WO1980001369A1

WO1980001369A1 - Pen which also may house a stamp or some other object

Info

Publication number: WO1980001369A1
Application number: PCT/SE1980/000004
Authority: WO
Inventors: T Swensson
Original assignee: T Swensson
Priority date: 1979-01-05
Filing date: 1980-01-04
Publication date: 1980-07-10
Also published as: GB2050255A; NO794301L; DE3026917A1; FI794072A; GB2050255B

Abstract

Pen having a pen body member which has an upper portion (2) substantially rectangular in shape and a lower portion (3) substantially circular in section, these portions being eccentrically disposed relative to each other such that a well defined transition is generated between them. In said transition is provided an opening (7) in which a catch provided at a resilient tongue (21) of a sliding member (20) may engage, said catch (22) thus being easy to reach. The sliding member holds the writing implement such as a refill and the catch in cooperation with the opening holds the refill in writing position. An opening (6) in the wider portion of the pen may cooperate with a second catch (11) to hold the sliding member in a position in which the refill is retracted into the pen body member. The wider portion of the pen body member may house a foldable stamp (8) the handle (9) of which having the latter catch (11). The foldable stamp further has secured to the handle thereof a resilient protection tongue for the stamp plate.

Description

Pen which also may house a stamp or some other object.

This invention refers to a pen, which also may include or house a stamp or some other object.

The object of the present invention is to design a pen, which may be conveniently carried also in the pocket of a thin shirt due to a substantially flat shape, but which also has a gripping portion of substantially circular section and an operating means to retract the writing implement such as a refill, such means being so located that it may be reached by using the perception of touch, i.e. without the need for observing the pen.

A further object is to make the structure very simple and to reduce the risk for writing fatigue by giving the hand alternative gripping facilities. Another object is to design the pen so as to house a preferably foldable item such as a stamp, which may be taken out from the pen by operation of a latching means or the like.

To accomplich these and other objects, the invention has the characteristics disclosed in the claims.

The accompanying drawing shows an examplifying embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through a pen combined with a stamp having the refill in the operative position thereof; Fig. 2 is a section along line 11-11 in Fig. 1;

Fig 3 is a perspective view of the stamping unit of the stamp pen removed from the pen and in the operative position thereof; and finally,

Fig. 4 is an end view of the pen body member.

The pen according to the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing as a stamp pen, comprising a pen body member having the general designation 1, The upper portion of the pen body member has a substantially rectangular section. Said rectangular portion is designated by reference numeral 2 In Fig. 4. The lower portion 3 of the pen body member has, as seen In Fig. 4 a substantially circular section. As the portion having the circular section has a largest diameter substantially corresponding to the narrow part of the rectangular portion, It is understood that hereby a pen body member is obtained, which is very convenient to handle as the diameter must not exceed approximately 9 mm, which is less than for the most handy and neat pen. The upper portion of the pen body member has a first hollow part 4 of substantially rectangular section and a second hollow part 5 of circular section. Further, the pen body member has an upper opening 6 and a lower opening 7 for purposes to be described.

Additionally, the stamp pen has a stamp unit, generally designated by reference numeral 8, comprising a handle 9 having a resilient tongue 10 terminating In a catch 11. The tongue and the catch are preferably integrally formed with the rest of the handle and said handle and the stamp holder and pen body member as well as a sliding member, to be described, are preferably made from a convenient plastic material, such as an acetale plastic material, at least for the handle and the sliding member. The stamp handle is to be pivotably connected to a stamp holder and for this purpose, the handle is provided with two elongated side portions 12 in the embodiment shown, to define resilient legs provided with journalling holes 13. Further, a recess 14 is made in the handle for a purpose to be described.

Said stamp holder 16 is of a substantially rectangular section and has two journalling pins 17 to engage the holes 13 in the handle 9 to pivotally connect the portions to each other. Means a re provided to hold the handle and the stamp holder in the operative position Illustrated in Fig. 3 and preferably also In the folded position shown in Fig. 1 and 2. As the side portions 12 are resiliently shaped, It is understood that the handle and the stamp holder may be easily connected to each other by urging the side portions somewhat away from each other such that the pins 17 of the stamp holder may be inserted Into said holes 13. By providing recesses 18 in the edge portions of the holder, into which the side portions 12 may snap when the stamp is in the position shown in Fig. 3, an arresting or holding In said position would be obtained, but by providing the legs 12 with thickened, substantially rectangular end portions 19 said arresting action mentioned above is obtained for the handle In relation to the holder in both end positions.

The stamp holder has the shape of an open box, and a stamping plate 18 is fitted thereinto, made from a so called micro-porous material, which is furthermore elastically compressible. Such microporous rubber plates may hold stamping Ink and give it off by printing so that ten thousands of prints may Be provided by one single filling. The material is also such, that the stamping ink does not dry under the influence of air.

The pen also comprises a sliding member, generally designated by reference numeral 20. Similarly to the handle portion 9, said sliding member has a resilient tongue 21 terminating in a catch 22. Similarly to the tongue 10, the tongue 21 is attached in the lower end thereof according to Fig., which results in that the latching action is enforced upon increasing load as the torque, exerted upon the catch, tends to swing the tongue in a direction increasing the grip. Further, the sliding member has a guide means 23 to frictionally hold a ball point refill 24 or some other writing implement. Said guide preferably has a recess having somewhat inwardly directed beads so that the refill may be snapped into the recess sideways. In order to limit the swinging movement of the tongue 21, the catch, has side projections 25.

A helical spring 26, one end thereof abutting a flange Inside the pen body member and frictionally holding the same, rests with the opposite end thereof against a flange of the ball point refill or against the sliding member in case such a flange is missing, and also has a frictional grip with the refill and/or the sliding member.

The pen described operates In the following manner;

When it is desired to use the pen, it is only necessary to press the pen handle portion projecting from the pen body member, which, as may be seen in Fig. 1 and 2, serves as a knob for bringing the writing refill to and out of the operating positions. From a position In which the sliding member 20 engages the holder 16, said sliding member will thereby be downwardly displaced, whereby the catch 22 thereof comes Into latching engagement with the opening 7. Thereby, the writing refill is fixed in the operative position thereof, shown in Fig, 1 and 2.

When it is desired to use the stamp, the handle portion is seized at the same time as the finger presses the catch 11 into the pen body member. Hereby, the handle portion may be outwardly pulled. Thereafter, the stamp is removed out from the pen body member and is ready for use. As the stamping plate is inked, as previously mentioned, the desired number of prints may be made. At the same time the writing refill is in the operative position thereof, and the pen may be used completely independantly of the stamp. When the stamp action is completed, the process is performed in the opposite order.

In order to bring the writing refill into the inoperative or idle position, naturally, it is sufficient to press in the catch 22. Thereby, the spring 26 will bring the sliding member and consequently also the writing refill upwardly until the catch 11 of the handle portion engages the opening 6.

It is understood that only the lower opening 7 is used when the refill is to be retracted into the pen body member and since this opening is easily accessible In the transition between the wider and more narrow portion of the pen, the refill may be retracted also without looking at the pen.

It has been found that the shape of the described pen offers highly significant advantages from a writing point of view. The plausible explanation thereto, is that the pen body member by virtue of the asymmetric shape has a different balance depending upon how the pen is gripped, i.e. in case the pen is gripped, for example, so that the left portion of the wider portion thereof, as seen in Fig. 2, is facing upwardly and in case the pen is so gripped, respectively, that the mentioned portion is facing downwardly, and facing intermediate positions, respectively. As the hand changes grips around the pen, writing fatigue is effectively prevented and the handy shape makes the pen very easy to write with.

Naturally, the portions of the stamp plate to leave the prints must extend to a plane, which in the operative position of the stamp lies below the lower plane of the stamp holder and said portions of the stamp could thereby engage the interior of the pen body member. In order to prevent this, the legs 12, are so wide, as may be seen in Fig. 1, that the stamping surface in the position according to said Fig. is located in a plane which in said Fig. is located to the left of the plane through the right edge portions of the legs.

In order to protect the stamping plate, a resilient tongue 30, according to Fig. 3, is attached to the stamp handle. By the resilient structure of the tongue this one is swung outwardly and defines an elastical support, when the stamp handle according to Fig. 3 is unvolded to the stamp position.

As mentioned, the described pen is very simple to produce and use but, in order that the pen may function and operate in the intended manner, it is required that the refill may not unintentionally be brought along with the stamp out of the pen body member. This is obtained by connecting the spring 26 with, frictional force to the sliding member or the refill as well as to the pen body member. Hereby, it is necessary to release, by means of an object, such as another refill, inserted through the opening 7, the unit formed by the sliding member 20, the spring 26, and the refill 24 from the pen body member in order to remove the same. Naturally, other solutions to said problem are also possible,

In case the pen is not combined with a stamp or a similar object, the sliding member is elongated so that it also comprises the resilient tongue 10, 11 and a portion projecting from the upper end of the pen body member as seen in the Fig. Thus, such a pen comprises, besides from a spring and a ball point pen refill, two portions, i.e. the pen body member 1 and the elongated sliding member just mentioned.

Claims

1. Pen, characterized in that it comprises a pen body member (1) having a more narrow, lower portion (3) of substantially circular section and a wider, upper portion (2) of substantially rectangular section having a thickness substantially corresponding to the larger diameter of the lower portion and the wider portion thereof has a considerably larger dimension than the larger diameter of the lower portion, whereby the more narrow portion of the pen body member is excentrically located in relation to the wider portion thereof in such a manner that a clearly defined transition is formed between said more narrow and wider portions, and a sliding member (20) is disp l aceably mounted in the pen body member and holds a refill (24) or some other writing implement, said sliding member being provided with a latching tongue (21) having av catch (22) in the free end thereof to engage an opening (7) in the transition between the more narrow and wider portions thereof, and that a spring (26) is mounted to press the sliding member in a direction opposite to the feeding direction of the writing means.

2. Pen according to claim 1, characterized in that the pen body member (1) has a second opening (6) in the upper wider portion thereof and a second resilient latching tongue (10) provided with a catch (11) to engage said opening, said tongue being connected to means (8) displaceably mounted in the wider portion of the pen body member, the axial distance between the openings being so selected that the latter catch will not latchingly engage an edge portion of the pen body member limiting the opening of the wider portion of the pen body member until the writing means has been brought to the retracted position thereof, by operation of the spring and when said first mentioned catch has been inwardly pressed.

3. Pen according to claim 1, characterized in that the means (8) displaceably located in the wider portion of the pen body member is integrally made with the sliding member (20).

4. Pen according to claim 1, characterized in that the means, which is displaceably mounted In the wider portion of the pen body member, comprises a stamp Including a stamp holder (16) provided with a stamp plate and a handle (9) pivotally connected to said stamp holder, that the stamp with the holder (16) in the folded position approximately parallel to the handle (9) and partially received therein, may be axially Inserted Into the pen body member (1) by the end thereof opposite to the writing point, and that the stamp handle at a distance to the free end thereof forms a resilient tongue (10) said tongue having In the free end thereof a catch (11) to latchingly engage the opening (6) or similar means in the wider portion of the pen Body member or the like and that said catch is located more close to the upper end of the handle than the attachment point of the tongue, whereby the free end of the stamp handle, when the stamp is Inserted into the pen body member (1) with a portion thereof and defines an operating means for bringing the sliding member to the operative and inoperative positions, respectively.

5. Pen according to claim 4, characterized in that the stamp handle and the stamp holder have interengaging holding means (18, 19) to hold or stop the handle in relation to the holder in the operative position, i.e. when the handle is outwardly folded approximately perpendicular to the stamp holder and/or when the handle is downwardly folded approximately parallel to the stamp holder and that the stamp holder (16) has journal ling pins (17) and the handle has legs (12) provided with journal ling holes (13) for said pins, said legs being resilient in order to permit outward bending for releasable connection of the stamp holder.

6. Pen according to claims 4 - 5, characterized in that the stamp holder (16) holds a so called selfinking stamp plate, and that the legs (12) of the stamp handle have such a width and the journal ling holes (13) are so located, that the stamp plate will, when the stamp holder (16) is folded into the handle (9), have the printing surface thereof located In a lower plane than one edge portion of said legs.

7. Pen according to claims 1 - 6, characterized in that the spring (26) frictionally grips on one hand the refill (24) and/or the a sliding member (20) and on the other hand engages the interior of the pen body member (1) and that the frictional grip between the spring and the pen body member preferably is less than the grip between the spring and the refill and/or the sliding member (20).

8. Pen according to claim 4, characterized in that one end of a protecting tongue ( ) is attached to the stamp handle (9), which, when the holder is folded into the handle, covers the operative printing surface of the stamp plate and is so resilient that when outwardly folding the holder said tongue is swung outwardly by the short side of the holder and projects obliquely outside the holder.