Patent Abstract:
A writing apparatus that provides a writing tool and also provides a small compartment for mounting and holding a piece of food, preferably candy, for consumption. The writing apparatus is preferably a pen that includes an internal pen casing with a volume of ink. In addition, an item of food, preferably candy, is located in a rear-mounted compartment on the writing apparatus and can be exposed when an individual is hungry. A cap can be used to cover the item of food when an individual is not hungry or when the writing apparatus is being used for writing.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISK 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention concerns that of a new and improved writing apparatus that provides a writing tool and also provides a small compartment for mounting and holding a piece of food, preferably candy, for consumption. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,384, issued to Radmilovic et al., discloses a rear pen portion that has a notch defined longitudinally therein from a dividing wall to an upper end. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,997, issued to Coleman et al., discloses a pop-eye pen and candy holder that includes a main housing made of plastic or any suitable material. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,184, issued to Sanchez, discloses a new candy attachment for a writing instrument for allowing a user to removably mount candy to an end of a writing instrument. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,926,166, issued to Bitton et al., discloses a product combining individual novelty candy dispensers and health and beauty dispensers into a single device. 
     United States Application No. 2003/0155374, filed by Potier, discloses a breath spray pen with a hollow cylindrical shaped housing that tapers at one end and is open-ended at the opposite end. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention concerns that of a new and improved writing apparatus that provides a writing tool and also provides a small compartment for mounting and holding a piece of food, preferably candy, for consumption. The writing apparatus is preferably a pen that includes an internal pen casing with a volume of ink. In addition, an item of food, preferably candy, is located in a rear-mounted compartment on the writing apparatus and can be exposed when an individual is hungry. A cap can be used to cover the item of food when an individual is not hungry or when the writing apparatus is being used for writing. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of a writing apparatus that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the writing apparatus that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the writing apparatus in detail, it is to be understood that the writing apparatus is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The writing apparatus is capable of other embodiments and being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting. 
     As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present writing apparatus. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a writing apparatus which has all of the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a writing apparatus which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a writing apparatus which is of durable and reliable construction. 
     It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a writing apparatus which is economically affordable and available for relevant market segment of the purchasing public. 
     Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment when considered with the attached drawings and appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a side view of the writing apparatus as it would appear with its cap removed. 
         FIG. 2  shows a side view of the writing apparatus as it would appear with its cap attached. 
         FIG. 3  shows a side view of an alternative embodiment of the writing apparatus as it would appear with its cap attached. 
         FIG. 4  shows a side view of an alternative embodiment of the writing apparatus as it would appear with its cap removed. 
         FIG. 5  shows a schematic diagram of possible ingredients that could be used to make the item of food placed within the writing apparatus. 
         FIG. 6  shows a schematic diagram of possible ingredients that could be used to make the item of food placed within the writing apparatus. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 6  thereof, a new writing apparatus embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention and generally designated by the reference numeral  2  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 5 , the writing apparatus  2  comprises a pen  4 , with the pen  4  comprising an outer casing  6 . The outer casing  6  has two ends comprising a front end  8  and a rear end  10 . The outer casing  6  is preferably cylindrical in shape and is hollow. The front end  8  and the rear end  10  of the outer casing  6  are open. 
     Within the outer casing  6  of the pen  4  are located two compartments comprising a front compartment  24  and a rear compartment  26 . Each of the compartments  24  and  26  have two ends comprising a first end and a second end. The front compartment  24  is larger than the rear compartment  26  and is occupies about ⅗ to ⅔ of the length within the outer casing  6 , while the rear compartment  26  occupies less space than the front compartment  24 . 
     The front compartment  24  is located within a portion of the outer casing  6  that is closer to the front end  8  of the outer casing  6  than the rear end  10  of the outer casing  6 . The first end of the front compartment  24  is located close to the front end  8  of the outer casing  6  but is not “flush” with the front end  8  of the outer casing  6 . The first end of the rear compartment  26  is located close to the rear end  10  of the outer casing  6  but is not “flush” with the rear end  10  of the outer casing  6 . 
     Within the front compartment  24  is located an internal pen casing  12  which has two ends, a first end and a second end. The internal pen casing  12  encloses a metal tubule  14  that houses a volume of ink  16 . The metal tubule  14  has two ends, a first end and a second end, with the first end of the metal tubule comprising a rotating ball  18 , through which, when pressed against a flat surface, the ink  16  within the metal tubule  14  can exit. 
     Within the rear compartment  26  is located a mount  28 , to which an item of food  30  can be attached. Preferably, the item of food  30  is a piece of candy, with the candy having enough solidity to it to allow it to be mounted on mount  28  within the rear compartment  26 . 
     Attached to the front compartment  24  is a front thumb tab  20 . The front thumb tab  20  is attached to the front compartment  24  through a front track  21  that allows an individual to use the front thumb tab  20  to move the front compartment  24  back and forth. The front track  21  is approximately one to one and one-half inches long and provides a limitation to the amount of forward and backward movement the front compartment  24  actually has. The front track  21  is located near the front end of the outer casing  6 . 
     When the front thumb tab  20  is pushed as far forward to the front end  8  of the outer casing  6  as it will go, the first end of the metal tubule  14  and the ball  18  are sticking out of the front end  8  of the outer casing  6 , allowing an individual to use the writing utensil  2  for writing purposes. When the front thumb tab  20  is pushed as far away from the front end  8  of the outer casing  6  as it will go, the first end of the metal tubule  14  and the ball  18  are located within the outer casing  6  and the writing utensil  2  can not be used to write. 
     Attached to the rear compartment  26  is a rear thumb tab  22 . The rear thumb tab  22  is attached to the rear compartment  26  through a rear track  23  that allows an individual to use the rear thumb tab  22  to move the rear compartment  26  back and forth. The rear track  23  is approximately one to one and one-half inches long and provides a limitation to the amount of forward and backward movement the rear compartment  26  actually has. The rear track  23  is located near the rear end of the outer casing  6 . 
     When the rear thumb tab  22  is pushed as far forward to the rear end  6  of the outer casing  6  as it will go, the item of food  30  will be sticking out of the rear end  10  of the outer casing  6 , allowing an individual to eat a portion or all of the item of food  30 . When the rear thumb tab  22  is pushed as far away from the rear end  10  of the outer casing  6  as it will go, the item of food  30  is located within the rear compartment  26  and does not stick out of the rear end  10  of the outer casing  6  at all, thereby preventing it from being eaten. 
     When an individual wishes to cover the rear end  10  of the writing utensil, they can place a cap  32  over it. The cap  32  preferably has a clip  34  on it, which allows the writing utensil to be easily attached to a wide variety of items. 
     In an alternative embodiment, the writing utensil  2  can utilize a clip  38  instead of a rear thumb tab  22 . The clip  38  would simply be attached to the rear compartment  26  in the same manner as the rear thumb tab  22  is, thereby allowing the clip  38  to serve both as an attachment device and also as a means for pushing out or pulling in the item of food. 
     Also in an alternative embodiment, the internal pen casing can be pulled out or pushed back into the front end of the outer casing  6  with the use of a twist-out mechanism  36 . The twist-out mechanism  36 , when rotated in a particular direction, pulls the internal pen casing  12  toward the front end of the outer casing  6 , while when rotated the other way, pushes the internal pen casing  12  back in toward the front end of the outer casing  6 . 
     The piece of food  30  itself can be made with various ingredients. If the item of food  30  is a piece of candy,  FIGS. 5 and 6  represent some of the likely ingredients that would be used in manufacturing these items of candy. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1