3M employee and church chorister Art Fry needed something to temporarily mark pages in his hymnal. He was in luck because his colleague, Spencer Silver, accidentally developed a glue that was too weak for other purposes. After initially discouraging consumer response, Post-it Notes became a hit in 1979.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8109067 | System for managing documents without printed mark recognition In a mail production system comprising at least one user workstation on which a document is generated, printer means for printing the pages of said document, and folding and insertion means for folding the pages once they have been printed and for inserting them int... | 02/07/2012 |
| 8061111 | Container bottom and methods A method of loading a plurality of articles in a container. The method can include providing a container having a body and defining an interior chamber, providing a stack of articles comprising snack pieces having a convex surface, inserting the stack of articles at... | 11/22/2011 |
| 8015778 | Method for filling containers with piece goods In a method for filling bulk goods into containers designed to accommodate a certain number of bulk items, at least one bulk goods conveyor is used to transport the bulk goods towards at least two pickers which are consecutively arranged in the direction of transpor... | 09/13/2011 |
| 8006468 | Container filling machine having vibration trays A container-filling machine for placing discrete articles within at least one container. The container filling machine comprises at least one vibration tray comprising a discrete article receiving end, a discrete article drop-off end and a plurality of channels exte... | 08/30/2011 |
| 7900426 | Method for packaging food products, and an arrangement for use in such a method A method for packaging of food products, in which at least two products are to be packaged at the same portion carrier is disclosed. The method may include: raising the food product to be moved to a portion carrier by a gripping de... | 03/08/2011 |
| 7895814 | Case loader and method A case loader for forming arrays of articles such as milk jugs carried by a relatively upper supply conveyor to the loading gate of a loading station and dropping the articles into cases delivered by conveyor to the loading station and raised by an elevator up under... | 03/01/2011 |
| 7886506 | Method of automatically filling prescriptions A method of dispensing pills includes (a) inputting a request and (b) loading a cassette having a first pill type into position then (c) positioning a target container beneath that cassette. (d) The cassette is energized to drop one pill. (f) If a pill dropped and t... | 02/15/2011 |
| 7866128 | Container bottom and methods Substantially triangular shaped container bottoms include a bottom wall with a concave surface. The container bottom can be used with a container body having an interior chamber for receiving at least one article. Exemplary embodiments include a container bottom att... | 01/11/2011 |
| 7836668 | Method of packing and shipping erosion control blankets A method of packing and shipping erosion control blankets that maximizes the use of the interior space of a shipping container. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, the method relates to packing, handling, storing and shipping of erosion control blankets... | 11/23/2010 |
| 7779615 | Device to load a sintering boat with nuclear fuel pellets and loading method using said device Device to load a sintering boat with nuclear fuel pellets, comprising a loading chute (2) delimiting a travel pathway (4) for the pellets, the loading chute comprising an upper end (8) intended to receive pellets and a lower end (12) inte... | 08/24/2010 |
| 7770363 | Method for filling cells of a blister strip with articles and an apparatus for implementing the method A method for filling cells of a heat-formed strip with corresponding articles, the strip being continuously advanced at a predetermined operating speed, comprising: collecting a plurality of articles which are in contact with each other and arranged in parallel rows... | 08/10/2010 |
| 7658055 | Method of packaging solar modules Methods and devices are provided for reducing wasted space and capacity in solar module assemblies. In one embodiment, the method comprises mounting a plurality of modules onto at least one support rail to define a solar assembly segment wherein the solar assembly s... | 02/09/2010 |
| 7571590 | Apparatus and method for transporting and depositing items into a package An apparatus and method for the controlled depositing of pliable items in a package are hereby proposed. In this process, the items are conveyed to the packing zone on a conveyor belt. The items are captured on the conveyor belt and moved to the edge of the conveyor... | 08/11/2009 |
| 7536842 | Machine and a method for filling box-like containers with articles arranged side by side and vertically In a machine for filling box-like containers with articles arranged side by side and vertically, a station (1) forms a row (11) of articles (10), overlapped at least partially. An article feeding apparatus (2), functionally interposed bet... | 05/26/2009 |
| 7441388 | Automated device for packaging food An automated food processing system and method is provided that allows food to be dispensed, fried and packaged in a suitable container, which may be an individual portion-sized container. In one embodiment, the system includes separate automated modules for dispens... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7426814 | Method of dispensing pills from a movable platen A plurality of cassettes, each filed with a supply of pills and positioned over a target location. A platen is provided beneath the target location with receptacles configured to hold both vials and blister packs. The platen or the cassette is movable so that any bl... | 09/23/2008 |
| 7418808 | Method and apparatus for filling containers including a supporting band The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for placing patterns of product holders, more in particular placing stacks of layers of the holders, into boxes or crates, using a supporting band, cords or strips, whereby the use of complex gripper heads is ... | 09/02/2008 |
| 7409812 | Robotic packaging device and method An end of arm tool that is capable of handling fragile items such as eggs that are packaged in containers (e.g., egg cartons) that require special handling is provided. The end of arm tool comprises vacuum cup assemblies to grip the top surfaces of the packages, cla... | 08/12/2008 |
| 7386970 | Method for dispensing tablets into a multi-compartment clinical reagent container A method for dispensing a desired number of oriented tablets from a bulk source into a well within a reagent container by moving the tablets by vibration into a number of parallel loading chutes and transfer chutes and displacing the desired number of tablets into a... | 06/17/2008 |
| 7356980 | Automated method for packaging food An automated food processing system and method is provided that allows food to be dispensed, fried and packaged in a suitable container, which may be an individual portion-sized container. In one embodiment, the system includes separate automated modules for dispens... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7353949 | Packaging unit Packaging unit (17) for absorbent articles (1) including a number of folded articles (1), the folded parts (11) of the articles being arranged towards one of the sides (18) of the packaging unit, but at different distances from the... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7334699 | Filler assembly for medication dispenser A filler assembly capable of filling unit-of-use medication containers or dispensers. In an embodiment, the filler assembly includes a generally trough-shaped top with a generally horizontal bottom including apertures surrounded by multiple sidewalls. Further, a bod... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7322171 | Method and apparatus for constructing carton A method and apparatus for packaging articles such as pouches which do not have rigid structures. The method includes the steps of placing first and second sets of the articles onto spaced apart loading panels of a carton blank so that the article sets are spaced ap... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7318306 | Packaging method for packaging containers and lids An apparatus for use in packaging containers and associated lids together includes a moveable gantry with a first support portion and a second support portion alongside the first support portion. The first and second support portions are sized and configured to supp... | 01/15/2008 |
| 7316700 | Self optimizing lancing device with adaptation means to temporal variations in cutaneous properties A lancing device, an embodiment of which controls the advancement and retraction of a lancet by monitoring the position of the lancet in conjunction with a lancet controller which incorporates a feedback loop for modulating the lancet driver to follow a predetermine... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7308779 | Method and device for packing tubes Tubes (T), coming from a production line, are supplied by means of a grouping unit (1). The grouping unit comprises a conveyor belt (10), with product holders (11) and the tubes are supplied in groups by means of a stepping motor (12). A ... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7305806 | Pattern former for wrapped bakery products and method for loading and unloading bakery products A pattern former for assembling wrapped bakery products into predetermined patterns comprises a perforated vacuum turntable. Vacuum is applied to the vacuum turntable while bakery products are loaded thereon and positioned in a predetermined pattern. Once the bakery... | 12/11/2007 |
| 7299603 | Front opening shipping box and method of operating the same A method of operating a front opening shipping box is provided. The operating method comprises providing a front opening shipping box. The front opening shipping box includes at least a container body, at least an air extraction pipeline and at least a gas inlet pip... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7284359 | Breech loader An apparatus for automatically delivering placed and oriented pieces of meat to a netter for wrapping and netting is described, in which the placement and orientation of the meat pieces remains unchanged from initial placement until final wrapping and netting. The a... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7282651 | Method and apparatus for weighing fragile items A system for weighing items sequentially delivered by a feeder subsystem in order to discharge batches of items having a desired target weight; and more particularly to a method and apparatus particularly configured to handle fragile items, e.g. strawberries, cherri... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7252102 | Ultrasonic slat washer An ultrasonic cleaner apparatus is disclosed which includes a support housing, a tub supported by the housing and an ultrasound and sensor transducer contacting the bottom of the cleaning tank. A fixture assembly for holding items to be cleaned is configured for ins... | 08/07/2007 |
| 7218128 | Method and apparatus for locating and testing a chip A probe apparatus includes a nest element operable to precisely locate a chip having a plurality of exposed interconnects on a face of the chip to permit conductive connection to the chip through the interconnects. The nest element includes a pocket dimensioned to l... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7213386 | Device for filling a container with a plurality of objects A device for filling a container with a plurality of objects standing substantially upright on a floor portion of the container includes: a depositing cavity temporarily created and maintained in the container for receiving one of the plurality of objects; a first m... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7204068 | Packaging system with a tool for enclosing electronic components and method of populating a carrier tape The invention relates to a packaging system having a tool for inserting electronic components into a carrier tape, which has passage openings. The tool has a pick-up device to pick up the components from a carrier film and position them in the passage openings by me... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7191578 | Pattern former for wrapped bakery products and bakery tray loading system A pattern former for assembling wrapped bakery products into predetermined patterns includes a vacuum turntable. A first transfer apparatus moves groups of wrapped bakery products onto the vacuum turntable and a second transfer apparatus moves assembled patterns of ... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7175172 | Method and device for inserting a plurality of individual sheetlike forms of administration in a dispenser by forming a multilayer pile A process for introducing a plurality of segregated sheet-like administration forms into a dispenser under formation of a multilayered stack for individually dosable removal, with sheet-like tapes wound-up on rolls being present as starting material, utilizes the fo... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7137234 | Vertical flat stacking apparatus and method of use A device and method for stacking product into a container in a vertical orientation. The device includes at least one pivoting mechanism pivotable between a loading position and an initial/final position. The at least one pivoting mechanism retains a container there... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7117657 | Delivery point packager takeaway system and method An apparatus is provided for packaging and taking away packaged sequenced product such as mail pieces. The apparatus includes a packaging device having an output end, and adapted to package sequenced products. A clamping device is adjacent to the output end of the p... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7118648 | Paper Strap Among other things, the present invention provides various apparatus useful in paper manufacturing and recycling. On such apparatus is a paper strap that includes a paper body that is formed of a compound structure. Such a paper strap further includes an adhesive ma... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7112031 | Method and apparatus for mechanized pocket sweeping A method for sweeping mail pieces from pockets of a sorter including the steps of (1) sorting mail pieces to a plurality of pockets based upon a preselected sorting criteria, (2) positioning an unloading robot adjacent to a selected one of the pockets when the pocke... | 09/26/2006 |