Coating implements with material supply – Solid material for rubbing contact or support therefor – Including means to advance material
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-07
2001-09-25
Eloshway, Charles R. (Department: 3751)
Coating implements with material supply
Solid material for rubbing contact or support therefor
Including means to advance material
C401S078000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06293720
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the priority of Patent Application Serial No. 198 20 288.1 filed in Germany on May 7, 1998.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a pencil having an axially-movable core, particularly a soft-core pencil, for example a cosmetic pencil. Pencils of this type have a sleeve-shaped pencil body with a front core opening, in which a core-driving part that holds the core is seated to move axially. In the known pencils, the pencil body comprises a shaft and a rotating sleeve that is rotatably connected to the shaft and forms the front part of the pencil body. The rotating sleeve is connected directly or indirectly to the core-driving part in the manner of a spindle drive. The core can be moved out of the core opening and back into it due to a relative rotation between the rotating sleeve and the shaft.
Typically, a protective cap that completely receives the rotating sleeve can be placed onto the shaft of such pencils. A pencil of this type, described in, for example, WO 96/18323, is disadvantageous in terms of handling. First, when the protective cap is removed, the core can easily be moved out of the core opening and may be broken off or deformed due to an accidental relative rotation between the shaft and the rotating sleeve. Likewise, in the application of an eyeliner pencil, an undesired relative rotation between the shaft and the front part is entirely possible, at least if the pencil is carelessly handled. Furthermore, relative rotation can occur between the shaft and the rotating sleeve even if the protective cap is in place. If, during a rotation of the protective cap, the cap is additionally bent transversely to the longitudinal axis of the pencil, the front part can be carried along by the rotating protective cap due to a frictional lockup, and the core can be pressed against the bottom of the cap and thus deformed. Moreover, in the conventional pencils, the rotatable connection between the front part and the shaft must be relatively stable, and therefore structurally complex, to assure the overall rigidity of the pencil. This connection often loosens over the service life of the pencil.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,489,765 and 2,336,328 disclose pencils in which the core can be moved out of an opening of the pencil body by a rod-shaped driving part that is axially seated in the pencil body and has an outside thread. The outside thread engages the inside thread of a drive nut that is axially fixedly seated in the pencil body and is accessible by way of an actuation window in the pencil body. In a pencil such as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,720,863, the rear end of the core is seated in a core-retaining part, which has the shape of a tube section and is in turn inserted to be axially movable into a guide sleeve. The guide sleeve has a longitudinal slot through which radial protrusions of the core-retaining part project. The radial protrusions engage the inside thread of a drive nut that radially surrounds the guide sleeve. An actuating section of the drive nut projects beyond the circumference of the pencil body, and divides it into two sections, namely a shaft section and a tip section.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a pencil of the type mentioned above, having an alternative construction and a particularly simple design, and small radial dimensions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
This object is accomplished by a pencil having an axially-moveable core particularly a soft-core pencil, having a sleeve-shaped pencil body with a core opening on the side of the tip, a core-driving part that holds the core and is seated to be axially moveable in the pencil body, and a rotating sleeve that is disposed coaxially to the core (
3
) and the pencil body, and is seated to be rotatably and axially fixed, and cooperates directly or indirectly with the core-driving part in the manner of a spindle gear. At least one longitudinal section of the rotating sleeve that is remote form the tip is surrounded by the pencil body, the circumferential wall of the pencil body (
1
) that surrounds the rotating sleeve (
2
) has at least one actuation window, and the rear end of the core is inserted so as to be rotatably and axially fixed into a front section of the core-driving part that is embodied as a core-retaining part having a tube section shape, with the outer circumferential surface of the core-retaining part cooperating with the inner surface of the rotating sleeve in the manner of an axial guide.
In contrast to conventional pencils, the rotating sleeve is essentially disposed entirely inside the pencil body, and the circumferential wall of the pencil body that surrounds the core is provided with at least one actuation window. This ensures, on the one hand, that the pencil body can be embodied in one piece, assuring the aforementioned rigidity. The rotating sleeve that is rotatably and axially fixed in the pencil body is accessible by way of the at least one actuation window. The pencil body surrounds at least one longitudinal section of the rotating sleeve that is remote from the tip. The rear end of the core is seated, so as to be rotatably and axially fixed, in a front core-retaining part embodied as a tube section; the outer circumferential surface of the core-retaining part cooperates with the inner surface of the rotating sleeve in the manner of an axial guide. This embodiment assures, on the one hand, a simple design and, correspondingly, easy assembly. On the other hand, this embodiment permits a reduction in the radial dimensions of the pencil, which is especially advantageous for pencils having thick cores, such as lip liner pencils.
The rotating sleeve is preferably disposed completely inside the pencil body, which reduces the danger of an undesired advancing of the core.
In a preferred embodiment, the actuation window is disposed in the front section of the pencil body. In addition to the associated structural advantages with respect to the arrangement of the core drive in the rear section of the pencil body, the pencil is also advantageous in terms of handling. Specifically, the actuation window serves additionally as a finger grip. If the rotating sleeve is disposed completely inside the pencil body, as described above, this prevents an undesired advancing of the core through a relative rotation between the pencil body and a pencil cap placed on the front end of the pencil.
Another advantageous feature of the present invention is that the rotating sleeve at least partially comprises a transparent material in the region of the actuation window, so that the core is visible. This has the advantage of omitting the need for identifying the core color on the pencil body, for example through the provision of a sealing plug having the same color as the core. The transparent region also serves as an indicator of how much of the core has been used. Further advantageous embodiments, particularly with respect to the core drive, ensue from the following description of the invention.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1489765 (1924-04-01), Jones
patent: 2336328 (1943-12-01), Whalen
patent: 2720863 (1955-10-01), Rey et al.
patent: 3310168 (1967-03-01), Landen
patent: 5076720 (1991-12-01), Roger
patent: 5813421 (1998-09-01), Wang
patent: 5842802 (1998-12-01), Lang et al.
patent: 5888004 (1999-03-01), Bouix
patent: 921860 (1947-05-01), None
patent: 2438986 (1980-09-01), None
patent: WO 96/18323 (1996-06-01), None
A.W. Faber-Castell Unternehmensverwaltung GmbH & Co.
Eloshway Charles R.
Kinberg Robert
Venable
Voorhees Catherine M.
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