GB2275228A - Holder for a stick of writing or drawing material. - Google Patents

Description

2275228 BARREL FOR A STICK OF WRITING OR DRAWING MATERIAL The present

invention relates to a barrel for a stick of writing or drawing material, such as a pencil lead, chalks or waxed painting crayon.

Different constructions of barrels of that kind are known.

Thus, for example, in AT-PS 253 980 there is described a plastics material barrel for pencils, consisting of two half shells which are axially displaceable relative to each other and have inwardly bent resilient tongues. Some of these tongues slidingly and radially bear against the pencil lead and at least one tongue supports the lead at its rear end to be secure against displacement under writing pressure.

In DE-PS 103 216, a barrel is disclosed, which consists of steel plate and is similarly equipped with resilient, inwardly disposed tongues. These spring tongues are produced by appropriate is incisions into the barrel and are then bent inwardly during fabrication. The lead, for example a slate stylus, can thus be retained in any desired position, with the sharp edges of the spring tongues pressing into the stylus.

The known barrels entail different disadvantages. Thus, several individual plastics material parts, which have to be assembled, are used in one case, and expensive barrels of resilient steel plates with a relatively expensive manufacturing method are required in the other case.

In a further specificat'ion, namely DE-PS 426 980, there is described a barrel, which serves as a holder, of helically wound celluloid strips or other cellulose strip, in whic.h a lead is displaceable and retained in any desired position solely by the resilience and tension of the barrel. It is indicated in this specification that it is known to manufacture barrels of that kind from paper or cardboard and to arrange the leads to be displaceable therein. A disadvantage of barrels of that kind is that the displacement of the lead back into the barrel under writing pressure cannot be prevented with certainty and reliable retention of the lead is thus not ensured.

In DE-GM 90 16 717 there is disclosed a writing instrument with a holder of cardboard, wherein the writing instrument is arranged to be displaceable relative to the holder. Here, too, the above described disadvantage is present, because no defined detent points are provided and an unintended pushing-back of the writing instrument under writing pressure thus cannot be excluded.

There is therefore a need for a barrel for, for example, pencil leads, chalks or waxed painting crayons, which is simple and cheap to manufacture, preferably of reusable materials, and which may ensure secure seating of the writing or drawing stick against axial displacement during writing or drawing.

According to the present invention there is provided a barrel for a stick of writing or adrawing material to be held therein different axial positions against pressure on the writing or drawing end of the stick by means of tongues projecting inwardly of the barrel to bear on the other end of the stick, wherein the tongues are portions of the wall of the barrel and are selectably bendable or deformable to project into the interior of the barrel in dependence on the stick position and wherein the barrel is provided with means defining the tongue portions at intervals along the barrel in correspondence with predetermined increments of advance of the stick in the barrel.

The barrel can be made, for example, at least partly of paper or cardboard, at least partly of a sequentially flexible plastics material, such as polyethylene or polypropylene, or at least partly of a sequentially flexible metallic material, such as aluminium or brass.

Preferably, each of the tongue portions is defined by a slit which penetrates in part entirely and in part partially through the wall of the barrel. For preference, the tongue portions are arranged in at least one row parallel to the axis of the barrel. Expediently, tongue portions are arranged in at least one row with adjacent tongue portions in that row being offset relative to each other with respect to the axial direction of the barrel. The tongue portions can, if desired, be formed to be partially displaced inwardly of the barrel.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a first barrel embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a partly sectioned side elevation of a second barrel embodying the invention; Fig. 3 is a partly sectioned side elevation of a third barrel embodying the invention; Fig. 4 is an end view of a fourth barrel embodying the invention; Fig. 5 is an end view of a fifth barrel embodying the invention; and Fig. 6 is an end view of a sixth barrel embodying the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, Figs. 1 to 6 show barrels 1 for pencil leads 7 or for chalks, especially waxed painting crayons, in six embodiments. Pencil leads and chalks are merely examples of sticks of writing or drawing material, and "writing" and Mrawing" include marking, painting and other applications. The barrel s 1 have tongues 3, which project into the bore 11 of the barrel and retain the lead 8. In this case, the end 81 of the lead bears against an inwardly urged tongue 33 so that the lead is secure against displacement under writing pressure. By virtue of their spacings from each other the tongues predetermine a substantially defined advancing travel 90 or lead advance 91.

The tongues 3 are formed as portions of the casing 2 or wall 13 of the barrel 1 and are manually deformable or bendable radially inwards as required, so that the user can push the lead 7 forwards through the bore 11 according to need. For this purpose, any desired adequately rigid member of suitable diameter can be used.

After reaching or exceeding the desired position of advance, the nearest tongue 3 can then be bent in, with formation of a passage 15. When the tip 82 of the lead is next pressed onto a writing surface, the lead end 81 is pressed back against the bent-in tongue 33 so that the lead is retained securely by the tongue against being pushed back any further.

The barrels 1 can consist of reusable materials, in particular wholly or partially paper or cardboard, of at least sequentially flexible synthetic material, preferably polyethylene or polypropylene, or of, so-to-speak, "flexible" metal, preferably aluminium, brass, tin plate or copper. Depending on the inherent rigidity of the lead, the barrel 1 itself can be more or less resistant to the bending. It should, however, always have a possibility of deformation in the region of bending or buckling points 14. The outlines of the tongues 3 can be shaped as desired and are formed by slits or slots 32, preferably punched cuts, which radially penetrate the casing 2 partially in the course of the outline and completely in the course of the slot.

At least one row of tongues 3 is arranged in the wall 13 of the barrel 1 parallel to the axis or transversely displaced. In the case of the arrangement of several rows, the end spacings 92 and 93 of the tongues are preferably displaced relative to each other.

Consequently, different stepping distances can be created or a smaller lead advance91 can be achieved than in the case of advancing travel 90 provided by only a single row of tongues.

The tongues 3, which are preliminarily defined during manufacture, can at that time also be lightly urged radially inwardly, as illustrated in Fig. 3. They then reduce the free passage cross-section of the bore 11 in the barrel 1 so that a greater tolerance compensation between the diameters of the bore and the lead is possible.

In addition, according to Fig. 3, connecting. webs 34, which are present each time between a not slotted intermediate space 35 and theclosest tongue portion, have notches 4, which are formed, i.e. shaped and dimensioned, in the webs 34 in such a manner that they weaken the wall 13 of the barrel 1 in the region of the outer casing surface 21 and form intended bending or buckling points 14 in the region of -the inner casing surface 22 or the wall 13. This facilitates bending over of the tongues according to need in the case of a thicker wall 13 or relatively stiff wall material.

Intended bending or buckling points of that kind-can, however, also be produced by the course of the slot 32.or-thestructuring of the tongue outline, or by additional radial passages which limit the width of the webs 34, as is indicated in Fig. 1 by the inwardly drawn incision 16 at the s l ots 32. The barrel 1 is preferably constructed in one piece, but can also be a compound body, which is reusable or easily separable into constituent materials. Thus, for example, it could consist of cardboard and plastics material, of metal and paper or of parts of metal and plastics material, which are separable from each other.

According to Fig. 3, the barrel 1 shown there additionally has a continuous axial groove 5, whereby tolerances in the diameters can be compensated for and frictional forces be produced if appropriate. In general, the diameters of the bore 11 of the barrel 1 and the lead 7 are matched to one another in such a manner that friction locking exists between the two parts, which provides protection against the lead falling out of the barrel.

This can also advantageously be achieved if at least one resilient friction point 6 formed by a drop or bead of adhesive material or of another material acting in a braking manner is applied in the bore 11 at that portion, which faces the tip of the lead, in the region of the inner surface 22 of the casing 2 or the wall 13. Fig. 1 shows a barrel 1, in which an advancing travel 90 on the one hand and a lead advance 91 on the other hand is defined by several rows of tongues, wherein each row is arranged axially displaced to the other with a different spacing 92 or 93 from the sleeve end 12 onwards. In the casing 2, the pre-shaped tongues 3 or 31,thus tongue portions are formed by the slots 32 and incisions 16 penetrating the casing outer surface 21 and arranged parallel to 20 the axis, with intermediate spaces 35. The connecting webs 34 are bounded laterally at the slots 32 by the inwardly extending incisions 16. In Fig. 2, the tip 82 of the lead 7, which bears by its end 81 on the tongue 33 pressed into the barrel bore, is shown in writing position. The wall 13 or the outer surface 21 of the 25 casing 2 of the barrel 1 is penetrated by the slots 32, which define tongues 3 pressable into the bore 11 by way of bending or buckling points 14 at the spacing of defined intermediate spaces 35 and with the formation of the webs 34. The lead 7 can be pushed on, as required, from the barrel end 12 by a rod-shaped article, for example by a pencil, in the bore 11 while overcoming the friction produced by the friction point 6.

As mentioned, the barrel 1 illustrated in Fig. 3 has the axial groove 5, which completely penetrates the casing 2 radially from the outer surface 21 to the inner surface 22 and axially from one barrel end to the other. The end 81 of the lead lies against the first inwardly urged tongue 33, which is preliminarily shaped by a slot 32 and remains connected with the wall 13 by the web 34, wherein the wall 13 is weakened in desired manner in the region of the bending or buckling point 14 by a notch 4.

Figs. 4 to 6 show that the tongues 33, which are urged inwardly or project from the casing outer surface 21 towards the inner surface 22 through the wall 13 and into the bore of the barrel 1, can have different outlines and be present in one, two or three (or in a given more) rows of tongues. The embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4 also includes a continuous axial groove 5 and two mutually opposite friction points 6.

With increasing wear of the lead, one tongue 3 after the other can be pressed in radially by the user starting from the barrel end 12, while forming passages 15, in order to thus form abutments in steps for the end 82 of the lead. Sliding back of the lead is prevented by the inwardly urged tongue 33 closest to the tip. The axial groove 5 facilitates pushing forward of the lead by reason of possible radial resilience.

A particular advantage is the simple and economical capability of manufacture of the barrels of reusable materials and with protection against displacement, wherein a relatively simple manipulation with good protection of the lead is ensured. Moreover, the body of the barrel can be structured diversely in form and colour without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

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Claims (24)

1 A barrel for a. stick of writing or drawing material to be held therein in different axial positions against pressure on the writing or drawing end of the stick by means of tongues projecting inwardly of the barrel to bear on the other end of the stick, wherein the tongues are portions of the wall of the barrel and are selectably bendable or deformable to project into the interior of the barrel in dependence on the stick position and wherein the barrel is provided with means defining the tongue portions at intervals along the barrel in correspondence with predetermined increments of advance of 10 the stick in the barrel.

2. A barrel as claimed in claim 1, the barrel being made at least partly of paper or cardboard.

3. A barrel as claimed in claim 1, the barrel being made at least partly of a sequentially flexible plastics material.

4. A barrel as claimed in claim 3, wherein the material is polyethylene or polypropylene.

5. A barrel as claimed in claim 1, the barrel being made at least partly of a sequentially flexible metallic material.

6. A barrel as claimed in claim 5, wherein the material is 20 aluminium or brass.

7. A barrel as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each of the tongue portions is defined by a slit which penetrates in part entirely and in part partially through the wall of the barrel.

8. A barrel as claimed in claim 7, wherein the slits are punched cuts.

9. A barrel as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tongue portions are arranged in at least one row parallel to the axis of the barrel.

10 10. A barrel as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the tongue portions are arranged in at least one row with adjacent tongue portions in that row being offset relative to each other with respect to the axial direction of the barrel.

11. A barrel as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, 15 wherein the tongue portions are formed to be partially displaced inwardly of the barrel. 12. A barrel as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each tongue portion, after bending or deforming to produce an inwardly projecting tongue, remains connected to the rest of the 20 barrel by a connecting web, the web being terminated by incisions or bores.

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13. A barrel as claimed in claim 12, wherein each of the webs is provided with a notch.

14. A barrel as claimed in claim 13, wherein the notch is shaped to weaken the barrel wall and define a line of bending for the associated tongue portion.

15. A barrel as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, the barrel being of integral construction.

16. A barrel as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 14, the barrel being formed as a compound body of at least two different reusable materials.

17. A barrel as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the wall of the barrel is formed with a continuous slot in the axial direction of the barrel.

18. A barrel as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the internal diameter of the barrel is so matched to a given diameter of such stick that the stick is frictionally held in the barrel against unintended movement in the direction of advance.

19. A barrel as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the barrel is provided on the inner surface of its wall and in the region of an end thereof from which the writing or drawing end of the stick is intended to project with resilient means engageable with the stick to hold it in the barrel against unintended movement in the direction of advance.

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20. A barrel substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of Figs. 1 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.

21. A writing or drawing implement comprising a barrel as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and a stick of writing or drawing material disposed in the barrel with a writing or drawing end of the stick projecting out of the barrel and with the other end of the stick bearing against at least one tongue projecting inwardly of the barrel and formed by bending or deforming one of said tongue portions of the barrel wall.

22. An implement as claimed in claim 20, wherein the stick is a pencil lead.

23. An implement as claimed in claim 20, wherein the stick is a chalk.

24. An implement as claimed in claim 20, wherein the stick is a waxed painting crayon.