Other

Hewlett-packard Company

Kevin Loren Moon

Steve Orrin Rasmussen

Larry A Jackson

William Richard Huseby

John D Rhodes

J P Harmon

David W Pinkernell

A stemware restraining device that rests upon a surface and comprises a body with a top surface, bottom surface, a thickness, and a combination stem clearance slot () and underside cavity (). Stemware can be slid into the slot cavity combination trapping said stemware's base while allowing the stem to pass vertically upward. The device does not necessarily contact the stemware until said stemware tips due to an external force. When this occurs the base of the stemware comes into contact with the underside cavity of said device and is restrained due to the resistive tipping moment of the device. The resistive tipping moment is provided either by the weight and width of said device or by its mechanical or magnetic attachment to said surface. The slot and cavity combination in general reflects the profile shape of the base and stem of a piece of stemware.

Stemware restraint and tabletop weight

This invention describes a new Modular Multi-Plate Stringed Instrument Body Architecture that utilizes a front plate or plurality of front plates, a back plate or plurality of back plates, and central stiffening and connecting assembly and/or spacer blocks that connect the plates and distribute the forces created by string tension throughout the system in order to create an instrument body that is light weight, modular, modifiable and repairable. The use of modern composites such as carbon fiber allows for the instrument body to be designed as a beam structure such that the stiffness, resonance, and tone of the system can be controlled by varying the thickness, geometry, and material of the plates and connecting members. Said assembly can be dismantled and components changed to meet the user's needs and desires giving increased control over performance parameters compared to existing designs.

Modular multi plate stringed instrument architecture

A novel ink-jet printer (10) is provided. The print provides both paper supply tray (12) and paper collection tray (18) in the front (14) of the printer for ease of paper handling and reduced footprint. The paper collection tray is provided with a pair of opposed output rails (22) which support a sheet of paper (16c) during printing to permit ink on a sheet of paper (16b) previously printed to dry. A paper handling mechanism is provided which eliminates a sheet pickup motor and associated elements. The paper handling mechanism is configured to pick off a sheet of paper from a stack of input paper, bring it around paper drive rollers (24) onto a platen (26), where the printing operation, employing a printhead cartridge (32), occurs. The printer further includes a service station (230) for clearing clogged nozzles in the printhead (33) and removing bubbles therefrom, for covering the nozzles with a protective cap (266), and for wiping contaminants off the nozzles. Reference pads (200) are provided for aligning and securing the printing cartridge in a carriage (35). The carriage is associated with a carriage guide (27), to which the carriage and print medium are referenced. The resulting printer is easy to manufacture, has reduced complexity by eliminating components in the paper drive mechanism and is lower in cost.

Ink-jet printer with printhead carriage alignment mechanism

An active paper drop mechanism (20) for ink-jet printers is provided. The mechanism comprises a pair of opposed, movable rail members (22) associated with opposed walls (14) of a horizontal-disposed output collection tray (12) for receiving sheets (10) of printed media. In particular, each rail member is provided with return spring (26) that act to maintain the rails in a closed position. In that position, the rails support a sheet of the print medium during the printing operation, thus giving the ink on the previously printed-on sheet (10') time to dry. The rails are provided with a wing member (32) and are pivotally secured (38) in the floor of the output tray, with the pivot point spaced inwardly from the wing member. Downward pressure against the wing member thus causes the rail to rotate outward from its closed position, into a recess (24) provided in the side of the output tray. This provides sufficient clearance for the sheet to drop into the output stack. Upon release of the downward pressure, the spring causes the rail member to return to its original closed position.

Growing community of inventors

Vancouver, WA, United States of America

Kevin Loren Moon