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FLAMELESS SEAL MAKER

(Patent  File no:2036/CHE/2008)

 

 

 

 

Traditional  System of Sealing using Naked Flames

 

 

 

AIM OR OBJECT OF INVENTION:

            The rationale behind the construction of the model is, the felt necessity of avoiding fire related hazards while affixing seal in confidential articles, valuable documents and  packages . This is a breakthrough alternate of the existing process  of sealing  since  it  totally eliminates  the  use of  fire to melt lac or wax for sealing, runs  on electricity, let the user controls the flow of lac or  wax  by pressing a piston thus  ensuring   a    uniform   and   beautiful    seal  imprint.

 

THE PRESENT SYSTEM

1.      At present seals are affixed in confidential materials such as Covers/Boxes/Ballot boxes/Question and Answer bundles and even  locked  rooms using inflammable materials such as match box, sealing lac(wax), candle, kerosene lamp etc.

 

2.      Making  seals using  fire and  flames  in highly confidential  and  most valuable materials  is a dangerous and risky job.

 

3.      This system of sealing  is not only practiced  in   all Government offices but also by  the common  people while  sending  parcels by post.

 

 

 

 

DRAWBACKS IN THE TRADITIONAL  WAY OF MAKING SEALS:

 

1.      Normally, sealing the top secret articles is performed by high ranking officials, confidentially. As the sealing work is a risky,  they always  require  a skilled labour/staff.  At times, this top officials has to do this work themselves confidentially while sealing TOP SECRET articles.

 

2.       Traditional  way affixing seals  using inflammable materials is a highly dangerous job. Unless this work is performed by a trained staff, the safety of the most valuable and unsubstitutable  articles will be at stake.

 

3.       The temperature of the  molten wax  is more than 160 C degree . It causes serious burn injury when  comes into contacts with   skin.

 

4.        The smoke come out while burning the lac will create respiratory problems and allergy to the users.

 

 

IMPORTANCE OF SEALING SYSTEM:

 

1.       Affixing seals is a statutory or constitutional requirement. There is no valid/recognized alternate method for this system. 

 

2.       This system is followed with great care and importance in Election Commission/ Schools and colleges/ Exam Departments/UPSC/TNPSC/ Courts and Govt Departments under the supervisition of higher officials in India and  even all over the world.

  

HISTORY OF TRADITIONAL SEALING  IN INDIA:

 1.      The first “Paper Government” started during the period of Mugal Emperor Jagangir three hundred years ago.(Paper Govt. means issuing Royal orders/circulars in plain papers in writing  duly signed by the Emperor or Ministers)

 2.       The System of  sealing  in  official covers with  Royal stamping  started during this Mugal period.

3.      During  British regime, the same system followed with  British  tradition.

 4.    The sealing system practiced in India till now (using flames) is       the same system that is being practiced  since the Mugal  Emperor  Jahangir

 

SOURCE OF IDEA: The inventor of this system is a girl  student. While studying her  School final she used to come over  to her father`s office (Sub Treasury  office -which is opposite to her school) after the classes were over.  She used to witness the process of sealing the Treasury strong room by her father with lac stick  and  candle flame.  This prompted her to  ask her father about the purpose  and importance  of sealing the Govt. Treasury and  knew the statutory requirements of sealing in all Govt. offices. At times she happened to see her father receiving  burn injuries  at  his fingers  by the molten wax  during the manual sealing process.  Yet another incident she came across  in this regard was the incident of fire at an  examination valuation centre(SSLC) at Vellore, Tamil Nadu, last year just 2 hours after the sealing of strong room where the exam answer sheet were kept for safe custody. She spent a  sleepless night on  that day because she herself also had written  SSLC exam during that batch itself. Later it is reported in the news papers that the left over flames of seals affixed using flames might be one among the cause of fire. This incidents triggered her scientific temper and started designing of safe system of sealing  which avoids  the use of fire to melt the lac.

 SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLE INVOLVED

       The scientific principle involved in this model is, the process of heating through coils by Electricity -  that is the conversion of electrical energy into heat energy. By this heat energy,  the lac or wax is getting molted which is allowed to flow on the  surface of the valuable article for affixing seal.

DESCRIPTION OF THE MODEL

 A. Construction and working of the invention (New improved Model)

      . This flameless seal maker can be operated either by batteries AC/DC current. The new improved model of the Flameless Seal Maker consists of a   cylindrical Teflon body so as to withstand the heat of 160 degree Celsius plus - the melting point of the lac. Teflon also being a bad conductor resists or minimizes the  heat produced in the bore passing  on the  outer surface or body of the device  The lac or wax  pieces - the basic material for sealing -can  be  loaded  in the open  loading zone (central part of the device) and which will be pressed or pushed inside  the bore with the press of the spring piston. The lac or wax pieces thus pushed into the metal bore got molted  by the heat produced by the coil wounded around  the bore under the melting point of  the lac 160 degree Celsius . When  the loaded  piece of lac or wax  begins to melt   the user  have to load another piece and push the piston down wards. Now the molten wax  allowed  to flow  through the nozzle over  the desired area ie in a cover/parcel/ box for affixing the  seal by the competent  authority.  By  varying the pressure of the piston  the user can control the flow of molten wax according to the need. The temperature of the heat is controlled by the thermostat control fitted inside the device

 

B. models of  the Flameless Seal Maker

               Development and improvements have been made in the design of  the Flameless seal maker for the past two years. Accordingly the flameless seal maker has been improved or modified on three occasions as noted  below  as per the  experience gained and the feed backs by the users.

 

         1.   Brass model  : ( Brass metal casing)

         2.   Teflon Model: (Teflon casing- won II prize in IGNITE 2009)

 3.   New  improved  Model: ( Hylem & PP model, now submitted for IGNITE 2010)   

 

                                     Brass Model                                      Teflon Model                             New Improved Model

           

 

ADVANTAGES OF NEW FLAMELESS  SEAL  MAKER:

 

1.     Flameless seal maker is simple, elegant and safe device working on the principle of heating element through electricity.

 

2.     Just load the wax in the outside loading zone, plug into power supply and we  can make beautiful seals within minutes. We can even control the flow of the lac wax through a piston

 

3.    Light weight, handy, very easy to handle even  with single hand. Can be handled anybody with ease. No need of trained labour to do this work. Operates in low voltage. No electric  shock, minimum power consumption

 

4.    Any number of seals can be affixed at a time by continuous loading lax or wax pieces into the open loading zone. (near about 100 seals in 10 minutes)

 

5.    Thermostat facility is provided in the device so that automatic cut off and on of the power supply as per the stipulated temperature   in the bore.

 

6.    Hassle free, hazard free, smoke free, heat free, heat burns free - above all fire risk free safe, and continuous affixing of seals single handedly even by the user/official him/herself confidentially.

 

FAQ on Seal Maker

What is sealing?    

Pakistan Police has sealed

Terrorists offices”

 

 “Tight Police Bundobust for

the sealed ballot box”

         You might have often read such news in news papers. What is meant by sealing?:

Sealing is a process of closing an safe custody article (Cover/Box/Room) for security or legal  or personal purposes.  Sealing an article makes  it private until it is opened by the person to whom it is addressed to. By using your own Seal you will uphold this time-honored tradition, even in today's hi-tech world. From a teenager to a Head-of-State, a personal seal lends dignity, prestige, Thus the seal serves as a stamp of indisputable authenticity, just as a signature is accepted in the world today since time immemorial .

What is meant by affixing seal? (The Present System) 

When lac or wax  stick  is  exposed to a candle flame for some time,  it get heated and melts at high temperature.  The molten lac is carefully let on the place where the seal has to be affixed, the authoritative  or personalized  metal  seal is pressed.   This is called affixing seals


This seems to be  very easy!

You may think that affixing seal using naked flames is very simple. But the fact is different. When the lac stick  is exposed to fire, it melts  at high temperature. If this extremely hot molten lac by mistake splits and  comes to contact  with the skin, that spot develops into a serious fire-sore.

Oh! Is  there any of  risk of fire in this system?

Yes absolutely.  There is possible risk of fire  while using naked flames.  Yet there is no other way but to handle easily combustible material in the vicinity of precious documents.  So  unless this work is  carried out  with great caution by a trained person, the safety of the  valuable articles to be sealed will be at stake.

Had such fire accidents actually  happened ever before? 

 Yes.  One such  fire accident had actually occurred  during April 2008  in   an Valuation Centre  at Vellore (Tamul Nadu - India.)  wherein thousands of School Final Exam  answer sheets were reduced to ashes  just two hours of sealing  the valuation centre by lac seal.  The possibility of  sabotage or electricity leakage and short circuit was  already  ruled out by the  police as the cause of fire.  News paper reports suggested that the left over flames of sealing might be the  cause of this accident.

 Instead of encountering such difficulties why not do away the sealing practice?

Affixing lac seals is a  traditional procedure  practiced by the Governments all over the world to keep official secrecy from time immemorial. A certificate without a rubber stamps seal is not valid. Likewise the Lac seal is required to ascertain validity and authority. Now a days a rubber stamp or office seal  impression can easily made printable through computers and printers with  even more clarity. Yet this print out stamps are not having the legal or official validity. Like wise there may be many modern methods for sealing covers. Yet lac sealing is the only recognized  official procedure as here the sealing is affixed personally  by  a exclusive metal seal by the official himself. So it become necessary to improve the same traditional system using modern technology instead of doing away with this practice.

 Is there no  modern method  for safe sealing?  

The very same  question was actually raised  4 years  before by a school girl. The  student used to go to her father’s office after her school was over so as to accompany her father to home.  At that time she used to witness her father  sealing the strong of the Govt Treasury after closure of office hours. She  raised her father to the above question. Her father replied  “  “If there is a new method for this, you find it for  at least to  save my fingers from frequent fire burns.” This casual and playful remark was taken as challenge by the girl student. At this time, the news about fire in  Exam valuation centre Vellore, Tamil Nadu   came to light.  So during her summer holidays she took this project and worked hard to find a solution. After 6 months of research and several trial and errors  finally she  succeeded in designing a new model- Flameless Seam Maker

Oh! It is  very interesting… What is her new system – Flameless Seal Maker?

 Lac sealing using naked flame is  the system followed in many countries especially common wealth nations even to day. Flameless Seal Maker(FSM) device  come to rescue for this age old problem which is  the first and only device in the world designed for this specific purpose. This is a breakthrough alternate of the existing process  of sealing  since  it  totally eliminates  the  use of  fire to melt lac or wax, runs  on electricity, let the user controls the flow of lac by pressing a piston thus  ensuring   a    crisp, razor sharp, uniform, accurate and beautiful  seal imprints! 

Let  me  brief  the working of the device and its advantageous?  

Flameless Seal Maker is  a  fire  risk free,. hassle free, hazard free, smoke free, heat free, heat burns free, tired free   new device for  affixing  seals.  It works on the principle of  heating through electricity. The machine is so light ( just 130g) that it can be handled even with a single  hand.  Just load the  piece of lac or wax sticks in the open loading zone, plug into power supply  press the piston. You can get beautiful, crisp, razor sharp and accurate  seal imprints with amazing speed. The flow of  molten wax  can be controlled manually by the pressing of a piston.  Even there is no need for training  to operate  this  device.  You can seal your own secret documents of your own confidentially  without depending  a trained person. You need not   worry  about the risk of  “ playing with fire” .  Now It  becomes  just  “Plug and play”.

 
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