1. Technical Field
This application relates to writing and painting instruments, including writing and painting instruments that write and paint in different colors.
2. Description of Related Art
People frequently write and paint (hereinafter collectively “write”) in more than one color. For example, people may draft a document in one color and mark needed changes in a different color. People may also use color to provide emphasis. To do so, however, they may need to pick up one instrument which writes in one color, write with that instrument, put it down, pick up a different instrument which writes in the other color, write with that instrument, put it down, and repeat this process throughout their effort. This may waste time, be inconvenient, and require multiple writing instruments to be purchased, stored, and carried. Different-colored writing instruments may not even always be available. This may diminish the effectiveness of the writings that are produced.
Different colored pens have been placed within a single housing. Buttons or other mechanical devices allow the user to selectively move the nib from just one of these colored pens into the writing position. When a color change is desired, however, the person must usually stop writing, lift the instrument from the writing surface, manipulate the mechanical device to make the change, and reposition the instrument back on the writing surface. Such pens may also be limited in the colors which they can provide.
Another approach was set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 7,018,122. Different colored inks were simultaneously delivered to a tri-sectioned nib made from fibrous material. The user changed color merely by rotating the writing instrument. However, this fibrous nib may not wear evenly which may result in a short useful product life. This instrument also appears to have been limited in the colors which it can provide.