Apparatus for stamping indicia on materials
AssigneeAmerican Can Company
InventorsEdward F. Kubacki, Edward C. Jacobs, John M. Masciale, James R. Monroe
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a marking system for stamping materials such as aluminum strip, a pulse of determined energy is supplied to a solenoid, to impart a determined kinetic energy to a die. The die is guided to dissipate substantially all of this kinetic energy in the deformation of the material being stamped. The pulse of energy applied to the solenoid may be controlled by a programmable computer, programmed to control the duration of time that a current is applied to the solenoid. The computer may control a plurality of such solenoids, controlling the times and relative numbers of operation of each of the solenoids.
Claims24
A marking system for stamping indicia marks into the surface of thin sheet material, comprising:
- a platform having a surface for supporting and transporting said sheet material thereon, said sheet material being loosely guided;
- a die with a raised marking at one longitudinal end thereof, said die being mounted for longitudinal motion in a direction transverse to said platform surface, said marking facing said platform surface;
- an armature mounted for motion in said transverse direction, said armature being in contact with the other longitudinal end of said die;
- means for moving said armature toward said surface from a standby position, said armature driving said die against said sheet material, said die flying ballistically toward said material to inelastically deform said material and being stopped only by said sheet material being pressed against said platform surface upon impact by said die, said means for moving including means for imparting a predetermined longitudinal kinetic energy to said die of a magnitude sufficient, without substantial excess, to provide said inelastic deformation.
A marking system for stamping strips of a material, comprising a row of a plurality of solenoids each mounted to drive a separate die, means for guiding said strip for movement in alignment with said row spaced from said dies, and control means for selectively applying electrical pulses of determined energy to said solenoids to impart kinetic energy to the respective dies, said dies being guided to impact said material and dissipate substantially all of said kinetic energy in deforming said material, the indicia on the dies, to be stamped in said material, having substantially equal line lengths and the energy of the pulses applied to each of said solenoids being substantially equal.
A marking system for stamping indicia marks into the surface of thin sheet material, comprising:
- a platform having a surface for supporting and transporting said sheet material thereon;
- said sheet material being loosely guided relative to said surface;
- a plurality of dies arranged in a row, each said die having a raised marking at one longitudinal end thereof, each said die being mounted for longitudinal motion in a direction transverse to said platform surface, said marking facing said platform surface;
- means for guiding said strip for movement in alignment with said row and spaced from said dies;
- a plurality of solenoids, each solenoid mounted for driving a respective one of said dies and including an armature mounted for motion in said transverse direction, each said armature being in contact with the other longitudinal end of said associated die;
- means for moving each said armature individually toward said surface from a standby position, said armature driving said associated die against said sheet material, said die flying ballistically toward said material to inelastically deform said material and being stopped only by said sheet material being pressed against said platform surface upon impact by said die, said means for moving including control means for imparting a predetermined longitudinal kinetic energy to each said die of a magnitude sufficient, without substantial excess, to provide said inelastic deformation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.