Did You Know...
...that Kleenex tissue was originally designed to be a gas mask filter? It was developed at the beginning of World War I to replace cotton, which was then in short supply as a surgical dressing.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7350638 | Alignment apparatus for packaging elements An alignment apparatus for use in packaging. The device generally uses a guide plate, dome shaped member through which a stream of air flows, and guide bar to reject improperly packaging elements. This apparatus provides an easy way to ensure properly oriented and a... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7284907 | Gas bearing system A gas bearing system comprising two opposing substantially parallel bearing surfaces (2, 3) and at least one gas duct (6) for supplying gas through an orifice (7) to the bearing gap (5) between the bearing surfaces (2, 3). At least... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7250197 | Plasma treatment of contact lens and IOL Intraocular lenses or contact lenses 20 are placed on a lower spindle 34 and held there by a vacuum in conduit 34. Noble and reactive gases 56, 58 are introduced and a voltage is applied across upper spindle 32 and lower spindle | 07/31/2007 |
| 7144179 | Display form having magnetically attachable parts Forms for display of clothing and the like with magnetically attachable parts are provided. The magnetic joints comprise a magnetic assembly with a depth-of-pull sufficient to cause the attachable part to begin to pull toward the form at a distance preferably greate... | 12/05/2006 |
| 6905300 | Slide feeder with air bearing conveyor A slide loading mechanism utilizes compressed air as the transport medium to move the slides from a magazine to the stage of a microscope. The stage is provided with a carriage moving horizontally along a direct path between the stage and the magazine. A conveyor co... | 06/14/2005 |
| 6866462 | Flexible pedestal for inverting soft contact lenses A pedestal for inverting a soft contact lens has been invented. The pedestal of the invention has an inner surface, an outer surface, a dome shape capable of supporting the back surface of the contact lens or the front surface of that contact lens which has been inv... | 03/15/2005 |
| 6729835 | Handling assembly for fixturing ophthalmic lenses An assembly for orienting and fixturing an array of contact lenses in a lens-fixturing tray to enable automated picking of the lenses includes an array of tubes to which a first support tray having an array of lens receptacles each having a respective contact lens t... | 05/04/2004 |
| 6662928 | Apparatus and process for handling circular articles An apparatus and process for receiving a multiplicity of like circular articles, such as discs, rings, and lids, for example, presented in a known or random horizontal orientation, and for collecting them for subsequent conventional processing into a hori... | 12/16/2003 |
| 6612590 | Apparatus and methods for manipulating semiconductor wafers Apparatus and methods for a wafer handling system that manipulates semiconductor wafers. The present invention includes an end effector having a vacuum chuck, an internal vacuum plenum, and a plurality of flow diverters positioned within the vacuum plenum... | 09/02/2003 |
| 6547057 | Apparatus and process for handling circular articles An apparatus and process for receiving a multiplicity of like circular articles, such as discs, rings, and lids, for example, presented in a known or random horizontal orientation, and for collecting them for subsequent conventional processing into a hori... | 04/15/2003 |
| 6511280 | Adaptive Reed-Solomon decoder and methods thereof An adaptive Reed-Solomon(RS) decoder (207) and analogous methods arranged and constructed to decode a RS(n,k) encoded symbol stream, including; a code register (211), coupled to the symbol stream, for storing a received code word including code symbols, a... | 01/28/2003 |
| 6331758 | Electric hand with cushioning mechanism An inertial force applied to a motor drive shaft when jaw members stop at opening and closing ends, grasping positions of a workpiece, and the like is absorbed and damage to motor parts such as gears due to impact is prevented. For this purpose, in an ele... | 12/18/2001 |
| 6306670 | Tool for handling a workpiece A system for flipping a semiconductor workpiece on its thin edge for microscope inspection of a workpiece facet is disclosed. The system has a holding device attached to a handling block. The holding device picks a workpiece by one of its thin edges. The ... | 10/23/2001 |
| 6257824 | Fin alternating and delivering apparatus A fin alternating and delivering apparatus is provided for orientating and delivering fins emanating from a fin mill to a fin trayer for assembly into a heat exchanger. The fin alternating and delivering apparatus includes an entrance chute for receiving ... | 07/10/2001 |
| 6189676 | Orienting assembly for orienting top or bottom shells of medicinal capsules, and relative supply and orienting unit An orienting assembly for medicinal capsules; the orienting assembly being characterized by having a rotary drum having seats, each for housing a top or bottom shell oriented in one of two opposite spatial directions; and by having a nozzle for generating... | 02/20/2001 |
| 6164122 | System and method including multiple test chambers for automated testing for holes in prophylactic device A plurality of test chambers or fixtures are operable for successively testing a plurality of condoms, respectively, in an automated manner. Each test chamber for testing a condom includes a housing containing a porous liner having an interior cavity conf... | 12/26/2000 |
| 6116317 | Apparatus having a core orientor and methods of orienting portions of a disposable undergarment An apparatus and method for orienting portions of a disposable undergarment, such as a core thereof, is provided. The apparatus preferably includes a core lifting system for lifting a core of a disposable undergarment when in a first orientation position ... | 09/12/2000 |
| 6109861 | Apparatus and method for rotating semiconductor objects A device and method for the automated rotating of semiconductor objects during the fabrication process is disclosed. The device uses a slotted base fixture with a channel, lifting members with ducts, and a vacuum. Semiconductor objects are rotated from a ... | 08/29/2000 |
| 5921744 | Wafer carrying device and wafer carrying method A device is provided for carrying a thin plate-like substrate such as a semiconductor wafer and for controlling the position of the wafer by floating it with an inert gas of low impurity concentration. A transferring unit and a control unit are both respe... | 07/13/1999 |
| 5853108 | Parts feed apparatus and parts feed method When feeding parts (102) to a mounting machine (A) by using a parts feed cassette (B), prior to parts feed, air is preliminarily supplied to the parts feed cassette (B) to put the parts (102) in neat order, and the parts (102) are preliminarily sent up to... | 12/29/1998 |
| 5800118 | Apparatus and method for use in manufacture of fed objects An apparatus and a method for use in manufacture of fed objects which is able to handle (e.g., convey and/or array) the fed objects in a soft manner and prevent the fed objects from suffering mechanical damage. A chamber is provided below a perforated pla... | 09/01/1998 |
| 5769286 | Hosiery item spreading unit with pneumatic feed, usable with pneumatic hosiery item convenience systems equipped with a centralized suction A hosiery item spreading unit with pneumatic feed, usable with pneumatic hosiery item conveyance systems equipped with a centralized suction, comprising: a structure which forms an elongated spreading chamber arranged with its longitudinal axis substantia... | 06/23/1998 |
| 5713453 | Automatic fin rotation apparatus for a heat exchanger An apparatus for selectively orienting consecutive fin strips relative to one another as a preliminary step in the manufacture of a heat exchanger includes a sensor for sensing the presence of each of a series of fin strips all having a common orientation... | 02/03/1998 |
| 5655399 | Apparatus for orienting truss plates An apparatus for bundling truss plates comprises a mechanism for forming a plurality of truss plates and a mechanism for forming these truss plates into a unitized bundle that is easily shipped, stored, and handled. The apparatus can include a mechanism f... | 08/12/1997 |
| 5570812 | Component supply apparatus A component supply apparatus includes a component feeding device for feeding components to a component feeding path, with the components arranged in a row while the components are being agitated by air, and a path forming member having a curved path exten... | 11/05/1996 |
| 5518360 | Wafer carrying device and wafer carrying method A device for carrying a thin plate-like substrate such as a semiconductor wafer and controlling its position by floating it with an inert gas of low impurity concentration. A transferring unit and a controlling unit are respectively provided with gas nozz... | 05/21/1996 |
| 5503515 | Contact lens inverting apparatus and method An apparatus and method for inverting a plurality of contact lenses between separate processing steps which treat the opposite concave and convex surfaces of the lenses. The lenses are initially placed convex side-up on a perforated lens support surface a... | 04/02/1996 |
| 5499898 | Apparatus for testing condoms The invention disclosed is an apparatus for automatically testing condoms comprising a retrieving mechanism to present condoms from a large batch receptacle to an orienting mechanism, the orienting mechanism to orient each condom into the same configurati... | 03/19/1996 |
| 5478193 | Condom handling and orientation apparatus An apparatus for orienting and delivering individual condoms is disclosed comprising in general an orienting tube having an inner diameter sized slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the condom ring, whereby a suction is used to draw the non-oriente... | 12/26/1995 |
| 5360314 | Method and apparatus for removing flash and gates from golf balls A method and apparatus to automatically orient golf balls for milling comprising a plurality of aligned cups. Each cup has a generally hemispherical recess to receive a golf ball. A first component is provided to move the golf balls from cup to cup. A sec... | 11/01/1994 |
| 5133636 | System for chip orientation A queue of randomly oriented chips is advanced down a track. Each chip in the queue is sequentially and individually elevated into a pneumatic circuit and pressed against a mirrored surface of an upper slide member to which it adheres if the chip was orie... | 07/28/1992 |
| 5108513 | Device for transporting and positioning semiconductor wafer-type workpieces A device in which the wafers are moved with the aid of aqueous media, is posed for the transportation of semiconductor wafers and also for use in processes for the cleaning thereof, the device including a guideplate having a bottom plate with nozzle syst... | 04/28/1992 |
| 5044872 | System and method for chip orientation A queue of randomly oriented chips is advanced down a track. Each chip in the queue is sequentially and individually elevated into a pneumatic circuit and pressed against a mirrored surface of an upper slide member to which it adheres if the chip was orie... | 09/03/1991 |
| 4995779 | Method and device for aligning and storing in a given order moldings having a tubular perforation "Method and device for aligning and storing in a given order moldings having a tubular perforation."Individual moldings (6) are introduced successively from above into a turbulence space above a receiving mandrel (5) profiled for reception in the perforat... | 02/26/1991 |
| 4960360 | Rivet orientation device and method A rivet orientation device includes a horizontally extending track into which fed rivets drop. If the rivet is properly oriented, it will seat properly within the track and be pushed, by a plunger, to a robotic member pick-up point. However, if the rivet ... | 10/02/1990 |
| 4840697 | Apparatus for handling sheet material In the feeding of sheet material to a machine such as a tire building former a sheet is first placed on a table and one edge of the sheet is aligned with a first datum line, preferably by tilting the table and supplying floatation air under the sheet. The... | 06/20/1989 |
| 4714505 | Methods for handling sheet material In the feeding of sheet material to a machine such as a tire building former a sheet is first placed on a table and one edge of the sheet is aligned with a first datum line, preferably by tilting the table and supplying floatation air under the sheet. The... | 12/22/1987 |
| 4425075 | Wafer aligners An apparatus for prealigning a silicon wafer prior to transfer to a work station. The wafer is spun on an aligning platform by means of air jets emanating from holes disposed in the surface of the platform while simultaneously being stopped by means of a ... | 01/10/1984 |
| 4282965 | Feeding and orienting device A method and apparatus for feeding and orienting parts having at least one terminal depending from each body. The parts are fed with at least one terminal in sliding engagement along a guide rail. Misoriented parts are blown out of engagement with the gui... | 08/11/1981 |
| 4249889 | Method and apparatus for preheating, positioning and holding objects Method and apparatus comprising a fine particle bed for encompassing an object, means for fluidizing the bed, while heat treating the bed if desired, and defluidizing of the bed so as to hold the object at a desirably aligned position with an exposed port... | 02/10/1981 |
