Intaglio printing block with reservoir for powdered ink

Claim 1

An apparatus for applying characters to flexible tacky sheet material, said apparatus comprising in combination: at least one rectangular prism printing block having an intaglio printing face on one surface thereof, said face being formed by an image well, at least a part of said well being at least 0.125 inch deep, and the land area surrounding the mouth of said well being relatively flat for a distance of at least 0.015 inch from the edge of said mouth, whereby said image well forms a reservoir to contain a supply of freely flowable powdered ink; and a holding means for securely holding said printing blocks in releasable complementary arrangement whereby said blocks provide a desired character arrangement, said means comprising a pair of holding arms secured to each other in spaced substantially parallel relationship by releasable spring clamps, said holding arms having a friction increasing material on the inner opposing surfaces thereof in contact with said printing blocks.

Claim 2

An apparatus for applying characters to flexible tacky sheet material, said apparatus comprising in combination: at least one rectangular prism printing block having an intaglio printing face on one surface thereof, said face being formed by an image well, at least a part of said well being at least 0.125 inch deep, and the land area surrounding the mouth of said well being relatively flat for a distance of at least 0.015 inch from the edge of said mouth, whereby said image well forms a reservoir to contain a supply of freely flowable powdered ink; and a holding means for securely holding said printing blocks in releasable complementary arrangement whereby said blocks provide a desired character arrangement, said means comprising a pair of holding arms secured to each other in spaced substantially parallel relationship by releasable spring clamps, said holding arms having a friction increasing material on the inner opposing surfaces thereof in contact with said printing blocks.

Claim 3

An apparatus for applying characters to flexible tacky sheet material, said apparatus comprising in combination: at least one printing block having at least one intaglio surface, said face being formed by at least one image well at least 0.125 inch deep, the land area surrounding the mouth of said well being relatively flat for a distance of at least 0.015 inch from the edge of said mouth, at least a portion of the depth of said image well being greater than the width of said well mouth in said printing face to a well depth of 0.5 inch, and a pair of holding arms secured to each other in spaced substantially parallel relationship by releasable clamps for securely holding printing blocks in releasable complementary arrangement, said holding arms having a friction increasing material on the inner opposing surfaces thereof in contact with printing blocks.

Claim 4

An apparatus for applying characters to flexible tacky sheet material, said apparatus comprising in combination: at least one printing block having at least one intaglio surface, said face being formed by at least one image well at least 0.125 inch deep, the land area surrounding the mouth of said well being relatively flat for a distance of at least 0.015 inch from the edge of said mouth, at least a portion of the depth of said image well being greater than the width of said well mouth in said printing face to a well depth of 0.5 inch, and a pair of holding arms secured to each other in spaced substantially parallel relationship by releasable clamps for securely holding printing blocks in releasable complementary arrangement, said holding arms having a friction increasing material on the inner opposing surfaces thereof in contact with printing blocks.