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.
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8136805 | Row bar holder A row bar holder to hold a plurality of row bars containing reader heads for scanning operations is disclosed. The row bar holder includes: a base fixture having a length defining a y-axis and a width defining an x-axis, a plurality of separator walls formed on a to... | 03/20/2012 |
| 8038136 | Hand having rocking mechanism and substrate delivering device having the same A hand 1 is constituted by a hand base 4 serving as a base portion, a rocking hand 3 disposed to be superposed on the hand base 4 and serving to support a substrate 2, and a rocking mechanism 5 provided between the hand base... | 10/18/2011 |
| 8016277 | Flexure based macro motion translation stage Described are flexure-based high precision positioning stages. The stages are constrained to motion along each axis by a system of symmetrical flexure linkages. The linkages may be formed of link coupled by flexure joints. Magnetic linear servomotors may provide mot... | 09/13/2011 |
| 7967283 | Clamping device of moving cart A clamping device of a moving cart includes a clamp rotatably provided in a moving cart frame and including a plurality of locaters that vary with the kinds of vehicles for which the moving cart is being used, a positioning device slidingly provided in the moving ca... | 06/28/2011 |
| 7959141 | Stage apparatus The present invention reduces the footprint of a stage apparatus to achieve a more compact apparatus. Using a Y-axis shaft having a magnet on the inside and a Y-axis mover constituted by a coil that surrounds the Y-axis shaft as a Y-axis drive part for moving a Y-ax... | 06/14/2011 |
| 7900896 | Specimen stage An object of the present invention is to provide a specimen stage which is simple in structure, and which suppresses a positional shift due to a friction heat caused by a brake or the like. One aspect to achieve the object provides a specimen stage including: a thru... | 03/08/2011 |
| 7883077 | Low-profile X-Y table An X-Y table includes a platform and a frame which has an X and Y-truck trough. An X-drive motor interfaced to an X-drive gear. A Y-drive motor interfaced to a Y-drive gear. Both motors are affixed to the platform. An X-drive linear gear slideably held within an X-d... | 02/08/2011 |
| 7367552 | Clamping apparatus The clamping apparatus comprises a first coupling element and a second coupling element that can be releasably attached thereto. The first coupling element is provided with four at least partially conical centering pins that are adapted to engage four grooves corres... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7356895 | Machine tool Machine tool furnished with: a table (20) free to swivel about a horizontal swivel center axis, and having a table body (22) for carrying a workpiece, and an axially rotatable rotary shaft (23) disposed with the axis of the rotary shaft (23 | 04/15/2008 |
| 7348709 | Heavy-load nanopositioner with dual-parallel flexure design A positioning device for heavy loads is provided. The positioning device includes a frame and a stage disposed or integrally defined within the frame. The stage is dimensioned and configured to be translatable within the frame in at least one axis of motion. At leas... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7308747 | Method of positioning a platform relative to a fixed frame and a small scale positioning device A small-scale positioning device employing a platform, a levering mechanism and a floating actuator device. The platform is movably attached to a fixed frame by a lever, a pair of levers, or more. The floating actuator device is coupled between at least one lever an... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7290429 | Automatic idle adjusting apparatus with side shift function An automatic idle adjusting apparatus with a side shift function automatically adjusts the position of guides according to the kind of the workpiece provided and adjusts the distance between two workpieces processed using one metal mold. The apparatus includes two i... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7282146 | Removal system for membranes in a membrane filtration system A removal system for membranes in a membrane filtration system of the type where the membranes (12) are supported on a membrane support rack (13) in a tank or vessel (6) which, in use, contains liquid to be filtered. The tank (6) comprise... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7270319 | Multiple degree of freedom compliant mechanism A compliant mechanism is provided for accurate and precision alignment of mechanical component parts, surfaces or assemblies and the like, where low-cost, accurate, and repeatable alignment are desired. The compliant mechanism may be used in applications that requir... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7264426 | Apparatus and methods for servo-controlled manufacturing operations Apparatus and methods for servo-controlled manufacturing operations are disclosed. In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a base member, a drive platform spaced apart from the base member by a separation distance, and a plurality of guide members extending between... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7240434 | Stage apparatus A stage apparatus may include a first stage, a second stage movable with respect to the first stage, at least one flexure hinge to connect the first stage with the second stage, a plurality of actuators provided between the first stage and the second stage to push t... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7237328 | Production and/or installation device Production and/or installation device for producing and/or installing a workpiece, with a device frame and a workpiece support table, which has several workpiece supports and is rotating with respect to one or more stationary work stations and can be moved in synchr... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7235984 | Probe device and probe method A probe device 20 having a contact load monitoring device 10. This contact load monitoring device measures the displacement of a loading table caused by a contact load exerted on the mounting table from a probe in an overdrive by means of a displacemen... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7225516 | Slide assembly fixture for rear hub assembly A fixture is provided for supporting a vehicle hub assembly during manufacturing operations that include rotating the assembly. The fixture includes a base with an upper surface, a linearly movable housing slidably supported on the base, an adjustable support block ... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7226253 | Clamping mechanism The drilling of a hole through at least two structural components in alignment with a predrilled hole or marked location in one of the structural components is facilitated by a clamping mechanism that has a bail with two legs. One leg carries a first clamping sectio... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7221076 | Multiple movements harmonic frequency actuator system A system having a harmonic frequency actuator system is provided including providing an actuator body, the actuator body having more than one set of fingers for generating a motion for a semi-rigid element, and attaching a high frequency actuator to the actuator bod... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7178227 | Workpiece presenter for a flexible manufacturing system A workpiece presenter for fixturing a workpiece of a vehicle assembly is provided, including a platform 50, and a tooling plate 7 removably connected to the platform, the tooling plate including a planar body 10 for supporting fixture tools 3... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7131362 | Punching machine and method thereof A punching machine includes a body frame having a table to support a workpiece. First and second work movement positioning apparatuses are mounted at both sides to move and position the workpiece in a direction of axis X. A work head is mounted on the body frame and... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7111444 | Lawn tractor lift A lawn tractor lift consisting of a lift arm having a forward end and a rearward end, a tire wheel receiving cradle pivotally mounted upon the forward end of the lift arm; a lever arm having a forward end and a rearward end, and a curved bar providing a variable ful... | 09/26/2006 |
| 7107693 | Apparatus and method for precise angular positioning An apparatus and method for precise angular positioning of an object. A first pivot arm and a second pivot arm each is pivotally mounted with respect to a base. A pivot base flex member is operatively connected to the first pivot arm and allows the first pivot arm t... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7093827 | Multiple degree of freedom compliant mechanism A compliant mechanism is provided for accurate and precision alignment of mechanical component parts, surfaces or assemblies and the like, where low-cost, accurate, and repeatable alignment are desired. The compliant mechanism may be used in applications that requir... | 08/22/2006 |
| 7089653 | Apparatus for positioning a sunroof on a vehicle body A sunroof is automatically and precisely positioned to a mounting position by an apparatus including a floating plate movably mounted to a base member. A secondary lift structure is mounted to the floating plate and a centering cylinder unit is disposed between the ... | 08/15/2006 |
| 7065856 | Machine tool method A machine tool apparatus is provided employing a plurality of tool heads which may be sequentially or simultaneously automatically controlled to perform preprogrammed operations on either the same or different workpieces. In one form, a plurality of tool heads are s... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7062847 | Shrinking arrangement for a tool holder A shrinking arrangement for a tool holder (12) which retains a rotary tool (10) with a press fit in a central accommodating opening (20) comprises an accommodating unit (24) for accommodating the tool holder and a temperature-controlling ... | 06/20/2006 |
| 7059037 | Blocking apparatus providing an adjustable offset for precision alignment According to one aspect, the invention provides a blocking apparatus and a blocking method for precisely aligning a button holder against a block during blocking process of lens manufacturing. According to another aspect, the invention provides an adjustable offset ... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7054711 | Unit for the production of track elements According to the invention, a unit (10) is proposed for the production of track elements (25), which comprises a plurality of clamping devices (14) arranged one after another in the longitudinal direction of the unit. Provided in the clamping de... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7044462 | Fixture A fixture 3 for fixing an article to be fixed, such as a workpiece 2, to a fixture base 1 comprises a fixture body 5 detachably mountable on a mounting object, such as the fixture base 1. A linking member 4 is detachably mou... | 05/16/2006 |
| 7024925 | 3-axis straight-line motion stage and sample test device using the same A 3-axis straight-line motion stage and a sample test device using the same for supporting a predetermined sample, and comprising X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis stages for moving the sample independently and precisely in the direction of the X-axis, the Y-axis or the Z-a... | 04/11/2006 |
| 6948894 | Multi-axial machine tool and table unit mounting jig In the multi-axial machine tool, a table unit is detachably mounted on the upper surface of the interior portion of a portal bed disposed on a leg. The table unit comprises a table base fixed to the upper surface of the leg, a turning table which, when it is viewed ... | 09/27/2005 |
| 6946064 | Sample mount for performing sputter-deposition in a focused ion beam (FIB) tool A method and structure for a sample processing apparatus that uses a vacuum enclosure is disclosed. A focused ion beam tool, sputter target, movable stage, and hinged mount are all included within the vacuum enclosure. The hinged mount includes a sample mounting por... | 09/20/2005 |
| 6935550 | Robotic positioner A robotic positioner for use with an automated processing system, such as an automated welding system, for example, includes a base, a support structure rotatably supported on the base, and at least one work surface supported on the support structure suitable for su... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6902360 | Method of cutting a hole in a composite material workpiece A hole of a hole size is cut in a composite material workpiece by selecting a milling cutter having an effective cutter size less than the hole size, mounting the composite material workpiece in operable relation to the milling cutter, rotating the milling cutter ab... | 06/07/2005 |
| 6895647 | Device and method for mounting part to base structure A part mounting device is provided for mounting a front end module onto a vehicle body. The device comprises a frame structure vertically movably mounted on a carry truck through a lifter, a holding device capable of holding the front end module onto the frame struc... | 05/24/2005 |
| 6871571 | Web or sheet-fed apparatus having high-speed mechanism for simultaneous X,Y and theta registration Web processing apparatus (30, 300) is provided for high speed, extremely accurate die cutting or lamination operations. Processing station (32, 300) includes a Vacuum hold down plate (32, 308) which receives and holds an image bearing incrementa... | 03/29/2005 |
| 6726823 | Methods and apparatus for holding and positioning semiconductor workpieces during electropolishing and/or electroplating of the workpieces A wafer chuck assembly for holding a wafer during electroplating and/or electropolishing of the wafer includes a wafer chuck for receiving the wafer. The wafer chuck assembly also includes an actuator assembly for moving the wafer chuck between a first and a second ... | 04/27/2004 |
