Comic actor Danny Kaye received patent D166,807 for the co-design of "Blowout Toy or the Like". It's similar to one of those toys that unravels when you blow into at a birthday party except Kaye's has three blowouts going in different directions, not just one.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 5329103 | Laser beam scanner with low cost ditherer mechanism Two resonant cantilever beams oscillate in a sinusoidal pattern. Mirrors disposed on the oscillating ends of the cantilever beams are used to multiplex two scanning and collecting light beams. The cantilever beam parameters and mirror configuration are se... | 07/12/1994 |
| 5256864 | Scanning system for preferentially aligning a package in an optimal scanning plane for decoding a bar code label An automated retail point of sale scanning system includes a means for preferentially aligning an item traveling on an item path and through a scanning region such that two or more surfaces to be scanned are stably maintained in a substantially coplanar a... | 10/26/1993 |
| 5232185 | Method and apparatus for mounting a compact optical scanner A method and apparatus for mounting a compact optical scanner utilizes a one or two-piece mounting bracket to secure the scanner. A bevelled surface on the inside of the bracket cooperated with a conversely bevelled surface on the scanner to prevent remov... | 08/03/1993 |
| 5214270 | Modular handheld or fixed scanner A bar code scanning system which can be operated in two scanning categories: hendheld and fixed. The system incorporates a second scanning element having a fixedly mounted mirror and a dithering mirror disposed in relation to a hand-held scanner which is ... | 05/25/1993 |
| 5183486 | Apparatus for degassing a liquid Methods and apparatus for effective vacuum degassing of a liquid are provided for liquid chromatography. The bottles with the liquid are mounted above the vacuum degassing unit to provide a head pressure to the LC pump and physical stability to the bottle... | 02/02/1993 |
| 5179270 | Scanner system interface An optical scanner for use at a checkout counter determines information relating to products to be purchased, including coded label data. The scanner supplies the information to a cash register system. The scanner includes a scanner controller for reading... | 01/12/1993 |
| 5175736 | Tunable dye laser with thin birefringent filter for improved tuning An improved dye laser having a birefringent tuning filter comprised of one or more birefringent plates wherein each plate is oriented at Brewster's angle to the resonant light beam and is an integer multiple of the thickness of the thickness of the first ... | 12/29/1992 |
| 5144118 | Bar code scanning system with multiple decoding microprocessors A system for scanning bar code labels and for providing data related thereto includes scanning means for optically scanning bar code labels and providing an electrical, binary scan signal in response thereto. The scanning means includes a scanner and a sc... | 09/01/1992 |
| 5137354 | Computer aided three dimensional positioning sensing system and method A position sensing system calculates the X-Y-Z coordinates of a point in space using triangulation and determines the orientation of an object located at that point. The triangulation calculation is based on the coordinates of at least three retroreflecti... | 08/11/1992 |
| 5128520 | Scanner with coupon validation A point of sale (POS) bar code scanner such as in common use in retail stores includes provision for reading bar coded redemption coupons (or other bar coded documents redeemable for value) in a manner secure from a human operator. Integration of function... | 07/07/1992 |
| 5127068 | Apparatus for coupling a multiple emitter laser diode to a multimode optical fiber A small diameter multimode optical fiber with a low numerical aperture (i.e., 0.1) is used as a microlens to collimate the output emissions of a laser diode before butt coupling the output of the laser diode to an optical fiber. The optical fiber used as ... | 06/30/1992 |
| 5121443 | Neural net system for analyzing chromatographic peaks A two-step process for characterization of peaks in a chromatogram is disclosed. Firstly, data corresponding to each peak or pair of peaks in the chromatogram is identified. A unique filter apparatus locates extrema of the curvature of the chromatographic... | 06/09/1992 |
| 5086879 | Scale calibration/zeroing in data gathering system A data gathering system adapted to be installed within a checkout counter for determining information about products presented for purchase at the counter including the weight of such products comprises two support flanges within the checkout counter. The... | 02/11/1992 |
| 5075977 | Automatic plumb and level tool An automatic plumb, level and pointing tool uses a visible laser diode to project a beam in any of three different modes through a beam exit window. The tool, approximately the size and shape of a tape measure, can be placed on one edge to project a tilt-... | 12/31/1991 |
| 5070512 | Interference fit laser disk A disk, or heat web, is generally circularly shaped, and has a circumferential lip normal to the plane of the disk. A split ring, fabricated from a material having a low co-efficient of thermal expansion fits within the circumferential lip. A generally ci... | 12/03/1991 |
| 5068806 | Method of determining useful life of cartridge for an ink jet printer A computer program in the microcontroller of an ink jet printer-plotter counts the ink dots fired by the cartridge of the printer. The host system keeps the dot count in nonvolatile memory. When the number of dots corresponding to the nominal capacity of ... | 11/26/1991 |
| 5066382 | Thermal control for capillary electrophoresis apparatus An electrophoresis instrument includes a capillary tube mounted in an air cooled cartridge. The cartridge also supports a spherical lens which is part of the optical detection apparatus. The cartridge rests in a manifold which includes the sample and buff... | 11/19/1991 |
| 5059764 | Diode-pumped, solid state laser-based workstation for precision materials processing and machining A diode laser pumped, solid state laser-based system and related method of operation for precision materials processing and machining is described. A component of the system is a diode laser pumped, q-switched, fiber-coupled, solid state laser which produ... | 10/22/1991 |
| 5053115 | Automated neutral marker for capillary electrophoresis An electrophoresis instrument includes a capillary tube mounted in an air cooled cartridge. The cartridge also supports a spherical lens which is part of the optical detection apparatus. The cartridge rests in a manifold which includes the sample and buff... | 10/01/1991 |
| 5047609 | Crossed dot bar graph display for indication of position of a light beam, and an improved laser system with active laser cavity alignment using same A system for displaying information concerning position of a light beam comprises a detector generating a first signal indicating position of the beam along a first dimension, and a second signal indicating position of the beam along a second dimension. A... | 09/10/1991 |
| 5048032 | Air cooled RF induction excited ion laser A laser structure utilizes air cooling and RF induction excitation of a gaseous active medium. A means for exciting the active medium is provided including a switching power supply utilizing pulse width modulated switching to provide an RF energy output. ... | 09/10/1991 |
| 5044428 | Air powered heater/mixer A heater/mixer device is disclosed for use with laboratory vials, test tubes, or similar containers containing liquids. The heater/mixer includes a chamber formed in a block of material such as aluminum, with an electric heating element in contact with th... | 09/03/1991 |
| 5042821 | Seal for optical scanner window A window seal for a bar code laser scanner comprising a silicone foam gasket to form a flexible, soft, durable, compressible and hydrophobic seal between the bar code laser scanner chassis window and the top window on a bar code laser scanner.... | 08/27/1991 |
| 5039242 | Z-fold paper retainer A Z-fold paper elongated guide having a width approximately the with of Z-fold computer paper is positioned at the exit of a platen/printer carriage interface in a keyboard-operated computer printer or integrator. The guide not only guides printed-on pape... | 08/13/1991 |
| 5037523 | Air cooled cartridge for capillary electrophoresis An electrophoresis instrument includes a capillary tube mounted in an air cooled cartridge. The cartridge also supports a spherical lens which is part of the optical detection apparatus. The cartridge rests in a manifold which includes the sample and buff... | 08/06/1991 |
| 5033847 | Angular positioning and calibration of projected reference light planes A portion of first reference light plane is intercepted by a first one of a pair of angularly oriented reflective surfaces and reflected by the second of the pair of reflective surfaces as a second reference light plane at a selectable angle relative to t... | 07/23/1991 |
| 5033848 | Pendulous compensator for light beam projector A pendulous compensator for use in a light beam projector including a light beam source comprises first and second upper pulleys spaced from one another and secured to the light beam projector. First and second lower pulleys are positioned beneath the fir... | 07/23/1991 |
| 5029174 | Intermodulation product stabilized laser A method and system for stabilizing the output frequencies of a multimode laser of the type which operates in at least three optical cavity modes includes detecting the intermodulation product frequency, using a suitable photodetector. The optical cavity ... | 07/02/1991 |
| 5025952 | Gas resupply valve with microscopic aperture and with sealing member supported by valve body There is disclosed herein several gas resupply valves for replenishment of lost gas in gas lasers in general and argon ion lasers in particular. The first embodiment uses a valve which controls flow of gas into a metering volume. The metering volume has a... | 06/25/1991 |
| 5026157 | Magnetic motion damping system for pendulous compensator Motion damping apparatus is provided for use in a light beam projector including a light beam and a pendulous compensator adapted to movably support a mirror for deflecting the light beam to compensate for tilting of the projector. The apparatus comprises... | 06/25/1991 |
| 5022041 | Near resonant Nd3+, solid state laser system A commercial near resonant laser system with a trivalent rate earth ion doped solid state host, such as Nd:YAG, is pumped at an energy sufficient to excite the electrons from the ground level directly to the upper laser level. The laser system is then tun... | 06/04/1991 |
| 5021646 | Remote optical path for capillary electrophoresis instrument An electrophoresis instrument includes a capillary tube mounted in an air cooled cartridge. The cartridge also supports a spherical lens which is part of the optical detection apparatus. The cartridge rests in a manifold which includes the sample and buff... | 06/04/1991 |
| 5018152 | Apparatus for controlling pulse energy in a Q-switched laser system A switched cavity laser system which includes a resonant cavity, a gain medium within the resonant cavity, a cavity switch and an output coupler. A controllable pump energy source delivers pump energy to the gain medium in response to an energy control si... | 05/21/1991 |
| 5010921 | Nonsymmetrical valve A conventional injection valve, such as used in high performance liquid chromatography apparatus, having six ports and three channels for connecting the ports in two different positions, is modified so that one of the channels is longer than the other two... | 04/30/1991 |
| 5007691 | Method and apparatus for beam sweeping in a laser scanner A method and apparatus for sweeping a laser beam in a laser scanner is disclosed wherein a laser beam traveling along a path from a laser beam source is directed upon a scanner mirror which reflects the beam into scan pattern mirrors to project a scanning... | 04/16/1991 |
| 5008518 | Data gathering system interface A data gathering system for use in a checkout counter to determine information relating to products to be purchased and to provide such information to a cash register system includes a scale supported within the checkout counter for determining weights of... | 04/16/1991 |
| 5005329 | Window seal for optical scanner A soft compliant seal is attached to either an anchored or a loose reinforcement ring to provide a non-hermetic seal against liquids or particulates in order to maintain a space between two windows substantially free of all foreign matter.... | 04/09/1991 |
| 5005670 | Method and apparatus for mounting data gathering system A method and apparatus is disclosed for installing a data gathering system in a checkout counter such that it extends slightly above the surface of the counter. The data gathering system defines an entry side and an exit side. Products to be processed by ... | 04/09/1991 |
| 5002662 | Check valve An improved liquid flow check valve using a ball and seat wherein the seat is made of sintered ceramic. The improved valve will operate in an environment of acetonitrile and water without sticking shut, thereby providing more stable liquid flow rates in l... | 03/26/1991 |
| 5000564 | Laser beam measurement system A laser beam three dimensional position measurement system includes a laser transmitter mounted at a stationary reference position at a work site and a receiver mounted on a mobile machine at the site. The transmitter produces a laser reference plane by s... | 03/19/1991 |