US3827469A

US3827469A - Pencil sharpener

Info

Publication number: US3827469A
Application number: US00360794A
Authority: US
Inventors: W Moebius
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: FA MOBIUS T DT
Priority date: 1972-05-20
Filing date: 1973-05-16
Publication date: 1974-08-06
Anticipated expiration: 1991-08-06
Also published as: DE2224888B2; JPS549095B2; FR2185512B1; ES191560U; ATA443173A; AU5557373A; HK24076A; FR2185512A1; BE799712A; AU504158B2; ES191560Y; NL7306315A; FI56792B; FI56792C; JPS4955430A; AT347815B; DE2224888A1; CH548873A; DE2224888C3; LU67580A1

Abstract

A pencil sharpener is formed of a housing with an opening in its surface and a cover extending across and closing the opening. A sharpening member is secured to the cover and extends inwardly into the housing so that a pencil to be sharpened has its longitudinal axis extending transversely of the cover. The cover is elastically deformable in the direction transverse to the direction of insertion of a pencil into the sharpening member so that any force exerted on a pencil in such transverse direction will be absorbed by the cover and will not result in damage to the pencil. The elastic deformation can be provided by the use of an elastically deformable material for the cover and, further, by shaping the cover, such as with grooves, so that it deforms elastically in the desired direction.

Description

[ 1 Aug.6, 1974 PENCIL SHARPENER [75] Inventor: Werner Mobius, Erlangen, Germany [73] Assignee: Firma T. Paul Mobius, Erlangen,

Germany 22 Filed: May 16, 1973 211 Appl. No.: 360,794

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data May 20, 1972 Germany 2224888 [52 US. Cl. l45/3.3, 145/361 [51] Int. Cl B43] 23/08 [58] Field of Search l45/3.l-3.9

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1.810.285 6/1931 Luppert 145/331 2.502.177 3/1950 Sigman 145/36 2.613.645 10/1952 Von Kameniczky l44/28.ll

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 922.876 1/1955 Germany 144/28.1 601.043 8/1934 Germany 145/332 1,308,686 10/1962 France 145/331 Primary ExaminerAl Lawrence Smith Assistant Examiner-J. T. Zatarga Attorney, Agent, or FirmToren, McGeady and Stanger 5 7] ABSTRACT A pencil sharpener is formed of a housing with an opening in its surface and a cover extending across and closing the opening. A sharpening member is secured to the cover and extends inwardly into the housing so that a pencil to be sharpened has its longitudinal axis extending transversely of the cover. The cover is elastically deformable in the direction transverse to the direction of insertion of a pencil into the sharpening member so that any force exerted on a pencil in such transverse direction will be absorbed by the cover and will not result in damage to the pencil. The elastic deformation can be provided by the use of an elastically deformable material for the cover and, further, by shaping the cover, such as with grooves, so that it deforms elastically in the desired direction.

13 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures f j 7 ll j PENCIL SHARPENER SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a pencil sharpener and, more particularly, it concerns an elastically deformable member through which the pencil is inserted into the sharpener.

Generally speaking, in a pencil sharpener a sharpening member is fixed to and extends inwardly from a cover into a housing so that the housing collects the shavings from a pencil as it is sharpened. During sharpening, the housing is held in one hand and a pencil is held in the other and inserted into the sharpener. During insertion of the pencil, especially with inept or hasty handling, the pencil may be moved transverse to its longitudinal direction, that is transverse to the longitudinal axis of the sharpening member. As a rule, such transverse movements of the pencil cause its tip to be broken-off so that the sharpening step must be repeated. When a pencil has to be resharpened under such circumstances it is both bothersome and time-consuming and results in a premature consumption of the pencil.

Therefore, it is the primary object of the present invention to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages in a pencil sharpener by using a sharpener construction which at least reduces the danger of breaking off pencil tips and further affords an inexpensive sharpener which can be easily produced.

In accordance with the present invention, the sharpener housing has an opening closed by a cover member from which a sharpening member extends into the interior of the housing. The cover is elastically deformable so that it absorbs any forces extending transversely of the longitudinal direction of the pencil inserted into the sharpening member. In a preferred form of the invention, the cover is made of an elastic material and, in addition, it is shaped to provide further elastic absorption of transverse forces. The shaping of the cover may be effected by forming curvilinear or angularly surfaced grooves in the surface of the cover between the point of attachment of the sharpening member and its outer edge or rim which is fitted to the housing. In another embodiment, the outer surface of the cover has a convex or conical shape. In still another embodiment the cover can be provided with one or more areas of reduced strength or reduced cross-section.

Covers formed in accordance with the invention are easy to manufacture at low cost. Preferably, the covers are molded or extruded from a plastic of adequate elasticity. The elastic characteristic of the cover in the transverse direction to a pencil inserted into the sharpening member can be selected with respect to its dimensions and design so that, on one hand, any transverse forces are elastically absorbed and inadvertent breaking off of a pencil tip is prevented or at least the likelihood is reduced, and, on the other hand, the cover is adequately secured to the sharpener housing.

The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a pencil sharpener embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top or end view of the sharpener shown in FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 3 to 6 illustrate transverse sectional views of a number of embodiments of covers for the pencil sharpener which are formed in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In FIGS. 1 and 2 a pencil sharpener embodying the present invention is illustrated and it includes a housing 1 in which the pencil shavings are collected and an.

opening in one end of the housing is closed by a cover 2 with the cover being fitted into or onto the housing or being screwed to it. A sharpening member 4 is secured to the cover by screws 3 and extends into the interior of the housing. An opening 5 is located centrally in the cover for inserting a pencil into the sharpening member 4. A pencil 12 is shown in dot-dash lines inserted through the opening 5 into the sharpening member 4 and the longitudinal axis of the pencil extends parallel to the central longitudinal axis 6 of the housing and transversely of the surface of the cover 2. If, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sharpening member 4 is arranged exactly centrally of the cover 2 and of the housing 1, the longitudinal axis of the pencil l2 coincides with the longitudinal axis 6 of the housing.

To avoid or at least to reduce the harmful effect of forces acting transversely of the longitudinal axis of the pencil, as indicated by the arrows A, B in FIG. 1, the cover 2 is arranged so that it elastically absorbs forces acting in the transverse direction. To provide the cover with its desired resilient characteristic, it is formed of an elastic material and, in addition, an annular groove 7 is provided in the outer edge or rim portion of the cover, that is the portion fitted into the housing. As displayed in FIG. 2, the groove 7 extends inwardly from the surface of the cover extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the pencil and the housing, and the groove is located between the circumferential peripheral edge of the cover and its point of attachment to the sharpening member 4. Further, the groove 7 extends annularly as a complete circle about the longitudinal axis of the housing. Instead of a single groove formed in the rim portion of the cover, one or more grooves or corrugations 8,v 9 can be formed in the surface of the cover between the opening through which the pencil is inserted and the rim portion fitted to the housing. In FIG. 3, the surface 8 of the cover is corrugated or curvilinear while in FIG. 4 the surface 9 of the cover is composed of angular surfaces forming grooves of rectangular cross-section. The grooved surfaces of the cover in FIGS. 3 and 4 provide a tortuous configuration to the cross-section of the cover between the pencil opening and the rim portion. If only a single groove or corrugation is formed in the cover, it is advisable to position it, as in FIG. 1, near the rim of the cover since such a configuration can be favorably produced in forming the cover of extruded plastic. Preferably, the corrugations or

grooves

8, 9 in FIGS. 3 and 4 are annular in form and disposed concentrically about the longitudinal axis of the housing.

In FIG. 5 another embodiment of the cover 2 formed of an elastic material is shown with the outwardly directed surface of the cover having an arch-like or convex shape. With such an arrangement the shape of the cover and the material from which it is formed permit it to absorb transverse forces elastically. In FIG. 6 still another embodiment of the cover is shown in which areas i1 located intermediate the pencil opening and the rim portion in the outer surface of the cover have a reduced cross-sectional shape, that is an area which is relatively weaker than the remainder of the cover for affording elastic deformability.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the inventive principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.

I claim:

1. A pencil sharpener of the type for sharpening both the lead and removing and trimming the wooden shank enclosing the lead, said sharpener including a housing having an opening, a cover forming a closure for the opening in said housing and having an opening for the insertion of a pencil, a pencil sharpening member secured to said cover and extending into the interior of said housing, said sharpening member having an axis extending approximately perpendicularly to the plane of the housing opening and centrally of the opening in said cover, the sharpening surface of said sharpening member being located on and extending along the central axis of the opening in said cover, said cover and said sharpening member being arranged so that a pencil can be inserted through said cover opening into said sharpening member with the pencil extending approximately perpendicularly of the plane of the opening of said housing and along the axis of the opening, wherein the improvement comprises that the axis of the sharpening surface of said sharpening member is maintained in and extends along the axis of the opening in said cover and said cover is elastically deformable in the plane of the opening of said housing, said cover absorbing forces acting on and directed transversely of the longitudinal axis of a pencil inserted into said sharpening member, said sharpening member being displaceable with said cover when said cover is elastically deformed.

2. A pencil sharpener, as set forth in claim 11, wherein said cover is formed of an elastic material.

3. A pencil sharpener, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said cover member has a first portion extending across the opening in said housing and the outer surface of said first portion is convex.

4. A pencil sharpener, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said cover member has a first portion extending across the opening in said housing and said first portion has an annular shaped reduced strength portion as compared to the remainder of said first portion.

5. A pencil sharpener, as set forth in claim 4, wherein said annular shaped reduced strength portion has a reduced thickness and is located intermediate. the radially inner edge and the radially outer edge of said first portion.

6. A. pencil sharpener, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said cover formed of an elastic material is shaped to provide additional elastic deformability.

7. A pencil sharpener, as set forth in claim 6, wherein at least a portion of the surface of said cover in the plane of the opening it closes has a tortuous configuration.

8. A pencil sharpener, as set forth in claim 6, wherein said cover member has a first portion extending generally in the plane of the opening it closes and a second portion forming a peripheral rim about and extending angularly from the radial outer edge of said first portion, and a groove formed inwardly from the plane of said first portion into said second portion with said groove extending in the direction of insertion of a pencil into said sharpening member.

9. A pencil sharpener, as set forth in claim 8, wherein said groove extends annularly through the surface of said first portion of said cover.

10. A pencil sharpener, as set forth in claim 6, wherein said cover member has a first portion extending generally in the plane of the opening it closes and a second portion forming a peripheral rim about and extending angularly from the radially outer edge of said first portion, and grooves extending transversely of the radial direction of said cover and said grooves formed into the surface of said first part of said cover radially inwardly from said second portion.

11. A pencil sharpener, as set forth in claim 10, wherein the surfaces of said grooves are disposed angularly to one another and form a tortuous configuration on the surface of the first portion of said cover.

12. A pencil sharpener, as set forth in claim 10, wherein the surface of said grooves have a curvilinear form and provide a tortuous configuration on the surface of said first portion of said cover.

13. A pencil sharpener, as set forth in claim 110, wherein said grooves extend continuously and concentrically in the surface of the first portion of said cover. l

Claims

2. A pencil sharpener, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said cover is formed of an elastic material.

5. A pencil sharpener, as set forth in claim 4, wherein said annular shaped reduced strength portion has a reduced thickness and is located intermediate the radially inner edge and the radially outer edge of said first portion.

6. A pencil sharpener, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said cover formed of an elastic material is shaped to provide additional elastic deformability.

13. A pencil sharpener, as set forth in claim 10, wherein said grooves extend continuously and concentrically in the surface of the first portion of said cover.