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 |
| 7968814 | Optical grain sorter A grain images obtained by CCD line sensors are processed by binarization processing to obtain contour images of grains and images of colored portions in the grains. The images are displayed on a monitor screen of an operating panel 30. The contour images and... | 06/28/2011 |
| 7863535 | Method and apparatus for processing toothbrushes A method of processing toothbrushes includes supplying a plurality of toothbrushes with tufts of bristles attached to heads of the toothbrushes. Similar portions of each of the toothbrushes differ in color from each other. A color of the portion of each of the tooth... | 01/04/2011 |
| 7795556 | Packaging apparatus An automated, continuous rotary-motion, positive-count, container-filling machine used for counting, color inspecting, geometric inspecting, and batching a predetermined quantity of multiple or discrete objects such as tablets, capsules, caplets, or packets of colla... | 09/14/2010 |
| 7629551 | Automatic recycling of exhaust tubes for fiber optics An apparatus and method of recycling exhaust tubes used to manufacture optical fiber includes the automated use of 1) a machine vision system that signals a conveyor system when to stop so that a cutting machine will cut contaminates and discoloration from an exhaus... | 12/08/2009 |
| 7367880 | Method and apparatus for monitoring characteristics of a flow path having solid components flowing therethrough A method and apparatus is provided for monitoring a flow path having plurality of different solid components flowing therethrough. For example, in the harvesting of a plant material, many factors surrounding the threshing, separating or cleaning of the plant materia... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7369239 | Light measuring apparatus and method for measuring monochromatic light A color luminance meter 1 is provided with a polychrometer 4 as a spectral optical system including a light receiving sensor array 43, a signal processing circuit 5 and an operation control unit 6. The operation control unit 6 | 05/06/2008 |
| 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 |
| 7341156 | Systems and methods for sorting, collecting data pertaining to and certifying recyclables at a material recovery facility Systems and methods for collecting data pertaining to glass, plastic and/or paper composition within an input stream that includes recyclable material. The data collected can pertain, for example, to the weight and/or volume of the glass, plastic and/or paper within... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7339660 | Illumination device for product examination An illumination device for use with a product inspection machine inspecting products according to at least one characteristic. The invention also pertains to an illumination device for use in sorting machines that optically sort or separate nonstandard fungible obje... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7328808 | Apparatus for sorting wood chips in separate fractions The invention relates to an apparatus for sorting wood chips, said apparatus having a feeder for supplying the wood chips onto a sloping support surface so that the chips slide along the support surface and over a slit extending across the support surface. A flow of... | 02/12/2008 |
| 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 |
| 7317525 | Method for validating a dispensed pharmaceutical An apparatus for verifying the identity of a dispensed pharmaceutical comprises an analysis unit adapted to determine a property of the dispensed pharmaceutical, an input device adapted to receive predetermined identifying information corresponding to the dispensed ... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7313898 | Container carrying system and method for use in an automated filling process In a container carrier system and method for use in an automated process for filling containers of multiple sizes, pucks of various sizes are inserted into compartments of container pallets to allow containers of different sizes to be held in the compartments. A puc... | 01/01/2008 |
| 7272252 | Automated system for combining bright field and fluorescent microscopy A method and apparatus for automated analysis of transmitted and fluorescently labeled biological samples, wherein the apparatus automatically scans at a low magnification to acquire images which are analyzed to determine candidate cell objects of interest. Once can... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7251031 | Colorstick A device comprising an illumination means and a light sensing means, that can examine and memorize a discrete color of an object based on the magnitude of the reflected light bouncing off of the colored surface in at least three areas of the electromagnetic spectrum... | 07/31/2007 |
| 7248373 | Workpiece configuration detection system and method An assembly includes a platform for supporting and moving a tire along therealong. A light emitter of a first detection assembly transmits a first signal from emitter around the tire in to determine the height of the tire. A light receiver of the first detection ass... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7244122 | Methods for determining optical characteristics of dental objects Color measuring systems and methods such as for determining the color or other characteristics of teeth are disclosed. Perimeter receiver fiber optics are spaced apart from a central source fiber optic and receive light reflected from the surface of the object/tooth... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7245757 | Method and device for detecting container movement A method and a device for detecting containers, e.g. bottles of glass or plastics, or cans made of metal, wood, glass or plastics, which for recycling of materials thereof or reuse thereof are moved in a lying posture and with their axis parallel to direction of tra... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7240839 | Color measurement apparatus operable as a pointing device, a computer display measurement device and a printer output measurement device A color measurement apparatus is adapted as an attachment for a personal computing system. An interface integral to the color measurement apparatus couples the color measurement apparatus to the personal computing system. A computer pointing device integral to the c... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7218775 | Method and apparatus for identifying and quantifying characteristics of seeds and other small objects The invention provides a method for identifying or quantifying characteristics of interest of unknown objects, comprising training a single neural network model with training sets of known objects having known values for the characteristics; validating the optimal n... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7212654 | Measurement of fruit particles Apparatus and methods to characterize and measure fruit pieces in food products are provided. A sample is spread on a viewing cell and illuminated. The image is captured by a camera and fed to a computer with imaging software. Information useful for quality control ... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7205498 | Closure lining and color detector A system is disclosed for detecting or inspecting for a lining of a container closure that is formed of a sheet metal and has a panel on an inside surface of the closure. The panel of the closure has a lining formed thereon. The system according to the present inven... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7202434 | Method of sorting objects comprising organic materials A method of sorting sorting objects within a bulk of objects from a heterogeneous population is provided. The bulk of objects to be sorted has an inherent variation, and at least one class, having less variation than the originally inherent variation of the bulk, is... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7177454 | Automated detection of objects in a biological sample A method, system, and apparatus are provided for automated light microscopic for detection of proteins associated with cell proliferative disorders. ... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7173703 | Apparatus on a textile fibre processing machine for evaluating textile fibre material In an apparatus for inspecting and evaluating fiber material, for example a sliver or fleece, an opto-electronic system, is provided across the width of a textile machine and scans the moving fiber material and converts the measured values into electronic signals. T... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7145649 | Method of producing an ultra-violet or near ultra-violet light source for non-destructive inspection or testing There is provided an apparatus having at least one LED capable of emitting near ultraviolet or ultraviolet radiation to excite a luminescent material for non-destructive fault testing. The radiation may also be focused using a lens. There is also provided a method f... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7143479 | Inspection device on a spinning preparation machine, especially a carding machine, cleaner or the like In a device on a spinning preparation machine, especially a carding machine, cleaner or the like, having a machinery housing, the machine and/or fiber feed and fiber discharge devices are arranged in the interior of the machinery housing. In order that the fi... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7121399 | Small item pneumatic diverter A small item pneumatic diverter for high speed diversion of articles, such as fruit, from a moving conveyor in a product handling system. The pneumatic diverter is particularly suited for diversion of small, relatively fragile articles after they have been optically... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7113283 | Apparatus and method for measuring color Color measuring systems and methods are disclosed. Perimeter receiver fiber optics are spaced apart from a central source fiber optic and receive light reflected from the surface of the object being measured. Light from the perimeter fiber optics pass to a variety o... | 09/26/2006 |
| 7110096 | Method for determing optical characteristics through a protective barrier Color/optical characteristics measuring systems and methods are disclosed. Perimeter receiver fiber optics/elements are spaced apart from a central source fiber optic/element and received light reflected from the surface of the object is measured. Light from the per... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7107741 | Method and apparatus for selecting and feeding articles According to a method for selecting and feeding articles to blisters or containers, a first hopper filled with unselected articles feeds a second main hopper with selected size-matching articles, by means of a tapered inlet section. Size non-matching articles get ja... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7110590 | Method and return vending machine device for handling empty beverage containers The method of handling an empty beverage container having a bottom end and a mouth region and includes moving the container, from a return vending machine inlet, in a direction towards an outlet thereof. Through use of the method there is detected by means of a vide... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7102741 | Printing/inspection unit, method and apparatus for printing and/or inspecting and accepting/removing specified pellet-shaped articles from a conveyer mechanism A pellet-shaped article inspection unit is structured for use with a conveyer mechanism having a plurality of carrier bars, each carrier bar being structured to convey a plurality of pellet-shaped articles along a predetermined path. The article inspection unit incl... | 09/05/2006 |
| 7099500 | Automated detection of objects in a biological sample A method, system, and apparatus are provided for automated light microscopic for detection of proteins associated with cell proliferative disorders. ... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7097450 | Methods for determining color or shade information of a dental object using an image generation device without operator identification of the position of a reference implement in the field of view of the image generation device Color measuring systems and methods such as for determining the color or other characteristics of teeth are disclosed. Perimeter receiver fiber optics are spaced apart from a central source fiber optic and receive light reflected from the surface of the object/tooth... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7099741 | Control systems and methods of dispensing items A control system for regulating a dispenser that includes a feeder bowl and a plurality of dispensing paths is disclosed. The control system includes a control unit for controlling a rotation drive for rotating the dispensing paths, a feeder bowl vibration device fo... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7099433 | Method and apparatus for sorting materials according to relative composition Disclosed herein is a metal sorting device including an X-ray tube, a dual energy detector array, a microprocessor, and an air ejector array. The device senses the presence of samples in the x-ray sensing region and initiates identifying and sorting the samples. Aft... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7095420 | System and related methods for synthesizing color imagery A system and related method for synthesizing natural color ground or landcover imagery for a predetermined project area, includes the steps of inputting a high-resolution natural color sample of a sample area contained within the project area. Next, a multispectral ... | 08/22/2006 |
| 7081217 | Method for making plastic materials using recyclable plastics A method of making plastic materials, such as plastic lumber, wherein recyclable plastics are sorted into at least two categories and the recyclable plastics in each category are then shredded and chipped, extruded, and mixed with selected colour concentrates to pro... | 07/25/2006 |
