Abstract
A card shaped pen (13) with retractable pen tips designed to be stored in the card slot of a wallet, purse, and other credit card or business card holders. The shape is optimized to make it easy to slide in and out of a card slot and to make it comfortable for a user to hold. Each of the pen tips (7) have their own ink cartridge and sliding switches, enabling the use of multiple colors in the pen. Each pen tip is extended and retracted using its sliding switch (1), which locks in the fully open and fully closed positions. Thus a versatile pen is providedthat can be conveniently carried on person every day.
Claims
1. (canceled)
2. One or more sliding switches on a card-shaped writing instrument which extend and retract various pen, pencil, or marker tips into locked positions.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is a front view of the pen, showing the four switches that extend and retract the pen tips.
[0008] FIG. 2 shows the long side of the pen.
[0009] FIG. 3 is a back view of the pen.
[0010] FIG. 4 shows one of the pen tips extended by moving one of the switches.
[0011] FIG. 5 is an isometric view of the pen.
[0012] FIG. 6 removes the top of the body shell and shows the mechanical design of the switches.
[0013] FIG. 7 is an isometric view of the internals of the pen with the top of the body shell removed.
[0014] FIG. 8 shows the internal design of the top of the body shell.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0015] FIG. 1 is a front view of the pen 13 with all of the tips in their retracted positions. One of the sliding switches 1 is used to extend its pen tip 7 through an opening hole 4 as shown in FIG. 4. Each of the sliding switches 1 extend and retract their respective pen tips 7. The sliding switches 1 sit flush with the face of the pen. They have grooves 2 to allow for better grip with the user's fingertips, or to make it easier to use a fingernail to slide the switch 1. There is a depression 5 around each of the switches 1 for added comfort and ease of use. The edges 6 of the pen are rounded off to make it easier to slide the pen in and out of a card slot and to increase user comfort.
[0016] The pen tips 7 have a cartridge containing ink attached to their rear. The cartridges are tubes housed inside the switches 1, taking up most of the length of the switches 1. The cartridges and pen tips 7 move with the switch from their fully retracted to fully extended positions. The cartridges are covered 3 by the switches so that they don't become exposed when the pen tips 7 are retracted.
[0017] FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show the inside of the pen 13 with the top half of the body removed (shown in FIG. 8). This shows the switch mechanism inside. Each side of the switch 1 has a leaf spring 10. In the center of the leaf spring 10, there's a rounded protrusion 11 that locks into rounded notches for the fully extended 8 and fully retracted 9 states of the pen tip. When the user slides the switch, the protrusions 11 are pushed against the notches, forcing the leaf springs 10 to compress, thereby allowing the switch 1 to move between its two states.
[0018] The top half of the pen shown in FIG. 8 has an opening 12 for each of the switches 1, and combines with the bottom half to guide the switches in a linear path.
