Abstract:
Disclosed is a thin die adapted to be used in a press and a die press system utilizing the thin die and a die press, such as a platen die press or a roller die press. The die disclosed herein includes a base or backing portion that provides rigidity to the die assembly. The base includes an indentation defining a border around the peripheral edge of the base. A thin die is housed in the indentation of the base. The thin die is positioned in the indentation and adhered using an adhesive, such that the raised portions of the thin die are facing away from the indentation in the base. Ejection foam is adhered to the raised portion side of the thin die by an adhesive so that the ejection foam protects the raised portion of the thin die and ejects a cut shape out of the sheet material.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/893,104, filed on Jul. 16, 2004 (Attorney Docket No. 021919-001720US) which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/488,570, filed on Jul. 17, 2003 (Attorney Docket No. 021919-001700US), each of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE  
       [0002]     Disclosed is a thin die adapted to be used in a press and, more particularly, disclosed is a thin die adapted to be used in a press, a system including a thin die and a press, and a method for making a thin die adapted to be used in a press.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Dies and sheet cutting presses are used to cut various patterns out of sheet materials. The presses may take the form of a platen die press or a roller die press. The presses are designed to apply uniform pressure to a die to cut through a sheet or a plurality of sheets simultaneously. Dies also may be used for embossing images onto sheet materials. Typically, the sheets are placed between the die and a cutting pad, with the steel rule and the die extending through the sheets and slightly into the cutting pad when pressure is applied to the die. Die presses are used commercially, as well as by consumers. Typically, a variety of shapes are provided by the various dies available. For example, typical dies include shapes that range from the letters in the alphabet, numbers, and various other shapes, such as moons, stars, animals, trees, and various other shapes.  
         [0004]     Typically, the dies include a base material, such as plywood or plastic, that houses a steel rule that is formed to the desired cutting shape. A rubber material is then glued to the plywood or plastic base so that the rubber extends above the height of the sharpened edge of the bent steel rule shape, so that the rubber protects the steel rule and acts as an ejector means to eject the cut sheet material from the steel rule after the cutting process.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     Disclosed is a thin die adapted to be used in a press. The die disclosed herein includes a base or backing portion that provides rigidity to the die assembly. The base includes an indentation defining a border around the peripheral edge of the base. A thin die is housed in the indentation of the base and the thin die is adhered to the indentation of the base by an adhesive. The thin die is positioned in the indentation of the base so that raised portions of the thin die are facing away from the indentation in the base to allow the thin die to cut into and emboss a sheet material. Ejection foam is adhered to the raised portion side of the thin die by an adhesive so that the ejection foam protects the raised portion of the thin die and provides an ejection means of the cut out shape of the sheet material.  
         [0006]     Also disclosed is a die and press system utilizing the thin die disclosed herein. Included in the system is a die press, which may be a platen die press or a roller die press. The die press includes a cutting pad that allows the die to cut through the sheet material and into the cutting pad, if a platen die press is used. The system further includes a thin die adapted to be used with a die press. The thin die includes a base portion, a thin die portion, and an ejection foam portion, wherein the base portion and the ejection foam portion sandwich the thin die portion so that the thin die is located in an indentation located in the base and is adhered to the base by an adhesive. Further, the ejection foam portion is adhered to the thin die portion so as to protect raised portions of the thin die portion. The ejection foam protects the raised portions of the thin die portion and acts as an ejection means to eject the cut shapes from the sheet material.  
         [0007]     Also disclosed herein is a method of making a thin die, wherein the method includes the steps of providing a steel material, chemical etching away a portion of the steel material so as to leave at least one raised portion on one surface of the steel material to provide a shape in the steel material. The process further includes adhering the steel material to a base portion so that the raised portion of the steel material is exposed on one side. Further, an ejection foam is adhered to the cutting side of the steel material to protect the raised portions of the steel die and to act as an ejection means to eject the cut shape from a sheet material used in a cutting process.  
         [0008]     In another aspect of the disclosure, a method of making a thin die is disclosed wherein a second etching process is incorporated after stripping the laminating film off of the raised or cutting portion of the die. The second etching step typically lasts from 10 to 25 seconds, and more preferably from 15 to 20 seconds, depending upon the steel being chemically etched and the strength and composition of the chemical etching solution. The secondary etching step removes the sharp edges from the cutting surface to provide a sharper cut when the thin die is used. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     The disclosure will now be described in greater detail with reference to the embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like elements bear like reference numerals and wherein:  
         [0010]      FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of a thin die according to the present disclosure;  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  illustrates a cross-sectional view taken from line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1  according to the present disclosure;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2   a  illustrates a close-up view of a raised portion of a cutting die.  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  illustrates a bottom-view of the thin die according to the present disclosure;  
         [0014]      FIG. 3   a  illustrates a cross sectional view taken along line  3   a - 3   a  from  FIG. 3 .  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  illustrates a system utilizing a platen or roller press and a thin die according to the present disclosure;  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  illustrates the process of making a thin die according to the present disclosure;  
         [0017]      FIG. 6  illustrates a top view of the thin die with the ejection foam removed;  
         [0018]      FIG. 7  illustrates a side profile view of the raised or cutting edge of the die portion with the laminating film left on the raised cutting portion, this is what the die portion looks like after the etching step but before the stripping of the laminating film; and  
         [0019]      FIG. 8  illustrates the finished die portion after the laminating film has been removed and after the die portion has been exposed to a secondary etching process to remove the sharp edges from the raised cutting portion of the die. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0020]     Disclosed is a thin die that is adapted to be used in a die press, such as a platen die press or a roller die press. As shown in  FIG. 1 , disclosed is a thin die, such as a chemical etched die assembly  100 . The die assembly  100  includes a base portion  102  and an ejection foam portion  104 . As will be further described below, the ejection foam portion  104  has a shape  106  that follows the contour of a raised portion of the thin die portion of the assembly. The shapes  106  are defined by shape borders  108 . The shape borders  108  define the shapes  106  in the ejection foam  104  and are created during the first use of the chemical etched die assembly  100 , which the first use may be done at the factory to test the die or may be accomplished by the user of the die assembly  100 . The ejection foam portion  104  includes an ejection foam border  110  that follows a border  112  of the base portion.  
         [0021]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional side-view taken from line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 2  illustrates how the portions are assembled to comprise the final assembly configuration of the die assembly  100 . The base portion  102  includes a base portion indentation  202  to define the base portion peripheral border  112 . The chemical etched die  206  includes a relatively flat portion  207  and an opposite raised portion as defined by  208  and lower portions  210 . The flat portion  207  of the chemical etched die  206  is adhered to the base indentation  202  so that the chemical etched die  206  is located in and surrounded by the base portion peripheral border  112 . A layer of adhesive  204  adheres the chemical etched die flat portion  207  to the base indentation  202 . This adhesive  204  may be a foam adhesive, a spray adhesive or any other means to adhere the flat portion  207  of the chemical etched die to the base indentation portion  202 .  
         [0022]     The ejection foam portion  104  is adhered to the lower portions  210  of the chemical etched die  206 . The ejection foam portion  104  is adhered to the lower portions  210  of the chemical etched die  206  by an adhesive  212 . The adhesive  212  may be a foam adhesive, spray adhesive, or any other means to adhere the ejection foam portion  104  to the lower portions  210  of the chemical etched die  206 . The close-up view shown in  FIG. 2   a,  illustrates one exemplary embodiment wherein the ejection foam adhesive  212  is limited to the lower portions  210  of the chemical etched die  206 . In this embodiment, this configuration prevents the ejection foam material  104  from binding or interfering with the raised portion, or cutting surface  208  of the chemical etched die  206 . In the alternative, the adhesive is adhered to the lower portions  210 , as well as the raised cutting portions  208 . In this embodiment, when the first use or cut of the die occurs, the raised portion  208  of the die simply cuts through the adhesive and the ejection foam. The height of the raised or cutting portion of the die portion is 0.021 inches, with the base of the die portion being 0.010 inches. The base of the raised or cutting portion of the die portion is approximately 0.021 inches wide at the bottom and is approximately 0.004 inches wide at the top, with a cutting flat surface of approximately 0.002 inches wide. Of course these dimensions are exemplary only and not intended to limit the claims. For example, the top of the raised cutting portion could range anywhere from 0.001 inches to 0.005 inches, for example without crushing the material to be cut.  
         [0023]      FIG. 3  illustrates the bottom of the chemical etched die assembly  100 , wherein only the base portion  102  is viewed. The base portion  102  includes a back-side  300 . The back-side  300  includes a back-side indentation  302 . The back-side indentation  302  allows for a label  304  with identifying indicia  306  to be located in the back-side indentation  302 . As shown in  FIG. 3   a,  which is a cross-sectional view taken from line  3   a - 3   a  from  FIG. 3 . The depth of the back-side indentation  302  is greater than the height of label  304  so that the forces transferred through the die assembly  100  are uniform across the die assembly  100  when the die assembly  100  is used with a die press. This is represented in  FIG. 3   a  wherein the depth of the back-side indentation  302  is identified by d and the height of the label  304  is identified by h, wherein d&gt;h.  
         [0024]     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the thin die disclosed herein may be used with a platen die press  402  with a cutting pad  404  and an optional adaptor  406 . In the alternative, the thin die  100  disclosed herein may be used with a roller press  406 . Sheet material  408 , which may comprise paper, plastic, leather, or a variety of other materials, is placed between the thin die  100  and the cutting pad  404 . Pressure is applied to the thin die  100  through the platen press  402  so that the raised portion for the cutting portion  208  of the chemical etched die portion  206  is forced into and through the sheet material  408  and into the cutting pad  404  so that the desired shape is cut out of the sheet material  408 . In the alternative, chemical etched die embosses the shape of the raised portion of the die into the sheet material  408 . In this embodiment, the raised portion  208  is not as sharp so as to not cut through the sheet material  408  when pressure is applied to the die from the press.  
         [0025]     If a roller press  406  is used with the thin die  100  disclosed herein, sheet material  408  and the thin die is fed through the rollers of the roller press  406  so that pressure is exerted to the thin die  100  and to the sheet material  408  so that the desired shape is cut out of the sheet material  408 . If a roller press  406  is utilized, the rollers may include a rubber or other resilient layer so that the raised portion or cutting portion  208  of the chemical etched die  206  does not become damaged when being fed through the rollers of the roller press  406 .  
         [0026]     Also disclosed herein is a method for making a thin die assembly  100 , as disclosed herein.  FIG. 5  illustrates the method of making the thin die, which includes the steps of providing a sheet of flat stock material that may be a spring steel with a 45 high hardness or HRC rating. The steel material is cleaned to remove dirt and oils from the steel surfaces. The steel material is also degreased to remove the grease from the steel sheet stock material. The steel sheet stock is then water rinsed to remove any dcgrcasing material on the steel surfaces. The steel material then may be acid rinsed to further remove any grease or other particles on the surfaces of the steel material. The steel material is then again water rinsed to remove any remaining acid chemicals on the steel surfaces. The steel material is then scrubbed with a scrubbing roller. The scrubbing roller may be made of a nylon material. The steel material is then rinsed again and the steel material is then dried. The steel material is then dusted to remove any dust on the steel surfaces. Next, the steel surfaces that are not to be chemical etched away, are laminated with a dry film. The dry film may be a dry film with a specification of a YQ-30SD. The dry film is applied upon to the steel surfaces at a temperature of 115° C. at a pressure of 70 pounds per square inch or psi. The laminated film is cxposed to make the image and/or the word into a negative on the steel surface, with the negative result being on the steel surface being exposed with a strong light. This developing process is completed at a temperature 12° C. and a pressure of −720 mmHg. The laminate is developed by the steps of removing the dry film without exposing the dry film, to get the image and the word located on a surface of the steel material. A developing solution includes a chemical known as NaCO 3  at a 1% solution, and at a temperature of 30° C., and at a pressure of 1.5 kg/cm 2  and with a contact time of 50 seconds of the developing solution with the laminated steel material. The steel material is then water rinsed and blow dried.  
         [0027]     Next, the steel material is chemical etched without the dry film in with a chemical solution of FeCL 3  to get the image and/or the word on the steel material. It is this step that creates the raised or cutting portions  208  and the lower portion  210 . It is the lower portion  210  that is etched away, while the raised portion or cutting portion  208  remains at the original thickness of the steel material. The etching process includes a chemical known as FeCL 3  41%, with a specific gravity of 1.41, HCL 31% with a specific gravity of 1.151, and PC-420 with a specific gravity of 1.288. Further, this is conducted at a temperature of 48° C., and a pressure of 3.0 kg\cm 2  and with the steel material being exposed to this chemical solution approximately 15 to 30 minutes long, and more preferably 15 to 25 minutes long.  
         [0028]     Next, steel material with the resulting chemical etched away surfaces is water rinsed and blow dried. Next, the dry laminated film is stripped away from the raised or cutting portion  208  with a chemical known as NaOH at 5%, at a temperature of 48° C. and at a pressure of 2.0 kg\cm 2  and at a contact time of 60 seconds. The steel material has the near net shape as shown in  FIG. 7  before the laminated film is stripped away from the cutting portion  208 . At this point, in one embodiment, the steel material is then exposed to a secondary etching step after the dry laminated film has been stripped away from the raised or cutting portion  208 . The secondary etching process may last anywhere between 10 to 30 seconds, and more preferably lasts 15 to 20 seconds long, depending upon the composition of the metal being etched and the composition of the chemical etching solution.  FIG. 8  illustrates the steel material after the dry laminated film has been removed from the raised or cutting portion  208  and after the steel material has been exposed to the secondary etching process. More specifically, the secondary etching process removes edges  501  and  503  shown in  FIG. 7 . The resulting shape is a die that has a raised cutting portion  208  of approximately 0.021 inches wide and approximately 0.031 inches in overall height, but the height is not limited to this dimension. The width of the top of the raised portion  208  is approximately 0.004 inches, and more specifically, the flat cutting surface is approximately 0.002 inches wide at the top of the raised or cutting portion  208 , but could be 0.001 to 0.005 inches wide.  
         [0029]     Next, the steel material with the etched net shape is exposed to a chemical etch process again, without any dry laminated film located over the raised or cutting portion  208 . This takes away any sharp edges from the raised or cutting portion  208  and further defines the raised or cutting portion  208 . This step is known as a second etching step. In this step, the steel material with the near net shape is exposed to the etching chemicals for approximately 20 to 25 seconds; however, this length of time is exemplary only and is a function of the thickness of the chemical etched die and the strength and composition of the chemical etching materials.  
         [0030]     Next, the steel material is pressure rinsed and blow dried, and then an antioxidant may be applied to the steel material. The antioxidant must not interfere with the adhesion of the ejection foam onto the steel material or the adhesion of the steel material onto the base portion  102 . Next, the resulting steel material, otherwise known as the chemical etched die portion  206 , is applied to the base portion  102 , and then the ejection foam material  104  is applied to the cutting side of the chemical etched die  206 . The sponge material that is used may be known as PORON, a cellular urethane foam, part number 470130-25025-04, from Rogers Corporation, Woodstock, Conn. In the alternative, the sponge material may be of the neoprene family and, more particularly, a synthetic neoprene, such as chloroprene rubber, otherwise known as CR foam. CR foam is a durable and relatively inexpensive foam since it is synthetic.  
         [0031]     The steel sheet stock that is provided may allow a plurality of chemical etched dies  206  to be etched from one piece of sheet stock. Therefore, a plurality of chemical etched dies  206  may be machined from piece of sheet stock, with the separation of the individual dies from the sheet stock being accomplished in the etching step.  
         [0032]     Although this disclosure has been shown and described with respect to detailed embodiments, those skilled in the art will understand that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, for example, in one embodiment, the steel material is shipped in rolls for ease of shipping. The steel material is unrolled and cut into specific sizes to maximize the sheet yield depending upon the size of the dies to be etched from the sheets. The steel sheets are then flattened by sending the steel sheets through rollers and then the steel sheets are cleaned. The material is then cleaned and then the laminating dry film is applied to the surfaces and the material is then rinsed prior to the anti-oxidation step. The chemical etching assembly line may include a number of etching sections for providing the operator an opportunity to check quality of the pieces between each etching section or module. Further, a chemical etching regeneration system, such as the one available from Japan Aqua Co., Ltd. located in Osaka, Japan helps to control the chemical composition to the desired rates during the etching process.