US3274976A

US3274976A - Multiple pen comprising a plurality of writing points of different colors

Info

Publication number: US3274976A
Application number: US419063A
Authority: US
Inventors: Levoin Francis
Original assignee: REAL PATENTAUSWERTUNGS ANSTALT
Current assignee: REAL PATENTAUSWERTUNGS ANSTALT
Priority date: 1964-06-27
Filing date: 1964-12-17
Publication date: 1966-09-27
Anticipated expiration: 1983-09-27
Also published as: GB1020978A; AT271262B; DE1257633B; CH399953A; DE1561783A1

Description

Sept. 27, 1966 F. LEVOIN 3,274,976

MULTIPLE PEN COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF WRITING POINTS OF DIFFERENT COLORS Filed Dec. 17, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F/'g.5 Fig.4

[AMA/a: [[Vonv ATTORNEY INVENTOR.

F. LEVOIN 3,274,976 MULTIPLE PEN COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF WRITING Sept. 27, 1966 POINTS OF DIFFERENT COLORS 2 Sheets-$heet 2 Filed Dec. 17, 1964 INVENTOR [RA/Wm Z EVU/A/ BY q M W ATTORNEY United States Patent M stein Filed Dec. 17, 1964, Ser. No. 419,063 Claims priority, application Switzerland, June 27, 1964, 8,474/ 64 4 Claims. (Cl. 120-42.13)

The present invention relates to a multiple pen comprising a plurality of writing points of different colors and means for bringing the desired point to the writing position by compressing the associated coaxial spring and automatically retracting all the other points.

The pen of the invention is characterized in that each writing point has the upper free end of its ink tube provided with a pushbutton fixed thereto and protruding from the pen cap portion, said pushbutton being provided, towards the inside of the pen, with projections and cavities adapted to cooperate with cavities and projections of an inner blocking member or the like which is common to all the push buttons and is capable of performing an elastic torsional movement, the cavities and the projections of the push buttons and of the blocking member being so shaped and arranged that, in the first portion of the down stroke of a push button which is originally in rest position, said member, by rotating releases all the remaining pushbuttons and hence also the one which in that moment is in writing position, urging the last one to go back to its rest position. In the successive stroke portion, on the contrary, the blocking member resiliently extends to reassume its normal position in which it holds the pushbutton down for the writing.

In order that invention may be fully and clearly understood the same will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred, non-limitative embodiment of a four color pen. The number of the colors may obviously vary from a minimum of two to any number which is merely limited by the overall dimensions of the pen.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an axial section of a pen with the left writ ing point in writing position and the right one retracted or in rest position.

FIG. 2 is the side view of a push button only.

FIG. 3 is the front view on the pushbutton of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a plan view on the pushbutton of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is the cross section taken along the plane VV of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a view of the inner elastic block member with all its additional portions made in a single piece which is molded from elastic synthetic material.

FIG. 7 is a cross section of the piece of FIG. 6 taken along the plane 7-7.

FIG. 8 is a section of the piece of FIG. 6 taken along the cross plane 8--8 FIGS. 90, 9b, 9c, 9d show different positions the two push buttons of FIG. 1 take while the right (in FIG. 1) writing point passes from the rest to its writing position.

FIG. 10a is a cross section of FIG. 9a taken along the plane 10a10a.

FIG. 10b is a cross section of FIG. 9b taken along plane 10-12-1012.

FIG. 100 is a cross section of the FIG. 90 taken along the plane 10'c-10c.

FIG. 10d is a cross section of FIG. 9d taken along the plane Hid-10d.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1: the pen of this embodiment comprises four writing points, only two of which, namely points 1 and 3, are visible in FIG. 1,

3,274,976 Patented Sept. 27, 1966 while the remaining ones are disposed in the

holes

6 and 8 of the drum 9 shown in FIG. 8.

Each writing point is fixed at its upper end to a small tube 1012 et-c. filled with ink, which carries at its upper end a push button 15-17 protruding from the cap portion 19 of the pen.

Each push button, for instance pushbutton 17 (FIGS. 2 and 3), is provided with

projections

21, 22, 23 directed towards the inside of the pen and defining

cavities

24, 25 which are adapted to cooperate with the cavities 26 and projections 27 (FIGS. 6 and 7) of the blocking member located in the inside of the pen.

Said blocking member affects with its cavities 26 and projections 27 all the pushbuttons and is capable of an elastic torsional movement imparted thereto from the torsion bar 30 (FIG. 6) that is fixed to or, even better, is formed in a single piece with the member and has, at its upper end, a cylindrical portion 31 and, at its lower end, a drum 9 as is clearly represented in FIGS. 6 and l.

The

springs

32, 34, etc. which are coaxial with the

small tubes

10, 12 etc. press with their upper ends 32',

34 against the base of the corresponding pushbutton and,

with their lower ends, 32", 34 against the drum 9.

Going back to FIG. 2 and 3, note the particular form of the projections of each pushbutton and especially of the central projection 22 which performs the most important function.

Said central projection 22 is provided at its lower end with an inclined plane 22 which causes the rotational movement of the blocking member and hence the torsional movement of the torsion bar 30* when the pushbutton passes from its highest position i.e. of rest to the lower Writing position.

During this displacement of the pushbutton, the lower inclined surface 22 of the central projection 22 comes across a projection 27 of the blocking member and dis places the same thereby urging the member to rotate in an anticlockwise sense while the abovementioned projection 22 slides within the cavity 26 to reach its lowest possible position.

The operation of the pen of the invention is as follows: let us assume that the pushbutton 15 (FIG. 1) is pressed down so that the corresponding point 1 is in writing position and that the point 3, which is initially in its rest position, as are the other points, should now be brought into writing position. To this end it will suflice to press on the pushbutton 17 in the direction of the arrow 40 i.e. downwards so that its inclined surface 22' (FIG. 3) comes to abut against a projection 27 of the blocking. member, displacing the same, thereby urging the member to rotate in a clockwise sense (if one looks from below i.e. in the sense of the cross section of FIG. 7) and the bar 30 to perform a torsional movement.

As soon as the torsional bar 30 has completely performed its torsional movement the pushbutton 15 disengages from the projection 27 of the blocking member i.e. the projection 27 comes out from the corresponding cavity 24. As a result, by virtue of the expansion of the spring 32, the writing point 1 passes from the illustrated writing position to the upper rest position, thereby leaving the space free for the point 3 to emerge for writing. During this phase the whole projection 22 of the pushbutton 17 slides through the cavity 26 of the blocking member. Once the cavity 24 has been reached the blocking member may resiliently resume its initial position by rotating in a clockwise direction by virtue of the elastic extension of the torsion bar 30.

In this way the blocking member blocks the pushbutton 17 holding the same in the writing position while all the remaining pushbuttons are kept at rest.

To facilitate downward sliding movement each pushbutton is provided with projections 45 or equivalent knurlmgs.

By virue of the wedge like shape of the surfaces 21' and 22 (FIG. 3) this detail being of great importance, the wedging action of the projections 27 is improved by increasing the pressure on the writing point.

On the other side, the cavity 23' of the lower projection 23 allows for the projection 27 to wedge in its rest position, thereby facilitating the sliding along the inclined surface 22' at the beginning of the movement which brings the push button down for writing.

The several components are each manufactured by pressing or molding from plastic material.

The pushbuttons are all identical to each other but differently colored in accordance to the color of the ink contained in the associated tube. Each pushbutton presents a lower shank 17 which is pressed on the upper end of the associated tube 12.

The blocking member may be formed in a single piece with its upper cylindrical portion 31, its torsion bar 30 and its bored drum 9 (FIG. 6), said piece being made of a material such as nylon or any other synthetic resin which is sufficiently resilient to undergo the elastic torsional movements but still sufficiently rigid to have the projections 27 act on the rigid surfaces of the corresponding projections of the pushbuttons.

The form of the various components of the pen of the invention may be varied as allowed by the appended claims without therefore departing from the spirit of the present invention.

The blocking member may be made of two or more elements although it is preferable to have it formed of a single piece.

What is claimed is:

1. A multiple pen comprising a plurality of elongated writing elements within an elongated casing, each said element having a point for writing with a diiferent colored ink, said elements being individually lengthwise reciprocable between extended Writing position and retracted position, resilient means continuously urging all said writing elements toward said retracted position, a blocking member rotatable about said axis and about which said writing elements are disposed, said blocking member having alternate cavities and projections about its periphery, each writing element having three inwardly extending projections spaced apart lengthwise along its upper end, the

upper two of said three projections being spaced apart by a first cavity and the lower two of said three projections being spaced apart by a second cavity, the upper and middle of said three projections having downwardly in clined lower surfaces that incline in the same direction, said downwardly inclined surface of said upper projection bearing against a blocking member projection when the associated writing element is in said writing position, said inclined surface of said middle projection bearing against a blocking member projection when the associated said element is in said retracted position, said inclined surfaces being directed in a sense to impose torque about said axis on said blocking member projections.

2. A pen as claimed in claim 1, the lowermost of said three projections having an upwardly opening recess therein for the reception of a projection of said blocking member.

3. A pen as claimed in claim 1, said blocking member comprising a unitary member including a torsion bar extending below said blocking member projections, and a lower drum having a plurality of bores therethrough for the reception of said elements, said blocking member projections and said drum being angularly displaceable relative to each other only by twisting of said torsion rod.

4. A pen as claimed in claim 1, the upper surface of said middle projection being inclined in the same sense as its under surface so as to wedge the associated blocking member projection upon the application of writing pressure to the tip of the extended writing element.

References Cited by the Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS 1,356,298 2/1964 France.

915,905 7/ 1954 Germany. 1,099,392 2/1961 Germany.

LAWRENCE CHARLES, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. A MULTIPLE PEN COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF ELONGATED WRITING ELEMENTS WITHIN AN ELONGATED CASING, EACH SAID ELEMENT HAVING A POINT FOR WRITING WITH AN DIFFERENT COLORED INK, SAID ELEMENTS BEING INDIVIDUALLY LENGTHWISE RECIPROCABLE BETWEEN EXTENDED WRITING POSITION AND RETRACTED POSITION, RESILIENT MEANS CONTINUOUSLY URGING ALL SAID WRITING ELEMENTS TOWARD SAID RETRACTED POSITION, A BLOCKING MEMBER ROTATABLE ABOUT SAID AXIS AND ABOUT WHICH SAID WRITING ELEMENTS ARE DISPOSED, SAID BLOCKING MEMBER HAVING ALTERNATE CAVITIES AND PROJECTIONS ABOUT ITS PERIPHERY, EACH WRITING ELEMENT HAVING THREE INWARDLY EXTENDING PROJECTIONS SPACED APART LENGTHWISE ALONG ITS UPPER END, THE UPPER TWO OF SAID THREE PROJECTIONS BEING SPACED APART BY A FIRST CAVITY AND THE LOWER TWO OF SAID THREE PROJECTIONS BEING SPACED APART BY A SECOND CAVITY, THE UPPER AND MIDDLE OF SAID THREE PROJECTIONS HAVING DOWNWARDLY INCLINED LOWER SURFACES THAT INCLINE IN THER SAME DIRECTION, SAID DOWNWARDLY INCLINED SURFACE OF SAID UPPER PROJECTION BEARING AGAINST A BLOCKING MEMBER PROJECTION WHEN THE ASSOCIATED WRITING ELEMENT IS IN SAID WRITING POSITION, SAID INCLINED SURFACE OF SAID MIDDLE PROJECTION BEARING AGAINST A BLOCKING MEMBER PROJECTION WHEN THE ASSOCIATED SAID ELEMENT IS IN SAID RETRACTED POSITION, SAID INCLINED SURFACES BEING DIRECTED IN A SENSE TO IMPOSE TORQUE ABOUT SAID AXIS ON SAID BLOCKING MEMBER PROJECTIONS.