International Business Machines Corporation

Other

Cd3 Storage Systems, Inc.

Cd3, Inc.

Cd3 Storage System, Inc.

Rgt Design, Incorporated

Verlon E Whitehead

Ronald E Hunt

Richard Francis Frankeny

Karl Hermann

Tod Barrett

Tod Alan Barrett

Paul Feinstein, Jr

Adolph B Habich

John A Williamson

Elmer J Gill

Ronald Eugene Hung

Alan J Schwartz

Robert N Price

A media storage apparatus includes a frame, a shaft, and a plurality of retainers for retaining a plurality of portable planar storage media. The plurality of retainers is supported by the shaft and rotatable about the shaft from a selectable position to a selected position. The apparatus further includes a retainer selection mechanism, coupled to the frame, that traverses the frame to cause selected ones of the plurality of retainers traversed by the retainer selection mechanism to rotate in sequence from the selectable position to the selected position.

Media storage container, apparatus and method

Disc storage locker

A method of encouraging weight loss via a talking electronic scale. The talking electronic scale determines the weight of a particular person in response to a specific user input. The talking electronic scale utilizes a data storage unit to store and conceal an initial weight for the particular person. The talking electronic scale compares a subsequent weight of the particular person to the concealed initial weight in response to a specific user input and utilizes a speech synthesis unit to announce a difference between the concealed initial weight and the subsequent weight for the particular person without ever displaying or announcing the numerical value of the initial weight.

Method and system for a talking weight loss scale

Disc transport device

Disk storage locker

A toy animal formed of molded plastic provides simulated respiration. An aperture in the upper section of the molded plastic animal is covered with a flexible simulated animal pelt. A battery-powered electric motor within the toy animal provides a rotating output which is coupled to the underside of the flexible simulated animal pelt within the aperture utilizing a flexible shaft. This manner rotation of the motor output alternately extends and depresses the flexible simulated animal pelt, thereby simulating respiration.

Toy animal with simulated respiration

Disk storage device

A compact disk storage device has a base and a hinged lid. The inner surfaces of the base and lid each contain arcuate ribs which are parallel to and equally spaced-apart from one another. Each pair of adjacent ribs defines a shallow groove. Each rib in the base has a height which varies along its length. The upper edges of the ribs located near the front edge of the base are generally pointed. The upper edges of the ribs located near the rear edge of the base are generally blunt and shorter than the ribs near the front edge. The lesser cross-sectional dimension of the ribs near the rear edge allows the disk to seat properly in the groove without hindering its alignment.

Disc storage device with self-aligning slots

A bilateral media storage unit for storing and carrying CD ROMs, computer diskettes, removable disk storage devices and the like. The storage unit includes a discus shaped portable housing having a generally bowl shaped lower base component and a generally bowl shaped upper cover component which are coupled together at opposite points on their peripheries by selectively releasable hinges which pivotally couple the upper cover component to the lower base component and which release the upper cover component to pivot away from the lower base component when released. An accordion pleated extendable media receptacle is mounted within the portable housing. The accordion pleated extendable media receptacle includes a first group of extensible slots which are adapted to receive a first group of substantially planar storage media and a second group of extensible slots which are adapted to receive a second group of substantially planar storage media wherein the first group of extensible slots are extended in response to a pivoting of the upper cover component away from the lower base component in a first direction and wherein the second group of extensible slots are extended in response to a pivoting of the upper cover component away from the lower base component in a second direction.

Bilateral media storage unit

An accordion pleated media storage unit is provided which is constructed of a continuous elongate web of flexible material, such as a non-woven polyester spun material. A continuous zigzag fold of the elongate web creates multiple overlying planes, each of which has at least one edge which is integral with an adjacent plane. A bond is then formed along each edge of a pair of adjacent planes, extending from a common edge to a point just short of the mid-line of each plane, such that multiple adjacent pockets are formed which, when the unit is extended, are separated by a specified distance and wherein the pocket dimensions are not altered, greatly enhancing insertion and retrieval of a storage media element.

Accordion pleated media storage unit having separable pockets

A modular, portable apparatus for storing and carrying a plurality of disc shaped recording media has a housing including a lower base component and an upper cover component. The lower base component and the upper cover component are pivotally coupled. Slots within the housing retain a plurality of disc shaped recording media in a plurality of parallel adjacent positions. A disc selector selects and automatically retains a particular one of said plurality of disc shaped recording media within the upper cover component while the remainder of said plurality of disc shaped recording media remain within said lower base component during pivotal movement of said upper cover component with respect to said lower base component. A connecting device on each of the two ends of the housing is adapted to selectively couple the modular apparatus to either an end of another identical modular apparatus or a carrying device for carrying the modular apparatus. Thus, a selected plurality of modular apparatuses can be selectively coupled together and to the carrying device to allow convenient carrying of said selected plurality of modular apparatuses.

Modular recording media storage apparatus

A disk storage device is shown of the type used to store computer floppy diskettes. A series of springs are utilized to urge a floppy disk outward from a storage slot provided in the body of the device. One corner of the floppy disk is utilized to temporarily restrain the disk within its associated storage slot. A moveable lever is utilized to lift the restraining corner of the floppy disk from behind the restraint and permit the spring loaded slot to eject the computer floppy disk.

A set of shelving units which can be interlockingly mated together. Each shelving unit has a set of end panels is provided with substantially identical dimensions. At least one elongated cross member is joined to an edge of the end panels so that the end panels are spaced apart along the length of the cross member. At least two elongated cross members are joined to an opposite edge of the end panels. The two cross members are parallel and spaced apart to form a gap for receiving a cross member of a second shelving unit similarly constructed so that the shelving units can be interlockingly mated. The cross members of each shelf form a shelving surface.

Interlocking shelving unit

A tape wound coil is provided, for use in magnetic repulsion punching, that has a plurality of slits therein which allow circulation of coolant therethrough. This coil is made of thin copper foil, or the like that is treated with an epoxy, for electrical insulation between the windings, and then wound around a center post. The face of the coil is machined smooth, whereas a counter bore is machined into the back of the coil such that a portion of the center post and the inner most windings are removed. Radial slits are then machined into the back of the coil, which will allow for the coolant flow. Thus, a coil for use in magnetic repulsion punching is provided which maximizes the capacity for carrying electrical current and increases the winding density exhibited by conventional M-R coils. Further, the coil of the present invention will withstand high repetition mechanical shear forces created as a result of the large amount of electrical current pulsing through the windings.

Coil for magnetic repulsion punch

A fluid actuated connector is provided with opposing circuit members that form the interior of the connector and which are substantially L-shaped with a substantially vertical portion facing a circuit card to be inserted into the connector and a substantially horizontal portion disposed onto a printed circuit board (PCB), such as a motherboard, or the like. The circuit members are disposed adjacent a frame and connector body such that a cavity is formed adjacent the circuit members and on a side opposite the electrical connection points being being contacted with the printed circuit card. The circuit membranes are formed of a single layer of dielectric material, to maintain the required resiliency, and have contacts, which may be in the form of 'bumps' etched into an electrically conductive material applied to the surface of the dielectric facing the circuit card. The side of the circuit membrane in communication with the cavity, which is filled with a non-compressible fluid, receives the force that deforms the circuit membrane. In order to increase the force actually transferred to the contact bumps, rigid pads are placed on the inside of the circuit membrane such that the pressurized fluid acts directly on the rigid pads. These pads are etched into a metal layer deposited on the dielectric and placed substantially opposite the electrical contact bumps, thereby allowing transfer of the force from the fluid directly to the bumps without the intermediate layers of an expandable tube, bladder, or the like.

Growing community of inventors

Austin, TX, United States of America

Verlon E Whitehead