Famous Patents
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 |
| 7999243 | Apparatus and method for determining a dimensional characteristic of an installed weld fastener A tool determines a characteristic of an installed weld fastener using a dimensional measurement device, and includes a threaded portion engageable with the weld fastener and a cylindrical portion. A controller is in communication with the measurement device, and ca... | 08/16/2011 |
| 7663129 | Thin substrate pitch measurement equipment The present invention provides an equipment for measuring the vertical distance or pitch between a plurality of thin substrates inside a container body, including an optical component to transmit a light beam to a thin substrate in the container body and receive lig... | 02/16/2010 |
| 7652275 | Non-contact probe control interface A probe control interface is provided for a structured light non-contact coordinate measuring machine probe. Portions of a video control signal for controlling the grey level of selected rows of pixels of a spatial light modulator of the probe can be decoded into co... | 01/26/2010 |
| 7440121 | Optically measuring interior cavities A method of measuring the three-dimensional volume or perimeter shape of an interior cavity includes the steps of collecting a first optical slice of data that represents a partial volume or perimeter shape of the interior cavity, collecting additional optical slice... | 10/21/2008 |
| 7428061 | Optical probe for scanning the features of an object and methods thereof An optical probe for measuring features of an object comprises two or more viewing directions and two or more projection directions. A method of measuring the features of an object comprises configuring an optical probe into two or more optical groups, wherein an op... | 09/23/2008 |
| 7396414 | Apparatus for simultaneously coating and measuring parts A method and apparatus for simultaneously coating and measuring a part. The apparatus includes a part support, a sprayer and a part measurer positioned adjacent to the part support and a display device positioned adjacent to the part support. The sprayer applies a c... | 07/08/2008 |
| 7385215 | Sensor elements for supercavitating vehicles Sensing elements that quickly and accurately determine if a liquid or gas is present around the sensing elements are disclosed. These sensing elements find particular application in identifying the location of the cavity wall in which a supercavitating vehicle is op... | 06/10/2008 |
| 7379194 | Method and system for determining mail piece dimensions using swept laser beam A method of measuring a mailpiece includes deflecting a laser beam through an arc, determining an angle at which the laser beam is currently directed, and calculating a dimension of the mailpiece based at least in part on the determined angle. ... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7369254 | System and method for measuring dimension of patterns formed on photomask A system for measuring dimension of photomasks comprises a light source emitting measuring light having a wavelength, a transmission detector for receiving the measuring light, a stage on which a photomask having circuit patterns is placed, the stage being disposed ... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7368697 | System for identifying a photoelectric sensor array size having a detector for determining discontinuity in the readout charge from a readout register In a size determining system, a number of pixels in a dimension of a sensor array of photoelectric devices is determined. A readout register is arranged to receive charge accumulated in the dimension of the sensor array. A clock is connected to apply clock cycle pul... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7369916 | Drill press A power tool control system connected with a drill press provides a system for determining operational settings for the drill press and/or structural factors of a workpiece to be operated upon by the drill press. For instance, the power tool control system may estab... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7359762 | Measurement and alignment device including a display system A graphical user interface communicatively coupled with a non-contact measurement and alignment device enables user control over and display of the readings from the non-contact measurement and alignment device. In operation with a power tool, the graphical user int... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7359068 | Laser triangulation method for measurement of highly reflective solder balls A system and method of determining a height and/or position of at least one element on an area array device. A laser beam scans the area array device using at least two different laser light intensities. Reflected light is sampled, and the height and/or position of ... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7350915 | Lens having at least one lens centration mark and methods of making and using same A lens having at least one lens centration mark formed on a major surface of the lens is disclosed. The lens centration mark may be located at the intersection of a first axis and the major surface, where the major surface is symmetrical about the first axis such th... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7345293 | Device and method for inspecting piston ring A piston-ring inspecting device includes a sensor unit (27) including a light emitting system (27a) that emits slit-like detection light toward an outer peripheral surface (Ps) of a piston (P) and an outer peripheral surface (2c) o... | 03/18/2008 |
| 7342608 | Focus detecting method, focus detecting mechanism and image measuring device having focus detecting mechanism Focus detecting methods and focus detecting mechanisms of an image measuring device able to execute focus detection at high speed with high accuracy, and image measuring device having the focus detecting mechanisms are provided. A rotation driving device rotates and... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7336816 | Method and apparatus for measuring shape of bumps The present invention provides a bump shape measuring apparatus comprising an illumination optical system which illuminates bumps arranged on a board with illumination light of a low tilt angle to a surface of the board; a detection optical system where reflected li... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7336376 | Measuring pyramid size on a textured surface A method for measuring pyramid size of pyramids outwardly extending on a textured surface of an object, which method involves emitting from a light source a light beam along a first direction onto a region of the textured surface, measuring an intensity of light rec... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7330279 | Model and parameter selection for optical metrology A profile model for use in optical metrology of structures in a wafer is selected, the profile model having a set of geometric parameters associated with the dimensions of the structure. A set of optimization parameters is selected for the profile model using one or... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7310140 | Method and apparatus for inspecting a wafer surface In a method and an apparatus for inspecting a wafer surface, a wafer is loaded into a chamber. An incident light including a first light for sensing a vertical position of the wafer and a second light for inspecting the wafer surface is irradiated onto the wafer. Th... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7308845 | Sawing angle indicating-and-reading device for a table sawing machine A sawing angle indicating-and-reading device for a table sawing machine includes a saw base, a driving connecting rod and an angle sensing device. The driving connecting rod is actuated to drive the saw base to shift bias for an angle. The angle sensing device is co... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7305320 | Metrology tool recipe validator using best known methods A method of preparing recipes for operating a metrology tool, each recipe including a set of instructions for measuring dimensions in a microelectronic feature. A database includes a plurality of known instructions with best known methods for measuring different fea... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7293490 | Sawing angle indicating device for a table sawing machine A sawing angle indicating device for a table sawing machine includes an angle sensing device composed of a sensing disk, a sensor unit and a circuit device. The sensing disk is firmly fitted on a driving connecting rod to rotate together for putting out signals to t... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7295329 | Position detection system A position detection system. In representative embodiments, the position detection system comprises a support structure having a cavity, a first light source configured to emit light into at least part of the cavity, a second light source configured to emit light in... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7290474 | System for rapidly stopping a spinning table saw blade A system for stopping a spinning table saw blade is comprised of a pin assembly disposed adjacent to a saw blade assembly for stopping a spinning saw blade. A receiving block is disposed on a side of the saw blade opposing the pin assembly for receiving the tip of t... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7284337 | Probe head for a coordinate measuring machine A probe head for a coordinate measuring machine has a stylus resiliently suspended in a housing. A sensor arrangement serves for detecting deflections of the stylus relative to the housing. The sensor arrangement comprises at least one Hall sensor having a magnet an... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7274472 | Resolution enhanced optical metrology A resolution enhanced optical metrology system to examine a structure formed on a semiconductor wafer includes a source configured to direct an incident beam at the structure through a coupling element. The coupling element is disposed between the source and the str... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7271902 | Generic interface for an optical metrology system An optical metrology system includes a photometric device with a source configured to generate and direct light onto a structure, and a detector configured to detect light diffracted from the structure and to convert the detected light into a measured diffraction si... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7265338 | Photoelectric encoder using an incoherent semiconductor light source A photoelectric encoder is provided, which emits light from a light source to a main scale and an index scale that can relatively move with respect to each other and obtains a light-receiving signal by interaction between the main scale and the index scale. The phot... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7265850 | Fortified, compensated and uncompensated process-sensitive scatterometry targets A scatterometry target is provided in which a plurality of parallel elongated features are placed, each having a length in a lengthwise direction. A plurality of stress-relief features are disposed at a plurality of positions along the length of each elongated featu... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7265364 | Level sensor for lithographic apparatus A level sensor for a lithographic projection apparatus includes a light source configured to direct light onto a substrate to be measured, a detector configured to detect light reflected from the substrate, and a processor configured to calculate a difference betwee... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7262864 | Method and apparatus for determining grid dimensions using scatterometry A test structure includes a first plurality of lines and a second plurality of lines intersecting the first plurality of lines. The first and second pluralities of lines defining a grid having openings. A method for determining grid dimensions includes providing a w... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7243440 | Gauge for use with power tools A gauge for connecting with a power tool and providing a system for determining structural factors of a workpiece to be operated upon by the power tool is provided by the present invention. The gauge including a probe connected with a sensor via a spring, wherein co... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7227464 | Auto wake-up method from sleep mode of an optical motion sensing device There is described a method for waking up an optical sensing device from a sleep mode to a motion detection mode, the optical motion sensing device comprising a light source, a photodetector device, a motion sensing unit and a control unit, the motion detection mode... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7227164 | Media width detecting apparatus What is disclosed: is a media width detecting apparatus comprising: a first media detecting section to detect media, a second media detecting section put downward from said first media detecting section, to detect media; wherein said second detecting section decide ... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7222434 | Driving device and measuring instrument A supporting device (300) for supporting a guide rail (200) for guiding a movable member subjected to relative displacement in relation to the base table (3). The supporting device includes, base bodies (410, 510) engaged onto the base ta... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7214954 | Method for operating optical sensors A method for operating an optical sensor for measuring a physical quantity with a defined scale value that is subject to a calibration certification. The measurement accuracy of the quantity being measured is dependent on at least one external condition, and a given... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7206067 | Method and apparatus for obtaining geometrical data relating to the ear canal of the human body A method and apparatus for obtaining geometrical data relating to the internal surface of the ear canal and/or ear whereby a probe having a light emitting distal portion is inserted into the ear canal, the method including the steps of: ... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7199385 | Method and an apparatus for the detection of objects moved on a conveyor means by means of an optoelectronic sensor The invention relates to a method and to an apparatus for the detection of objects moved on a segmented conveyor means by means of an optoelectronic sensor, in which in each case the geometric center of the objects is determined via the optoelectronic sensor, whereu... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7178253 | Coordinate measuring device with a vibration damping system A coordinate measuring device having a probe comprising a stylus (14) with a sensing member (18) for contacting the object (15) to be measured, a support unit (13) to which the stylus (14) is connected through elastic means (19 | 02/20/2007 |
