Patent Publication Number: US-6991395-B1

Title: Ink control mechanism for a pen

Description:
RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS 
   Not applicable. 
   STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   Not applicable. 
   REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
   Not applicable. 
   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates generally to a pen, and more particularly to a structurally and spatially innovative pen that has a pressure-driven control valve at the inner end of its pen point, which will block the ink supply passage under the push of the elastic part thereof, and the ink passage will then be opened when the pen body is pressed so as to let ink flow to the pen point. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Generally, pens have different functions and types according to the difference of its interior ink such as nail painting pens, light extinction pens, marker pens and color pens etc., whose structures are equally characterized by pen points and empty pen bodies and the main difference comes from the ink set therein. About the ink currently available, their structures are generally divided into following two types. 
   Type 1, the inner end of its pen point is directly extended into the empty cavity in the pen body and the cavity is filled with liquid ink. Then the ink can be slowly let out by means of the hydraulic conductivity of the pen point itself and provided for applying or writing (e.g. nail painting pen). However, it is found from the conventional structure that, the interior ink, especially the volatile ink, can be exhausted continuously from a pen point, resulting in such defects as quick consumption, short lifespan and volumes of leakage of ink. 
   Type 2, the inner end of its pen point that is extended into the empty cavity in the pen body is inserted into a cotton strip that contains absorbed ink. Then the ink can be slowly let out by means of the hydraulic conductivity of the pen point itself and provided for applying or writing (e.g. marker pen). However, in practical application, it is found from the known structure that, due to a cotton strip&#39;s smaller ink absorption and content than that of aforesaid structure, and continuous exhaustion from the pen point, it possesses such disadvantages as quick consumption, short lifespan and the need of frequent supply or even rejection. 
   Accordingly, in order to solve the problems of the conventional pens when they are used, it would be desirable for the industry to provide a structure which is more practical. 
   Above all, the inventor elaborately designed and tested the pen structure on the basis of rich experience in product development and design, to thereby present the invention finally. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The improvements brought about by this invention are as follows. 
   1. A structurally and spatially innovative pen that has a pressure-driven control valve at the inner end of its pen point is provided. The design is originated in the trade and meets the requirements of novelty of a new-pattern patent. 
   2. According to this specially improved structure, in usage of the pen, the object of ink supply can be reached by means of pinching the pen body; while in spare, the ink supply of the pen point will automatically be failed by the control valve to achieve the practical effect of preventing continuous ink volatilization, prolonging ink lifespan and avoiding volumes of ink leakage, which enable it to meet the requirements of novelty of a new-pattern patent. 
   The new effects that can be generated by using the invention are as follows. 
   1. Wherein the stopper end  41  and elastic part  42  can be of plastic-rubber extrusion molding type, thus being simple to make and easy for mass production. 
   2. The end of the pen where pen point  20  is arranged can be covered with a pen cap  50 . When the pen cap  50  is in covering state, the user will fail to pinch the pen body  10  due to the failure of pressure release in the empty cavity  11 , thus to prevent the ink from flowing out due to unintentional pressing of the pen body when the pen is not used. 
   However, though the preferred embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, the disclosure is illustrative only, but does not limit the present invention, and changes may be made in detail within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows an exploded perspective view of the preferred embodiment present invention. 
       FIG. 2  shows an installed perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 3  shows an exploded sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  shows an installed sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  shows another sectional view across line A—A of  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 6  shows a sectional view of an illustration of an exemplary operation of the present invention. 
       FIG. 7  shows another sectional view illustrating an example of double pen points. 
       FIG. 8  shows another perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 9  shows a partial enlarged sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The features and the advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1–4 , there is a nail painting pen embodied in the present invention that provides enhanced ink control mechanism. 
   The present invention includes an empty pen body  10  with an empty cavity  11  internally to contain the supplied liquid ink (e.g. nail oil in the embodiment), and the surrounding wall of the pen body  10  is flexible and can be pinched and bring pressure to the empty cavity  11 . 
   The invention also includes a pen point  20  configured at the end of pen body  10 . The material and type of the pen point are of no limitation and can include currently popular fiber material or ballpoint pen point. The pen point  20  shall have hydraulic conductivity to lead the ink out. 
   There is an ink supply passage  30  used to join the inner end of pen point  20  and the empty cavity  11 . 
   The invention further includes a pressure-driven control valve  40  which is configured into the ink supply passage  30  and comprises a stopper end  41  and an elastic part  42 , wherein the stopper end  41  and elastic part  42  can be of plastic-rubber molding type; the stopper end  41  is a two-section step-type column comprising a large and a small step columns  411 ,  412 ; the elastic part  42  is then of a zigzag sheet shape; and a narrow opening  31  is provided in the ink supply passage  30  and will pressingly meet the stopper end  41  of the control valve  40 , wherein the narrow opening  31  can be configured as a non-circular through-hole shape (e.g. the trifurcate narrow opening shown in  FIG. 5 ) so as to fully close the narrow opening  31  when the large step column  411  of aforesaid stopper end  41  pressingly meet it; while in separation from the large step column  411 , the ink W will flow away via the gap  32 , and the small step column  412  is normally arranged in the narrow opening  31  to offer lubrication function. 
   In the aforesaid embodiment, the narrow opening  31  of ink supply passage  30  can be formed by means of arranging an inner block  33 . The inner block  33  has a protruding pipe  34  that can be inserted into the ink supply passage  30  to form the narrow opening  31 . In addition, the inside of inner block  33  can be designed as a brush hair end  35  to meet the demand of this nail painting pen. 
   According to the design composed of aforesaid components, when the pen is not in use, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the elastic part  42  of the control valve  40  can normally push the stopper end  41  to pressingly meet the narrow opening  31  of ink supply passage  30  to form the state that the ink W in the empty cavity  11  is closed to prevent it from flowing out. While in using the pen, as shown in  FIG. 6 , the user can pinch the pen body  10  to bring pressure to the empty cavity  11 , at this time, the interior pressure can be greater than the pressure of the elastic part  42  of the control valve  40 , thus enable the stopper end  41  to separate from the narrow opening  31  downwards, and then the ink supply passage  30  can be opened so as to make ink W flow downward to the pen point  20  for applying or writing. Namely, in usage, the object of ink supply can be reached through pinching the pen body  10 , while in spare, the ink supply of the pen point  20  will automatically be failed by the control valve  40  to achieve the practical effect of preventing continuous ink volatilization, prolonging ink lifespan and avoiding volumes of ink leakage. 
   Wherein, the end of the pen where pen point  20  is arranged can be covered with a pen cap  50 . When the pen cap  50  is in covering state, the user will fail to pinch the pen body  10  due to the failure of pressure release in the empty cavity  11 , thus to prevent the ink from flowing out due to unintentional pressing when the pen is not used. 
   Wherein, the pen disclosed in the invention can not only be the single pen point  20  structure (as shown in  FIG. 1 ), but also be the structure having double pen points  20 ,  20 B shown in  FIG. 7  (nail painting pen as well). 
   Then as shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , another preferred embodiment of the invented pen is disclosed. It is a marker pen  60  and its general structural composition is similar to the disclosure for preceding embodiment (referring to figure numbers), and then needs no redundant description. The only difference is that the pen body of the marker pen  60  can be a double layer design composed of inner and outer layers. The inner layer is the flexible pen body  10  that can be pinched, while the outer layer can be a rigid cylinder  61  that is common to a marker pen, and a through-hole  62  is set at an appropriate place of the rigid cylinder  61  to let human&#39;s finger access to press the internal flexible pen body  10  (shown as arrow in  FIG. 9 ).