Patent Application
20150210104
1. Field of the Disclosure
The invention relates to a minted bar made of precious metal.
2. Description of the Related Art
From the patent application DE 10 2010 030128 A1 a minted bar made of precious metal is known. Such minted bar is currently offered as 50 g minted and 100 g minted consisting of a plurality of interconnected miniature bars of the same size or weight, each having a fine weight of 1 g (fine gold, fine platinum) or 10 g (silver). The materials information “made of precious metal” specifically includes a precious metal having a fineness for gold, silver, and platinum of about 999.9/1000 gold, 999/1000 silver and 999.5/1000 platinum. The acquisition of such a minted bar with, for example, 100 1 g miniature bars is particularly advantageous compared to the acquisition of the according number of single 1 g bars, but more expensive than the acquisition of a 100 g standard bar. This is due to the fact that for known minted bars additional material, albeit a relatively small amount, is needed in comparison with standard bars of the same size in order to be able to ensure an impressed or embossed fine weight of precious metal for each miniature bar included in the minted bar.
A continuous metal band (for example of fine gold of a 999.9/1000 fineness) that is typically rolled up can be used for the manufacture of large quantities of minted bars as well as for bars manufactured according to a conventional embossing process. After the unrolling and possibly further processing steps such as, punching, etc., the embossing and, thus, the partition of each minted bar by means of grooves may be done in a single step, respectively. For this, dimensional accuracy and quality of the height of the embossed minted bar is particularly crucial for the required material addition, with the provision that better results are achievable with hydraulic presses of 2,000 t than with hydraulic presses of 400 t. For minted bars embossed with lighter hydraulic presses a higher amount of additional material is to be expected. Furthermore, these minted bars may still have a slight shape memory according to the originally rolled metal band and may therefore form a concave surface on the side of the grooves due to insufficient deformation. This disadvantageous form may for example complicate the storage of such minted bars in designated Plexiglas receptacles, since those may be pushed open or accidentally opened by the curved minted bars.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a minted bar that requires less additional material and costs thus less to manufacture and which forms a planar surface when using a lower embossing pressure. Furthermore, a minted bar is to be provided that still can be partitioned into individual miniature bars, but has an increased stability against breakage at least in one direction.
The problem may solved by a minted bar according to claim 1. The depending claims provide additional improvements.
It is an unexpected result that the inclination of the curvature resulting from the metal band can be reduced by providing a minted bar made of a precious metal, which is formed as a single piece and partitioned into individual miniature bars by straight grooves extending across the upper surface of the minted bar, wherein the grooves form separation points at which the individual miniature bars can be manually separated from each other, wherein at each individual miniature bar the information over the fine weight and the precious metal and the fineness is present, characterized in that at least one of the grooves is formed as a short groove, and terminates at another groove.
It is an unexpected result that the inclination of the curvature resulting from the metal band can be reduced by providing a minted bar made of a precious metal, which is formed as a rectangular single piece and partitioned into individual miniature bars by straight grooves extending across the upper surface in longitudinal and transverse direction, wherein the grooves form separation points at which the individual miniature bars can be manually separated from each other, wherein at each individual miniature bar the information over the fine weight and the precious metal and the fineness of the miniature bar is present, wherein at least one of the grooves is formed as a long groove that extends over the entire length or width of the minted bar and that is characterized in that at least one of the grooves is formed as a short groove, which extends in a normal direction relative to the long groove and further terminates at the long groove in a preferred embodiment.
In another embodiment this may be achieved by replacing at least one long groove of a known minted bar with a short groove that is not continuous but ends at a further long groove. Particularly along the long grooves extending in a longitudinal direction of the known minted bar the above mentioned inclination of the curvature appeared parallel to the groove. Due to the presence of the short groove an inhomogeneous material distribution is realized when observed in the direction of this groove over the entire length or width, accordingly. This inhomogeneous material distribution reduces on the one hand the inclination of the curvature parallel to the groove and prevents on the other hand the breaking of the minted bar at the short groove until the in normal direction adjoining long groove is broken of.
It is understood that the number of long grooves and the number of short grooves depends particularly from the number and the size of the individual miniature bars. A ratio between the number of long grooves and the number of shorts grooves in the range from about 0.2 to 0.5, and thus, for example, 3 long grooves and 9 short grooves or 2 long grooves and 7 short grooves, was found to be advantageous.
The form of the minted bar in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention resulting from the arrangement of the special grooves was fond to be especially advantageous, since the minted bar may now include a easily manageable denomination of various individual miniature bars, which can not be achieved with the miniature bars of known minted bars, at least not with the known uniform matrix form.
The reduction of the overall length of the grooves relative to the surface of the minted bar and further the reduction of the number of individual miniature bars compared to the above described known minted bars in matrix form can be seen as a further advantage. It is understood, that with a lower number of individual miniature bars also proportionally less additional material is needed.
Provided that the grooves of the minted bar do not intersect with each other at any point, an unintended breaking of the minted bar in one direction, i.e. in the longitudinal direction or in the transverse direction, can be effectively prevented.
Preferably, the minted bar comprises individual miniature bars of various fine weights selected from the group of 0.5 g, 1 g, 2 g, 10 g, 50 g, and 100 g, such that each of those individual miniature bars possesses a daily tradable standard weight and such that the minted bar can be usefully divided, such as observable with known denominations of coins or bills during every day cash transactions.
Alternatively, it is preferred that the individual miniature bars have various fine weights selected from the group of 1/20 ounce, 1/10 ounce, ¼ ounce, ½ ounce, 1 ounce, and 2 ounces.
As a highly preferred embodiment, a minted bar comprising a fine weight of 1 ounce and including two individual miniature bars with a fine weight of a quarter ounce each, two individual miniature bars with a fine weight of a tenth ounce each, and six individual miniature bars with a fine weight of a twentieth ounce each is proposed.
It is a further object of an embodiment of the present invention that the at least one short groove terminates with its other end at a further long groove.
According to the advantageous embodiments of the present invention, a receptacle suitable for planar reception of a minted bar in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention comprises trays, wherein one of the trays includes a number of recesses that correspond to the number of individual miniature bars of the minted bar, wherein the recesses are adapted to the base area of the individual miniature bars and are separated from each other by partition walls, wherein the form and arrangement of the partition walls correspond to the form and the arrangement of the grooves within the minted bar. This is especially advantageous since broken off individual miniature bars can be stored together with the remainder of the minted bar in a single receptacle.
In the following embodiments of the invention are explained in greater detail, by way of example only, making reference to the drawings in which:
Each of the individual miniature bars 2 shows in raised embossing a manufacturer's logo 11, further an indication of its material 8, namely fine gold, and its fine gold weight 9, i.e. 1/20, 1/10 or ¼ ounce as well as a fineness 10, here 999.9/1000 depicted with 9999.
Not shown is a receptacle suitable for planar reception of a minted bar in accordance with the figure. The receptacle comprises trays of transparent Plexiglas, wherein one of the trays includes a number of recesses that correspond to the number of individual miniature bars of the minted bar 1 and, thus, 10 is. The recesses are adapted to the base area of the individual miniature bars and are separated from each other by partition walls, wherein the form and arrangement of the partition walls correspond to the form and the arrangement of the grooves within the minted bar. Consequently, the minted bar can be securely stored even in a completely disassembled state.
While the invention has been described above by reference to various specific embodiments, it should be understood that numerous further alternative embodiments may exist within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described by combination of technical features that are disclosed and further known to a person skilled in the art or otherwise obvious. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the described embodiments, but will have full scope defined by the language of the following claims. Furthermore, the foregoing description may indicate to those skilled in the art an appropriate way to implement an exemplary embodiment. Many changes may be made relative to the function, number, and arrangement of the individual miniature bars and all the other mentioned elements without departing from the disclosed scope of the claims and equivalents thereof.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102014000778 | Jan 2014 | DE | national |
