Patents Examined by John S. Hilten
  • Patent number: 6751572
    Abstract: A part measurement system includes a press machine, a part measurement sensor, a part forming rail, and a press controller. The press machine includes a lower die coupled to an upper die, wherein the lower die includes a top surface supporting a strip of material to be formed into a part after a stripper plate coupled to the upper die contacts the strip of material. The part measurement sensor is located in the lower die and measures a critical dimension of the part while the part is in the lower die. The part forming rail is coupled to the lower die. The forming rail and the upper die form the critical dimension of the part. The press controller is coupled to the press machine and the sensor. The controller processes a measurement signal from the part measurement sensor of the critical dimension of the part, compares the measurement signal to a predetermined threshold value, and generates a command signal to the press machine to adjust the forming rail based on the measurement signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2004
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Ronald A. Modesto, Robert Wojczak, Scott Krupp, Yvonne Luzney, Daniel Lappi
  • Patent number: 6655278
    Abstract: An apparatus for positional adjustment of a plate cylinder in both lateral and circumferential directions thereof for image registration in a multicolor, offset rotary printing press. A lateral adjustment mechanism includes a spur gear which is motor driven bidirectionally, and which travels laterally back and forth, to cause lateral displacement of the plate cylinder. The gear has a pin erected eccentrically thereon for abutment against a fixed limit stop on the press frame in order to limit the bidirectional rotation of the gear and hence to prevent the plate cylinder from being driven laterally beyond limits. A circumferential adjustment mechanism includes another spur gear which is motor driven bidirectionally, and which also travels laterally back and forth, to cause circumferential displacement of the plate cylinder. This second gear has a double-ended pin extending eccentrically therethrough and having its ends projecting in opposite directions therefrom.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2003
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho
    Inventor: Takanobu Kawabata
  • Patent number: 6637865
    Abstract: A liquid discharge head comprises a plurality of main discharge ports arranged at predetermined intervals, at least one sub-discharge port arranged in the arrangement direction of the main discharge ports on both end sides of the arrangement direction of main discharge ports at intervals larger than the intervals of the main discharge port arrangement, a plurality of liquid chambers having these plural discharge ports open thereto, a common liquid chamber having these liquid chambers communicated therewith, and liquid being supplied thereto, and a plurality of discharge energy generating units provided for each of the liquid chambers corresponding to the main discharge ports and the sub-discharge ports to generate discharge energy utilized for discharging liquid from the main discharge ports and the sub-discharge ports.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2003
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shuichi Murakami, Toshiaki Hirosawa, Takayuki Murata, Shogo Kawamura, Tetsuya Edamura
  • Patent number: 6633320
    Abstract: A multi-gradation recording method comprising the steps of: providing a thermal transfer recording medium comprising a substrate, a release layer, a first ink layer and a second ink layer provided in this order on the substrate, and carrying out a gradation recording using the thermal transfer recording medium, the step of carrying out a gradation recording comprising: (a) in the case of recording in a middle density/high density region, carrying out a gradation expression based on an area gradation expression by transferring the first ink layer and the second ink layer together, and (b) in the case of recording in a low density region, carrying out a gradation expression by transferring only the second ink layer by causing a cohesive failure in the second ink layer, thereby changing the area of transferred ink per one dot and the thickness of transferred ink dots.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2003
    Assignees: Fujicopian Co., Ltd., Alps Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jun Sogabe, Fumio Uetsuji, Yoshiyuki Asabe, Yasutoshi Inoue
  • Patent number: 6623101
    Abstract: The invention concerns an ink jet printhead including: a plurality of nozzles each adapted to eject drops of ink 14 toward a surface to be printed; wherein, each of the nozzles has an external actuator 10 and an apertured roof portion 6; the roof portion 6 defining an inner surface for contacting the ink and an opposing outer surface operatively connected to the external actuator 10 such that the actuator 10 moves the roof portion 6 away from the surface to be printed to eject the ink 14.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2003
    Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd
    Inventors: Kia Silverbrook, Gregory John McAvoy
  • Patent number: 6601010
    Abstract: A force plate actometer apparatus (30) is provided which is designed for the efficient and accurate testing of in vivo subjects (e.g., rats and mice) under the influence of drugs or other stimuli, and permits simultaneous determination of a number of attributes of movement of the subjects. The apparatus (30) includes a force plate (32), a plurality of transducers (46) supporting the plate (32), and a computer (40) coupled to the outputs of the transducers (46); an enclosure (38) is positioned above the plate (32) so as to confine the test subjects to a predetermined test area. Preferred software programs (4PLATES.PAS and OFFLINP.PAS) permit calculation and recording of test subject movement attributes derived from the variation over time of the location and/or magnitude of force exerted by the test subject on the plate (32).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2003
    Assignee: The University of Kansas
    Inventors: Stephen C. Fowler, Troy Zarcone
  • Patent number: 6582053
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a liquid jet recording head is arranged to include the step of connecting, by use of a single point bonder, TAB tapes for supplying electric power with a chip for a liquid jet recording head having, on the central part thereof, an ink supply hole and discharge energy transducing devices for discharging ink. For this method of manufacture, the inner leads of the TAB tapes are connected with the electrode pads on the chip by use of a single point bonding tool having a groove structure formed by two grooves configured to intersect vertically at the tip thereof. With the method of manufacture thus arranged, there is no need for the enhancement of adsorption to fix the chip on the chip stage of an ILB bonder. The fixation is possible with a comparatively weak adsorption in this respect. Hence there is no fear that dust particles or the like in the atmosphere are sucked and adhere to the upper surface of discharge energy transducing devices on the chip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2003
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Makoto Terui
  • Patent number: 6575647
    Abstract: A collapsible keyboard that is collapsible between a deployed configuration in which the keyboard is generally planar and a collapsed configuration, the keyboard being foldable about three substantially parallel axes between the deployed and collapsed configurations, the keyboard having four rigid subframes for supporting keys, each subframe being pivotally connected at a folding axis to an adjacent subframe. The keyboard preferably has support frames supporting keys thereon. The keys are slidable and are connected by flexible connectors that span the axes. The keyboard can be locked in either the collapsed or deployed configuration and can be combined with a remote communication unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2003
    Inventor: Simon Richard Daniel
  • Patent number: 6564169
    Abstract: A method is provided to capture and process wire guidance fire control command tones. The method is implemented on a computer, which monitors and displays the wire guidance command tones in real time, showing the tone or signal over time. A user controls the beginning and ending of the capture period. The captured data is stored within the computer. Once data capturing has ended, the full record of the captured data is displayed. The display includes active cursors denoting the start and stop of the recorded event. The cursors may be positioned independently along the data display so as to bracket a tone event of interest. Once the cursors are positioned, the method updates the display to show only the bracketed event. The time duration of the event is also shown as well as a computed frequency for the event. The user may then continue refining the positions of the cursors to accurately identify the event of interest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2003
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
    Inventor: Dominik A. Kotlow
  • Patent number: 6560559
    Abstract: A method for detecting and correcting incorrect hand position of a computer user performing the steps of: a) receiving a word having a plurality of characters from an input device; b) comparing the received word with a plurality of entries contained in a dictionary word list; c) generating a shifted word by shifting at least one of the plurality of characters to a new character if the received word is not found in the dictionary word list; d) comparing the shifted word with the plurality of entries contained in the dictionary word list; e) correcting for the incorrect hand position of the computer user if the shifted word is contained in the dictionary word list; and f) performing again steps C through E if the shifted word is not found in the dictionary word list of step C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2003
    Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
    Inventor: Richard Bryan Sagar
  • Patent number: 6556230
    Abstract: A heat meltable ink image-receiving sheet used in a melting type thermal transfer method, comprising a sheet substrate and a porous ink-receiving layer, comprising a resin formed on at least one side of the sheet substrate, the porous ink-receiving layer having a thickness of 3 to 50 &mgr;m and a water vapor permeability (JIS L 1099) of not less than 300 g/(m2·hour) and less than 1,000 g/(m2·hour).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2003
    Assignee: Fujicopian Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takuto Fukui, Zheng Long Cai, Toshiyuki Yamane, Fumiaki Shinozaki
  • Patent number: 6556950
    Abstract: A data construct set and method for use with an industrial process which is controlled according to execution code wherein a processor running the code generates requests to mechanical resources to cause the resources to perform the process, the construct enabling generation of diagnostic code interspersed within the execution code which, when an event is to occur, indicates the event to occur, the invention also including status based diagnostics generally and methods of using the data construct set for generating both execution code and status based diagnostics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2003
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Marvin J. Schwenke, J. Andrew Sinclair, Josiah C. Hoskins, Ruven E. Brooks
  • Patent number: 6546864
    Abstract: An inking device of a rotary press comprises an ink fountain roller rotatably supported on left and right frames, and an ink fountain device movable toward and away from the ink fountain roller. The ink fountain device is switchable among a fixed position close to the ink fountain roller, a throw-off position separated from the ink fountain roller, and an intermediate position provided between the fixed position and the throw-off position, and switching means is provided for switching the ink fountain device by a pivoting operation of a locking handle so that the ink fountain device is located at any of the three positions. The inking device makes it easy to secure a vertical space for operating an ink fountain, and can fix the ink fountain device with a constant clamping force without a tool.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2003
    Assignee: Komori Corporation
    Inventor: Akehiro Kusaka
  • Patent number: 6546347
    Abstract: A method for automatically setting valve clearances in internal combustion engines (also known as “tappet setting” or “valve lash setting”) comprises a series of steps in which a rocker arm is set to a zero position that is recorded as a reference datum and an adjustment screw is then operated to set the rocker arm to a first reference position. The adjustment screw is then rotated through a predetermined angle so that the rocker arm is moved to a second reference position. The difference between the first and second reference positions and the predetermined angle are used to determine a coefficient relating the angular movement of the adjustment screw to linear movement of the rocker arm. The coefficient is then used to calculate the angular rotation of the adjustment screw required to set a predetermined valve clearance relative to the zero position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc
    Inventors: Graham P. Batchelor, William M. Crozier
  • Patent number: 6543947
    Abstract: A keyboard has an array of central keys positioned in a generally planar configuration and an array of inwardly-angled keys positioned around and angled toward the central keys to define a pan-like configuration. The keyboard may also comprise an array of outside keys positioned around the inwardly-angled keys. The keyboard may have one or more outwardly angled keys positioned around and angled away from the central keys. The outwardly angled keys are adapted to be accessible by a user's thumb, little finger or side of a hand. A keyboard, adapted for use with one hand, comprise four rows of five central keys forming a rectangular outer boundary. Two columns and two rows of 5 inwardly-angled keys surround the central keys. The character-key allocation of the pan-shaped keyboard adapted for use with one hand comprises the re-arrangement of the 3 main rows of 10 keys of a standard keyboard standard.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Inventor: José H. Lee
  • Patent number: 6546359
    Abstract: In accordance with methods and systems consistent with the present invention, an improved processor performance instrumentation system is provided that allows a software tester to measure more performance indicators than there are hardware counters during a single execution of a tested program. The improved processor performance instrumentation system accomplishes this by “multiplexing” performance indicators while executing the tested program. In effect, methods and systems consistent with the present invention extend the abilities of the limited number of hardware counters to allow them to measure a number of performance indicators otherwise not allowed during one execution of the tested program.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
    Inventor: Jeremy Week
  • Patent number: 6542837
    Abstract: A wafer processing system is described located in at least one clean room and having an arrangement of manufacturing units for performing individual manufacturing operations. In a manufacturing unit, measuring devices are provided for determining process parameters in order to check the quality of wafer processing of the manufacturing operations. Process data generated by the measuring devices is compiled continuously in a computing unit assigned to the manufacturing unit. Characteristic quantities for evaluating the quality of wafer processing are derived from this process data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2003
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventor: Ronald Huber
  • Patent number: 6539326
    Abstract: A position detecting method for detecting a position of a surface of an object. The method includes a first step for detecting registration of the object surface with a predetermined plane with respect to a first direction, while changing the position of the object surface in a direction intersecting with the first direction, a second step for detecting the position of the object surface in the first direction, and determining a detection value in the second detecting step, corresponding to the predetermined plane, by use of an error in the result of the detection made with reference to the predetermined plane, which error is attributable to a difference in the detection position along a direction intersecting with the first direction and upon the same object surface in the first and second detecting steps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2003
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Tomohiko Hirano
  • Patent number: 6539327
    Abstract: A process for determining the position of a moving object, by the following steps: scalar measurements are acquired by a set of sensors all installed on the same site, at a position known at each instant; the trajectory of the object is determined approximately by a model; the measurements output from each sensor are combined to obtain spatial gradient measurements representative of the vector electromagnetic disturbance of the moving object; a vector of parameters characteristic of the model is estimated as a function of gradient measurements and as a function of the position of the sensors; and the position of the object is determined as a function of the position of the sensors and the parameters vector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2003
    Assignee: Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique
    Inventors: Gilles Dassot, Roland Blanpain, Bruno Flament, Claude Jauffret
  • Patent number: RE38985
    Abstract: An environment monitoring system and method for systematically and continuously monitoring an environment. The system and method includes a data acquisition system which is programmed to systematically collect environment air quality environmental data and non-weather data for a site. The data acquisition system includes sensors coupled to a data storage device having a remote access device for electronic access from a remote system. Data may be uploaded to a remote database for storing environment data from many sites. The remote database includes a remote access device so that the data storage devices of various data acquisition sites can be electronically coupled to the remote database for centralized data collection and storage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2006
    Assignee: PureChoice, Inc.
    Inventors: Joey F. Boatman, Bryan S. Reichel