Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Patent ~pplication of
Hans Wyssen
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~,METHOD AND APPARA~US FOR ENGRAVING A MARK ON PLANE OR
CURV~D SURFACES
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~Back~round-Field of Invention:
¦The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for
engraving in an indelible way a mark formed of numbers and/or
letters and/or symbols on a plane or curved surface in order
to mark personal belongings such as motor vehicles and the
like for anti/theft or identification purposes.
Background-Description of Prior Art:
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Marking systems which engrave identification indicia into
vehicle windows are coming into widespread us`e. Code systems
are utilized with central registries so that if an owner of a
marked car needs to be identified, such as when a stolen
vehicle is recovered, one can check the code engraved in the
windows with such a central register to locate the owner of
that vehicle. This coding system can also be used for marking
other belongings such as computers, cameras, antiques etc.
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The advantage of engraving personal belongings with
identification indicia is that it takes a large expenditure
of time, effort and money to obliterate or remove such
indicia. For example when all the vehicle windows are
engraved car thieves usually do not wish to go through such
expense and effort of replacing all the windows. Furthermore
other parts like the motor, transmission, alternator etc. can
also be engraved as a further theft deterrent.
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The engraving apparatuses described in US patents 3,624,966
to Palmer (1971), 4,048,918 to Peck (1977) and 4,164,183 to
Peck (1979) describe sand blasting type marking apparatuses
wherein a strong jet of a mixture of compressed air and
abrasive granules is directed through stencils against the
surface to be marked such as the vehicle's windows thereby
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permanently marking the glass.
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~hese apparatuses suffer from the following disadvantages: -
J (a) Require long and laborious operations for preparing and
'~ assembling the stencils.
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(b) Pollute the environment of operation with abrasive dust
unavoidably escaping from the apparatus and to dirty
;~ surrounding parts, things or persons presenting a health~!, risk.
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(c) Escaping abra~ive granules often fall inside the window
well of the vehicle and result in the glass being scratched
when the window is opened and closed. -
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;1, (d) These apparatuses are expensive requiring a large air
compressor and special respiratory and eye protection for the
`' user.
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j (e) Can only be operated by specially trained personal.
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(f) Can only mark curved surfaces with very slight curvatures
due to rigid stencil construction.
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(g) Are not readily portable since heavy equipment and
electricity are required for operation.
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(h) Due to their high cost and need for special training,
they cannot be offered as a do-it-yourself kit.
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Another type of engraving apparatus is described in PCT
.~i patent W0 86/07015 to Cacciotti (1986) and US patents
4,089,262 to Sopora (1978) and 4,834,595 to Cacciotti (1989).
These apparatuses use computer controlled engraving heads to
-~ engrave identification indicia onto vehicle surfaces.
Disadvantages of these apparatuses are: -
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(a) The high cost of the special computer and control
equipment.
(b) They can only ~e operated by specially trained personnel.
(c) Can only mark surfaces with very slight curvatures due to
rigid construction.
(d) Are not readily portable since special equipment and
electricity are required for operation.
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(e) Due to high cost and other factors such as the need for
special training they cannot be offered as a do-it-yourself
kit. ~ -
Another type of marking apparatus uses chemical etching toaccompIish the marking of glass surfaces. Among companies
that sell such kits is the J.C. Whitney & Company, PØ Box
8410, Chicago, IL 60680. These kiks are comprised of a
stencil and etching cream usually containing hydrofluoric
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acid. This type of marking apparatus suffers from the
following disadvantages:
(a) Involves the use of a highly toxic etching cream
containing hydrofluoric acid which can cause extensive burns
if skin contact occurs.
(b) The etching process releases harmful fluorine and
hydrogen fluoride gases.
- (c) The resulting marks are often unclear or not well defined since the acid tends to leach under the stencil.
(d) The resulting engraving marks are often not very deep in
the glass and therefore easier to obliterate or remove.
(e) Only glass surfaces can be marked and not surfaces made
of other materials such as metal or plastic.
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O~jects and Advantages
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the present
invention are:
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(a) to provide an apparatus for engraving identification
$ which is quite simple in construction and use, efficient,
~ time-saving, accurate and generally inexpensive to
r manufacture and use.
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(b) to provide an engraving apparatus which requires no
special training to operate and can be sold as a do-it-
yourself kit so that consumers can engrave their own vehicle
against theft and do not have to go to a garage to have it
done.
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(c) to provide an engraving apparatus which includes a
premade, one piece stencil, therefore not requiring long and
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' laborious operations for preparing and assembling individual
, stencil segments.
(d) to provide an engraving apparatus which does not pollute
~ the surroundings with granular abrasive dust presenting a
;~ health risk.
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` (e) to provide an engraving apparatus where there is no risk
1,~ Of abrasive granules falling inside the window well and
resulting in the glass being scratched when the vehicle
window is opened and closed.
(f) to provide an engraving device which allows the engraving
~; of substantially curved surfaces and surfaces made of not
only glass but also metal, plastic and other materials.
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(g~ to provide an engraving apparatus which is very portable
not requiring electricity or heavy equipment such as an air
compressor or computer equipment.
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(h) to provide an engraving apparatus which does not require
the use of toxic chemicals such as hydrofluoric acid.
(i) to provide an engraving apparatus that produces a well
defined mark with sufficient depth so as to be very difficult
to obliterate or remove.
Further objects and advantages will become apparent from a
consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.
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; Brief Description
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, Fig. 1 illustrates a perspective schematic view of the
~ stencil and the engraving scribe being used to engrave a
,~ surface.
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Fig. 2 illustrates a perspective schematic view of the
reverse side of the stencil.
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Fig. 3 illustrates an exploded view of the stencil.
Fig. 4 illustrates a side view of the tip of the engraving
scribe showing the solitary diamond.
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!' Reference Numerals in Drawings
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5' 9 stencil
10 stencil body
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12 indicia apertures
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`3 14 adhesive tape with adhesive coating on both sides
~' 16 diamond tipped engraving scribe
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18 surface to be engraved
20 solitary Diamond
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Description-Figs. 1 to 4
A typical embodiment of the present invention is illustrated
in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4. In the preferred embodiment a
stencil 9 (Figs 1 to 3) is comprised of a stencil body 10
made of one piece of flexible, durable plastic such as ~ -
polyester. Stencil body 10 can also consist of any other
material that can be repeatedly bent without fracturing and
be able to withstand the mechanical friction of an engraving
scribe 16 such as polyethylene, polypropylene, vinyl, nylon,
various impregnated or laminated fibrous materials, various
plasticized materials, etc. Stencil body 10 may also consist ~-~
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of metal sheeting made of, for example, brass, aluminum or
other metals. Stencil body 10 must be flexible so that curved
surfaces such as curved window surfaces on vehicles may also
be engraved and is typically .3 to 4 mm in thickness.
Figures 1 to 3 show indicia apertures 12 in stencil body 10.
Indicia apertures 12 can be machined in stencil body 10 using
for example a pantograph type engraving machine. Indicia
apertures 12 correspond to the numbers and/or letters and/or
symbols that make up the identification code for the vehicle
or belonging.
Two pieces of self adhesive tape 14 (Fig 2) where both sides
are coated with an adhesive mixture are affixed to the back
of stencil body 10 above and below indicia apertures 12 and
are folded over to the opposite or front side of the stencil
shown in Fig 1. Folding the adhesive tape 14 in this fashion
prevents the adhesive tape from easily separating from
stencil body 10. Figure 3 shows an exploded view of stencil 9
showing adhesive tapes 14.
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In some cases it has been found to be advantageous not to
fold one or more of the extending portions of tape 14 over to
~`~ the opposite side of the stencil; but to leave it extended,
-~ thereby forming a tab that is useful for removing and
<-~ positioning stencil 9. This tab can also be covered with a
~, piece of tape or plastic foil so that the tab is not sticky
~ lo touch.
f~ i The adhesive mixture on adhesive tapes 14 is of a pressure
sensitive type so that stencil 9 can be mounted and removed
repeatedly such as when engraving numerous parts of a vehicle
` such as all the glass panes and perhaps other parts such as
. the tire rims, motor etc.
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~i, The engraving scribe 16 shown in Figs. 1 ~ 4 is of such a
construction that the tip fits through indicia apertures 12
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and makes physical contact with a surface to be engraved 18.
The tip of engraving scribe 16 typically consists of a
solitary mounted diamond 20 (Fig. 4). However other hard
materials such as tungsten carbide or corundum may also be
used.
Operation-Fig 1
The manner of using this engraving apparatus is to first of
all affix stencil 9 (Fig l) to surface to be engraved 18 and
then insert the tip of engraving scribe 16 into indicia
apertures 12 until it makes physical contact with the surface
to be engraved 18 and with a light stroking action remove
material from surface to be engraved 18. As a result surface
to be engraved 18 will be engraved with the characters,
numbers or symbols that correspond to indicia apertures 12.
Upon finishing, stencil 9 can be pulled off and reused to
engrave numerous parts of the vehicle. It is envisioned that
this apparatus can mark the same identification indicia upon
each pane of glass of a vehicle in an unobtrusive spot. For
example, on a four-door sedan there could be six
identification marks, one being on the windshield, another on
the rear window, and one on each of the panes of glass of the
four doors. This identification code is typically filed along
with information about the owner, such as his name, address
and other pertinent information in a central registry so that
if necessary the owner of that vehicle can be located such as
when a stolen vehicle is recovered. Stencil 9 can either be
included in the kit with a random code or made to ~-
specifications supplied by the purchaser of the kit. For
example the code can consist of the vehicle chassis number.
My engraving apparatus can also be used to mark other
belongings such as cameras, computers and the like.
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Summery, Ramification. and Scope
Accordingly, the reader will see that the method of use of
the apparatus of this invention can be of great value in
identifying motor vehicles and personal belonging as well as
for discouraging theft. The advantages of the present
invention is that valuable, high quality, identification
engraving can be offered to the consumer at substantially
~2 reduced cost since:
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~ the kit is inexpensive to produce and does not require
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~ expensive equipment such an air compressor or computer to
i function;
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- requires no special training to use; and
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~?' - can be sold as a do-it-yourself kit.
Further the present invention:
- produces a well defined engraving mark with sufficient
depth so as to make it very difficult to remove or
~; obliterate;
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- does not require the long and laborious operation of
preparing and assembling individual stencil segments since
the stencil is premade.
- can be used to mark not only glass but also metal, plastic
and other surfaces.
- is completely portable not requiring electricity to
operate;
- is non polluting;
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- does not require the use of dangerous etching chemicals
such as hydrofluoric acid; and
- highly convenient since consumers can engrave their own
vehicles when and where they want, and don't have make an
appointment and travel to a garage to have it done.
Although the description above contains many specificities,
these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the
invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of
the presently preferred embodiments of this invention.
Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the
appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by
the examples given.
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