The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 23, 1998
Filed:
Jun. 20, 1996
William J Tortora, Willington, CT (US);
Thomas A Gordon, S. Glastonbury, CT (US);
Gerber Scientific Products, Inc., Manchester, CT (US);
Abstract
A vertically looped ribbon cable having upper and lower lengths connected to one another by a 180.degree. bend for carrying power and control signals is attached at one end to a controller and at its other end to a plotter's tool head. The tool head is mounted to, and can move along the length of a tool head support. A cable support device is provided and includes a trough having an interior channel containing the ribbon cable and mounted to the plotter's frame. A vertically looped cable support strip is also positioned in the trough and has an upper support strip length positioned above and connected by a 180.degree. bend in the support strip to a lower support strip length. During movement of the tool head along the length of the support, one of the upper or lower support strip lengths will increase while the other decreases. The ribbon cable is positioned relative to the support strip so that the upper length of the cable overlies and is vertically supported by the upper support strip length.