Printing – Stenciling – Processes
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-22
2004-11-23
Yan, Ren (Department: 2854)
Printing
Stenciling
Processes
C101S127100, C101S128210
Reexamination Certificate
active
06820546
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the field of personal identification, specifically to stencil holders used with adhesive backed stencils.
BACKGROUND DISCUSSION OF PRIOR ART
The desirability of permanent or indelible identification of one's possessions to prevent loss or theft has long been recognized. Those articles or property used in public places, shared with others or sometimes left unattended are highly vulnerable to loss and theft for obvious reasons. Certain industries, such as sporting goods, recreation, and travel, manufacture a large share of these items. Examples of the above include equipment such as bats, athletic gloves, balls, sport bags, and tents.
These articles represent a wide range of shapes, sizes, surfaces and substrates. This diversity, as or one can appreciate, requires a truly versatile marking system and presents a formidable challenge for the individual to identify his or her possessions in a permanent and satisfactory manner.
Various silkscreen systems, embroidery machines, and die cut hot stamp lettering devices are used commercially for marking or printing larger production runs of repetitive names, designs, etc. They are not readily accessible to the individual members of the public, and their application for personal identification would require custom lettering and machine set up which is time consuming and expensive. Their application is also restricted for use mainly to fabrics and generally for use on flat surfaces. Hot press letters have an additional disadvantage of not being durable.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,483 J. W. Bussard shows a silkscreen kit for individual use, however, it has the same disadvantages of general silkscreening except on a smaller scale; requiring screen set up and clean up, technique mastery, and is limited to applications on fabrics and flat surfaces. In addition, the described stencil alignment frame is not designed for stencils with adhesive covering their entire backsides.
In U.S. Pat. No. 204,803 Charles Dana described thin stencils coated with a gum or adhesive on an adjoining edge so as to be linked together. This application cannot be adapted effectively using present-day aggressive, high tack adhesives covering the entire backsides of individual stencils. Overlapping such individual stencils causes them to adhere to each other, the target substrate or the working surface either too aggressively or in an unpredictable manner. Using stencils in this way makes repositioning and centering of the stencils difficult, if not impossible.
Presently, what is observed are attempts by individuals to identify their articles by the “freehand” application of felt tip markers, fabric paints, ballpoint pens, and the like. The results are often not permanent nor aesthetically pleasing and frequently result in the article's defacement. Furthermore, the results are certainly not compatible with the manufacturer's state-of-the-art lettering and design techniques, which are carefully crafted to enhance the products aesthetics and visibility. Indeed, the individuals' crude attempt to mark their possessions is usually starkly contrasted to the manufacturer's name and logo, which are artistically and often boldly and colorfully promoted.
Stencils with an adhesive backing and having cutouts or openings defining alphanumeric characters, symbols, or other designs have been used effectively to mark surfaces with sandblasting and chemical etching techniques as well as with paints and dyes. These stencils can be constructed from a wide variety of materials and coated with specialized adhesives. Using custom paints or dyes, applied with a variety of applicators, specific materials such as nylon, leather, metal and even rubbers can be coated. Distinct letters, marks, and other symbols are thereby formed.
Adhesive stencils are used in certain commercial applications where entire words or messages are preformed and cut into thin adhesive backed stencils. An example of this use is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,483 where E. R. Ernsberger describes a kit for using a precut adhesive stencil or mask for marking the surface of an automobile body.
These adhesive stencils which hold such a promise for personal identification are observed being used by individuals essentially for decorative purposes where symbols or sometimes letters or designs are used individually. This use has been seen in kits intended for decorative glass etching and also in kits for placing designs or symbols on such items as T-shirts or tennis shoes.
The lack of use of adhesive stencils for identification, the inventor believes, stems from the inherent difficulty of combining stencil letters into names or words necessary for this task, in order to accomplish this the stencils obviously need to be properly aligned and positioned with respect to one another and properly centered on the object. Some type of alignment and or transport device is needed to accomplish this, and herein lies the difficulty.
The thin characteristics and often fragile nature of the stencils combined with the frequent use of aggressive high tack pressure sensitive adhesives precludes the use of conventional stencil holders, frames, or other methods seen in the prior art. Absent such a device, alignment lines must be drawn on a wide variety of difficult to mark surfaces and the stencils have to be meticulously positioned, aligned, centered and perhaps overlapped with respect to one another directly on the target surface. This must be accomplished within the confines of the space available while avoiding preexisting lettering, stitching, etc. Surfaces, which are round or irregular in shape or have surface characteristics which require high strength adhesives pose particular challenges for positioning and repositioning.
Accurate initial placement of the stencils is, therefore, a critical step since repositioning and replacement of the stencils can be a delicate maneuver often resulting in the stencils tearing, wrinkling, sticking together, or sticking too tightly to some object. Even under the most careful of circumstances, mistakes in placement can be made that are difficult or impossible to correct.
The critical importance of accuracy in the initial placement of stencils on attractive surfaces is exemplified by the prior art of S. Picone and T. F. Picone in U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,337. A guide system is described whereby a first stencil with multiple openings and registration lines is initially located on a glass surface. A transport support panel also acting as a guide or “bomb sight” facilitates placement of very thin, non-adhesive backed, self-adhering individual stencils. The individual stencils, guided by the transport support panel, are placed in the opening of the first stencil where they contact a glass surface. This system has the serious drawback, mentioned above, of requiring one to work directly on the target surface and therefore requiring one to do it right the first time. Since this guide system is not forgiving of mistakes in stencil placement it would therefore seem to be more suitable for commercial use where experience is gained from repeated applications. In addition, this guide system utilized uniformly spaced fixed openings. Such a system, used for transferring automobile serial number indicia, does not allow for the variable spacing between letters of different widths necessary for forming the visually acceptable words or names for personal identification.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial if an inexpensive and easy to use adhesive stencil apparatus or device were to be developed to overcome the above disadvantages. Such a system should allow first time users. Including children, the ability to permanently mark their names, for example, on a wide variety of different objects in a neat and professional manner. The present invention provides the solution to this long existing problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
(A) Objects and Advantages
Several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
(a) to provide a novel, versatile, inexpensive, easy to
Chapin William L.
Yan Ren
LandOfFree
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