FR2759632A1 - Method of engraving indicator panels - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves guiding the displacement of the panel in a working plane (P) under the engraving tool which is fixed in this plane. The method includes a main stage involving moving the panel in the work plane with the movement guided by guide rails (MG) to form an inscription to be engraved. The method uses a tool (2) and a reference table (11) on which is guided the panel support in the work plane. the table can have actuators to move the panel.

Description

PROCE1) E AND GRAVIS DEVICE
The present invention relates to an etching process intended in particular to allow etching of plates such as indicator panels as well as the etching device intended to implement the process
In the field of engraving, there are many machines making it possible to engrave an inscription or a pattern on a wooden plate or any other material which can be engraved such as, for example, so-called numerically controlled machines. These machines make it possible to control the movement of a tool called a router on the plate according to the inscription to be engraved, said movement in the space of the tool being controlled and managed entirely by computer. These machines make it possible to engrave series of plates with the same motif while reducing production costs. However, they have the disadvantage of not being suitable for the production of engraved plates in small quantities, see individually. In addition, for their use they require skilled labor and their purchase price is exorbitant for a small business or a small municipality wishing to falaricate, for example, engraved signs.

 Other machines exist which are more suited to the almost artisanal production of engraved plates. They are equipped with a mobile router that the user guides according to the inscription that he has reproclaimed beforehand on the plate thanks to means for controlling the mobile tool. This type of machine has many disadvantages, the result obtained is generally a function of the user's ability to move the tool and is, most often, irregular when an identical inscription is engraved successively on several plates.

 Thus, the present invention proposes to solve the aforementioned drawbacks of the various known machines by means of an engraving process using a device comprising safe, effective, simple and reliable means.

 Thus, the method of engraving a plate according to the invention is characterized in that it consists in guiding the movement of said plate in a work plane under an immobile engraving tool in said work plane.

 According to another characteristic, the etching process comprises a main step consisting in moving the plate in the work plan, said movement being guided using guide means so that it reproduces an inscription or a pattern intended to be serious.

 According to its main characteristic, the engraving device intended to implement the method of engraving a plate is of the type comprising a tool intended to engrave a pattern or an inscription on the plate and comprises guide means intended to guide in a reference plane parallel to the work plane the displacement of a plate support carrying said plate.

 According to one embodiment, the engraving device comprises a reference table on which is intended to be guided in the reference plane the plate support.

 In addition, it comprises means for moving the reference table and / or the tool controlled by control means, intended to allow the respective movement of the table and the tool to be relative to the another along the longitudinal working axis cluclit tool between a rest position and an active working position.

 According to another characteristic, the guide means comprise a guide member intended to cooperate with a template integral in displacement of the plate support.

 According to the preferred embodiment, the guide member is constituted by a guide pin located on the reference table.

 According to this embodiment, the template is constituted by template elements intended to be assembled and mounted under the underside of the plate support by assembly means.

 In addition, said template elements include one or more guide grooves located on their underside.

 According to an additional characteristic, the template and the plate support are made of a transparent material and are assembled and mounted in such a way that the template reproduces the inscription to be engraved for the user who is looking through the template through the face by transparency. upper of said support.

 Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge from the description which follows with reference to the appended drawings which are given only by way of nonlimiting examples.

 Figures 1 to 6 show the preferred embodiment of the etching device and its method of use.

 Figure 1 illustrates in perspective the device without the plate support.

 FIG. 2a illustrates the rest position of the device in view of the key.

 Figure 2b illustrates the active position of the device in a view similar to Figure 2a.

 Figure 3 illustrates in side view the autonomous sub-assembly composed of the plate, the plate support and the template.

 Figure 4 is a top view of the plate support and the template.

 Figure 5a illustrates a template element in perspective.

 FIG. 5b illustrates the template element in section in a transverse plane (Q).

 Figure 6 illustrates in cross section the main step of the etching process.

 The engraving method according to the invention consists in guiding the movement in a work plane (P) of a plate (4) on which one wishes to engrave an inscription or a pattern under an engraving tool (2) stationary in said plane of work (P). The displacement of the plate (4) is thus carried out so that the engraving bit (6) of said tool (2) has a relative displacement relative to said plate reproducing the desired inscription.

 According to a variant of the method, the movement of the plate (4) is guided by guide means (MG) comprising a template (7) intended to be traversed by a guide pin (8), said template being advantageously secured to 'a plate support (5) on which is mounted said plate (4).

 The device intended to implement the method according to the invention bearing the general reference (1) comprises guide means (MG) intended to guide in a reference plane (P1) parallel to the work plane (P) the support of plate (5) on which is mounted the plate (4) thus guiding the movement of the plate in said plane (P).

 According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the engraving device (1) illustrated in Figure 1 comprises a frame (10) on which is mounted a reference table (11) whose upper face (1a) is arranged in a horizontal plane (P2) parallel to the work plane (P).

A bracket (12) is fixed on the frame (10) advantageously on the wall or the rear frame thereof. IJn engraving tool (2) provided with an engraving wick (6) is mounted on said bracket (12) so that the wick (6) is arranged along a longitudinal vertical working axis (ZZ ') advantageously orthogonal in terms of work (P), said wick being advantageously located substantially perpendicular to the central area of the upper face (1a) of the table (11).

 It should be noted that the engraving tool (2) also called a router is advantageously arranged in an adjustable manner along said axis (ZZ ') by means of positioning (MP) of the type known per se as a screw or rack system, by example, said positioning means (MP) being intended to precisely position the end (6a) of the drill bit (6) relative to the upper lace to be engraved on the plate (4) in order to allow the setting step the reference described later.

 According to the invention, the device (1) comprises displacement means intended to allow the relative displacement between the upper face (1 la) of the reference table (11) and the end (6a) of the drill bit (6) , said displacement means being controlled by control means (MCO).

 According to the preferred embodiment, the displacement means are constituted by a system of jacks and sliding rods not shown allowing the displacement in translation of the reference table (11) along the longitudinal working axis (ZZ ') between a first position (A) called the rest position where the upper face (1a) is located in a horizontal plane (P2) as illustrated in FIG. 2a and a second position (B) called the active working position where the upper face (1 la) is in the plane (1> 1) as illustrated in Figure 2b. A pedal (13) constituting the control means (MCO) is located on the lower front part of the frame and allows the user to control said movement with the foot so as to keep the use of his hands, while a advantageously adjustable stop system, makes it possible to adjust the height of said movement between the rest position (A) and the active position (B), that is to say to adjust the position along the axis (ZZ ') of the face upper (11a) of the reference table (11) in the active position. It goes without saying that said displacement means could pel mcttl-e the displacement along the axis (ZZ ') of the engraving tool (2) instead of moving the reference table (11) or l) move it simultaneously the table and the tool without departing from the scope of protection of the invention.

I) e same, the control means (MCO) could be a lockable manual lever, for example, or any other equivalent system.

 According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the clispositií (1) comprises a plate support (5) autonomous provided with fixing means (MF) intended to hold the plate (4) on the upper face (5h) of said support as shown in figure 3.

 The device (1) comprises guide means (MG) for guiding the movement of the plate support (5) on the reference table (11). Said movement taking place in the horizontal reference plane (P1) when the table is in the active working position (B), the plate (4) thereby effecting a similar movement in the horizontal working plane (P). The guide means consist of a template (7) secured to the plate support (5) as shown in Figures 3 and 4 and a guide member (8) such as a pin or a stud located on the upper face ( 1a) of the table so as to project vertically upwards. The displacement of the plate is thus obtained by moving the plate support while making its template (7) and the guide pin (8) cooperate as shown in FIG. 6.

Note that said member (8) is advantageously located directly above the drill bit (6) on the axis (ZZ ') in the central area of the table (11).

 It goes without saying that said pin could be offset without departing from the protective field of the invention.

According to the preferred embodiment of the device, the template (7) is composed of separate template elements (15) representing, for example, a letter, an imprint or any pattern (15a), said pattern being obtained by grooves guide (9) located on the bottom wall (16a) of said elements (15) as illustrated in Figures 5a and 5b. Said elements are advantageously made of a transparent material such as
Plexiglas, for example. Note that the guide grooves (9) are arranged inversely on the underside (16a) in the manner of block letters, as shown in Figure 5a. I) e this fact, when the user looks at said elements by transparency through their upper face (16b), the letter or the pattern (1 Sa) is positioned at the place as illustrated in FIG. 4 and reproduced part of the inscription you want to engrave on the plate (4). The plate support (5) comprises assembly means (MA) arranged on its underside (5a), intended to allow the assembly of the template elements (15) to form the template (7). Note, moreover, that said support (5) is advantageously made of transparent material so that the user can assemble the elements (15) by reproducing the inscription (3) that he wants to engrave when he looks at it. transparency through the upper face (5b) of said support.

 According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the guide grooves (9) of the template elements (15) have a depth- adjusted so that when the underside (7a) of the template (7) and more precisely assembly slides (17) described later sc moves in the plane (P1) on the upper face (1 la) of the reference table (11), the guide pin (8) can move inside said gorges. In addition, the diameter of the engraving bit (6) is advantageously greater than the diameter (dl) representing the difference between the width (L1) of the grooves (9) and the diameter (1) 1) of the guide pin. According to the embodiment, the diameter of the drill bit is advantageously chosen to be 6 mm, while that of the pin is 8 mm and the width of the grooves is chosen to 10 mm.

 It goes without saying that the diameters of the pin and the drill bit and the width of the grooves could be chosen differently and that the drill bit could, for example, have a smaller diameter than the difference mentioned above, the displacement of the pin against the lateral edges. throat which can then leave a non-engraved relief inside the letter engraved on the plate (4).

 According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the assembly means (MA) consist of assembly slides (17) arranged in parallel on the underside (5a) of the support, said slides being obtained by angles and advantageously able to be tightened towards said lower face by a system of screws (18a) and wing nut (18b), for example, so as to fix and maintain the elements (15) forming the template (7) as shown Figure 3.

 According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the fixing means (MF) cie the plate on its support are arranged on the upper face (Sa) of the support and are constituted by adjustable stop screws (19) integral with slides (20), said slides (20) being able to slide transversely so as to hold the plate by its lateral edges (4a, 4b) and to be locked when they are positioned as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Said locking is effected by to locking levers (21) whose actuating handle is advantageously clebrayal) so that in this clu'en locked position, said handles can be positioned flat on the upper face (5lez support (5) of so as to avoid the discomfort which a handle projecting above the work surface (I>) of the plate (4) could cause.

 According to a variant not shown chi device (1) the guide means (MG) consist of a guide pin integral with the underside of the plate support while the template is arranged and assembled in the reference table (11) of so that its upper face is in the same plane as the upper face of said table.

According to this variant, the elements making up the template include the guide grooves on their upper face, arranged so as to reproduce a portion of the inscription to be engraved on the right. Thus, the displacement of the plate is obtained by running the template of the table through the guide pin of the plate support. It goes without saying that the position of the template and that of the guide pin can be different without going outside the protective field of the invention.

 Note, moreover, that the ciispositif (1) advantageously comprises storage means located in the frame such as drawers, for example, allowing cie tidy the template elements.

The space inside the frame can also allow the vacuum cleaner intended to vacuum sawdust to be placed there, the suction nozzle (50) of this vacuum cleaner being arranged in the vicinity of the lock (6) of the tool (2) in a manner known per se.

The method of using the device (1) described above comprises a preliminary step which consists first of all in assembling the template key elements (15) under the lower face (Sa) of the supp <) rt (5) by means of assembly (MA), so as to see by transparency through the upper face (5b) of the support the engraving inscription. Once the elements are assembled so as to form the template (7), the plate (4) is fixed on the upper face (5le of the support (5) by means of the fixing means (MF) so as to constitute a self-contained sub-assembly composed the plate (4), the plate support (5) and the template (7). The second so-called referencing step is carried out by placing the support (5) on the upper face (1a) of the table. reference (11) and then bringing said upper face into the active working position (B) by means of displacement, without the tool (2) being in an operating mode. making the end of the drill bit (6a) coincide with the upper face (23) of the plate (4) by means of positioning means (MP).
The user brings the reference table (11) back to the rest position (A) and, using positioning means (MP), lowers the tool (2) and therefore the end (6a) of the drill bit (6) of a height "h", said height "h" chosen representing the desired etching depth as shown in FIG. 6, said height being able to be chosen according to the thickness of the plate (4) and the use to which it is intended.

 The method then comprises the main step illustrated in the figure (which consists of putting the engraving tool (2) into operating mode and then bringing the table (11) to the active working position (B) by means of displacement and control means (MCO) The user then has to run through the guide grooves (9) of the successive elements (15) forming the template (7) by the guide pin (8) of the table. moving the plate support (5) with his hands.

Thus, the movement obtained from the plate (4) thanks to the cooperation between the template (7) and the guide member (8) which constitute the guide means (MG) corresponds to the inscription to be engraved, the tool (2) being arranged through the step of referencing cie way pei-metti-e to engrave at the desired depth "h".

 It goes without saying that the preliminary and referencing steps can be adapted to the different possible variants of the device used.

 Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown by way of examples, but it also includes all the technical equivalents as well as their combinations.

Claims (10)

 1. A method of engraving a plate (4), characterized in that it consists in guiding the movement of said plate in a work plane (P) under a stationary engraving tool in said work plane (P).  2. Etching method according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a main step consisting in moving the plate (4) in the work plane (P), said movement being guided using guide means (MG ) so that it reproduces an inscription or a motif intended to be serious.  3. Engraving device (1) intended to implement the method of engraving a plate according to any one of the preceding claims, said device being of the type comprising a tool (2) intended to engrave a pattern or an inscription on a plate (4), characterized in that it comprises guide means (MG) intended to guide in a reference plane (P1) parallel to the work plane (P), the movement of a plate support (5 ) bearing said plate.  4. An engraving device (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that it comprises a reference table (11) on which is intended to be guided in the reference plane (P1) the plate support (5).  5. Engraving device (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that it comprises means for moving the reference table (11) and / or the tool (2), intended to allow the respective movement of the table and the tool relative to each other along the longitudinal working axis (XZ ') of the tool (2) between a rest position (A) and an active working position (B ), said key means dpl.lcelnent being controlled by control means (MCO).  6. Etching device (1) according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in cc that the guide means (MG) include a guide member (8) intended to cooperate with a jig (7) integral in movement of the plate support (5).  7. Etching device (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that the guide member is constituted by a guide pin (8) located on the reference table (11).  8. Etching device (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that the template (7) consists of template elements (15) intended to be assembled and mounted under the underside (5a) of the plate support ( 5) by assembly means (MA).  9. Etching device (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that the elements (15) comprise one or more guide grooves located on their underside (16a).  10. Engraving device (1) according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the template (7) and the plate support (5) are made of a transparent material and are assembled and mounted so as to cc that the template (7) reproduces the inscription to be engraved for the user who is looking through the template through the upper face (5b) of said support.