Patents Examined by Leslie J. Grohusky
  • Patent number: 6244177
    Abstract: A multi-purpose thumb or finger mounted cot having a stamp pad with postal related indicia. Two embodiments of the cot are disclosed one of which is closed on its upper end while the other cot is opened on both ends. The postal related indicia on the self-inking stamp pad may consist of a carrier routing number and a plurality of parallel bar lines. This indicia is raised from a base pad surface with the bar lines used to endorse mail by postal carriers, to cancel stamps and wrong bar codes, wrong zip codes, and to cancel bar codes that have mistakenly not been canceled in the mailing process. The carrier routing number specifically identifies a postal carrier and can inform one of the route assigned to that carrier. By making the mating surfaces of the stamp pad (back) and cot (front) hook and loop or VELCRO fastener elements, the stamp pad can be removed and replaced with another stamp pad or have its ink supply refilled when needed. This replaced stamp pad may be that of any carrier with different indicia.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Inventor: Michael E. Young
  • Patent number: 6244768
    Abstract: A line printer with a hammerbank having print hammers with printing tips and a ribbon supported for impact by the tips for printing on media and a metal platen for supporting the media. An elastomer on the metal platen supports the media and has a layer of material harder than the elastomer extending inwardly from its surface which receives the impacts of the hammer tips. The harder material can be particles extending inwardly randomly from the surface of the elastomer of a ceramic having a sphericity exceeding 0.50 up to 35 percent of the thickness of the elastomer, and in the range of 20 microns to 400 microns in size.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Printronix, Inc.
    Inventors: Y. Grant Chang, Norman E. Farb
  • Patent number: 6240842
    Abstract: A lip stencil plate for placing stencils on a user's lips. The lip stencil plate includes a stencil panel for placing against a user's face. The stencil panel has an inner surface and an outer surface. The outer surface is convex and the inner surface is concave for placement against the face of a user. A plurality of bores through the panel are used for stenciling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2001
    Inventor: Brenda Hailey
  • Patent number: 6240840
    Abstract: A screen printing apparatus which is structured such that a printing agent is not left within a screen hole of a mask after printing, having a main body of the screen printing apparatus whose upper side within it is formed as a chamber which can be sealed by setting a mask supporting table as a boundary, and a pressure within the chamber can be ascended and descended at a desired timing by suitable pressure ascending and descending means such as air bags and the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2001
    Assignee: Minami Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Takehiko Murakami
  • Patent number: 6237491
    Abstract: A leading edge side part 10a of a printing plate 10 can easily be inserted into a gap L1 formed between a plate guide 15 positioned adjacent to positioning pins 11 and a leading edge side clamping base 51 because the gap L1 is formed in a thickness slightly thicker than the printing plate 10. Restoring force caused by flexure of the printing plate 10 allows the leading edge side part 10a thereof being inserted into the gap L1, the restoring force being generated when a tail edge side part 10b of the printing plate 10 is in contact with a contact member 2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2001
    Assignee: Ryobi Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Yasuhara, Masazumi Hidera
  • Patent number: 6237485
    Abstract: A stencil printer includes a printing drum which is rotated bearing thereon a stencil master, and a press roller which is pressed against the printing drum. A paper supply system supplies a printing paper to between the printing drum and the press roller so that the printing paper is conveyed pinched between the printing drum and the press roller. A paper supply controller controls the paper supply system so that the paper supply system supplies the printing paper to between the printing drum and the press roller at a first predetermined angular position of the printing drum for each rotation of the printing drum. The paper supply controller controls the paper supply system so that the printing paper supplied next by the paper supply system does not collide with the printing paper under printing when the printing paper is overlong.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2001
    Assignee: Riso Kagaku Corporation
    Inventor: Shigeki Fukai
  • Patent number: 6234078
    Abstract: Various embodiments of an ink roller assembly include a capillary ink metering unit and a surrounding porous ink retaining sleeve, wherein the unit is comprised of a pair of capillary sections connected to each other and wherein capillary sections include a hollow shaft and discs with intervening ink capillary chambers interconnected by passages. In another embodiment, a capillary ink metering unit includes discs on a solid shaft, wherein there are passages interconnecting capillary chambers. In yet other embodiments, separate sections are provided to enable inks of different colors, viscosities and/or types to be applied to printing members. There is also provision to meter ink to printing members having different faces or areas in accordance with or as function of the sizes of those areas. The ink roller assembly with separate sections can carry both visible ink and visually alterable ink for coding purposes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2001
    Assignee: Monarch Marking Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: John R. Kessler
  • Patent number: 6224279
    Abstract: An ergonomic keyboard includes a top case having a plurality of key planes that are non-parallel with one another. A plurality of keyswitch bases are positioned within respective ones of the plurality of key planes and are formed with the top case as a single, continuous piece of material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2001
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Kennard E. Nielsen, John M. Lutian, R. Thomas Gibbons, II
  • Patent number: 6224278
    Abstract: A key pad with rigid resin key top, preventing key top detachment or dislocation, and allowing to omit key detachment prevention means such as collar and to simplify the structure, and adhering to a silicone rubber key pad 1,7 with silicone base adhesive 15, 20, by preparing urethane base adhesion substrate layer 3, 9 on a back 2, 8 of a key top made of rigid resin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2001
    Assignee: Polymatech Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Kengo Nishi
  • Patent number: 6213014
    Abstract: A stencil printer has a printing drum which has an ink-permeable peripheral wall around which a stencil master is wound and to the inner surface of which ink is supplied. The printing drum is rotated about its longitudinal axis. An internal press roller is disposed inside the printing drum and is rotated in contact with the inner surface of the peripheral wall of the printing drum. A paper pinch drum is disposed outside the printing drum and is pressed against the peripheral wall of the printing drum with a printing paper pinched between the pinching means and the stencil master wound around the peripheral wall. A retainer roller is disposed in a predetermined position near the internal press roller and the inner surface of the peripheral wall downstream of the contact line between the internal press roller and the inner surface of the peripheral wall in the direction of rotation of the printing drum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2001
    Assignee: Riso Kagaku Corporation
    Inventors: Katsuro Motoe, Koji Nakayama
  • Patent number: 6209452
    Abstract: The present invention is a ball marking template comprising first and second portions attached to each other at first ends respectively by a hinge mechanism, the first and second portions each further having two inwardly curving arms separated by a gap on second ends thereof, whereby when a golf ball is placed within the template, it may be marked by tracing along a peripheral edge of the gap. In an alternate embodiment, the ball marking template comprises first and second portions attached to each other by a curved portion, each of the first and second portions having a shaped aperture located at a distal end, respectively, whereby when a golf ball is placed within the template, it may be marked by tracing along a peripheral edge of the apertures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2001
    Inventor: Edward A. Klimek
  • Patent number: 6205917
    Abstract: A tube printer and method for printing information on an interior surface of a tube. The tube printer including a housing, an ink wheel assembly and a print wheel. The housing having at least two side members interconnected by a top plate extending there between and including spring biased guide wheels that cooperatively center the housing within the tube. An operating handle is operatively attached to an end of the housing to provide a means to push and pull the tube printer within the tube. The ink wheel assembly is operatively positioned between the side members of the housing and the print wheel is operatively positioned between the side members of the housing and adjacent the ink wheel and includes a raised surface containing the information to be printed on the interior surface of the tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2001
    Assignee: Owens Corning Fiberglas Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Donald Thomas Palmer, Robert Alan Kokal, James Michael Swartz
  • Patent number: 6199479
    Abstract: By preventing a deformation of printing drum of a rotary stencil printing apparatus caused at the time of printing, uniform printed images can be printed even under conditions such as low temperature and high-speed printing and even using an apparatus provided with a large-sized drum. That is, the invention provides a method for stencil printing which comprises winding a perforated stencil sheet around the peripheral wall of a cylindrical printing drum having an ink permeable peripheral wall and rotating around its central axis, supplying an ink to the peripheral wall from the inside of the drum at the time of rotation of the drum, and pressing a printing paper to the outer surface of the peripheral wall of the drum to transfer the ink to the printing paper through the stencil sheet, wherein the peripheral wall of the drum has such a strength that the peripheral wall shows a stress of 0.75 kgf/cm2 or more, preferably 1.4 kgf/cm2 or more when it is deformed by 0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2001
    Assignee: Riso Kagaku Corporation
    Inventors: Takashi Isozaki, Hiroyasu Kato, Kenji Suzuki, Sadanao Okuda
  • Patent number: 6199482
    Abstract: A stamp pad having a hinge plate between a body and a lid of the stamp pad. The hinge plate allows the lid to be rotated underneath the body of the stamp pad when the lid is in an open position. The hinge plate can be made of a flexible material to make installation of the lid easier and to reduce the likelihood of damaging the lid or the body after the hinge plate is installed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2001
    Assignee: Tsukineko, Inc.
    Inventor: Rira Yasoshima
  • Patent number: 6196738
    Abstract: A key top element capable of being manufactured while permitting a design of a display section thereof to be readily modified and corrected, accommodating a variety of data for design formation, and capable of exhibiting increased design properties. The key top element includes a printed sheet constituted by a substrate sheet member, an on-demand printed layer and a white- or silver-colored layer, as well as transparent key top members fixedly bonded to the printed sheet. The on-demand printed layer is printed in the form of a symbol or the like on the substrate sheet member using an on-demand printing machine. A push button switch element is also disclosed which includes such a key top element and a light-permeable rubber cover base bonded to the key top element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2001
    Assignee: Shin-Etsu Polymer Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takao Shimizu, Satoshi Mieno, Tsutomu Nagasawa, Yoshinari Shizukuda
  • Patent number: 6192796
    Abstract: A spray dampening device for spraying fountain solution on a rotating roller (1) in a printing press has a spray casing (2) to be mounted in the vicinity of the roller and a spray beam (3) with a number of spray valves (7). The spray beam is at each end attached to the spray casing, which is fixedly mounted to the printing press frame (6), by means of a mounting bracket (15) allowing longitudinal adjustment of the spray beams and thus the spray valves in relation to the fixed spray casing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2001
    Assignee: Jimek AB
    Inventor: Birger Hansson
  • Patent number: 6189448
    Abstract: A stencil for a printer used to print a substance onto a substrate using a blade that passes over the stencil during printing. In embodiments of the invention, the stencil includes a first section having a first printing pattern formed thereon, a second section having a second printing pattern formed thereon, a seam between the first section and the second section, and a strip that covers at least a portion of the seam to allow the blade to pass smoothly over the seam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2001
    Inventors: Dennis O'Neal, Dennis G. Doyle
  • Patent number: 6189452
    Abstract: A system for loading and clamping one or more plates onto the cylindrical surface of a rotatable drum, such as used in a platesetter for printing, and for unloading the plates from the drum. The system is characterized by clamps that are movable over the surface, preferably along circumferential tracks, enabling the attachment of multiple plates, end-to-end and/or side-by-side, each plate having any of a wide range of sizes. The clamps are preferably of the dynamic type, whereby the clamping force increases with rotational speed. Also disclosed is a method for mounting and unmounting plates, using the movable clamps, such that allows flexible and convenient arrangement of loading- and unloading stations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2001
    Assignee: Creoscitex Corporation Ltd.
    Inventors: Nir Halup, Yehuda Barnes Solomon, Moshe Beres
  • Patent number: 6189451
    Abstract: A manually actuable stamp provided with first and second housing sections, one section being provided with stamping platen movable into engagement with a bulging surface and provided with a stamping surface conforming to the bulging surface when in engagement therewith, one of the first and second sections being provided with a continuous rib conforming to the contour of the bulging surface to prevent lateral slippage of the stamp thereon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2001
    Inventor: Wolfgang Pichler
  • Patent number: 6183149
    Abstract: An attachment to or a keyboard itself or other devices which require extending the fingers and hands so as to reach keys of the device. The invention includes at least one key pillow. The key pillow either replaces or fits over at least one key of a keyboard or other such device to advantageously alter the consistency, texture, shape, or height of the traditional key to which the key pillow corresponds. The key pillow is shaped so as to extend into the comfort zone of a user to thereby minimize the stretching and twisting required of the user's fingers, hands, wrists, and arms. The key pillow may be applied to a keyboard of a portable computer, where the at least one key pillow is inflatable. The at least one key pillow may also be applied to devices such as a computer mouse. The key pillow must extend into a comfort zone of the user. Also, a palm rest is designed so as to maintain the user's hands at a certain height above the lip of the keyboard, which may or may not include key pillows.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2001
    Assignee: Prosper Street Technologies, L.L.C.
    Inventor: Leslie S. Caplan