WO2013016400A2

WO2013016400A2 - Die assembly for patterning material

Info

Publication number: WO2013016400A2
Application number: PCT/US2012/048093
Authority: WO
Inventors: Stephen Nabity
Original assignee: Tek Industries, Inc.
Priority date: 2011-07-25
Filing date: 2012-07-25
Publication date: 2013-01-31
Also published as: WO2013016400A3

Abstract

A device may include a blade having an edge defining a shape for patterning a sheet of material. The device may also include a cushion surrounding the blade, where the blade edge is positioned between a first region of the cushion and a second region of the cushion. The first region of the cushion is interior to the shape defined by the blade edge and has a first discernible characteristic different from a second discernible characteristic of the second region of the cushion, which is exterior to the shape defined by the blade edge. The device may also include a support for holding the cutting blade in position and supporting the cushion.

Description

DIE ASSEMBLY FOR PATTERNING MATERIAL

BACKGROUND

[0001] Steel-rule dies can be used to cut sheet metal, plastics, wood, cork, felt, fabrics, paperboard, and so forth. A hardened steel strip, referred to as a steel rule, is generally used as a cutting surface for such dies.

SUMMARY

[0002] A device may include a blade having an edge defining a shape for patterning a sheet of material. The device may also include a cushion surrounding the blade, where the blade edge is positioned between a first region of the cushion and a second region of the cushion. The first region of the cushion is interior to the shape defined by the blade edge and has a first discernible characteristic different from a second discernible characteristic of the second region of the cushion, which is exterior to the shape defined by the blade edge. The device may also include a support for holding the cutting blade in position and supporting the cushion.

[0003] This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

DRAWINGS

[0004] The Detailed Description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. The use of the same reference numbers in different instances in the description and the figures may indicate similar or identical items.

[0005] FIG. 1A is a partial top plan view of a die assembly for die patterning sheets of material, where horizontal hatching is used to represent one color characteristic (e.g., blue), and angled hatching is used to represent another color characteristic different from the first color characteristic (e.g., green).

[0006] FIG. IB is a top plan view of another die assembly having the same pattern as the die assembly of FIG. 1 A, where cutout portions of cushion material removed to form the die assembly shown in FIG. 1A are used to make the cushion for the die assembly in FIG. IB.

[0007] FIG. 2A is a partial top plan view of a die assembly having multiple blades for die patterning sheets of material, where horizontal hatching is used to represent one color characteristic (e.g., dark gray, or black), and angled hatching is used to represent another color characteristic different from the first color characteristic (e.g., light gray, or white).

[0008] FIG. 2B is a top plan view of another die assembly having the same pattern as the die assembly of FIG. 2A, where cutout portions of cushion material removed to form the die assembly shown in FIG. 2A are used to make the cushion for the die assembly in FIG. 2B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

[0009] Dies, such as steel-rule dies, are used for cutting and shaping sheets of materials in various patterns for education, stationery, scrapbooking, and quilting, among other things. Typically, these dies have a steel-rule blade attached to a wooden support. A layer of a cushioning material, such as foam, is generally applied to the support around the blade and used to prevent the blade from being exposed when the die is not in use, such as when positioning material on the die, and when storing or transporting the die. However, because the blade is typically recessed within the cushion material, it may be difficult to visually distinguish the position of the blade within the cushion material and/or a particular shape formed by the blade, e.g., when a die is used by someone with visual impairment, such as age-related vision loss, nearsightedness, or the like.

[0010] Accordingly, a tool for patterning sheets of material is described that includes a die assembly having two or more distinguishable regions of cushioning material around a blade for patterning the material. The blade and the cushioning material are held in place by a support. The cushioning material includes a first region of material positioned within the shape formed by the blade edge, and a second region of material positioned outside of the shape formed by the blade edge. The first cushion region has a discernible characteristic different from the second cushion region. For example, the first cushion region and the second cushion region may differ in color, texture, and/or some other readily distinguishable feature.

Example Implementations

[0011] A tool comprising a die assembly 100 is described that includes one or more blades 102 held in position by a support 104 and surrounded by a cushion 106. The die assembly 100 can be implemented as a die board/steel-rule die for die patterning (cutting and/or shaping) one or more sheets of material, such as sheets of paper or paper- like material. For example, the die assembly 100 may be used to pattern sheets of substances made from wood pulp, rags, straw, and other fibrous materials, such as materials used for writing, printing, wrapping, and the like. The die assembly 100 may also be used with other materials, including plastic, vinyl, cloth, and ceramic substrates. The materials may include printed patterns, images, and the like. Further, the materials may include multiple layers of one or more types of materials, including adhesive layers, silicone/release coating layers, film liners, and the like. However, these materials are provided by way of example only and are not meant to be restrictive of the present disclosure. Thus, other materials may be used with tools in accordance with the present disclosure.

[0012] The die assembly 100 includes one or more blades 102, each having an edge defining a shape for patterning a sheet of material. A blade 102 may be a steel-rule blade, such as a sharpened steel blade that is bent and formed to a pattern for die cutting. While a blade 102 may be capable of cutting through sheets of material, it should be noted that the die assembly 100 is not necessarily configured to perform a full cutting operation in all instances. For example, a blade 102 may be designed to impart fold lines, scores, and/or perforations in materials. Additionally, a blade 102 may be configured to partially cut through a material (e.g., cutting through a top layer of a material when forming adhesive stickers or decals). In some implementations, the tool may also comprise a press or a roller die machine. For example, in operation, the die assembly 100 and material to be patterned may be positioned in a press or a roller die machine, and the final shape may be formed by pressing the material into a blade 102. [0013] The blade 102 is held in position with a support 104, which may be formed using high density plywood, steel braces, or the like. Support 104 may be constructed such that the blade 102 will retain its shape during operation, storage, and/or transport. For example, a blade 102 may be retained in a channel formed in a piece of high density plywood using a laser cutting process. The support 104 is also configured to support a cushion 106. The cushion 106 may be formed from a reversibly deformable material, such as a foam material, a rubber material, a foam rubber material, and/or other materials having reversibly deformable structural properties. However, these materials are provided by way of example only and are not meant to be restrictive of the present disclosure. Thus, other cushion materials, such as plastic materials and so forth, can be used. In some instances, dissimilar cushion materials can be used to provide discernible differences between different cushion regions. For example, a foam material may be used for one cushion region and a plastic material may be used for another cushion region. The dissimilar materials can have different color characteristics, texture characteristics, and so forth (e.g., as described below). The cushion 106 is configured to surround the blade 102 and support the material placed onto the die assembly 100. For example, the cushion 106 may have a generally planar top surface side (i.e., a side opposite the support 104) that extends up to or above the edge of the blade 102. When patterning a material (e.g., using a press or a roller die machine), the material may be pressed into a blade 102 by laying the material across the top surface side of the cushion 106, and then pressing down on the material, deforming the cushion 106 and exposing the material to the blade 102.

[0014] The edge of a blade 102 is positioned between a region 108 of the cushion 106 interior to the shape defined by the blade edge, and another region 110 of the cushion 106 exterior to the shape defined by the blade edge. The region 108 of the cushion 106 has one or more discernible characteristics different from the region 110 of the cushion 106. For example, regions 108 and 110 may differ in color, texture, and/or some other readily distinguishable feature. In some instances, regions 108 and 110 of the cushion 106 can be differentiated by visually discernible characteristics. For example, region 108 may have a color characteristic different from a color characteristic of region 110 (e.g., as described by the differing hatch patterns in FIGS. 1 and 2). Differences in color may include, but are not limited to, differences in hue (e.g., direction from white in a color wheel/chromaticity diagram), differences in saturation (e.g., colorfulness/chroma/purity/intensity/concentration), differences in brightness (e.g., value/luminosity/lightness/darkness), differences in gloss (e.g., reflectance as affected by refractive index/angle of incident light/surface topography), and/or differences in indicia (e.g., printed shapes, patterns, designs, and other distinguishing markings, such as stripes, dots, stippling, hatching, and the like). Differences in color can be provided by techniques including, but not necessarily limited to: painting, dying, staining, and/or the application of a differently colored adhesive material, such as a sticker, a label, and so forth.

[0015] In some implementations, the colors of the regions 108 and 110 of the cushion 106 are separated by at least a Just Noticeable Difference (JND) as indicated by color distance metrics determined by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE). Such definitions include the CIE76 definition, the CIE94 definition, and the CIEDE2000 definition. For example, using the CIE76 definition of color distance (as defined in "CIE Fundamentals for Color Measurements," Yoshi Ohno, In Proceedings of IS&T NIP 16 Conference (October 2000), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety), a color for region 108 may be separated from a color for region 110 by a Delta E (dE) value of at least two point three (2.3). In other implementations, a color distance measure defined by the Colour Measurement Committee (CMC) of the Society of Dyers and Colourists (SDC) (e.g., the CMC l:c definition) may be used to determine a color separation for the colors of the regions 108 and 110. In one implementation, the regions 108 and 110 of the cushion 106 are blue and green, while in other implementations the regions can be light gray and dark gray, black and white, or some other set of colors. Furthermore, when the die assembly 100 includes multiple interior cushion regions 108 (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 2), different colors can be used for color coding different interior cushion portions, such as red and green interior cushion portions on a white exterior cushion portion background, or the like.

[0016] However, it should be noted that these specific characteristics for differentiating one region from another are provided by way of example only and are not meant to be restrictive of the present disclosure. Thus, other characteristics may be used to differentiate the regions of the cushion from one another. For example, the regions 108 and 110 of the cushion 106 can be differentiated by tactilely discernible characteristics, such as texture characteristics. Differences in texture may include, but are not limited to, variations upon a surface having a physical quality that can be felt by touch. In some implementations, different textures may also provide different visual characteristics. For example, a smooth surface may reflect light in a uniform fashion, appearing different from a highly textured surface, and providing variations in reflected light having a strong visual contrast. Additionally, the regions 108 and 110 may vary in multiple characteristics (e.g., having variations in both color and texture). This may be useful in providing differentiation to multiple users having varying degrees of functional vision. For example, differently colored materials may also have different textures, allowing a colorblind or otherwise visually impaired user to distinguish different regions from one another by their textural appearance.

[0017] In implementations, one or more shape characteristics can be used to differentiate regions of the cushion from one another. For example, the regions 108 and/or 110 of the cushion 106 can define a shape that identifies the position of the blade 102 within the cushion 106 and/or visually represents a particular shape formed by the blade 102. For example, region 108 can define an interior aperture (e.g., a cutout portion) and/or another feature (e.g., a notched portion, a recessed portion, a channel portion, a groove portion, and so forth) having the same shape or a generally similar shape with respect to the shape of the blade 102. Region 108 can also define one or more interior apertures and/or other features providing a registration mark for positioning a sheet of material with respect to the blade 102, such as a geometrical shape indicating, for example, the center of a shape formed by the blade 102. In some instances, another material, such as a cushion material or another material (e.g., wood, glass, and so forth), can be inserted into an aperture or another feature defined by a region 108 and/or a region 110 to provide discernible differences between, for example, region 108 and region 110.

[0018] In other instances, a lack of material (e.g., resulting from a cutout portion and/or another feature) can provide a discernible difference, e.g., where a substrate material, such as high density plywood supporting the blade 102, is exposed by a cutout portion of a region. In this example, the substrate can be colored, patterned, and so forth. For example, the substrate material can be painted a particular color, such as gray, that is configured to contrast with a cushion color, such as black. However, shapes formed by an aperture, a notched portion, a recessed portion, a channel portion, and/or a groove portion are provided by way of example only and are not meant to be restrictive of the present disclosure. Thus, in other examples, an edge (e.g., an outer edge) of a region 110 can provide a discernible difference between the regions 108 and 110 of the cushion 106. For example, an outer edge of region 110 can define the same general shape as the blade 102, comprising a strip of cushion material disposed around the blade 102. Further, another material, such as a cushion material or another material (e.g., wood, glass, and so forth), can be provided around the region 110 to distinguish the region 110 from the region 108.

Conclusion

[0019] Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or process operations, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A die assembly comprising:

a blade having an edge defining a shape for patterning a sheet of material;

a cushion surrounding the blade, the blade edge disposed between a first region of the cushion interior to the shape defined by the blade edge and a second region of the cushion exterior to the shape defined by the blade edge, the first region of the cushion having a first discernible characteristic different from a second discernible characteristic of the second region of the cushion;

a support for holding the cutting blade in position and supporting the cushion.

2. The die assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein the first discernible characteristic comprises a first visually discernible characteristic, and the second discernible characteristic comprises a second visually discernible characteristic different from the first visually discernible characteristic.

3. The die assembly as recited in claim 2, wherein the first visually discernible characteristic comprises a first color characteristic, and the second visually discernible characteristic comprises a second color characteristic different from the first color characteristic in at least one of hue, saturation, brightness, gloss, or indicia.

4. The die assembly as recited in claim 3, wherein the first color characteristic and the second color characteristic are separated from one another by at least a Just Noticeable Difference (JND) as indicated by a color distance metric determined by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE).

5. The die assembly as recited in claim 3, wherein the first color characteristic and the second color characteristic are separated from one another by at least a Delta E (dE) value of two point three (2.3) using the CIE76 definition of color distance.

6. The die assembly as recited in claim 2, wherein the first visually discernible characteristic comprises a first texture characteristic, and the second visually discernible characteristic comprises a second texture characteristic different from the first texture characteristic.

7. The die assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein the first discernible characteristic comprises a first tactilely discernible characteristic, and the second discernible characteristic comprises a second tactilely discernible characteristic different from the first tactilely discernible characteristic.

8. The die assembly as recited in claim 7, wherein the first tactilely discernible characteristic comprises a first texture characteristic, and the second tactilely discernible characteristic comprises a second texture characteristic different from the first texture characteristic.

9. A die assembly comprising:

a blade having an edge defining a shape for patterning a sheet of material;

a cushion surrounding the blade, the blade edge disposed between a first region of the cushion interior to the shape defined by the blade edge and a second region of the cushion exterior to the shape defined by the blade edge, the first region of the cushion having a first visually discernible characteristic different from a second visually discernible characteristic of the second region of the cushion; a support for holding the cutting blade in position and supporting the cushion.

10. The die assembly as recited in claim 9, wherein the first visually discernible characteristic comprises a first color characteristic, and the second visually discernible characteristic comprises a second color characteristic different from the first color characteristic in at least one of hue, saturation, brightness, gloss, or indicia.

11. The die assembly as recited in claim 10, wherein the first color characteristic and the second color characteristic are separated from one another by at least a Just Noticeable Difference (JND) as indicated by a color distance metric determined by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE).

12. The die assembly as recited in claim 10, wherein the first color characteristic and the second color characteristic are separated from one another by at least a Delta E (dE) value of two point three (2.3) using the CIE76 definition of color distance.

13. The die assembly as recited in claim 9, wherein the first visually discernible characteristic comprises a first texture characteristic, and the second visually discernible characteristic comprises a second texture characteristic different from the first texture characteristic.

14. The die assembly as recited in claim 9, wherein the first region of the cushion comprises a first tactilely discernible characteristic, and the second region of the cushion comprises a second tactilely discernible characteristic different from the first tactilely discernible characteristic.

15. The die assembly as recited in claim 14, wherein the first tactilely discernible characteristic comprises a first texture characteristic, and the second tactilely discernible characteristic comprises a second texture characteristic different from the first texture characteristic.

16. A die assembly comprising:

a blade having an edge defining a shape for patterning a sheet of material;

a cushion surrounding the blade, the blade edge disposed between a first region of the cushion interior to the shape defined by the blade edge and a second region of the cushion exterior to the shape defined by the blade edge, the first region of the cushion having a first tactilely discernible characteristic different from a second tactilely discernible characteristic of the second region of the cushion; a support for holding the cutting blade in position and supporting the cushion.

17. The die assembly as recited in claim 16, wherein the first tactilely discernible characteristic comprises a first texture characteristic, and the second tactilely discernible characteristic comprises a second texture characteristic different from the first texture characteristic.

18. The die assembly as recited in claim 16, wherein the first region of the cushion comprises a first visually discernible characteristic, and the second region of the cushion comprises a second visually discernible characteristic different from the first visually discernible characteristic.

19. The die assembly as recited in claim 18, wherein the first visually discernible characteristic comprises a first color characteristic, and the second visually discernible characteristic comprises a second color characteristic different from the first color characteristic in at least one of hue, saturation, brightness, gloss, or indicia.

20. The die assembly as recited in claim 19, wherein the first color characteristic and the second color characteristic are separated from one another by at least a Just Noticeable Difference (JND) as indicated by a color distance metric determined by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE).