Ink reservoir element for use in a marking instrument, and method and apparatus for producing same
AssigneeAmerican Filtrona Corporation
InventorRichard M. Berger
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Abstract
An ink reservoir element for use in a marking instrument is disclosed, which combines good ink holding capacity and good ink release properties with a wide variety of inks. The ink reservoir element is formed from a coherent sheet of flexible thermoplastic fibrous material, such as a spunbonded polyester fabric or a foam-attenuated extruded polyester fabric, which has been uniformly embossed with a series of parallel grooves. The embossed sheet is compacted and bonded into a dimensionally stable rod-shaped body whose longitudinal axis extends parallel to the embossed grooves. A method and apparatus is disclosed for continuous production of the ink reservoir elements from a continuous web of the fibrous sheet material.
Claims10
A method for producing ink reservoir elements of predetermined length and cross-sectional size and shape for use in marking instruments, comprising the steps of:
- (a) uniformly embossing at least one surface of a continuous web of flexible thermoplastic fibrous coherent sheet material compatible with formic acid with a series of parallel longitudinally extending grooves forming capillaries capable of transporting ink which extend longitudinally from end to end of the finished elements, said sheet material being composed of an interconnecting network of randomly arranged, highly dispersed, continuous-filament thermoplastic fibers which are bonded together at the filament junctions;
- (b) compacting the embossed web together into a rod-like formation whose longitudinal axis extends parallel to said embossed grooves;
- (c) passing the compacted embossed web through a heated confined area, and introducing a heated gas into said compacted embossed web during its passage through said confined area, thereby bonding the compacted embossed web into a dimensionally stable rod-shaped body;
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- (d) transversely cutting said rod-shaped body into said predetermined lengths.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.