GB2196305A - Lettering stencils - Google Patents

Abstract

A lettering stencil comprises a transparent or translucent lamina provided with at least one primary aperture whose edges can be used to assist in tracing alphanumeric character forms, the aperture being defined by two pairs of generally rectilinear parallel sides, and having the centres of at least one of said pairs indicated. A plurality of such primary apertures may be spaced (e.g. at character pitch) along a line. Secondary apertures (bearing edges required for character strokes which do not correspond to primary aperture edges, and for punctuation) may also be included, as can marks for assisting in alignment of the stencil. A font compatible with the restraints imposed by the simplicity of the primary apertures is shown. As shown in Fig. 8, a line of primary rectangular apertures is provided at the left, and a plurality of secondary apertures at the right, the intermediate portion containing a pitch scale and horizontal edge for aligning horizontal character strokes at mid-character height. A stencil for italic characters is provided with parallelogramatic apertures. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Stencil This invention concerns a stencil.

Conventional stencils are known which comprise a translucent or transparent sheet of plastics material having a series of irregular shaped apertures. Such apertures are generally outlines suitable for assisting drawing of only one particular letter or numeral. Other stencils are known comprising an arrangement of noncontinuous thin slits. This type may also be useful in drawing one specific alphanumeric character within one individual slit pattern.

In order to produce letters appropriate for any given word it may be necessary with conventional stencils to use means of row and/or column alignment. For example a separate straight edge used in abutment with a stencil edge to enable linear displacement of the stencil into required position, or a guideline drawn on the paper beforehand. The spaces between letters of a word and also between words may require subjective judgement by eye or determination by measurement. This may require marks made on the paper which increases the work input necessary and causes undesirable supplementary marking of paper.

Because of the layout of conventional stencils and the limitation to one character per stencil outline spacing of words in any given layout or boundary may require substantial effort. Similarly proper column alignment of characters may need careful planning with special guidelines to be drawn on the paper.

Also it can be time consuming to select characters from an array before setting in position.

In addition to these drawbacks it may be necessary to utilise special pens having the correct size of point or nib for the stencil slit.

If it is too wide it will not enter the slit, if it is too narrow it may slip or slide to the sides within a slit and so ruin the written character.

So not only may the choice of pen be limited but also the line thickness for a given conventional stencil.

According to one aspect of this invention there is provided a stencil of translucent or transparent material qomprising at least one primary aperture defined by two parallel pairs of primary walls, the whole or major part of each primary wall being straight, the midpoints of at least two opposite primary walls being indicated.

In a second aspect the invention further provides a stencil of translucent or transparent material comprising at least one collinear row of spaced primary apertures, each primary aperture- defined by two parallel pairs of primary walls, the whole or major part of each wall being straight, the midpoints of at least two opposite primary walls being indicated.

One or more secondary apertures can be provided to assist non-free-hand production of strokes or characters different from those obtainable by means of the primary apertures.

Primary and secondary apertures may coexist in the same horizontal row. Adjacent primary and/or secondary apertures in one row may be equidistantly spaced and/or of the same shape and dimensions. Suitable shapes for the or each primary aperture include rectangular such as square or parallelogram. In one version of stencil a row of primary rectangular apertures are provided with a row of parallelogram shaped primary apertures, or a row of smaller rectangular apertures.

It is preferred that the midpoints of all primary walls present are indicated by some visible means. It is also preferred for the stencil to include means to assist parallel alignment and spacing lines (rows of output characters), such as a horizontal guideline parallel with a row or primary apertures and similar means for assisting vertical column alignment such as an appropriately positioned guideline.

Alternatively, provision for assisting vertical column alignment may comprise (i) a second row of correspondingly spaced and vertically aligned apertures so that primary walls of the upper row can be aligned with a line of characters before drawing the first character of a new line, or (ii) specimen alphanumeric characters having an unobstructed background e.g.

etched into the material and each in vertical alignment with one primary aperture. The user may then superimpose specimen characters over a line of characters prior to use.

The stencil may include a display of specimen alphanumeric characters and/or strokes obtainable in use especially for the secondary aperture when present. Embodiments according to the invention may include as one form or secondary aperture, one or more triangular shaped apertures. In general, any secondary apertures present are non-rectangular, or otherwise occupy an area smaller than the or each primary aperture. The midpoints of any secondary aperture walls may be indicated.

Embodiments of stencils according to the invention may be constructed with two or more rows or primary apertures with our without secondary apertures, one row having primary apertures of a different shape and/or size.

In order that both aspects of the invention may be illustrated and readily carried into effect, embodiments thereof will now be described by way of example only in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a stencil, Figure 2 is an enlarged view of one primary aperture, Figure 3 shows a row of alternative primary apertures, Figure 4 illustrates the stencil and guidelines in use, Figure 5 illustrates a primary and one secon dary aperture, Figure 6 illustrates drawn characters, Figures 7 to 9 show alternative precision stencils not requiring free-hand strokes.

Figure 10 illustrates a dot method for locating specified strokes, Figure 11 illustrates a bisection method alternative to Fig. 10, Figures 12 to 19 show the various stencils or parts thereof in use to produce specified characters, Figure 20 shows a method for drawing lower case "t", and Figure 21 shows secondary apertures specifically constructed for the more familiar forms of "M" and "W".

Referring firstly to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the stencil 1 comprises a sheet of transparent or translucent plastics material having a row of collinearly spaced primary apertures 2. The single row will be seen to comprise equidistantly spaced apertures of more or less identical shape and dimension, each aperture being defined by a parallel pair of primary horizontal walls 5,6. The midpoint of each vertical wall is indicated by reference mark 7, as is the midpoint of each horizontal wall by reference mark 8. In parallel with the row of collinear apertures is a horizontal guideline 9. This is for use in spacing between rows of output characters. Vertical lines 9a are for column alignment.

The stencil 1 is further and quite optionally provided with a specimen array of characters being letters 10 and numerals 11, any one of which character may be drawn within any of the apertures of this embodiment although some free-hand strokes may be required. Any specimen characters may be etched or overprinted and may be in vertical alignment and parallel with the row.

An alternative form of primary parallelogram shaped aperture suitable for a stencil is shown in Fig. 3. These apertures are constituted by parallel walls 3,4 and 5,6. Reference marks 7 and 8 indicate the midpoints of each wall.

Referring to Fig. 4 which illustrates the stencil in use upon a sheet of paper 12, a first row of characters has already been drawn, the letters 10a being seen through the stencil 1.

The guidelines 9 and 9a have been appropriately positioned with respect to the first row of output characters the primary apertures 2 automatically in position to produce the next line of required characters. Since in this embodiment the apertures are substantially identical and equidistantly spaced it can be appreciated that spacing between rows and spacing between individual characters requires very little effort in use. Any required letter or numeral in the same or different thickness or colour can be drawn in any aperture, with minor free-hand strokes if necessary.

One of the primary apertures can be associated with a secondary, triangular aperture as seen in Fig. 5. The triangular aperture 14 is positioned above the uppermost midpoint indicator 8, two sides of this triangular aperture having their midpoint indicated at reference mark 14. This particular form of secondary aperture may be useful for foreign languages as it may produce an acute accent 15, a grave accent 15a, a circumflex 15b or an umlaut 15c.

Fig. 6 illustrates only one style of letters that may be produced using apertures as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The first three characters 1 0a have been produced with a point of relatively thick dimensions, whereas the remaining letters 1 0b have been produced with a much finer point. If required, the letters 10a could be in a different colour from those of 1 0b or different styles of lettering or numerical characters could be produced using, for example, primary apertures as shown in Fig.

3.

Ten of the characters may be drawn perfectl;y using the sides of the main apertures.

These are letters C I J L N O U and numbers 1 7 0. Another fifteen require additionally small lines to be drawn on the horizontal centre line of the main apertures. This may be accomplished by first drawing as much as possible of a whole row using the sides of the primary apertures, and then placing a dot against the mark 7 of Fig. 1 to show where the small centre line or lines should be located. This dot should be totally obscured (by the small line) when the character is complete, and there is therefore no need to mark the dot with a pencil if ink is being used. A straight edge (such as the edge of the stencil sheet) is then placed in the position of the centre line and the small lines completed for the whole row or the stencil moved parallel to itself until the walls 6 are in line with the dot.

The stencils shown in plan in Figs. 7, 8 or 9 represent precision instruments suitable for the professional draughtsman. No parts of any character are required to be drawn free-hand.

Such stencils are mainly but not exclusively for use on a drawing board having a movable guide rule which remains parallel to a horizontal reference.

The arrangement of Fig. 7 is based on the Fig. 1 embodiment with the addition of specific secondary apertures 16-26 to help with the formation of some characters ideally indicated on the stencil at 29 in the proximity of the pertinent aperture. In order to use the stencil I suggest the following method.

With the stencil in position draw at least part of every character in the row using the walls of the primary apertures without moving the stencil itself. Draw the character completely if possible, e.g. CiJL.,.. Complete a character where possible using the appropriate secondary aperture (the latter being slid into place without moving the guide rule). For letters B K R D Q V X Z use the secondary aperture identified therefor. A very small sideways shift of the stencil from its original position may be made to place the side walls 3,4 of the primary apertures into position for completing the letters M W T. Likewise a small shift of the guide rule may be made to draw the middle lines of such characters as A E F.... Accent apertures 24, 25 are optionally included.If parallelogram shaped primary apertures are used, the secondary apertures should have similar sidewall inclinations.

Referring to Fig. 8, the main variation of this design is the provision of an aperture of enlarged width 28 for completing such letters as A E F... without moving the guide rule on the drawing board. This aperture has graduations 29 and 30 corresponding respectively to full and half primary aperture width. Then the whole row of characters may be completed entirely without moving the guide rule. The new aperture is shown as a long slit in Fig. 4.

It may be shorter in length but must be at least the width of a main aperture. With the wide aperture as shown a number of characters may be completed with one setting.

This stencil becomes automatic if the M W apertures described subsequently are added.

All constructions for a row may then be made without moving the guide rule, and without using either the dot or bisection methods also described subsequently.

Referring to Fig. 9, if the Fig. 7 or 8 arrangements are reduced to contain only one primary aperture, and one secondary or one other primary is included, then if the width of that secondary aperture equals the width of the primary aperture, an interesting stencil re sults.

1) Any character may be completed entirely without moving the guide rule.

2) No free-hand drawn lines are required.

3) Every character may b-e completed before passing on to the next in the row.

4) The stencil is very compact and may therefore be inexpensive to manufacture.

5) Spacing between characters may be made by overlapping aperture areas with the last drawn characters Over a long row however spacing may not be so exact as for the other stencils (for which it is very accurate indeed) because there may be accumulated creep.

It is useful to note that 25 characters may be drawn completely and exactly, with no free-hand touching up, with no more that two primary apertures, the primary aperture 2 and the different primary aperture 31 on its immediate right in Fig. 9. These characters are: ACEFGHIJLNOPSUY 1234567890 Referring to Fig. 10, for M W T, a dot is placed by the midpoint mark 8 on the upper wall of a primary aperture to locate the position of the stencil ready for completing the letter M or W. When complete the dot is fully obscured.

Referring to Fig. 11, the stencil is in the correct position when the midpoint mark 8 bisects the width of the drawn line. There is then no need to use a dot as above. Similar positioning to Figs. 10 and 11 but using the midpoint mark 7 may be used for the small middle line of characters such as A E F G H P S Y 2 3 4 5 6 8 9. When the stencil is properly located for one such stroke or character it will automatically be in position for any other character in the row requiring equivalent completion strokes.

Figs. 12 to 19 show characters obtainable by use of a primary aperture 2 and/or the appropriately shaped secondary aperture 16 to 26 or aperture 28 of enlarged width.

Referring to Fig. 20 the apertures 2,28 and method are shown for drawing a letter "t" in lower case as opposed to a capital "T". Use is made of the enlarged width aperture 28 and graduations 29,30 which can be present as shown, the Fig. 8 stencil showing only the lower graduations 29,30.

Lastly, Fig. 21 shows alternative secondary apertures (for any stencil but especially for Fig. 7,8 or 9 stencils) for M and W. The upper aperture 31 is used for non-freehand completion of M, the lower aperture 32 for similar completion of W.

For the forms of M, W and t described with reference to Figs. 20 and 21, and the stencils shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the dot and bisection methods of Figs. 10 and 11 are not appropriate or not required.

There are many and varied uses to which stencils according to the invention may be put. Generally, stencils may be useful in compiling notices, signs, filling of forms, entry of data, warehouse and laboratory marking of goods. Stencils according to the invention may be useful in addressing parcels and envelopes and for use in marking personal and other property.

Stencils may be useful for draughtsmen, designers, planners, technical authors, e.g. for illustrating scientific papers for publication.

For some applications acceptable output may be achieved by using only the primary aperture(s).

The present stencil enables rapid production of letters and/or numerals of the English and certain foreign languages. Embodiments of stencil may be constructed having facilities for assisted drawing of accents and other strokes. The stencil can automatically align letters and words, automatically space between characters and words and provides for effective spacing between rows of characters without the need to draw special guidelines on the paper. The present stencil may not require a pen of special size and ordinary ball point or write-dry type pens such as fibre-tip pens may be utilised. The stencil may be used al most indefinitely subject to undesirable wear or breakage.

Claims (14)

1. A stencil of translucent or transparent material comprising at least one primary aperture defined by two parallel pairs of primary walls, the whole or major part of each primary wall being straight, the midpoints of at least two opposite primary walls being indicated.

2. A stencil of translucent or transparent material comprising at least one collinear row of spaced primary apertures, each primary aperture defined by two parallel pairs of primary walls, the whole or major part of each wall being straight, the midpoints of at least two opposite primary walls being indicated.

3. A stencil as claimed in Claim 2 in which the primary apertures are equidistantly spaced and/or of the same shape and dimension.

4. A stencil as claimed in any preceding claim in which the or each primary aperture is square, other rectangular form or parallelogram shaped.

5. A stencil as claimed in any preceding claim in which the midpoints of all primary walls are indicated.

6. A stencil as claimed in any preceding claim including visible means to assist parallel and/or vertical alignment and/or to assist spacing apart of rows of output characters.

7. A stencil as claimed in any preceding claim including a display of specimen alphanumeric characters obtainable in use.

8. A stencil as claimed in any preceding claim comprising two or more parallel rows of primary apertures, one of the rows having apertures of different size and/or shape from another row.

9. A stencil as claimed in any preceding claim including one or more secondary apertures to assist non-free-hand production of characters or strokes different from those obtainable by means of the primary apertures.

10. A stencil as claimed in Claim 9 in which the secondary aperture (or apertures) is (are) collinear with the primary aperture or a row thereof.

11. A stencil as claimed in Claim 10 including a plurality of secondary apertures equidistantly spaced apart within a horizontal row.

12. A stencil as claimed in any one of Claims 9 to 11 wherein the or each secondary aperture is associated with data indicating particular characters or strokes obtainable therewith.

13. A stencil as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 substantially as herein described and illustrated in any one of Figs. 1 to 5.

14. 8 stencil as claimed in Claim 9 substantially as herein described and illustrated in any Figure other than Figs. 1 to 6.