EP0969974A1

EP0969974A1 - Flat instrument in particular for tracing or cutting out geometrical shapes

Info

Publication number: EP0969974A1
Application number: EP98917197A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Sophie Bouriez De Haute-Clocque
Original assignee: BOURIEZ DE HAUTE CLOCQUE SOPHI
Current assignee: BOURIEZ DE HAUTE CLOCQUE SOPHI
Priority date: 1997-03-20
Filing date: 1998-03-20
Publication date: 2000-01-12
Also published as: AU7049798A; CN1253529A; FR2761005B1; FR2761005A1; CN1105034C; WO1998042521A1; CA2283711A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a flat instrument (10) for drawing or cutting out geometrical shapes consisting of a thin transparent plate provided with markings and comprising at least first and second adjacent edges (11, 12) mutually perpendicular. The invention is characterised in that said instrument comprises, on its inner face, markings consisting of: first fine lines (L1x) parallel to said first edge (11), regularly spaced from one another with a pitch equal to a length measurement unit fraction and approximately ranging between 0.5 and 2.5 mm, the line adjacent to the first edge being spaced therefrom by the same pitch; and second fine lines (L2x) parallel to said second edge (12), regularly spaced from one another with the same pitch, the line adjacent to said second edge being spaced therefrom by the same pitch. The first and second lines extend in a substantially continuous way between the second or first edge of the instrument and an opposite edge (13).

Description

FLAT INSTRUMENT, PARTICULARLY FOR TRACING OR CUTTING GEOMETRIC SHAPES

The present invention relates generally to geometric drawing or cutting instruments, and more particularly relates to a new square provided with a marking facilitating certain operations of

5 drawing.

Numerous squares, rulers, or other transparent thin plates are already known in the art, provided with markings intended to facilitate the execution of certain traces or cutouts. 0 We will notably cite the documents US-A-846 006, US-A-647 339, US-1 423 019, US-A-4 641 436, US-A-4 734 993, FR-A-364 508, FR -A-429 953, FR-A-2 203 715, FR-A-2 660 230, BE-A-348 189, CH-A-252 151, DE-A-24 31 466 and DE-U- 89 14 930. 5 However, none of these known instruments makes it possible to produce lines parallel or perpendicular to pre-existing lines with total flexibility, nor to produce these lines parallel or perpendicular, being able each time to give a

20 position and extremely precise length at these lines.

The present invention therefore aims to overcome the limitations of the state of the art and to propose a new drawing or cutting instrument,

25 which makes it possible to draw parallels, perpendiculars or even oblique lines, in particular at 30, 45 ° or 60 °, very varied and with excellent precision, as well as to give these lines positions and lengths with precision excellent. Thus the present invention provides a flat instrument for drawing or cutting geometric shapes, of the type comprising a transparent thin plate provided with a marking and comprising at least first and second adjacent edges perpendicular to each other, characterized in that it comprises, on its underside, a marking composed of: a first series of fine lines parallel to said first edge, regularly spaced apart by a pitch equal to a fraction of unit of measurement of length and between approximately 0.5 and 2.5 mm, the line adjacent to the first edge being spaced from the latter by this same step, the lines of said first series extending substantially continuously from the second edge to the near near opposite edge of said plate, of a second series of essentially continuous fine lines parallel to said second edge, regularly spaced apart by a pitch equal to a fraction of unit d e measurement of length and between approximately 0.5 and 2.5 mm, the line adjacent to the second edge being spaced from the latter by this same step, the lines of said second series extending substantially continuously from the first edge to the close vicinity of an opposite edge of said plate.

Preferred, but not limiting, aspects of the instrument according to the invention are the following:

- the shape of the instrument is chosen from the group comprising right triangles and rectangles.

- the fine lines of the first and second series are spaced 1 mm apart. the instrument further comprises, along the first and second adjacent edges, respectively two series of marks placed on lines regularly spaced by an integer multiple of said pitch and indicative of the distance between the line considered and the edge of the instrument to which this line is parallel.

- The corner defined by the first and second adjacent edges constitutes a "zero" position. the lines of the first and second series have, depending on their position, different widths.

- the width of the lines is between approximately 0.08 mm and approximately 0.22 mm.

- certain lines of the first and second series are, at their intersection, broken.

- Said fine lines extend to another edge of the instrument.

the instrument is in the shape of a right triangle, and comprises, in a narrow band extending along the hypotenuse of the triangle, a third and a fourth series of fine lines similar to said first and second series of lines and s' extending respectively parallel to said hypotenuse and perpendicular to said hypotenuse. the instrument comprises in said narrow band a third series of marks placed on lines of the fourth series of lines which are regularly spaced by an integer multiple of the pitch of said lines and indicative of the distance between the line considered and a line of zero position.

- the triangle is an isosceles right triangle. - said zero position is located in the middle of said hypotenuse.

Other aspects, aims and advantages of the present invention will appear better on reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof, given by way of example and made with reference to the appended drawing, in which: the Figure 1 is a plan view of a bracket according to the present invention, Figure 2 is a partial view on an enlarged scale of the region of a right angle of the bracket of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a partial view in cross section on the same scale as FIG. 2, FIG. 4 illustrates a first example of use of an instrument according to the invention, FIG. 5 illustrates a second example of use of an instrument according to the invention, Figures 6a and 6b illustrate a third example of use of an instrument according to the invention, and Figure 7 is a plan view of a bracket according to an alternative embodiment of the invention.

Referring firstly to Figures 1 to 3, there is shown a flat instrument for tracing or cutting using a cutter, consisting in the present example of a flat plate of transparent plastic material of thickness of two to three millimeters.

In this case, the instrument has the shape of a square whose outline is a right isosceles triangle, with two right-angled edges 11 and 12 of equal length and a hypotenuse 13. The edges 11 to 13 are preferably strictly perpendicular to the plane of the plate.

This square bears on one of its faces, which will preferably be its underside in order to avoid parallax errors, in contact with the paper during use, a half-tone marking, generally designated by the reference T, such which we will describe below.

This screening T comprises a first series of straight lines Llx which are all parallel to the edge 11 of the square and equidistant from each other. The pitch between the lines is preferably 1 mm precisely. In addition, the distance between the line adjacent to the edge 11 of the square and said edge 11 is also in this case precisely 1 mm. The dithering comprises another series of lines L2x, which are in turn parallel to the edge 12 of the square and have the same pitch in this case of 1 mm, and the distance between the line adjacent to the edge 12 and said edge is also 1 mm. Furthermore, the width of the lines is preferably chosen to be between 0.05 and 0.2 mm, and series of lines of different thicknesses can be used as will be seen in detail below.

The square also preferably comprises two series of marks R extending for one, along the edge 11 and for the other, along the edge 12.

These marks are in this example indications, given in centimeters, of the distance between the line on which the mark is located and the edge 11 or 12, as the case may be. Thus, the corner 14 of the square defined by its edges 11 and 12 constitutes a "zero" position from which measurements can be made precisely in two dimensions corresponding to the directions of each of the edges 11, 12.

A square as defined above allows, like a conventional square, to trace segments forming at a common end a right angle.

But above all it allows, thanks to the dithering described, to draw with excellent precision parallels to a given straight line, this precision concerning both the orientation of the parallel in question and its distance from the given straight line. More precisely, by transparently observing the given straight line and aligning it on one of the lines of the frame, or even between two lines for distances which are not equal to an integer of millimeters, the edge parallel to the lines used for this alignment allows to draw the parallel. In addition, the series of lines orthogonal to the lines used for establishing parallelism makes it easy to draw the parallel in question with a given length and between two given limits.

The square also makes it possible to easily draw perpendiculars to a given straight line, and to give these perpendiculars a precise length between given limits. It also makes it possible to draw, insofar as the two series of lines are spaced at the same pitch, lines forming an angle of 45 ° relative to an edge of the sheet of paper or to a pre-existing line.

Advantageously, and as best seen in FIG. 1, the two sets of lines of the screening T comprise lines of different widths.

Thus we find, for the lines parallel to the edge 11 of the square: - L14 lines placed every 50 mm from edge 11 and having a given first width;

- lines L13 placed every 10 mm between lines L14 and having a second given width, less than the first width,

- L12 lines placed every 5 mm between the L13 lines and having a given third width, less than the second width, and finally

- LU lines placed every mm between lines L12 and having a given fourth width, less than the third width.

Advantageously, but not limited to, these widths are:

- from 0.15 to 0.22 mm for L14 lines; - from 0.12 to 0.18 mm for L13 lines;

- from 0.09 to 0.14 mm for L12 lines; and

- from 0.06 to 0.10 mm for LU lines.

The lines parallel to the edge 12 of the square 10 are preferably designed in the same way, with widths which gradually decrease from the lines L24 spaced by 5 mm to the lines L21 spaced by a millimeter.

These variations in width according to the position of the lines make it possible to greatly facilitate the measurement of lines to be drawn, in particular over large distances, since they make it possible to visually identify intervals of 50 mm, 10 mm, 5 mm and, for the thinner, 1 mm.

Furthermore, it is advantageous to provide certain well-defined interruptions of certain lines, in particular in order to facilitate the positioning of crossings at right angles between pre-existing lines. On paper. In the present example, these interruptions are indicated in FIG. 2 by staggered blank areas Z1 and Z2, the blank areas Zl being provided at the intersection of lines L12 and lines L23, while the blank areas Z2 are provided at the intersection of lines L22 and lines L13. The lengths of the line interruptions are preferably close to 1 mm.

The screening and marking described above can be carried out on the underside of the bracket by any known technique used in the manufacture of drawing instruments. The dithering and the marks appear for example black, although colors such as sepia or blue can be used advantageously, in particular during the execution of drawings in black ink, to better differentiate the tracing carried out on the one hand , and dithering on the other hand.

Now with reference to FIGS. 4, 5, 6a and 6b, three examples of the use of the bracket according to the invention have been illustrated.

The first example, illustrated in FIG. 4, is that of locating a point PI on a drawing sheet F, having well defined dimensions with respect to two edges B1 and B2 of the sheet. This identification is carried out in a single operation, the correct orientation of the square 10 with respect to the aforementioned edges being effected using screening.

The second example of use, illustrated in FIG. 5, consists in drawing on the sheet F a vertical line T1 of well-defined position and length, at a distance also well-determined from an edge B3 of the sheet. Such an operation is also carried out at using the square in a single operation, positioning the square as illustrated.

Finally, the third example of use, illustrated in FIGS. 6a and 6b, is that which consists in drawing a rectangle (in this case a square) in the center of the sheet F. A first operation (FIG. 6a) makes it possible to draw two lines T1 and T2 of desired lengths and positions, perpendicular to each other, by positioning the square using its screening. Then position the square as illustrated in Figure 6b to draw the lines T3 and T4 which end the drawing.

It will be understood in the light of the above examples that the present invention makes it possible to considerably simplify the production of numerous geometric outlines or cutouts, and in particular the trapezoids, the parallelograms (including diamonds and rectangles), the triangles, etc.

Now with reference to FIG. 7, there is shown an alternative embodiment of the square of FIG. 1, in which an area 15 of the plate 10, in the form of a narrow strip of constant width extending along the hypotenuse 13, has a dithering analogous, and preferably identical, to that described above and which now relates to the rest of the surface of the plate, this dithering being oriented so as to comprise a third series of lines L3 parallel to the edge 13 and a fourth series of lines L4 perpendicular to the edge 13.

Advantageously, the distribution of said lines in terms of pitch and thickness is here the same as for the screening formed by lines Llx and L2x and, and will not be described again. In this strip 15 are provided a series of marks R ′ placed on lines of 10 mm apart, to give a graduation in centimeters.

As illustrated, in the case where the plate of the instrument has the shape of an isosceles right triangle, this series of marks has a mark "0" in the middle of the edge 13 of the square.

This variant embodiment is interesting in that the hypotenuse then makes it possible to form a rule with a length equal to ^ 2 times the length of each of the other two sides, in order to draw with the same precision longer lines.

Of course, the present invention is in no way limited to the embodiments described and shown in the drawings, but a person skilled in the art will know how to make any variant or modification in accordance with his spirit.

In particular, the instrument can alternatively take the form of a rectangle having for example dimensions of the order of 5 to 10 cm by 20 to 40 cm on a side, or the shape and dimensions of a conventional ruler designer.

Furthermore, and in a manner known per se, provision can be made for the instrument, at least at its edges, to be slightly raised relative to the paper, in particular in order to facilitate work with Indian ink. These arrangements consist, for example, of spikes provided in a regularly spaced manner on the underside of the instrument, or also of recesses or overhangs in the vicinity of its edges. In addition, it is obvious that the pitch between the lines of the two series of lines can vary, preferably within the limits mentioned above, in particular to adapt to non-metric measurement systems.

Finally, it is naturally possible to adapt the invention to a square of angles at the top of 90 °, 30 ° and 60 ° to make using oblique lines at 30 ° and 60 ° using the hypotenuse.

Claims

1. Flat instrument (10) for drawing or cutting geometric shapes, of the type comprising a transparent thin plate provided with a marking and comprising at least first and second adjacent edges (11, 12) perpendicular to one the other, characterized in that it comprises, on its underside, a marking composed of: a first series of fine lines (L11-L14) parallel to said first edge (11), regularly spaced apart by one step equal to a fraction of a unit of length measurement and between approximately 0.5 and 2.5 mm, the line adjacent to the first edge being spaced from the latter by this same step, the lines of said first series extending from essentially continuously from the second edge to the close vicinity opposite opposite edge of said plate, of a second series of essentially continuous fine lines (L21-L24) parallel to said second edge (12), regularly spaced apart by one step equal to a fraction of unit of measurement of length and between approximately 0.5 and 2.5 mm, the line adjacent to the second edge being spaced from the latter by this same step, the lines of said second series extending substantially continuously from the first edge to the close vicinity of an opposite edge of said plate.

2. Instrument according to claim 1, characterized in that its shape is chosen from the group comprising right triangles and rectangles.

3. Instrument according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the fine lines (L11-L14, L21-L24) of the first and second series are spaced apart by a pitch of 1 mm.

4. Instrument according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it further comprises, along the first and second adjacent edges (11, 12), respectively two series of marks (R) placed on lines ( L13, L23) regularly spaced by an integer multiple of said pitch and indicative of the distance between the line considered and the edge (11, 12) of the instrument to which this line is parallel.

5. Instrument according to claim 4, characterized in that the corner defined by the first and second adjacent edges constitutes a "zero" position.

6. Instrument according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the lines (L11-L14, L21-L24) of the first and second series have, depending on their position, different widths.

7. Instrument according to claim 6, characterized in that the width of the lines (L11-L14,

L21-L24) is between about 0.08 mm and about 0.22 mm.

8. Instrument according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that certain lines (L12, L13, L22,

L23) of the first and second series are, at their intersection, interrupted (Zl, Z2).

9. Instrument according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that said fine lines (L11-L14, L21-L24) extend to another edge (13) of the instrument.

10. Instrument according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it is in the shape of a right triangle and comprises, in a narrow band (15) extending along the hypotenuse (13) of the triangle, a third and a fourth series of fine lines (L3, L4) similar to said first and second series of lines and extending respectively parallel to said hypotenuse and perpendicular to said hypotenuse.

11. Instrument according to claim 10, characterized in that it comprises in said narrow band a third series of marks (R ') placed on lines of the fourth series of lines (L4) which are regularly spaced by an integer multiple the pitch of said lines and indicators of the distance between the line considered and a line of zero position.

12. Instrument according to one of claims 10 and 11, characterized in that the triangle is an isosceles right triangle.

13. Instrument according to claims 11 and 12 taken in combination, characterized in that said zero position is located in the middle of said hypotenuse (13).