Raychem Limited

Tyco Electronics Corporation

Elo Touchsystems, Inc.

Frank Wasilewski

Anthony Vranicar

Joel Christopher Kent

John Seymour Mattis

Martin G Pineda

Wesley Bryan Dong

Paul Becker

Miguel A Morales

James A Rinde

Philip J Jones

John R Havens

Barry C Mathews

Larry M Edwards

Jeff Dolin

Mark W Ellsworth

Brackin L Andrews

Damoder Reddy

Drew John Loucks

Binh Vu Cao

Francis M Yankello

Sirikhit Maniraj

Carl F Landers

Richard S Huang

A circuit protection device () suitable for surface mounting on a substrate (). The device has a laminar PTC resistive element () which is composed of a conductive polymer composition and is positioned between first and second electrodes (). Attached to the first electrode is a first electrical terminal () containing an electrically conductive material which has a first attachment portion () connected to a first flexible portion () by means of a first connection portion (). At least part of the first flexible portion is free of attachment to the first electrode. The first attachment portion is coplanar with at least one of the first connection portion and the first flexible portion. The first attachment portion may contain a slot () and a solid hinge portion (). When the device is mounted on a substrate by means of a mounting component () extending from the first terminal, the first flexible portion allows contraction and expansion of the conductive polymer despite the rigid attachment of the mounting component onto the substrate.

Circuit protection device

A sealing system for an acoustic touchscreen includes an elongate gel body between the touchscreen and the bezel of a housing onto which the touchscreen is mounted. The elongate gel body forms a seal around the perimeter of the touch-sensitive area of the touchscreen. A stop element controls and limits the amount of compression of the elongate gel body. The resulting seal is highly effective in protecting the unexposed parts of the touchscreen (i.e., areas other than the touch-sensitive area) from contaminants, especially liquid contaminants, at the cost of an acceptably low loss in acoustic signal strength.

Sealing system for acoustic wave touchscreens

An encapsulated liquid crystal layer is patterned by placing a mask into contact with a coated substrate. The mask is held against the substrate, for example, by a vacuum, to form a seal. The assembly is submerged in a solvent to dissolve the exposed region of the encapsulated liquid crystal material.

Method and apparatus for patterning encapsulated liquid crystal layers

A connector for connecting an end of a first elongate electrical heating cable to an end of a first elongate electrical component such as another heating cable or a power cable. The connector includes first and second shell members which can be in a mated or demated configuration and which, when mated, form a shell having a first inlet port for the first heating cable and a second inlet port for the first electrical component. In addition, the connector includes an element for connecting electrodes of the first heating cable to elongate members of the first electrical component and a sealing assembly for holding the first heating cable in position in the first inlet port. The sealing assembly includes a hollow cylindrical ring from which gripping elements in the form of fingers extend perpendicular to the plane of the ring, a nut for making connection to the first inlet port, and a grommet which is held by the fingers and which grips the first heating cable. Also described is a connector which comprises a mirror which is inserted in a connection module containing an element for connection, the mirror being positioned so that the element for connection can be observed from outside the module. The mirror can be used as a visual indicator allowing the installer to determine when the elongate electrical component or heating cable is correctly positioned for connection.

Hinged connector for heating cables of various sizes

Growing community of inventors

Redwood City, CA, United States of America

Frank Wasilewski