US3602137A - Embossing disc with back-filled characters - Google Patents

Abstract

Mated punch and die discs manufactured from workable sheet material, with embossed characters backfilled to provide resistance to embossure collapse.

Description

United States Patent Inventor James A. Fort Camp Mlddleberg Heights, Ohio Dec. 18, 1968 Aug. 31, 1971 Addressograph-lllultigraph Corporation Cleveland, Ohio Appl. No, Filed Patented Assignee EMBOSSING DISC WITH BACK-FILLED CHARACTERS References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1939 Wiley 29/421 3/1942 Zipf 197/6.7 5/1942 Van Buren 618i. 197/6.7 8/1943 Bull 101/28 UX 12/1960 Jerothe.. 101/31 5/1962 Souza.... 197/6.7 UX 9/1966 Craig 197/6.7 10/1966 De Man 197/6.7 1/1967 Miller 197/6.7 12/1968 Norvelle 197/6.7

Primary Examiner-Edgar S. Burr Attorneys-Russell L. Root and Ray S. Pyle ABSTRACT: Mated punch and die discs manufactured from workable sheet material, with embossed characters backfilled to provide resistance to embossure collapse.

PATENTE-[l M1631 197i 3.602137 SHEEI 1 or 2 32 "aw/ Z6 MA A. FORTE/1MP 5 fpwl ATTORNEY EMBOSSING DISC WITH BACK-FILLED CHARACTERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to embossing devices, and more particularly to disc utilized in embossing machines for embossing heavy plastic and aluminum alloy articles.

There have been many prior art proposals for embossing machines utilizing many different types of embossing implemerits. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,973,853; 3,029,920; and 3,293,691 illustrate machines which utilize precision formed individually mounted punch and die sets. These machines work extremely well and provide rapid precision embossing of articles such as heavy plastic and aluminum alloy plates for forming printing-type address plates and the like.

Both the machine and the punch and die sets are designed for high production and character precisionbeyond the needs for many users.

There are also relatively inexpensive small hand-operated machines which are suitable for embossing characters on soft plastic ribbon. These machines often employ a disc on which characters are formed and which disc is utilized to emboss the characters on the soft plastic ribbon. These machines nor-- mally are squeeze operated. The relatively soft plastic material which is embossed by these machines is easy to deform and hence does not produce excessive wear or pressure on the disc. However, these machines are not suitable for embossing hard plastic or aluminum alloy of the type used for address plates. One reason is that they do not generate sufficient pres sure. Another is that the character discs are not of sufficieni: strength and abrasion resistance to repeatedly emboss such heavy material without character deformation, rounding or cracking.

Address printing plates have been filled with plastic and/or braze in an effort to extend their useful life, and range of material to be embossed. Such metal with backfill does not provide an acceptable embossing punch.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An advantage of this invention is provided by making sheet steel available by an embossing step to perform as a punch tool for embossing plastic and aluminum sheets into printing plates.

According to the present invention, a disc is provided having character forming punches that will coact with a disc having die members to provide embossings; and which punches will not deform or crack upon repeated embossing of hard plastic or aluminum plates of the types suitable for printingtype address plates.

One of the principal features of this invention is the provision of a disc having radiating fingers which fingers are provided with raised character forming surfaces on one side and corresponding depressions on the other. The depressions are filled with compression resisting material to prevent collapse of the characters upon repeated embossments. This invention also contemplates a method of manufacturing such discs.

These and other features and objects together with a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of a blank suitable for forming into a punch disc of this invention;

FIG. 2 and 3 are portions of discs in plan view showing successive stages of manufacture;

FIG. 43 is a plan view of the next successive stage of manu facturing;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane designated by the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a detailed sectional view, somewhat diagrammatic, showing the formation of a punch character in one of the fingers of the disc;

FIG. 7 is a partial plan view, on an enlarged scale from FIGS. 1 through 4, of several fingers of a disc having punch characters formed thereon;

FIG. 8A is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane designated by the line 88 of FIG. 7 before grinding;

FIG. 8B is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane designated by the line M of FIG. 7 after grinding;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a blank suitable for forming into a die disc member;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the blank of FIG. 9' after initial forming operations; 8-

FIG. ill is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane designated by the line Ill-11! of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a portion of the disc in plan view at a later stage of formation, after other forming operations have been carried out;

FIG. 13 is a detail view taken substantially along the plane designated by the line 13-413 of FIG. 14 showing, somewhat diagrammatically, the formation of a die character in one of the fingers of the disc;

FIG. M is a plan view, on an enlarged scale, from figs. 9 through 12, of a portion of the disc, showing characters formed in several of the fingers; and

FIG. 15 is a plan view of a portion of the finished disc, with die characters in the fingers thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Briefly, the present invention contemplates the provision of punch and die carrying discs, which are suitable for performing embossing operations in which the characters on the punch disc will not deform or crack during successive embossing operations on hard plastic or alloy aluminum plates, such as are used for address printing plates. The embossing discs of this invention find particular use in the device disclosed in copending application Ser. No. 784,557 filed Dec. 18, 1968, entitled, Embossing Device.

The device disclosed in said copending application utilizes a pair of embossing discs one of which has punch members, and one of which has die members. The discs are normally maintained in spaced relationship and rotatabie together to move a selected punch and die set to an embossing station. At the embossing station the article to be embossed is secured between the punch and die discs, and the discs are moved together and pressure applied to the corresponding punch and dies to perform an embossing operation on the article to be embossed. Although the present invention finds particular use in the device described in said copending application, it is to be understood that its use is not limited thereto. it can be utilized in other embossing machines wherein embossing operations are performed repeatedly and where resistance to deformation and cracking of the punch is desirable or necessary.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1 through 88 show successive stages of manufacture of an. embossing disc punch made according to this invention. FIG. 1 shows a blank 10 from which the disc carrying the punch members is formed. Preferably the blank is low or medium carbon steel, e.g. AISI 1070, in the annealed condition. Normally, the disc 10 will require mounting, tooling and indexing holes. Therefore, a central mounting aperture 12 is punched together with a plurality of tooling holes 14, and an indexing, or aligning hole 16. The specific selection and location of the various holes shown is for a disc adapted to be used in said copending application Ser. No. 784,557 and as such illustrates how various holes are first provided. Other applications may well dictate other types or locations of holes.

Refer to FIG. 2. After the holes 12, M, and 16 have been punched, a plurality of teardrop-shaped slots 18 are punched. The slots 18 terminate short of the outer edge 20 of the disc 10. Next, the outer rim of material is trimmed from the blank 10 as shown in FIG. 3, so as to leave the disc with a central portion 22 having a plurality of fingers 24% extending therefrom.

Following the trimming, the end of each of the fingers 24 is bent to an L-shaped configuration, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, to provide a character receiving end 26 at the outer extremity of each of the fingers 24. The character receiving ends 26 are generally parallel to, but on a plane spaced from, the plane of the fingers 24.

Once the character receiving ends 26 have been formed, they are then ready to have formed therein the characters which will be used for embossing. The formation of one of the characters is shown somewhat schematically in FIG. 6. A master punch P and a master die D are shown, positioned on opposite sides of the character receiving end 26 of one of the fingers 24. The master punch and die are each precision formed and heat treated tools, which are relatively massive and are adapted to form the desired character in the finger of the disc, by actually embossing the character itself in the character receiving end 26. When the master punch and master die are squeezed together, with the character receiving end 26 therebetween, the desired character will be formed by raising the desired surface configuration 28 on one side of the character receiving end 26 leaving a corresponding depression 30 on the other side.

Each of the fingers is formed with a separate character having the raised portion on one side and the corresponding depression on the opposite side. The raised portions of the characters then become the character forming punches which, in cooperation with corresponding mating die members, can be used to emboss characters on the desired article in the embossing machine.

As far as character formation is. concerned, low or medium carbon steel, in the annealed condition, is preferred because it is relatively easy to form the characters therein, by the use of master punch and die sets. However, when punch members, formed of such steel in the annealed condition are used for embossing hard plastic and aluminum alloy plates therewith, the characters collapse after relatively few embossings.

Metallurgical experience would suggest that to overcome the tendency of the characters to collapse, the discs should be heat treated to harden the steel. However, heat treatment of this medium carbon steel to the hardness required to resist collapse, causes the punch characters to crack upon repeated embossing operations on hard plastic and aluminum plates.

The use of an inherently tougher material, such as alloy steel, for the punch discs, in which the punch characters are formed, results in poorly formed characters and excessive wear on the master punch and die used to form the punch characters. Therefore, such harder material is not satisfactory for punch discs.

It has been discovered that in order to utilize the low or medium carbon steel, resistance to character collapse during the repeated embossing may be achieved by a compression resistant filler material 32 deposited on the rear surface of the character receiving ends 26, filling the depressions 30 in the back of the characters. Any one of several types of filler material may be employed; for example, brazing alloys per form especially well in preventing character collapse. Tests conducted on punch members, formed of medium carbon steel filled with brazing alloy, withstood over 30,000 embossings, and were also able to emboss satisfactorily on aluminum plates. Brazing alloys can be conveniently applied in the form of a brazing paste. After the paste has been applied, the fingers are heated to cause the alloy to fuse.

Another type of filler material that may be used is epoxy resin impregnated with iron powder. Epoxy resin filler is satisfactory for punches used for embossing hard plastic plates, but it does tend to break down and allow character collapse on punches used for embossing aluminum alloy plates.

Normally, the filler material will be mounded up in a somewhat rounded shape, as shown in FIG. 8A. Since this surface is a backing surface for the punch, and bears against a pressure surface, it should be ground off, as shown in FIG. 88, so that it is flush with the surface of the end 26.

When filler material is used, it is desirable to heattreat the disc material, where it is formed into punches, to enhance its character forming characteristics. This is done, either before or after the application of the filler material, depending upon what filler material is utilized. If the tiller material is a room temperature curing epoxy or other low-temperature curing material, then the heat treatment should be applied before the filler material is deposited. On the other hand, if the filler material is a brazing alloy, or other material which requires high temperatures for fusion, the heat treatment should be done after the application of these materials. By heattreating after filling, the results of the heat treatment will not be removed by the temperature to which the disc is subjected to melt the brazing material. In any event, a hardening and tempering operation is desired, which will raise the hardness sufficiently to increase the resistance of the punch material to abrading and rounding but not hard enough to produce cracking upon repeated embossing operations. In the case of medium carbon steel, such as AISI 1070 grade, the material can be hardened and tempered to a Rockwell C hardness of between 44 and 47. This provides a stronger material to resist rounding and abrading, but the material is not brittle enough to crack upon repeated embossings.

Thus, by providing a disc material which can be relatively easily formed to the desired punch characters, and, by filling the back of the punch characters with filler material to prevent collapsing, a satisfactory disc, with punches formed thereon, is provided, which is readily formed and which will perform adequately under repeated embossing operations.

The punch disc of this invention is adapted to be utilized on an embossing device with. a die disc having die members formed to mate with the punch members. FIGS. 9 through 15 show the various steps involved in making a die disc suitable for use in conjunction with the punch disc of this invention.

In forming the die members, a blank 40 is provided from which the disc carrying the die members is to be formed. The blank 40 is preferably a medium carbon steel, but an alloy steel may also be used, since, as will be explained presently, the dies are formed by a coining or sinking operation rather than an embossing operation, as with the punch disc.

The disc 40 has a central opening 42, holes 44, and an indexing opening 46 punched therein.' The disc 40 is then machined to provide a stepped hub section 48, and an annular raised ring section 50 near an outer edge 52, as can be seen in FIGS. 10 and l l.

A plurality of teardrop shaped slots 54, similar in configuration to those formed in the punching blank 10, are provided, which extend past the annular ring 50, but do not extend to the outer rim 52. This configuration, as shown in FIG. 12, provides a plurality of interconnected fingers, each with a raised portion 50', the raised portions 50 constituting segments of the annular ring 50. Each of these raised portions 50' is adapted to have formed therein a female or die character.

The formation of a character is shown schematically in FIG.

" 13. In this formation of a character, a master punch P is provided, having formed thereon the desired character. The punch is utilized in conjunction with a backing member B, and the punch P, in conjunction with the backing member B, is sued to sink the desired character in the raised portion 50. This is in the nature of a coining or die sinking operation, with the cavity being formed in the metal. This coining operation utilizes only a master punch and not both a master punch and a master die, as in the case of the formation of the punch characters. This type coining operation, therefore, is much less severe on the forming tools and, hence, a tougher material, such as alloy steel can be used for the die disc. A segment of the disc having the die characters formed therein is shown in fig. 14.

After all of the die characters have been formed, in the raised portions, the outer rim is trimmed so as to define a die disc having a central portion 56 from which a plurality of fingers 58 radiate, each of the fingers carrying a raised portion 50' in which the selected die characters are formed, as shown in FIG. 15.

The die disc thus formed, is adapted for sue in conjunction with the punch disc previously described. This description is merely illustrative of one type of die disc, and its method of manufacture, which can be utilized in conjunction with the punch disc, it being understood that other types of discs and other methods of manufacturing may be employed in other circumstances.

Whereas the present invention has been shown and described herein in what is conceived to be the best mode contemplated, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention which is, therefore, not to be limited to the details disclosed herein, but is to be afforded the full scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed. 7

I claim:

1. An embossing disc couple, each disc having a plurality of fingers radiating from a central section;

one of said discs being a punch disc formed of carbon steel with character punch members formed in said fingers, each punch member having a raised surface on one side of the finger and a corresponding depression on the other side, each said raised surface being sufficiently soft to resist cracking upon embossing operations and inherently collapsible into the depressions upon application of embossing pressure, and compression resisting material disposed in said depression to prevent collapse of said raised surface into the depression;

the other of said discs being a die disc with intaglio surfaces formed to cooperate with the raised punch member surfaces in bending and slight coining of sheet plastic and soft metals suitable for printing plates;

whereby, said disc couple is closeable and subject to application of local pressure for embossing operations without collapse of said punch members.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said compression resisting material includes an epoxy resin.

3. The invention as defined in claim I, wherein the compression resisting material is a metal having a melting point lower than said steel.

4. The invention as defined in claim 1., wherein said steel has a Rockwell C hardness of between 44 and 47.

5. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said compression resisting material is flush with the surface of the finger.

Claims (5)

1. An embossing disc couple, each disc having a plurality of fingers radiating from a central section; one of said discs being a punch disc formed of carbon steel with character punch members formed in said fingers, each punch member having a raised surface on one side of the finger and a corresponding depression on the other side, each said raised surface being sufficiently soft to resist cracking upon embossing operations and inherently collapsible into the depressions upon application of embossing pressure, and compression resisting material disposed in said depression to prevent collapse of said raised surface into the depression; the other of said discs being a die disc with intaglio surfaces formed to cooperate with the raised punch member surfaces in bending and slight coining of sheet plastic and soft metals suitable for printing plates; whereby, said disc couple is closeable and subject to application of local pressure for embossing operations without collapse of said punch members.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said compression resisting material includes an epoxy resin.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein the compression resisting material is a metal having a melting point lower than said steel.

4. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said steel has a Rockwell C hardness of between 44 and 47.

5. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said compression resisting material is flush with the surface of the finger.

Images