Patent Publication Number: US-2007095181-A1

Title: Die with Counter, Systems and Processes

Description:
This is an application claiming the benefit under 35 USC 119(e) of U.S. Application Ser. No. 60/730,848 filed Oct. 28, 2005. U.S. Application Ser. No. 60/730,848 is incorporated herein, in its entirety, by this reference to it. 
    
    
     FIELD  
      This specification relates to die cutting.  
     INTRODUCTION  
      In die cutting, one or more dies may be placed in contact with one or more sheets of material in a press. When the press is closed, the die cavities cut the material into desired shapes. In some cases, companies that manufacture dies sell dies, individually or in groups attached to a board, to cutting companies that use the dies to produce cut pieces of material.  
     SUMMARY  
      The following summary is intended to introduce the reader to this disclosure but is not intended to define or limit any claimed or disclosed invention. This specification may describe one or more inventions which may reside in a combination or sub-combination of steps or elements provided in this or other parts of this document, for example in the claims.  
      A die may comprise a length of rule formed so as to define a cavity or the perimeter of a shape or pattern to be cut in one or more sheets of material. A counter may be attached to the die. The counter may have an actuator and be located or configured to advance the counter one or more times when the die is used to cut a material. For example, as a press pushes the die and material together, the actuator may contact and be moved by the material or a part of the press and the count may be advanced to record the increase in extent of use of the die. The counter may be chosen and located such that each cut, or movement of the press, advances a count by one. Alternately, the counter may be chosen and located such that the count advances by an amount related to the increase in cumulative thickness of material cut. Optionally, a second or multiple counters may be used which are chosen or located to each provide a count related to a different aspect of the use of a die. The counts, or the set of counts, of the one or more counters, optionally when compared to an initial count or sum of counts, indicates the extent of use of the die over a period of time.  
      A method of determining the extent of use of a die by a user may comprise steps of providing a die as described above to a user, and after a period of time, calculating a difference in the reading of the counter before and after the period of time.  
      A method of determining a contractual consequence related to the use of a die, such as an extent of coverage under a warranty or an amount to be paid for the use of a die, may comprise steps described above and a step of considering the count in determining the contractual consequence.  
      A system for determining a value related to the use of a die, such as an amount to be paid for the use of a die or coverage under a warranty, may comprise a die as described above, a polling element for polling the one or more counters to determine an extent of use of the die and a computation element adapted to convert the extent of use into a value related to the use of a die, for example an amount to be paid or to a parameter related to an amount to be paid or a usage amount for use in determining coverage under a warranty. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       FIGS. 1 and 2  are photographs of a die with a counter.  
       FIG. 3  is a schematic representation of a system having a die as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 .  
       FIG. 4  is a schematic representation of a process for determining the number of uses of a die and a value related to the amount to be paid for use of the die.  
       FIG. 5  is a schematic representation of an alternate counter. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      Various apparatuses or processes will be described below to provide an example of an embodiment of each claimed invention. No embodiment described below limits any claimed invention and any claimed invention may cover processes or apparatuses that are not described below. The claimed inventions are not limited to apparatuses or processes having all of the features of any one apparatus or process described below or to features common to multiple or all of the apparatuses described below. It is possible that an apparatus or process described below is not an embodiment of any claimed invention. The applicants, inventors or owners reserve all rights that they may have in any invention disclosed in an apparatus or process described below that is not claimed in this document, for example the right to claim such an invention in a continuing application and do not intend to abandon, disclaim or dedicate to the public any such invention by its disclosure in this document.  
       FIGS. 1 and 2  show a die  10 . Die  10  is of a type used to cut pieces of automobile upholstery from leather. However, other types of dies may be made or used. For example, but without limitation, the die may be a cavity die with or without braces fitted into a slot in a die board, a die attached by fasteners, for example through a brace, to a die board or a free standing die used without a die board, such as a die of the type arranged by hand over a leather hide. Die  10  comprises a length of rule  12  having a bearing edge  14  and a cutting edge  15 . The die  10  also has brace  16  spanning the cavity. Foam  18  may be attached to the brace  16  or otherwise provided in the cavity. In use, the die  10  may be placed in a press. The bearing edge  14  is positioned to contact a plate, pad, roller or related structure on one side of the press. Material to be cut is placed between the cutting edge  15  and a plate pad, roller or related structure on another side of the press. Operation of the press causes the material to be pushed into the cavity and around the outside of the die  10 .  
      A counter  20  is attached to the die  10 . In the embodiment shown, a plate  21  is welded to rule  12  and counter  20  is fastened to plate  21  although other attachment mechanisms may be used. The counter  20  may be, for example, a mechanical stroke counter which advances a count by one for each movement of its actuator that exceeds a minimum length. Such a counter  20  may operate by depressing a pin or by moving the tip of a lever, as in a rotary ratchet counter. The counter  20  is chosen and placed related to the cutting edge of the die  10  so that the actuator will be moved in excess of the minimum length when the minimum expected thickness of one or more sheets of material advances past the cutting edge of the die  10  during a cut, accounting for compression of the material if necessary given the material, the structure of the die  10 , the force required to move the actuator and any foam inserts in the die  10 .  
      Optionally, other types of counters may be used such as a rotary counter or a counter that produces a count related to the cumulative length or angle of movement of an actuator. A second counter  70 , shown in  FIG. 5 , has a rotary counter  72 , a gear box  76 , a ratchet  80 , an actuator  84  and a spring  86 . Rotary counter  72  records, by counting, the cumulative number of rotations, or fractions of a rotation, of its shaft  74 . Gear box  76  is optional but causes the shaft  74  of the rotary counter  72  to move by a multiple of the degrees of rotation of a gear box shaft  78  to increase the sensitivity of second counter  70  if required. Ratchet box  80  converts rotary reciprocating motion of ratchet box shaft  90  into possibly intermittent but forward only rotation of gear box shaft  78  or rotary counter shaft  74 . Gear box  80  as shown has a ratchet wheel  82  and first and second pawls  86 ,  88  arranged so that notched wheel  82  rotates forward with both the forward and backward rotation of ratchet box shaft  90 . This increases the sensitivity of second counter  70 , but a ratchet mechanism that moves forward only on forward rotation of an input shaft can also be used. Actuator arm  84  is attached to ratchet box shaft  90  and positioned so that movement of cut material past the cutting edge  92  of die  10  rotates ratchet box shaft  80 . For example, the tip  94  of actuator arm  84  may have an initial or at rest position in or near the same plane as the cutting edge  92  or below that plane by a distance less than the expected thickness of material to be cut. Spring  86  returns actuator arm  84  to the initial position between cuts. Gear box  76 , ratchet box  80  and spring  86  may be located in the body of rotary counter  72 , and their individual outer boxes may be omitted. These components may also be moved relative to each other. For example, gear box  76  may be placed between ratchet box  80  and actuator arm  84 . Ratchet wheel  82  is shown in  FIG. 5  as having a large distance between adjacent teeth for purposes of illustration. A shorter distance between a greater number of teeth and corresponding changes to pawls  86 ,  88  is preferable to increase the sensitivity of second counter  70 . When a stack of material is cut, the shaft  74  of rotary counter  72  is rotated by displacement of the end  94  of actuator arm  84  by an angle that reflects the extent of usage of the die by being related or proportional to the increase cumulative thickness of material cut. Cutting a stack of material of small thickness creates a small rotation of rotary counter shaft  74  whereas cutting a thick stack of material causes a greater rotation. Each cut increases the cumulative rotation of rotary counter shaft  74 , which advances the count, by an amount related to the thickness of the stack of material cut. The count, or change in count over time, may be greater or less than the number of cuts made but is instead related to the cumulative thickness of material cut. Wear of a die  10  is related to the number of cuts and the total thickness of material cut and so either, or both, measures of extent of use may be useful.  
      Other counters  20  may also be used. For example, but without limitation, the counter  20  may be electronic or may be activated by a light sensor, closure of an electrical circuit or other means. The counter may have a transmitter to communicate its count over a communications network, for example, continuously, at discrete time intervals, or when polled. The counter  20  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  is a mechanical counter triggered by movement of an actuator  22 , specifically a ZGDHDO model J55C counter. Operation of the press causes the material to contact and move the actuator  22  to advance the counter  20 . The counter  20  shown has a display  26  in the form of cylinders printed with the numbers 0 to 9 and placed to correspond with the representation of a base  10  number. The counter  20  may optionally have a reset button to index the counter display  26  to show a count of 0. The reset button may be in the form of a removable key to inhibit the user from resetting the counter  20  to 0. Alternately, counter  20  may have no reset capability or have other methods of resetting or indexing or communicating a value. For example, but without limitation, a counter  20 , with or without a reset capability, may be indexed by noting or transmitting its value at a point in time and may communicate its count by electronic transmission of a signal representing a value or visual display of a signal representing a value. Where multiple dies  10  are attached to a die board, one or more of the dies  10  may have an associated counter  20 .  
      The actuator  22  in the counter  20  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  is an arm having a tip  30  located so as to contact the material being cut as the die  10  moves through the material. As the material is being cut, movement of the tip  30  rotates the actuator  22  and advances the count shown on the display  26 . In this way, the counter  10  counts the number of times that the die  10  has been used to cut material, this number of cuts or uses being the number of times that the die  10  is pressed, regardless of the number of sheets of material in the die during each cut. The number of times that the die  10  has been used in a period of time is indicated by the difference between a count shown on the display  26  after the period of time and a count shown on the display before the period of time. If the counter  20  has been indexed to 0 before cutting by pushing the reset button, this difference can be determined by noting the number displayed on the counter  20  after use of the die  10 . Similar methods may be applied to the second counter  70  of  FIG. 5  to determine a change in count over time.  
       FIG. 3  shows a system  40  for determining an amount to be charged for the use of a die  10 . The system  40  comprises a counter  20 , a polling element  42  and a computing element  44 . The polling element  42  in the system  40  shown is a person that looks at the counter  20  of the die  10  and notes the count displayed. The computing element  44  is a person, who may be the same person as the polling element  42 , who calculates a value related to an amount to be paid considering the displayed count. Other polling elements  42  and computing elements  44  may be used. For example, but without limitation, the polling element  42  may be a sensor or signal processor which may be linked by a communication apparatus to the computing element  44 . The computing element may be a processor programmed to convert the displayed count, optionally with other information, into an amount to be paid or a value related to an amount to be paid. The value related to an amount to be paid may be, for example but without limitation, a value indicating an amount to be paid for a part of a billing period or a base value to which taxes, currency exchange factors, mark ups or other modifications are applied. Other information which the computing element may consider could include a multiple selected to convert a number of uses into a base payment amount, a formula modifying the multiplier, for example to provide a volume discount or other variation in the multiplier, or price discounting or price inflating factors, for example an inflation factor.  
       FIG. 4  shows a method  50  of determining the number of uses of a die  10  or an amount to be paid for the use of a die  10 . In step  52  counter  20  is associated with a die  10 , for example by attaching the counter  20  to the die  10  such that the counter  20  will advance its count when the die  10  is used. In step  54 , the counter is indexed, for example by pushing a reset button to set the display to a base value, for example 0, or by noting the displayed value. In step  56 , the die  10  is provided to a user for use in cutting material. Optionally, steps  54  and  56  may be performed in reverse order. In step  58 , the counter  20  is polled to determine a count after a period of use. The polling may occur, for example, by visual inspection of the counter  20 , by electronic interrogation of the counter  20  or by configuring the counter  20  to automatically poll itself at time intervals or a sampling rate. In step  60 , the polled value is transferred to a computing element or to a location accessible to a computing element. In step  62 , an amount related to the amount to be charged for use of the die is determined. These steps, for example steps  58 - 62 , may be performed manually or some may be performed electronically. For example, in step  58 , an employee of the die maker may look at the die and note the count. For step  60 , the employee may tell the count to a contracts administrator. In step  62 , the contracts administrator may subtract a non-zero start count, if any, from the count to determine the number of times the die  10  has been used. The account administrator may then multiply the number of uses by an amount per use and apply any other adjustment factors according to an agreement between the die maker and the user. Various steps, for example steps  58  and  60  or  54 ,  58 ,  60  and  62  or  58 ,  60  and  62 , may be repeated in contracts in which a use of the die  10  continues after an amount is billed for use of the die  10  in a preceding period of time.  
      In either of the system or method or  FIG. 3  or  4 , the count may alternately correspond extent of use of the die  10  other than by reflecting the number of cuts. For example, where a counter is used that may advance its count in relation to cumulative thickness of material cut, an amount to pay for use of the die may be based on that count instead or on multiple counts reflecting the number of uses and cumulative thickness cut.  
      Values related to the extent of use of the die may also be used for other purposes or to determine the contractual consequences. For example the count could be used to keep track of a warranty period. A warranty period may have varying conditions, such as a replacement value, that would apply depending on the number of times the die has been used, cumulative thickness cut, or other value reflected by the count. For example, the warranty may provide for free replacement within the first 1,000 counts, replacement at half of the original cost during the next 1,000 counts and no replacement thereafter.  
      The embodiments described above give examples of the invention but do not limit the scope of the invention and the invention may be practiced with alternate apparatus elements or with alternate method steps.