Seals and how to create them

Abstract

To provide a seal which is capable of leaving a clear seal impression, does not leave red seal ink on a seal face after sealing, and is capable of cleanly removing the red seal ink from the seal face after impression.SOLUTION: A seal includes: a female seal material which is created of a metallic material by wire-cutting electrical discharge machining and forms a prescribed seal impression; a male seal material slidably engaging the female seal material; a holder holding the female seal material; a rotary holder rotatably engaging a lower end edge of the holder; and a slide mechanism which vertically slides the male seal material with respect to the female seal material by rotation of the rotary holder.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This invention relates to a seal that makes an impression (also called a picture or design) appear on the seal surface (also called a stamp surface) by sliding (displacing) two parts made of interlocking metal materials. [Background technology]

[0002] Seals have been used as daily necessities in various aspects of life since ancient times. For example, they are used to certify the identity of a person by stamping them on documents, paintings, and other documents, and stamping can be said to be an integral part of Japanese culture.

[0003] However, in recent years, as government efficiency and digitalization of operations are promoted, the complete abolition of personal seals in administrative procedures is being considered, as stamps are seen as a barrier to digitalization. The environment surrounding stamps is changing dramatically amid the trend away from stamps, such as the promotion of digitalization and the omission of stamps on official documents.

[0004] In this move away from stamps, stamps used as so-called personal seals are often used for convenient authentication, and the materials used for them are often low-cost and easy to process, such as wood from natural wood, eco-materials made by compounding wood with resin, or plastics.

[0005] On the other hand, apart from the trend away from stamps, there is also a growing movement to reexamine the appeal of stamps as special items that express oneself, focusing on the material and impression of the seal. For example, the following non-patent document 1 uses metal as the seal material and brings together the metal processing technology of Sabae (Megane) to provide seals that are "hard to chip," "hard to rust," "not rot," "easy to press," or that are high quality and different from others, bringing the joy of owning something unique.

[0006] When the seal material is metal, it is not as easy to process it as wood or other seal materials. A manufacturing technique for seals using metal seal materials is, for example, Patent Document 1 below. The technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 involves first creating a seal mold from an inexpensive and easy-to-process material such as wood, and then using a disappearing material such as wax on this seal mold to create a disappearing model of the seal shape.

[0007] Next, the surface of this fugitive pattern is coated with refractory material by repeating the steps of applying a refractory slurry, stuccoing with refractory particles, and drying as many times as necessary, and then the fugitive material inside is removed by heating or other treatment, leaving a precision casting mold in which the area where the fugitive material was previously present becomes the casting space. Molten titanium or titanium alloy is poured into this precision casting mold, and after it solidifies, the refractory coating is destroyed, resulting in a titanium or titanium alloy seal with the required characters and other details formed with high quality on the seal surface by precision casting.

[0008] Seals made from metal have the advantages of being easy to press, the outline (outer frame) of the seal not easily chipped, not easily rusted or rotted, and not only that, but they also create new value in the seal, giving the owner a sense of exhilaration as they feel that they are a high-quality item that is different from others, a special masterpiece that expresses the owner's personality. However, in order to create new value, a seal must have the basic functions of 1) being able to leave a clear impression, and 2) not smudge the seal surface with red ink, before it can create new added value.

[0009] To make a clear impression, it is necessary to apply the vermilion ink evenly to the surface of the seal. For this reason, the seal is pressed from side to side or by kneading the hand against the vermilion ink, but this is the same for the metal seals disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2 below.

[0010] However, handling in this way can cause the ink to get into the seal holder, and if the ink remains there, it can lead to smudges when the seal is pressed. On the other hand, if the pressing force is too weak to leave ink in the seal holder, there is a problem that there is not enough ink and the seal will be uneven.

[0011] Furthermore, when wiping off the vermilion ink that remains on the seal after it has been stamped, it is not easy to wipe the vermilion ink off the seal completely because the seal image is uneven. Also, because seals made of metal are heavy, there is a risk that the outline (outer frame) of the seal will be deformed due to shocks when carried or careless dropping when stamping.

[0012] The seals described in Non-Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 1 all have the problem that the vermilion ink remains on the seal surface or inside the seal surface holder, causing the print to become faint or unclear, or inducing smudges when the seal is stamped. In addition, because the seal surface is uneven, there is a problem that the vermilion ink remaining on the seal surface cannot be completely wiped off after stamping. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0013] [Non-Patent Document 1] https: / / www.rosestone.co.jp / gene / [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-169785 DISCLOSURE OF THEINVENTION [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0014] The object of the present invention is to provide a seal that is "hard to chip," "hard to rust," "not decay," "easy to press," or that brings a sense of exhilaration as a high-quality item that is different from others and is a special masterpiece that expresses one's self, while at the same time providing the basic functions of a seal, which are to leave a clear impression and not leave any vermilion ink on the seal surface after stamping. Furthermore, it is to provide a seal that allows the vermilion ink to be wiped cleanly off the seal surface after stamping. Furthermore, it is to provide a seal that prevents deformation of the seal surface due to impacts and the like when it is not in use by allowing the impression to appear on the seal surface only when it is in use. [Means for solving the problem]

[0015] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a seal comprising a female printing material made from a metal material by wire-cut electric discharge machining, a male printing material that slidably fits into the female printing material, a holder that holds the female printing material, a rotating holder that rotatably fits into the lower edge of the holder, and a sliding mechanism that slides the male printing material up and down relative to the female printing material by rotating the rotating holder.

[0016] The slide mechanism is characterized in that it is housed inside the rotary holder and includes a female screw fixed to the rotary holder, a male screw that screws into the female screw, and a shaft that fixes the male screw to the male printing material. It is preferable that the female screw and the male screw are multiple threads.

[0017] In the initial state of engagement between the female and male printing materials, the surfaces of the female and male printing materials are flush with each other, and as the rotating holder rotates, the male printing material slides downward, causing the print formed on the female printing material to protrude. This makes it possible to stamp a print with a contour. Furthermore, by forming a stopper on the holder that stops the male printing material at a specified sliding length when it slides downward, unnecessary rotation can be prevented.

[0018] The seal of the present invention may be configured such that the surface of the female printing material and the surface of the male printing material are flush with each other when the female printing material and the male printing material are initially fitted together, and that the male printing material slides upward as the rotating holder rotates, causing the impression formed on the male printing material to protrude. In the impression, a contour is essential, but in cases where the seal does not require a contour, such as a stamp design or pattern, the male printing material may be configured to protrude.

[0019] To achieve this configuration, a sliding space that allows the male printing material to slide upwardly when fitted into the female printing material is formed circumferentially at the lower edge of the female printing material. Note that the rotation direction of the rotating holder can be easily reversed by using a reverse thread for the engagement between the female screw and the male screw.

[0020] The holder is formed with a rotational groove for engaging the rotating holder, and the rotating holder is formed with a locking claw that engages with the rotational groove, thereby preventing the holder from engaging with the rotating holder and preventing the rotating holder from coming off the holder. Effect of the Invention

[0021] The present invention provides a seal that brings about a sense of exhilaration as a high-quality item that is different from others and a special masterpiece that expresses one's self, and that is hard to chip, rust, and decay, easy to press, and that has the basic functions of a seal, namely, a clear impression and no red ink remaining on the seal surface after pressing. In addition, it is possible to provide a seal that allows the red ink to be wiped cleanly off the seal surface after pressing. Furthermore, it is possible to provide a seal that allows the impression to appear on the seal surface only when it is in use, thereby preventing deformation of the seal surface due to impacts and the like when it is handled when not in use. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THEINVENTION

[0022] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings of the examples. In this specification, a seal is a general term for anything that is held in the hand and used to stamp, such as a seal, a stamp, or the like. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a seal made of a metal material by wire-cut electric discharge machining, which is one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1(c) is a perspective view of a seal 1 covered with a cap 30, FIG. 1(b) is a perspective view of a seal body 10 with the cap 30 removed and no seal impression 110 appearing on the seal surface 100, and FIG. 1(a) is a perspective view of a seal body 10 with the cap 30 removed and the seal impression 110 appearing on the seal surface 100. The configuration of the seal body 10 will be described later, but in FIG. 1, a rotating holder 16, a holder (outer cylinder) 15, and a female seal material 11 are visible from the outside.

[0023] Figure 2 shows a structural cross-sectional view and an exploded view of a state in which an impression 110 appears on the printing surface of a seal 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The seal 1 is composed of a cap 30 and a seal body 10. The seal body 10 comprises a female seal material 11, a male seal material 12 which fits slidably into the female seal material 11, a fixing pin 13 which is fixed to the bottom of the male seal material 12, and a shaft 14 to which the other end of the fixing pin 13 is fixed. It is equipped with a holder (outer tube) 15 that encases (holds) the shaft 14 inside so that it can slide up and down, a slide holder 16 that fits into the middle of the holder (outer tube) 15, a multi-thread female screw 17 that is stored inside the slide holder 16 and integrated (fixed) with it, a multi-thread male screw 18 that screws into the multi-thread female screw 17, a fixing bolt 19 that passes through the inside of the multi-thread male screw 18 and is fixed to the lower end of the shaft 14, fixing the multi-thread male screw 18 to the shaft 14, and a bottom cover 20 that screws into a screw groove formed at the lower end of the rotating holder 16 and serves as the bottom plate of the seal 1.

[0024] 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention in which the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 are fitted together. In this embodiment, both the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 are made of alloy tool steel (SKD), which is mainly used for molds, as the metal material, and are produced by wire-cut electric discharge machining.

[0025] The upper surfaces of the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 that form the print impression are polished to a mirror finish. The distance (clearance) between the female printing material 11 and the male printing material is 0.003 to 0.008 mm, and the upper surfaces of the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 are flush with each other in the initial state to form the printing surface 100. The female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 are slidably fitted together. Here, if the distance between the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 is greater than 0.001 mm, the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 slide smoothly, but on the other hand, the mating surface between the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 is visible, so the surface does not look like a mirror surface. On the other hand, if the distance is narrower than 0.005 mm, the mating surface between the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 becomes more difficult to see, and although it looks like a mirror surface, it becomes difficult to slide.

[0026] In Fig. 3, in the initial state, the surfaces of the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 are flush with each other and no print impression appears on the printing surface 100. By pulling the male printing material 12 out of the female printing material 11 from this initial state (sliding it to the right in Fig. 3), a print impression 110 appears on the printing surface 100.

[0027] Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a seal 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4(b) is a structural diagram of a state in which no imprint appears on the printing surface 100 (initial state), and Fig. 4(a) is a structural diagram of a state in which an imprint appears on the printing surface 100. In Fig. 4(b), the upper surfaces of the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 are flush with each other, and in this initial state, the two are completely engaged. In the initial state, as shown in Fig. 4(b), the male printing material 12 is lifted (floating) above a stopper (jaw) 21 formed on the holder 15 by a multiple thread male screw 18 and a shaft 14 fixed thereto.

[0028] When the rotating holder 16 is rotated counterclockwise from this initial state, the multiple-thread female screw 17 fixed to the rotating holder 16 rotates together with the rotating holder 16, the multiple-thread male screw 18 screwed into the multiple-thread female screw 17 moves downward, the shaft 14 fixed to the multiple-thread male screw moves down, and the male stamp material 12 moves down to the stopper 21. As a result, the imprint formed on the female stamp material 11 appears on the printing surface 100. The upper end of the rotating holder 16 is formed with a locking claw 22 that engages with a circumferential groove formed in the lower end of the holder 15. This ensures smooth rotation and engagement between the rotating holder 16 and the holder 15.

[0029] In this embodiment, a four-start screw with a lead four times the pitch is used, but a single-start screw may also be used. The screw is not limited to a four-start screw, and a single-start screw, double-start screw, etc. may be used depending on the application.

[0030] Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a seal 2 according to another embodiment of the present invention. It differs from the seal 1 shown in Figure 4 in that the impression to be stamped (the impression that appears on the print surface) is formed on the male print material 12. In the seal 1 shown in Figure 4 described above, the impression to be stamped (the impression that appears on the print surface) is formed on the female print material 11. That is, in the seal 1 shown in Figure 4, the impression of the female print material 11 appears when the male print material 12 slides downward. In contrast, in the seal 2 shown in Figure 5, the impression of the male print material 12 appears when the male print material 12 slides upward.

[0031] As shown in Fig. 5, a sliding space 23 is formed under the female printing material 11 in order to allow the male printing material 12 to protrude from the mirror-finished printing surface 100 of the seal 2. The sliding length (height in Fig. 5) of the sliding space 23 is the protruding height of the male printing material 12.

[0032] In order to slide the male printing material 12 from the female printing material 11 to which it is fitted and to make the male printing material 12 protrude, the rotating holder 16 is rotated clockwise or the threads of the multiple thread female thread 11 and the multiple thread male thread 12 are configured to be reverse threads. When the multiple thread female thread 17 fixed to the rotating holder 16 rotates together with the rotating holder 16, the multiple thread male thread 18 that screws into the multiple thread female thread 17 moves upward as shown in FIG. 5(a), the shaft 14 fixed to the multiple thread male thread 18 rises, and the male printing material 12 rises to the upper limit of the sliding space 23. As a result, the imprint formed on the male printing material 12 appears on the printing surface 100. The upper end of the rotating holder 16 is formed with a locking claw 22 that engages with a circumferential groove formed on the lower end of the holder 15. This ensures smooth rotation and engagement between the rotating holder 16 and the holder 15.

[0033] In the case of seal 1, the female seal material 11 forms the impression, so the impression has an outline, which is essential for a stamp. In contrast, in the case of seal 2, the male seal material forms the impression, so the impression does not have an outline. For this reason, seal 2 is suitable for use as a stamp, for example, as a stamp with a character imprint.

[0034] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing a form of stamp-like use of a seal 2 according to another embodiment of the present invention. In Fig. 6, a character (a sumo wrestler) is used as the imprint of the seal material male 12. As described above, a seal using the seal material male 12 as an imprint does not show the outline of the imprint. This seal technology can be used not only for personal authentication, but also for stamp-like use, for example, using a character or the like as an imprint. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0035] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of a seal made from a metal material by wire-cut electric discharge machining according to one embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] This is a structural cross-sectional view and an exploded view of a seal 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention, with an impression appearing on the seal surface. [Diagram 3]FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which a female printing member 11 and a male printing member 12 are fitted together according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a seal 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a seal 2 according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an aspect of using a seal 2, which is another embodiment of the present invention, like a stamp. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 1. Seal 2. Seal 10 Seal body 11 Seal material female 12 Seal material male 13 Fixing pin 14 Shaft 15 Holder (outer cylinder) 16 Rotating Holder 17 Multiple thread female 18 Multiple thread male 19 Fixing bolt 20 Bottom lid 21 Stopper (jaw) 22 Locking claw 23 Slide Space 30 Cap (cover) 100 seal 110 Impression

Claims

1. A metal stamp material made by wire-cut electric discharge machining, A male printing member that is slidably fitted to the female printing member; A holder for holding the female seal material; a rotating holder rotatably fitted to a lower end edge of the holder; a slide mechanism for sliding the male printing material up and down relative to the female printing material by rotating the rotary holder; This seal is characterized in that, when the surfaces of the female and male printing materials are flush with each other in the initial fitting state, no impression is visible on the printing surface, but when the male printing material slides downward as the rotating holder rotates, the impression formed on the female printing material appears.

2. 2. The seal according to claim 1, characterized in that the distance between the female and male seal members in the initial flush mating state is 0.003 mm to 0.008 mm.

3. A metal stamp material made by wire-cut electric discharge machining, A male printing member that is slidably fitted to the female printing member; A holder for holding the female seal material; a rotating holder rotatably fitted to a lower end edge of the holder; a slide mechanism for sliding the male printing material up and down relative to the female printing material by rotating the rotary holder; This seal is characterized in that when the surfaces of the female and male printing materials are flush with each other in the initial fitting state, no print impression is visible on the printing surface, but as the rotating holder rotates, the male printing material slides upward and the print formed on the male printing material appears.

4. 4. The seal according to claim 3, wherein the distance between the female and male seal members in the initial mating state is 0.003 mm to 0.008 mm.

5. A method for making a metal seal, comprising the steps of: processing a metal material by wire-cut electric discharge machining to produce a female printing material and a male printing material that slidably fits with the female printing material; then creating a holder for holding the female printing material, a rotating holder that rotatably fits with the lower end edge of the holder, and a sliding mechanism that slides the male printing material up and down relative to the female printing material by rotating the rotating holder, A method for making a seal, characterized in that the metal material is processed so that the distance between the female and male seal materials is 0.003 to 0.008 mm, so that no impression appears on the seal surface in the initial state in which the female and male seal materials are fitted flush with each other.

6. 6. The method for making a seal according to claim 5, characterized in that, by rotation of the rotating holder, the male seal material slides downward, and the seal impression formed on the female seal material appears.

7. 6. The method for making a seal according to claim 5, characterized in that, by rotation of the rotating holder, the male seal material slides upward and the seal impression formed on the male seal material appears.

8. 6. The method for making a seal according to claim 5, wherein the seal surface in the initial state in which the female seal material and the male seal material are fitted flush with each other is a mirror surface.

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