Abstract:
A penholder having a retractable tether for holding a pen in an upright position adjacent a vertical portion of the stand extending the when not in use for easily finding the pen. The tether extends when the pen is in use but does not interfere with use since little or no tension is exerted on the tether when it is extended. The tether prevents the pen from being taken away from the stand so that it is always available for use. The penholder can have paper holders, paper dispensers, advertising, a business card holder, or pamphlet holder attached, and may have an LCD for a clock, thermometer or calendar display. The penholder may also have a light attached. The base of the penholder may be weighted to help station the penholder on a desktop. The penholder can support trophies or awards and can be used as a promotional item.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATIONS 
   This invention relates to provisional application Ser. No. 60/511,371 filed Oct. 15, 2003. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   This invention relates to a retractable writing instrument and more particularly to a stand having a retractable tether with a writing instrument attached to the tether. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   In banks, stores, restaurants and other places of business pens are provided for customers to use for filling out forms or signing documents, deposit slips, withdrawal slips, credit card slips, or other papers. Since it is desired to have the pen remain in place for the next user various tethers have been attached to the writing instrument to secure the writing instrument to a tabletop, desktop, countertop, or a holder of some type attached to the tabletop, desktop, and countertop. The writing instrument is preferably a pen. 
   The tether is usually a static fixed length line running from a device for attaching the tether to on one end and securing the pen on the other end. The tether is long enough to permit writing when the paper is near the tether attachment position. When the customer is finished with the pen the tether keeps the pen on the tabletop, desktop or countertop for use by the next person. 
   In some embodiments the pen is not just laid down on the tabletop, desktop or countertop but inserted into a penholder for securing the pen in an upright position for use by the next person or optionally laid down on the tabletop, desktop or countertop. 
   If the tether or the penholder is fixed to the tabletop, desktop or countertop it is not portable and limits the range of use of the device. This limits the usefulness of the penholder. 
   Further for the penholder with a tether the pen can be placed in any number of places relative to the penholder and may not be easy to find on a desk covered with papers or other objects. Therefore it is preferable to have a retractable tether so that the pen will always be in the same position relative to the stand for easily location the pen. It is also preferred to have a portable stand for selecting the placement of the pen on the tabletop, desktop or countertop or for easily moving the penholder to another location. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The freestanding penholder is useful for providing and retaining pens at a convenient location. The freestanding penholder comprises a base for setting the freestanding penholder on a tabletop, desktop or countertop or other surface. The base is weighted to help keep it from tipping over or sliding on the tabletop, desktop or countertop or other surface when the pen is in use. The base has an upstanding portion, which may be a panel or a tube for supporting the tether such that the pen will be suspended above the base when the tether is in a retracted position. The tether has a spring loaded retractor device for letting the tether unwind when it is in use and for rewinding the tether when the tether is not is use, thus suspending the pen in the air above the stand so that it can be easily located and used. The tether retractor can be located on the base or on the upstanding panel. 
   The base or upstanding panel may contain a paper holder or paper dispenser. The base or upstanding panel may also have a light. 
   The base or upstanding panel may have advertising on it such as the name of the bank or store in which it being used or a product brand name when in use at a store. 
   The upstanding panel may be used as a picture frame for a photograph. 
   The base or upstanding panel may also be made of a material, which can be written on such as an erasable dry ink marker panel. 
   The penholder can also be used for trophies or wards and support images or figurines attached thereto. 
   The penholder can be a part of a desk organizer having a calculator, an electronic database, or a mechanical index card selector. The desk organizer can also have storage slots or trays for holding articles such as pens, rulers, scissors, pencils, pens, erasers, paper clips, rubber bands, and other office supplies or articles. 
   OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a pen hanging from a tether on a pen stand for easy access to a pen. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a portable pen stand. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide advertising on a pen stand. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a retractable tether on a pen stand to that the pen is always easy to locate on the pen stand. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a storage space for paper to be used with the pen. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a cardholder to display and dispense business cards or other materials. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a writing surface on the pen stand. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a light on the pen stand. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a penholder in combination with a desk organizer. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a penholder desk organizer with a calculator. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a penholder desk organizer with an electronic database. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a penholder desk organizer with a mechanical index card device. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a penholder desk organizer with article storage bins and slots. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a penholder desk organizer with a scanner. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a penholder desk organizer with a stapler. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a penholder combined with a picture frame. 
   Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a first embodiment of the freestanding penholder. 
       FIG. 2  is a rear perspective view of a first embodiment of the freestanding penholder. 
       FIG. 3  is a front perspective view of a second embodiment of the freestanding penholder. 
       FIG. 4  is a front perspective view of a desk manager with the freestanding penholder as a portion thereof. 
       FIG. 5  is a front perspective view of a desk organizer with the freestanding penholder as a portion thereof. 
       FIG. 6  is a front perspective view of another embodiment of a desk organizer having an index card mechanism with the freestanding penholder as a portion thereof. 
       FIG. 7  is a front perspective view of a video monitor embodiment. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   The freestanding penholder  10  has a base  12  optionally with feet  16  thereon for engaging a tabletop, desktop or countertop. The feet  16  may have non-skid pads  17  thereon to prevent the freestanding penholder from sliding around while in use. The base may be made of a clear acrylic or any material and be either clear or opaque. The base should have sufficient weight to remain in place while in use without sliding on a desktop, countertop, tabletop or other surface. The base  12  may have a slot  18  for inserting an upstanding wall  14  therein to hold the upstanding wall  14  in place relative to the base  12 . The base  12  and the wall  14  may be separate pieces attached to each other or the freestanding penholder can be one integral piece having a base portion  12  and an upstanding wall portion  14 . 
   In the first embodiment as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  a retractable tether mechanism  20  is attached to the upstanding wall portion  14 . The retractable tether mechanism  20  has a spring mechanism for letting the tether  22  out when the pen  22  attached to the tether  22  is in use. The retractable tether mechanism  20  retracts the tether together with the pen when the pen is not in use. In the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  the retractable tether mechanism  20  is located in the upper right portion of the upstanding wall  14  such that the pen  24  will be dangling underneath the retractable tether mechanism  20  when the tether  22  is retracted. The pen  24  is therefore in an easy to find position when not in uses. When someone needs to use a pen they look for the freestanding pen stand  10 , which is easy to find due to it&#39;s size and then take the pen in hand and move it to the area needed for writing. The tether  22  will unwind in the retractable tether mechanism  20  but will not have a tension in the tether  22  which will interfere with the user writing with the pen  24 . When the user is finished writing with the pen  24  he releases it and the tether  22  will be rewound by the retractable tether mechanism  20  and returned to its initial position hanging from the retractable tether mechanism  20  on the face of the upstanding wall  14  ready for the next use. 
   Preferably retractable tether mechanism  20  is housed in a see through plastic case so that the retraction mechanism inside is visible. 
   The freestanding penholder  10  may have other features besides retractably holding a tethered pen  24 . The freestanding penholder  10  may optionally have a base  12  with a paper tray  30  for holding paper, which is to be written on. The paper tray  30  may hold a pad of paper or a credit card slip. If the base  12  does not have a paper tray  30  it may have advertising  60  thereon. For example, if the free standing pen holder  10  is located near the cash register in a liquor store for providing a pen for customers to use for signing credit card slips, it may have a beer advertisement on surface  60 . 
   The upright wall  14  may also have advertising  70  on the upright wall, or on the inside of the wall if the wall has an opening for insertion of advertisements therein. 
   The upright wall  14  or base  12  may have a cardholder  40  attached thereto for displaying and dispensing business cards or brochures, pamphlets, photographs, coupons or advertisements. 
   The upright wall  14  or base  12 , may also have a slot  50  for dispensing paper therethrough such as POST IT NOTES® or other slips of paper. The paper dispenser may have a supply of paper in a paper holder  52  on the reverse side of the upright wall  14  as shown in  FIG. 2 . The paper holder  52  may have an aperture  54  for supplying paper to the paper holder, or alternatively the paper holder  54  may be totally enclosed and have a removable back portion to restock paper therein. 
   The upright wall  14  may have advertising  70  on the front and/or advertising  72  on the back. If the upright wall  14  is a “taco” style wall with a slit therein, an advertising card with advertising  70  and or  72  on the front and back of the card may be inserted in the slot  75 . The “taco” style upright wall may be used as a picture frame to display photographs. 
   The upright wall  14  or base  12 , may also have a LCD display  80  integral with or attached thereto for providing information such as the time, date, temperature, or other information. 
   The retractable tether mechanism  20  may have an electrical switch  190  therein which makes contact when the tether  22  is withdrawn from its rest position indicating that the pen  24  is in use. The switch may control a circuit for turning on light  192  by providing a current from battery  194 . The light may be used to illuminate the writing area or the advertisement area,  60 ,  70 ,  72  or some other area. The switch may also turn on the LCD  80 . The switch will be turned off when the pen  24  is no longer in use the tether  22  is retracted to its rest position by the retractable tether mechanism  20 . 
   In an alternate embodiment, the freestanding penholder  110  may have a tube  114  for an upstanding portion. The base of the tube may contain a retractable tether mechanism  120 . The tether  122  extends from pen  124  to the retractable tether mechanism  120  inside of the tube  120  such that when the tether is retracted the pen hangs from the top of the tube as shown in  FIG. 3  and the pen is always easily found hanging adjacent the tube  114  and off the surface of the tabletop, desktop or countertop which may be cluttered with papers or other objects which might otherwise obscure the location of the pen. 
   A note pad holder  130  may be attached to the base  112 . The freestanding penholder  110  may have a trophy  180  with a sign attached to the base  112  or a message or advertisement  160  on or in the base. 
   The tether  22 ,  122  can be made of any material such as a chain, a beaded chain, a string, and cable, a wire, a ribbon of plastic, or any other material that is compatible with the tether mechanism  20  or  120 . The tether retractor mechanism  20 ,  120  may include springs or an elastic material and may wind the tether around a spool or have a counterbalance, motor or other mechanism for supplying energy for retracting the tether  22 ,  122  when the pen  24 ,  124  is not in use. 
   The pen  24 ,  124  may be of any style and may have advertising thereon. 
   Alternatively the penholder stand may have other features for making it into a desktop manager. As shown in  FIG. 4  the freestanding penholder desk manager  200  has a base  212  with a calculator keypad  290 , a microprocessor  296  to operate a calculator or a database and a battery  294 . The upstanding wall  214  has an LCD display  280  connected to the microprocessor  296  to display the calculator data. 
   An article holder  215  behind the upstanding wall has slots  201 ,  202 ,  203  for holding pencils, scissors, rulers, pens or other articles. 
   The base  212  may also have either alone or in combination with the calculator keypad  290  an alphabetic keypad  292  for entering data into a memory  295  for storing data such as names addresses phone number etc. The data stored can be recalled and displayed on LCD display  280 . One means of retrieving data is to enter the first letter of the name of the person desired and then using the up or down arrow keys to scroll through the memory until the persons name is located. 
   The base  212  may also have a scanner  274  for scanning business cards or other items placed in scanner slot  272 . The scanned information can be placed in memory  295  and then manipulated by the microprocessor  296  and displayed on LCD display  280 . 
   The freestanding penholder desk manager  200  has a retractable tether mechanism  220  on the upstanding wall  214 , a tether  222  and a pen  224 . 
   In another embodiment as shown in  FIG. 5  the desk manager  300  has a base  312  an upstanding wall  314  with trays  301 ,  302 ,  303  on the top for holding paper clips, rubber bands, and other articles. The face of the upstanding wall  314  can have a calendar  395  attached on one portion of the face and the retractable tether mechanism  320  tether  322  and pen  324  attached on another portion of the upstanding wall  314 . The upstanding wall can also have a stamp dispenser  344  with a slot  345  for accessing the stamps therein. A business card holder  340  and a paper clip bin  342  can be added to the front face of the upstanding wall at the intersection of the upstanding wall  314  and the base  312 . 
   The base may have a built in stapler  364  with a slot  362  to guide the corner of the paper such that the staples will be placed at a uniform distance from the edge of the paper. 
   In yet another embodiment a desk organizer  400  can have the base  412  with an index cardholder having a mechanical means of opening the cardholder  455  by pressing alphabetically arranges buttons  456  to open lid  457  and flip up the cards in the cardholder  455  to the selected alphabetical card. 
   The upright wall  414  is at the rear of the base  412 . The upright wall  414  supports a calendar  495  and a retractable tether mechanism  420  having a tether  422  and a pen  424 . A cardholder  440  can be placed at the intersection of the upright wall  414  and the base  412 . 
     FIG. 7  shows a video audio display penholder  500 . A video display screen  502  such as a flat panel display can be attached to the upright wall  514 , which is attached to base  512 . The speakers  501  may be on the upright wall  514  or the base  512 . The video may be driven by a cable input leading to a DVD player, a VCR, an Internet connection or some other data input device, not shown. Optionally, a disk player plus a DVD, a hard drive or a memory in the video audio display penholder  500  may provide the data to drive the video and sound played on the video audio display penholder  500 . The retractable tether mechanism  520  having a tether  522  and a pen  524  may be adjacent the video display screen  502 . A switch  590  in the retractable tether mechanism may activate the audio-video display  500  to play an advertisement for a specified period of time. 
   Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.