WO2009011519A1

WO2009011519A1 - Pencil lead sharpeners

Info

Publication number: WO2009011519A1
Application number: PCT/KR2008/004077
Authority: WO
Inventors: Byung Hak Lee
Original assignee: Byung Hak Lee
Priority date: 2007-07-13
Filing date: 2008-07-12
Publication date: 2009-01-22
Also published as: KR200438601Y1

Abstract

The present invention relates to pencil lead sharpener including: a body assembly having a body provided with a pencil-coupling part formed at one side thereof so as to be coupled to an instrument having a pencil lead and a fastening part formed at the other side of the body; a pencil lead-housing and sharpening assembly having a housing space portion formed at the other side of the body of the body assembly and a sharpening blade mounted at the inside of the housing space portion so as to sharpen the pencil lead; and an insertion and coupling assembly having a coupling body adapted to be separably coupled to the fastening part of the body assembly by means of a coupling and fastening part formed along the inner periphery thereof, an insertion hole formed along the center of the coupling body so as to insert the pencil lead thereinto.

Description

[DESCRIPTION]

[Invention Tit Ie]

PENCIL LEAD SHARPENERS

[Technical Field]

The present invention relates to a pencil lead sharpener.

[Background Art]

Generally, a pencil is a writing instrument that is used to produce writing when the pencil lead formed of graphite is pressed on a sheet of paper under a predetermined pressure. Since the contents written by the pencil on the paper are erasableaccording to the characteristics of the pencil, the pencil is a necessary writing instrument for elementary students who start to learn writing and need correct handwriting. According to the manufacturing processes of the pencil, first, graphite and clay powders are admixed to each other at an appropriate rate thereof, and the mixture is molded and burnt to a relatively high temperature, thereby making the pencil lead. Next, the pencil lead is inserted between two shaft plates each having a groove formed therein, and the two shaft plates are bonded to each other to cover the lead therein. Then, the coupled shaft plates are cut to a hexagonal or cylindrical shape and are painted with predetermined colors thereon. After that, the pencil is printed with an appropriate trademark. The kind of graphite forming the pencil lead is displayed on the outside of the pencil with English letters according to the hardness and density of the pencil lead.

According to the erasable characteristics of the pencil, the pencil -may be used on a hard surface like a metal surface or a stone surface, and it may be used for precise drawing, learning, business writing, design drawing, shorthand writing, arts, and the like. Also, the pencils having various colors and shapes such as color pencils, cosmetic pencils, and the like have been used.

However, since the pencil has the wood surrounding the lead made of graphite encased therein, it is sharpened by using a cutter or a pencil sharpener. At this time, the wood of the pencil is cut together with the pencil lead, and therefore, so as to make the pencil lead sharpened, a relatively large quantity of waste is generated from the pencil. Also, it is difficult for children or old peoples to carry out the operation for sharpening the pencil lead.

Therefore, there have been recently developed mechanical pencils that have a device for inserting and drawing the lead into and from the interior thereof by means of knocking or rotary operation.

According to the mechanical pencils, a portion of a pencil shaft is pressed to move a spring so that the lead is fixedly exposed to the outside. Therefore, the thickness of the lead is appropriately made according to the purposes of the pencil, and also, the lead is substantially thin and strong, without any sharpening. Further, since the lead has a predetermined length, it can be continuously used just by insert inganother lead in the interior of the pencil, such that as the mechanical pencils are convenient to use, they are widely used.

Generally, they have substantially thin lead, and therefore, when elementary students or peoples who learn writing apply a predetermined force to the mechanical pencil at the state of holding it by their hand, the pencil lead may be broken, such that they cannot transmit their force for writing to the mechanical pencil, which fails to obtain good writing. Once the handwriting is fixed, actually, it is difficult to correct the handwriting, and thus, it is recommended that the people who learn writing should not use the mechanical pencils.

There has been proposed a new mechanical pencil that has a relatively thick lead to provide the conveniences of the mechanical pencil and the correction effect of the handwriting. A pencil lead sharpener for the mechanical pencil using the thick lead is disclosed conventionally, which is shown in FIG.l. The pencil lead sharpener includes a body 10 having a pencil lead insertion hole 11 formed on one side thereof so as to insert a pencil lead thereinto; and a sharpening part 12 having a plurality of blade edges 13 mounted at the inside of the body 10, wherein after the pencil lead is inserted into the pencil lead insertion hole 11 and is seated on the blade edges 13, it is rotated and sharpened.

Accordingto the conventional pencil lead sharpener, however, the graphite powder generated by the sharpening process of the pencil lead is accumulated in theinterior of the body, and thus, if the pencil lead is removed from the body, the graphite powder is discharged to the outside, thereby making the surrounding environment contaminated.

Further, if the sharpening operation is conducted at the state where the sharpener is erected so as to prevent the graphite powder from being discharged to the outside, the state that the pencil lead is inserted into the body cannot be maintained constantly, such that the pencil lead moves and escapes from the sharpening part, thereby making the pencil lead broken, and alternatively thereby failing to precisely sharpen the entire outer periphery of the pencil lead.

According to the conventional pencil lead sharpener, moreover, after the pencil lead is sharpened, if it is desired to remove the graphite powder accumulated in the interior of the body, the body should be moved to a predetermined place. However, in this case, the graphite powder may be erroneously discharged to the outside while being moved, thereby making the surrounding environment contaminated. Especially, it is not easy for childrento handle the removal of the graphite powder well, and if the discharged graphite powder is absorbed to the children, it may damage their bronchus .

On the other hand, a pencil user changes the thickness of the pencil lead according to the use purposes of the pencil, and at this time, since the gap and depth between the blade edges are uniformly determined, the variation in the thickness of the pencil lead is not obtained. So as to obtain a desired pencil lead thickness, therefore, the user should purchase a variety of pencil lead sharpeners having different gaps and depths between the blade edges. In this case, undesirably, substantially high purchasing costs for the pencil lead sharpeners should be needed. [Disclosure] [Technical Problem]

Accordingly, the presentinvention has been made in an effortto solve the above problems occurring in the prior arts, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a pencil lead sharpener that has a body assembly having a housing space portion adapted to house a sharpening blade adapted to sharpen a pencil lead therein, and an insertion and coupling assembly adapted to separably coupled to the body assembly so as to insert the pencil lead thereinto and open and close the housing space portion, such that at the state where the housing space portion is closed by coupling the insertion and coupling assembly to the body assembly, the pencil lead is inserted into the housing space portion and is sharpened, and next, thegraphite powder generated during the sharpening of the pencil lead is collected in the closed housing space portion and is removed easily by the separation of the insertion and coupling assembly from the body assembly, thereby preventing the discharging of the graphite powder during the operation of the sharpening and improving the conveniences in use.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a pencil lead sharpener that has a sharpening blade fixedly mounted diagonally in a pencil lead-housing and sharpening assembly fitted to a coupling body separably coupled to a writing instrument having a pencil lead, such that when the pencil lead is sharpened, the sharpening blade is stably fixed, without any rotation in the rotating direction of the pencil lead.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a pencil lead sharpener that has a plurality of fixing bodies formed in the interior of a body assembly, each of the fixing bodies having a sharpening blade having a plurality of blade edges having different gaps and depths from each other, thereby allowing the pencil lead to be sharpened to various thicknesses.

It is yet still another object of the present invention to provide a pencil lead sharpener that has a variety of application examples. [Technical Solution]

To achieve the above objects, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pencil lead sharpener includes: a body assembly having a body provided with a pencil-coupling part formed at one side thereof so as to be coupled to an instrument having a pencil lead and a fastening part formed at the other side of the body; a pencil lead-housing and sharpening assembly having a housing space portion formed at the other side of the body of the body assembly and a sharpening blade mounted at the inside of the housing space portion so as to sharpen the pencil lead; and an insertion and coupling assembly having a coupling body adapted to be separably coupled to the fastening part of the body assembly by means of a coupling and fastening part formed along the inner periphery thereof, an insertion hole formed along the center of the coupling body so as to insert the pencil lead thereinto, and a discharging prevention sheet mounted at the inside thereof in such a manner as to communicate with the insertion hole and having a plurality of incised parts extended from the center thereof.

According to the present invention, the body assembly has a fastener protrudedly mounted along the outer periphery of one side end of the fastening part to which the coupling body of the insert ionand coupling assembly is fastened and a fastening seat formed along the other side outer periphery of the body at the other side of the fastener, such that upon coupling of the coupling body to the fastening part, the coupling is completely achieved by means of the fastening seat.

According to the present invention, further, the insertion and coupling assembly has a coupling groove formed along the outer periphery of the insertion hole at the inside of the coupling body and a coupling and fixing part formed along the outer periphery of the discharging prevention sheet in such a manner as to be seated along the coupling groove.

To achieve the above objects, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pencil lead sharpener includes: a body assembly having a body provided with a penci 1-coupling part formed at one side thereof so as to be coupled to an instrument having a pencil lead, a fastening part formed at the other side of the body, an insertion hole formed along the center thereof so as to insert the pencil lead thereinto, and a discharging prevention sheet mounted at the inside thereof in such a manner as to communicate with the insertion hole and having a plurality of incisedparts extended from the center thereof; a pencil lead-housing and sharpening assembly having a housing space portion formed at the other side of the body of the body assembly and a sharpening blade mounted at the inside of the housing space portion so as to sharpen the pencil lead; and an insertion and coupling assembly having a coupling body adapted to be separably coupled to the fastening part of the body assembly by means of a coupling and fastening part formed along the inner periphery thereof and a graphite powder-storing space portion formed in the interior of the coupling body so as to store graphite powder generated during the sharpening of the pencil lead therein.

According to the present invention, preferably, the pencil lead-housing and sharpening assembly has the sharpening blade having the blade edges extended from the both sides of a round elastic part mounted at the inside thereof, and alternatively has the sharpening blade fixedly mounted diagonally therein such that when the pencil lead is sharpened, the sharpening blade is stably fixed, without any rotation in the rotating direction of the pencil lead.

According to the present invention, further, the insertion and coupling assembly has a housing space portion formed on the upper end portion thereof so as to house an eraser or an ornamental item therein, and alternatively, the body assembly has a housing space portion formed on the lower end portion thereof so as to house an eraser or an ornamental item therein. Further, two or more pencil lead-housing and sharpening assemblies may be mounted according to the kinds of the sharpening blades. [Advantageous Effects]

According to the present invention, there is provided a pencil lead sharpener that has a body assembly having a housing space portion adapted to house a sharpening blade for a pencil lead therein, and an insertion and couplingassembly adapted to separably coupled to the body assembly so as to insert the pencil lead thereinto and to open and close the housing space portion, such that at the state where the housing space portion is closed by coupling the insertion and coupling assembly to the body assembly, the pencil lead is inserted into the housing space portion and is sharpened, and next, the graphite powder generated during the sharpening of the pencil lead is collected in the closed housing space portion and is removed easily by the separation of the insertion and coupling assembly from the body assembly, thereby preventing the discharging of the graphite powder during the operation of the sharpening and improving the conveniences in use. Further, the pencil lead sharpener of this invention has a penci 1-coupling part formed at one side of the body having the housing space portion in which the sharpening blade is mounted, so as to be coupled to a pencil having a pencil lead or a mechanic pencil having a relatively thick pencil lead, thereby improving the conveniences in use by direct coupling to the instrument having the pencil lead.

According to the present invention, further, the pencil lead sharpener of this invention has the coupling and fastening part formed on the coupling body of the insertion and coupling assembly into which the pencil lead is inserted, the fastening part formed along the outer periphery of the housing space portion into which the sharpening blade is mounted, and the fastener having the fasteningseat mounted thereon protrudedly formed along the fastening end periphery of the fastening part adapted to be coupled to the coupling and fastening part of the insertion and coupling assembly, such that if the coupling body having the coupling and fastening part is coupled to the fastening part of the body, the coupling body is seated on the fastening seat and is sealed, and if the coupling body is rotated, it is easily released from its sealing state, thereby providing a high sealing force to prevent thegraphite powder stored in the body assembly from being discharged to the outside and thereby providing easy separation from the body assembly to allow even children to easily perform the coupling and separating operations, which improves the convenience in use.

Further, the pencil lead sharpener of this invention has the sharpening blade having the blade edges extended from the both sides of a round elastic part mounted at the inside of the housing space portion formed in the body, the insertion hole formed on the insertion and coupling assembly adapted to open and close the housing space portion so as to insert the pencil lead thereinto, and the discharging prevention sheet mounted at the inside of the insertion hole and having the plurality of incised parts extended from the center thereof, such that at the state where the pencil lead inserted into the insertion hole and into the plurality of incised parts adapted to prevent the graphite powder from being discharged to the outside, if the pencil lead is rotated, it is sharpened by means of the plurality of blade edges, thereby allowing the pencil lead to be uniformly sharpened by means of the plurality of blade edges, preventing the graphite powder from being discharged to the outside by means of the discharging prevention sheet, and preventing the graphite powder remaining in the housing space portion from being discharged to the outside after the pencil lead is drawn from the insertion hole, which enhances the graphite powder-storing efficiency.

Accordingto the present invention, the pencil lead sharpener has the insertion and coupling assembly having the coupling groove formed along the outer periphery of the insertion hole at the inside of the coupling body and the coupling and fixing part formed along the outer periphery of the discharging prevention sheet in such a manner as to be seated along the coupling groove, thereby achieving the rigid coupling to the discharging prevention sheet and further increasing the life span of the product. Moreover, the pencil lead sharpener of this invention is configured wherein the number of sharpening of the pencil lead is dependent upon the size of the housing space portion, and if the graphite powder is full in the housing space portion, the pencil lead sharpener ofthis invention is moved to a place where the graphite powder is thrown, such that whenever the pencil lead is sharpened, there is no need to remove the graphite power, thereby improving the convenience in use.

Furthermore, the pencil lead-housing and sharpening assembly has the sharpening blade fixedly mounted diagonally therein, such that when the pencil lead is sharpened, the sharpening blade is stably fixed, thereby improving the fixing force of the sharpening blade.

Additionally, the pencil lead sharpener of this invention has a plurality of fixing bodies having a sharpening blade fixedly formed on the lower portions of a plurality of through-holes formed on the upper surface of the body, the sharpening blade in the fixing bodies having a plurality of blade edges having different gaps and depths from each other, thereby allowing the pencil lead to be sharpened in a variety of thicknesses.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

[Description of Drawings]

FIG.l is a sectional view showing a conventional pencil lead sharpener. FIG.2 is an exploded perspective view showing a pencil lead sharpener according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG.3 is a sectional view showing the pencil lead sharpener according to the present invention.

FIG.4 is a sectional view showing the use state of the pencil lead sharpener according to the present invention.

FIG.5 is an exemplary view showing the process of removing graphite powder from the pencil lead sharpener according to the present invention. FIG.6 is a sectional view showing a pencil lead sharpener according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG.7 is a sectional view showing the use state of the pencil lead sharpener according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG.8 is an exploded perspective view showing a pencil lead sharpener according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG.9 is a sectional view showing the use state of the pencil lead sharpener of FIG.8.

FIG.10 is an exploded perspective view showing a pencil lead sharpener according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG.11 is a sectional view showing the use state of the pencil lead sharpener of FIG.10.

FIGS.12 to 14 are sectional views showing various embodiments of the pencil lead sharpener of this invention.

♦Explanations on the reference numerals of the main parts in the drawings*

100: pencil lead sharpener 110: body assembly

111: body 112: pencil-coupling part

113: fastening part 114: fastener

115: fastening seat

120: pencil lead-housing and sharpening assembly

121: housing space portion

122: sharpening blade

123: elastic part 124: blade edge

130: insertion and coupling assembly

131: coupling body

132: coupling and fastening part

133: insertion hole

134: discharging prevention sheet

135: incised part

136: coupling groove

137: coupling and fixing part

150: cap [Best Mode]

Hereinafter, an explanation on a pencil lead sharpener according to the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be given with reference to the attached drawings. In the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it is noted that the same components and parts as each other are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawing, and also, a detailed explanation on the functions and structures of generally known components or parts will be avoided for the brevity of the description.

FIG.2 is an exploded perspective view showing a pencil lead sharpener according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG.3 is a sectional view showing the pencil lead sharpener according to the present invention, FIG.4 is a sectional view showing the use state of the pencil lead sharpener according to the present invention, FIG.5 is an exemplary view showing the processof removing graphite powder from the pencil lead sharpener according to the present invention, FIG.6 is a sectional view showing a pencil lead sharpener according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.7 is a sectional view showing the use state of the pencil lead sharpener according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS.2 to 7, a pencil lead sharpener 100 of the present invention includes: a body assembly 110 having a body 111 provided with a penci 1-coupling part 112 formed at one side thereof; a pencil lead-housing and sharpening assembly 120 having a housing space portion 121 in which a sharpening blade 122 is mounted; and an insertion and coupling assembly 130 having a coupling body 131 adapted to be separably coupled to the body assembly 110 so as to open and close the housing space portion 121. The body assembly 110 includes the body 111 having the penci 1-coupling part 112 formed at one side thereof so as to be coupled to the instrument having the pencil lead 1 and a fastening part 113 formed along the outer periphery of the body 111 at the other side thereof. In this case, the body assembly 110 has a fastener 114 protrudedly mounted along the outer periphery of one side end of the fastening part 113 to which the coupling body 131 of the insertionand coupling assembly 130 is fastened and a fastening seat 115 formed along the other side outer periphery of the body 111 at the other side of the fastener 114, such that upon coupling of the coupling body 131 to the fastening part 113, the coupling body and the fastening part of the body assembly are sealed by means of the fastening seat 115. The pencil lead-housing and sharpening assembly 120 has the housing space portion 121 formed at the other side of the body 111 of the body assembly 110 and the sharpening blade 122 formed inside the housing space portion 121, the sharpening blade 122 having a plurality of blade edges 124 extended from the both sides of a round elastic part 123 mounted at the inside of the housing space portion 121 and the blade edges 124 serving to sharpen the pencil lead 1.

The insertion and coupling assembly 130 includes the coupling body 131 adapted to be coupled to the fastening part 113 of the body assembly 110 by means of a coupling and fastening part 132 and an insertion hole 133 formed along the center of the coupling body 131 so as to insert the pencil lead 1 thereinto. In this case, the insertion and coupling assembly 130 has a discharging preventionsheet 134 mounted at the inside thereof in such a manner as to communicate with the insertion hole 133 of the coupling body 131, the discharging prevention sheet 134 having a plurality of incised parts 135 formed thereon, such that when the pencil lead 1 inserted into the insertion hole 133 is passed through the plurality of incised parts 135, the graphite powder generated during the sharpening of the pencil lead 1 cannot be discharged to the outside.

Also, the insertion and coupling assembly 130 may have a coupling groove 136 formed along the outer periphery of the insertion hole 133 at the inside of the coupling body 131 and a coupling and fixing part 137 formed along the outer periphery of the discharging prevention sheet 134 in such a manner as to be seated along the coupling groove 136.

Moreover, the fastening seat 115 and the discharging prevention sheet 134 are desirably formed of elastic silicon rubber so as to improve their sealing force. Under the above configuration, an explanation on the operation of the pencil lead sharpener according to the present invention will be given.

When it is desired that the pencil lead 1 is sharpened, first, the pencil-coupling part 112 of the body assembly 110 coupled to one side of a pencil havingthe pencil lead 1 or a mechanic pencil having a thick lead is released from its coupling state, and the body 111 of the body assembly 110 is moved to the pencil lead 1 side.

At this state where the body 111 is disposed at the pencil lead 1 side, if the pencil lead 1 is inserted into the insertion hole 133 of the insertion and coupling assembly 130 fastened by the coupling and fastening part 132 to the fastening part 113, the pencil lead 1 is passed through the plurality of incised parts 135 on the discharging prevention sheet 134 provided at the inside of the insertion hole 133 and is then inserted into the housing space portion 121 of the pencil lead-housing and sharpening assembly 120.

If the pencil lead 1 is inserted into the housing space portion 121, the pencil lead 1 is rotated at the state of being contacted with the plurality of blade edges 124 of the sharpening blade 122 elastically supported by means of the elastic part 123 mounted in the housing space portion 121, such that the entire surface of the pencil lead 1 is uniformly sharpened by means of the blade edges 124. At this time, the coupling and fastening part 132 of the coupling body 131 of the insertion and coupling assembly 130 is fastened to the fastening part 113 of the body assembly 110, and the fastening state is more rigid by means of the mounting of the fastener 114 on the fastening seat 115 formed along the lower side end periphery of the fastening part 113, such that the graphite powder generated during the sharpening of the pencil lead 1 cannot be discharged from the fastening portion.

Further, since the discharging prevention sheet 134 mounted at the inside of the insertion hole 133 has the plurality of incised parts 135 extended from the center thereof, the pencil lead 1 is sealed by means of the plurality of incised parts 135, such that the graphite powder generated during the sharpening of the pencil lead 1 cannot be discharged to the insertion hole 133. Alternatively, the insertion and coupling assembly 130 may have the coupling groove 136 formed along the outer periphery of the insertion hole 133 at the inside of the coupling body 131 and the coupling and fixing part 137 formed along the outer periphery of the discharging prevention sheet 134 in such a manner as to be seated along the coupling groove 136, thereby improving the coupling force. Like this, the pencil lead 1 is sharpened by means of the blade edges 124 housed in the housing space portion 121 at the state of being inserted into the insertion hole 133, and the sharpeningoperation is completed at the state where the graphite powder generated during the sharpening is accumulated in the housing space portion 121. Then, if the pencil lead 1 is removed from the pencil lead sharpener of this invention, the plurality of incised parts 135 of the discharging prevention sheet 134 are restored to their original state, thereby closing the insertion hole 133 communicating with the housing space portion 121. After the pencil lead 1 is sharpened, at the state where the housing space portion 121 where the graphite powder is accumulated is closed, the instrument having the pencil lead 1 is coupled again to the coupling part 112 of the body assembly 110. The number of sharpening of the pencil lead 1 is dependent upon the size of the housing space portion 121, and if the graphite powder is full in the housing space portion 121, the pencil lead sharpener of this invention is moved to a place where the graphite powder is thrown. In this case, the coupling body 131 of the insertion and coupling assembly 130 is easily separated from the body 111 by means of the formation of the fastening seat 115, and after the separation, the graphite powder is removed from the housing space portion 121. Therefore, the pencil lead 1 is sharpened well, without any discharging of the graphite powder, and after the sharpening operation, the graphite powder is removed easily.

FIG.8 is an exploded perspective view showing a pencil lead sharpener according to still another embodiment of the present invention, andFIG.9 is a sectional view showing the use state of the pencil lead sharpener of FIG.8. According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the entire technical spirit and configuration thereof is the same as or similar to that in the above-mentioned embodiments of the present invention, except that the insertion hole 133 is formed at the lower portion of the body assembly 110 and the discharging prevention sheet 134 is mounted on the insertion hole 133. Also, the graphite powder of the pencil lead 1 sharpened by the pencil lead-housing and sharpening assembly 120 is accumulated in the housing space portion 121 of the insertion and coupling assembly 130. In other words, unlike the above-mentioned embodiments of the present invention, accordingto still another embodiment of the present invention the pencil lead 1 is inserted from down to up, and when the pencil lead sharpener is coupled to the writing instrument, it has the same outer shape as a generally knock type writing instrument.

As shown in the figures, the insertion and coupling assembly 130 has a dome-like shape, but it may have a variety of ornamental shapes, and so on. In this case, since the insertion hole 133 into which the pencil lead 1 is inserted is not formed on the upper side, advantageously, the insertion and coupling assembly 130 can be formed in a variety of shapes. The sharpening blade 122 is fixedly mounted diagonally in the pencil lead- housing and sharpening assembly 120 fitted to the coupling body 131 of the insertion and coupling assembly 130, such that when the pencil lead 1 is sharpened, the sharpening blade 122 is stably fixed, without any rotation in the rotating direction of the pencil lead 1, which makes the sharpening blade 122 more simplified in shape, thereby improving the manufacturing efficiency and the durability.

FIG.10 is an exploded perspective view showing a pencil lead sharpener according to yet another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.11 is a sectional view showing the use state of the pencil lead sharpener of FIG.10. A pencil user changes the thickness of the pencil lead according to the use purposes of the pencil, and generally, since the gap and depth between the blade edges are uniformly determined, the variation in the thickness of the pencil lead is not obtained. So as to obtain a desired pencil lead thickness, therefore, the user should purchase a variety of pencil lead sharpeners having different gaps and depths between the blade edges. So as to overcome the problem, according to thepresent invention, a plurality of fixing bodies each having the sharpening blade 122 having the plurality of blade edges 124 22 having different gaps and depths from each other are formed in the interior of the body assembly 110, thereby allowing the pencil lead 1 to be sharpened to various thicknesses. The pencil lead sharpener having the above configuration is used at the state of being coupled to the writing instrument, but it can be used at the state of being separated from the writing instrument. That is, a housing space is furtherformed on the lower portion of the pencil lead sharpener so as to house an eraser therein, and thus, the pencil lead sharpener having the eraser housed therein is used as an independent product from the writing instrument.As shown in FIG.10, a cap 150 may be provided to doubly prevent the pencil lead powder from being discharged to the outside.

FIGS.12 to 14 are sectional views showing various embodiments of the pencil lead sharpener of this invention. As shown in FIG.12, an eraser is mounted in a housing space portion formed in the insertion and coupling assembly, and the eraser is removed during the sharpening of the pencil lead.

In this case, the eraser as well as the discharging prevention sheet can prevent the pencil lead powder from being discharged to the outside, and further, the eraser can serve to prevent the discharging prevention sheet from being damaged. As shown in FIG.13, the housing space portion is formed in the same manner as in FIG.12. In this case, the insertion hole into which the pencil lead is inserted is formed on the body assembly, and the pencil lead-housing and sharpening assembly is formed in the opposite direction to that in FIG.12. Of course, the discharging prevention sheet is formed on the body assembly. Referring to FIG.14, the pencil lead sharpener is employed in a general mechanical pencil to which the eraser is fitted. That is, the body assembly is a little changed in the lower portion shape thereof, and the pencil lead sharpener is coupled just above the eraser fitted to the mechanical pencil .

Therefore, it is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. For example, even though the pencil lead sharpener of this inventionis not coupled to a writing instrument having the pencil lead, it can be made as a separate product, and alternatively, it can be coupled to erasers or other ornamental products.

Claims

[CLAIMS]

[Claim 1]

A pencil lead sharpener comprising: a body assembly having a body provided with a pencil-coupling part formed at one side thereof so as to be coupled to an instrument having a pencil lead and a fastening part formed at the other side of the body; a pencil lead-housing and sharpening assembly having a housing space portion formed at the other side of the body of the body assembly and a sharpening blade mounted at the inside of the housing space portion so as to sharpen the pencil lead; and an insertion and coupling assembly having a coupling body adapted to be separably coupled to the fastening part of the body assembly by means of a coupling and fastening part formed along the inner periphery thereof, an insertion hole formed along thecenter of the coupling body so as to insert the pencil lead thereinto, and a discharging prevention sheet mounted at the inside thereof in such a manner as to communicate with the insertion hole and having a plurality of incised parts extended from the center thereof.

[Claim 2]

The pencil lead sharpener according to claim 1, wherein the body assembly has a fastener protrudedly mounted along the outer periphery of one side end of the fastening part to which the coupling body of the insertion and coupling assembly is fastened and a fastening seat formed along the other side outer periphery of the body at the other side of the fastener, such that upon coupling of the coupling body to the fastening part, the coupling body and the fastening part of the body assembly are sealed by means of the fastening seat .

[Claim 3]

The pencil lead sharpener according to claim 1, wherein the insertion and coupling assembly has a coupling groove formed along the outer periphery of the insertion hole at the inside of the coupling body and a coupling and fixing part formed along the outer periphery of the discharging prevention sheet in such a manner as to be seated along the coupling groove.

[Claim 4]

A pencil lead sharpener comprising: a body assembly having a body provided with a pencil-coupling part formed at one side thereof so as to be coupled to an instrument having a pencil lead, a fastening part formed at the other side of the body, an insertion hole formed along the center thereof so as to insert the pencil lead thereinto, and a discharging prevention sheet mounted at the inside thereof in such a manner as to communicate with the insertion hole and having a plurality of incised parts extended from the center thereof; a pencil lead-housing and sharpening assembly having a housing space portion formed at the other side of the body of the body assembly and a sharpening blade mounted at the inside of the housing space portion so as to sharpen the pencil lead; and an insertion and coupling assembly having a coupling body adapted to be separably coupled to the fastening partof the body assembly by means of a coupling and fastening part formed along the inner periphery thereof and a graphite powder-storing space portion formed in the interior of the coupling body so as to store graphite powder generated during the sharpening of the penci 1 lead therein.

[Claim 5]

The pencil lead sharpener according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the pencil lead-housing and sharpening assembly has the sharpening blade having a plurality of blade edges extended from the both sides of a round elastic part mounted at the inside thereof.

[Claim 6]

The pencil lead sharpener according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the pencil lead-housing and sharpening assembly adapted to be fixedly fitted to the coupling body separably coupled thereto has the sharpeningblade fixedly mounted diagonally at the inside thereof, such that when the pencil lead is sharpened, the sharpening blade is stably fixed, without any rotation in the rotating direction of the pencil lead.

[Claim 7]

The pencil lead sharpener according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the insertion and coupling assembly has a housing space portion formed on the upper end portion thereof so as to house an eraser or an ornamental item therein.

[Claim 8]

The pencil lead sharpener according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the body assembly has a housing space portion formed on the lower end portion thereof so as to house an eraser or an ornamental item therein.

[Claim 9]

The pencil lead sharpener according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein two or more pencil lead-housing and sharpening assemblies are mounted according to the kinds of the sharpening blades.