Patents by Inventor William Joseph Thornhill

William Joseph Thornhill 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: 6561504
    Abstract: A single aligning roller is disposed at angle to each of two reference barriers to which a printed sheet is to be advanced so as to be aligned at a specific location for stapling. The aligning roller exerts a greater force towards the reference barrier further from the adjacent edge of the printed sheet to be aligned. The aligning roller is preferably at 66° to the reference barrier further from the adjacent edge of the printed sheet to be aligned.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2003
    Assignee: Lexmark International, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel George Mlejnek, William Joseph Thornhill, Thomas Campbell Wade
  • Patent number: 6550763
    Abstract: Sheets (57) exit printer (1) into finisher (3) through corrugation rollers (13a-13d, 15a, 15b, 15aa, 15bb) encounter actuator tab (9a) to thereby rotate actuator (9) upward. Bails (11a-11b) are engaged by this and rotate upward. Each bail has a wing (11d, 11dd, 11e), which prevents curling. When the sheet is exited, gravity acting on the sheet and the actuator tab causes the sheet to drop. The bails also drop under gravity. The sheet is positioned to drop flat and near the exit, as intended for the finisher to form stacks of sheets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2003
    Assignee: Lexmark International, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Kurt Gordon, William Joseph Thornhill
  • Publication number: 20020195767
    Abstract: A single aligning roller is disposed at angle to each of two reference barriers to which a printed sheet is to be advanced so as to be aligned at a specific location for stapling. The aligning roller exerts a greater force towards the reference barrier further from the adjacent edge of the printed sheet to be aligned. The aligning roller is preferably at 66° to the reference barrier further from the adjacent edge of the printed sheet to be aligned.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2001
    Publication date: December 26, 2002
    Inventors: Daniel George Mlejnek, William Joseph Thornhill, Thomas Campbell Wade
  • Publication number: 20020101030
    Abstract: Sheets (57) exit printer (1) into finisher (3) through corrugation rollers (13a-13d, 15a, 15b, 15aa, 15bb) encounter actuator tab (9a) to thereby rotate actuator (9) upward. Bails (11a-b) are engaged by this and rotate upward. Each bail has a wing (11d, 11dd, 11e), which prevents curling. When the sheet is exited, gravity acting on the sheet and the actuator tab causes the sheet to drop. The bails also drop under gravity. The sheet is positioned to drop flat and near the exit, as intended for the finisher to form stacks of sheets.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 31, 2001
    Publication date: August 1, 2002
    Inventors: Michael Kurt Gordon, William Joseph Thornhill
  • Patent number: 6311971
    Abstract: A printer (1) exits paper sheet(s) onto a table (6) where they are stacked and bound by stapler (15). Curl in the sheets is controlled by eccentric guide (9), which has a high section (9a) which moves over the sheet as they are moved across the table (by pusher 7a). The sheets are guided under clamp arm (11) by encountering the angled side (11a) of clamp arm (11). In the embodiment the sheets are first moved backward against reference wall 23 (by pusher 7b), and they are moved (by pusher 7a) under clamp arm 11 until encountering reference wall 13. The next sheet drops off of table 6 while a low section (9b) of the guide is position toward the next exiting sheet. In this manner a group of sheets is formed into a regular stack and are bound by the stapler.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2001
    Assignee: Lexmark International, Inc.
    Inventors: David Emerson Greer, William Joseph Thornhill
  • Patent number: 6279899
    Abstract: A substrate sensing mechanism is provided for use in a printer output bin. The sensing mechanism includes a flag having a shape such that when one or more substrates, which have been removed from the bin, are manually reinserted into the bin, the one or more substrates are directed beneath the flag without causing a substrate feed failure. The flag is also positioned and shaped so as to move to a full bin position when a portion of one or more curled substrates extends to or above a level of the substrate output path immediately adjacent the bin entrance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2001
    Assignee: Lexmark International, Inc.
    Inventors: Johnnie A. Coffey, David Erwin Rennick, Kevin Dean Schoedinger, William Joseph Thornhill
  • Patent number: 6126164
    Abstract: A bail assembly has a first portion of an arm pivotally supported by a printer frame. A second portion of the arm is slidably supported by the first portion of the arm so that the length of the arm can be adjusted in accordance with the length of sheets being fed to a support for stacking. The second portion of the arm has a stop pivotally mounted on its distal end. The stop has a flange for engaging each of the fed sheets so that the leading edges of the sheets are in substantial vertical alignment. The first portion of the arm has notches, which are spaced apart the differences in the sizes of the sheets being fed, to receive a detent on the second portion of the arm to releasably hold the second portion of the arm in its adjusted position on the first portion of the arm. The second portion of the arm has two curved surfaces for engaging each fed sheet adjacent its leading edge in a transverse line point contact prior to the pivotally mounted stop engaging the leading edge of the fed sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2000
    Assignee: Lexmark International, Inc.
    Inventors: David Erwin Rennick, William Joseph Thornhill, John Wayne Gassett
  • Patent number: 6102388
    Abstract: A feed roll has a plurality of equiangularly spaced flat faces thereon for engaging a restraint roll to form a nip therebetween through which the lowermost envelope in a stack of envelopes is fed. A spring continuously urges the restraint roll into engagement with the feed roll. In one embodiment, curved portions connect the flat faces to each other. In another embodiment, the adjacent flat faces intersect each other to form comers on the periphery of the feed roll.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2000
    Assignee: Lexmark International, Inc.
    Inventor: William Joseph Thornhill