US3648891A

US3648891A - Lead dispenser having slide actuated cover

Info

Publication number: US3648891A
Application number: US7930A
Authority: US
Inventors: Otto Katz; Werner Kranich
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Faber Castell AG
Priority date: 1970-02-02
Filing date: 1970-02-02
Publication date: 1972-03-14
Anticipated expiration: 1989-03-14

Abstract

A dispenser for long leads for mechanical pencils consisting of an outer casing having at least one open end, and an inner slide member which is guided by the casing and adapted to contain the leads and has a cover member pivotably connected to its open end which, when the slide member is being shifted toward the open end of the casing, is shifted outwardly of the casing and at the same time pivoted away from the then exposed parts of the leads.

Description

United States Patent Katz et al. Mar. 14, 1972 [54] LEAD DISPENSER HAVING SLIDE 3,070,260 12/1962 Smith ..221/l02 ACTUATED COVER 2,262,749 11/1941 Berwald.. ..229/l9 X ,9 2, 2 1119 4 L ..206 67 [72] Inventors: Otto Katz, Schwabach; Werner Kranich, 2 4 2 :3 at al 206/56 Q Roma], both of Germany [73] Assignee: A. W. Faber-Caste", Stein, Germany Primary Examiner-Samuel F. Coleman Assistant Examiner-David A. Scherbel [22] 1970 AttorneyRichards 8L Geier [21] App1.No.: 7,930

[57] ABSTRACT U.S. A dispenser for long leads for mechanical pencils consisting of Int. t ..B65d an outer casing having at least one open end a d an inner [58] Field 01 Search ..22l/99, 102, 190, 193, 268, u member which i guided by the casing and adapted to 2212247449 Z 206/16 16 contain the leads and has a cover member pivotably con- 6 l 229/9 20 nected to its open end which, when the slide member is being shifted toward the open end of the casing, is shifted outwardly [56] References cued of the casing and at the same time pivoted away from the then UNITED STATES PATENTS exposed parts of the leads. 1,978,497 10/ 1 934 Lind ..206/DIG. 32 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDMAR 14 I972 OTTc' Z WERNER KRANICH INVEN'IORS y; W a. A.

ATTORNEY:

LEAD DISPENSER HAVING SLIDE ACTUATED COVER The present invention relates to a container for black or colored leads for mechanical pencils in which the leads are held individually in grooves in a slide member at the inside of the container.

Among the many different kinds of lead containers as are presently known there is a primitive type which has a cap fitted over one open end of the container, and a rather complicated type from which the leads may be removed individually through an open end by means of a slide member. While the manipulation of the first type of these containers and the removal of individual leads therefrom is rather complicated, the second type is difficult to manufacture and also has the disadvantage that often it does not function properly.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a lead container which may be easily manufactured and also easily manipulated and will at all times function properly.

According to the invention this object is attained by providing the container in the form of an outer casing with at least one open end and a slide member in this casing which is guided thereby and provided in one side with longitudinal grooves each of which may contain at least one long head. This slide member is provided with a separate end or cover part which is pivotably connected by suitable hinge means to the slide member itself and has an end wall for normally preventing the leads from sliding out of the casing. The slide member is movable longitudinally through the open end of the casing for a limited distance which corresponds to the length of the pivotable cover part, and the two parts of the slide member are provided with associated cam means which pivot the cover portion to a position at right angles to the casing when the slide member is shifted forwardly. These cam means preferably consist of internal cam projections on the inner wall of the casing and of associated cam surfaces on the cover part which engage with and slide along the cam projections when the slide member is moved forwardly and thereby turn the cover part positively to its open position at a right angle to the casing. Since by this forward movement of the slide member the ends of the leads which were previously enclosed by the cover part project from the casing, they may be easily withdrawn individually.

The wall of the casing is further provided with at least one aperture through which a person holding the casing in one hand may press, for example, his thumb upon the slide member and push the same forwardly until its cover part is pivoted to its end position. For attaining a better grip upon the slide member through the aperture in the casing, this member is provided with transverse knurls or ribs, which preferably project slightly from the inside of the casing into the aperture so that the front and rear ribs may serve for the additional purpose of abutting against the front or rear end of the aperture so as to limit the extent of the forward and rearward movements of the slide member.

For guiding the slide member more accurately within the casing, the narrow longitudinal sides of the slide member or of the inner wall of the casing member may be provided with narrow sliding projections or sliding edges which are in sliding engagement with the smooth adjacent surfaces of the other member. Of course, the adjacent narrow surfaces of these two members may instead also be provided with corresponding guiding projections and recesses which slidably engage into each other.

The features and advantages of the present invention will become further apparent from the following detailed description thereof which is to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 shows a front view of the lead container in its opened or dispensing position and partly broken away for better illustration;

FIG. 2 shows a top view upon the opened front end of the lead container as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a longitudinal section of the lead container in the open position as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows a detail side view of the pivotable cover part of the slide member;

FIG. 5 shows a longitudinal section of the casing part of the lead container; while FIG. 6 shows a top view of the casing and of the cover part in its outwardly pivoted position.

As illustrated in the drawings, the lead container according to the invention comprises an outer casing l which may be open at both ends and one wider side wall of which is provided with an aperture 1 of a certain length. The lead container further comprises an inner part which is slidable longitudinally within the casing l and consists of a slide member.2 and a cover part 4 which is pivotably connected to slide member 2 by short hinge pins 6 which project inwardly from the free ends of the two side arms of the cover part 4 and engage into a pair of recesses in the front end of slide member 2. For guiding the slide member 2 as accurately and with as little friction as possible within the casing l, the inner surfaces of the narrow walls of the casing are provided with narrow guide ridges la. The other ends of these side arms of the cover part 4 are connected to each other by an angular part 4' which, when slide member 2 is retracted into casing l and the cover part 4 is pivoted upwardly, covers the front ends of the leads 5 which are deposited in longitudinal grooves in the rear side of slide member 2 and thus prevents these leads 5 from sliding out of these grooves. For pivoting the cover part 4 during the forward movement of slide member 2 from its position in straight alignment with the slide member to a position substantially at a right angle to the casing l and to slide member 2 so as to permit the individual leads 5 to be withdrawn from the container, the upper ends of the narrow side walls of easing l are provided with cam projections l" which are operatively associated with cam edges 4" on the side arms of the cover part 4. It is apparent that when the slide 2 is moved longitudinally to free the cover 4 there will be friction between the cam edges 4" and the cam projections 1" as the result of which a torque is produced which will swing the cover 4 into the perpendicular position shown in FIG. 3.

The outer side of slide member 2 opposite to the side containing the longitudinal grooves for the leads 5, that is the side of the slide member which frees the wall of easing l in which the aperture 1' is provided, has a plurality of transverse riblike knurls 3 which cover a part of the length of the slide member which corresponds to the length of the sliding movement of slide member 2 in casing 1. When the slide member 2 is in its retracted position and the casing l is held in one hand, the operator may press, for example, the thumb of the same hand through the aperture 1' upon the knurled part 3 of the slide member 2 and push the latter forwardly until the cover part 4 is pivoted outwardly and the leads 5 project from the casing 1 for the distance as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. The leads 5 may then be easily withdrawn individually from the container. At least the uppermost knurl 30 and the lowermost knurl 3a project slightly into the aperture 1' in the wall of easing l and serve additionally as stop means for limiting the extent of the forward and retracting movements of slide member 2 by abutting against the upper or lower edge of the aperture 1'.

The different parts of the lead container according to the invention may be made very easily and at a low cost in a mass production by being molded of a suitable plastic. At least the slide member 2 is preferably made of a transparent plastic so that, even when it is fully retracted into the casing 1, it is easily possible to see through the aperture 1' the color of the leads 5 which are deposited in the grooves in the rear side of slide member 2 and whether or not there are any leads still remaining in these grooves.

Although my invention has been illustrated and described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, I wish to have it understood that it is in no way limited to the details of such embodiment but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention, whatl claim is:

1. A lead container comprising an outer casing having at least one open end, an inner slide member longitudinally slidable in and guided by said casing and having at least one longitudinal recess in one side wall, said recess having one open end and adapted to contain a plurality of leads of a length exceeding the length of said slide member so as to project for a certain distance from said open end of said recess, a cover member pivotably connected to said slide member adjacent to its open end and adapted to be fully retracted with said slide member into said casing, and then to cover the projecting ends of said leads, and cam means on said casing for positively forcing said cover member to pivot from a first position substantially in straight alignment with said side member to a second position outside of the open end of said casing and at an angle to said casing and said slide member when said slide member is being moved in the direction toward said open end of said casing.

2. A lead container as defined in claim 1, in which said pivoting means comprise first cam means on said casing adjacent to its open end and second cam means on said cover member adapted to slide along said first cam means when said slide member is shifted toward said open end of said casing and thereby to pivot said cover member from said first position to said second position.

3. A lead container as defined in claim 1, in which one side wall of said casing is provided with an aperture through which a person holding said casing in one hand may press a finger upon said slide member and push the latter from its retracted position toward the open end of said casing and vice versa.

4. A lead container as defined in claim 3, in which the side wall of said slide member facing said aperture in said casing is provided with transverse knurls, at leas t the uppermost and the lowermost of said knurls projecting slightly into said aperture and being respectively adapted to abut against the upper and lower edge of said aperture so as to limit the extent of the forward and retracting movements of said slide member.

Claims

4. A lead container as defined in claim 3, in which the side wall of said slide member facing said aperture in said casing is provided with transverse knurls, at least the uppermost and the lowermost of said knurls projecting slightly into said aperture and being respectively adapted to abut against the upper and lower edge of said aperture so as to limit the extent of the forward and retracting movements of said slide member.