Did You Know...
...that while attempting to develop a super strong glue, 3M employee Spencer Silver accidentally developed a glue that was so weak it would barely hold two pieces of paper together? However, his colleague Art Fry needed the glue. Fry sang with his church choir and marked the pages of his hymnal with small scraps of paper that often fell out. He used Silver's glue to hold the papers in place. Today we call this invention Post-it Notes.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7984809 | System and method for directing indicator-based sortation of shipments Various embodiments of a system and method for directing indicator-based sortation of shipments are described. In various embodiments, a control system may be configured to utilize indicators to direct the sortation of items in a materials handling facility, such as... | 07/26/2011 |
| 7415131 | Method and system for image processing The invention provides an improved method and system for processing mail items on bar code sorting machines. Such a method includes the steps of scanning a surface of each mail piece with at least one imaging camera to obtain at least one image of the surface repres... | 08/19/2008 |
| 7365284 | Sorting mail in carrier walk sequence An automated mail sorting system including a display for displaying the image of an item of mail belonging to a carrier route, and input device for associating the image with any of a plurality of stations in a walking sequence of the carrier route, and a sorter hav... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7361861 | Modular document sorting apparatus and method A modular document sorting apparatus and method. A plurality of modules are functionally connected to one another to enable them to scan documents for information and sort the documents according to the scanned information. Each module performs at least one function... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7355140 | Method of and apparatus for multi-stage sorting of glass cullets A method and system for sorting different colored objects, preferably glass cullets, into separate groups of same colored objects comprising a plurality of sorting devices for receiving an input feed of different colored objects and sorting the different colored obj... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7351929 | Method of and apparatus for high speed, high quality, contaminant removal and color sorting of glass cullet A system for sorting a mixed stream of different colored cullet into separate groups of same colored cullet comprises a light emitting source for transmitting light, such as white light, through a cullet, and a camera having a plurality of pixels for receiving light... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7326871 | Sorting system using narrow-band electromagnetic radiation A system for sorting articles includes a detector system having a plurality of narrow bandwidth sources of electromagnetic energy sequentially illuminating articles passing through the detector system, the detector system further including a collector for collecting... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7320254 | Hand-held torque measuring device An ergonomic wedge shaped torque tester with multiple push buttons to control the use and recording functions. The top of the device has a single on/off button, a display screen to display the results of the test, two push buttons for scrolling through the various s... | 01/22/2008 |
| 7284652 | Tiered control architecture for material handling A control architecture for material handling includes multiple tiers of controllers, such as three. The lowest-level controllers interact directly with sensors and actuators used in the material handling system, such as photo-eyes and motors used with conveyors. The... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7272916 | Method and device for inspecting and monitoring the seal integrity of sterile packages A system for inspecting seal integrity of a sealed package including a visual inspection system and a medical packaging system having an integral peel testing device. ... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7255128 | System and method for detecting flow in a mass flow controller Systems and methods are provided for detecting flow in a mass flow controller (MFC). The position of a gate in the MFC is sensed or otherwise determined to monitor flow through the MFC and to immediately or nearly immediately detect a flow failure. In one embodiment... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7215794 | Method and device for reading the addresses on items of mail The invention relates to the reading of addresses on mailings whereby the images with the addresses are videocoded in several video-coding sites by means of a job distribution device. At fixed intervals a current individual error rate, for first-pass video coding fo... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7192791 | Semiconductor wafer having an edge based identification feature A semiconductor wafer comprises a wafer formed of a semiconductor material having a peripheral edge portion and a repeating mark on the edge portion of the wafer to allow identification of the wafer. Also described is a method of identifying and tracking these semic... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7181045 | Method and device for reading the addresses of items of mail The invention relates to a method and a device for reading the addresses of mailings with an OCR device and a video coding device. On an ambiguous reading result from the OCR device an extract is automatically generated with specified extraction rules from address a... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7179420 | Apparatus comprising a particle sorter/dispenser and method therefor A particle sorter/dispenser wherein particles that are suspended in a liquid are flowed through a conduit and selectively dispensed through a dispensing orifice. The conduit includes a sensing zone wherein the liquid-suspended particles are interrogated by a sensor.... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7160730 | Method and apparatus for cell sorting A cell sorter system that includes a precision pump that causes fluid containing cells to enter an inlet port where the fluid is exposed to source light of one or more wavelengths and where cells scatter light or produce fluorescence by known means, and the scattere... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7145093 | Method and system for image processing The invention provides a method of processing an image containing written information include the steps of (a) scanning a surface of an object to obtain an image of the surface represented by first image data, (b) creating second image data from the first image data... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7140498 | Mail delivery system A mail case system facilitates sequence-sorting various types of mail together into individual bags that each represent delivery points. The mail case uses multi-bag inserts so that bags for a number of stops can be set up for sorting. At the end of the sorting oper... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7136504 | System for processing postal items The present invention relates to a method of processing postal matters in an automatic address-reading system, an image of the surface of each article of mail having address information being obtained and delivered to a first automatic evaluation system, and incorpo... | 11/14/2006 |
| 7131529 | Oven conveyor alignment system apparatus and method An oven conveyor alignment system for maintaining a conveyor belt centered on its supporting rollers is disclosed. The system comprises a camera that generates an image of alignment and stores it as a digital pixel representation. Thus, the system is able to take ad... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7120616 | Method for specifying, executing and analyzing method sequences for recognition A method for specifying, executing and analyzing method sequences for the recognition of dispatch labels and form entries. In the specification phase, the method sequences are input in graphical form into a computer system as flowcharts with attributes and function ... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7118034 | Systems and methods for package sortation and delivery using radio frequency identification technology A disclosed method comprises scanning a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag on a package to generate scanned data, and generating a handling instruction for the package based on the scanned data. The handling instruction can be executed to route the package to... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7103438 | System and method for searching and verifying documents in a document processing device A method of processing barcoded tickets in a document processing device including receiving a stack of barcoded tickets in an input receptacle of a document processing device. Each barcoded ticket includes a document-identifier or ticket number that identifies the b... | 09/05/2006 |
| 7081595 | Apparatus and methods for processing mailpiece information in a mail processing device using sorter application software Apparatus and methods consistent with the present invention provide for processing mailpiece information in a mail processing device using sorter application software. In one embodiment, a mail processing device uses the sorter application software to communicate wi... | 07/25/2006 |
| 7057259 | Semiconductor wafer with ID mark, equipment for and method of manufacturing semiconductor device from them A semiconductor wafer has a bevel contour formed along the periphery thereof, products formed on the wafer, and an ID mark formed on the bevel contour. The ID mark shows at least the properties, manufacturing conditions, and test results of the products. ... | 06/06/2006 |
| 7043054 | Postal information input apparatus and a data display method thereof In a postal information input apparatus in which when a postcode to be read by a reader of a postal matter sorting machine cannot be normally read, a correct postcode is reentered manually from an input device, a first display means which displays on a display devic... | 05/09/2006 |
| 7036287 | Method and device for inspecting and monitoring the seal integrity of sterile packages A system for inspecting seal integrity of a sealed package including a visual inspection system and a medical packaging system having an integral peel testing device. ... | 05/02/2006 |
| 7030338 | Pharmaceutical laser drilling system A laser drilling system forms an opening in the coating of a pharmaceutical dosage form and includes an orienting assembly to correctly orient dosage forms, a debris removal assembly to reduce buildup of and reduce exposure to drilling debris and a quality control a... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7024274 | Method for handling stackable storage objects A method for sorting and stacking stackable storage objects where the storage objects consist of at least three stacks. The method includes the steps of identifying and marking each storage object with a sequence number for each object in a withdrawal order. Identif... | 04/04/2006 |
| 7012211 | Single pass sequencing assembly A method and apparatus for sequencing articles via a single sort pass or process includes a plurality of article receivers or collators positioned along a conveying or transport path and a plurality of carriages movable along the path. The carriages receive articles... | 03/14/2006 |
| 7013231 | Method and program product to optimize manufacturing test time of electrical devices A test methodology for use in a manufacturing process includes generating a test management matrix having a plurality of selectable test sites. Each test site indicates the optimum level of tests to be exercised on devices used to manufacture a product, such as a pe... | 03/14/2006 |
| 7003376 | Method for tracking a mail piece A system and method for tracking a mail piece includes capturing an image of the mail piece, associating a tracking number for the mail piece with the image, providing the mail piece and tracking number to a carrier, and utilizing information from the image to inves... | 02/21/2006 |
| 6994218 | Apparatus for sorting cells and cell alignment substrate of the same An apparatus for sorting cells includes a cell alignment portion applying a process to a cell-suspending fluid with a great number of cells and arraying the cells with a spacing between each cell, a cell information detecting portion detecting information on the cel... | 02/07/2006 |
| 6993155 | Method for reading document entries and addresses The invention relates to a method for reading document entries and addresses. In this context, automatic reading is effected using the intermediate steps of layout analysis, classification of the segmented regions and interpretation of the results in a reader, and i... | 01/31/2006 |
| 6992290 | Electron beam inspection system and inspection method and method of manufacturing devices using the system An electron beam inspection system of the image projection type includes a primary electron optical system for shaping an electron beam emitted from an electron gun into a rectangular configuration and applying the shaped electron beam to a sample surface to be insp... | 01/31/2006 |
| 6971213 | Method for the separate rejection of defective items, in particular strip packages, during transferring from a packaging line to a conveying line A method for the rejection of single defective items, in particular strip packages, during transferring from a packaging line to a conveying line, includes a preliminary check of the integrity of each product present on the packaging line and the subsequent removabl... | 12/06/2005 |
| 6971214 | Work cell A work cell has an inbound portion and an outbound portion. The inbound and outbound portions are angled relative to each other, at approximately 135°. The inbound portion is comprised of an inbound cradle to facilitate the loading of items within containers. The o... | 12/06/2005 |
| 6964367 | Automatic system for verifying articles containing indicia thereon A method and apparatus for automatically acquiring and verifying, relative to pre-established rules, information affixed to relatively flat articles transported along a transport path comprises a weighing device for measuring weight of articles being processed, an i... | 11/15/2005 |
| 6955264 | Method of detecting protrusion of inspection object from palette and method of fabricating semiconductor device In order to provide a method of detecting protrusion of an inspection object from a palette improved to be capable of making highly precise detection and reducing a socket breakage ratio, an inspection object is introduced into each of a plurality of pockets provide... | 10/18/2005 |
| 6954711 | Test substrate reclamation method and apparatus Test substrates used to test semiconductor fabrication tools are reclaimed by reading from a database the process steps performed on each test substrate and selecting a reclamation process from a plurality of reclamation processes, for reclaiming each test substrate... | 10/11/2005 |
