Geometrical instruments – Gauge – Template
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-27
2002-10-08
Gutierrez, Diego (Department: 2859)
Geometrical instruments
Gauge
Template
C033S566000, C033S018100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06460266
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The instant invention relates to engineering blank layout drawings, and more particularly to keyline drawings for decorative tins and metal enclosures.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Since the earliest days of consumer packaging, metal containers and decorative tins have proven to be as fashionable as they are durable. While originally used to provide product protection from the elements as well as from breakage for many dry goods, teas, spices, lozengers, saltine crackers, etc., and while these metallic containers are still used in this fashion for these very purposes, the style, design, and collectability of these metallic containers and decorative tins have driven the demand for these products to an unprecedented level.
The desire for functional, yet collectable, metallic containers and decorative tins has provided great opportunity for the artistic talent of the designers of these products. In addition to the traditional round and square tins with removable lids, and smaller rectangular containers with hinged lids, many decorative tins are now being produced in a wide variety of shapes, including houses, animals, and recently NASCAR racing cars. Typically, included on all of these various types of metallic containers and decorative tins are the graphic images and colors, product identification information and corporate and product logos, as well as other graphics which distinguish these containers and the products provided therein. Further, modern packaging laws and regulations also require that a significant amount of actual text be included on these containers as well. While many manufacturers choose to include this required textural material on separate stickers or labels which are affixed to the metallic containers and decorative tins, such increases the overall cost of the packaging, and is therefore undesirable for some product manufacturers.
A continuing challenge in the actual manufacture of these decorative tins and metallic containers lies with the proper placement and design of the artwork included thereon. The design process for these decorative tins begins with the project engineers who must develop engineering drawings which illustrate how the sheet metal material used to manufacture these articles will be cut, bent, rolled, stretched, embossed, etc. to form the actual shape of the enclosure. Once this product formation design process is complete, these engineering design drawings become the basis for the ultimate digital file used by the graphic artists who must come up with the artwork design layout to be placed on the product. For ease of printing, the artwork is applied to the article prior to its actual manufacture while it is still in two dimensional flat sheet form. While this greatly decreases the cost of printing by allowing the use of two dimensional printing processes, it presents a significant problem for the graphic artist who must actually design a layout which will appear properly once the various bending, stretching, rolling, etc. processes are completed on the flat sheet metal to form the actual three dimensional product.
Conventionally, the external graphic artist was provided a two dimensional film based keyline for the article from which she was required to design a graphical layout for implementation thereon. These keylines were initially generated from the engineering blank layouts by removing certain information not germane to the graphical design. However, the keylines generated in this fashion provided only limited information which was particularly relevant to the graphic artist to aid her in the design of the appropriate images to be printed thereon. Recognizing this, the keylines were modified to provide additional information significant to the graphic artists to aid them in their artwork design. These keyline drawings included additional lines designating certain areas appropriate for different types of graphics on the finished decorative tin or metal enclosure. These additional lines were typically supplemented with textural information to identify the type of line or the meaning thereof. As an example of such a keyline drawing, reference is made to
FIG. 1
b.
As may be seen from this
FIG. 1
b
, the keyline drawing
10
includes graphic design limit lines
12
which enclose regions of relatively undistorted surface area into which graphical elements which should not be distorted on the finished product should be placed. However, since these graphic design limit lines
12
are often hard to distinguish from the manufacturing lines
14
generated on the original engineering drawing, additional textural material
16
is required to be added to help the graphic designer clarify the appropriate regions for different types of textural material. However, typically these written cues do not suffice without additional design notes
18
provided on the drawing to further clarify regions which do not lend themselves to separate marking by design limit lines
12
. Even with these additional notes
18
, however, a majority of the regions on the keyline drawing are left without any designator as to what type of graphics or colors may be placed therein. Further, many of the regions on the keyline drawing contain no indication as to whether or not they will remain visible once the particular part has been assembled.
As a result of these limitations with the information which may be conveyed on the keyline drawing, the graphical design is typically required to be done, and modified, several times before it is finalized. The necessity for these multiple edits to finalize a graphical design on the three dimensional metallic container or decorative tin significantly increases the cost associated with the design process. Often, undesirable distortions of the graphical design are not discovered until prototype items have been produced in readiance for final manufacture. Graphical redesign at this stage of the production process becomes quite significant since machinery often needs to be changed to accommodate the modified design. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that many keyline drawings include regions whose distortion during the manufacturing process varies, but which is typically not separately marked on a conventional keyline drawing. These regions, while not defining a design limit, nonetheless need to be accounted for during the graphic design process. Unfortunately, these non-defined areas of varying distortion are typically only accounted for once a prototype has been manufactured and the first round of graphic design modifications made. As will be recognized by one skilled in the art, this increases the design cycle, increases the time to market of the product, and increases the overall cost of the packaging design.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above, it is an object of the instant invention to provide a new and improved method of generating keyline drawings for decorative tins and metal containers which overcomes the above and other problems existing in the art. More particularly, it is an object of the instant invention to provide a new and improved design aid and method of designating various regions of acceptable graphics design, copy, and distortion in a keyline drawing for decorative tins and metallic containers. Additionally, it is an object of the instant invention to provide such a method that results in a colored keyline diagram which may be used by graphic designers visually during their design layout. It is a further object of the instant invention to simplify these keyline drawings by eliminating the need for the provision of additional graphic design limit lines and textural material. It is a further object of the instant invention to reduce the design cycle time of a graphic design for a decorative tin or metallic container, thereby decreasing the time to market and overall design costs of the product. It is a further object of the instant invention to identify varying regions of distortion on a keyline drawing for a decorative tin or metallic container to allow for single desi
Johnson Owen
Painter Lorie
Gonzalez Madeline
Gutierrez Diego
J. L. Clark, Inc.
Leydig , Voit & Mayer, Ltd.
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