JP7625200B2 - Seals and how to create them - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a seal that creates an impression (also called a design or pattern) on the seal surface (also called a stamp surface) by sliding (displacing) two parts made of interlocking metal materials.

Seals have been used as daily necessities in various aspects of life since ancient times. For example, they are used to prove the identity of a person by stamping them on documents, paintings, and other documents, and stamping can be considered an integral part of Japanese culture.

However, in recent years, as efforts are being made to improve the efficiency of government administration and digitize operations, there are discussions about completely eliminating the use of personal seals in administrative procedures, as seals are seen as a barrier to digitalization. As digitalization is promoted and the trend away from seals, such as the omission of seals on official documents, the environment surrounding seals is changing significantly.

In this move away from stamps, stamps used as personal seals are often used for convenient authentication, and the materials used for these seals are often low-cost and easy to process, such as natural wood, eco-friendly materials made by compounding wood with resin, or plastics.

Alongside the trend away from stamps, there is also a growing movement to reexamine the appeal of stamps as special items that express oneself, focusing on the material and impression of the seal. For example, the following non-patent document 1 uses metal as the seal material and brings together the metal processing technology of Sabae (Megane) to provide seals that are "hard to chip," "hard to rust," "not rot," "easy to press," or that are said to bring the joy of owning something high quality and unique that is different from others.

Metal seal materials are not as easy to process as wood and other seal materials. One example of a manufacturing technique for seals that use metal seal materials is the following Patent Document 1. The technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 involves first creating a seal mold from an inexpensive and easy-to-process material such as wood, and then using a disappearing material such as wax on this mold to create a disappearing model in the shape of the seal.

Next, the steps of adhering a refractory slurry to the surface of this fugitive pattern, stuccoing with refractory particles, and drying are repeated the required number of times to form a refractory coating, and then the fugitive material inside is removed by treatment such as heating, leaving a precision casting mold in which the area where the fugitive material was previously present becomes the casting space.
Molten titanium or titanium alloy is poured into this precision casting mold, and after it solidifies, the refractory coating is destroyed, resulting in a titanium or titanium alloy seal with the required characters and other details formed with high quality on the seal surface by precision casting.

Seals made from metal have the advantages of being easy to press, the outline (outer frame) of the seal not easily chipped, not easily rusted or rotted, and not only that, but they also create new value in the seal, giving the owner a sense of exhilaration as they feel that they are a special item that is different from others and allows them to express themselves.
However, in order to create new value, a seal must have the basic functions of 1) being able to leave a clear impression, and 2) not smudge the seal surface with red ink, before it can create new added value.

Here, to make a clear impression, it is necessary to apply the vermilion ink evenly to the surface of the seal. For this reason, the seal is pressed from side to side against the vermilion ink, or by kneading the hand, but this is no different for metal seals as disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2 below.

However, handling in this way can cause the vermilion ink to get into the seal holder, and if the vermilion ink remains there, it can lead to smudging when the seal is pressed. On the other hand, if the pressing force is too weak so that the vermilion ink does not remain in the seal holder, there is a problem that there is not enough vermilion ink, resulting in uneven printing.

Furthermore, when it comes to wiping off the vermilion ink that remains on the seal after it has been stamped, there is the problem that it is not easy to wipe the vermilion ink off the seal completely, since the seal impression is formed with uneven surfaces. In addition, because seals made of metal are heavy, there is a risk that the outline (outer frame) of the seal will become distorted due to shocks when carrying it or being carelessly dropped when stamping.

The seals described in Non-Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 1 all have the problem that the vermilion ink remains on the seal surface or inside the seal surface holder, causing the print to become faint or unclear, or inducing smudges when the seal is stamped. In addition, because the seal surface is uneven, there is the problem that the vermilion ink remaining on the seal surface cannot be wiped off cleanly after stamping.

https://www.rosestone.co.jp/gene/ Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-169785

The objective of this invention is to provide a seal that is "hard to chip," "hard to rust," "not decay," "easy to press," or that brings the feeling of exhilaration of being a high-quality item that is different from others and a special masterpiece that expresses one's self, while also providing the basic functions of a seal, which are to leave a clear impression and not leave any red ink on the seal surface after stamping. In addition, the objective is to provide a seal that allows the red ink to be wiped cleanly off the seal surface after stamping. Furthermore, the objective is to provide a seal that prevents deformation of the seal surface due to impacts when handling it when not in use, by only allowing the impression to appear on the seal surface when it is in use.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a seal that is characterized by comprising a female printing material made from a metal material by wire-cut electric discharge machining, a male printing material that slidably fits into the female printing material, a holder that holds the female printing material, a rotating holder that rotatably fits into the lower edge of the holder, and a sliding mechanism that slides the male printing material up and down relative to the female printing material by rotating the rotating holder.

The slide mechanism is characterized in that it is housed inside the rotating holder and includes a female screw fixed to the rotating holder, a male screw that screws into the female screw, and a shaft that fixes the male screw to the male printing material. It is preferable that the female screw and the male screw are multiple threads.

In the initial state of engagement between the female and male printing materials, the printing surface is flush with the surfaces of the female and male printing materials, and as the rotating holder rotates, the male printing material slides downward, causing the impression formed on the female printing material to protrude. This allows an impression with a contour to be stamped. In addition, unnecessary rotation can be prevented by forming a stopper on the holder that stops the male printing material at a specified sliding length when it slides downward.

The seal of the present invention may be configured such that the surface of the female printing material and the surface of the male printing material are flush with each other when the female printing material and the male printing material are initially engaged, and the male printing material slides upward as the rotating holder rotates, causing the impression formed on the male printing material to protrude. An outline is essential for the impression, but if the seal does not require an outline, such as a stamp design or pattern, the male printing material may be configured to protrude.

To achieve this configuration, a sliding space that allows the male printing material to slide upward when fitted into the female printing material is formed circumferentially on the lower edge of the female printing material. Note that the rotation direction of the rotating holder can be easily reversed by using a reverse thread for the female screw and the male screw.

The holder is formed with a rotation groove that engages the rotating holder, and the rotating holder is formed with a locking claw that engages with the rotation groove, thereby preventing the holder from engaging with the rotating holder and preventing the rotating holder from coming off the holder.

The present invention provides a seal that gives the user a sense of exhilaration as it is a high-quality item that is different from others and is a special masterpiece that expresses one's self, while being resistant to chipping, rusting, and decay, being easy to press, and capable of printing a clear impression (basic functions of a seal), with no red ink remaining on the seal surface after stamping. It also provides a seal that allows the red ink to be wiped cleanly off the seal surface after stamping. Furthermore, it provides a seal that allows the impression to appear on the seal surface only when it is in use, thereby preventing deformation of the seal surface due to impacts and other factors when it is handled when not in use.

Below, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings of the examples. In this specification, a seal is a general term for anything that is held in the hand and used to stamp something, such as a seal, a stamp, or the like. Figure 1 is a perspective view of a seal made of a metal material by wire-cut electric discharge machining, which is one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1(c) is a perspective view of the seal 1 with the cap 30 on, Figure 1(b) is a perspective view of the seal body 10 with the cap 30 removed and no print 110 appearing on the print surface 100, and Figure 1(a) is a perspective view of the seal body 10 with the cap 30 removed and the print 110 appearing on the print surface 100. The configuration of the seal body 10 will be described later, but in Figure 1, the rotating holder 16, the holder (outer cylinder) 15, and the female seal material 11 are visible from the outside.

Figure 2 shows a structural cross-sectional view and exploded view of a state in which an impression 110 appears on the printing surface of a seal 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The seal 1 is composed of a cap 30 and a seal body 10. The seal body 10 comprises a female printing material 11, a male printing material 12 which fits slidably into the female printing material 11, a fixing pin 13 which is fixed to the bottom of the male printing material 12, and a shaft 14 to which the other end of the fixing pin 13 is fixed. It is equipped with a holder (outer tube) 15 that encases (holds) the shaft 14 inside so that it can slide up and down, a slide holder 16 that fits into the middle of the holder (outer tube) 15, a multiple-thread female screw 17 that is stored inside the slide holder 16 and integrated (fixed), a multiple-thread male screw 18 that screws into the multiple-thread female screw 17, a fixing bolt 19 that passes through the inside of the multiple-thread male screw 18 and is fixed to the lower end of the shaft 14, fixing the multiple-thread male screw 18 to the shaft 14, and a bottom cover 20 that screws into a screw groove formed at the lower end of the rotating holder 16 and serves as the bottom plate of the seal 1.

Figure 3 shows the mating state of the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 in one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, both the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 are made of alloy tool steel (SKD), which is mainly used in molds, and are created by wire-cut electric discharge machining.

The upper surfaces of the female printing material 11 and male printing material 12, which form the print impression, are polished to a mirror finish. The distance (clearance) between the female printing material 11 and the male printing material is 0.003 to 0.008 mm, and the upper surfaces of the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 are flush with each other in the initial state to form the printing surface 100. The female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 are fitted together so that they can slide. Here, if the distance between the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 is greater than 0.001 mm, the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 slide smoothly, but on the other hand, the mating surfaces between the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 are visible and the surface does not look like a mirror surface. On the other hand, if the distance is narrower than 0.005 mm, the mating surfaces between the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 become less visible, and although it looks like a mirror surface, it becomes difficult to slide.

In Figure 3, in the initial state, the surfaces of the female printing material 11 and the male printing material 12 are flush and fitted together, and no print impression appears on the printing surface 100. By pulling the male printing material 12 out of the female printing material 11 from this initial state (sliding it to the right in Figure 3), the print impression 110 appears on the printing surface 100.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the seal 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4(b) is a structural diagram of the state in which no imprint appears on the seal surface 100 (initial state), and Figure 4(a) is a structural diagram of the state in which an imprint appears on the seal surface 100. In Figure 4(b), the upper surfaces of the female seal material 11 and the male seal material 12 are flush, and in this initial state, the two are completely engaged. As shown in Figure 4(b), in the initial state, the male seal material 12 is lifted (floating) above the stopper (jaw) 21 formed on the holder 15 by the multiple thread male screw 18 and the shaft 14 fixed thereto.

When the rotating holder 16 is rotated counterclockwise from this initial state, the multiple thread female screw 17 fixed to the rotating holder 16 rotates together with the rotating holder 16, the multiple thread male screw 18 screwed into the multiple thread female screw 17 moves downward, the shaft 14 fixed to the multiple thread male screw moves down, and the male printing material 12 moves down to the stopper 21. As a result, the imprint formed on the female printing material 11 appears on the printing surface 100. The upper end of the rotating holder 16 is formed with a locking claw 22 that engages with a circumferential groove formed on the lower end of the holder 15. This ensures smooth rotation and engagement between the rotating holder 16 and the holder 15.

In this embodiment, a four-start screw with a lead four times the pitch is used, but a single-start screw may also be used. The screw is not limited to a four-start screw, and a single-start screw, double-start screw, etc. may be used depending on the application.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a seal 2, which is another embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the seal 1 shown in Figure 4 is that the impression to be stamped (the impression that appears on the print surface) is formed on the male print material 12. In the seal 1 shown in Figure 4 described above, the impression to be stamped (the impression that appears on the print surface) is formed on the female print material 11. That is, in the seal 1 shown in Figure 4, the impression of the female print material 11 appears when the male print material 12 slides downward. In contrast, in the seal 2 shown in Figure 5, the impression of the male print material 12 appears when the male print material 12 slides upward.

As shown in FIG. 5, a sliding space 23 is formed under the female printing material 11 of the seal 2 to allow the male printing material 12 to protrude from the mirror-finished printing surface 100. The sliding length of the sliding space 23 (height in FIG. 5) is the protruding height of the male printing material 12.

To slide the male printing material 12 out of the female printing material 11 that fits in it and protrude the male printing material 12, the rotating holder 16 is rotated clockwise or the threads of the multiple thread female thread 11 and the multiple thread male thread 12 are configured to be reverse threads. When the multiple thread female thread 17 fixed to the rotating holder 16 rotates together with the rotating holder 16, the multiple thread male thread 18 that screws into the multiple thread female thread 17 moves upward as shown in FIG. 5(a), the shaft 14 fixed to the multiple thread male thread 18 is lifted, and the male printing material 12 is lifted to the upper limit of the sliding space 23. As a result, the print impression formed on the male printing material 12 appears on the printing surface 100. The upper end of the rotating holder 16 is formed with a locking claw 22 that engages with a circumferential groove formed at the lower end of the holder 15. This ensures smooth rotation and engagement between the rotating holder 16 and the holder 15.

Since the female seal material 11 forms the impression of stamp 1, the impression has an outline, which is essential for a stamp. In contrast, since the male seal material forms the impression of stamp 2, the impression does not have an outline. For this reason, seal 2 is ideal for use as a stamp, for example, as a stamp with a character imprint.

Figure 6 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention, where the seal 2 is used like a stamp. In Figure 6, a character (a sumo wrestler) is used as the impression of the seal material male 12. As mentioned above, a seal using the seal material male 12 as an impression does not show the outline of the seal. This seal technology can be used not only for personal authentication, but can also be used like a stamp, for example, using a character or the like as an impression.

1 is a perspective view of a seal made from a metal material by wire-cut electric discharge machining according to one embodiment of the present invention; This is a structural cross-sectional view and an exploded view of a seal 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention, with an impression appearing on the seal surface. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the mating state of a female printing material 11 and a male printing material 12 according to one embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a seal 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. A cross-sectional view showing the structure of a seal 2 which is another embodiment of the present invention. A diagram showing how a seal 2 according to another embodiment of the present invention can be used like a stamp.

1 Seal 2 Seal 10 Seal body 11 Female seal material 12 Male seal material 13 Fixing pin 14 Shaft 15 Holder (outer cylinder)
16 Rotating holder 17 Multiple thread female 18 Multiple thread male 19 Fixing bolt 20 Bottom cover 21 Stopper (jaw)
22 Engagement claw 23 Slide space 30 Cap (cover)
100 Imprint 110 Imprint

Claims (8)

A metal stamp material made by wire-cut electric discharge machining,
A male printing member that is slidably fitted to the female printing member;
A holder for holding the female seal member;
a rotating holder rotatably fitted to a lower end edge of the holder;
a slide mechanism for sliding the male printing material up and down relative to the female printing material by rotating the rotary holder;
This seal is characterized in that, when the surfaces of the female and male printing materials are flush with each other in the initial fitting state, no impression is visible on the printing surface, but when the male printing material slides downward as the rotating holder rotates, the impression formed on the female printing material appears. The seal according to claim 1, characterized in that the distance between the female and male seal materials in the initial flush mating state is 0.003 mm to 0.008 mm. A metal stamp material made by wire-cut electric discharge machining,
A male printing member that is slidably fitted to the female printing member;
A holder for holding the female seal member;
a rotating holder rotatably fitted to a lower end edge of the holder;
a slide mechanism for sliding the male printing material up and down relative to the female printing material by rotating the rotary holder;
This seal is characterized in that when the surfaces of the female and male printing materials are flush with each other in the initial fitting state, no print impression is visible on the printing surface, but as the rotating holder rotates, the male printing material slides upward and the print formed on the male printing material appears. The seal according to claim 3, characterized in that the distance between the female and male seal materials in the initial mating state is 0.003 mm to 0.008 mm. A method for making a metal seal, comprising the steps of: processing a metal material by wire-cut electric discharge machining to produce a female printing material and a male printing material that slidably fits with the female printing material; then creating a holder for holding the female printing material, a rotating holder that rotatably fits with the lower end edge of the holder, and a sliding mechanism that slides the male printing material up and down relative to the female printing material by rotating the rotating holder,
A method for making a seal, characterized in that the metal material is processed so that the distance between the female and male seal materials is 0.003 to 0.008 mm, so that no impression appears on the seal surface in the initial state in which the female and male seal materials are fitted flush with each other. The method for making a seal according to claim 5, characterized in that the male seal material slides downward as the rotating holder rotates, and the seal impression formed on the female seal material appears. The method for making a seal according to claim 5, characterized in that the male seal material slides upward as the rotating holder rotates, and the seal impression formed on the male seal material appears. The method for making a seal according to claim 5, characterized in that the seal surface in the initial state in which the female seal material and the male seal material are fitted flush with each other is a mirror surface.

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