Patent ID: 7518598

Claim:
A light pen comprising: a barrel comprising internal threads at a lower portion and an inwardly extending rim at a top end; a writing head comprising a hollow nose including internal threads formed on an upper portion of its inner surface, and a cylindrical head; an elastic ejection assembly disposed inside a lower portion of the barrel and an upper portion of the writing head and comprising an elongate pilot bar including annular first teeth, a first resilient member disposed in the nose and biased between a bottom of the pilot bar and a shoulder of the head, a pushing cylinder including a plurality of second teeth around its lower portion, and a lower recess for receiving an upper extension of the pilot bar; and a hollow cylindrical member including lower external threads secured to both the internal threads of the writing head and the internal threads of the barrel, a plurality of longitudinal first grooves around its inner surface, and a plurality of longitudinal second grooves alternate with the first grooves; and a plunger comprising a lower hollow cylinder including at least one annular protruded seal proximate a bottom of the cylinder, and a pushing rod including an enlarged head; wherein the pushing rod is threadably engaged with the lower hollow cylinder, the at least one annular protruded seal is slidably disposed within the barrel, and the enlarged head of the pushing rod is disposed outside of the barrel and above the inwardly extending rim such that the plunger is movable between an extended position wherein the plunger is stopped from further movement outward from the barrel by the annular protruded seal contacting the rim, and a retracted position; wherein in a retracting operation of the light pen, pressing the pushing rod into the barrel will move the pushing cylinder to compress the first resilient member, push the first teeth out of the first grooves, clockwise turn the first teeth to move from the first groove to the adjacent second groove, and cause the pilot bar to jump a pitch to completely conceal the light pen in a receptacle of an electronic device in said retracted position; and in an extending operation of the light pen, when said plunger is in said retracted position, pressing the pushing rod will clockwise turn the first teeth to move from the second groove to the adjacent first groove to cause the pilot bar to jump another pitch, and release a stored elastic force of the first resilient member to push the pushing rod partially out of the receptacle whereby said pushing rod is readily graspable to be pulled into said extended position.