Patents by Inventor Robert J. Tench
Robert J. Tench 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).
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Patent number: 9536571Abstract: A disk clamp for clamping a plurality of disks within a disk drive has a single fastening hole located at its symmetrical center sized to pass the shaft of a screw having a head diameter larger than the fastening hole. The screw fastens the disk clamp to a motor hub supporting the plurality of disks. The disk clamp has a moat around the fastening hole, at a maximum diameter that is smaller than the head diameter of the head on the fastening screw. The moat may be circular, have spike trenches angled toward the fastening hole, or be spiral. The diameter of the spiral moat decreases in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction toward the fastening hole. The midsection of the disk which the screw head covers is biased at a negative angle toward the fastening hole forcing particles generated during assembly toward the fastening hole of the disk clamp.Type: GrantFiled: May 4, 2016Date of Patent: January 3, 2017Assignee: INTRI-PLEX TECHNOLOGIES, INC.Inventors: Adam D. Sutton, David M. Erlach, Frederic C. Petersen, Ryan J. Schmidt, Paul W. Smith, Robert J. Tench
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Publication number: 20160247546Abstract: A disk clamp for clamping a plurality of disks within a disk drive has a single fastening hole located at its symmetrical center sized to pass the shaft of a screw having a head diameter larger than the fastening hole. The screw fastens the disk clamp to a motor hub supporting the plurality of disks. The disk clamp has a moat around the fastening hole, at a maximum diameter that is smaller than the head diameter of the head on the fastening screw. The moat may be circular, have spike trenches angled toward the fastening hole, or be spiral. The diameter of the spiral moat decreases in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction toward the fastening hole. The midsection of the disk which the screw head covers is biased at a negative angle toward the fastening hole forcing particles generated during assembly toward the fastening hole of the disk clamp.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 4, 2016Publication date: August 25, 2016Inventors: Adam D. Sutton, David M. Erlach, Frederic C. Petersen, Ryan J. Schmidt, Paul W. Smith, Robert J. Tench
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Patent number: 9361929Abstract: A disk clamp for clamping a plurality of disks within a disk drive has a single fastening hole located at its symmetrical center sized to pass the shaft of a screw having a head diameter larger than the fastening hole. The screw fastens the disk clamp to a motor hub supporting the plurality of disks. The disk clamp has a moat around the fastening hole, at a maximum diameter that is smaller than the head diameter of the head on the fastening screw. The moat may be circular, have spike trenches angled toward the fastening hole, or be spiral. The diameter of the spiral moat decreases in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction toward the fastening hole. The midsection of the disk which the screw head covers is biased at a negative angle toward the fastening hole forcing particles generated during assembly toward the fastening hole of the disk clamp.Type: GrantFiled: January 27, 2014Date of Patent: June 7, 2016Assignee: INTRI-PLEX TECHNOLOGIES, INC.Inventors: David M. Erlach, Frederic C. Petersen, Ryan J. Schmidt, Paul W. Smith, Adam D. Sutton, Robert J. Tench
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Publication number: 20140139950Abstract: A disk clamp for clamping a plurality of disks within a disk drive has a single fastening hole located at its symmetrical center sized to pass the shaft of a screw having a head diameter larger than the fastening hole. The screw fastens the disk clamp to a motor hub supporting the plurality of disks. The disk clamp has a moat around the fastening hole, at a maximum diameter that is smaller than the head diameter of the head on the fastening screw. The moat may be circular, have spike trenches angled toward the fastening hole, or be spiral. The diameter of the spiral moat decreases in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction toward the fastening hole. The midsection of the disk which the screw head covers is biased at a negative angle toward the fastening hole forcing particles generated during assembly toward the fastening hole of the disk clamp.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 27, 2014Publication date: May 22, 2014Applicant: Intri-Plex Technologies, Inc.Inventors: David M. Erlach, Frederic C. Petersen, Ryan J. Schmidt, Paul W. Smith, Adam D. Sutton, Robert J. Tench
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Patent number: 8675306Abstract: A disk clamp for clamping a plurality of disks within a disk drive has a single fastening hole located at its symmetrical center sized to pass the shaft of a screw having a head diameter larger than the fastening hole. The screw fastens the disk clamp to a motor hub supporting the plurality of disks. The disk clamp has a moat around the fastening hole, at a maximum diameter that is smaller than the head diameter of the head on the fastening screw. The moat may be circular, have spike trenches angled toward the fastening hole, or be spiral. The diameter of the spiral moat decreases in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction toward the fastening hole. The midsection of the disk which the screw head covers is biased at a negative angle toward the fastening hole forcing particles generated during assembly toward the fastening hole of the disk clamp.Type: GrantFiled: April 12, 2012Date of Patent: March 18, 2014Assignee: Intri-Plex Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Adam D. Sutton, David M. Erlach, Frederic C. Petersen, Ryan J. Schmidt, Paul W. Smith, Robert J. Tench
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Publication number: 20130272107Abstract: A disk clamp for clamping a plurality of disks within a disk drive has a single fastening hole located at its symmetrical center sized to pass the shaft of a screw having a head diameter larger than the fastening hole. The screw fastens the disk clamp to a motor hub supporting the plurality of disks. The disk clamp has a moat around the fastening hole, at a maximum diameter that is smaller than the head diameter of the head on the fastening screw. The moat may be circular, have spike trenches angled toward the fastening hole, or be spiral. The diameter of the spiral moat decreases in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction toward the fastening hole. The midsection of the disk which the screw head covers is biased at a negative angle toward the fastening hole forcing particles generated during assembly toward the fastening hole of the disk clamp.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 12, 2012Publication date: October 17, 2013Applicant: Intri-Plex Technologies, Inc.Inventors: David M. Erlach, Frederic C. Petersen, Ryan J. Schmidt, Paul W. Smith, Adam D. Sutton, Robert J. Tench
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Patent number: 5461907Abstract: Instrumentation and techniques to image small objects, such as but not limited to individual human chromosomes, with nanometer resolution, to cut-off identified parts of such objects, to move around and manipulate such cut-off parts on the substrate on which they are being imaged to predetermined locations on the substrate, and to remove the cut-off parts from the substrate. This is accomplished using an atomic force microscope (AFM) and by modification of the conventional cantilever stylus assembly of an AFM, such that plural cantilevers are used with either sharp-tips or knife-edges thereon. In addition, the invention can be utilized for measuring hardness of materials.Type: GrantFiled: March 23, 1993Date of Patent: October 31, 1995Assignee: Regents of the University of CaliforniaInventors: Robert J. Tench, Wigbert J. Siekhaus, Mehdi Balooch, Rodney L. Balhorn, Michael J. Allen