Abstract:
A refillable pen has a sponge tip and dispenses paint through the tip onto a substrate to repair a blemished paint surface when the sponge tip is pressed against the substrate.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to the general art of applicators, and to the particular field of paint applicators. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   It is well known to provide touch-up paints for use in covering scratches and other blemishes in walls, road vehicles, household appliances, furniture and other such products having a quality finish. These touch-up products have usually taken the form of a relatively small bottle having a cap from which is suspended an applicator brush. Other prior art containers have taken the form of aerosol cans from which touch-up paint is dispensed. 
   With greater emphasis placed on quality in automotive, appliance, etc., finishes it is often times desirable to use a rubbing compound after a touch-up paint has been applied for the purpose of removing slight blemishes in the paint surface. Rubbing compounds are commercially available although they are relatively inconvenient to use when packaged in rather large containers. The touch-up paint job is usually relatively small. Consequently a user will not normally take the time or trouble to purchase a separate container of rubbing compound in order to improve the quality of the touch-up finish. 
   A problem often met with in applying the paint is the difficulty of applying the paint to the scratched or chipped portion without also overpainting the surrounding unmarred finish with excess paint. Generally, the overpainted portion no longer matches the remainder of the surface and thus continues to lack an unblemished appearance which is desirable for a complete repair of the original finish. Although, individuals may have attempted to wipe away the excess new paint with a dry cloth, the problem has always been to remove the excess paint without, on the one hand, marring the original finish in those areas immediately adjacent the scratch or chip and, on the other hand, removing all of the paint applied to the chipped or scratched portion. Up to the present time there has been a notable lack of success in achieving a truly effective touch-up method which can be easily used by the general public. 
   Repair specialists have long experimented with methods of touching up marred, scratched and nicked paint on walls, surfaces, automobiles and other vehicles that have been damaged by collisions, vandals or the like. However damaged, dings, nicks and scratches in the paint are not only unsightly and value reducing, but also are accelerators of rust on substrates. Dust, dirt, salt, moisture, rain and other elements pierce the blemished paint and corrode or damage the substrate. This further reduces the value of the substrate as well as reducing the structural integrity of the item being protected by the paint. 
   To the cost conscious consumer, a small nick or ding or blemish is hardly worth the time and money to employ a professional to restore or fix the nick or blemish. In an attempt to overcome the need for expensive paint sprayers and the like, do-it-yourselfers have turned to more mundane means to effectively touch up slightly marred paint. 
   One such approach has been to use a conventional disposable hypodermic syringe. The worker fills the reservoir in the syringe with a desired paint solution and then attempts to apply the paint to the blemish through the needle. Conventional needles have a sharp, slanted distal end, designed to pierce skin so that medicine or the like may be delivered subcutaneously. Such sharp needles are poorly suited for the application of paint. The sharp distal end may inadvertently gouge, pit or scratch the paint that the user is trying to repair, and in some cases exacerbating the problem, especially if the paint is fairly thin. For example, conventional paint finishes on auto bodies are on the order of 5 mm thick, if a blemish is 2 mm deep, then there is no margin for error while inserting the needle into the blemish. The conventional needle may be much too narrow for the scratch or blemish at hand and repeated passes are required to completely coat the blemish with fresh paint. 
   It is also known to apply a coat of transparent paint or sealant composition to the touch-up paint to insure proper sealing. Once all of these steps have been completed, the surface of the touch up paint may be uneven proximate the repaired blemish and a standard solvent is frequently used on a cloth to wipe away excess paint or sealant from around the area of the repair. 
   Thus, with the problems associated with the conventional methods of repairing paint, there is a need to provide an economical, easy method and apparatus to touch up paint on walls, vehicles or other substrates. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The above-discussed disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by a refillable pen having a sponge tip through which touch up paint is dispensed onto a workpiece when the sponge tip is pressed against the workpiece to repair a blemished paint surface. 
   Using the device embodying the present invention will permit a user to accurately and precisely apply touch up paint to an area without overpainting or without further damaging the substrate. 
   Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the invention will be, or will become, apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the following claims. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
     The invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, like referenced numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views. 
       FIG. 1  is an elevational view of a paint applicator embodying the present invention in a stored configuration. 
       FIG. 2  is an elevational view of a paint applicator embodying the present invention in a use configuration. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring to the figures, it can be understood that the present invention is embodied in a touch up paint applicator  10 . Applicator  10  comprises a cylindrical container  12  which has an interior volume  14 , a first end  16  which is an aft end when the container is in use and a second end  18  which is a forward end when the container is in use. 
   A dispensing port  20  is defined in the forward end and is in fluid communication with the interior volume of the container. A dispensing nozzle  24  is mounted on the dispensing port and is in fluid communication with the interior volume of the container. A sponge tip  30  is mounted on the dispensing nozzle and is in the shape of an oblique truncated solid, such as a cylinder or a polygonal solid. If the sidewall is cylindrical, tip  30  has an overall shape of an ungula. Tip  30  includes a first wall  32  that is a bottom wall when the tip is in the use condition such as shown in the figures, a second wall  34  which is a sidewall and can be cylindrical or polygonal and a third wall  36  which is a top wall when the tip is in the use condition. The top wall is oriented at an oblique angle θ to the sidewall so an apex  38  is defined at the intersection of the top wall and the sidewall. The apex permits the tip to be used in a manner which precisely applies touch up paint to a specific location. 
   An entrance port  50  is located on the aft end of the container and a rubber sealer  52  is located on the container adjacent to the entrance port. A plunger handle mounting bracket unit  72  is located on the container, and a plunger  70  is releasably attached to the container by the bracket unit. Plunger  70  has a handle  74  which has a distal end  75  and proximal end  78 . A plunger head  76  is provided on the distal end  75  of the handle  74 . The handle of the plunger is movable between a stored condition shown in  FIG. 1  in which the handle of the plunger is mounted in the mounting bracket unit and a use condition in which the handle of the plunger extends through the entrance port on the aft end of the container. 
   Touch up paint  90  is stored in the container. The touch up paint is forced out of the dispensing nozzle and through the sponge tip when the sponge tip is pressed against a workpiece being touched up and is drawn into the interior volume when the plunger is moved away from the forward end. The touch up paint applicator further includes mixing balls  100  located in the interior volume of the container. 
   While various embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of this invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.