Claims
- 1. A marker compass assembly comprising:
- A leg of fixed length, a resilient plastic cross-arm pivotally mounted to one end of the leg with a limited amount of frictional interengagement therebetween so that they retain their respective positions unless subjected to a predetermined amount of force, means at the other end of the leg to facilitate positioning of the leg at a desired location on a surface to be marked, a resilient plastic retainer/cap affixed to the end of the cross-arm distal from the leg and having a closed end and a tapered recess in the other end, the surfaces forming the recess having a larger diameter at the point distal from the closed end and gradually tapering toward the closed end, the retainer/cap having a generally cylindrical external configuration and dimensionally conforming to the shape and size of a cap for a conventional size, hand-held, desktype writing marker, the cross-arm due to its resilience can be coupled with a variety of different size conventional retainer/caps without alteration in structure of the cross-arm or the retainer/caps, a conventional size, hand-held, desk-type writing marker body of fixed length and generally cylindrical configuration containing marking material subject to relatively rapid evaporation, the marker body having a closed end and a writing tip at the other end, the marker body requiring substantially zero force to accomplish the writing function when the tip is applied to the writing force, the marker body being reversably mounted in the recess of the retainer/cap and having tapered surfaces on both ends of the marker body generally conforming to the tapered recess to permit tight frictional interengagement therebetween, whereupon insertion of the closed end of the marker body into the recess will produce automatic retention of the marker body in position for use as part of the marker compass with the writing tip exposed and in fixed position for use and, reversal of the marker body and insertion of the writing tip into the retainer/cap will produce automatic retention of the marker body in position for sealing protection of the writing tip when not in use to avoid evaporation of the marking material without the necessity of an additional protective cap, the leg having a predetermined length corresponding to the length of the marker body when the marker body is held in the retainer/cap with the tip exposed so that when the leg is positioned at the desired location on the writing surface the marker tip will be in position to write on the surface and application of the predetermined amount of force to pivot the cross-arm will permit adjustment of the marker tip relative to the positioned end of the leg on the surface thereby determining the radius of the arc that is to be drawn, and a limited amount of frictional interengagement being adequate to retain the relative pivotal position of the marker body with respect to the leg during rotation of the marker compass since no force need be applied to the marker tip for writing purposes during use.
- 2. The invention in accordance with claim 1 wherein the outer diameter of the retainer/cap at a point adjacent the other end thereof is in the range of 25 64ths of an inch - 30 64ths of an inch and the length of the exposed portion of the marker when the marker is fixed in position in the retainer/cap for use is in the range of 3 and 12/16th inches - 4 and 10/16ths inches.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of my previously filed application Ser. No. 654,210 filed Feb. 2, 1976 for Marker Compass, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
1,294,839 |
Apr 1962 |
FRX |
1,032,270 |
Jun 1953 |
FRX |
1,100,166 |
Sep 1955 |
FRX |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
654210 |
Feb 1976 |
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