Nib replaceable writing instrument

• US 4,406,555 A
• Filed: 05/06/1981
• Issued: 09/27/1983
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/1981
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cathay Pen Corporation
• Original Assignee: Cathay Pen Corporation
• Inventors: Tsai, Kuo L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Coughenour, Clyde I.
• Application Number:
  US06/260,923
• Time in Patent Office: 874 Days
• Field of Search: 401/17-21, 401/109-114, 401/29-33, 401/132, 401/133, 401/135, 401/187, 401/188, 401/190, 401/191, 401/196, 401/198, 401/199, 401/202, 401/207, 401/209, 401/213 , 401/214, 401/216, 401/217, 401/195
• US Class Current: 401/216
• CPC Class Codes: B43K 1/08 with ball points; Balls or ball beds B43M11/085 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B43K 27/12 of ball-point pens
• CPC Class Codes: B43K 7/10 Arrangements for feeding ink to the ball points B43K7/01 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B43K 8/04 Arrangements for feeding ink to writing-points

Abstract

A writing instrument with a nib that is easily removed and replaced with a spare unit stored inside the pen holder. A capillary and ink core guide is provided to supply ink from storage to a ball or other writing means.

Claims

1. A replaceable nib writing instrument comprising a pen casing having a central opening at its otherwise closed front end, a pen-nib holding means connected at the front of said casing, a pen nib having writing point in the form of a ball point at its utmost front end, said pen nib using an ink solution and being firmly held inside of said holding means by a portion thereof, an ink storage means positioned at the rear of said casing, an ink guiding means connected between said pen nib and ink storage means to convey the ink from said ink storage means to the pen nib, said ink guiding means including a capillary member and an ink guiding core, said capillary member having a relatively smaller diameter portion at the front and a relatively larger diameter portion at the rear, said relatively larger diameter portion of said capillary member being frictionally held within the inner surface of the front of said casing, and the rear of the relatively smaller diameter portion of said capillary member being further tightly mounted at the central opening of the closed front end of said casing, the remainder of said relatively smaller diameter portion being extended through said central opening at the front end of said casing and projected out of the same, and having at least one longitudinal capillary groove extending the entire length of the outer surface of said capillary member for transferring ink from said longitudinal capillary groove of said capillary member to said pen nib, said capillary member and said ink guiding core being mounted in face-to-face abutment, the abutting face of said capillary member being provided with at least one capillary groove which communicates with said longitudinal capillary groove, and which is surrounded and enclosed within the housing of said pen-nib holding means and makes no substantial contact with the inner surface of said pen-nib holding means, whereby said pen-nib holdng means and its nib may be interchanged with a similar pen-nib holding means having a nib of the same type, said ink guiding core including a front end having a greatly reduced slim portion and a minor portion of the rear end mounted at the end of said pen nib so that a sufficient amount of ink is stored within said pen nib to effect a continuous capillary action for the writing point, the reduced slim point of said ink guiding core making no contact with said writing point.

2. An instrument as defined in claim 1 additionally comprising means for storing a spare pen nib holding means with its pen nib using an ink solution at the rear of said casing.

3. An instrument as defined in claim 1, wherein the length of the pen nib is shorter than that of said pen-nib holding means so as to enable the projecting front end of said capillary member to engage with said pen nib in a form of face-to-face abutment inside said pen-nib holding means.