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Sunday, December 12, 2010

(38) My Invention - the Polyclone Instant Rubber Stamp Machine.



The Polyclone Instant Rubber Stamp machine is my invention which hit the market. It was in the early 1990's when I wanted a rubber stamp made and was told by the maker that it will require me to wait for at least 7 days before it can be ready.


I was curious why such a simple product would need such a long time to be ready. I asked the owner of the shop to show me their operation and this was what I saw...



Racks and racks of lettering bits for the mold making

Stocks of matrix boards, plaster of Paris powder, glue etc

The worker operating the vulcanizing machine which was used to melt the rubber sheet into the plaster molds. 

The conventional  vulcanizing machine which had been used to make rubber stamps for the last few hundred years.




 How rubber stamps were made in the conventional ways:


1) Arrange the required print with the lettering bits. This is a very slow and tedious job which need high concentration and good eye sight.
2) They then have to make  a dough with the plaster of Paris which require a perfect mixture of the powder and water.
3) The arranged lettering bits will be pressed into the dough to form the 'reversed' mold. It will take a few hours for the mold to dry and harden.
4) A piece of raw rubber sheet will be placed over the mold and put into the vulcanizing machine which will melt the rubber sheet into the mold to form the relief of the rubber stamps.


This is indeed a very slow and messy operation. Mistakes are also very high.The designs are limited to the type of fonts of the lettering type bits they have. Logos and other special designs cannot be make. 


The Polyclone Instant rubber stamp machine


1993 marked the invention of the Polyclone Stamp machine.... In 1994, it won the Gold Medal at the Geneva International Invention competition in Switzerland and it completely revolutionised the art of making rubber stamp worldwide. 


At first, nobody would believe that rubber stamps could be produced in just 5 minutes using only plain tap water without any darkroom or chemical. 


Measuring just 14" X 14" X 3" and weighing no more than 10kg

Gold Medal Winner of the 1994 International Invention Competition of Geneva


Any design can be produce within 5 minutes


Pictures from newspapers, photographs or any computer printed can be transformed into very fine quality stamps.

An image taken from a newspaper made into a rubber stamp chop.

The Polyclone stamp machine was sold to almost every corner of the world... from Russia to Papua New Guinea.

So, when you see a sigboard hanging over a bookstore or a stationery shop advertising RUBBER STAMPS in 30 MINUTES.... you now know who made it possible eh? 




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