Selected U.S. Patent Abstracts

Abstract: A device for protecting bows on gift-wrapped packages and the like. The device consists of two main components: a cup and a shield. The cup is of a type otherwise useful for drinking or eating ice cream from that has had its bottom portion cut into a number of pie-shaped segments all pointing to the center. The pie segments are flexible so that one can push the cup, bottom-first, over the bow to be protected, without harming the bow. Similarly, when the bow is to be displayed, the cup can be pulled back over the bow gently. The shield component extends across the otherwise open top of the cup, so as to provide protection against rain and other assaults on the bow from above. Operating together, the cup and the shield, when the device is slipped down over a decorative bow can protect the bow from becoming soiled or crushed, with special application to providing such protection when the package bearing the bow is wrapped for transportation, either across town or from one city to another. When the package is subsequently ready for display, the device can be readily removed from the bow and discarded or saved for another occasion.

Abstract: The ornamental design for a CD storage sleeve, as shown [in the drawings].

Abstract: A lift-assisted entrance to provide ground-level access to an external basement entryway to a building. The lift-assisted entrance has a pivotable roof vertical, rectangular side walls, and a front face with vertically oriented, outward opening double doors, all fabricated from lightweight visco-elastic material. The roof section opens upward and tilts away from the plane of the front face and is supported by two actuators. Doors located on the front face open outward to provide full access to the basement entryway. The roof is shaped to reflect the architectural features or the style of the building to which the lift-assisted entrance is attached and may be a gabled roof The side walls and front face may also include architectural features--such as windows--that emulate those features found on the building. The visco-elastic material can be molded with a relief pattern that emulates the appearance of house shingles or clapboard siding, or roof shingles.

Abstract: A device allowing a person to carry a plurality of ice fishing traps. The device has two end pieces connected to each other by a plurality of sizing straps. Each end piece has a number of pockets capable of receiving the end of an ice fishing trap. The pockets on the respective end pieces are aligned so as to receive opposite ends of a trap. The device is then rolled in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the traps to form a cylindrical shape. Fastening means located on the outer surface of each end piece prevent the cylindrical shape from unrolling. A detachable shoulder strap enables the user to carry the device by slinging it over his/her shoulder, thereby leaving the hands free to perform other tasks.

Abstract: A collet-stop assembly for fixing the position of a work-piece or tool ("item") intended to be held immobile by and within a collet during machining operations. The assembly includes a stop-collar for gripping a stop-unit to be placed in direct contact with the item, and a collar-retainer used ensure that the stop-unit is held immobile with respect to the collet. The collar-retainer is screwed into the collet and includes a tapered section into which a tapered section of the stop-collar is drawn. In the Preferred Embodiment of the invention the stop-collar is formed of three separate jaws that when drawn into the collar-retainer by means of cap screws passing through the collar-retainer squeeze against the stop-unit. The basic collar-retainer design permits it to be manufactured so that the distances it extends, respectively, to the outside of the collet and down into the collet are very short; that is, it has small external and internal profiles. All manipulations of the assembly are done at one end of the collar-retainer and require only a single tool to complete. In the Preferred Embodiment, this tool is a small-gauge Allen key used to tighten the cap screws. The device simplicity depends in part on the cap-screw-tightening action resulting in rotational immobility of the stop-unit and work-piece with respect to the collet, even though the collet-stop assembly is made only finger-tight prior to the cap-screw-tightening.

Abstract: An adaptive portable lifting and leveling apparatus that forms an emergency jacking system useful in lifting, leveling, or otherwise stabilizing a variety of vehicles such as trailer structures. The apparatus primarily includes a lifting device having an anchoring bracket that functions as a pivot point, a mid-section, and a jack base of a standard type each being removably connected together in series. A hydraulic jack is preferred. The mid-section may be of a fixed length or may be telescoping such that the device includes a two stage adjustment with course adjustment via the telescoping mid-section and fine adjustment via the hydraulic jack base. Multiple anchoring brackets may be placed upon a surface of a structure to be lifted. The device may be quickly and easily moved to any one of the multiple brackets as desired. The device may be stored in a tucked-away position under the structure to be lifted. Alternatively, the device may be detached and stored elsewhere. The device may be produced as an after-market kit for adaptive portable lifting and/or leveling of a structure. Also included is a method for adaptive portable lifting, leveling, or otherwise stabilizing a variety of vehicles such as trailer structures.

Abstract: A plier-like tool for removing a face mask from a protective sports helmet worn by an athlete in such a way as to minimize the risk of exacerbating an existing spinal injury. The tool has a buttress portion and a blade portion pivotally connected to each other. The blade portion has a sharpened blade which, upon application of pressure to hand grips, slices through the plastic clips that are normally used to attach such face masks to the helmet. The buttress portion includes a cut-out portion and transverse slot that engage the metal bars of the face mask to prevent the tool from slipping off the bars, and the blade portion includes a notch to ensure that the blade portion engages the plastic clips.

Abstract: A stepper for use during aerobic stepping exercises. The invention has modular platforms that allow for one or more platforms to be horizontally attached to a central platform. Side platforms can be attached to the center platform forming steps in every direction surrounding the center so that the user may step from one platform to another in any direction. Non-slip rubber material on opposing surfaces of each platform provide stability during use. In the Preferred Embodiment, the modular platforms are hollow creating a light-weight but high-strength design for ease of transport. The means of attachment of the side platforms to the center platform can be varied from the use of nuts and bolts, through hook-and-loop techniques, to groove-and-protuberance techniques, the latter allowing the side platforms to be snapped onto the center platform for the purpose of repetitive stepping exercise in a park, a gymnasium or the like and then unsnapped for easy transport home.

Abstract: A combination of digital camera design and digital photography technique that allows a single digital camera to be used for both single-shot and multiple-shot color operation. The invention includes a digital camera half of the light-sensing elements of which--the "majority pixels"--are sensitive to a first primary color and the other half of which--the "minority pixels"--are divided about equally between those sensitive to a second primary color and those sensitive to a third primary color. Further, these light-sensitive elements are arranged so that by a simple lateral shift of the array, typically by the width of a single pixel, every one of the majority pixels will be moved into a position previously held by one of the minority pixels. When used in conjunction with known pixel-interpolation methods this camera produces single-shot digital images equal or better in color quality to any existing single-shot digital camera. Shooting a scene twice, with the array shifted as indicated above between the two shots, and using known interpolation techniques to determine all three primary colors at each pixel location, a final photograph essentially as good as any provided by traditional three-shot digital photography can be achieved. For cameras having the requisite array of photosensitive elements, but not incorporating a mechanism for moving the array separately from the rest of the camera, the present invention can be practiced by rotating the described camera about an axis lying in the principal plane of and passing through the principal point of the camera's lens.

Abstract: A coupling assembly for the sterile transfer of sterile materials between a transportable container and a sterile enclosure includes a closeable dock of the enclosure which seals with a closeable mouth of the container to define between them a sealed connecting chamber. A UV light source mounted within the chamber is activated to generate UV light to sterilize the interior of the chamber. Closures of the container mouth and dock are then displaced to provide a communication path between the interiors of the container and enclosure.

Abstract: Current-level monitoring circuitry incorporating a full-time coarse monitor and a part-time fine monitor and capable of generating control signals when the current-level being monitored reaches certain predetermined thresholds. In its preferred embodiment the invention is incorporated into battery-protection circuitry, guarding against both excess charging currents and excess discharging currents. A key concept of the invention is a hierarchical monitoring system incorporating a full-time coarse monitor that activates the fine monitor only when the battery current level enters a certain range and then deactivates it once the level falls out of that range again. Should the current level continue to rise up to the threshold of unsafe battery current, the fine monitor will disconnect the battery. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the fine monitor operates by comparing, with a predetermined reference voltage, the voltage drop across a fine sensing resistor through which battery current is directed. The fine sensing resistor may be a precision resistor or it may be the same resistance used by the coarse monitor. The reference voltage is established in a way that permits a differing disconnect threshold to be set depending on the battery current polarity and in such a way that it changes with temperature so as to largely offset the temperature dependence of the sensing resistors. The present invention utilizes a single fine comparator for monitoring both battery-charge and battery-discharge, thereby providing high accuracy without the need for an additional fine comparator with its high space and power demands.

Abstract: A method for identifying the boundaries between sequences of rocks laid down in different depositional regimes. The approach used is to search, in well logs or seismic data, for a statistic characteristic of such regimes, and for breaks in that statistic. The preferred statistic used in the method of the present invention is the first moment of the power spectrum of the wavenumber of a suitable physical property as a function of depth. This statistic is calculated rapidly and with excellent depth resolution from the complex-valued autocorrelation function at its zero and unit lag values, respectively, and displayed as a single variable in black-and-white or color. The method of the present invention further includes manipulations that achieve the approximate conversion of the scale (and corresponding display) from its initial dependence on depth to one that is displayed as a function of geologic time.

Abstract: An oral hygienic compound and method for use in domesticated animals such as cats and dogs. The primary component of the oral hygienic compound is pure, natural garlic. The method involves coating or otherwise adulterating the animal's food with the oral hygienic compound in order to maximize garlic exposure within the oral cavity of the animal. Thus, the oral hygienic compound should promote chewing by the animal so as to evenly distribute the garlic within the animal's mouth. Garlic, in an uncooked state, has been found to substantially eliminate a pet's bad breath, whether by substantially reducing odor-causing bacteria within the oral cavity, and/or by other more systemic means when it is administered according to the inventive method.

Abstract: A kit combination for use by a commercial salesperson known as a "roving peddler," which kit has an economical design yet is of sufficient size to hold all of the necessary items for operating a business related to providing a nail-polishing service. The kit consists of a first component container shaped like a box having a specially designed internal locking mechanism, a second container shaped like a cylindrical bag, and a carrying strap affixed to the first component container. The carrying strap also has a pair of connecting rings for attaching the second component container thereto. An optional third component is a storage pillow that permits the peddler to store personal items and that also acts as a seat for the peddler while the service is being provided. The first component is a box having a box bottom with a fixed tray attached therein, and a box cover with a swivelly-attached tray. Stops are built into the first component structure to prevent any spillage of the box-cover tray contents during use or when the box is closed.

Abstract: A gas flow sensor particularly useful for the measurement of relatively low flow rates. The sensor includes a flexible vane affixed to a substrate. One end of the vane is conductive and is permitted to move with the flexing of the vane. That end of the vane forms part of one or more capacitors such that as the vane bends with the flow of gas therethrough, the capacitive value changes. The gas flow rate can then be determined using well-known circuitry. The vane includes a flow-restriction section to allow the gas to flow through. The vane is designed of a material and a configuration to ensure that it bends under very low flow conditions.

Abstract: A motor mount device for adjustably positioning the location of a motor on a watercraft. The device includes three rail clamps designed to create three points of contact between the device and the gunwales of the watercraft. Two clamps are positionable on one side of the craft, with one having a motor mount placeable outboard of the watercraft. The third clamp is located across from the clamp that includes the motor mount and the coupling between those two clamps is provided via an incrementally adjustable cross member. The adjustability of the length of the cross member permits the device to be placed at most any boat width. A thruster plate and the arrangement of the clamps ensures maximum transfer of thrust of the motor to movement of the watercraft. An optional safety switch controls power to the motor such that when undesired or unexpected movement of the propeller out of the water occurs, the power to the motor will automatically be cut off.

Abstract: A carrier-platform device mountable on a utility vehicle. The carrier-platform device includes a frame attached to a standard, front-end snowplow-receiving bracket and a platform attached to the frame. The platform has three degrees of movement. The platform is pivotable from a vertical storage position to a horizontal deployed position. In the deployed position, the platform is further extendable so as to adjust the overall width of the carrier-platform device. The platform is still further adjustable in that the platform is able to be tilted in a ramp-like manner towards the ground. This arrangement allows an item such as an ATV or snowblower to be maneuvered from ground level and onto the platform so as to be transported by the utility vehicle atop the carrier-platform device.

Abstract: A masking device for performing high-resolution photoresist-based lithography in the fabrication of integrated circuits. The heart of the device is a cylindrical block made of material transparent to, and manifesting a relatively high index of refraction for, the wavelengths of light to be used in conjunction with it. The mask end of the block is imprinted with a pattern of ridges corresponding to the pattern to be illuminated on the photoresist. The mask end, including the inter-ridge troughs, is covered with a metal film several tens of .ANG. thick. The troughs are filled in with a material such as carbon black strongly absorptive of the wavelengths that will emerge from the mask. The sides of the block are covered with a metal cladding sufficiently thick to prevent any light from escaping from the block. The top end of the block, opposite the mask end, is left uncovered. In operation, the block is used in conjunction with a precise positioning mechanism for locating the block in the horizontal plane and for maintaining a very small, but non-zero, distance between the mask ridges and the photoresist layer, such that the photoresist layer is in the near-field of the mask. In this manner, the photoresist can be illuminated with the pattern desired, with a resolution sufficient to produce circuit elements with dimensions much less than the wavelength of light entering the top end of the mask block.

Abstract: A marine vessel ladder system that is primarily used for overboard emergency situations. The ladder system is collapsible and separable into two pieces with one piece substantially smaller than the other. The smaller piece serves both as a retainer to hold the larger piece in a folded, stowed position and also as a connector to fasten the larger piece to a customized area along an edge of the vessel's deck. The ladder system is deployable by one deckhand and includes vertically oriented upper and lower ladder sections with a horizontally oriented grate section therebetween. Fixed vertical railings and collapsible side railings are provided for assistance in ascending and descending the ladder system. Optional safety straps are provided to secure the system prior to and during use.

Abstract: A device designed to enable a sailor to move easily fore and aft and side-to-side about a watercraft. The device includes separate port and starboard bench units that are pivotally coupled to the watercraft and are movingly coupled to outboard rail systems extending fore and aft along the port and starboard gunwales of the watercraft. Additional rail systems incorporated into the bench units allow side-to-side movement. The bench units is designed and coupled to the rail systems and pivot points such that the sailor can remain on the bench unit and pivotally move it fore and aft, or slidingly move side-to-side by pushing his or her feet on the underlying substrate above which the sailor sits. The bench unit is preferably designed to permit the sailor to straddle it. The seat portions of the bench units are extendable beyond the outer edge of the watercraft. A handrail affixed to the bench enhances stability for the sailor. An optional braking system that can be engaged or disengaged by the sailor prevents undesired movement of the bench unit fore and aft along the outboard rails.

Abstract: A safety-related control system (SRCS) designed to safeguard personnel operating hazardous production equipment. The SRCS integrates the safety-related part of a machine into one homogenous system for the purpose of increasing safety. In so doing, the SRCS monitors the machine, the operator, and itself for safe operation. The SRCS utilizes a non-material barrier to sense the intrusion of a person's body into a hazardous area of a machine. The SRCS uses machine feedback and/or operator interface to determine whether a hazardous condition is present. If such condition is present, the hazard is rendered harmless by the time the intruding body member can reach the potential danger area. The system includes separable means for stopping motion of the moving parts of the equipment, starting movement of the movable parts, and detecting faults in sections of the system.