Identification stamp and retrofit kit for it

Abstract

Identification stamp with a housing (1) which has a moldable marking (6) on a housing end face (4) and a passage (8) extending from the housing end face (4) in an axial direction, an adjusting element (2) which is arranged in the passage (8) has a moldable marking (7) on an adjusting element end face (5) and has a first detent contour (14) away from the adjusting element end face (5) which can be engaged in several different detent positions with a second detent contour (32) arranged in the passage (8), characterized in that the second detent contour (32) is formed in a detent component (29) which is separate from the housing (1) and is rotationally fixed in the passage (8).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a marking stamp that can be inserted into a forming or embossing tool to mark molded products made of metal or plastic, e.g. with a date of manufacture, a batch or product number, and to a retrofit kit with which a conventional marking stamp can be converted into one according to the invention.

[0002] From DE 10 2009 027 108 B3, a marking stamp is known which comprises a housing with a moldable marking comprising several symbols on one end face of the housing, and an adjusting element which is arranged in a passage extending axially from the housing end face and which in turn has a moldable marking, such as an arrow, on one end face of the adjusting element that can be aligned with one of the symbols by rotating the adjusting element. To prevent the adjusting element from rotating during use and thus distorting the information encoded in its alignment, the adjusting element is lockable. For this purpose, the adjusting element has a first locking contour away from its end face, which can be engaged with a second locking contour arranged in the passage in several different locking positions, each corresponding to the alignment of the arrow with one of the symbols.

[0003] The second detent contour is difficult to reach in the passage of the housing with a cutting tool and is therefore complex and expensive to manufacture.

[0004] The object of the invention is to create a marking stamp with a more easily realizable grid contour.

[0005] The problem is solved according to the invention by a marking stamp with the features of claim 1. The shape of the separate locking component can be easily determined such that the second locking contour is readily accessible; even different techniques can be used to manufacture the locking component than those used for the housing. The rotationally fixed engagement of the locking component with the housing secures the adjusting element against unintentional adjustment.

[0006] The first detent contour can be formed, in particular, on the back side of the adjusting element opposite the front side of the adjusting element.

[0007] The passage may have a constriction between an inner section that accommodates the adjusting element face and the detent contours and an outer section.

[0008] The constriction can serve, firstly, to support a compression spring. By compressing the compression spring between the constriction and a shoulder that is axially movable with the adjusting element, it can engage the first and second detent contours or hold them engaged against rotation.

[0009] If the adjusting element includes a screw thread, the shoulder may conveniently be located on a nut that engages with the screw thread.

[0010] The front and back faces of the adjusting element can form two sides of a head of the helical adjusting element.

[0011] In order to allow the adjusting element and nut to be joined and separated as needed, while at the same time allowing the locking contours to engage and move apart, the nut should be trapped in a chamber of the passage in a way that allows movement in the axial direction and prevents rotation.

[0012] To enable a captive mounting of the nut, the housing is preferably assembled from a first and a second housing part, and the chamber is bounded by both housing parts. In particular, the two housing parts can be screwed together.

[0013] To facilitate the application of torque for screwing the housing parts together or apart, sections of the passage in the first and / or second housing part may have a non-circular cross-section suitable for inserting a screwdriving tool.

[0014] A second advantage of the narrow point is that the locking component can be supported in the axial direction at it.

[0015] If the constriction has a non-circular cross-section, the locking component can also engage in a rotationally fixed manner. In particular, the non-circular cross-section can be a hexagonal cross-section.

[0016] The locking component can be made from the same material, typically steel, as the housing and ideally also the adjustment element. This allows at least some of the same tools and processes to be used for manufacturing these parts.

[0017] Alternatively, cost savings can be achieved by making the locking component from materials that are easier to process than the steel of the housing. Brass is a particularly suitable metal for this purpose, as it is easy to machine.

[0018] Alternatively, the indexing component can also be made of a high-strength ceramic, typically aluminum oxide ceramic. In this way, the second indexing contour can first be formed with high accuracy in a blank of the indexing component by molding it against a model, and the blank can then be sintered to give the second indexing contour the required mechanical strength.

[0019] If the marking die is to be used in a mold for plastics processing, the requirements for the temperature resistance of the locking component are lower. Since the locking component is in contact with either the housing or the adjustment element on virtually all sides during use, the risk of deformation due to high pressure acting on the adjustment element is low, and the material's strength requirements are also not stringent. Therefore, plastics, among other materials, are suitable as a cost-effective material for the locking component. Furthermore, a plastic locking component does not require machining but can be manufactured with high precision and at low cost using injection molding.

[0020] In a conventional marking stamp with a housing and an adjusting element rotatably mounted in the housing and fixed in a set position solely by friction, the existing adjusting element can be replaced with a retrofit kit, which in turn includes: an adjusting element which has a moldable marking on an adjusting element end face and, at least locally away from the adjusting element end face, a circular cross-section centered around an axis and a first detent contour, and A detent component that has a second detent contour which can be engaged with the first detent contour in several different detent positions. The retrofit kit also solves the problem of the invention in this way.

[0021] The locking component is preferably ring-shaped.

[0022] If the locking component can be placed around a shaft (11) of the adjusting element (2), both can be inserted into the housing together.

[0023] The outer diameter of the detent component should not be larger than the maximum diameter of the adjusting element (2) so that both can be inserted into the housing without the adjusting element being surrounded by a gap in the housing into which the injection molding compound can penetrate.

[0024] Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying figures. These show: Fig. 1. A marking stamp in perspective view; Fig. 2 an adjusting element of the marking stamp in three canonical views; Fig. 3. An enlargement of detail B from Fig. 2; Fig. 4. an axial section through the marking stamp; Fig. 5 a cut along the plane VV of the Fig. 4 and Fig. 6 a view of a locking component of the marking stamp made of Fig. 1.

[0025] The in Fig. 1 The marking stamp shown comprises a cylindrical or frustoconical housing 1 with a extending in the direction of an axis 3, in Fig. The passage 4, designated 8, contains an adjusting element 2. The marking stamp is designed to be inserted into a bore in the wall of a mold (not shown), e.g., a plastic injection mold, in an orientation where end faces 4, 5 of the housing 1 and the adjusting element 2 abut a cavity of the mold and come into contact with injected material during the molding process, so that a relief of the end faces 4, 5 is imprinted on the material. To ensure that the marking stamp fits tightly into the bore of the mold wall, the circumferential surface of the housing 1 is flattened by machining such as grinding or turning.

[0026] The relief on the annular end face 4 of the housing 1 comprises a plurality of symbols 6 distributed around the axis 3, while the relief on the adjusting element end face 5 comprises an arrow 7 which can be aligned with one of the symbols 6 by rotating the adjusting element 2 around the axis. If at least one of the symbols 6 differs from the others, the orientations of the arrow are distinguishable; in practice, the symbols are usually numbers or letters.

[0027] The housing 1 is tapered at its end facing away from the end faces 4, 5 in order to support itself against a shoulder of the bore of the molding tool and to be able to withstand the pressure of the injected material.

[0028] Fig. Figure 2 shows a helical adjusting element 2 in a top view of the end face 5 along the axis 3, a side view, and a view along the axis 3 in the opposite direction to the first view. The end face 5 forms the top of a head 9 of the adjusting element 2. A shaft 11, carrying an external thread 12, projects from an opposite rear face 10. A detent contour 14 is formed along an edge where the rear face 10 and a circumferential surface 13 of the head 9, which has a circular cross-section, meet. This detent contour is shown in the enlarged figure. Fig. Figure 3 shows a ring of flat depressions 16, each separated from the others by elevations 15 projecting in the direction of the axis 3.

[0029] Fig. Figure 4 shows a section through the marking stamp along axis 3. It can be seen that the housing 1 is composed of two parts screwed together via threads 19: an inner part 17 facing the cavity of the injection mold and an outer part 18. The passage 8 extends through both parts 17 and 18. In the inner part 17, it comprises an inner section 20 adjacent to the cavity, which accommodates the head 9, a constriction 21, and an outer section 22 through which the shaft 11 extends. The diameters of section 20 and head 9 are so precisely matched that while rotation of the adjusting element 2 about axis 3 is possible, no injection molding compound can penetrate between them during operation.

[0030] The outer part 18 comprises an inner, wider section 23 and an outer, narrower section 24. The inner section 23 has a hexagonal cross-section. A nut 25 is mounted in it in a rotationally fixed but axially displaceable manner, and the shaft 11 of the adjusting element 2 is screwed into this nut. A helical spring 26 is arranged between the nut 25 and a shoulder 27 of the narrow section 21 and surrounds the shaft 11.

[0031] A locking component 29 made of steel, plastic, ceramic, or brass comprises a disc-shaped section 30 that fills a gap between the rear face 10 of the head 9 and the constriction 20, and a shaft section 31 that engages in the constriction 20. As shown in the left part of the Fig. As shown in Figure 5, the constriction 20 and the shaft section 31 have a polygonal cross-section, through which the locking component 29 is held in the housing 1 in a rotationally fixed manner.

[0032] In the right part of the Fig. The section plane 5 runs through the inner section 20 of the inner part 17, although the adjusting element 2 is omitted to allow a top view of the disc-shaped section 30 of the detent component 29. This component has a ring of evenly distributed projections and recesses along its edge, forming a detent contour 32 complementary to the detent contour 14 of the adjusting element 2. The two detent contours 14 and 32 define a plurality of detent positions that the adjusting element 2 can assume relative to the housing 1, in each of which the projections of one detent contour engage in the recesses of the other.The number of protrusions and indentations of each grid contour 14, 32 is equal to the number of symbols 6 or a small integer multiple thereof, so that for each symbol 6 there exists a grid position in which the arrow 7 points to the symbol 6 in question or in which it is otherwise visibly highlighted compared to the other symbols.

[0033] Fig. Figure 6 shows the locking component 29 in a perspective view. The shaft section 31 has a cross-section in the form of an equilateral hexagon. The disc-shaped section 30 has a flat projection 33 on its end face facing away from the shaft section 31, extending in a ring shape along the edge of the end face. Because the locking contour 32 is formed on the upper side of the projection 33, it can engage with the locking contour 14 of the adjusting element 2, even though, as shown in Fig. 3 to recognize, jumps back behind the back 10 of the head 9.

[0034] Like the recesses 16, the recesses 34 of the detent contour 32 also have a circular arc cross-section when viewed from a direction radial to the axis 3 and can be efficiently manufactured by a milling tool that rotates about an axis 35 oriented in this direction.

[0035] The number of corners of the cross-section of the constriction 21 is preferably equal to the number of symbols 6 or an integer fraction thereof; this ensures that the locking element 29, in every orientation in which it can be inserted into the constriction 21, defines a locking position for each symbol in which the arrow 7 points exactly to the respective symbol 6.

[0036] In the Fig.In the configuration shown in Figure 4, the relaxed coil spring 26 does not simultaneously touch the nut 25 and the shoulder 27. Only when the shaft 11 is screwed deep enough into the nut 25 to lift it from a shoulder 28 between the sections 23, 24 of the passage 8 does the coil spring 26 begin to compress and hold the adjusting element 2 in a position where the detent contours 14, 32 interlock and the end faces 4, 5 lie in the same plane.

[0037] The marking stamp can be assembled by first inserting the nut 25 into the hexagonal inner section 23 of the outer part 18, and then, with the coil spring 26 included in section 22, screwing the outer part 18 and the inner part 17 together. To tighten the parts 17 and 18, torque can be applied to the inner part 17 by inserting a socket wrench into the hexagonal constriction 21; similarly, section 24 can be hexagonal or otherwise suitably non-circular to provide a grip for a second socket wrench.

[0038] Instead of being connected by a thread 19, the housing parts 17, 18 can be inserted together along the axis 3 and firmly connected to each other by welding, gluing or the like.

[0039] In a second step, the detent component 29 and the adjusting element 2 are inserted into the passage 8 of the housing 1 from the end face 4, with the detent component 29 engaging in the constriction 21 in a rotationally fixed manner. The adjusting element 2 is screwed into the nut 29, causing the head 9 to gradually advance into the passage 8 until the detent contours 14, 32 touch each other and the disc-shaped section 30 rests against the constriction 21. As the adjusting element 2 is screwed further into the nut 25, the projections of the detent contours 14, 32 initially abut each other, and the nut 25 gradually lifts from the shoulder 28 until a position is reached in which the projections of one of the detent contours engage in the recesses of the other under the pressure of the helical spring 26, thus defining the detent positions.

[0040] Alternatively, the marking stamp according to the invention can be obtained by removing the adjusting element from a conventional marking stamp, leaving only a housing 4 with a nut 25 and a coil spring 26 enclosed in sections 23 and 22 of the housing. The second step described above can then be carried out on this housing. Reference sign 1 case 2 Adjustment element 3-axis 4 Front side (of the case) 5 Front side (of the adjusting element) 6 Symbol 7 Arrow 8th round 9 heads 10 Back 11 shaft 12 external threads 13 Circumferential area 14 Rast contour 15 lead 16 In-depth study 17 Inner part 18 Outdoor part 19 threads 20 inner section 21. Narrow point 22 outer section 23 inner section 24 outer section 25 mother 26 coil spring 27 Shoulder 28 Shoulder 29 Latching component 30 disc-shaped section 31 shaft section 32 Rast contour 33 lead 34 In-depth study 35 axle QUOTES INCLUDED IN THE DESCRIPTION

[0000] This list of documents cited by the applicant was automatically generated and is included solely for the reader's convenience. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA accepts no liability for any errors or omissions. Cited patent literature

[0000] DE 10 2009 027 108 B3

[0002]

Claims

[1] Identification stamp with a housing (1) which has a moldable marking (6) on a housing end face (4) and a passage (8) extending from the housing end face (4) in an axial direction, an adjusting element (2) which is arranged in the passage (8) has a moldable marking (7) on an adjusting element end face (5) and has a first detent contour (14) away from the adjusting element end face (5) which can be engaged in several different detent positions with a second detent contour (32) arranged in the passage (8), characterized by , that the second detent contour (32) is formed in a detent component (29) that is separate from the housing (1) and is fixed in rotation in the passage (8). [2] Marking stamp according to claim 1, wherein the first detent contour (14) is formed on a rear side (10) of the adjusting element (2) opposite the adjusting element end face (5). [3] Marking stamp according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the passage (8) has a constriction (21) between an inner section (20) of the passage (8) receiving the adjusting element end face (5) and the detent contours (14, 32) and an outer section (22) of the passage (8). [4] Marking stamp according to claim 3, in which in the outer section (22) a spring (26) is compressed between the constriction (21) and a shoulder axially movable with the adjusting element (2) in order to engage the first and second detent contour (14, 32) with each other. [5] Marking stamp according to claim 4, wherein the adjusting element (2) comprises a screw thread (12) and the shoulder is located on a nut (25) engaged with the screw thread (12). [6] Marking stamp according to claim 5, wherein the nut (25) is movably and non-rotatably trapped in a chamber (22, 23) of the passage (8) in the axial direction. [7] Marking stamp according to claim 6, wherein the housing (1) is assembled from a first and a second housing part (17, 18) and the chamber (22, 23) is bounded by both housing parts (17, 18), optionally wherein the two housing parts (17, 18) are screwed together (19). [8] Marking stamp according to one of claims 4 to 7, wherein the locking component (29) is supported in the axial direction at the constriction (21). [9] Marking stamp according to one of claims 3 to 8, wherein the constriction (21) has a non-circular cross-section into which the locking element (29) engages in a rotationally fixed manner, wherein optionally the non-circular cross-section is a hexagonal cross-section. [10] Marking stamp according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the locking component (29) is made of plastic, the material of the housing (1), brass or ceramic, optionally injection molded. [11] Retrofit kit for a marking stamp, comprising an adjusting element (2) having a moldable marking (7) on an adjusting element end face (5) and at least locally a circular cross-section centered about an axis (3) and a first detent contour (14) away from the adjusting element end face (5), and a detent component (29) having a second detent contour (32) which can be brought into engagement with the first detent contour (14) in several different detent positions. [12] Retrofit kit according to claim 11, wherein the locking component (29) - is ring-shaped; - can be placed around a shaft (11) of the adjusting element (2); and / or - has an outer diameter that is not larger than a maximum diameter of the adjusting element (2).

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