The Gillette Company

William P Dowst

Roy Nicoll

Edward J Mangan

A writing instrument having an elongated barrel comprised of an outer portion and an inner portion, rotatable relative one to the other. The point or writing tip is fixed to the barrel inner portion, disposed at an angle to, and may be offset from, the centerline of the barrel outer portion. The barrel inner portion is caused to rotate and move axially relative to the barrel outer portion by pressure on the writing instrument, or weights attached to the barrel inner portion, to bring the point into desired alignment during the writing process. Further pressure on the point or writing tip causes the barrel inner portion to move to a rearwardmost position at which rotation of the point or writing tip is impeded by a gripping structure.

Writing instrument

A writing instrument having an elongated barrel comprised of an outer portion and an inner portion, rotatable relative one to the other. The point or writing tip is fixed to the barrel inner portion, disposed at an angle to, and may be offset from, the centerline of the barrel outer portion. The barrel inner portion is caused to rotate relative to the barrel outer portion by pressure on the writing instrument or weights attached to the barrel inner portion to bring the point into desired alignment during the writing process.

A method of analyzing the writing quality of a ball point pen for ink laydown, blobbing, and degree of inconsistency employs a computer and an image analysis software package capable of assembling a pixel gray level distribution known as a histogram. The distribution of pixel gray value for a writing sample is manipulated and analyzed, the values then being compared to a range of pre-established values.

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Reading, MA, United States of America

William P Dowst