US3375591A

US3375591A - Lettering template construction

Info

Publication number: US3375591A
Application number: US569307A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jr Charles E Townsend
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1966-08-01
Filing date: 1966-08-01
Publication date: 1968-04-02
Anticipated expiration: 1985-04-02

Description

April 2, 1968 c. E. TOWNSEND, JR 3,375,591

LETTERING TEMPLATE CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 1,- 1966 INVENTOR.

[ownse'nA J ounsen ATTORNEYS CHARLES E.TOWNSEND.Jr. v

3,375,591 Patented Apr. 2,, 1968 3,375,591 LETTERING TEMPLATE CONSTRUCTION Charles E. Townsend, In, 73 Orchard Road, Orinda, Calif. 94563 Filed Aug. 1, 1966, Ser. No. 569,307 8 Claims. (Cl. 33-174) The present invention relates generally to the art of lettering templates or rules.

The particular embodiment of the present invention which is illustrated in the drawings, and which will be described in greater detail hereafter, comprises a base member formed with a longitudinal slideway in which is removably and slidably mounted a lettering template or rule formed in the usual manner with longitudinally spaced apart letter guide cutouts by which signs or cards may be lettered with a writing stylus such as a pen or pencil. The base member is also formed with a signreceiving recess which extends transversely to the slide- Way and is adapted to receive and retain a sign card or other workpiece to be lettered. Such a sign card is located in the slideway at a position immediately underlying the lettering template, whereby the template may be moved longitudinally in the slideway to selectively position and register any desired letter guide cutout with the workpiece during the lettering of a given sign.

A novel feature of the present invention resides in the provision of indexing means for physically engaging and slidably indexing the template to preselected positions of registry relative to the sign receiving recess.

More specifically, the present invention, in its broader aspects, provides for a plurality of contact members each individually Visually associated with a letter guide cutout of the template and which said contact members are rigidly attached to and extend upwardly from the template in such manner that each may be easily engaged by the tip of the writing stylus and employed as a means for sliding the template to desired position relative to the sign as each letter on the sign is to be written or printed by the user.

In the more specific aspects of the invention the indexing means and the template are formed from an integral length of sheet material into a substantially L-shaped cross section wherein the foot of the L defines the template portion and the stem of the L defines an upwardly extending flange having its upper edge formed with a plurality of notches .Which are spaced apart from one another corresponding to the spacing between the letter guide cutouts of the template. Such construction provides a notch on the flange in visual registry with each of the individual letter guide cutouts of the template. As above indicated, the user of the device can conveniently position and locate the letter cutout on the template corresponding to the next letter to be printed merely by engaging with his writing stylus the notch that is visually associated and physically aligned with the selected letter, and through such engagement he may slide the template quickly and accurately to proper position relative to the sign being lettered.

A principal object, therefore, of the present invention is to provide a sign lettering device of the character alluded to above in which there is provided a means for rapidly and accurately slidably indexing the template relative to the workpiece being lettered. I have observed in certain prior art devices in which there is provided no equivalent indexing means as is embodied in the present invention, that the user must exercise considerable manual dexterity and eye-hand coordination in order to slidably move and accurately index the template as each consecutive letter is printed. Generally speaking, users of such prior art devices find it either necessary or convenient to use both hands in order to manually engage one end or the other of the sliding tern-plate during sign lettering operations. Not only are such manipulations awkward, but they are also time consuming and involve the necessity of the user having constantly to shift his eyes back and forth from the template to the preselected position on the sign where the next letter is to be printed. With the present invention very little manual dexterity is required to operate the device. The user can most conveniently employ the writing end of the stylus to move the template, and once he has visually selected the next letter on the template and has engaged with his stylus the indexing notch associated with said letter, the user may shift his eyes back to the exact location on the workpiece and slidably move the selected letter on the template into correct position and alignment relative to the workpiece.

A more specific advantage and object of the invention is to provide a sliding template which may be much more readily inserted and removed from the slideway than may flat template sliding rules incorporated in prior art devices of which I have knowledge. In this connection flat templates in prior art devices of the character described must be removed or inserted from one end or the other of the slideway. This is because the slideway in such devices consists of parallel grooves into which the marginal edges of the template are slidably retained. Thus, to insert a flat rule template into a conventionally constructed slideway, it is necessary that the user physically align or thread the edges of the template into the grooves of the slideway from one end or the other of the slideway. Such manipulations are time consuming, awkward, and require a fair degree of manual dexterity and eye-hand coordination.

In the specific embodiment of the present invention wherein the template and indexing flange are formed from an integral sheet of material that is substantially L-shaped in cross section, the device may be constructed so that the template may be swung or lifted out of the slideway rather than having to be slid in and out of the slideway as mentioned in reference to prior art constructions. More particularly, by making the template and indexing flange L-shaped in cross section, the slideway need be formed with only a longitudinal groove into which may be inserted, from above, the outer unflanged or leading edge of the sliding template. Further, the upwardly extending flange provides a convenient handle means for gripping the device and lifting it into and out of the slideway. v

Other objects and advantages of the present invention Will become apparent upon reading the following specification and referring to the accompanying drawings in which corresponding numerals represent corresponding parts in each of the several views.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional perspective view of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional perspective view of the lettering template;

FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 1 but shows the insertion and removal of the lettering template;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the lettering template when formed from an integral sheet of material; an

FIG. 5 is an end elevation of the lettering template.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawing, the lettering device comprises generally a base member A having a longitudinal slideway B therein and a template C formed with letter guide cutouts 17 which template is inserted in the slideway B for use in lettering sign cards, display cards, and the like.

The base member A comprises an elongated generally flattened piece of plastic or other material into which is cut a lengthwise slideway 12. Intersecting said slideway is a sign-receiving recess 13 which extends transversely the slideway and is so disposed that a sign card or other workpiece placed in said recess will be directly below the slideway 12 and the template 11 disposed therein.

As may be seen in FIG. 2, the template 11 comprises a horizontal part 14 in which are formed the letter guide cutouts 17, and an upward-extending indexing flange 15 extending substantially the entire length of the template and having indexing notches 16 formed therein. Each indexing notch 16 is physically and visually associated with a corresponding letter guide cutout 17. It may be seen in FIG. 5 that the indexing flange 15 extends upward from the horizontal part 14 of the template and that the indexing flange is offset laterally a distance 19 from the letter guide cutouts in the horizontal part 14 of the template. The indexing flange 15 has been shown in these figures at an angle of approximately 70 to the horizontal part 14 although this angle is not critical.

In using an embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the leading edge 20 of the template is inserted in a longitudinal groove formed along one edge of the slideway groove and the entire template swung downward and slidably inserted so that it is fully in position within the slideway 12. The starting position of the template is illustrated by dashed line outline in FIG. 3. In removing the template from the slideway the steps are reversed. The indexing flange 15 may be grasped and swung upward as shown by the arrow; then the entire template lifted from the slideway. After the template is in place within the slideway, the user may place a sign card or other workpiece in the sign receiving recess 13 so that the workpiece is disposed directly beneath the horizontal part 14 of the template and its letter guide cutouts 17. As shown in FIG. 1, the user may place a writing stylus such as a pencil 21 in an indexing notch 22 visually and physically associated with a corresponding letter guide cutout 23. The user may then slide the template quickly and accurately into proper position relative to the sign being lettered.

The lettering by the user is made more convenient by the construction of the template wherein, as shown in FIG. 5, the indexing flange 15 is laterally displaced a distance 19 so that there is no interference of the upwardextending indexing flange 15 with the writing stylus when said stylus is in use in the letter guide cutouts.

These and other modifications of my invention may be practiced, it being understood that the form of my inven tion as described above is to be taken as a preferred example of the same. Such description has been by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding. Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention as limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed:

1. In the art of lettering templates the combination comprising: a base member formed with a longitudinal slideway; a lettering template formed with longitudinally spaced-apart letter guide cutouts; said template slidably mounted in said slideway; a sign-receiving recess in said base member in registry with said slideway and underlying said slidable template; manually engageable indexing means for slidably indexing said template to preselected positions of registry relative to said recess; said indexing means comprising a plurality of contact members each individually visually associated with a letter guide cutout of said template; said contact members attached to said template and extending upwardly there from in visual alignment with their respectively associated letter guide cutouts.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said indexing means comprises a flange extending substantially the entire length of the template and extending upwardly therefrom at a location laterally offset from the letter guide cutouts; said flange formed with contact points longitudinally spaced apart from one another corresponding to the spacing between the letter guide cutouts of the template; the center of each contact point disposed in a plane substantially bisecting its visually associated letter guide cutout, whereby to permit the user to engage a selected contact point with a writing stylus and to slidably move the letter guidecutout visually associated with said contact point to a preselected position of registry relative to said recess.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said template and flange are formed from an integral sheet of material; said flange comprising an angul-arly upwardly bent extension of one of the longitudinal marginal edges of the template portion.

4. The combination of claim 2 and wherein each contact point is defined by a generally V-shaped notch formed in the upper edge of said flange.

5. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said template and flange are formed from an integral sheet of material generally L-shaped in cross section, and where in the foot of the L defines the template portion of the integral sheet and wherein the stem of the L defines the flange portion of the integral sheet.

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein the stern of the L is disposed at an acute angle relative to the foot of the L.

7. The combination of claim 5 wherein the slideway of the base member comprises a longitudinal groove formed along one edge of the slideway and wherein the outer longitudinal leading edge of said template portion of said formed sheet isslidably insertable in said groove and wherein said flange portion of the sheet can be swung upwardly from the slideway.

8. In combination with a base member having a slideway and an elongate lettering template with longitudinally spaced letter guide cutouts formed therein mounted for slidable movement in said slideway above a workpiece to be lettered, the improvement comprising a longitudinal flange connected to and extending upwardly from said template, said flange defining a plurality of manual contact points each visually aligned with a respectively associated letter guide cutout in said template.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1928 Conti 33l74 7/1964 Paparozzi 331-174

Claims

1. IN THE ART OF LETTERING TEMPLATES THE COMBINATON COMPRISING: A BASE MEMBER FORMED WITH A LONGITUDINAL SLIDEWAY; A LETTERING TEMPLATE FORMED WITH LONGITUDINALLY SPACED-APART LETTER GUIDE CUTOUTS; SAID TEMPLATE SLIDABLY MOUNTED IN SAID SLIDEWAY; A SIGN-RECEIVING RECESS IN SAID BASE MEMBER IN REGISTRY WITH SAID SLIDEWAY AND UNDERLYING SAID SLIDABLE TEMPLATE; MANUALLY ENGAGEABLE INDEXING MEANS FOR SLIDABLY INDEXING SAID TEMPLATE TO PRESELECTED POSITIONS OF REGISTRY RELATIVE TO SAID RECESS; SAID INDEXING MEANS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF CONTACT MEMBERS EACH INDIVIDUALLY VISUALLY ASSOCIATED WITH A LETTER GUIDE CUTOUT OF SAID TEMPLATE; SAID CONTACT MEMBERS ATTACHED TO SAID TEMPLATE AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY THEREFROM IN VISUAL ALIGNMENT WITH THEIR RESPECTIVELY ASSOCIATED LETTER GUIDE CUTOUTS.