Patents by Inventor Dennis L. Baker

Dennis L. Baker 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: 6742522
    Abstract: A surgical incise drape comprising a flexible film having a leading edge and a trailing edge, and a film handle applied at the leading edge of the flexible film. A liner substantially covers the major portion of the flexible film, which is coated with an adhesive. The liner may include a liner handle at the leading edge, and one of the liner handle and film handle are of a size for wrapping about at least a portion of the drape when the drape is in a folded configuration. A tensioning strip may be applied to the liner at a position away from the leading edge of the liner to hold at least a portion of the flexible film lying between the film handle and the tensioning strip in a wrinkle-free state when the liner is being removed from the major portion of the flexible film. Further, the liner may be stiff relative to the flexible film such that the liner and the film handle hold the flexible film in a wrinkle-free state when the liner is being removed from the major portion of the flexible film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2004
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Dennis L. Baker, John E. Bruno, Patricia A. Eull, Dietmar Schlei, Matthew T. Scholz
  • Publication number: 20020108615
    Abstract: An ophthalmic surgical drape and a method of applying the drape to a patient. The ophthalmic surgical drape is made from a sheet having an aperture in the interior of the sheet, and at least two tear lines in the sheet extending from the aperture. The drape also has a field of skin compatible adhesive adjacent the aperture, with the field being traversed by the tear lines so as to divide the field into at least two portions. The drape may be provided in a folded condition in which tearing can be accomplished so as to divide the drape into two sections before the drape is unfolded. Also disclosed are two tear lines disposed along an oblique angle, and a method of applying the drape.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 11, 2002
    Publication date: August 15, 2002
    Applicant: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Yolla B. Levitt, Dennis L. Baker, Robert A. Davis, Camille M. Hildebrandt, Mary K. Reed
  • Patent number: 6405730
    Abstract: An ophthalmic surgical drape and a method of applying the drape to a, patient. The ophthalmic surgical drape is made from a sheet having an aperture in the interior of the sheet, and at least two tear lines in the sheet extending from the aperture. The drape also has a field of skin compatible adhesive adjacent the aperture, with the field being traversed by the tear lines so as to divide the field into at least two portions. The drape may be provided in a folded condition in which tearing can be accomplished so as to divide the drape into two sections before the drape is unfolded. Also disclosed are two tear lines disposed along an oblique angle, and a method of applying the drape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2002
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Yolla B. Levitt, Dennis L. Baker, Robert A. Davis, Camille M. Hildebrandt, Mary K. Reed
  • Publication number: 20020000232
    Abstract: An ophthalmic surgical drape and a method of applying the drape to a patient. The ophthalmic surgical drape is made from a sheet having an aperture in the interior of the sheet, and at least two tear lines in the sheet extending from the aperture. The drape also has a field of skin compatible adhesive adjacent the aperture, with the field being traversed by the tear lines so as to divide the field into at least two portions. The drape may be provided in a folded condition in which tearing can be accomplished so as to divide the drape into two sections before the drape is unfolded. Also disclosed are two tear lines disposed along an oblique angle, and a method of applying the drape.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2001
    Publication date: January 3, 2002
    Applicant: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Yolla B. Levitt, Dennis L. Baker, Robert A. Davis, Camille M. Hildebrandt, Mary K. Reed
  • Patent number: 6286511
    Abstract: An ophthalmic surgical drape and a method of applying the drape to a patient. The ophthalmic surgical drape is made from a sheet having an aperture in the interior of the sheet, and at least two tear lines in the sheet extending from the aperture. The drape also has a field of skin compatible adhesive adjacent the aperture, with the field being traversed by the tear lines so as to divide the field into at least two portions. The drape may be provided in a folded condition in which tearing can be accomplished so as to divide the drape into two sections before the drape is unfolded. Also disclosed are two tear lines disposed along an oblique angle, and a method of applying the drape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2001
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Yolla B. Levitt, Dennis L. Baker, Robert A. Davis, Camille M. Hildebrandt, Mary K. Reed
  • Patent number: 6248085
    Abstract: An apparatus or kit for applying a predictable amount of liquid such as a surgical prepping solution to an applicator having a resilient, porous pad. The apparatus includes a receptacle having an internal space such that when the pad is placed within the space, the pad is compressed to a predetermined degree. The receptacle is attached to a bottle or other container holding surgical prepping solution. In one embodiment, a dip tube extends from an inlet near the bottom of the bottle to an outlet positioned within the internal space of the receptacle. Most preferably, the outlet extends into the internal space of the receptacle. Pressurizing the bottle dispenses liquid through the dip tube onto the applicator. A method of use of the kit or apparatus is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2001
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Matthew T. Scholz, Dennis L. Baker, Robert P. Zaspel, Jon A. Kirschhoffer, Maurice H. Kuypers
  • Patent number: 6105579
    Abstract: An ophthalmic surgical drape and a method of applying the drape to a patient. The ophthalmic surgical drape is made from a sheet having an aperture in the interior of the sheet, and at least two tear lines in the sheet extending from the aperture. The drape also has a field of skin compatible adhesive adjacent the aperture, with the field being traversed by the tear lines so as to divide the field into at least two portions. The drape may be provided in a folded condition in which tearing can be accomplished so as to divide the drape into two sections before the drape is unfolded. Also disclosed are two tear lines disposed along an oblique angle, and a method of applying the drape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2000
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Yolla B. Levitt, Dennis L. Baker, Robert A. Davis, Camille M. Hildebrandt, Mary K. Reed
  • Patent number: 6070587
    Abstract: An ophthalmic drape that can easily be adhered to both the upper and lower margins of the eye without requiring the use of separate instruments for cutting and adjusting. The drape includes a sheet of material with an aperture positioned away from the periphery of the sheet. The drape has two fields of skin compatible adhesive, one on one side of the sheet near the aperture, the other on the other side of the sheet near the periphery. Once the first field of skin compatible adhesive has been adhered to one of the patient's eyelids, the section of the drape supporting the second field of skin compatible adhesive can be folded upwards and doubled back on the drape. The second field of skin compatible adhesive, which had been side away from the patient before folding, is turned side towards the patient after folding. The second field of skin compatible adhesive is then conveniently positioned to be adhered to the remaining eyelid of the patient.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2000
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Yolla B. Levitt, Dennis L. Baker, Camille M. Hildebrandt, Mary K. Reed, Robert A. Davis
  • Patent number: 5979450
    Abstract: A surgical incise drape including a flexible film having a leading edge and a trailing edge, and a film handle applied at the leading edge of the flexible film. A liner substantially covers the major portion of the flexible film, which is coated with an adhesive. The liner may include a liner handle at the leading edge, and one of the liner handle and film handle are of a size for wrapping about at least a portion of the drape when the drape is in a folded configuration. A tensioning strip may be applied to the liner at a position away from the leading edge of the liner to hold at least a portion of the flexible film lying between the film handle and the tensioning strip in a wrinkle-free state when the liner is being removed from the major portion of the flexible film. Further, the liner may be stiff relative to the flexible film such that the liner and the film handle hold the flexible film in a wrinkle-free state when the liner is being removed from the major portion of the flexible film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 9, 1999
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Dennis L. Baker, John E. Bruno, Patricia A. Eull, Dietmar Schlei, Matthew T. Scholz
  • Patent number: 5446925
    Abstract: An adjustable face shield for protecting the face of the wearer, having a mask adapted to cover the nose and mouth of the wearer and a flexible eye shield having a transparent upper portion adapted to fit over the eyes of the wearer. The eye shield has a base portion fixedly attached to the mask so that the upper portion of the eye shield can pivot towards or away from the wearer's face. Adjustable attachment means mounted on the eye shield fits around the head of the wearer to position the eye shield over the eyes and is adapted to adjust the angular position of the upper portion of the eye shield relative to the face of the wearer as the adjustable means is moved up or down on the back of the head of the wearer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 1993
    Date of Patent: September 5, 1995
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Dennis L. Baker, Susan A. Green
  • Patent number: 5268908
    Abstract: The low-data-delay triple-coverage code for on-the-fly error correction apparatus allows on-the-fly error correction with fewer redundancy bytes than needed for a non-overlaid data redundancy structure thereby producing corrected data with a low data delay. The present apparatus divides a received block of data into a plurality of fixed size sub-blocks with the last sub-block size being smaller than or equal to the fixed sub-block size. Three predefined error correcting code generator polynomials are used to accumulate redundancy values for the sub-blocks. At the end of each sub-block one of the three pre-defined error correcting code generator polynomials will have accumulated a redundancy value across the present sub-block data and the previous two sub-blocks of data and redundancy. After the accumulated redundancy has been output as write data the predefined error correcting code generator polynomial is reset.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 1991
    Date of Patent: December 7, 1993
    Assignee: Storage Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Neal Glover, David R. Hieb, Trent O. Dudley, Dennis L. Baker
  • Patent number: 5235689
    Abstract: The dual port disk drive interface circuit enables a plurality of dual port disk drives to be interconnected with a plurality of control units in a manner that is transparent to both the dual port disk drives and the control unit. The dual port disk drive interface circuit is interposed between the two channels from n control units and the dual ports of m dual port disk drives to switchably interconnect each control unit with an available dual port disk drive. The interface circuit intercepts the control signals that are generated by both the control units and the dual port disk drives and modifies these control signals to emulate the interconnection of each control unit with a dedicated dual port disk drive. The interface circuit controls the routing of data between the control unit and the available ports on the plurality of dual port disk drives to multiply the number of ports available on the dual port disk drive without modification of the control unit or the dual port disk drive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 1990
    Date of Patent: August 10, 1993
    Assignee: Storage Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Dennis L. Baker, Robert E. Dean, Steven R. Kemp
  • Patent number: 4850716
    Abstract: A monitor for detection of temperature and/or steam conditions indicative of sterilization. The monitor comprises means for creating a remotely detectable response upon interrogation by an electromagnetic field and means for changing the response upon exposure to a predetermined set of temperature and steam conditions. The remotely detectable response is preferably produced through the interaction of an electromagnetic interrogation field with magnetic components of the monitor, wherein the characteristic harmonic response generated by the magnetic components is either inhibited or enabled by the change in configuration of one or more elements of the detector. Sterilization conditions are detected through one or more compounds known to have melting points which are above the temperature used in the sterilization process. Melting of the chemical compound produces the change in configuration of the element or elements of the monitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 1987
    Date of Patent: July 25, 1989
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Dennis L. Baker, Steven S. Kirckof, Dan J. Morse, Chester Piotrowski
  • Patent number: 4658264
    Abstract: A tuned resonant circuit including inductive and capacitive components useful as a marker in electronic article surveillance systems, comprising a laminate of a dielectric sheet having a conductive layer on one side configured to form at least one multi-turn inductive spiral. The sheet is folded back upon itself at a fold line which is precisely defined by spaced apart areas of the conductive layer such that desired portions of the layer become precisely and uniformly juxtaposed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 1984
    Date of Patent: April 14, 1987
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventor: Dennis L. Baker