1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to hand-held instruments and, more specifically, to a hand-held instrument, such as a writing instrument (e.g., a mechanical pencil or a ballpoint pen), having a deformable grip section providing a variable contour grip.
2. Background Information
Conventional hand-held instruments include, for example, writing instruments having a tubular grip body of the type to be held between the fingers of the hand for use. Conventional writing instruments of this type having a tubular grip body made of a soft resilient material provided on the grip section of a writing instrument main body are generally known. Further, various types of such conventional writing instruments of which the thickness, position, etc. of the grip body can be changed have been proposed. Since the foregoing structure of the conventional writing instruments has been adopted primarily for the purpose of increasing or decreasing a diameter of the grip body, a cross-section of the grip body still maintains a circular shape. Furthermore, in order to deform the grip body into a shape other than a circular shape, it is required to provide a means for pressing the grip body in the axial direction of the writing instrument main body as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,038. Accordingly, the resulting structure of the foregoing conventional writing instruments has been complex and expensive to manufacture.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a hand-held instrument having a variable contour grip and a simple construction, and in which a cross-section of a grip body can be changed to a shape other than a circular shape and for which no pressing means for moving the grip body in the axial direction of the hand-held instrument main body is required as compared to conventional hand-held instruments.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hand-held instrument in the form of a writing instrument having a variable contour grip.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hand-held instrument, such as a writing instrument, having a variable contour grip and which is simple and economical to manufacture.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are carried out by a hand-held instrument having a variable contour grip. The hand-held instrument comprises a main body having a grip-attaching portion, and a grip body which is made of a resilient material, formed in a tubular shape, and fitted around the grip-attaching portion. The outer configuration of the grip-attaching portion and the inner configuration of the grip body are shaped to have a non-circular cross-section so that when the grip-attaching portion and the grip body are rotated relative one another, the grip body undergoes deformation so that portions thereof or contracted and other portions thereof are expanded, and the outer configuration of the grip body is changed. An outer surface or face of the grip-attaching portion has a distant face portion (first surface portion) spaced from the axis of the main body and a retracting face portion (second surface portion) disposed closer to the axis than the distant face portion. A columnar body protruding along the outer face of the grip-attaching portion is formed on the inner face of the grip body. When the columnar body is seated on the retracting face portion, the outer configuration of the grip body has a circular shape, and when the columnar body is seated on the distant face portion, the outer configuration of the grip body has a non-circular shape.
The hand-held instrument of the present invention also provides, between the grip-attaching portion and the grip body, holding means for holding the grip body at its rotated position when the columnar body is seated on the distant face portion or the retracting face portion.
In the hand-held instrument of the present invention, since the outer face of the grip-attaching portion of the main body and the inner face of the grip body are made to have a non-circular cross-section, the grip body can be deformed by changing the fitting condition of the grip-attaching portion and the grip body by rotating the grip body. Further, the outer face of the grip-attaching portion is made to have a non-circular cross-section which has the distant face portion spaced from the axis of the main body and the retracting face portion disposed closer to the axis than the distant face portion. The columnar body is formed on the inner face of the grip body so as to protrude along the outer face of the grip-attaching portion. The grip body is rotatably provided on the grip-attaching portion so that the columnar body will be seated on the retracting face portion or the distant face portion.
By the foregoing construction of the hand-held instrument according to the present invention, when the grip-attaching portion and the grip body are rotated relative one another, the columnar body is seated on the distant face portion and the outer configuration of the grip body can be deformed to a shape substantially corresponding to the non-circular cross-section of the grip-attaching portion, or the columnar body is seated on the retracting face portion and the outer configuration of the grip body can be returned from the non-circular cross-section to a circular cross-section. Accordingly, for example, when the grip-attaching portion is made to have a cross-section of substantially triangular shape, the grip section of the writing instrument can be deformed to a substantially triangular columnar shape or to a cylindrical shape by rotating the grip body.
When the columnar body is seated on the distant face portion as described above, since a gap is formed between the retracting face portion and the inner face of the grip body, an air cushion effect is achieved when the user grips the grip section of the hand-held instrument during use. If a means for holding the grip body at the rotated position is provided, the grip body does not rotate during use. Thus the hand-held instrument of the present invention can be easily used and obtained at low cost, thereby providing a hand-held instrument having a simple and economical construction.
In another aspect, the hand-held instrument according to the present invention is a writing instrument.
The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings embodiments which are presently preferred. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings:
While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, this specification and the accompanying drawings disclose only some forms as examples of the use of the invention. The invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments so described, and the scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.
As used herein, the term “hand-held instrument” means a writing instrument such as a pencil, a ballpoint pen or a marker, brushes, makeup instruments, surgical instruments, chisels and cutting blades, scribing and etching tools, styluses and a wide variety of other hand-held instruments which can benefit by a variable contour grip.
The present invention is described below with reference to a particular example wherein the hand-held instrument is a writing instrument, such as a pencil or a ballpoint pen. As another example of the hand-held instrument to which the present invention pertains, the hand-held instrument is a makeup instrument or the like containing a refill in the form of a makeup article configured similarly to a writing refill such as described below for the writing instrument of the present invention. It is understood, however, that the present invention is not limited to a writing instrument or a makeup instrument, but is rather adapted for any of the types of hand-held instruments as defined above and other hand-held instruments which can benefit by a variable contour grip.
Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein like numerals are used to indicate like elements throughout, there is shown in
As shown in
Referring back to
With reference to
Preferably, as shown in
Referring to
The grip body 3 is rotatably attached to the grip-attaching portion 2 so that the columnar bodies 11 will be seated on the respective retracting face portions 6 or the respective distant face portions 5 of the grip-attaching portion 2. Preferably, the writing instrument includes holding means for holding the grip body 3 at its rotated position when the columnar bodies 11 are seated on the respective distant face portions 5 and the retracting face portions 6.
According to the present invention, the holding means is selected with an appropriate shape and structure so as to properly function to hold the grip body 3 at its rotated position as described above, For example, in the embodiment of
The columnar bodies 11 and the retracting face portions 6 are formed to have such a dimension that when the columnar bodies 11 are seated on the respective retracting face portions 6, the outer configuration of the grip body 3 will preferably have a substantially circular cross-section as shown in
Thus the outer configuration of the grip-attaching portion 2 and the inner configuration of the grip body 3 are shaped to have a non-circular cross-section so that when the grip-attaching portion 2 and the grip body 3 are rotated relative one another, the grip body 3 undergoes deformation s that portions thereof are contracted and other portions thereof are expanded, and the outer configuration of the grip body 3 is changed. For example, when the grip body 3 is rotated from the state shown in
As shown in
Thus the hand-held instrument according to the present invention has a variable contour grip with a simple construction by which an outer configuration or contour of the grip body can be changed to a shape other than a circular shape and for which no pressing means for moving the grip body in the axial direction of the main body is required as compared to conventional hand-held instruments. The hand-held instrument of the present invention is also simple and economical to manufacture.
From the foregoing description, it can be seen that the present invention comprises an improved hand-held instrument. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that obvious changes can be made to the embodiment described in the foregoing description without departing from the broad inventive concept thereof. It is understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but is intended to cover all obvious modifications thereof which are within the scope and the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2004-301131 | Oct 2004 | JP | national |
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1868441 | Colfelt | Jul 1932 | A |
2576751 | Dortmund | Nov 1951 | A |
4035089 | Schwartz et al. | Jul 1977 | A |
5263275 | Rumbaugh | Nov 1993 | A |
6146038 | Mittersinker et al. | Nov 2000 | A |
7153052 | Nakayama et al. | Dec 2006 | B2 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20060083576 A1 | Apr 2006 | US |