Abstract: A drawing instrument and locking apparatus therefor in which the locking apparatus can be made of polyethylene, polypropylene or the like and is not subject to fragmentation or permanent damage during normal use. A displaceable member of the locking apparatus is displaceable into a groove of a drawing board to lock the drawing instrument in position thereon. An outer ring member freely rotatable through 360 degrees around the displaceable member when the displaceable member is in its raised condition engages the displaceable member when the displaceable member is in its depressed condition upon rotation of the ring member to unlock the apparatus.

Abstract: A marker nib having a tapered tip portion, a substantially cylindrical barrel portion, and a trunk having a frusto-conical portion of smaller maximum diameter than the barrel portion and extending therefrom. The nib can be manufactured in a mold requiring simple tooling and having a parting line for the mold segments at the junction of the barrel portion with the trunk.

Abstract: A magazine for receiving a plurality of elongate, generally rod-shaped articles from a first or source location where such articles are arranged in parallel relation to one another and for transferring the articles in unscrambled parallel relation to a second or receiving location, is disclosed. The magazine comprises a partitioned housing defining a plurality of similar, open-bottomed chambers adjacent to, but isolated from, one another. Each of the chambers has a uniformly narrow dimension corresponding to the width of any of the aforementioned articles to provide loose lateral support for a selected number of the articles in a stacked array, with one such article upon the next. Each of the stacked arrays is releasably supported in its respective chamber by a respective elongate pin which can be laterally withdrawn from its corresponding chamber to allow the articles to fall as a batch and without losing their parallel disposition onto a receiving device, e.g., a hopper.

Abstract: Machine for making crayons or the like comprising means for supplying fluid material to a series of mold cavities in a horizontally rotatable mold table, means for controlling the temperatures of the cavities, means for ejecting the molding products from the cavities, means for receiving the ejected products and conveying them to one or more delivery points and means for removing excess material from the mold table and recycling it, with suitable controls for operating the several elements according to a desired program and with specific improvements in the apparatus and in the method of operation.

Abstract: Machine for making crayons or the like comprising means for supplying fluid material to a series of mold cavities in a horizontally rotatable mold table, means for controlling the temperatures of the cavities, means for ejecting the molded products from the cavities, means for receiving the ejected products and conveying them to one or more delivery points and means for removing excess material from the mold table and recycling it, with suitable controls for operating the several elements according to a desired program and with specific improvements in the apparatus and in the method of operation.