Scaling Rules Patent Drawing Service Provider should Follow

What does scaling mean in patent drawings?

In our school days we used scales as an instrument to draw a straight line but in technical drawing ‘scale’ means the proportion of ratio between the dimensions adopted for the drawing and the corresponding dimensions of the object. For example, if we wish to create drawing for a room it will be impossible to use the actual size of the room in paper and thus we need to use scaling method as a representation so that others can understand the actual scene.

In other words, we can say that in patent drawings objects are often drawn to scale. The term ‘Scale’ in patent drawing refers to the relationship between the size of the object in the drawing and the actual size of the object after it is manufactured.

As a professional patent drawing service provider it is important to follow the rules of scaling otherwise you are risking rejection of your drawing.

Types of scales a patent drawing service provider should use:

There are mainly four kinds of scales those are available for professional draft persons and to let our readers know those we are listing them. A professional patent drawing service provider mainly uses one of these mentioned scale types.

Full Scale: Full-scale scaling is used mainly on smaller objects like machine parts and is represented as 1=1, 1/1, or 1:1. A full-scale scaling means that the size of the object in the drawing will be the same size as the object after it is manufactured. This scaling is usually possible on papers that are 136’ long and 88’ wide.

Half Scale: This means that the size of the object in drawing is half the size of the object after it is manufactured. When noting on a drawing that the object is drawn half scale, the draft person may write 1=1, 1/1, or 1:1

Double Scale: In some cases when the objects are very small like inside parts of a wrist watch, the dimensions adopted on the drawing will be bigger (usually double) than the actual dimensions of the objects then in that case it is represented by double scale. When noting on a drawing that the object is drawn half scale, the draft person may write 2=1, 2/1, 2:1 or 2x.

Quarter Scale: This means that the size of the object in drawing is one-fourth the size of the object after it is manufactured. While using a quarter scale, scaling method a draft-person should write 1=4; 1/4; or .25x

Types of Scaling on the basis of professions:

Civil Engineer’s Scale

Such scales are used to design large projects such as roads, bridges, dams and flyovers. In this kind of scaling, 1 inch on the scale can represent 100 feet in actual object. The civil engineer’s scale divides 1 inch into equal decimal units of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 80. Plans drawn in 10 scale may show scales such as 1 inch = 10 feet, 1 inch = 100 feet. Irrespective of the fact that whether you are using a 10 scale, 20 scale or 50 scale, the values always increase by multiples of 10.

Metric Scale

In metric scales a draft person generally uses the millimeter as its base measurement. Full size on the metric scale is shown as 1:1. Half scale is 1:2. It is helpful to think of this as one unit on the drawing equals two units on the object. A small object can be enlarged on the paper and drawn in 2:1 scale.

Architect’s Scale

In Architect’s scale, the size of the drawing is 1/48th the size of the actual building or project. This scaling system converts inches into feet and always read X inches = 1 foot 0 inches. The scale 1/4 inch = 1 foot 0 inches means that 1/4 inch in the drawing equals 1 foot in the actual building–or is drawn 1/48 size.

Scaling in patent drawings is important and it should be done consciously as there are plenty of rules and regulations those need to be followed while creating drawings for inventions. Not following those rules could be detrimental to our overall goal and thus a professional patent drawing service provider needs to obey each of these mentioned patent drawing rules.