초록 ▼

A retractable writing instrument that substantially prevents writing fluid from evaporating through the tip when the tip is in a retracted position to eliminate the need for a cap. Within the writing instrument is an enclosure member that has a vapor chamber. In the retracted position, the tip of th

A retractable writing instrument that substantially prevents writing fluid from evaporating through the tip when the tip is in a retracted position to eliminate the need for a cap. Within the writing instrument is an enclosure member that has a vapor chamber. In the retracted position, the tip of the writing instrument is within the vapor chamber to substantially seal the tip from ambient air so that writing fluid does not evaporate through the tip. The enclosure member has a lip that opens to allow the tip to move forward and extend from the writing instrument so that writing fluid can be delivered to the writing surface for writing. When the tip is moved back into the retracted position the lip closes to substantially seal the tip from the ambient air. An external compression force may be applied to the lip to assist in sealing the lip. The enclosure member may be made of a material that is durable so that the lip does not wear out after many cycles of moving the tip between the retracted and protracted positions, such as silicone, butyl rubber, and thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) material including butyl rubber cross-linked with polypropylene.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A retractable writing instrument, comprising: a housing having a first opening; a tip capable of moving between a retracted position and a protracted position, where in the protracted position the tip extends from the first opening and in the retracted position the tip is wit

What is claimed is: 1. A retractable writing instrument, comprising: a housing having a first opening; a tip capable of moving between a retracted position and a protracted position, where in the protracted position the tip extends from the first opening and in the retracted position the tip is within the housing; a cartridge having an elongated portion for supporting the tip; an enclosure member having a first end with a lip and a second end having an inner configuration adapted to substantially seat around the elongated portion of the cartridge, where the enclosure member is within the housing and the first end is adjacent to the first opening of the housing so that in the refracted position the tip is between the first end and the second end substantially sealed from ambient air, where in the protracted position, the tip extends through the lip of the enclosure member and the first opening of housing; and a clip having a pinch end and a support rim, where the pinch end applies compressive force to the lip to substantially seal the lip in the refracted position, the support rim of the clip supports the inner configuration of the second end of the enclosure member, and the housing has channels near the first opening and the enclosure member has cavities that associate with channels in the housing to align the enclosure member within the housing near the first opening at a predetermined position. 2. The writing instrument of claim 1, where the inner configuration has at least one edge to reduce the friction between the inner configuration and the elongated portion. 3. The writing instrument of claim 1, where the inner configuration has a beveled edge. 4. The writing instrument of claim 1, further including a vent between the tip and the elongated portion of the cartridge to allow air to pass there through, where the vent is between the first and second ends of the enclosure member in the retracted position. 5. The writing instrument of claim 1, where the elongated portion has an open end, as the writing instrument transitions from the retracted position to the protracted position the open end engages with the inner wall of the enclosure member to open the lip to allow the tip to freely protrude from the first opening. 6. The writing instrument of claim 1, where the housing has a second opening for a plunger, where activation of the plunger causes the tip to move between the retracted position and the protracted position. 7. The writing instrument of claim 6, farther including a feeder for storing writing fluid, where the feeder extends into at least a portion of the plunger. 8. The writing instrument of claim 1, where the clip has outer edges and the housing has slots near the outer edges to allow the clip to open without being restrained by the inner wall of the housing. 9. The writing instrument of claim 1, where the cartridge has at least one tab and the inner wail of the housing has a channel that receives the tab for guiding the cartridge along axially direction without rotating. 10. A retractable writing instrument capable of moving a tip between a retracted position and a protracted position from a housing to seal the tip from ambient air, the writing instrument comprising: a clip having a pinch end and a support rim; and an enclosure member having a first end and a second end defining a vapor chamber, the support rim supporting the second end of the enclosure member, the first end having a lip and the second end having an inner configuration for enclosing the second end from ambient air, where in the retracted position the tip is within the vapor chamber and the lip with the assistance of the pinch end of the clip is substantially sealed from ambient air and the distance between the support rim of the clip and the inner configuration of the second end of the enclosure member is less than the distance between the support rim of the clip and the lip of the enclosure member, where in the protracted position the lip and the pinch end open to allow the tip to protrude from the enclosure member and the housing. 11. The writing instrument of claim 10, further including a cartridge having an elongated portion that supports due tip, where the elongated portion moves axially back and forth relative to the inner configuration as the tip moves between the retracted position and the protracted position, where the inner configuration substantially seals around the elongated portion. 12. The writing instrument of claim 11, where the inner configuration has at least one edge to reduce the friction between the inner configuration and the elongated portion. 13. The writing instrument of claim 11, where the inner configuration has a beveled edge to reduce the friction between the inner configuration and the elongated portion. 14. The writing instrument of claim 11, further including a vent between the tip and the elongated portion of the cartridge to allow air to pass there through, where the vent is within the vapor chamber in the retracted position. 15. The writing instrument of claim 11, where the elongated portion has an open end to receive the tip, as the writing instrument transitions from the retracted position to the protracted position the open end engages with the inner wall of the enclosure member to open the lip to allow the tip to freely protrude from the first opening. 16. The writing instrument of claim 11, where the elongated portion has first, second, and third leading sections, where the second leading section is between the first and third leading sections, where in the retracted position, the first leading section is within the vapor chamber, the second leading section substantially forms a seal with the inner configuration, and the third leading section is outside of the vapor chamber, where the first leading section is tapered to pass through the lip of the enclosure member with less resistance. 17. The writing instrument of claim 16, where the second leading section is substantially flat along the longitudinal axis to form a seal with the inner configuration of the enclosure member in the retracted position. 18. The writing instrument of claim 16, where the third leading section tapers upward so that as the third leading section moves into the vapor chamber the circumference around the third leading section reduces to minimize the friction between the third leading section and the inner configuration. 19. The writing instrument of claim 16, where the third leading section has a recess area so that as the tip moves from the retracted position to the protracted position, the recess area forms a gap between the third leading section and the inner configuration to relive any vapor formed in the vapor chamber. 20. The writing instrument of claim 10, further including a resisting member that applies resisting force to the second end of the enclosure member. 21. The writing instrument of claim 10, further including a cartridge having a edge and an elongated portion with an opening, where the tip is within the opening, further including a resisting member, where the elongated portion is within the resistant member and the resisting member is between the second end of the enclosure member and the edge of the cartridge. 22. The writing instrument of claim 10, where the second end of the enclosure member has an outer configuration, where the second end tapers from the outer configuration to the inner configuration to minimize the volume of the vapor chamber. 23. The writing instrument of claim 10, where the housing has channels and the enclosure member has cavities that associate with channels in the housing to align the enclosure member within the housing at a predetermined position. 24. The writing instrument of claim 10, where the housing has a second opening for a plunger, where activation of the plunger causes the tip to move between the retracted position and the protracted position. 25. The writing instrument of claim 10, where the clip has bias arms and the enclosure member has cavities adapted to receive the bias arms. 26. The writing instrument of claim 10, where the lip has a slit with a width, where the width of the pinch end is at least as wide as the width of the slit. 27. A retractable writing instrument having an enclosure member within a housing to seal a tip when the tip is within the housing, the enclosure member comprising: a first end and a second end with an inner wall defining a vapor chamber configured to enclose a tip from ambient air when the tip is in a refracted position, where the second end has an inner configuration and an outer configuration substantially along a plane, the inner configuration adapted to substantially seal the tip and the outer configuration adapted to engage with the housing, where the inner wall tapers from the second end to the first end to form a lip that opens to allow the tip to extend through the lip in a protracted position. 28. The retractable writing instrument of claim 27, where the second end has an inner configuration and the second end tapers towards the inner configuration to minimize the volume in the vapor chamber. 29. The retractable writing instrument of claim 27, where the second end has an inner configuration with an edge. 30. A system for moving a tip of a writing system between a retracted position and a protracted position, the system comprising: an enclosure member having a first end and a second end having an inner configuration, where the first end represents a front side, and the second end represents a rear side of the enclosure member; and a first cartridge having a leading section with an opening adapted to receive a tip, the leading section having a first leading section tapering downward towards the opening along a longitudinal axis of the first cartridge, a second leading section being substantially flat along the longitudinal axis to form a seal with the inner configuration of the second end of the enclosure member when the tip is in a retracted position such that a third leading section is on the rear side of the second end of the enclosure member, the third leading section tapering upward towards the opening so that friction between the third leading section and the inner configuration of the second end is minimized as the tip moves from the retracted position to the protracted position, and the third leading section has a recess area to form a gap between the second end and the third leading section as the third leading section moves through the hole in the second end. 31. A device for applying volatile substance, the device comprising: a housing having a first opening and a second opening; a tip adapted to apply volatile substance; a cartridge having an elongated portion adapted to support the tip; a plunger extending from the second opening of the housing and mechanically coupled to the cartridge such that actuation of the plunger causes the cartridge to move the tip between a retracted position and a protracted position, where in the refracted position the tip is within the housing, and in the protracted position the tip extends from the first opening of the housing; an enclosure member having a first end and a second end, the second end of the enclosure member adapted to substantially seal around the cartridge, the first end of the enclosure member having a slit adapted to substantially seal the tip within the enclosure member when the cartridge is in the refracted position, and the tip extends though the slit of the enclosure member and the first opening of the housing when the cartridge is in the protracted position; a clip adapted to apply compressive force to the first end of the enclosure member to substantially seal the slit along the first end of the enclosure member in the refracted position; and a resisting member between the second end of the enclosure member and the plunger to allow the plunger to actuate the cartridge between the refracted and protracted positions. 32. The device according to claim 31, where the volatile substance is writing liquid. 33. The device according to claim 31, where the volatile substance is cosmetic liquid. 34. The device according to claim 31, where the volatile substance is paint. 35. The device according to claim 31, including a feeder adapted to store the volatile substance, the feeder extending into at least a portion of the plunger and coupled to the tip to convey the volatile substance to the tip. 36. An applicator device, comprising: a housing; a tip; a resisting member in the housing, the resisting member having a resisting member first end; a cartridge supporting the tip; an enclosure member having an enclosure member first end mid an enclosure member second end, the enclosure member second end having an inner configuration forming a seal with the cartridge, the inner configuration and the seal being at a location between the enclosure member first end and the resisting member first end; a clip holding the enclosure member first end in a normal closed position; the enclosure member first end being movable from the normal closed position to an open position when the tip is pushed thereagainst to allow the tip to be in an extended working position outside of the enclosure member and outside of the housing; a plunger mechanically coupled to the cartridge such that actuation of the plunger causes the cartridge to move the tip between a retracted storage position and the extended working position; and the tip, when in the retracted storage position, being disposed in a chamber of the applicator device, the chamber being at least substantially sealed from ambient air and which thereby retards the drying out of the tip, the chamber being formed at least in part by the seal and by the enclosure member first end when in the normal closed position. 37. The applicator device of claim 36, where the clip has a pinch end and a support rim, the pinch end applies a compressive force to the enclosure member first end to substantially seal the enclosure member first end in the normal closed position, and the support rim supports the enclosure member second end. 38. The applicator device of claim 36, where the housing has channels near a housing opening and the enclosure member has cavities associated with the channels to align the enclosure member within the housing and proximate to the housing opening. 39. The applicator device of claim 36, further including a vent between the applicator member and the cartridge to allow air to pass therethrough, where the vent is between the enclosure member first end and the enclosure member second end when the tip is in the retracted position. 40. The applicator device of claim 36, where the housing has an opening for the plunger. 41. The applicator device of claim 36, further including a feeder for storing fluid for the tip, where the feeder extends into at least a portion of the plunger. 42. The applicator device of claim 36, where the clip has outer edges and the housing has slots near the outer edges to allow the clip to open without being restrained by an inner wall of the housing. 43. The applicator device of claim 36, where the cartridge has at least one tab and the inner wall of the housing has a channel that receives the tab for guiding the cartridge in an axial direction without rotating. 44. The applicator device of claim 36, where the resisting member biases the tip into the retracted storage position. 45. The applicator device of claim 36, where the tip is adapted to apply a volatile substance to a surface external of the applicator device. 46. The applicator device of claim 45, where the volatile substance is a writing liquid. 47. The applicator device of claim 45, where the volatile substance is a cosmetic liquid. 48. The applicator device of claim 45, where the volatile substance is a paint. 49. The applicator device of claim 45, further including a feeder adapted to store the volatile substance, the feeder extending into at least a portion of the plunger and coupled to the tip to convey the volatile substance thereto. 50. The applicator device of claim 36, where the resisting member allows the plunger to actuate the cartridge between the retracted and extended positions. 51. The applicator device of claim 36, where the tip is a marker member. 52. The applicator device of claim 36, where the tip is a writing nib.