Patents Represented by Attorney William L. Huebsch
  • Patent number: 5683194
    Abstract: A strip for attaching a document to a binder without punching openings in the document or for reinforcing a document around openings formed in the document through which the document can be mounted in a binder. The strip comprises an elongate layer of thin flexible material, and a coating of repositionable pressure sensitive adhesive on one major surface along an inner edge portion. That layer is free of adhesive on both of its side surfaces along an outer edge portion. That outer edge portion is visually distinctive, and the juncture between the inner and outer portions is straight and visibly distinctive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 1995
    Date of Patent: November 4, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: John J. Emmel, Alden R. Miles, Kim K. Tsujimoto
  • Patent number: 5681302
    Abstract: An elastic sheet-like composite comprising a multiplicity of elongate strands of resiliently elastic material, and one or more sheets of material bonded along its length or at sheet bonding locations to the elastic strands, some of which sheets have arcuate portions projecting from the elastic strands between those sheet bonding locations. The elastic sheet-like composite may be incorporated in disposable garments such as diapers or training pants. Also disclosed is a novel method and novel equipment for making the elastic sheet-like composite including in different combinations, sheet corrugating members, equipment for compacting the sheet along its length and an extruder that extrudes the strands onto the sheets and affords versatility in selecting characteristics of the elastic sheet-like composite to be produced without major modifications of the equipment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 1994
    Date of Patent: October 28, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: William L. Melbye, Dennis L. Becker, Michael R. Gorman
  • Patent number: 5679302
    Abstract: A mushroom-type hook strip that can be used in a hook-and-loop mechanical fastener. The hook strip includes a homogeneous backing of thermoplastic resin and, integral with the backing, a high density array of hooks including stems projecting from the backing and circular disc shaped heads at the ends of the stems opposite the backing. The large number, small size, and shape of the heads on the hooks allow them to engage the fibers in conventional types of fabrics and non-woven materials that are not normally used as the loop portions of hook and loop fasteners.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 1993
    Date of Patent: October 21, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Philip Miller, William L. Melbye, Susan K. Nestegard, Leigh E. Wood, Marvin D. Lindseth, Dale A. Bychinski
  • Patent number: 5672402
    Abstract: A removable adhesive tape comprising a highly extensible and substantially inelastic backing and a layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive. The backing has a high tensile strength, has a lengthwise elongation at break of at least about 150% with less than about 50% elastic recovery after stretching. The adhesive can be a normally tacky and pressure-sensitive adhesive and is coated on at least one surface of the film backing. The adhesive is preferably highly extensible, does not separate from the backing during stretching, and has higher cohesion than adhesion to any suitable substrate. After being applied to a substrate, the adhesive tape of the present invention becomes firmly bonded, but can be easily removed without damaging the substrate by simply stretching it in a direction substantially parallel, i.e. less than about 35.degree., to the surface of the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 1995
    Date of Patent: September 30, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Karl W. Kreckel, Patrick J. Hager, James H. Rickert
  • Patent number: 5672404
    Abstract: Attachment strips that can be withdrawn from an enclosure, each comprising a flexible backing layer, a field of hooks along and projecting from one of its surfaces; and a first layer of pressure sensitive adhesive along one of its surfaces. The strips can be releasably adhered to each other by their layers of adhesive to form a stack in which first and second ends of successive strips are adjacent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 1995
    Date of Patent: September 30, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Joseph P. Callahan, Jr., Kevin M. Hamer, Patricia R. Konsti, David C. Windorski
  • Patent number: 5672238
    Abstract: A combination of a tape dispenser including a molded polymeric frame and a cutting blade on a blade support portion of the frame, and a hanger sheet (e.g., of card stock and printed with trademark and use information) having a first end portion engaged with the frame of the dispenser, and a second portion projecting from the dispenser and having an opening adapted to receive a peg in a sales display area so that the tape dispenser can be hung from the peg by the hanger sheet. The blade support portion of the dispenser comprises a plurality of spaced projections from an inner surface of a dispenser wall that have generally coplanar distal end surfaces on which the blade is mounted. The first end portion of the hanger sheet has openings receiving the projections with the first end portion of the sheet around the projections, between the cutting blade and the inner surface of the wall supporting the projections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 1995
    Date of Patent: September 30, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventor: Bruce E. Samuelson
  • Patent number: 5671866
    Abstract: A refillable sheet dispenser of the type having walls defining a cavity adapted to receive a stack of sheets including first and second end walls at opposite ends of a side wall with the first end wall having an elongate outlet opening through which individual sheets from the stack in the cavity may be manually withdrawn, while the stack of sheets is biased toward the first end wall. The biasing is provided by a strip of non metallic material bent to provide the biasing force and to provide space within it in which refill stacks of sheets or other items may be stored.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 1995
    Date of Patent: September 30, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventor: Douglas P. Bodziak
  • Patent number: 5667626
    Abstract: A tape hub including a support portion defining a peripheral surface around an axis adapted to frictionally receive a cylindrical inner surface of a core wound with tape, and means on the tape hub for positioning a first edge of the length of tape wrapped around the core at either of two discrete tape edge positions axially with respect to the hub. The tape hub is useful on devices that adhere tape along one edge of masking material to afford selecting different amounts of overlap between the tape and the masking material. The tape hub can have a plurality of radially extending hub portions having spaces therebetween and axially extending ribs on the hub portions defining its peripheral surface with the peripheral surface being adapted to frictionally receive the cylindrical inner surface of cores of slightly different inner diameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 16, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: James D. Cayford, Philip V. Sadrakula, Robert H. Heil, Stanley W. Widmer
  • Patent number: 5665446
    Abstract: Known laminates can be used to apply graphics to glass panels to present an etched or sand-blasted appearance. Such graphics, which have been cut from a decorative polymeric film of a laminate, can be applied more easily, quickly, and with greater precision when the cover sheet of the laminate is a vented transparent polymeric sheet which bears a layer of vented removable pressure-sensitive adhesive that has been pressed against the graphics. Coextensive with each of the graphics is a layer of aggressive pressure-sensitive adhesive by which the graphics can be applied to a glass panel while wet with a detergent/alcohol/water solution that permits them to be repositioned by a user who can see the graphics through the vented transparent sheet. Positioning is enhanced when the vents are perforations arranged in an orderly pattern such as a rectangular grid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 1995
    Date of Patent: September 9, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventor: Douglas C. Sundet
  • Patent number: 5643397
    Abstract: A sheet of loop material adapted to be cut into pieces to form loop portions for fasteners of the type comprising releasably engageable hook and loop portions, or to be incorporated into items such as disposable garments or diapers or into sheets of abrasives. The sheet of loop material includes a sheet of longitudinally oriented fibers having anchor portions and arcuate portions projecting in one direction away from the anchor portions, and a layer of thermoplastic backing material extruded onto the anchor portions to bond to the anchor portions and form at least a portion of a backing for the loop material. The thermoplastic backing material can also bond the sheet of fibers to a sheet of backing material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 1, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Gorman, Dennis L. Becker, Donald W. Folske, William L. Melbye, Susan K. Nestegard, Ronald L. Ott
  • Patent number: 5640772
    Abstract: A cutting tool adapted to be reciprocated by a manually manipulated air hammer or similar device while being used to separate laminated materials. The cutting tool comprises a blade of thin resiliently flexible metal having a sharpened edge and an opposite driven edge, and an adapter comprising a blade holder portion which may include polymeric material permanently molded around a portion of the blade adjacent its driven edge, and a shank portion shaped for engagement by the air hammer attached to the blade holder that has an end shaped for engagement by the air hammer or similar device. The majority of or all of the adapter can be formed of the polymeric material to provide a low mass for the cutting tool and an average specific gravity for the adapter that is significantly less than the specific gravity of metal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 24, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: David C. Roeker, Edward L. Manor, Shawn P. Crosby
  • Patent number: 5641369
    Abstract: A wrist rest assembly for use along the front edge of a device to be operated by a person's hands or fingers, such as in front of a computer keyboard, including an elongate base assembly on which is supported an elongate pad. The base assembly has a top portion supporting the pad, a bottom portion adapted to be supported on a horizontal surface and structure that allows the top portion to be supported on the bottom portion with the top surface of the pad at two different distances above that horizontal surface by switching ends of the top portion with respect to the ends of the bottom portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 1996
    Date of Patent: June 24, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Kirchhoff, Robert J. Wolf
  • Patent number: 5639327
    Abstract: A hook fastener portion for use in a hook and loop fastener that has a woven backing with portions of pile monofilaments projecting from its front surface providing hooks adapted for making releasable engagement with loops of the fastener. Only a layer of thermoplastic material along a rear surface of the backing and the mechanical engagement of the portions of the pile monofilaments woven into the backing anchor the monofilaments in the backing, and that layer of thermoplastic material can be a hot melt adhesive used to adhere the hook fastener portion to a substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 1992
    Date of Patent: June 17, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Kirit C. Mody, Bernard D. Campbell
  • Patent number: 5631057
    Abstract: An appliqu e adapted to be adhered for decorative purposes to a planar surface on a layer of transparent material (e.g., of glass or plastic). The appliqu e comprises a layer of polymeric material which is transparent and free of visible inclusions. The front surface of that layer includes a planar central portion having a decorative surface texture (e.g., the surface texture of rippled glass, hammered glass, moss glass, Flemish glass, glue chip glass, or baroque glass), and beveled surface portions around that textured surface portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 1995
    Date of Patent: May 20, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventor: Douglas C. Sundet
  • Patent number: 5631055
    Abstract: A paint masking assembly comprising a sheet of paint masking material having a layer of pressure sensitive adhesive releasably adhered to a sheet of liner material which is coextensive with and extends beyond the sheet of paint masking material, and is slit to define first and second parts of the sheet of liner material extending over first and second portions of the layer of pressure sensitive adhesive. The sheet of paint masking material is removable from the first part of the sheet of liner material to expose the first portion of the layer of pressure sensitive adhesive by which the the removed sheet of paint masking material may be releasably adhered to a substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 1993
    Date of Patent: May 20, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Douglass M. Vines, Gerald L. Vogler, Richard C. Williams, Thomas G. Cheesebrow
  • Patent number: 5628679
    Abstract: An improved abrading disk tool for holding a multi-layer brush of stacked non-woven fibrous webs to be mounted on a rotation driving spindle in use, which tool can be easily assembled without using any adhesive, but using tool members which, preferably, may be injection-molded with a plastic material. The members of the tool include a pair of compatible holder halves (1), each having a base (10) and a central hollow pole (20) and/or a plurality of eccentrically arranged hollow and/or solid poles (30) axially extending from the base. The holder halves have corresponding configurations, preferably geometrically dimensionally equal ones. Each pole has snap detent means comprising a male element (40) and/or a female element (50), provided at its free end, which element is engageable with that of a corresponding pole in the counterpart holder half to axially inter-lock both the holder halves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 1995
    Date of Patent: May 13, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventor: Chujiro Shiga
  • Patent number: 5620162
    Abstract: An adjustable paper holder including an elongate support member adapted to be attached along either side of a computer monitor with the support member extending generally parallel to its front surface; and a sheet support plate that is mounted on the support member for pivotal movement around both a normally horizontal pivot axis that is generally normal to the length of said support member and parallel to the front surface of the computer monitor and a second pivot axis parallel to the edges of the sheet support plate and adjacent one of its edges, and also mounted for movement of its normally horizontal pivot axis longitudinally of the support member. A paper clamp assembly is mounted on the sheet support plate with a surface on the clamp plate against which paper is clamped generally co-planar with the front surface of the sheet support plate, and is moveable to accommodate different length papers to be held on the sheet support plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 15, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Tanya L. Beckwith, Wayne K. Darvell, Lawrence J. Fenske, Kenneth J. Kirchhoff, Lynette M. Miles, Steven C. Suchanek, Warren J. Wasescha
  • Patent number: D379490
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 27, 1997
    Assignee: C.A.P. Inc.
    Inventors: Michael D. O'Dougherty, Steven W. Claussen
  • Patent number: D383740
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 16, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Kirchhoff, Robert J. Wolf
  • Patent number: D386067
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 1995
    Date of Patent: November 11, 1997
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Michael D. Hamerski, James L. Bries, Johannes N. Gaston, Douglas J. VanOrnum, Patrick J. Cappucci