WO1991000810A1

WO1991000810A1 - Dual tip marking and writing instrument

Info

Publication number: WO1991000810A1
Application number: PCT/US1990/003884
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lee A. Carlson
Original assignee: Dennison Manufacturing Company
Priority date: 1989-07-13
Filing date: 1990-07-11
Publication date: 1991-01-24

Abstract

A writing instrument which can be used as a broad line marking instrument or as a fine line writing pen. The instrument has a marking nib (60) and a fine line writing nib (35) located at the same end of the instrument. The fine line writing nib is retractable and can be activated by the press of a button (45). When the fine line writing nib is retracted the instrument can be used as a conventional permanent marker or highlighting marker depending upon the type of ink employed. When the fine writing nib is activated, it protrudes through the marking nib and automatically locks into writing position. Only one protective cap (90) is needed to protect the nibs when the instrument is in nonuse.

Description

DUAL TIP MARKING AND WRITING INSTRUMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention.

The present invention relates to dual tip marking instruments. The invention relates to dual tip marking instruments wherein one tip is employed for broad line markings or highlighting and the other tip is employed for fine line writing.

2. Description of the Prior Art.

Marking pens which are used as permanent ink marking instruments or for highlighting text or other printed matter are well known in the industry. Permanent marking instruments normally contain a felt marking nib or a porous, typically sintered thermoplastic nib. One popular permanent marker has been available for many years under the trademark MARKS-A-LOT marker manufactured by Dennison Manufacturing Company, Framingham, Massachusetts. Other conventional markers are those which employ fluorescent ink which allows highlighting of text or printed material. One popular highlighting marker is sold under the trademark HI-LITER marker manufactured by Dennison Manufacturing Company. Marking pens of this type typically have a fibrous filler material which functions as the ink reservoir for the marker. The filler is connected at one end to the marking nib and ink is drawn by capillary action from the filler to the marking nib.

Different types of fine line writing instruments are also well known in the art. The ball point pen of course, is an example of a fine line writing pen in common use. Conventional ball point pens may typically be retractable. Although a number of retraction mechanisms are known in the art, a commonly employed retract mechanism utilizes the cam protract-retract mechanism described in U.S. patent 3,137,276. Other fine line writing instruments in current use are those which employ a roll-a-ball type nib or a thermoplastic porous writing nib as described in U.S. patent 3,942,903. The writing nibs described in this latter reference have the advantage that they can be molded easily and have good writing and strength characteristics resulting in part to the nearly perfect micro-porous spherical structure of the nib. Such nibs can be molded to greater widths and thicknesses so that they can be readily used as permanent marking or highlighting nibs as well.

Multi-cartridge ball point pens are also known. These pens allow the user¹to select the different color ink cartridge for example either blue or red in advance of using the pen as a writing instrument. Such a multifunctional writing instrument is desirable since it provides the user with more than one option in a single instrument. Another multifunctional writing instrument is available under the trademark MARKLITER from the Pilot Pen Company. This multifunctional pen has a cylindrical body and contains a highlighting marking nib on one end and a ball point fine line writing nib on the other end. Neither the marking nib nor the fine line writing nib is retractable into the MARKLITER instrument. Rather the marking nib and ball point writing nib are protected by removable caps which cover each nib at the respective ends of the instrument. When using the MARKLITER instrument the ball point protector cap can easily be misplaced or lost. In that case the protruding ball point nib could easily puncture a shirt pocket or cause ink marks if the pen were placed into a shirt pocket without the protector cap. The MARKLITER pen is also an inconvenient design. Neither the fine line writing nib nor the marking nib is retractable and the pen must be turned end to end in order to switch from fine line writing to marking and vise versa. Another prior art design has a marking nib and fine writing nib protruding from the same end of the pen but located adjacent to each other and spaced apart from one another. One such prior art pen is available under the trade name Staedtler TEXTAR fluorescent mark and write pen. Neither the marking nib nor writing nib in this pen is retractable. This type of dual functional pen is cumbersome and difficult to use because when the instrument is used, the marking nib obstructs the view of the writing nib and vice versa. The instrument is also bulky.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a multifunctional marking and writing instrument which includes both a marking nib and a fine line writing nib in the same instrument.

It is an important object of the present invention that the fine line writing nib be retractable into the body of the instrument so that it does not protrude from the instrument when in non-use. Another object of the invention is to provide a multipurpose marking and writing instrument wherein the marking nib and the fine line writing nib are located on the same end of the writing instrument.

It is an object to provide a multipurpose marking and writing instrument which allows convenient and efficient switching from marking mode to fine line writing mode. Another object is to provide a multipurpose marking and writing instrument which requires only one removable protective cap.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a hand held writing/marking instrument. The present instrument can be used both as a fine line writing pen or as a broad line marking or highlighting instrument. The user can switch from either the marking mode to fine line writing mode by a simple press of a button. The writing/marking instrument has a novel design wherein both the marking nib and fine line writing nib are located at the same end of the instrument. The fine line writing nib and accompanying ink cartridge is disposed along the central axis of the writing instrument within an elongated channel aperture running through the length of the instrument. The channel aperture also extends through the entire longitudinal length of the marking nib. The fine line writing nib can be activated by manually pressing a conventional protract-retract button at the opposite end of the instrument. When this is done, the fine line writing nib moves downward through the channel aperture until it protrudes through the tip of the marking nib. The fine line writing nib and accompanying cartridge is locked in place in this extended mode by a conventional protract-retract mechanism. The instrument may than be used as a fine line writing pen. The next manual depression of the protract- retract button causes the fine writing nib and accompanying cartridge to retract so that the fine writing nib retracts into the marking nib interior. The instrument contains a conventional filler reservoir material for the marking ink. The filler material is in contact with the marking nib so that ink is supplied from the filler to the marking nib in conventional manner by capillary action.

The present invention has the advantage that it locates the marking nib and fine line writing nib at the same end of the instrument. Thus, it requires only one cap in order to protect both the marking nib and writing nib simultaneously. Another advantage is that one can convert from a marking mode to a fine line writing mode at the simple press of a button without having to alter the instrument's position. Another important advantage of the present invention is that the fine writing nib is retractable so that it does not permanently protrude from the pen and therefore does not require a separate cap for protection. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a cutaway plan view of a perferred embodiment showing the writing/marking instrument of the invention.

Figure 2 is an end view of the embodiment shown in Figure 1 taken at the end of the writing/marking nibs.

Figure 3 is a cutaway plan view of an alternative perferred embodiment showing a barrier tube separating the fine line writing nib from the marking nib.

Figure 4 is an end view of the embodiment shown in Figure 3 taken at the end of the nibs.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the writing/marking instrument of Fig. 1 with protective cap.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The dual tip marking and writing instrument of the invention is composed of a unitary outer case 20 which is preferably of elongated cylindrical configuration. Outer case 20 may be of metal or plastic construction. Preferably outer case 20 is of conventional thermoplastic material which can be readily injection molded. Such plastic material for example may typically be polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinylchloride or any similar injection moldable plastic. The dual writing and marking instrument further includes an elongated ink filler core 40 disposed within case 20. A marking or highlighting nib 60 is attached to ink filler 40 at end A of case 20. Filler 40 is preferably of one piece construction and contains a hollow channel 28 which runs along the central axis of the filler, along the entire length of filler 40 as illustrated in Figure 1.

The elongated channel 28 is typically of cylindrical configuration but may be of any size and configuration to allow conventional ball pen cartridge to be inserted therethrough. Thus as shown best in Figure 1 a conventional ball pen cartridge 30 is inserted along the length of channel 28 so that the fine writing nib 35, which may typically be a ball point nib, protrudes through one end A of outer case 20 and the opposite end of cartridge 30 protrudes from end B. As shown in Figure 1 cartridge 30 passes through the entire length of ink filler material 40. The protruding end 32 of ink cartridge 30 is attached to a protract-retract button 45. At the opposite end of case 20 a marking nib 60 is positioned in secure contact with ink filler material 40. Marking nib 60 has an aperture 38 running through its length. Aperture 38 is preferably essentially disposed along the axis of symmetry of marking nib 60 as illustrated in Figure 1. Aperture 38 which runs through the length of nib 60 is of sufficient diameter to allow the fine writing nib 35 of cartridge 30 to pass therethrough 38. Ink cartridge 30 has a spring stop 82 protruding radially as illustrated in Figure 1. Spring stop 82 may simply be formed by nipping cartridge 30 with nipping pliers or the like to expand the cartridge diameter slightly at the point of nip. Thus before cartridge 30 is inserted into hollow portion 28 a spring 80 is positioned over fine writing nib 35 until one end of the spring comes to rest against spring stop 82. Cartridge 30 with spring 80 in place is easily inserted through end B of the outer case 20 until it passes through elongated channel 28 and comes to rest against a ledge 41 which is located conveniently within marking nib 60 as illustrated in Figure 1. Alternatively, ledge 41 or the equivalent could be located within the filler 40 instead of marking nib 60.

A conventional protract-retract mechanism 33 is provided in communication with ink cartridge 30 at the rear end B of outer case 20. Alternative protract-retract mechanisms are available for use in retractable writing instruments. A conventional protract-retract mechanism which has received wide acclaim for retractable writing instruments is disclosed in U.S. patent 3,137,276 herein incorporated by reference. The mechanism described in this reference is referred to schematically as mechanism 33 illustrated in Figures 1 and 3. The mechanical details concerning the protract-retract mechanism 33 is described in detail in U.S. patent 3,137,276.

The writing/marking instrument 10 is easily fitted with a protective cap 90 which is designed to cover and protect the marking nib 60 and to prevent ink evaporation from marking nib 60. Also cap 90 is provided with a pocket clip 95 so that the user can conveniently keep the instrument 10 in place in a shirt or jacket pocket.

In operation one need only remove cap 90 to prepare the instrument 10 for use. As soon as cap 90 is removed instrument 10 is ready for use as a marking instrument, either for highlighting marking or permanent marking depending on whether a permanent type marking ink or a highlighting type marking ink is employed in filler 40. The writing/marking instrument 10 is designed so that the fine writing nib 35 is recessed at least about 1/16 inch, preferably about 1/8 to 1/4 inch from the tip of marking nib 60 when the fine writing cartridge 30 is in its normal retract position as shown in Figure 1.

Marking nib 60 preferably has a tapered end 39. The marking nib 60, preferably has a conical configuration with a gradually tapered or bullet shaped end, as shown in Figure 5. Marking nib 60 must be of sufficient diameter to permit fine writing nib 35 to pass therethrough, that is through aperture 38.

The nib 60 overall diameter may typically be between about 3/16 to 3/8 inch preferably 1/4 inch. The nib 60 may have a surface end face 42 of any desired shape. Preferably, face 42 is of circular or oval configuration but it also may be rectangular or square. End face 42 should have a wall thickness of at least about 1/16 inch as measured between the circumference of aperture 38 and perimeter of face 42. The wall thickness of end face 42 could typically be between about 1/16 inch to about 1/8 inch. When cartridge 30 is in the retract position as shown in Figure 1 a smooth, continuous unbroken coating of ink is readily applied to paper or other substrate by simply stroking the substrate with the marking nib 60 in the normal manner that conventional marking or highlighting pens are used. Surprisingly even though the marking nib 60 has a tip surface 42 which is discontinuous at the point where the nib aperture 38 passes, this discontinuity does not cause any streaking or discontinuities in lines or coatings of ink emanating from nib 60 as nib 60 is stroked across a paper substrate. A continuous unbroken ink line is obtained when marking nib 60 is stroked across a paper substrate, since every point along the perimeter of aperture 38 at surface 42 contains marking nib 60 material. That is, the aperture 38 does not cut through the width of surface 42. Since aperture portion 38 is a concentric opening having a diameter which is less than the diameter of marking nib 60, the ink line will be unbroken when marking nib 60 is stroked across a paper substrate. Surprisingly it has been found that a protective lining or barrier between the fine writing nib 35 and the inside wall of aperture 38 need not be employed in order to prevent contaminating the marking nib 60 with ink from fine writing nib 35 when writing nib 35 is a ball point pen. It has been discovered that any normal ink residue which may collect at the tip of a ball point pen 35 during normal use is not enough to contaminate marking nib 60. Thus clear marking is obtained from marking nib 60 even though small normal amounts of ink residue from ball point pen tip 35 may rub off onto the inside surface of nib aperture 38.

Nevertheless, if added degree of protection is desired a liner or barrier such as cylindrical barrier or tube 168 as illustrated in Figure 3 may be employed within nib aperture 38 to eliminate any contact between ink residue from fine line writing tip 35 and marking nib 60. One convenient design which provides a barrier between fine line writing nib 35 and marking nib 60 is illustrated in Figure 3. In the design shown in Figure 3 a separate filler case 150 is employed to house filler material 40. The filler case 150, typically a cylindrical case 150 resides within the outer case 20 and runs along the length of the writing/marking istrument 15 as shown in Figure 3. In this design a tube 165 is inserted into channel 28. The tube 165 extends into the nib aperture 38, forming a cylindrical barrier 168 thus effectively lining the inside wall surface of nib aperture 38. Accordingly, any ink which leaks from fine line writing tip 35 will not penetrate into marking nib 60 material because of the barrier 168. Tube 165 also functions to line the inside wall of channel 28, thus, providing a barrier between cartridge 30 and filler 40. As aforementioned the protective as aforementioned protective barrier 168 is not required when fine writing nib 35 is a ball point pen. However, it would be desirable to employ such a design when fine line writing nib 35 is a fine line fibrous nib or other fine line writing nib which may have a greater tendency to accumulate ink residue than a ball point pen.

In operation when it is desired to use instrument 15 as a fine line writing pen, the user need simply press the protract-retract button 45 in order to cause the fine line writing nib 35 to protrude from the tip of marking nib 60. As aforementioned the fine line writing cartridge 30. and protract-retract mechanism 35 is conventional for example, as described in U.S. patent 3,137,276 herein incorporated by reference. Thus when button 45 is depressed the cartridge 30 moves downwardly through channel aperture 28 until fine writing nib 35 protrudes from marking nib 60. When finger pressure is released from button 45 the protract-retract mechanism 35 causes cartridge 30 to lock in place. Thereupon instrument 15 may be used as a fine line writing instrument in normal manner. The fine writing nib 35 will protrude enough from marking nib 60 at least 1/8th to 1/4 inch from the tip of marking nib 60 so that no contact is made between marking nib 60 and the surface of the paper when instrument 15 is used for writing. Upon depressing retract button 45 once again, writing nib 35 and accompanying cartridge 30 will retract thus leaving marking nib 60 ready for use in marking.

The novel design of the present invention avoids the need to mount the marking nib 60 and fine writing nib 35 on opposite ends of the instrument or side by side on one end. Therefore, only one cap 90 is needed to protect both the marking and writing nibs simultaneously when the instrument is not in use. Also the present invention provides much convenience since one can easily switch from a marking or highlighting mode to a fine writing mode by the simple press of a button.

As aforementioned the ink filler material 40 as well as the marking nib material 60 may be selected from conventional ink filler and marking nib material. Although different ink filler material for marking or highlighting ink is available, the preferred material is a polyester fiber. A particularly suitable fibrous ink reservoir material for filler 40 is available under the trademark TRANSORB fiber reservoirs from the American Filtrona Company of Richmond, Virginia. The TRANSORB fiber reservoirs have excellent absorbent and capillary action which makes this material particularly suitable for use with permanent marking inks which may be either water or solvent based marking inks or for use with conventional water or solvent based highlighting inks. The marking nib 60 is preferably a molded thermoplastic porous nib of the type disclosed in U.S. patent 3,942,903 herein incorporated by reference. A molded nib of this type is preferable in the present application since the nib aperture 38 can be formed during the molding of the nib itself. On the other hand, the marking nib 60 is not intended to be limited to such a molded nib since it can also be of felt or fibrous material. The disadvantage in using felt or fibrous material for the present application is that nib aperture 38 which runs through the length of marking nib 60 would have to be made in a separate step involving a cutting or drilling process. It is preferable to have marking nib 60 and filler material 40 formed of the same material, for example a thermoplastic porous material such as that described in U.S. patent 3942903. The advantage of having both marking nib 60 and filler 40 of the same material is that both the marking nib 60 and filler 40 could be made as a unitary integral piece in one step, for example, by injection molding. Nevertheless, the polyester fibrous filler material such as that of TRANSORB fiber reservoirs gives better capillary action and is therefore presently more desirable for filler 40 than a porous plastic molded filler.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that the fine line writing nib 35 and accompanying ink cartridge 30 is also conventional. Consequently, fine line writing nib 35 and cartridge 30 may be selected from any conventional ball point pen nib and cartridge assembly. Other fine line writing nibs may be used instead of ball point pen nibs however. Alternative fine line writing nib 35 could be selected from conventional fine line roll-a-ball nibs or porous thermoplastic nibs for example, of the type disclosed in U.S. patent 3,942,903.

Accordingly, it should be appreciated that various embodiment and alternative materials could be employed without departing from the scope and context of the present invention. Thus the present invention is not intended to be limited to specific materials and components recited in the present patent application. Accordingly, the invention is not intended to be limited by the specific embodiments described herein but rather is defined by the claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An instrument having dual functionality as a fine line writing pen and a broad line marking instrument, comprising,: an elongated case having a substantially hollow core, an ink filler within said core, said filler functioning as an ink reservoir, an exposed marking nib located at one end of the instrument, said marking nib in secure contact with said filler so that said filler supplies ink to the marking nib, said filler having an elongated channel running through its length, said marking nib having an aperture running through its length forming an opening at the tip of said nib, said aperture being aligned with said elongated channel running through the filler, a retractable fine line writing nib retractable into said aperture in retract mode and protractable through said opening at the tip of the marking nib when the writing nib is in protract mode, the instrument usable as a broad line marking instrument when said fine writing nib is in retract mode and said instrument usable as a fine line writing pen when the fine line writing nib is in protract mode.

2. An instrument as in claim 1 further comprising an ink cartridge disposed within said elongated channel running through the ink filler reservoir, the ink cartridge in physical communication with the fine line writing nib and said cartridge supplying ink to the fine line writing nib.

3. An instrument as in claim 2 further comprising: means for retracting said fine writing nib into said marking nib aperture in a retract mode and for holding said fine writing nib in locked position in said retract mode so that the instrument can be used as marking instrument by stroking the marking nib across the surface of a substrate to be marked.

4. An instrument as in claim 3 further comprising a removeable cap to cover the marking nib and fine line writing nib simultaneously when the instrument is not in use.

5. An instrument as in claim 3 wherein the fine line writing nib is retractable into the core of said marking nib through said aperture.

6. An instrument as in claim 5 wherein the fine line writing nib is retractable to a position at least 1/16 inches from the tip of the marking nib.

7. An instrument as in claim 3 further comprising a barrier between said fine line writing nib and the marking nib when the fine line writing nib is in retract mode, said barrier preventing contamination of the marking nib by ink leakage from the fine line writing nib.

8. An instrument as in claim 7 wherein the barrier is a tube located within said aperture in the marking nib.

9. An instrument as in claim 8 wherein said tube extends into said filler within at least a portion of said elongated channel.

10. An instrument as in claim 3 wherein a ledge is included within said marking nib aperture, the ledge functioning as a seat for a spring in communication with said ink cartridge.

11. An instrument as in claim 3 wherein the aperture through said marking nib has an overall diameter of between about 3/16 to 3/8 inches.

12. An instrument as in claim 11 wherein the marking tip surface is curved.

13. An instrument as in claim 3 wherein said aperture is a tubular bore hole passing through the marking nib core.

14. An instrument as in claim 3 wherein said channel running through the length of the filler is a tubular bore hole passing through the core of said filler.

15. An instrument having dual functionabity as a fine line writing pen and a broad line marking instrument, comprising: an elongated case having a substantially hollow core, an ink filler within said core, said filler functioning as an ink reservoir, an exposed marking nib located at one end of the instrument, said marking nib in secure contact with said filler so that said filler functions as an ink reservoir for the marking nib, said filler having an elongated channel running through its length, said marking nib having an aperture running through its length forming an opening at the tip of said nib, said aperture being aligned with said elongated channel, a fine line writing nib located within said aperture in the marking nib, said fine line writing nib being protractable through said opening at the tip of the marking nib.