DE20005093U1 - Holding clip for writing instruments - Google Patents

Description

ZENZ · HELBER · HOSBACH & PARTNERS

Patent Attorneys · European Patent Attorneys · 64673 Zwingenberg, Scheuergasse 24

Tel.: 06251-73008 · Fax: 06251-73156

Gottlieb Roll GmbH & Co., Friedrich-Ebert-Ring 13,

55743 Idar-Oberstein

Holding clip for writing instruments

The invention relates to a retaining clip for fastening to the housing of writing instruments, e.g. ballpoint or ink pens, twist or mechanical pencils, fountain pen caps, etc. with a retaining clip made from sheet metal using a stamping/pressing process and designed to be essentially inherently rigid over most of its length by profiling, which has a clamping point at one end to be placed in resilient contact with the writing instrument housing and fastening means at the other end that can be mounted on or in the writing instrument housing, wherein the transition area between the inherently rigid retaining clip and the fastening means is designed to be elastically deformable in such a way that the end of the retaining clip provided with the clamping point can be resiliently lifted off the contact position of the clamping point on the housing.

There are various options available for attaching retaining clips to the housings of ballpoint pens or the protective caps of fountain pens. This attachment can be

Fastening can be achieved, for example, by means of a fastening ring formed on the fastening end of the clip, which is angled at a right angle to the retaining clip of the clip and which is fixed between two housing parts which are screwed, glued or otherwise connected to one another. For the assembly of retaining clips on sleeve-shaped housing parts made of plastic, e.g. ballpoint pen housings, simplified fastening options have been developed which consist, for example, of providing a fastening tab at the end of the retaining clip which runs essentially parallel to the retaining clip and has tooth projections inclined backwards. This tab is pushed into a fastening opening formed in the housing part and is locked against retraction by the tooth projections penetrating the plastic material. The resilient pressing of the clamping point at the free end of the retaining clip can be achieved either by making the retaining clip resilient over its entire length or by making an area of the retaining clip resilient over most of its length thanks to appropriate profiling. The second option is generally preferred because the profiling of the retaining clip in the sense of a curvature and possibly additional narrow web surfaces attached to the edges creates the visual impression of a solid metal part, although the clip as a whole is only made of relatively thin sheet metal. In the springy area, the stiffening profiling is then dispensed with, so that this springy area is formed from essentially flat sheet metal except for one section. This section must therefore be elastically deformable in the desired manner, while at the same time it must be ensured that the user does not accidentally overstretch it beyond the area of elastic deformation 5 and the clamping point then no longer springs back onto the casing of the writing instrument. A relatively strong lifting of the retaining clip without overstretching the springy area

However, the length of the elastic area requires that the elastic area must be made correspondingly long, which in turn affects the appearance of the retaining clip.

In contrast, the invention is based on the object of creating a holding clip with a holding clasp that is inherently rigid over its entire length, the clamping end of which can be lifted off the writing instrument housing to a sufficient extent in a spring-elastic manner without there being a risk of overstretching the spring-loaded area.

Starting from a retaining clip of the type mentioned at the outset, this object is achieved according to the invention in that the transition region between the retaining clip and the fastening means is shortened by deformation of an originally flat, elongated strip-shaped connecting section in alternating opposite directions around transverse bending lines. The originally elongated connecting section, which provides a sufficient degree of elastic deformation due to its length, is then shortened in length by alternate opposite (permanent) deformation, so that the transition region between the retaining clip and the fastening means is shortened to a correspondingly inconspicuous length.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the transition region can be formed by a number of successive wave-shaped sections of the connecting section.

Alternatively, the transition region can also be formed by at least two opposite deformations of partial sections of the connecting section by approximately 180° along transverse bending lines.

The invention is explained in more detail in the following description of several embodiments in conjunction with the drawing, which shows:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a retaining clip according to the invention, in which the fastening means attached to the elastically deformable transition section are formed by a fastening tab parallel to the retaining clip;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows a modified embodiment of a retaining clip according to the invention, in which the fastening means are formed by a fastening ring attached to the elastic transition section;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 4-4; and

Fig. 5 is a side view of a third embodiment of a retaining clip according to the invention, in which the fastening means are formed by a fastening tab according to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, while the elastically deformable transition section is formed by a design deviating from the embodiments according to Figs. 1 to 4.

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The embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of a retaining clip designated in its entirety by 10 is punched out of an originally flat, spring-elastic metallic strip material and is formed into the ready-to-assemble retaining clip 10 by subsequent permanent deformation along various bending lines.

In the case shown, the retaining clip has an elongated retaining clip 12 which - as can be seen from its hatched cut surface 12a shown in Fig. 2 - is designed to be largely rigid by folding over narrow strip-shaped edge regions 14b and 14c from the web surface 14a and convex curvature of the web surface 14a towards the visible side. In the end region at the bottom in Fig. 1, the enlarged sections 16a, 16b of the edge region 14a, 14b shown form a clamping point 18 which, when mounted on a housing, projects towards the outer surface of the housing and which is expediently closed in the region between the enlarged sections 16a, 16b by a tongue section (not shown) cut into the web surface of the retaining clip 14 and folded back between the sections 16a, 16b. At the upper end, the retaining clip 12 merges into a wave-shaped transition section 20 in the side view according to Fig. 1, which is bent in the direction of an associated writing instrument housing and ends at its end in a downwardly directed fastening tongue 22 which runs essentially parallel to the retaining clip 12 and which can be mounted in a known manner in an associated recess 0 in the housing of a writing instrument. The transition section 20 has the wave-like deformations visible in the drawing, which are created by successive mutual bending, but is not deformed by lateral bending or curvature. This transition section 20 is therefore also comparatively flexible, i.e. it allows the lower end area of the retaining clip, which is provided with the clamping point, to be elastically deformed.

clip 12 from the associated housing. Due to the wave-shaped deformation of the transition area, the length of the overall deformable area is relatively large, so that there is practically no risk of overstretching the transition area to the point that it is permanently deformed when the clamping point of the retaining clip is lifted from the housing.

In Figs. 3 and 4, a modified retaining clip 10' is shown, which differs from the retaining clip 10 described above according to Figs. 1 and 2 only in that instead of the fastening tongue 22, a fastening ring 24 is provided, which can be fastened in a manner known per se between two housing parts of the housing of a writing instrument that are screwed, glued or otherwise connected to one another. In all other respects, the retaining clip 10' corresponds to the retaining clip 10, so that reference can be made to the previous description of the retaining clip 10.

The modified retaining clip 10" shown in Fig. 5 also represents a modified embodiment of the retaining clip 10 according to Figs. 1 and 2, in which case only the transition region 20' is modified. The extension of the material strip that creates the connection between the retaining clip 12 and the fastening tab 22 in such a way that this material strip is only elastically deformed when the lower clamping point 18 is bent open, but not permanently, is achieved in the retaining clip 10" by the fact that, instead of multiple wave-shaped deformation, longer strip-shaped areas are folded over twice by 180° each around transverse bending lines.

It is clear that within the scope of the inventive concept, modifications and further developments of the described embodiments can be realized, which relate to both the

Design of the retaining clip or the fastening means, such as fastening tongues or fastening rings, as well as the manner of deformation of the material of the transition section such that the bending length provided in the material of the transition section is greater than the optically represented length of the transition section.

Claims (3)

1. Retaining clip (10; 10';10") for fastening to the housing of writing instruments, e.g. ballpoint or ink pens, twist or mechanical pencils, fountain pen caps, etc. with a retaining clip (12) made from sheet metal using a stamping/pressing process and designed to be essentially inherently rigid over most of its length by profiling, which has at one end a clamping point (18) to be placed in resilient contact with the writing instrument housing and at the other end fastening means (22; 24) that can be mounted on or in the writing instrument housing, wherein the transition region (20; 20') between the inherently rigid retaining clip (12) and the fastening means is designed to be elastically deformable in such a way that the end of the retaining clip (12) provided with the clamping point (18) can be resiliently lifted off the contact position of the clamping point on the housing, characterized in that the transition region (20; 20') between the Retaining clip (12) and the fastening means (22; 24) is shortened by deformation of an originally flat, elongated strip-shaped connecting section which takes place alternately in opposite directions around transverse bending lines. 2. Retaining clip according to claim 1, characterized in that the transition region (20) is formed by a number of successive wave-shaped deformed sections of the connecting section. 3. Retaining clip according to claim 1, characterized in that the transition region (20) is formed by at least two opposite deformations of partial sections of the connecting section by approximately 180° along transverse bending lines.