WO2011073999A2

WO2011073999A2 - Bio-deqradable writing instrument and a process for making the same

Info

Publication number: WO2011073999A2
Application number: PCT/IN2010/000802
Authority: WO
Inventors: Amit Kumar Yadav
Original assignee: Amit Kumar Yadav
Priority date: 2009-12-17
Filing date: 2010-12-14
Publication date: 2011-06-23
Also published as: WO2011073999A3

Abstract

The present invention provides a writing instrument made up of waste raw materials, which is completely or partially recyclable and/or biodegradable in nature. The present invention also provides a process of manufacturing the writing instrument. The writing instrument is made up of waste raw materials.

Description

Bio-deqradable writing instrument and a process for making the same

Complete Specification for Bio-degradable writing instrument

The following specification gives the description of the most preferred modes of the present invention. Various other alternatives of the invention (including both the product and process) apart from the ones described here are possible and are within the scope of the invention.

Title: Bio-degradable writing instrument and a process for making the same

Field of the invention: The present invention relates to a biodegradable writing instrument. The present invention also relates to a process for making said instrument. The writing instrument is made up of waste raw materials and is completely or partially recyclable and/or biodegradable in nature.

Background and prior art of the invention:

According to some International Survey reports, Global market is assumed to be of 18.2 Billion Dollars for Writing Instruments Globally (Pen's), In India it is assumed to be of Rs 1500 Crore Annually and growing at the rate of 9% CAGR (Cumulative Annual Growth Rate). Present writing Instruments are not at all environment-friendly; they are mainly of 2 types:

• Plastic Moulded Pens (Approx 70% of total sales) · Metal Pens (Approx 30% of total Sales)

All the present pens constitute of following items

1. Outer Body (Made up of Plastic or Metal) 2. Refill (Plastic)

3. Nib or Rolling Tip (Metal)

Reference may be made to patent application number CN 201313451 which relates to an environmental protection ball pen. The said pen is composed of a pen core, a penholder and a hanging rope; wherein, the penholder is fabricated through waste paper; the pen core and the hanging rope are placed and adhered on paper through glue; then the paper is wound up and adhered tightly. The environmental protection ball pen is characterized in a manner whereby the fabrication is simple, the production cost is reduced and the use comfort degree is improved; meanwhile, the environmental pollution problem caused by traditional plastic pen holders which are worn out; the environmental protection ball pen is convenient in carrying and storing due to the hanging rope.

However, in this invention, only penholder is made up of waste and not the entire pen.

Reference may also be made to CN 201254010, which relates to a pen comprising a pen head and a penholder connected with the pen head; wherein, one end of the penholder is inserted into the pen head; a glass ball is fixed on the end of the penholder, which is inserted into the pen head; the penholder comprises a telescopic rod and a bushing; the bushing is connected with the telescopic rod through a fastening device; a pen cover made of waste plastic bottle is additionally arranged on the exterior of the pen head. The foam plastic pen not only makes full use of waste material, and is environmental protection and economical, but also enables the length of the pen to lengthen or shorten freely^'and is convenient in carrying.

However, the pen in this case is made up of recycled plastic bottle. They are not performing any kind of moulding and are using old items for manufacturing pen ,and this is not Biodegradable. Reference may also be made to CN 201169151, which is about an Environment- friendly type multi-purpose pen. The multipurpose pen is provided which comprises a hollow penholder, a pen cap and a pocket clamp, wherein, a tip of the hollow penholder is a claw which is provided with external threads; a locking cap is provided with internal threads and is connected with the claw through threads in order to extrude the claw; the number of the claw is two to four; and a funnel grinding wheel is arranged inside the pen cap. The environment- protecting multipurpose pen has the advantages that firstly, the range of application is wide, the pen can utilize a pencil lead, a ball pen refill and a fountain pen core and is multipurpose, thereby being convenient and saving expenditure; secondly, the multipurpose pen does not use wood, saves resources and belongs to the environment-protecting pen; thirdly, the multipurpose pen has convenient use, is not sharpened by a knife, is not easy to broke the pencil lead, is provided with the grinding wheel and can grind the pencil lead; fourthly, the pencil lead in the waste pencil head is utilized and the waste ball pen core or the fountain pen refill can be used such as the ball pen or the fountain pen with damaged penholder, thereby saving the expense.

However, the pen in this case is also made up of recycled plastic bottles, old refills, used plastic leads. They are also not moulding and manufacturing any thing from waste items and are using only old items.

Further reference may be made to CN 2267160, which relates to a Pen with paper penholder. This invention uses paper as the material for a pen rod. The pen rod is composed of an inner layer of paper sheet, a paper interlayer, and an outer layer of paper sheet which are tightly pasted and coiled in sequence, wherein, the outer layer can be also pasted with a surface layer of decorative paper with smooth and clean texture or a decorative coating layer, and the appearance of the pen is more beautiful. Because wood is replaced by paper, the wood can be saved, and the waste paper can be utilized. Owing to better intensity and better toughness, the pen core is protected.

However, here only outer shell is made up of paper tube but the refill used is of plastic only. Also, the invention does not teach about using cork in front and rear to make cones and block at tail end. No paper tube is being used to make cap or pen holder.

Further, there are a variety of pens available in the market, which are made up of cornstarch and not any sort of waste is being reused.

Some pens are also available for which only Tube is made of paper. Rest of the portion, i.e. rear and front is made up of plastic by retrench mechanism. Such pens are very expensive to the consumers, and fresh paper is used to make such tubes, so no Recycling is happening.

So, the main problems in the present system in relation to pens are that first of all biodegradable pens are not available in market and secondly if they are, then they are not cost-effective at all. Hence such products are not very popular and sometimes not even easily available to consumers. The pens are used and just thrown here and there. Pens are never collected at one place and send for recycling. Though the matter of fact is that all parts of pen can be recycled but no one is doing so, and thus creates a huge amount of plastic E-Waste in the environment, which is not good for the soil, as it never gets decomposed.

The present invention overcomes all the above-discussed problems in a cost- effective and environmental-friendly way.

Objects of the invention:

The main objective of the present invention is to provide a writing instrument which is completely or partially recycled or recyclable and biodegradable in nature.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a writing instrument, which is made up of waste raw materials. Another objective of the invention is to provide a process of manufacturing the writing instrument.

Summary of the invention: The present invention provides a writing instrument made up of waste raw materials, said instrument comprising of a shell, means for writing, a binding agent, and optionally an additive, an outer layer and a cap; said instrument being completely or partially recyclable and/or biodegradable in nature. The present invention also provides a process of manufacturing the writing instrument. The writing instrument of the present invention is preferably either a pen or a pencil.

Statement of the invention:

Accordingly, the present invention provides a writing instrument made up of waste raw materials, said instrument comprising of a shell, means for writing, a binding agent, and optionally an additive, an outer layer and a cap; said instrument being completely or partially recyclable and/or biodegradable in nature.

The present invention also provides a process of manufacturing the writing instrument, wherein said process preferably comprises the steps of:

a. taking the paper of a cold drink paper glass ( Raw material of Paper tea Cup or Cold Drink Cup called as PV treated paper ) and rolling it from wider side preferably on a diameter of 2mm with a pasting or adhesive material in between and thus preparing a paper tube of 7 to 8 mm outer diameter;

b. leaving the tube prepared in step (a) till it gets strong and dry; c. fitting a metal tip in the tube of step (b) and filling the fluid Ink in it;

d. cutting the extra length of tube of step (c) manually or with suitable machinery well-known in the art;

e. optionally pasting a sticker/paint/print if required on the writing instrument as obtained ^" in step (d) to improve its aesthetic appearance.

The present invention also provides the process of manufacturing the writing instrument, said process preferably comprises the steps of:

manually sorting and dusting the raw material consists of Hosiary Waste fiberes and oldnewspapers , remove any foreign materials;

chopping the clean material obtained in step (a) into small pieces;

mixing water and binding agents, into pieces of step (b) in a beater well- known in the art to obtain a pulp form;

cleaning the pulp of step (c ) and optionally adding a perfume in it; pouring the pulp of step (d) in a pre-manufactured dye;

drying the above dye of step (e) in sunlight or in dryer to obtain a solid pen shell;

cutting the extra or any sharp edges or length of shell obtained in step (f);

optionally pasting a sticker/paint/print if required on the shell as obtained in step (g) to improve its aesthetic appearance.

The binding agents are preferably selected from Guar Bean, Cluster bean and/or methi.

The present invention provides a process of manufacturing the writing instrument, said process comprises the steps of:

cutting the paper/newspaper from wider side being 140 mm and narrow side being 125 mm, and making a paper tube with the help of natural gum in between the paper preferably of 3mm internal diameter and of 6 to 10 mm outer diameter as required;

drying the tube as obtained in step (a)

painting the tapered side of tube obtained in step (b) and again drying; putting the refill into painted tube of step (c ) from front side which has a bigger front side of 3mm;

printing it with a sticker; cutting the extra length to obtain the desired writing instrument.

The process of manufacturing the writing instrument comprises the steps of: taking graphite rod and pasting one end of paper with light glue on it; putting it in winding machine;

rotating full length of paper on it with a layer of pasting material on it with sponge;

drying it in sunlight and optionally pasting a sticker with desired graphics on it;

cutting both ends by leaving around 5mm on each side to obtain a pencil of desired standard length on each side.

The process of manufacturing the biodegradable refill comprises the steps of: make a thin tube of biodegradable paper; ( Paperused for making the Cold Drink Glasses , Tea Cups called as PV treated Paper using a small metal tube to join tip and paper tube togive strength to the joint.)

putting the tip on one side of tube;

filling the ink into it to obtain the desired refill.

The process for making biodegradable cap comprises the steps of:

taking paper pieces of preferably 250 mm length and 120 mm width and rotating these on a 6 mm diameter metal rod with starch gum to prepare hollow paper tube of 250 mm with 6 mm diameter and 8 to 9 mm outer diameter;

cutting the above tube of step (a) with a high speed paper cutter in 4 parts to get small rolls of 50 or 60 mm or as desired the length of the Cap;

Take the metal Clip and put it on top side once clip is fixed take the natural corck of "0" or "00"size to block the top hole, with a glue, or else optionally we can use cotton thread with cork can be used to hang it in neck.

optionally putting sticker/paint/print on outer surface to improve aesthetic appeal.

Detailed Description of the invention: The following description provides the most preferred embodiments and the modes of working of invention. It is apparent to the person skilled in the art that several other alternatives, both of the product and the process are possible and are within the scope of the invention. The present invention provides a writing-instrument and a process to make thereof; such that all parts of the instrument are made up of Decomposable or Biodegradable materials. Thus, the present invention helps in minimizing the plastic waste and is environment friendly. Either all or max part of the pen is made of Biodegradable material, so that plastic waste going to the environment ca n be reduced . There are a number of variants possible for said instrument depending upon the raw material used for manufacturing and all these variants are resulting in biodegradable writing instruments. Further, it is emphasized that all these variants are within the scope of present invention . The percentage up to which these instruments are biodegradable may vary from one form to another again depending upon the raw material used. However, it is to be noted that for all these variants, only waste materials are being used for manufacturing .

100% Biodegradable Pen:

This variant is 100% biodegradable when just thrown anywhere after use

(Except the rolling tip) .

Composition: Water-proof biodegradable paper (Raw material of pa per tea cups

/ or Cold drink glasses made of papers), ball pointed rolling tip, normal ink Fluid .

Process: Take that rolling paper and roll it on a Diameter of 2mm with a pasting or adhesive material in between and thus prepare a paper tube of 7 to 8 mm, and leave it till it gets strong and dry up. Paper is so cut that Tapering comes naturally in the process of making roll and now fit metal tip on that side and fill the fluid Ink.

All the process can be automated with suitable machinery .

Final product is ready to use and it is 100% biodegradable except the front rolling tip.

Paper Pulp Pen

This pen is 100% recyclable and 80% Biodegradable except normal plastic refill . This is made of Recycled paper

Composition: This Pen's outer body is made of Recycled paper pulp, to make this Pen we need old news paper, Guar bean or cluster bean (Cyamopsis tetragonolobus), Methi (Fenugreek), perfume, simple paper and a specially designed pen refill and Hosiary waste. Process: Make a paper pulp by keeping old newspaper in water for 10 to 12 days, soak guar and methi in water for 3 days and then boil it in hot water till it becomes very soft.

Now mix all newspaper, guar hosiery waste and methi in a stone grinder till it becomes a good mixed paste called as bitter for mixing.

Now take a dye and with hydraulic pressure put the paper pulp and press it, and now open it and keep that pen in sunlight for 10 to 15 days or dry in a dryer till it comes out as a solid pen shell , Either of the process can be used for drying as per the suitability.

Once it has taken the shape and become sufficient hard cut all the sharp and extra edges with a sharp cutter and paste a plain sticker paper on it to give a good look. Add minute perfume in it to overcome the smell of paper and cereals.

Final product is ready with a refill and a recycled paper shell over it. This is 100% recyclable and 100% biodegradable. Exceptrefillif plastic verson is used.

Paper Tube Pen (Used Papers)

This paper pen is 100% recyclable and 80% Biodegradable except normal plastic refill. Made of Paper Tube

Composition: This Pen's outer body is made of Recycled plain paper or old news paper, natural gum from babul tree or a rice starch , perfume, simple paper, small cork cone for front tip and a cylindrical cork to close it from rear end, and a specially designed pen refill.

Process: Take the old News paper cut it in a straight strip of 140 mm wide and full length of the news paper, now make a angle cut from center to one side where it is zero mm from center and 10 mm on the other side. now start rolling it from wiser side to Narrow side on a Metal Road of 3mm in Diameter and simultaniusly applying the gum between the two layers till the whole paper is finished, Now dry this tune in sunlight and paint the tapered side with a Lead free paint and insert the specially designed refill from front, Nowpaste the printed or branded Sticker on this and cut the rear side on a high spead paper cutter to get a batter finish. Biodegradable refill

Composition: Normal Biodegradable paper, which is used for cold drink and tea cups which has got the capability to store the liquid, normal pen fluid ink, and a metal ink roller tip.

Process: Make a thin tube of biodegradable paper, put the tip on one side and fill the Ink.

All the above products can be sued with above refill and thus makes all products , 100% biodegradable.

Biodegradable pencil

The process for manufacturing the pencil comprises the steps of taking graphite rod and pasting one end of paper with light glue on it and then putting it in winding machine. The full length paper with a layer of pasting material and sponge on it is rotated on the rod. This is dried in the sunlight and can be optionally pasted with a sticker with desired graphics on it. The both ends are cut by leaving around 5mm on each side to obtain a pencil of desired standard length on each side. Biodegradable cap

The process for manufacturing biodegradable cap comprises the steps of

taking paper pieces of preferably 250 mm length and 120 mm width and rotating these on a 6 mm diameter metal rod with starch gum to prepare hollow paper tube of 250 mm with 6 mm diameter and 8 to 9 mm outer diameter; cutting the above tube with a high speed paper cutter in 4 parts to get small rolls of 50 or 60 mm. or as desired the length of the Cap; Take the metal Clip and put it on top side, once clip is fixed take the natural corck of "0" or "00"size to block the top hole, with a glue, or else optionally we can use cotton thread with cork can be used to hang it in neck.

optionally putting sticker/paint/print on outer surface to improve aesthetic appeal. Accordingly, the present invention provides a writing instrument made up of waste raw materials, said instrument comprising of a shell, means for writing, a binding agent, and optionally an additive, an outer layer and a cap; said instrument being completely or partially recyclable and/or biodegradable in nature.

In an embodiment, said instrument is a pen or a pencil.

In another embodiment, waste raw materials used for making said shell of the instrument are preferably selected from waste tea and cold drink paper cups and/or glasses, old newspapers, hosiery waste, small pieces of cotton threads and any other form of recycled paper.

In another embodiment, said means for writing are preferably selected from ball pointed rolling tip, ink fluid, pen refill and/or a metal ink roller tip, graphite rods well known in the art.

In yet another embodiment, said refill is preferably made up of biodegradable raw material used for making pen.

In a further embodiment, various binding agents used in the manufacturing are preferably selected from guar bean or cluster bean (Cyamopsis tetragonolobus), fenugreek and/or natural gum from rice starch with 1% of Castaic powder.

In another embodiment, said additives used for improving aesthetic appeal are preferably a perfume, a sticker or film with a print or a pattern or a paint on the outer layer.

In an embodiment, said cap is preferably made up of biodegradable waste materials.

In yet another embodiment, said cap optionally comprises a cork, metal clip and/or stickers.

In an embodiment, a process of manufacturing the writing instrument is provided, wherein said process preferably comprises the steps of:

a. taking the paper and rolling it from wider side preferably on a diameter of 2mm with a pasting or adhesive material in between and thus preparing a paper tube of 7 to 8 mm outer diameter;

b. leaving the tube prepared in step (a) till it gets strong and dry;

c. fitting a metal tip in the tube of step (b) and filling the fluid Ink in it;

d. cutting the extra length of tube of step (c) manually or with suitable machinery well-known in the art; e. optionally pasting a sticker/paint/print if required on the writing instrument as obtained in step (d) to improve its aesthetic appearance.

In another embodiment, said process preferably comprises the steps of:

a. manually sorting and dusting the raw material to remove any foreign materials;

b. chopping the clean material obtained in step (a) into small pieces; _, c. mixing water , binding agents-and hosiery waste into pieces of step (b) in a beater well-known in the art to obtain a pulp form;

d. cleaning the pulp of step (c ) and optionally adding a perfume in it; e. pouring the pulp of step (d) in a pre-manufactured dye;

f. drying the above dye of step (e) in sunlight or in dryer to obtain a solid pen shell;

g. cutting the extra or any sharp edges or length of shell obtained in step (f);

h. optionally pasting a sticker/paint/print if required on the shell as obtained in step (g) to improve its aesthetic appearance.

In an embodiment, said binding agents are preferably selected from Guar Bean, Cluster bean and/or methi.

In yet another embodiment, said process comprises the steps of:

a. cutting the paper/newspaper from wider side and making a paper tube with the help of natural gum in between the paper preferably of 3mm internal diameter and of 6 to 10 mm outer diameter as required;

b. drying the tube as obtained in step (a)

c. painting the tapered side of tube obtained in step (b) and again drying; d. putting the refill into painted tube of step (c ) from front side which has a bigger front side of 3mm;

e. printing it with a sticker; cutting the extra length to obtain the desired writing instrument.

In another embodiment, said process comprises the steps of:

a. taking graphite rod and pasting one end of paper with light glue on it;

b. putting it in winding machine; c. rotating full length of paper on it with a layer of pasting material on it with sponge;

d. drying it in sunlight and optionally pasting a sticker with desired graphics on

't;

e. cutting both ends by leaving around 5mm on each side to obtain a pencil of desired standard length on each side.

In yet another embodiment, process for making biodegradable refill comprises the steps of:

a. make a thin tube of biodegradable paper which is used in cold Drink paper glasses ortea Cups;

b. putting the tip on one side of tube;

c. filling the ink into it to obtain the desired refill. In an embodiment, process for making said cap comprises the steps of:

a. taking paper. pieces of preferably 250 mm length and 120 mm width and rotating these on a 6 mm diameter metal rod with starch gum to prepare hollow paper tube of 250 mm with 6 mm diameter and 8 to 9 mm outer diameter;

b. cutting the above tube of step (a) with a high speed paper cutter in 4 parts to get small rolls of 50 or 60 mm;

c. optionally putting sticker/paint/print on outer surface to improve aesthetic appeal. In an embodiment, corks of "0" or "00" are used preferably to block paper tube from one side.

In an embodiment, a metal clip or a cotton thread is put before putting cork on one side and then the side is closed.

Advantages of the invention

1. The final product is completely or partially recyclable and/or biodegradable in nature. 2. The product is made up of waste raw materials, so it's environment- friendly.

3. The process for manufacturing is very simple in nature and does not involve any harmful chemicals.

Claims

I Claim:

1. A writing instrument made up of waste raw materials, said instrument comprising of a shell, means for writing, a binding agent, and optionally an additive, an outer layer and a cap; said instrument being completely or partially recyclable and/or biodegradable in nature.

2. The writing instrument as claimed in claim 1, wherein said instrument is a pen or a pencil.

3. The writing instrument as claimed in claim 1, wherein waste raw materials used for making said shell of the instrument are preferably selected from waste tea and cold drink paper cups and/or glasses, old newspapers, hosiery waste, pieces of cotton threads and any other form of recycled paper.

4. The writing instrument as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means for writing are preferably selected from ball pointed rolling tip, ink fluid, pen refill, graphite rods and/or a metal ink roller tip, well known in the art.

5. The writing instrument as claimed in claim 4, wherein said refill is preferably made up of biodegradable raw material used for making pen.

6._. The writing instrument as claimed in claim 1, wherein various binding agents used in the manufacturing are preferably selected from guar bean or cluster bean (Cyamopsis tetragonolobus), fenugreek and/or natural gum from rice starch with 1% of Castaic powder.

7. The writing instrument as claimed in claim 1, wherein said additives used for improving aesthetic appeal are preferably a perfume, a sticker or film with a print or a pattern or a paint on the outer layer.

8. The writing instrument as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cap is preferably made up of biodegradable waste materials.

^•9. The writing instrument as claimed in claim 8, wherein said cap optionally comprises a cork, metal clip, cotton thread and/or stickers.

lO.The process of manufacturing the writing instrument as claimed in claim 1, wherein said process preferably comprises the steps of:

b. leaving the tube prepared in step (a) till it gets strong and dry; . c. fitting a metal tip in the tube of step (b) and filling the fluid Ink in it; d. cutting the extra length of tube of step (c) manually or with suitable machinery well-known in the art;

e. optionally pasting a sticker/paint/print if required on the writing instrument as obtained in step (d) to improve its aesthetic appearance.

11. The process of manufacturing the writing instrument, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said process preferably comprises the steps of:

b. chopping the clean material obtained in step (a) into small pieces; c. mixing water hosiery waste and binding agents into pieces of step (b) in a beater well-known in the art to obtain a pulp form;

g. cutting the extra or any sharp edges or length of shell obtained in step

(f);

12. The process of manufacturing the writing instrument, as claimed in claim 11, wherein said binding agents are preferably selected from Guar Bean, Cluster bean and/or methi.

13. The process of manufacturing the writing instrument, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said process comprises the steps of:

. b. drying the tube as obtained in step (a)

c. painting the tapered side of tube obtained in step (b) and again drying; d. putting the refill into painted tube of step (c ) from front side which has a bigger front side of 3mm; e^". printing it with a sticker; cutting the extra length to obtain the desired writing instrument.

14. The process of manufacturing the writing instrument, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said process comprises the steps of:

a. taking graphite rod and pasting one end of paper with light glue on it; b. putting it in winding machine;

c. rotating full length of paper on it with a layer of pasting material on it with sponge;

d. drying it in sunlight and optionally pasting a sticker with desired graphics on it;

15. The process of manufacturing the writing instrument, as claimed in claim 5, wherein process for making biodegradable refill comprises the steps of:

a. make a thin tube of biodegradable paper PV treated paper used in making Cold Drink Glasses aand paper tea cup's;

b. putting the tip on one side of tube;

c. filling; the ink into it to obtain the desired refill.

16. The process of manufacturing the writing instrument as claimed in claim 8, wherein process for making said cap comprises the steps of:

a. taking paper pieces of preferably 250 mm length and 120 mm width and rotating these on a 6 mm diameter metal rod with starch gum to prepare hollow paper tube of 250 mm with 6 mm diameter and 8 to 9 mm outer diameter;

c. optionally putting sticker/paint/print on outer surface to improve aesthetic appeal.

17. The process of manufacturing the writing instrument as claimed in claim 15, wherein corks of "0" or "00" are used preferably to block paper tube from one side.

18.The process of manufacturing the writing instrument as claimed in claim 15, wherein a metal clip or a cotton thread is put before putting cork on one side and then the side is closed.

19. A writing instrument made up of waste raw materials, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying specification.

20. The process of manufacturing the writing instrument, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying specification.