Ray L Lawter

Title: Ray L. Lawter and His Patented Inventions.

Introduction

Ray L. Lawter is an inventor associated with Zanesville, Ohio, and NCR Corporation. His patent work includes practical designs for electrical connections and compact card-reading equipment. Lawter is credited with 2 patents.

Latest Patents

Lawter’s patents describe two devices designed to connect or read electrical and encoded information.

The patent for an electrical connector presents a low-cost, flexible way to connect conductors from components such as gas-discharge panels or flat flexible printed-circuit harnesses to conductors on a printed circuit board. Its one-piece plastic clamping member uses lever portions joined at a fulcrum. Pressing the levers opens the jaws to admit the board and conductors, while an integral pressure portion urges the levers outward and maintains clamping pressure. The patent describes several versions of this pressure mechanism.

The card-reader patent describes a compact, manually operated device for reading magnetically or similarly encoded cards. A guide assembly supports and directs the inserted card, which moves a sliding carriage into an actuated position. That movement stores energy in a drive member, which returns the carriage and card past a reading element. A rotating velocity-limiting device helps keep the card’s return movement at a constant speed for reading.

Career Highlights

Lawter’s documented inventions address distinct engineering needs: maintaining reliable electrical contact and controlling card movement during data reading. Both designs emphasize functional mechanisms suited to practical equipment.

Collaborations

Lawter’s listed coworkers include Kenneth L. Shooter and David C. Wills. The available information identifies these professional associations but does not specify their roles in the patents.

Conclusion

Ray L. Lawter’s two patents reflect a focus on useful electromechanical designs, from flexible electrical connectors to controlled-motion card readers.