Patents by Inventor William Lafferty

William Lafferty 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).

  • Publication number: 20050118707
    Abstract: A device for positioning the tip of an elongated probe (14) at a selected station of a holding plate (12) includes motors to move the holding plate and a supporting stage within a coordinate plane (mxy). The elongated probe is also movable along a linear probe axis that is orientated normal to the coordinate plane (mxy). A camera creates a pixel image of an optical marker placed on the stage. The image defines a coordinate plane (pxy). To relate the coordinate plane (pxy) to the coordinate plane (mxy), the optical marker is moved to successive locations in the mxy plane and a pixel image is obtained at each location. Using the pixel images, a computer calculates the relationship between coordinate planes and uses the relationship to signal the motors to move the holding plate in the mxy plane and position the selected station on the probe axis for interaction with the probe.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2003
    Publication date: June 2, 2005
    Applicant: DIVERSA CORP
    Inventor: William Lafferty