Abstract:
A hand stamp that has a frame member that holds an ink cartridge. The cartridge has an ink storage layer and an image forming layer. There is a ledge surrounding the inside of the frame member that has an adhesive applied to it. The ink storage layer is attached to the frame member by the adhesive. There is an ink entrance hole in the frame into which is poured the printing ink. A plurality of baffles within the frame member control the speed at which the ink disburses throughout the ink storage layer thereby keeping the ink from saturating the adhesive that is used to hold the ink cartridge in place.

Description:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates to hand stamps and more particularly to a self-inking hand stamp that does not require a stamp pad. The hand stamp utilizes a porous foam and an ink cartridge mounted together in intimate contact with each other to create the printing aspect of the device. The porous foam has the image forming stamp material on its surface. This invention also relates to the design and manufacture of the stamp frame that adhesively holds the porous foam and ink cartridge to the stamp frame. 
   Many conventional stamps require manufacturing the printing surface from rubber or other flexible material. The printing surface is securely mounted on a handle that is grasped by the user. The printing surface is placed into contact with an inkpad where ink transfers to the printing surface. The inked printing surface is then pressed against the surface onto which the stamp image is to be transferred. Repetition of the stamping process requires that the printing surface be pressed against the inkpad each time an image is to be transferred. This is a disadvantage to the user as it requires extra time for each re-inking step and slows down the stamping process if multiple stampings are to be done. It also requires the use of a separate inkpad that must be periodically re-inked. 
   An improved stamp was developed that uses a printing surface made from an ink permeable material that allows ink to pass from an ink reservoir, through the printing surface and onto the object being marked. This eliminated the need for a separate stamp inkpad. These stamps are referred to as hand stamps. There is no simpler stamping device to transfer images than the hand stamp. 
   An example of this stamp is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,444 issued to Toyama. This patent illustrates a hand stamp that has a sealed ink compartment that stores the ink. The ink can be refilled into the compartment by means of removing a threaded screw at the top of the compartment. Once the screw is removed, the ink can be injected, and the screw replaced. The stamping member has a stamping surface with stamping and non-stamping portions. The stamp pad is fixed to the stamp frame at the factory and is not designed to be field installed or removed. 
   There are several problems with this device. First, the porous foam or printing surface is factory sealed. If an error is made during manufacturing, the entire mount must be thrown away, thus increasing costs. Since it is factory sealed, a special machine is required to expose the porous foam to form the image on the porous foam surface. 
   Another type of stamp is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,942,312 issued to Venkataraman et al. This patent discloses a pre-inked thermoplastic foam which has open cells in the area that is designed to transfer ink and closed or sealed cells in the area which is designed to be impermeable to ink. The pre-inked thermoplastic foam is pre-inked before the image is formed on the thermoplastic material. Thus if there is a problem with the image, the entire pad including the ink, is wasted. Furthermore there may be difficulties in forming an image on a pre-inked thermoplastic foam as it may be messy or require special handling due to the ink in the pre-inked thermoplastic foam. The pre-inked thermoplastic foam is mechanically held to the stamp and assembled at the factory. The pre-inked thermoplastic foam is not designed to be installed or removed in the field. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,996,493 issued to Okumura et al. illustrates a pre-inked stamp that uses an ink pack to supply ink to the porous stamp. The ink pack ruptures when the ink pack is pressed against a cutting device in the stamp. There is a transparent film thermally attached to the stamp surface to protect the stamp surface during transport and storage. The transparent film is removed just before using the stamp for printing images. The porous stamp portion is thermally attached to the holder at the factory and is not designed to be installed in the field. 
   Another stamp is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,202 issued to Takami. This patent discloses a stamp unit comprising a holder, which is placed in a stamp manufacturing device for making a stamping surface on a stamp material. The holder interacts with the stamp manufacturing device to properly position the holder in the manufacturing device. An image is formed on the surface of the stamp forming material by fusing portions on the surface. The stamp forming material is saturated with ink and ink is allowed to flow out from the non fused portions onto a printing sheet forming the image. 
   A problem not solved by the prior art devices is providing an ink cartridge and stamp in a self contained easy to use unit. Also, the method of manufacturing a hand stamp with an adhesively held ink cartridge was never taught. 
   A characteristics of the prior art devices is that the stamp forming material with the image to be transferred thereon was held in place in the stamp by means of a trim ring or other mechanical grasping means that generally extended around the circumference of the stamp forming material. When the stamp is assembled, the trim ring snaps into place holding the stamp forming material within the stamp frame. In other devices the stamp forming material is attached to the stamp frame at the factory in such a way that it could not be attached in the field. It would be desirable if the stamp forming material could be held in place by adhesive, thus eliminating one component of the stamp. This would also reduce the cost of the stamp. It would also be desirable if the attachment of the stamp pad to the frame could be done in the field so that expensive equipment and added manufacturing costs could be eliminated. 
   Applicant&#39;s invention addresses and solves the problems of the prior art devices. The invention comprises an ink cartridge that has an ink storage layer or cartridge and a porous foam layer with an image forming stamp material on the surface. The two layers are in intimate contact with each other and are designed for mounting in a hand stamp. The hand stamp has a handle, which is grasped by the user. The image forming stamp material is a porous foam material and has an outer surface made of a porous resin layer. Portions of the porous resin layer are melted and solidify into impermeable areas that are ink impermeable, and other portions of the porous resin layer remain unmelted and allow ink to pass. In this manner the stamping image is defined. 
   A frame member has a top, a bottom and side walls. There is a ledge at the bottom that has adhesive applied to it. The ink cartridge is affixed to the ledge by means of the adhesive. At the top of the frame member are ink receiving holes. There is a plurality of baffle members inside of the frame that form a circuitous path from the ink entrance holes to the ledge. In this manner the flow of ink is controlled from the ink receiving holes to the ledge causing the area where the ink cartridge is affixed to the ledge to remain unsaturated with ink. This results in the adhesive maintaining the bond between the ink cartridge and the ledge. 
   OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES 
   It is an object to provide a hand stamp that uses an inventive frame member that has a ledge portion with adhesive thereon to securely retain an ink cartridge to the frame. It is a related object to provide an ink cartridge having an ink storage layer and an image forming layer. 
   Still another object is to provide a hand stamp that uses a frame member that has an ink receiving hole in the top of the frame and a plurality of baffles inside of the frame to control the flow of ink inside of the frame member to and across the ink storage layer. A related object is to use printing ink supplied from a bottle to saturate the ink storage layer as this type of ink is generally less expensive than other types of printing inks. 
   One advantage of this invention is that it allows the ink cartridge to be affixed to the frame member by means of adhesive instead of the traditional retaining or trim ring. This eliminates one of the parts of previous stamps resulting in lower cost and ease of manufacturing and assembling the stamp. This also eliminates the need for factory sealing the ink cartridge or ink storage reservoir. 
   Another advantage is that the invention uses current image forming technology and applies it to the least expensive and most simple type of hand stamp. 
   These and other objects and advantages will be apparent from reviewing the following Description of the Drawings and Description of the Preferred Embodiment. 

   
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a hand stamp illustrating the orientation of the various parts of the stamp and the inventive frame member. 
       FIG. 2  is a bottom perspective view of the ink cartridge showing the image forming layer with an image thereon. 
       FIG. 3  is a bottom view of the frame member illustrating the ledge and baffle members. 
       FIG. 4  is a top view of the frame member. 
       FIG. 5  is an enlarged cross sectional view with portions removed of the assembled frame member and ink cartridge. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Turning to  FIG. 1  there is illustrated a hand stamp  10 , which utilizes the present invention. The stamp  10  does not require the use of a separate, stand alone inkpad that is not a part of the hand stamp  10 . There is a handle  12  designed to be grasped by the user. There is a square base  13  at a bottom portion of the handle  12 . 
   A frame member  14  has a top  16 , a bottom  18 , and side walls  20  that enclose a frame cavity  21 . The frame member  14  is illustrated as rectangular as this is the most common stamp configuration, although other geometric shapes such as square or circular can also be used. As seen in  FIG. 4  the frame member  14  has support ribs  22  that provide structural support by joining the top  16  to the side walls  20 . There are two ink entrance holes  24  and  26  through which ink is poured as will be described later. There is a square receiving hole  28  centrally disposed in the frame member  14  which receives in frictional engagement the square base  13  of the handle  12 . This joins the handle  12  to the frame member  14 . 
   The bottom  18  of the frame member  14  is illustrated in  FIG. 3 . There is a ledge  32  that extends around the entire perimeter of the frame member  14  inside of the frame cavity  21 . The ledge  32  extends a distance “x” from the side walls toward the centrally disposed receiving hole  28 . An adhesive  34  is applied to the ledge  32  and covered with a removable covering (not illustrated). Alternatively a double sided tape is applied to the ledge with one side of the tape exposed and affixed to the ledge  32  and the other side of the tape left covered until ready for use. Another alternative is applying liquid glue to the ledge  32 . 
   A plurality of baffle members or plates  36  are mounted inside of the frame cavity  21 . The baffle members  36  extend vertically downward from the top  16  to a point above the bottom  18 . The baffle members  36  and ink entrance hole  26  are symmetrical about a horizontal center line  38  and vertical center line  40 , both shown in phantom. 
   As seen in  FIG. 1  there is an ink cartridge  42  with an outer edge  41  surrounding it. The ink cartridge  42  is comprised of an ink storage layer  43  and image forming layer  44  that has an image surface  46 . This is the printing side or stamp surface. There is also an opposite non-printing side  47  that is in intimate contact with the ink storage layer  43 . The image forming layer  44  is made from a porous soft resin in which optical energy absorbing material is dispersed. To produce an image  45  onto the image surface  46 , a transparent film having the positive image to be created is placed against the image surface  46 . The image is normally comprised of black and clear areas. With the transparent film with the image thereon against the image surface  46 , the ink cartridge  42  is placed in a sealed light box with the image surface  46  pressed against a clear glass or plastic member. A xenon light is placed in the light box below the image surface  46  and energized for a predetermined time. The rays from the xenon light irradiate the image surface  46  through the transparent film wherever there were clear image areas. This causes a chemical reaction fusing the foam from the heat. This seals what were the clear areas resulting in areas that are non-permeable to the ink passing through the image forming layer  44 . The rays do not penetrate the black image areas on the film and thus no reaction occurs on the image surface  46 . These areas remain unsealed and thus ink permeable. Thus, the image  45  is formed. Machinery for this stamp forming process is available in the industry. Other methods to form the image  45  on the image forming layer  44  are available which provide ink permeable and ink impermeable areas to define the image. 
   The stamp  10  when completely assembled has a bottom cover  49  that snaps onto the bottom of the frame member  14 . This covers the image forming layer  44  so that the image or ink is not accidentally transferred to surfaces or objects that are not intended to receive the image. The cover  49  is snapped off and exposes the image surface  46  when the stamp  10  is to be used. 
   As seen in  FIG. 2 , the image forming layer  44  has the image  45  formed thereon as previously described. The image can be alpha-numeric designators, pictures, graphs, etc. There is a border area  48  that frames the image forming layer  44 . None of the image  45  is intended to be in the border area  48 . In fact, the border area  48  is preferably intended to not have any ink in this area. A width “w” of the border area  48  is substantially the same as the width “x” of the ledge  32 . 
   As seen in  FIG. 5 , the ink cartridge  42  has the border area  48  on its ink storage layer  43 . The ink storage layer  43  is attached to the ledge  32  by means of the adhesive  34 . In this manner the ledge  32  supports the edges of the ink cartridge  42 . The ink cartridge  42  is dimensioned so that it is snugly received within the perimeter of the ledge  32  with the image forming layer  44  extending slightly below the bottom  18 . This allows the image forming layer  44  to be retained within the frame member  14  yet allows the image forming layer  44  to extend below the bottom  18  of the frame member  14  for printing. 
   Once the image is formed on the image forming layer  44  and the ink cartridge  42  is securely attached to the ledge  32 , the ink cartridge  42  is loaded with ink. This is done by the user pouring, injecting or dripping a predetermined quantity of printing ink into the ink entrance holes  24 ,  26 . The baffles  36  have their bottoms slightly above the ink storage layer  43 . The ink flows between a gap  50  defined by the bottoms of the baffles and the top of the ink storage layer  43 . The positions of the baffles  36  form a circuitous path from the ink entrance holes  24 ,  26  toward the ledge  32  surrounding the inside of the frame member  14 . The ink flows from the ink entrance holes  24 ,  26  toward the ledge  32 . Ideally the ink will saturate the ink storage layer  43  in the area framed by the ledge  32 , but not saturate the area “w” where the ink cartridge  42  is fastened to the ledge  32 . If the area between the ledge  32  and the ink storage layer  43  is saturated with ink, it will compromise the adhesive bond that retains the ink cartridge  42  to the ledge  32 . Thus there is a balance that must be achieved so that the flow of the ink through the circuitous path achieves the desired result. The ink flow rate and area saturated is determined by the circuitous path, the height of the gap  50 , the viscosity of the ink and the characteristics of the ink storage layer  43  and image forming layer  44 . Preferably the ink storage layer  43  and image forming layer  44  direct the flow of ink vertically through the medium and do not enhance the lateral flow of ink toward the border area  48  of the ink cartridge  42 . This assists in keeping the flow of ink vertical instead of horizontal and thus minimizes the flow or saturation of ink under the ledge  32 . The ink viscosity is determined by the selected characteristics of the ink preferred by the stamp manufacturer. The flow of ink through the ink storage layer  43  and image forming layer  44  is a characteristic of the particular materials from which these layers are manufactured. By varying the gap  50  and location and dimensions between adjacent baffles, the ink flow rate to the border area  48  is controlled. 
   When no ink remains in the cartridge  42  or when the ink storage layer  43  and image forming layer  44  dry out, the ink cartridge  42  can be re-inked. This is accomplished by merely pouring the predetermined quantity of ink into the ink entrance holes  24  and  26 . The ink flows through the baffles and into the ink storage layer  43  as previously described 
   Thus there has been provided a hand stamp that does not require a stamp pad and in which the porous foam and ink cartridge are mounted together in intimate contact with each other. The resultant hand stamp fully satisfies the objects and advantages set forth herein. While the invention has been described in conjunction with a specific embodiment, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations as fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.