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.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 5351202 | Evaluation and ranking of manufacturing line non-numeric information An apparatus and method for quantitatively ranking the performance of each attribute contributing to a manufacturing process. Various signals representing the measure (i.e., quality or yield) of a manufacturing run and representing the attributes that con... | 09/27/1994 |
| 5343387 | Cyclic maintenance work schedule table preparation system A system is provided for the preparation of a cyclic maintenance work schedule table. The system includes a display unit which can show boxes defined by dates in a desired period and the names of individual workers. The system also has a worker data memor... | 08/30/1994 |
| 5301103 | Method and system for restarting sequentially controlled equipment installed in a production line In a method and a system for restarting sequentially controlled equipment installed in a production line when the equipment is out of order, operations of the equipment are divided into a plurality of operation blocks, operations of each of which are exec... | 04/05/1994 |
| 5295066 | Method of and apparatus for controlling production process A method of an apparatus for controlling production process which is capable of predetermining a standard production term of every process, of detecting an actual advance situation at a completion time of every process or every predetermined term, of coll... | 03/15/1994 |
| 5290386 | Parallel processor control of composite material handling A main controller (55) causes a vision controller (36) to determine the exact location of plies (24) for a composite article in response to images from video cameras (35). The main controller then causes a robot controller (40) to direct a robot (42-46) t... | 03/01/1994 |
| 5278765 | Apparatus for monitoring a predetermined treatment effected on objects successively moved along a given path An apparatus for monitoring whether a predetermined treatment has been effected at a predetermined working station on each of objects which are successively moved relative to the working station along a predetermined path includes an object detector for g... | 01/11/1994 |
| 5255197 | Line production management system A line production management system is provided. In the line production management system, a primary computer, a primary controller, a secondary controller, a tertiary controller and a number of processing machines are provided. The primary controller mai... | 10/19/1993 |
| 5247447 | Exception processor system An exception processing system for use in conjunction with manufacturing facilities, and automated manufacturing cells in particular is provided. The exception processor is adapted to receive alarms from a cell controller indicating that an unplanned even... | 09/21/1993 |
| 5247448 | Using spectral signature analysis in producing substrates for magnetic media A formation process has a plurality of process steps performed according to a set of process parameters. The formation process is used to form substrates in magnetic discs. A displacement signal is obtained which is representative of surface displacement ... | 09/21/1993 |
| 5212645 | Flexible real-time, multi-tasking architecture for tool condition monitoring This invention utilizes a system of interlinked modular hardware and modular software for continuously controlling the manufacture of a workpiece. By using a modular architecture, the system capabilities can be expanded or modified without requiring major... | 05/18/1993 |
| 5161110 | Hierarchical process control system and method The present invention relates to a real-time hierarchical process control system. The system comprises a multiple-level architecture, each level including a monitor for receiving and monitoring a plurality of input signals. The monitor produces a first re... | 11/03/1992 |
| 5148363 | Breakdown diagnosing method of production line A breakdown diagnosing method prevents erroneous diagnosis of abnormalities and malfunctions in an operating system, particularly a production line. The fact that an abnormal state of the equipment is not accompanied by a malfunction can be detected. In t... | 09/15/1992 |
| 5111404 | Method for managing production line processes A system for managing successive processes which are to be performed on raw articles in a production line for producing finished articles. The system comprises a process managing block for receiving data on preceding processes which have already been perf... | 05/05/1992 |
| 5105362 | Method for producing semiconductor devices A system for managing successive processes which are to be performed on a semiconductor wafer in a production line for producing a semiconductor device. The system comprises a process managing block for receiving data on preceding processes which have alr... | 04/14/1992 |
| 5008842 | Method of sequential monitoring and apparatus for practicing the same A production line has a plurality of working groups in which work operations are controlled by a sequential controller. Detectors are provided in each working group of the production line to output signals to a microcomputer. The microcomputer makes seque... | 04/16/1991 |
| 4987545 | Method for monitoring the manufacture of a product A method for monitoring a product under manufacture for possible deformation or changes in shape. In accordance with the method there is produced at given time intervals a series of halographic product images from which the rate at which possible changes ... | 01/22/1991 |
| 4901242 | System for managing production of semiconductor devices A system for managing successive processes which are to be performed on a semiconductor wafer in a production line for producing a semiconductor device. The system comprises a process managing block for receiving data on preceding processes which have alr... | 02/13/1990 |
| 4858102 | Distributed logic control system and method A system and method for controlling operation of a plurality of elements in an automated process, such as a production process, and indicating error conditions as they occur. Each unique set of input and output conditions of the various system elements de... | 08/15/1989 |
| 4855923 | Parts assembly using signature analysis A method of assembling parts in which, before actual assembly of the parts, the forces associated with a good assembly of parts and the forces associated with a faulty assembly of parts are identified to train a pattern of recognition signature analysis s... | 08/08/1989 |
| 4786182 | Method and means for controlling a fodder mixing plant In order to produce pellets (22) in a pellet press following a recipe which is constantly being adjusted in order that the physical properties of the pellets are optimized in relation to the total production costs, a method is used where control is effect... | 11/22/1988 |
| 4767629 | Method for preparing cured sausage and ham Production of cured sausage or ham where measurement of pH, rate of change thereof, measurement pertaining to contraction of the sausage or ham, and also rate of contraction thereof, as well as temperature and relative humidity corrections for curing, are... | 08/30/1988 |
| 4719586 | Manufacturing process control A process control is provided for continuously monitoring and adjusting an apparatus for manufacturing discrete workpieces. The system measures a current workpiece by taking fifteen readings and deleting the highest five and lowest five readings and avera... | 01/12/1988 |
| 4660149 | Control process for a monocrystal pulling machine The invention relates to a process for the control of a monocrystal pulling machine. The process consists of recording in a computer memory parameters relating to the geometry of the monocrystal and the growth thereof, signals representative of the weight... | 04/21/1987 |
| 4628435 | Facilities control method A multi-facility control system includes a controller and attendant memory. Stored in the memory are a plurality of rules, each of which includes a conditional portion representative of a condition to be examined and a conclusive portion describing action... | 12/09/1986 |
| 4571685 | Production system for manufacturing semiconductor devices A production system for manufacturing semiconductor devices comprises apparatus for making a semiconductor wafer during a first process step. A plurality of semiconductor devices, or semiconductor chips are arranged and incorporated in the wafer. A second... | 02/18/1986 |
| 4554887 | Apparatus for coating tablets with computer control A method and apparatus for coating medical tablets and pellets, for example, which are to be coated with a protective film or wherein an ingredient is to be added or the appearance of the material is to be improved wherein the various parameters which con... | 11/26/1985 |
| 4541063 | Method and apparatus for updating event information A monitoring apparatus and method are disclosed for monitoring the occurrence of a plurality of events in a cyclical process. An event transducer detects the occurrence of such events in such process, a progress transducer detects the progress of such pro... | 09/10/1985 |
| 4479980 | Plating rate monitor A plating rate monitor includes a Wheatstone bridge, one branch of which is a monitoring resistor formed on a printed circuit board located in the same environment as an object being plated. The resistor undergoes plating at the same rate as the object. E... | 10/30/1984 |
| 4404640 | Grinding mill monitoring instrumentation A current transformer is coupled about the power feed line of the motor operating a ball mill grinder or the like to sense the motor current. This current is converted to a motor load or horsepower signal which is processed together with mill flow rate in... | 09/13/1983 |
| 4389706 | Digital computer monitored and/or operated system or process which is structured for operation with an improved automatic programming process and system An industrial production or other operational system is established by connecting apparatus which implements system operation to a digital computer system using an interface system. Machine readable definitions of events, of executable jobs, and of system... | 06/21/1983 |
| 4385685 | Control and monitoring arrangement for drives of moving machine parts A control and monitoring arrangement for drives of moving parts of a machine for the manufacture of structural parts in two or more steps is equipped with controls for the drives. The drives may be pressure fluid operated and they are electrically and/or ... | 05/31/1983 |
| 4228513 | Monitor system and method for detecting sequential events in a cyclical process The invention relates to a monitor system and method for monitoring the occurrence of events in a cyclical process. Whether the successive events occur at their proper positions within the process, position meaning, for example, a physical location and/or... | 10/14/1980 |
| 4167004 | Apparatus for detecting plural repetitive signals Repetitive defect signals are produced, for example, by bar or rod inspection equipment whenever any one of plural roll sets in a rolling mill develops a roll crack. Defect signal repetitive rate differs for each roll's relative speed. Selective correlato... | 09/04/1979 |
| 4135204 | Automatic glass blowing apparatus and method An automatic process controller and method for automatically controlling in real time the formation of an object having boundaries which change with time. A TV camera provides a video image of the object. An interface circuit detects first and second boun... | 01/16/1979 |
| 4109309 | Method and apparatus for remote display of analog signals occurring in computer controlled machine tools An analog signal which occurs in a computer controlled machine tool is converted to digital form at the machine tool site and is stored in a memory portion of the machine tool computer. The digitized analog signal is subsequently read out of the memory an... | 08/22/1978 |
| 3938106 | Production data gathering and processing system A data system for gathering and processing data from a production line includes a central processing unit connected to a plurality of addressable data terminals respectively disposed at the work stations of the production line, each terminal having stored... | 02/10/1976 |
