US2735127A - Finger cot eraser - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 21, 1956 H. M. PARSONS FINGER COT ERASER Filed Oct. 26, 1953 INVENTOR jr M VFW United States Patent FINGER COT ERASER Henry M. Parsons, New York, N. Y., assignor to Psychological Research Associates Corp., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 26, 1953, Serial No. 388,273

1 Claim. (Cl. 15-227) The invention relates to means of erasing marks from selected areas, such as china-marking or grease pencil marks on a radarscope during plotting operations.

It is conventional to use lint or rags and the like for wiping off temporary marks on a radarscope during plotting operations. This practice is unsatisfactory not only because of the nuisance of repeatedly putting down and refinding the erasing material but also because of the difficulty of wiping off particular grease marks quickly and yet accurately when new ones are to be substituted. The difiiculty is in wiping oif a particular mark without erasing or blurring closely adjacent marks, both of which are important for purposes of maintaining an accurate running plot.

In accordance with my invention these difliculties are overcome by use of a special finger cot which has grease absorbent material on the outside, and a generally U- shaped stiffener member extending around the projecting end of the finger in the cot to reinforce a limited portion of the absorbent material. By moving the cot in a direction normal to the plane of the U-shaped stiffener a wide path of erasure is obtained, by moving the cot parallel to the plane of the stiffener a narrow path of erasure is obtained, and by moving the cot at various intermediate angles to its travel the width of the path of erasure may be selectively varied. The cot is easy to operate, and it is inexpensive to manufacture and can be freely discarded after the absorbent material on both sides of the cot have become saturated with the material erased.

Other objects, details and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and in the accompanying drawing in which I have shown, for purposes of illustration only, a present preferred embodiment of my invention. In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a finger in an erasure cot embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a side view of the finger and cot shown in Figure l, in larger scale and with the cot shown in section;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the cot;

Figure 4 is an end view of the cot, taken from the right end of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is front end view of the cot; and

Figure 6 is a side view of the cot.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, and initially to Figures 1 and 2, a finger 10 is shown inserted in a cot 11. The cot consists of a fabric inner body 12, shaped like a bag to receive closely the end of the finger 10, and an outer covering 13 of a thick wooly material secured to the body 12 and having good grease absorbing capacity, such as cotton or wool pile or tuft fabric. A U-shaped, relatively stiff metal wire 14 extends between the fabric body 12 and the covering 13, and is secured to the body 12 by suitable gluing or threading (not shown). The wire 14 lies in a plane generally parallel to the fingernail 15 of finger 10, and extends closely around the finger 10 below the level of the fingernail 15 so that the wire stifiens the outer cover 13 where the end of finger 10 normally exerts its greatest pressure on the outer cover 13. By turning finger 10 the wire 14 can be made to extend broadside-on to the direction of movement of finger 10 during an erasing operation, or edgewise relative to such movement. In the first case a broad erasure is made, and in the second case a narrow erasure is made. By varying the amount of turning of the finger 10 any intermediate width of erasure is readily obtainable.

While I have illustrated and described a present preferred embodiment and practice of the invention, it will be recognized that the invention may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced within the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

A finger-cot for controlled erasure of a grease pencil mark and the like, comprising an inner body of soft material shaped like a bag to fit closely around a finger, an outer covering of grease-absorbent material secured around the closed end of the inner body, and a generally U-shaped stifi wire with its central portion extending between the closed end of the inner body and the said outer covering in position to be pressed against the outer covering by the end of a finger in the cot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,200,596 Daly Oct. 10, 1916 2,684,076 Smith Sept. 11, 1928 2,253,710 Jones et al. Aug. 26, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 29,030 Great Britain of 1904

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