Microplas, Inc.

Steven E Callahan

Todd K Dyment

William T Fitzsimmons

Tyler Fitzsimmons

Anthony L Gelardi

Robert G Petit

W Tyler Fitzsimmons

Jon Noce

A short, crescent-shaped copy stand engages the bottom edges of sheets and holds the sheets upright. The stand includes a back and an integrally formed, relatively small front block. The back has a downwardly and forwardly sloping concave sheet backing wall, a substantially horizontal top wall and a stepped front wall. A ledge or step extends forward from the lower edge of the sheet backing wall. The ledge slopes downward and inward from the its outer edges. The backing is concavely curved about a slightly rearward sloping axis, and the ledge concavely curves or slopes slightly upward and outward along the backing wall. The block is integrally formed with the backing wall and ledge at the approximate center of the backing wall. The block has a curved, generally vertical rearward wall that extends upward from a center of the ledge. The backing and the rearward facing wall of the block define sides of a slot for receiving centers of sheet bottom edges. The backing wall, the ledge and rearward facing wall of the block hold bottom edges of sheets curved about a rearward-tilted, generally vertical axis so that the sheets stand on their own. The copy stand is small, lightweight and easy to use. Sheets are securely held upright without slipping down and rest at a slight angle, thereby facilitating reading of text on the sheets.

Copy stand

Copy Stand

Card case

A holder for temporarily storing and displaying compact discs has a front, a back and a disc-receiving base sloping downward from the back to the front. The disc-receiving base has molded pockets or slots for receiving and vertically supporting the compact discs. Each pocket has a lead-in for quick drop-off of a disc and for guiding it to a trough at the bottom. The trough contacts the flat sides of the disc but does not touch the information containing regions on the programmed side. Three bumps extend inward from the walls of the trough for orienting the disc at a rearward leaning angle to enhance visual identification and to prevent the discs from tilting forward and becoming dislodged. Effective disc orientation is achieved by providing a straight slot, with no bumps, that is molded at the desired angle of disc tilt or inclination. The pockets have openings that are wider than the thicknesses of standard compact discs. The pockets are arranged in staggered rows to offset the discs and to allow for visual identification of the discs. Curved depressions are positioned in the disc-receiving base of the holder. The depressions extend from the back to the front through the central regions of the rows of pockets. Those depressions guide and center discs being deposited, keep the pocket edges away from the recorded surfaces on the discs and allow movements of the discs once the discs have been slightly lifted. The holder has side walls with anti-skid feet for connecting the holder to other similar holders.

Compact disc transfer station

A storage device stores computer data cartridges in individual boxes. The storage device can store multiple boxes of computer cartridges. Preferably six boxes are stored in one case. The case has two side walls, a back, an upper wall, and a lower wall. A case with multiple inner dividers forms inner chambers for holding and separating one box from another. An ejector is associated with each of the chambers. Each ejector has an elongated and tilted floor member extending from the front of the ejector to the back of the case. The upward tilted position of the floor member holds the boxes against the upper wall and back of the case and therefore does not allow unintentional ejection of the boxes. Pushing the ejector downward forces the tilted floor member downward, sliding and ejecting the box outward under its own weight. A comb-like clamp and ejector assembly has rear grippers that grip a downward edge of the back. Fulcrums upwardly tilt forward cantilevered fingers which form the floors of the chambers. Forward ends of the floors are pressed downward to admit cartridges then spring upward to hold the cartridges. Pressing downward on a forward end slopes a floor downward to slide out a cartridge. Elongated sloped legs dovetail into sloped recesses in the top for locking stacked cases together. Elastomeric non-skid feet attach to ends of the legs on laterally adjacent cases to lock a bottom row of cases together.

Ejecting storage case

Method and apparatus for protecting and storing media, such as magnetic storage discs. A protective cover is formed by a front side, a back side and a mechanism for engaging a storage container. The front side can be connected to the back side by a base that promotes the separation of the sides and their closure towards one another, or includes a recess conforming to the object to be protected, with at least one side having a detent for promoting the retention of the object, such as a rectangular jacket with a movable shutter for a magnetic storage disc. The recess can include a shutter lock. The protective cover is insertable into a storage tray which retains the protective cover by, for example, hingeable extensions of the tray which are folded against sides of the tray when the cover is to be inserted, and the cover is retained unless it is moved to a substantially vertical position which permits withdrawal.

Protective covers

A compact disc and data cartridge storage has a base, a back, a front and first and second opposite sides. A plurality of parallel ribs extend along a rear portion of the base and a lower portion of the back for separating stored data packages. The base has a rear portion and a front portion respectively sloped rearward and forward from a center line which extends between the sides. The front portion is longer than the rear portion. Ribs extend upward from the front and rear position to guide and separate the data packages. In one form, the ribs extend fully along the back portion and partially along the front portion for storing tall and thin objects between the ribs, leaning against the back portion with centers of gravity rearward of the central ridge before tipping selected thin objects forward and moving the center of gravity forward of the central ribs and allowing the thin objects to slide downward along the front portion of the base while held vertically between the ribs. In one form, the ribs have a series of alternate short profile ribs and tall profile ribs. The short profile ribs are positioned nearest the sides and tall profile ribs are positioned intermediate the short profile ribs, with one more short profile rib than tall profile rib.

Growing community of inventors

Sutton, MA, United States of America

Steven E Callahan