Patent Application
20070237566
1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure is generally directed to securable stationery products and, more particularly, to stationery products having a tether.
2. Brief Description of Related Technology
Consumers, especially children, frequently lose writing instruments. Similarly, consumers often misplace writing instrument caps, but not the writing instruments themselves. Accordingly, it is desirable to secure writing instruments so that they remain in a desired location such that they are not lost or misplaced. Conventional methods of securing writing instruments include attaching a flexible cord or chain to one end of the writing instrument and securing the other end of the flexible cord to a base which can be mounted on a stationary object, such as, for example, a desk or counter. Such writing instruments may be found in many locations, for example, supermarkets, banks and other financial institutions.
However, such writing instrument are generally difficult to remove once attached to the base. For example, many attachable writing instruments use a ball-type chain and a socket-type receiver to anchor the chain to the base. This type of writing instrument is only securable to particular locations having the required base.
One product that allows consumers to choose a particular location to attach the writing instrument is the STAY PUT PEN® available from Eldon Office Products (Oakbrook, Ill.). This product includes a writing instrument attached to a base via a cord. The base includes an adhesive on one side which is used to attach the base to an object. Thus, the user may choose a particular location for locating the base. Once attached, however, the base is relatively fixed and not movable. Thus, this type of writing instrument can only be used in the vicinity of the object to which the base is attached.
Other methods of securing writing instruments include using lanyards attached to the writing instrument. These lanyards enable the writing instrument to hang on a post, or around one's neck, for example, thereby allowing the writing instrument to be (removably) placed in a certain desired location. However, because the lanyard is simply placed over the object, the writing instrument is not secured to the object. Additionally, a lanyard can only be placed around an object having a projection of some sort because the lanyard does not have any free ends.
Exemplary aspects and features of a tethered writing instrument in accordance with the disclosure are described and explained in greater detail below with the aid of the drawing figures in which:
The disclosure provides tethered stationery products including but not limited to tethered writing instruments (for example, ball point pens, fountain pens, permanent markers, dry erase markers, and highlighting markers, pencils), tethered erasers, tethered rulers, and tethered pencil sharpeners.
The tethered writing instrument described herein generally includes a writing portion and a cap, but the writing instrument may also be a retractable writing instrument (which generally does not include a cap). In one embodiment, the cap further includes a flexible tether attached to one end thereof and an opening on an extension of the cap. In another embodiment, the tether and opening may be disposed on the writing portion itself, for example, of a retractable writing instrument. Attaching the tether to the cap rather than to the writing instrument itself provides the advantage of allowing the user to access the writing instrument without removing the tether from its secured position.
The flexible tether is preferably made of rubber or flexible plastic. The tether may be secured to a fin extending from a distal end of the cap. The tether may terminate in a slightly expanded mating portion which is capable of being inserted into the opening. Once inserted into the opening, the tether forms a closed flexible loop adapted to secure the tethered writing instrument to virtually any object that the tether can fit around.
In yet another embodiment, two tethers could be attached to the cap or writing portion. In this embodiment, the first tether terminates in a slightly expanded mating portion and the other tether has an opening at its distal end.
The flexible tether is preferably made from silicone rubbers and/or thermoplastic elastomers. The flexible tether typically has a Durometer range of approximately 25 to approximately 55, approximately 20 to approximately 50, and/or approximately 35 to approximately 45 Shore A. These durometer ranges produce a flexible tether that will be soft enough for the mating portion to be inserted through the opening, but hard enough to prevent accidental dislodgement of the flexible tether when the writing instrument is bumped or otherwise impacted. Higher Durometer readings would produce a mating end that is hard to insert through the opening.
An injection molding process is typically used to produce the flexible tether. The flexible tether could be made using an over-molding process or an insert-molding process to create a permanent adhesion to the cap or writing portion or to another stationery product described herein. Thus, the flexible tether could be integrated to the stationery product preventing loss or separation of the flexible tether from the stationery product. Additionally, over-molding the flexible tether onto the stationery product is an efficient means of manufacture, thus saving time and money in the manufacture of a writing instrument having a flexible tether. However, the flexible tether could be attached to the stationery product by virtually any acceptable means and need not be permanently attached, but could be temporarily or removably attached to facilitate replacement of a worn or broken tether. For example, the tether could be attached with an adhesive, or heat staking.
