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[[File:Waterman-42-Overlay-Cavaliere-Putti-Cap.jpg|thumb|A particularly elaborated cap]]  

[[File:Waterman-42-Overlay-Cavaliere-Putti-Cap.jpg|thumb|A particularly elaborated cap]]  

Apart from some particular designs (the [[Pullman]] of [[Météore]], the [[Asterope]] of [[Aurora]] and the [[Capless]] of [[Pilot]]) the cap remains one of the essential components of a fountain pen. The cap basically performs two functions, on the one hand it provides the protection of the nib against accidental bumps to the outside, on the other hand it protects the outside from accidental contact with the nib (and especially with the ink brought by the same) and from any leaks.  

Apart from some particular designs (the [[Pullman]] of [[Météore]], the [[Asterope]] of [[Aurora]] and the [[Capless]] of [[Pilot]]) the cap remains one of the essential components of a fountain pen. The cap basically performs two functions, on the one hand it provides the protection of the nib against accidental bumps to the outside, on the other hand it protects the outside from accidental contact with the nib (and especially with the ink brought by the same) and from any leaks. A photo gallery of different types of caps can be found [[Cap Gallery|here]].  

From a technical point of view, many inventions have been applied to the cap, almost always related to the way in which it can be opened or closed (interlocking, screw, snap, now also magnetic) and sometimes also to the way in which it can be inserted on the bottom of the pen to balance the weight or size of the same, as in the case of the [[Pilot]] [[Pilot Elite|Elite]] (but there are many precursors) in which for the use of the pen it was necessary to put the cap on it because this was a necessary extension of the body.  

From a technical point of view, many inventions have been applied to the cap, almost always related to the way in which it can be opened or closed (interlocking, screw, snap, now also magnetic) and sometimes also to the way in which it can be inserted on the bottom of the pen to balance the weight or size of the same, as in the case of the [[Pilot]] [[Pilot Elite|Elite]] (but there are many precursors) in which for the use of the pen it was necessary to put the cap on it because this was a necessary extension of the body.  

A second role played by the cap is to keep the environment around the nib well circumscribed, with the pen closed, so that the ink present on it does not dry out (causing a difficulty in restarting) on the one hand but does not even undergo pressure changes that can cause ink to escape. For this reason, there are both ventilated caps (with the presence of ventilation holes) and caps that are completely sealed. In particular, at the beginning of the 1900s, in order to guarantee against the loss of ink, the presence of a second [[inner cap]] began to be introduced as a constitutive part of many caps (significant patents {{Cite patent|US|764227}} and {{Cite patent|US|1028382}}), which encloses the part on which the section is bent and isolates it from the rest of the cap, guaranteeing the seal of the ink. Sometimes this same element is also used as a locking component in the assembly of the [[clip]], which can be mounted in a ring on the same, or wedged between the cap and [[inner cap]] by means of a lateral slot.

A second role played by the cap is to keep the environment around the nib well circumscribed, with the pen closed, so that the ink present on it does not dry out (causing a difficulty in restarting) on the one hand but does not even undergo pressure changes that can cause ink to escape. For this reason, there are both ventilated caps (with the presence of ventilation holes) and caps that are completely sealed. In particular, at the beginning of the 1900s, in order to guarantee against the loss of ink, the presence of a second [[inner cap]] began to be introduced as a constitutive part of many caps (significant patents {{Cite patent|US|764227}} and {{Cite patent|US|1028382}}), which encloses the part on which the section is bent and isolates it from the rest of the cap, guaranteeing the seal of the ink. Sometimes this same element is also used as a locking component in the assembly of the [[clip]], which can be mounted in a ring on the same, or wedged between the cap and [[inner cap]] by means of a lateral slot.

Il cappuccio inoltre costituisce spesso un elemento caratteristico per il design e le linee di una penna, e può essere oggetto delle più varie decorazioni. Fra queste un elemento comune, molto usato e tutt'oggi presente sulla gran parte dei cappucci, sono le [[verette]], o i vari anellini, il cui scopo originario era peraltro di natura strettamente pratica. Il bordo del cappuccio infatti è una delle parte più stressate e soggette a rischio di rottura di una penna, e l'uso originario (vedi brevetto {{Cite patent|US|662796}}) di [[verette]] e bande metalliche era appunto quello di rinforzare il suddetto bordo, e solo in un secondo tempo queste hanno assunto il carattere di elemento decorativo.

The cap is also often a characteristic element for the design and lines of a pen, and can be the subject of various decorations. Among these, a common element, widely used and still present on most of the caps, are the bands, or the various rings, whose original purpose was also strictly practical in nature. The edge of the cap is in fact one of the most stressed and subject to the risk of breaking a pen, and the original use of rings and metal bands (see patent {{Cite patent|US|662796}}) was precisely to reinforce the edge, and only later these have assumed the character of a decorative element.

Historically, the first caps were made with a friction closure (those that are generically defined ''[[slip cap]]s''), with the cap that fits on the body. There are different variants of this type of choice, depending on the way in which the joint is made; the two main classes are the so-called ''[[cone cap]]'' (conical section cap) in which the interlocking surface is a truncated cone, and the so-called ''[[straight cap]]'' (cylindrical section cap) in which the interlocking surface is cylindrical, among the latter there are then the so-called ''[[tapered cap]]'' (conical or tapered cap) in vogue at the end of the 19th century.  

Storicamente i primi cappucci sono stati realizzati con chiusura a frizione (quelli che nel mondo anglosassone vengono definiti genericamente ''[[slip cap]]''), col cappuccio che si incastra sul corpo. Di questo tipo di scelta esistono diverse varianti, a seconda delle modalità con cui avviene l'incastro; le due classi principali sono i cosiddetti ''[[cone cap]]'' (cappuccio a sezione conica) in cui la superficie di incastro è un tronco di cono, ed i cosiddetti ''[[straight cap]]'' (cappuccio a sezione cilindirca) in cui la superficie di incastro è cilindrica, fra questi ultimi si distinguono poi i cosiddetti ''[[tapered cap]]'' (cappuccio conico o affusolato) in voga alla fine dell'800.  

Ai cappucci ad incastro, che soffrono, specie nella versione ''conica'', di problemi di usura delle superfici con perdita di tenuta, sono seguiti, con una tendenza affermatasi a partire dagli inizi del '900, i cappucci con chiusura a vite (''threaded cap'') che ancora oggi sono fra i più diffusi. Un ritorno dei cappucci ad incastro si è avuto negli anni '40 con l'introduzione dei cappucci in metallo chiusi a frizione su appositi anellini (tendenza introdotta dalla [[Parker 51]]).  

The interlocking caps which suffer, especially in the ''conical'' version, from problems of wear on the surfaces with loss of tightness, have been followed, with a trend established since the beginning of the '900, by the caps with screw closure (''threaded cap''), which are still among the most common today. A return of the interlocking caps took place in the '40s with the introduction of metal caps closed with friction on special rings (trend introduced by the [[Parker 51]]).  

Verso la fine degli anni '40 è infine iniziata la diffusione dei primi cappucci con chiusura a scatto (una delle prime aziende ad averli utilizzati è stata la [[Matador]] con il modello [[Matador-Click]] del 1949) divenuti in seguito molto comuni e tutt'ora in ampia diffusione. In questo caso la qualità del meccanismo è essenziale per garantire nel lungo termine il mantenimento della chiusura del cappuccio.

Towards the end of the 1940s, the first snap-action caps began to spread (one of the first companies to use them was the [[Matador]] with the [[Matador-Click]] model of 1949), which later became very common and still widely used. In this case, the quality of the mechanism is essential to ensure the long-term maintenance of the cap closure.

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==Brevetti correlati==

==Related Patents===

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{{ListsPatentsFeature|cappuccio}}

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