US3837750A - Socket structure for the ball of a ball point pen refill - Google Patents
Socket structure for the ball of a ball point pen refill Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US3837750A US3837750A US00366855A US36685573A US3837750A US 3837750 A US3837750 A US 3837750A US 00366855 A US00366855 A US 00366855A US 36685573 A US36685573 A US 36685573A US 3837750 A US3837750 A US 3837750A
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- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- ball
- hardness
- vickers
- shell
- supporting shell
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Lifetime
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Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B43—WRITING OR DRAWING IMPLEMENTS; BUREAU ACCESSORIES
- B43K—IMPLEMENTS FOR WRITING OR DRAWING
- B43K1/00—Nibs; Writing-points
- B43K1/08—Nibs; Writing-points with ball points; Balls or ball beds
Definitions
- Sockets of this kind have in the past given a satisfactory account of themselves.
- metal compositions have become known which permit the quality and wearing properties of the writing points of ball point pen refills to be even further improved.
- this is achieved by providing a ball made of corundum contained in a compound bearing inside an external supporting shell, said compound bearing comprising a backing shell exceeding 800 kg/sq.mm Vickers in hardness, whereas an inner lining facing the ball is softer than 200 kg/sq.mm Vickers.
- the external supporting shell which exceeds the ball in size is provided with an electro-deposited nickel-tin layer which serves as a backing shell upon which a soft layer of silver is deposited to provide the inner lining.
- the combination of the proposed ball with a compound bearing firstly ensures excellent dimensional stability throughout the life of the point of the refill.
- the soft inner lining gives a soft writing touch.
- the socket for the ball 1 of a ball point pen refill comprises substantially an outer supporting shell 2, a backing bearing shell 3 and an inner lining shell 4.
- the material used for the inner shell 4 should have a hardness of less than 200 kg/sq mm Vickers, preferably between 80 and 120 kg/sq mm Vickers.
- the outer supporting shell 2 may be made of a substance selected from the group consisting of chromium, nickel, and an alloy containing at least one of the metals chromium and nickel and having a hardness in excess of 600 sq. mm Vickers. Such alloys may e.g., be:
- a chromium-iron alloy having from 10 to 20 percent by weight of iron and the remainder chromium.
- a chromium-tungsten alloy having from 30 to 40 percent by weight of tungsten and the remainder chromium.
- a nickel-chromium alloy having from 0.1-5 percent by weight of chromium and the remainder nickel.
- a tin-nickel alloy having from to 70 percent by weight of tin and the remainder nickel.
- a nickel-aluminum oxide alloy having from 0. l-lO percent by volume of A1 0 and the remainder nickel.
- a nickel silicon carbide alloy having from l-50 percent by volume of silicon carbide and the remainder nickel.
- the backing bearing shell 3 is applied to the supporting shell 2, a material being used for shell 3 which has a hardness in excess of 600 kg/sq. mm Vickers, when a single phase smooth hard layer is involved. When a multi-phase layer is involved, the hardest phase has a hardness in excess of 1,000 kg/sq. mm Vickers.
- a nickel-tin layer is electro-deposited onto the interior of the supporting shell 2.
- a large number of blanks for the points of ball point pen refills are thus treated in this way simultaneously. They are inserted from below into the upper part of a holder.
- the individual holes in the upper part for the reception of the points are fitted with sealing rings.
- This upper part contains a heating chamber through which all the inserted points pass.
- the heating chamber is connected by two pipes to a heat source. Principally this will be a source of hot steam.
- a bottom part which contains a hole for the reception of each point is now attached to the upper part.
- Each hole is open at its bottom end which has a reduced diameter. This end may also be a convergent cone. Seals between the points on the one hand and the upper and lower parts on the other hand ensure that the assembly formed by the upper and lower parts can be immersed in a bath without causing the exteriors of the points to be wetted.
- the assembly For performing the electro-deposition the assembly is suspended in a bath and vertically oscillated, preferably in the axial direction of the points. A bearing shell 3 will thus be deposited inside the outer supporting shell.
- the invention further proposes to deposit on the hard film of the backing shell 3 a further soft lining having a hardness of less than 200 kg/sq. mm.
- This softer layer consists of silver and improves the running-in properties besides lengthening the life of the bearing.
- a silver layer is selected which is free from hardening additives, for instance free from antimony, and which is deposited from a silver bath containing cyanide potassium hydroxide. The same method may be employed as that above described for applying the backing shell 3.
- the finished ball point, into which the ball 1 has been inserted can finally be subjected to a thermal treatment in vacuo or in a protective, i.e., inert atmosphere.
- This post thermal treatment consists in a heat treatment for an hour in a vacuum or in an inert atmosphere at a temperature of from 200 to 500 centigrades, preferably at a temperature of from 250-300 centigrades.
- the thermal treatment improves the bond between the several layers by fusion. The properties of the bearing may thus be further improved.
- allowance must be made for the contraction caused by the thermal treatment.
- the ball 1 must therefore be inserted prior to the heat treatment with a slightly greater clearance.
- a multi-layer bearing socket having an outer supporting shell comprising a substance selected from the group consisting of chromium, nickel, and an alloy containing at least one of the metals chromium and nickel and having a hardness exceeding 600 kg/sq.mm Vickers; a ball made of corundum and arranged inside said outer supporting shell; a compound bearing arranged on the inside of said outer supporting shell and comprising both a backing shell having a hardness exceeding 800 kg/sq.rnm Vickers; and also an inner lining adjacent to and directly facing said ball and having a hardness of less than 200 kg/sq.mm Vickers.
- the external supporting shell is of slightly greater dimensions than said ball and is provided with an electrodeposited nickel-tin layer forming said backing shell and with a soft silver film deposited on said backing shell and forming said inner bearing lining directly for said ball.
Abstract
A socket structure for a ball point refill, which comprises a ball made of corundum and arranged inside an outer supporting shell provided in its interior with a compound bearing consisting of a backing shell having a hardness exceeding 800 kg/sq.mm Vickers and an inner lining facing the ball and having a hardness of less than 200 kg/sq.mm Vickers.
Description
United States Patent [1 1 Herrnring [451 Sept. 24, 1974 SOCKET STRUCTURE FOR THE BALL OF A BALL POINT PEN REFILL [75] Inventor: Heinz Giinther Herrnring,
Alveslohe, Germany [73] Assignee: Montblanc-Simplo GmbI-I,
Hamburg, Germany [22] Filed: June 4, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 366,855
[52] U.S. CI. 401/216 [51] Int. Cl B43k 7/10 [58] Field of Search 401/216 [56] References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,108,400 8/1955 France 401/216 849,432 8/1960 Great Britain 40l/2l6 Primary ExaminerLawrence Charles Attorney, Agent, or Firm--Walter Becker [5 7] ABSTRACT 4 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure I SOCKET STRUCTURE FOR THE BALL OF A BALL POINT PEN REFILL The invention relates to a socket for the ball of a ball point pen refill comprising a multi-layer bearing socket having an outer supporting shell consisting of a high strength material having a high yield point in conjunction with an inner electrolytically or chemically deposited bearing liner consisting of chromium, nickel or an alloy containing one of these metals and having a hardness exceeding 600 kg/sq.mm Vickers.
Sockets of this kind have in the past given a satisfactory account of themselves. However, in the meantime metal compositions have become known which permit the quality and wearing properties of the writing points of ball point pen refills to be even further improved.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a writing point for a ball point pen refill which excels by its quality as a writing point and by its long useful life.
According to the invention this is achieved by providing a ball made of corundum contained in a compound bearing inside an external supporting shell, said compound bearing comprising a backing shell exceeding 800 kg/sq.mm Vickers in hardness, whereas an inner lining facing the ball is softer than 200 kg/sq.mm Vickers.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the external supporting shell which exceeds the ball in size is provided with an electro-deposited nickel-tin layer which serves as a backing shell upon which a soft layer of silver is deposited to provide the inner lining.
The combination of the proposed ball with a compound bearing firstly ensures excellent dimensional stability throughout the life of the point of the refill. On the other hand, the soft inner lining gives a soft writing touch.
Other details and features of the invention will become apparent from the following specification in connection with the accompanying Drawing illustrating a longitudinal section through the point according to the invention of a ball point pen refill.
The socket for the ball 1 of a ball point pen refill comprises substantially an outer supporting shell 2, a backing bearing shell 3 and an inner lining shell 4. The material used for the inner shell 4 should have a hardness of less than 200 kg/sq mm Vickers, preferably between 80 and 120 kg/sq mm Vickers. The outer supporting shell 2 may be made of a substance selected from the group consisting of chromium, nickel, and an alloy containing at least one of the metals chromium and nickel and having a hardness in excess of 600 sq. mm Vickers. Such alloys may e.g., be:
a. A chromium-iron alloy having from 10 to 20 percent by weight of iron and the remainder chromium.
b. A chromium-tungsten alloy having from 30 to 40 percent by weight of tungsten and the remainder chromium.
c. A nickel-chromium alloy having from 0.1-5 percent by weight of chromium and the remainder nickel.
d. A tin-nickel alloy having from to 70 percent by weight of tin and the remainder nickel.
e. A nickel-aluminum oxide alloy having from 0. l-lO percent by volume of A1 0 and the remainder nickel.
f. A nickel silicon carbide alloy having from l-50 percent by volume of silicon carbide and the remainder nickel.
It is, of course, to be understood that the above alloys may have minor negligible impurifications.
The backing bearing shell 3 is applied to the supporting shell 2, a material being used for shell 3 which has a hardness in excess of 600 kg/sq. mm Vickers, when a single phase smooth hard layer is involved. When a multi-phase layer is involved, the hardest phase has a hardness in excess of 1,000 kg/sq. mm Vickers. To this end, a nickel-tin layer is electro-deposited onto the interior of the supporting shell 2. A large number of blanks for the points of ball point pen refills are thus treated in this way simultaneously. They are inserted from below into the upper part of a holder. The individual holes in the upper part for the reception of the points are fitted with sealing rings. This upper part contains a heating chamber through which all the inserted points pass. The heating chamber is connected by two pipes to a heat source. Principally this will be a source of hot steam.
A bottom part which contains a hole for the reception of each point is now attached to the upper part. Each hole is open at its bottom end which has a reduced diameter. This end may also be a convergent cone. Seals between the points on the one hand and the upper and lower parts on the other hand ensure that the assembly formed by the upper and lower parts can be immersed in a bath without causing the exteriors of the points to be wetted.
For performing the electro-deposition the assembly is suspended in a bath and vertically oscillated, preferably in the axial direction of the points. A bearing shell 3 will thus be deposited inside the outer supporting shell.
In order even further to improve the properties of the socket in the ball point pen refill the invention further proposes to deposit on the hard film of the backing shell 3 a further soft lining having a hardness of less than 200 kg/sq. mm. This softer layer consists of silver and improves the running-in properties besides lengthening the life of the bearing. For this purpose a silver layer is selected which is free from hardening additives, for instance free from antimony, and which is deposited from a silver bath containing cyanide potassium hydroxide. The same method may be employed as that above described for applying the backing shell 3.
The finished ball point, into which the ball 1 has been inserted can finally be subjected to a thermal treatment in vacuo or in a protective, i.e., inert atmosphere. This post thermal treatment consists in a heat treatment for an hour in a vacuum or in an inert atmosphere at a temperature of from 200 to 500 centigrades, preferably at a temperature of from 250-300 centigrades. The thermal treatment improves the bond between the several layers by fusion. The properties of the bearing may thus be further improved. However, when the ball 1 is located by pinching the edges of the shells, allowance must be made for the contraction caused by the thermal treatment. The ball 1 must therefore be inserted prior to the heat treatment with a slightly greater clearance.
It is, of course, to be understood, that the present invention is, by no means, limited to the specific showing in the drawing, but also comprises any modification within the scope of the appended claims.
What I claim is:
1. For use in connection with a ball point refill writing instrument, the combination of: a multi-layer bearing socket having an outer supporting shell comprising a substance selected from the group consisting of chromium, nickel, and an alloy containing at least one of the metals chromium and nickel and having a hardness exceeding 600 kg/sq.mm Vickers; a ball made of corundum and arranged inside said outer supporting shell; a compound bearing arranged on the inside of said outer supporting shell and comprising both a backing shell having a hardness exceeding 800 kg/sq.rnm Vickers; and also an inner lining adjacent to and directly facing said ball and having a hardness of less than 200 kg/sq.mm Vickers.
2. A combination according to claim 1, in which the external supporting shell is of slightly greater dimensions than said ball and is provided with an electrodeposited nickel-tin layer forming said backing shell and with a soft silver film deposited on said backing shell and forming said inner bearing lining directly for said ball.
3. A combination according to claim 1, in which said outer supporting shell consists of a heterogeneous aluminum multi-component bronze predominantly of copper.
4. In a method of treating a ball point refill having: a multi-layer bearing socket with an outer supporting shell comprising a substance selected from the group consisting of chromium, nickel and an alloy containing at least one of the metals, chromium and nickel, and having a hardness exceeding 600 kg/sq.mm Vickers, a ball made of corundum and arranged inside said outer supporting shell, and comprising a backing shell having a hardness exceeding 800 kg/sq.mm Vickers, and an inner lining in the form of a soft silver film adjacent to and facing said ball and having a hardness of less than 200 kg/sqmm Vickers, which includes the step improvement of: subjecting said ball point refill to a heat treatment so as to create both a good bond between the several shells and an increase in the hardness of said supporting shell by diffusion, and also a reduction in the hardness of said silver film.
Claims (4)
1. For use in connection with a ball point refill writing instrument, the combination of: a multi-layer bearing socket having an outer supporting shell comprising a substance selected from the group consisting of chromium, nickel, and an alloy containing at least one of the metals chromium and nickel and having a hardness exceeding 600 kg/sq.mm Vickers; a ball made of corundum and arranged inside said outer supporting shell; a compound bearing arranged on the inside of said outer supporting shell And comprising both a backing shell having a hardness exceeding 800 kg/sq.mm Vickers; and also an inner lining adjacent to and directly facing said ball and having a hardness of less than 200 kg/sq.mm Vickers.
2. A combination according to claim 1, in which the external supporting shell is of slightly greater dimensions than said ball and is provided with an electro-deposited nickel-tin layer forming said backing shell and with a soft silver film deposited on said backing shell and forming said inner bearing lining directly for said ball.
3. A combination according to claim 1, in which said outer supporting shell consists of a heterogeneous aluminum multi-component bronze predominantly of copper.
4. In a method of treating a ball point refill having: a multi-layer bearing socket with an outer supporting shell comprising a substance selected from the group consisting of chromium, nickel and an alloy containing at least one of the metals, chromium and nickel, and having a hardness exceeding 600 kg/sq.mm Vickers, a ball made of corundum and arranged inside said outer supporting shell, and comprising a backing shell having a hardness exceeding 800 kg/sq.mm Vickers, and an inner lining in the form of a soft silver film adjacent to and facing said ball and having a hardness of less than 200 kg/sq.mm Vickers, which includes the step improvement of: subjecting said ball point refill to a heat treatment so as to create both a good bond between the several shells and an increase in the hardness of said supporting shell by diffusion, and also a reduction in the hardness of said silver film.
Priority Applications (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US00366855A US3837750A (en) | 1973-06-04 | 1973-06-04 | Socket structure for the ball of a ball point pen refill |
| US05/809,941 US4139424A (en) | 1972-06-02 | 1977-06-24 | Socket structure for the ball of a ball point pen refill |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US00366855A US3837750A (en) | 1973-06-04 | 1973-06-04 | Socket structure for the ball of a ball point pen refill |
Related Child Applications (2)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| US45680674A Continuation-In-Part | 1972-06-02 | 1974-04-01 | |
| US456860A Continuation-In-Part US3928928A (en) | 1974-04-01 | 1974-04-01 | Audio visual memorial |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| US3837750A true US3837750A (en) | 1974-09-24 |
Family
ID=23444850
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| US00366855A Expired - Lifetime US3837750A (en) | 1972-06-02 | 1973-06-04 | Socket structure for the ball of a ball point pen refill |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| US (1) | US3837750A (en) |
Cited By (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US4061430A (en) * | 1972-06-02 | 1977-12-06 | Montblanc-Simplo Gmbh. | Socket structure for the ball of a ball point pen refill |
| US20080008520A1 (en) * | 2006-05-19 | 2008-01-10 | Sumita Pal | Nickel-boron coating applied to a ball bearing joint |
| JP2017094633A (en) * | 2015-11-26 | 2017-06-01 | ゼブラ株式会社 | Ball-point pen tip, manufacturing method of the same, and writing instrument including the same |
Citations (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR1108400A (en) * | 1954-07-06 | 1956-01-12 | Improvement in ballpoint writing devices | |
| GB849432A (en) * | 1957-01-05 | 1960-09-28 | Bruno V Zychlinski | Improvements in and relating to ball-point fountain pens |
-
1973
- 1973-06-04 US US00366855A patent/US3837750A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Patent Citations (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR1108400A (en) * | 1954-07-06 | 1956-01-12 | Improvement in ballpoint writing devices | |
| GB849432A (en) * | 1957-01-05 | 1960-09-28 | Bruno V Zychlinski | Improvements in and relating to ball-point fountain pens |
Cited By (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US4061430A (en) * | 1972-06-02 | 1977-12-06 | Montblanc-Simplo Gmbh. | Socket structure for the ball of a ball point pen refill |
| US20080008520A1 (en) * | 2006-05-19 | 2008-01-10 | Sumita Pal | Nickel-boron coating applied to a ball bearing joint |
| JP2017094633A (en) * | 2015-11-26 | 2017-06-01 | ゼブラ株式会社 | Ball-point pen tip, manufacturing method of the same, and writing instrument including the same |
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