Did You Know...
...that to encourage use of his new invention, the shopping cart, market owner Sylvan Goldman hired fake shoppers to push the carts around his store in Oklahoma City? Seems his customers were reluctant to give up their hand-carried baskets.
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8154277 | Method and apparatus for measuring the thickness of a metal layer provided on a metal object A method and an apparatus for measuring the thickness of a metal layer. The metal layer has a resistivity (ρ1) that differs from the resistivity (ρ2) of the metal object. The apparatus includes a first device arranged to generate a magnetic field in ... | 04/10/2012 |
| 7898246 | Method and apparatus for nondestructive inspection of interwoven wire fabrics A method and apparatus for nondestructive inspection of interwoven wire fabric components. The apparatus comprises a probe, a power source, and a display system. The probe is capable of creating a magnetic field for a plurality of wires in an interwoven wire fabric ... | 03/01/2011 |
| 7859257 | System and use concerning under water eddy current measurements on components for nuclear reactors The invention concerns a system suited for carrying out eddy current measurements on components for nuclear reactors when these components are located in water. The system comprises a control unit, a measurement probe and a first cable suited to constitute at least ... | 12/28/2010 |
| 7830141 | Film thickness measuring apparatus and film thickness measuring method Coil is made to be disposed with gap opposed to the surface of wafer, and wafer stage is made to move in X and Y direction and R and θ direction. When supplying an alternating current to coil with the frequency swept by impedance analyzer, the magnetic field made t... | 11/09/2010 |
| 7821257 | Method and device for forecasting/detecting polishing end point and method and device for monitoring real-time film thickness A method and device for forecasting/detecting a polishing end point and for monitoring a real-time film thickness to suppress Joule heat loss due to the eddy current to the minimum, to precisely forecast/detect a polishing end point, to precisely calculate the remai... | 10/26/2010 |
| 7795866 | Method and device for forecasting polishing end point A method for forecasting a polishing end time or point, wherein an inductor 36 in a sensor is placed adjacent to the conductive film 28. The magnetic flux formed by the inductor 36 is monitored, and a change of magnetic flux induced in the condu... | 09/14/2010 |
| 7795865 | Method of forecasting and detecting polishing endpoint and the device thereof and real time film thickness monitoring method and the device thereof A method and device for forecasting and detecting a polishing endpoint and real time film thickness monitoring capable of suppressing to a minimum Joule heat loss due to an eddy current, and precisely forecasting and detecting the polishing endpoint, and precisely c... | 09/14/2010 |
| 7701205 | Method and device for measuring the thickness and the electrical conductivity of electrically conducting sheets A method for non-contact measurement of a dimension and/or an electrical property in an electrically conducting object to be measured by using electromagnetic induction. An electromagnetic field is brought to penetrate through the object to be measured. A transmitte... | 04/20/2010 |
| 7701206 | Method and a device for non-contact electromagnetic measurement of properties of objects A method for non-contact determination of sought properties of an object to be measured by using electromagnetic induction. An electromagnetic field is generated in a transmitter coil placed on one side of the object to be measured. The magnetic field penetrates thr... | 04/20/2010 |
| 7612558 | Bill discrimination device and sensor for same The sensor portion of the bill discrimination device has a variable inductance portion whose inductance changes depending on thickness of the bill and the magnetic ink amount, and an output signal generator for generating an output signal depending on the inductance... | 11/03/2009 |
| 7557570 | System and method for producing color contour maps of surface defects of high pressure pipelines A system for mapping a surface defect in an electrically-conducting material by measuring a change in the resonance of the material includes a flexible printed circuit board and a two dimensional array of transducers printed on the flexible circuit board, wherein ea... | 07/07/2009 |
| 7550968 | Measurement of wall thicknesses particularly of a blade, by eddy currents A method for evaluating the wall thickness of a hollow part, of the turbomachine blade type, at least at a point having a determined radius of curvature at this point, within determined ranges of radii of curvature and thicknesses, including the determination of imp... | 06/23/2009 |
| 7514918 | Monitoring wall thickness There is disclosed a method for monitoring wall thickness of an object having an electrically conductive wall, using a pulsed eddy current probe, wherein the same location on the wall is inspected repeatedly over an extended period of time. The pulsed eddy current p... | 04/07/2009 |
| 7449881 | Method and apparatus for determining the thickness of a chromium depleted zone of a surface region of a steel member The invention provides a method and apparatus for monitoring subsurface chromium depletion from a steel member, such as a pyrolysis pipe. In the harsh conditions of a pyrolysis furnace, chromium within the pipe 16 migrates towards the pipe surface which resul... | 11/11/2008 |
| 7414739 | Calibration system for sawmill scanning systems The method for calibration of a single point laser system used in a measuring system for wood boards in a sawmill includes the steps of storing two orthogonal dimensions of a calibration bar, the values of the two dimensions being different from each other; placing ... | 08/19/2008 |
| 7403001 | Methods and apparatus for measuring morphology of a conductive film on a substrate A method of determining a mass variation of a conductive film on a substrate with an area, an edge zone, and a center zone, is disclosed. The method includes providing a measured conductive film mass of a conductive film on a substrate. The method also includes posi... | 07/22/2008 |
| 7352194 | Method for determining the thickness of a coating on a composite material The invention relates to a method for determining the thickness of a coating on a composite material by applying induced currents wherein the composite material together with its coating is placed on a conducting material, in which circulating electric currents indu... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7323867 | Apparatus which detects the thickness of a sheet of paper such as a bank note A thickness detecting apparatus comprises a printed board in a part of which a coil is patterned, a detection roller which is disposed near the coil, which detects thickness of a sheet P of paper as a displacement amount, and a thickness detection circuit mounted on... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7319521 | Measuring device A device for measuring the thickness of a sheet or web product including at least one moveable measuring sensor which can be pressed against the product while forming an air pad between measuring sensor and product. At least one measuring sensor is respectively prov... | 01/15/2008 |
| 7309618 | Method and apparatus for real time metal film thickness measurement A semiconductor processing system is provided. The semiconductor processing system includes a first sensor configured to isolate and measure a film thickness signal portion for a wafer having a film disposed over a substrate. A second sensor is configured to detect ... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7295004 | Eddy current probe and method of manufacture thereof An eddy current probe includes a plurality of deformable substrates each having a pair of coils wound coaxially thereabout in spaced relation and a housing supporting said plurality of substrates adjacent to each other with each substrate compressed in a direction l... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7295003 | Non-destructive testing system and method utilizing a magnetic field to identify defects in a layer of a laminated material Techniques for detecting defects in the proximity of a hole of a laminate structure include inserting a generally cylindrical body portion into a hole such that a first coil of wire will reside in a plane substantially parallel to a first electrically conductive lay... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7282909 | Methods and apparatus for determining the thickness of a conductive layer on a substrate A method of determining the thickness of a conductive film is disclosed. The method employs measured voltage and current responses that have been temperature-compensated to determine the thickness of the conductive film. The temperature compensation uses a temperatu... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7270325 | Sheet feeding apparatus, image reading apparatus, and method of detecting double feed A sheet feeding apparatus includes first and second transport devices disposed at a transport guide with a distance in between for nipping and transporting a sheet, and a double feed detection device disposed between the first transport device and the second transpo... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7262596 | Method for the contactless determination of a layer thickness via resistance and inductance measurement of a sensor oil With a method for the contactless determination of a thickness of a layer (20) made of electrically-conductive material of a component (17), a sensor composed of a coil form (13) and a coil (14) is positioned in the vicinity of the compon... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7262867 | Device to determine the thickness of a conductive layer The device comprises at least a measuring head (7) with a transmitter (7A) and a receiver (7B). The head comprises means to measure the thickness through surface resistivity and optical means to measure said thickness by measuring the transparen... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7248042 | Method for the contactless determination of a thickness of a layer made of electrically-conductive material With a method for the contactless determination of a thickness of a layer (20) made of electrically-conductive material of a component (17), a sensor composed of a coil form (13) and a coil (14) is positioned in the vicinity of the compon... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7242185 | Method and apparatus for measuring a conductive film at the edge of a substrate A method of determining a thickness at a thickness position of a conductive film on a substrate with a center zone and an edge zone is disclosed. The method includes providing a set of thickness correlation curves at a set of sensor position radii from a center of t... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7230441 | Wafer staging platform for a wafer inspection system A wafer staging platform for a wafer inspection system for inspecting of semiconductors or like substrates and method of handling wafers. The platform and related method is designed to reduce the amount of time needed to exchange wafers on a processing tool. The sta... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7198545 | Method of calibration and data evaluation for eddy current metrology systems Methods are provided for calibrating a tool using an eddy current probe and calibration wafers that each have a measurable predetermined property and a measurement of the measurable predetermined property of a first calibration wafer is different than a measurement ... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7199884 | Thin thickness measurement method and apparatus Techniques for non-contacting thickness or caliper measurements of moving webs or sheets employ a sensor device that includes a first sensor head and a second sensor head that are spaced apart to define a path through which the moving web travels. The sensor device ... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7195933 | Semiconductor device having a measuring pattern and a method of measuring the semiconductor device using the measuring pattern A semiconductor device having a measuring pattern that enhances measuring reliability and a method of measuring the semiconductor device using the measuring pattern. The semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate having a chip area in which an integrate... | 03/27/2007 |
| 7182339 | Thickness measuring system, having improved software, for use within a mail handling system, and method of using same A thickness measuring device for measuring the thickness dimension of an article being conveyed along a conveyor system comprises a rotary encoder, and a lever arm pivotally mounted upon the shaft of the rotary encoder. The lever arm has an end portion thereof dispo... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7176678 | Method and apparatus for measuring a thickness of a nonconductive coating and calibrating a thickness measurement gauge A method and apparatus are provided for measuring a thickness of a nonconductive coating disposed over portions of first and second conductive surfaces that intersect at an intersection angle. The apparatus is a thickness measurement gauge having an eddy current sen... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7173417 | Eddy current sensor with concentric confocal distance sensor A metrology instrument includes an eddy current sensor that is mounted to and concentric with a confocal distance sensor. By measuring the precise vertical placement of the eddy current probe with respect to the surface of the sample using the confocal distance sens... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7173418 | Methods and apparatus for optimizing an electrical response to a set of conductive layers on a substrate A method of determining a first thickness of a first conductive layer formed of a first conductive material on a target substrate, the target substrate further having a second conductive layer formed of a second conductive material different from the first conductiv... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7148681 | Proximity sensor device that determines at least one physical characteristic of an item A sensor device includes the ability to determine part presence and at least one physical characteristic of the part. A drive coil and sense coil are arranged so that a voltage applied across the drive coil causes a response in the sense coil, which is influenced by... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7146279 | Measuring device A device for measuring at least one property of a material web, in particular a paper or board web, includes movable measuring probes provided on both sides of the web, which can be pressed against the web with preferably at least substantially equal force, forming ... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7145325 | Displacement detection apparatus and displacement detection method Improving reducing or eliminating the effects of variation in characteristics of the resonance circuit in a resonance type displacement detection apparatus, so as to improve displacement detection accuracy. In a displacement detection system 10, the resonance... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7133804 | Maintenance request systems and methods A method for requesting one or more machines to be maintained includes monitoring the machine or machines and detecting when a failure of at least one machine occurs. The method further includes executing a computer program on an electronic terminal associated with ... | 11/07/2006 |
