Patents by Inventor Christopher Michael Smith

Christopher Michael Smith has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8126342
    Abstract: A system for tailoring a transfer nip electric field includes a transfer roll, a backup roll forming a transfer nip with the transfer roll, and a pre-nip roll positioned upstream from the transfer and backup rolls and the transfer nip such that a toner image-supporting transfer belt moving past the pre-nip, transfer and backup rolls separately makes contact with, wraps partially around, and rotates each of the rolls as a media sheet is fed into the transfer nip after first passing through a gap defined between the pre-nip and transfer rolls such that by presetting the position, geometry and charge of the pre-nip roll relative to the transfer and backup rolls and the transfer belt an electrical field at the transfer nip can be tailored for enhanced toner transfer from the transfer belt to the media sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2012
    Assignee: Lexmark International, Inc.
    Inventors: Nicholas Fenley Gibson, Brandon Alden Kemp, Brad Edward Mattingly, Michael Todd Phillips, Peter Brown Pickett, Gregory Lawrence Ream, Christopher Michael Smith, Julie Ann Gordon Whitney
  • Publication number: 20100142981
    Abstract: A system for tailoring a transfer nip electric field includes a transfer roll, a backup roll forming a transfer nip with the transfer roll, and a pre-nip roll positioned upstream from the transfer and backup rolls and the transfer nip such that a toner image-supporting transfer belt moving past the pre-nip, transfer and backup rolls separately makes contact with, wraps partially around, and rotates each of the rolls as a media sheet is fed into the transfer nip after first passing through a gap defined between the pre-nip and transfer rolls such that by presetting the position, geometry and charge of the pre-nip roll relative to the transfer and backup rolls and the transfer belt an electrical field at the transfer nip can be tailored for enhanced toner transfer from the transfer belt to the media sheet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2008
    Publication date: June 10, 2010
    Inventors: Nicholas Fenley Gibson, Brandon Alden Kemp, Brad Edward Mattingly, Michael Todd Phillips, Peter Brown Pickett, Gregory Lawrence Ream, Christopher Michael Smith, Julie Ann Gordon Whitney
  • Patent number: 6758928
    Abstract: By shifting the peak height of the tread on one side of the tire from the centerline (CL), for a tire intended for cambered use on a vehicle and/or exposure to lateral loading, improvements in the footprint shape, pressure distribution, area and footprint shape factor (FSF) are obtained. In an illustrated embodiment, 0.127 cm to 5 cm (deep) of mold material are removed from one side of the centerline (CL) of the crown in a conventional mold, at 15% to 85% of the distance from the centerline to the shoulder area of the mold (one-half inch to five and one-half inches in the illustrated tires), to obtain a mold shape having the designated change in tread peak height.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2004
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: David Ray Hubbell, Jr., Christopher Michael Smith, Michael David Kachner
  • Publication number: 20030155057
    Abstract: By shifting the peak height of the tread on one side of the tire from the centerline (CL), for a tire intended for cambered use on a vehicle and/or exposure to lateral loading, improvements in the footprint shape, pressure distribution, area and footprint shape factor (FSF) are obtained. In an illustrated embodiment, 0.127 cm to 5 cm (deep) of mold material are removed from one side of the centerline (CL) of the crown in a conventional mold, at 15% to 85% of the distance from the centerline to the shoulder area of the mold (one-half inch to five and one-half inches in the illustrated tires), to obtain a mold shape having the designated change in tread peak height.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 11, 2002
    Publication date: August 21, 2003
    Inventors: David Ray Hubbell, Christopher Michael Smith, Michael David Kachner