Patent ID: 6648535
Filing Date: 2003-11-18
Classification: B25G,Y10T

Abstract:
A cushioning element comprising an annular elongate sleeve-shaped body adapted to serve as a gripping sleeve on a writing instrument, said cushioning element comprising:co-extensive inner and outer walls sealingly closed at opposite ends of the body, or one end selectively, and defining a chamber between the inner and outer walls, and particulate matter in the form of micro-spheres in air filling the chamber, the outer wall being flexible and capable of being deformed as particulate material in the chamber moves as the outer wall is forcibly engaged by gripping it, and the inner wall being adapted to receive a rigid element, the particulate material in the chamber tending to remain in the position it moved to during the gripping to keep the flexible outer wall in a shape it assumed during the gripping, and the particulate material in air and the sealingly closed opposite ends of the body cooperating to resist leakage of the chamber.