US2453201A - Marking device - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 9, 1948. J. s. cUsHMAN MARKING DEVICE 24 Sheets-Sheet E.

Filed July 14, 1944 zg. 7 f g5 30? 'A TTORNE Ys New.- 9, 1948. J. s. cUsHMAN .2,453,201

MARKING DEVICE Filed July 14, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

v BY IWT( A TTORN E YS Patented Nov. 9, 1948 s Para 'rg ortica,

MARKING DEVICEl JIes"S.-Gsh'inan,New York; N1. YiL-assignorto Cushman 8 Denison Manufaf'cturingl.Company;l Inc'., -NeW-Yo'rk, Y., a corporation 'ofiNewf Yforkf Appliati'fuly 14'; 1944", Serial No; 544,941

Thisu invention' relates' to' marking' devices; Various features of" the invention'-are-particularly applicable to fountaint'ype" marking devices for marking with ink. For' convenience@ useA the' terni ink toinclude any 'liquid useful for mark 4 ing. A device embodying" my inventionm'ay be usedfor' marking' the'surface of any article which will receive' andi'retain theink', and' aniong such uses are marking shipping boxes and" cartons7 making signs and' notices, etc'.

Heretofore. marking.' devices have been made Whichfar-e in the general'fo'rmoi a fountain pen, and which have employed highly'volatile quickdryriginks that are applied with a' wick-like nib element. Such inks'are usually of`very low'vis'- cosity, and diiiiculty has been experienced in.` so regulating` the flow of' the ink as to keep the nib properly supplied' but Without flooding. Additionally, such` marking devices of vthe prior art have notfprovided iory the making of`a desirable number of diierent widths of lines, andthe nibsA used have not been desirably smooth acting, and have not possessed a desirably high degree of firmness andy reliability.

A general vobjectof the presentiinvention islto improve marking` devices of.' the type having a non-metallic nib and'v adapted for usingquickdrying.. ink.

Another. object* ofthe invention. is to prov-ide for marking devices an improved" non-metallic nib adapted for makingY marks or lines of'diierenty widths, and/or adapted for makingA a pluralty, ofy coordinated" marks or lines simultaneously.

Afiirthei" object' ofthe invention is! to provide simple and improved regulationl of" the flow of ink from the fountain or reservoir of the marking device to the marking portion ofthe nib or the like.

Further objects, andobjects relatingto details and economies of construction and use will more denitely appear from the detailed description to follow.

Invthe claims,as Well as inthe descriptiomparts are identified by specific names'for convenience, butsuch nomenclature is intended: to beas generic, in its. application to analogous parts, as the priorart W-illpermit. The best formi in Which I- have contemplated applying my invention is illustrated'in the accompanying drawings form-y ing a par-t of this-application infwhich:

}3'l,, ,.y lis an elevation of amarking device-With the dust-cap inprot'ective position. `n this view' thenib"pointsdownwardly, but'it Will be'und'er-- 2 stood that the' devicel will'A ordinarily" be carried@ with the nib" pointing upwardly.

Fig. Zis a longitudinal section takenfin generali on theI lineZ-Z of Fig; 1.

Fig. 2AA is a detailA View, longitudinal sec`- tion; showing7 the attachment'k of tlieW frontA e'rid5 structurel to' the barrel; i

Fig. 3 is a detailsection'V on tlie'lineSL-iof Fig. 2'.

Figs. 4; 5; and 6' are'perspe'ctiv'e vievvssh'owirig" three' specific' forms of; nib's for incorporation in tn'emarkingdevice'shown'inFigs 1'; 2l and 3".'

Figs. "land 8"ar`e fragmeritaryplan vievvs4 shov`fing additional forrnsfo'f nibswhi'chm'ay'beused in the' structure" sh'ovvn in" Figs. 1, 2` and 3.

Figs. 9, 10, 1'1', 1'2, 13, 14, 15 and' 16" aremore" orless diagrammatic views illustrating" the' mak? ingtof variousiines, and combinations of lines; with various' specliic formsof nibs.

Reference'will'rst be' hadt'oFi'gs: 1', 2;' andrai The marking device includes a' barrel designatedA as a whole byzh a front' end" structure designated' asa: wroleby 21, e'. nib' designated' asJa" W'ldole" by 22;' and'4 a protective' capdesignate'dat a Wholeby 2'31 One' end of the barrell) is'closed by an end'vvalll, and the otherend'of'the barrel" receives the front endstructure' 2'1" Wliichzm'a'ybe. threaded into4 the' barrel.v A`s shown' in Eig; 2A, a' gasket 25 may be used to sealthe frontendZl' to the barrel 20, this gasket beingcornpressedlb'etween' the en'd) ofbarrel Z'UJa'n'dari annular ledge on the front endstructure 2'IL By. uns'crevving;y the front end 2i, the barrel maybe lled with ink l1, after which the front" end is replaced.

The protective cap` 23', when' mounted on the' front end ofthe marking device as shown in Figs. l and 2, acts-not only',A as a dust-cap to protectthe nib from' dust, butalso as a Closure to pre-l vent evaporation of the ink. The cap 2'3 may' conveniently make a telescopic friction twith thefront end of the barrel 2U', being readily removable` for. telescopicV mounting on the other end ofv thebarrel when' the marking device is to be used.. An alternative. arrangement' isft'o provide screvv'threaded engagement between the cap 23` and'thefront end of the barrel, with either.V telescopic or screw threaded engagementof' the cap with the. other end of the barrel'.v

The/barrel 2i), the front end2`1', and` the cap 2-3 may be made of any material, having suicient strength and rigidity, that is suicientlyinert tothe ink. For the quickLd'rying' inkswhich I have" employed', I have found aluminum satis` factory for these three" parts', but other `metals may be used; and nommetallic materials such as hard rubber, plastics, resin, etc., may also be used.

The nib is made of resilient material which is compressible and absorbent. I have found nibs cut from thick sheets of hard felt to be satisfactory. As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the nib 22 has a front end portion or body 30 which is homogeneous with a square shank portion 3| of lesser cross-section area than that of body 30. The shank 3| is adapted to be forcibly telescoped through restricted tubular portion 3-2 of front end structure 2| and to extend throughout the length of enlarged tubular portion 33 of such front end structure. The front end element 2| has a terminal wall |9 provided with a small hole 34 leading to the ink reservoir 35 that is formed in barrel 20. The free end of nib shank 3| abuts against the end wall I9, covering the hole 34. The cross-sectional size of shank 3|, in relation to the cross-sectional size of the restricted tubular portion 32 of the front end duct, is such that the corners of the shank are compressed when the shank is inserted into the duct. This places the corner portions of the shank in slightly impacted relationship with portion 32 of the duct, leaving between the corners of the shank longitudinal lines 36 of superficial contact between the shank and duct portion 32.

In use, the ink passes by gravity through hole 34 and sulfuses by capillarity through the entire nib 22. To permit this action to continue, air must be allowed to replace the ink withdrawn from reservoir 35. This takes place by air passing along the lines 3,6 of superficial contact beshank 3| and the wall |9 is preferably such as tor prevent flooding of the ink into space 31, but this contact is not so tight as to prevent air working its way, as required, past the end of shank- 3| and through hole 34 in the reservoir 35. The air present in space '31 is available for prompt influx into reservoir 35 to release ink with the rapidity required for making heavy marking strokes. This may result in temporary impoverishment of the air supply within the space 31 but such impoverishmeni-l is overcome within a short time by continued slow flow of outside air along flow lines 36 to the space 31.

'Ihe terminal marking portion of the nib 22 may have a variety of shapes such as shown in Figs. 4 through 8. In Fig` l the body 39 of the nib has a marking end in the form of a rectangle. This rectangle has ends 4|, 4|, and sides 42, 42. In Fig. 5 the body 30a is similar to that shown in Fig. 4 but the terminal marking portion is interrupted by a longitudinal notch 43. In Fig. 6 the body 30h has the form produced by chamfering at 44 a marking end such as shown in Fig. 4. In Fig. '1 the body 30e is notched at 45 and chamfered at 46. In Fig. 8 the body 39d is notched with a plurality of notches 41 (3 shown) When the marking device is provided with a nib having the specific form shown in Fig. 4, it may be used for making marks or lines having a variety of widths, including widths such as shown in Figs. 9, 13, 15, and 16. Fig. 9 shows a wide line 5G .being made with a side 42 of the rectangular marking end in contact with the surface to be marked. Fig. 13 shows a line 5| of medium width being made with an end 4| of the rectangular marking end in contact with the surface. Fig. 15 shows a relatively narrow `line 52 being made with an end 4| of the rectangle in contact with the surface, but in this case the nib is being moved in a direction parallel to the length of end 4| instead of transversely thereto as in Fig. 13. Fig. 16 shows a quite narrow line -53 being made with merely a corner such as 54 in contact with the surface.

Fig. 10 shows how a nib such as shown in Fig. 5 may be used` to simultaneously draw a relatively wide line 55 and a relatively narrow line 56, the two lines being separated by a space of substantially constant width 51. As shown in Fig. 11, a nib such as that of Fig. '1 may be used to draw similarly related lines 58 and 59. In this case, the chamfering of the nib at 46 reduces the width of the wider of the two lines. This same nib may also be used to draw various other lines, including a single line of moderate width made by placing the chamfered portion 46 in contact with the surface to be marked.

Fig. 12 shows a single wide line 60 being drawn with a nib such as shown in Fig. 6. In this case the forwardmost face of the nib is placed in contact with the surface to be marked. A single line of lesser width may be drawn with the same nib by placing the chamfered face 44 in contact with the surface to be marked. Fig. 14 shows the drawing of a plurality of relatively narrow -parallel lines 48 (four shown) with a nib such as shown in Fig. 8.

It is believed that the illustrations given as to specific forms of nibs and the widths and combinations of lines that may be drawn with them are sufficient to illustrate the multiplicity of widths and combinations of lines that may be drawn with a device of the present invention. No attempt has been made to illustrate all of the different lines that may be drawn withy each individual nib, nor has any attempt been made to illustrate all of the specific forms of nibs contemplated by the present invention. While'the drawing of straight lines has been shown in Figs. 9 through 16, it will be realized that the lines may be curved, discontinuous, etc. as is desirable in forming letters or numerals, drawing figures; maps, posters, etc.

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. A marking device, comprising: a reservoir for receiving a quantity of marking fluid and pro-l vided With an elongated cylindrical duct through ywhich said iluid may be withdrawn, a nib element of hard felt through which the marking fluid suffuses by capllarity, said nib element having a terminal marking portion for movement in contact with the surface of an article to be marked and having a rectangular shank disposed in said duct and along which air passes to the reservoir as fluid is withdrawn therefrom, at least a portion of the length of the shank being a ductengaging portion which has its corners in frictional, slightly-impacted relationship with said duct, thereby providing between the corners of the shank longitudinal lines of superficial contact between the shank and the duct and along which the air passes toward the reservoir.

2. A marking device, comprising: a reservoir for receiving a quantity of marking fluid and provided with an elongated duct through whichv said iluid may be withdrawn, a nib element of compressible absorbent material through which the marking fluid sulfuses by capillarity, said nib element having a terminal marking portion for movement in contact with the surface of an article to be marked and -having a shank disposed in said duct and along which air passes to the reservoir as fluid is withdrawn therefrom, at least a portion of the length of the shank being a ductengaging portion which is in frictional slightlyimpacted relationship with said duct, said ductengaging portion of the shank having a crosssectional shape different from that of the engaged portion of the duct and providing thereby at least one longitudinal line of superficial contact between the shank and the duct and along which the air passes toward the reservoir.

3. A marking device, comprising: a reservoir for receiving a quantity of marking fluid and provided with an elongated cylindrical duct through which said fluid may be withdrawn, a nib element of resilient absorbent material through which the marking fluid suffuses by capillarity, said nib element having a terminal marking portion for movement in contact with the surface of an article to be marked and having a shank of polygonal cross section disposed in said duct and along which air passes to the reservoir as fluid is withdrawn therefrom, at least a portion of the length of the shank being a duct-engaging portion which is in frictional, slightly-impacted relationship with said duct and thereby providing longitudinal lines of superficial contact between the shank and the duct and along which the air passes toward the reservoir.

4. A marking device as in claim 2, in which the engaged portion 0f the duct is of reduced cross section, and the duct includes an enlarged airspace portion between its engaged portion and the reservoir.

g5 Number 5. A marking device as in claim 2, in which the engaged portion of the duct is of reduced cross section and is spaced from the reservoir, the bottom of the reservoir is provided with a perforation, the duct includes an enlarged airspace portion adjacent to the reservoir, the nib shank extends through the air-space portion, and the end of the shank lies against the bottom of the reservoir and covers the perforation therein.

6. A marking device as in claim 2, in which the engaged portion of the duct is of reduced cross section and is spaced from the reservoir, the duct includes an enlarged air-space portion adjacent to the reservoir, and the nib shank extends through the airspace portion, the bottom of the reservoir being adapted to feed fluid to the end portion of said nib shank.

JAMES S. CUSHMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Gunn Nov. 2, 1909 Garvey Mar. 18, 1919 Buehrer June 16, 1925 Wood July 31, 1934 Lunzer Nov. 2, 1937 Rissman Jan. 10, 1939

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