each window being at least large enough to admit the tip of a users finger whereby a user may manipulate cartridges in the stack through the windows to depress the stack and leave a space to receive fresh cartridges inserted through the ejecting notch, said casing further including a stop rib adjacent and spaced from the bottom wall and near one of the end walls to define between it and the internal surface of the topwall the complete space for recciving cartridges, said casing having a spring inserting aperture in one of the end walls near the bottom wall, said spring inserting aperture being in the end wall near which the stop rib is located.

2. A magazine for successively singly dispensing therefrom the uppermot cartridge of a stack of vertically registered ball point cartridges contained therein, wherein each of the cartridges constitutes an ink tube having a pinch intermediate its ends and having a point of smaller diameter extending forwardly from the front end of the ink tube and defining a shoulder in conjunction with the ink tube, the front end of the point being provided with a writing ball, said pinch having at least one transverse dimension exceeding the maximum transverse dimension of the balance of the ink tube: said magazine comprising, a hollow rectangular casing having a front wall, a rear wall, a top wall, a bottom wall and two end walls, the interior of said casing defining a high thin long hollow rectangular space in which said stack is located, the dimension of said space between the front and back walls slightly exceeding the maximum transverse dimensions of the pinches, the dimension of said space between the end walls slightly exceeding the lengths of the cartridges and the dimension of the space between the top and bottom walls substantialy exceeding the combined maximum transverse dimensions, exclusive of the pinches, of all the ink tubes in the stack, at leat the front or back wall of the casing being provided with a different rib near each end wall and extending in a direction having a substantial component parallel thereto, one rib being located nearer the rear ends than the front ends of the cartridges in the stack and the other rib being located nearer the front ends than the rear ends of said cartridges, the rib nearer the rear ends reducing the internal dimension of the space between the front and back walls to a dimension slightly in excess of the maximum transverse dimension of the ink tubes exclusive the pinches, the other rib reducing the internal dimension of the space between the front and back walls to a dimension slightly in excess of the maximum transverse dimension of the cartridges in the region of said other rib, said other rib being located for abutment by the shoulders of the cartridges with the ball points spaced from the adjacent end wall of the casing, the upper ends of said ribs terminating short of the upper wall by a distance at least about equal to the diameter of an ink tube, one end wall of the casing being provided with a dispensing aperture adjacent the top wall and in axial alignment with the uppermost cartridge, said dispensing aperture having a size and shape to freely pass a cartridge therethrough, said casing further being provided with an ejecting notch in the top wall and in the other end wall which ejecting notch exposes the rear end and a portion of the side of the uppermost cartridge in the stack for access to a users finger for the direct manual application of forward thrust on said cartridge, and a leaf spring constituting two legs joined by a bend, said leaf spring being located with its ends spread and engaging the internal surface of the bottom wall of the casing and with its bend pressing against the lowermost cartridge in the stack intermediate the ends thereof, at least one window being provided in the front wall and in the rear wall, said windows being coextensive at least to a substantial extent, each window being at least large enough to admit the tip of a users finger whereby a user may manipulate cartridges in the stack through the windows to depress the stack and leave a space to receive fresh cartridges inserted through the ejecting notch, said casing further including a stop rib adjacent and spaced from the bottom wall and near one of the end walls to define between it and the internal surface of the top wall the complete space for receiving cartridges, said casing having a spring inserting aperture in one of the end walls near the bottom wall said spring inserting aperture being in the end wall, near which the stop rib is located.

3. A magazine for successively singly dispensing therefrom the uppermost cartridge of a stack of vertically registered ball point cartridges contained therein, wherein each of the cartridges constitutes an ink tube having a pinch intermediate its ends and having a point of small diameter extending forwardly from the front end of the ink tube and defining a shoulder in conjunction with the ink tube, the front end of the point being provided with a writing ball, said pinch having at least one transverse dimension exceeding the maximum transverse dimension of the balance of the ink tube: said magazine comprising, a hollow rectangular casing having a front wall, a rear wall, a top wall, a bottom wall and two end walls, the interior of said casing defining a high thin long hollow rectangular space in which said stack is located, the dimension of said space between the front and back walls slightly exceeding the maximum transverse dimensions of the pinches, the dimension of said space between the end walls slightly exceeding the lengths of the cartridges and the dimension of the space between the top and bottom walls substantially exceeding the combined maximum transverse dimensions, exclusive of the pinches, of all the ink tubes in the stack, at least the front or back wall of the casing being provided with a different rib near each end wall and extending in a direction having a substantial component parallel thereto, one rib being located nearer the rear ends than the front ends of the cartridges in the stack and the other rib being located nearer the front ends than the rear ends of said cartridges, the rib nearer the rear ends reducing the internal dimension of the space between the front and back walls to a dimension slightly in excess of the maximum transverse dimensions of the ink tubes exclusive of the pinches, the other rib reducing the internal dimension of the space between the front and back walls to a dimension slightly in excess of the maximum transverse dimension of the cartridges in the region of said other rib, one end wall of the casing being provided with a dispensing aperture adjacent the top wall and in axial alignment with the uppermost cartridge, said dispensing aperture having a size and shape to freely pass a cartridge therethrough, said casing further being provided with an ejecting notch in the top wall and in the other end wall which ejecting notch exposes the rear end and a portion of the side of the uppermost cartridge in the stack for access to a users finger for the direct manual application of forward thrust on said cartridge, and a leaf spring constituting two legs joined by a bend, said leaf spring being located with its ends spread and engaging the internal surface of the bottom wall of the casing and with its bend pressing against the lowermost cartridge in the stack intermediate the ends thereof, at least one window being provided in the front wall and in the rear wall, said windows being coextensive at least to a substantial extent, each window being at least large enough to admit the tip of a users finger whereby a user may manipulate cartridges in the stack through the windows to depress the stack and leave a space to receive fresh cartridges inserted through the ejecting notch, said casing further including a stop rib adjacent and spaced from the bottom wall and 11 near one of the end walls to define between it and the internal surface of the top wall the complete space for receiving cartridges, said casing having a spring inserting aperture in one of the end walls near the bottom wall, said spring inserting aperture being in the end wall near which the stop rib is located.

4. A magazine for successively singly dispensing therefrom the uppermost cartridge of a stack of vertically registered ball point cartridges contained therein, wherein each of the cartridges constitutes an ink tube having a pinch intermediate its ends and having a point of smaller diameter extending forwardly from the front end of the ink tube and defining a shoulder in conjunction with the ink tube, the front end :of the point being provided with a writing ball, said pinch having at least one transverse dimension exceeding the maximum transverse dimension of the balance of the ink tube: said magazine comprising, a hollow rectangular casing having a front wall, a rear wall, a top wall, a bottom wall and two end walls, the interior of said casing defining a high thin long hollow rectangular space in which said stack is located, the dimension of said space between the front and back walls slightly exceeding the maximum transverse dimensions of the pinches, the dimension of said space between the end walls slightly exceeding the lengths of the cartridges and the dimension of the space between the top and bottom walls substantially exceeding the combined maximum transverse dimensions, exclusive of the pinches, of all the ink tubes in the stack, at least the front or back wall of the casing being provided with a different rib near each end wall and extending in a direction having a substantial component parallel thereto, one rib being located nearer the rear ends than the front ends of the cartridges in the stack and the other rib being located nearer the front ends than the rear ends of said cartridges, the rib nearer the rear ends reducing the internal dimension of the space between the front and back walls to a dimension slightly in excess of the maximum transverse dimensions of the ink tubes exclusive of the pinches, the other rib reducing the internal dimension of the space between the front and back walls to a dimension slightly in excess of the maximum transverse dimension of the cartridges in the region of said other rib, one end wall of the casing being provided with a dispensing aperture adjacent the top wall and in axial alignment with the uppermost cartridge, said dispensing aperture having a size and shape to freely pass a cartridge therethrough, said casing further being provided with an ejecting notch in the top wall and in the other end wall which ejecting notch exposes the rear end and a portion of the side of the uppermost cartridge in the stack for access to a users finger for the direct manual application of forward thrust on said cartridge, and means biasing the lowermost cartridge in the stack toward the top wall, at least one window being provided in the front wall and in the rear wall, said windows being coextensive at least to a substantial extent, each window being at least large enough to admit the tip of a users finger whereby a user may manipulate cartridges in the stack through the windows to depress the stack and leave a space to receive f-resh cartridges inserted through the ejecting notch, said casing further including a stop rib adjacent and spaced from the bottom wall and near one of the end Walls to define between it and the internal surface of the top wall the complete space for receiving cartridges.

5. A magazine for successively singly dispensing therefrom the uppermost cartridge of a stack of vertically registered ball point cartridges contained therein, wherein each of the cartridges constitutes an ink tube having a pinch intermediate its ends and having a point of smaller diameter extending forwardly from the front end of the ink tube and defining a shoulder in conjunction with the ink tube, the front end of the point being provided with a writing ball, said pinch having at least one transverse dimension exceeding the maximum transverse dimension of the balance of the ink tube: said magazine comprising,

a hollow rectangular casing having a front wall, :a rear Wall, a top wall, a bottom wall and two end walls, the interior of said casing defining a high thin long hollow rectangular space in which said stack is located, the dimension of said space between the front and back walls slightly exceeding the maximum transverse dimensions of the pinches, the dimension of said space between the end walls slightly exceeding the lengths of the cartridges and the dimension of the space between the top and bottom walls substantially exceeding the combined maximum transverse dimensions, exclusive of the pinches, of all the ink tubes in the stack, at least the front or back wall of the casing being provided with a different rib near each end wall and extending in a direction having a substantial component parallel thereto, one rib being located nearer the rear ends than the front ends of the cartridges in the stack and the other rib being located nearer the front ends than the rear ends of said cartridges, the rib nearer the rear ends reducing the internal dimension of the space between the front and back walls to a dimension slightly in excess of the maximum transverse dimensions of the ink tubes exclusive of the pinches, the other rib reducing the internal dimension of the space between the front and back walls to a dimension slightly in excess of the maximum transverse dimension of the cartridges in the region of said other rib, one end wall of the casing being provided with a dispensing aperture adjacent the top wall and in axial alignment with the uppermost cartridge, said dispensing aperture having a size and shape to freely pass a cartridge therethrough, said casing further being provided with an ejecting notch in the top wall and in the other end wall which ejecting notch exposes the rear end and a portion of the side of the uppermost cartridge in the stack for access to a users finger for the direct manual application of forward thrust on said cartridge, and means biasing the lowermost cartridge in the stack toward the top wall, at least one window being provided in the front wall and in the rear wall, said windows being coextensive at least to a substantial extent, each window being at least large enough to admit the tip of a users finger whereby a user may manipulate cartridges in the stack through the windows to depress the stack and leave a space to receive fresh cartridges inserted through the ejecting notch.

6. A magazine for successively singly dispensing therefrom the uppermost cartridge of a stack of vertically registered ball point cartridges contained therein, where in each of the cartridges constitutes an ink tube having a pinch intermediate its ends and having a point of smaller diameter extending forwardly from the front end of the ink tube and defining a shoulder in conjunction with the ink tube, the front end of the point being provided with a writing ball, said pinch having at least one transverse dimension exceeding the maximum transverse dimension of the balance of the ink tube: said magazine comprising, a hollow rectangular casing having a front wall, a rear wall, a top wall, a bottom wall and two end walls. the interior of said casing defining a high thin long hollow rectangular space in which said stack is located, the dimension of said space between the front and back walls slightly exceeding the maximum transverse dimensions of the pinches, the dimension of said space between the end walls slightly exceeding the lengths of the cartridges and the dimension of the space between the top and bottom Walls substantially exceeding the combined maximum transverse dimensions, exclusive of the pinches, of all the ink tubes in the stack, at least the front or back wall of the casing being provided with a different rib near each end wall and extending in a direction having a substantial component parallel thereto, one rib being located nearer the rear ends than the front ends of the cartridges in the stack and the other rib being located nearer the front ends than the rear ends of said cartridges, the rib nearer the rear ends reducing the internal dimension of the space between the front and back walls to a dimen- 13 sion slightly in excess of the transverse dimensions of the ink tubes exclusive of the pinches, the other rib reducing the internal dimension of the space between the front and back walls to a dimension slightly in excess of the maximum transverse dimension of the cartridges in the region of said other rib, one end wall of the casing being provided with a dispensing aperture adjacent the .top Wall and in axial alignment with the uppermost cartridge, said dispensing aperture having a size and shape to freely pass a cartridge therethroug h, said casing further being provided with an ejecting notch in the top wall and in the other end wall which ejecting notch exposes .the rear end and a portion of the side 01 14 the uppermost cartridge in the stack for access to a users finger for the direct manual application of forward thrust on said cartridge, and means biasing the lowermost cartridge in the stack toward .the top wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

Claims (1)

1. 6. A MAGAZINE FOR SUCCESSIVELY SINGLY DISPENSING THEREFROM THE UPPERMOST CARTRIDGE OF A STACK OF VERTICALLY REGISRERED BALL POINT CARTRIDGES CONTAINED THEREIN, WHEREIN EACH OF THE CARTRIDGES CONSTITUTES A INK TUBE HAVING A PINCH INTERMEDIATE ITS ENDS AND HAVING A POINT OF SMALLER DIAMETER EXTENDING FORWARDLY FROM THE FRONT END OF THE INK TUBE AND DEFINING A SHOULDER IN CONJUCTION WITH THE INK TUBE, THE FRONT END OF THE POINT BEING PROVIDED WITH A WRITING BALL, SAID PINCH HAVING AT LEAST ONE TRANSVERSE DIMENSION EXCEEDING THE MAXIMUM TRANSVERSE DIMENSION OF THE BALANCE OF THE INK TUBE: SAID MAGAZINE COMPRISING, A HOLLOW RECTANGULAR CASING HAVING A FRONT WALL, A REAR WALL, A TOP WALL, A BOTTOM WALL AND TWO END WALLS. THE INTERIOR OF SAID CASING DEFINING A HIGH THIN LONG HOLLOW RECTANGULAR SPACE IN WHICH SAID STACK IS LOCATED, THE DIMENSION OF SAID SPACE BETWEEN THE FRONT AND BACK WALLS SLIGHTLY EXCEEDING THE MAXIMUM TRANSVERSE DIMENSIONS OF THE PINCHES, THE DIMENSION OF SAID SPACE BETWEEN THE END WALLS SLIGHTLY EXCEEDING THE LENGTHS OF THE CARTRIDGES AND THE DIMENSION OF THE SPACE BETWEEN THE TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS SUBSTANTIALLY EXCEEDING THE COMBINED MAXIMUM TRANSVERSE DIMENSIONS, EXCLUSIVE OF THE PINCHES, OF ALL THE INK TUBES IN THE STACK, AT LERAST THE FRONT OR BACK WALL OF THE CASING BEING PROVIDED WITH A DIFFERENT RIB NEAR EACH END WALL AND EXTENDING IN A DIRECTION HAVING A SUBSTANTIAL COMPONENT PARALLEL THERETO, ONE RIB BEING LOCATED NEARER THE REAR ENDS THAN THE FRONT ENDS OF THE CARTRIDGES IN THE STACK AND THE OTHER RIB BEING LOCATED NEARER THE FRONT ENDS THAN THE REAR ENDS OF SAID CARTRIDGES, THE RIB NEARER THE REAR ENDS REDUCING THE INTERNAL DIMENSION OF THE SPACE BETWEEN THE FRONT AND BACK WALLS TO A DIMENSION SLIGHTHLY IN EXCESS OF THE MAXIMUM TRANSVERSE DIMENSIONS OF THE INK TUBES EXCLUSIVE OF THE PINCHES, THE OTHER RIB REDUCING THE INTERNAL DIMENSION OF THE SPACE BETWEEN THE FRONT AND BACK WALLS TO A DIMENSION SLIGHTLY IN EXCESS OF THE MAXIMUM TRANSVERSE DIMENSION OF THE CARTRIDGES IN THE REGION OF SAID OTHER RIB, ONE END WALL OF THE CASING BEING PROVIDED WITH A DISPENSING APERTURE ADJACENT THE TOP WALL AND IN AXIAL ALIGNMENT WITH THE UPPERMOST CARTRIDGE, SAID DISPENSING APERTURE HAVING A SIZE AND SHAPE TO FREELY PASS A CARTRIDGE THERETHROUGH, SAID CASING FURTHER BEING PROVIDED WITH AN EJECTING NOTCH IN THE TOP WALL AND IN THE OTHER END WALL WHICH EJECTING NOTCH EXPOSES THE REAR END AND A PORTION OF THE SIDE OF THE UPPERMOST CARTRIDGE IN THE STACK FOR ACCESS TO A USER''S FINGER FOR THE DIRECT MANUAL APPLICATION OF FORWARD THRUST ON SAID CARTRIDGE, AND MEANS BIASING THE LOWERMOST CARTRIDGE IN THE STACK TOWARD THE TOP WALL.

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