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:
Apr. 16, 2002
Filed:
Sep. 20, 1999
Gregory Mathus, Concord, MA (US);
Daniel J. Seguin, Amherst, NH (US);
Victor A. Torti, Brookline, NH (US);
Matrix Technologies Corporation, Hudson, NH (US);
Abstract
A test tube comprises a tube body of unitary construction including an enclosed sidewall and an integral bottom that together define a tubular container having an open top. The bottom has a concave interior surface and a planar exterior surface upon which machine readable data is encoded within a multi-layered opaque coating that is deposited onto the planar exterior surface to uniquely identify the test tube. The machine readable data is preferably an open (i.e., non-proprietary) data matrix code. This code is applied to the test tube by depositing a multi-layer coating onto the planar exterior of the tube bottom. The multi-layer coating may include a first layer of opaque material that is deposited onto the planar exterior surface, and a second layer of opaque material that is deposited onto the first layer. The machine readable code is formed in the multi-layered coating by removing portions of the second layer.