Apparatus for connecting wooden components

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6405916
  • Patent Number
    6,405,916
  • Date Filed
    Monday, July 10, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, June 18, 2002
    22 years ago
Abstract
Apparatus for connecting wood members with a connector plate segmented from a continuous strip of connector plates. The connector plates have integral nails extending from one face of the plate. The apparatus includes a feeder for feeding the strip forward to a position where the connector plate is segmented from the strip. A driver drives the segmented plate into the wood members. The apparatus is characterized by a table for the emplacement of the wood members in a pattern for being fastened together. The table is mounted for movement between a position out from under the driver for emplacement of the wood members and a position under the driver for the driving of a segmented connected plate down for penetration of its nails into the wood members. The table has an upwardly facing surface with indicia thereon indicative of the locations of edges of the connector plate. The table also has slots and locating stops to facilitate holding the wood member in the pre-selected pattern on the table.
Description




This invention relates to apparatus for connecting wooden components and the like, and more particularly to apparatus for emplacement of wooden components in position for being joined together (jigging said members) and having means for fastening said members together by driving connector plates (nailing plates) thereunto.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The invention is in the field of automated wooden component connection apparatus of the type in which components are placed in position on a table (jigged) in the position in which they are to be fastened together, and connector plates (nailing plates) segmented from continuous connector plate strip are driven into said components, one from above, one from below through an opening in the table, for the fastening together of said components. This type of apparatus is well known in the art; reference may be made to the copending coassigned Ser. No. 09/347,326, filed Jul. 2, 1999, entitled Coil Advance Drive for an Apparatus for Applying Links of Connector Plate Coils to Wooden Frames, showing such apparatus, said application being incorporated herein by reference. An example of such a machine is Model No. 35500 Coilfed Machine available from MiTek Industries, Inc. of St. Louis, Missouri. Another example of such a machine is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,913,816. These machines are characterized by their use of a coil of connector plate material, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,895,708, rather than preformed individual plates. Said prior apparatus is used, for example, to make hip roof trusses or wood crates, for manufacturing wooden frames for furniture or box springs, and to make other wood assemblies. The prior apparatus has been generally satisfactory but, at times, some difficulty has been encountered in the emplacement of the wood members in jigged position on the table due to the obstruction of the table by connector plate segmenting and driving instrumentalities overhanging the table.




In the operation of such machines, the initial setup of the jigging members to properly position the wooden members has been difficult because of the different types and sizes of wooden members used, the variety of angles that they are positioned relative to one another and because of the variety of sizes of nailing plates used to join the wooden members together. Further, setting the jigging members sometimes requires work in the plate pressing area which raises issues of personnel safety.




BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




Among the several objects of this invention may be noted the provision of apparatus of the type described above improved to the extent of facilitating the manual emplacement (jigging) of the wooden members to be fastened together by the connector plates; the provision of such apparatus wherein the emplacement may be carried out without obstruction from the connector plate segmenting and driving instrumentalities; the provision of such apparatus enabling set-up of various jigging patterns for the wooden members; the provision of such apparatus that is easy and efficient to set up any desired jigging pattern; the provision of such apparatus that improves personnel safety; and the provision of such apparatus which is of relatively simple and economical construction and relatively simple and convenient to use.




In general, apparatus of this invention is for connection of wooden components or the like in which wood members are fastened together by a connector plate segmented from a continuous strip of connector plates, said plates having integral nails extending from one face thereof and connected end-to-end lengthwise of the strip. It comprises a feeder operable to feed the strip forward with its nails extending down to bring the leading plate of the strip to a position for being segmented from the strip and driven downward, and a driver for driving the segmented strip down. It is characterized in having a table for the emplacement thereon of wood members in a pattern for being fastened together, said table being mounted for movement between a position out from under said driver for emplacement of said members and a position under said driver for the driving of a segmented connector plate down for penetration of its nails into said members.




Other objects and features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a view in elevation of one side of apparatus embodying the invention;





FIG. 2

is a view in front elevation of the apparatus;





FIG. 3

is a plan of

FIG. 2

;





FIG. 4

is a view in elevation of a fragment of the other side of the apparatus, showing in phantom a moved position (the loading position) of a table thereof;





FIG. 5

is a view in elevation of a fragment of the front of the apparatus;





FIGS. 6 and 7

are views of the table taken generally on lines


6





6


and


7





7


of

FIG. 5

illustrating a first wood member and a second wood member of a hip girder jigged in position for being fastened together with connector plates by the apparatus;





FIG. 8

is a section taken generally on line


8





8


of

FIG. 7

illustrating a jigging stop of the apparatus;





FIG. 9

is a plan view of the table showing an alternative embodiment of the apparatus including connector plate location indicia; and





FIG. 10

is a plan view of the table showing an additional embodiment of connector plate location indicia.




Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout several views of the drawings.











DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to the drawings, first more particularly to

FIGS. 1-3

, apparatus of this invention is shown to comprise a frame indicated in its entirety by the reference numeral


1


having an upper arm


3


extending outwardly therefrom in what amounts to rearward direction having a spindle


5


at its outer end carrying a supply in the form of a coil


7


of a strip


9


of connector plates (which may also be referred to as nailing plates) and a lower arm


13


extending outwardly therefrom below the upper arm having a spindle


15


at its outer end carrying another supply in the form of a coil


17


of a strip


19


of connector plates (which may be the same as strip


9


). Such connector plates and strips thereof are well known in the art and it will be readily understood by those conversant with the art that each connector plate is a metal (usually steel) plate having nails


21


integrally formed therefrom extending from one face thereof, strips of said plates comprising a multiplicity of the plates integrally connected end-to-end lengthwise of the strip, the leading plate of the strip being adapted to be segmented from the strip and driven into pieces of wood for fastening them together.




Mounted in the frame


1


is an upper feeder


23


operable to feed forward the upper strip


9


of connector plates from the upper coil


7


with its nails


21


extending down to bring the leading plate of the upper strip to a position for being segmented from the upper strip and driven downward. An upper driver


25


(

FIG. 5

) mounted in the frame functions to drive down the plate segmented from the upper strip. Mounted in the frame


1


directly below the upper feeder is a lower feeder


27


operable to feed forward the lower strip


19


of connector plates from the lower coil


17


with its nails


21


extending up to bring the leading plate of the lower strip to a position for being segmented from the lower strip and driven upward. A lower driver


29


(

FIG. 5

) mounted in the frame functions to drive up the plate segmented from the lower strip. Each feeder generally comprises a wheel rotary on a horizontal axis contacting the respective strip, the wheel being adapted to be driven on each cycle of operation of the apparatus to advance the respective strip one connector plate length by a motor


31


via a drive indicated at


33


. Each of the connector plate drivers


25


,


29


comprises a presser platen


35


on the plunger of a hydraulic cylinder


37


, the upper presser platen being movable down for pressing down the connector plate segmented from the upper strip


9


, the lower presser platen being movable up for pressing up the connector plate segmented from the lower strip


19


. At


39


is indicated means for supplying the hydraulic cylinders with hydraulic fluid under pressure and controlling them (FIG.


2


). A control panel


40


is provided for setting the operating parameters of the apparatus


1


. The apparatus as thus far described corresponds essentially to that disclosed in the aforesaid copending coassigned application Ser. No. 09/347,326, and reference may be made thereto for details.




In accordance with this invention, a table


41


is shown for emplacement thereon of wood members, such as the wood members indicated at


43


and


45


(

FIGS. 6 and 7

) in a pattern for being fastened together. The table


41


is mounted for movement on the frame


1


between a position for emplacement of the wood members thereon out from between the upper and lower drivers


25


and


29


shown in phantom in

FIG. 5 and a

position between the drivers shown in solid lines in

FIG. 4

for the driving of a connector plate segmented from the upper strip


9


down, and the driving of a connector plate segmented from the lower strip


19


up through an opening


47


in the table, for penetration of the nails


21


of the segmented plates into the wood members


43


,


45


.




The table


41


is mounted for sliding movement between its above-stated in and out positions (which may also be referred to as its plate-driving position and loading position) in a generally horizontal plane by means of a set of rods, more particularly two rods each designated


49


, and a set of slide bearings, more particularly a pair of linear bearings each designated


51


on one side and a pair of linear bearings each designated


51


on the other side under the table. Each pair of bearings is fixed on top of a bracket


53


mounted for up and down adjustment on the respective side of the frame


1


by means of screws


55


extending through generally vertical slots


57


in the bracket and threaded in tapped holes in the frame, the two bearings on each bracket being spaced one from the other on the bracket as shown in FIG.


4


. The brackets with the bearings thereon are mounted on the frame with their axes extending parallel to one another on opposite sides of the throat


59


between the drivers


25


and


29


in a generally horizontal plane below the plane of the table


41


. The rods


49


are secured to the table in position below the table spaced down from the table extending parallel to one another in the plane of the bearings


51


(and generally parallel to the plane of the table), being slidable in the bearings for the aforesaid sliding movement of the table between its aforesaid two positions. The table


41


has an inner edge


61


, namely the edge which is innermost with respect to the throat (rearward with respect to the apparatus), and an outer (front) edge


63


. Extending crosswise of the table on the bottom thereof adjacent its inner and outer edges are bars


65


and


67


, the bar adjacent the inner edge


61


being denoted the inner or rear bar and the bar adjacent the outer edge being denoted the outer or front bar. Each of the rods is secured to the table in position under and spaced from the bottom surface of the table by a pair of rod supports


69


and


71


, the support


69


being adjacent the inner end of the rod and the support


71


being adjacent the outer end of the rod. The inner end support


69


comprises a collar encircling the rod depending from bar


65


and the outer end support


71


comprises a collar encircling the rod depending from bar


67


.




Each of the two inner bearings


51


of each pair of bearings on the brackets


53


is mounted in position with respect to the frame


1


to act as a stop engageable by the rear collar


69


of the respective inner end rod support on pulling out the table to determine its aforesaid loading position. Handles


73


are provided at the front of the table for being grasped to pull it out to the loading position, in which the inner (rear) edge


61


of the table is near the outer (open) end of the throat


59


(its front end). The handles are attached to bar


67


. Mounted in the frame at the inner end of the throat


59


is a limit switch


75


engageable by the rear bar


65


of the table. The upper and lower drivers


25


and


29


cannot be activated when the table


41


is out of contact with the limit switch. This limit switch is adjustable in and out as needed to position the table. For that purpose, the limit switch


75


is mounted on the frame


1


by means of screws


77


extending through generally horizontal slots


79


in wings


81


on the stop threaded in tapped holes in the frame. A stop engageable with the forward bearing


51


to determine the aforesaid position for the driving of connector plates into the wood members of the table


41


is provided by a collar


83


on one or both rods


49


adjustable to different positions thereon for engagement with the front of one or both of the forward bearings


51


as shown in FIG.


4


.




Referring to

FIGS. 6-8

, the table


41


carries jigging members, more particularly stops each designated


85


, for jigging the wood members in the pattern for the connection thereof by the connector plates. As shown, the table is made with a series of slots


87


therein, the slots extending parallel to one another in front-to-rear direction with respect to the throat


59


. It is to be understood that the slots may extend in a side-to-side direction with respect to the throat


59


or in some combination of front-to-rear and side-to-side without departing from the scope of the present invention. Further, it is envisioned that instead of slots a large number of circular holes (not shown) could be provided in the table. The holes would be threaded so that stops having threaded pegs could be screwed into the holes. Different jigging arrangements would be made by selecting different holes into which to place the stops. In the illustrated embodiment, each stop


85


is releasably fastened in selected position along the length of a slot extending up from the table for the jigging of wood members on the table in a selected pattern by having a bolt


89


of smaller diameter extending through the stop. The stop


85


has a downwardly facing shoulder engaging the top surface of the table on opposite sides of the slot with the bolt


89


extending down through the slot. A quarter turn nut


91


threaded on the bolt


89


engages the bottom surface of the table for fastening the stop


85


in place.





FIGS. 6 and 7

show an arrangement of the stops


85


for positioning (jigging) the first wood member


43


and the second wood member


45


of a hip girder of a type wherein the first wood member extends at an acute angle from the second wood member and the second wood member extends beyond the first wood member, with the juncture of the members registering with opening


47


in the table. The wood members are laid on the table in the pattern shown by placement between the stops defining the pattern with the table pulled out in its loading position so that there is no obstruction to the placement of the wood members. Then, the table


41


is pushed in to bring the juncture into the position for the driving of a top connector plate and a bottom connector plate into the wood members (which form chords in a truss or the like) at said juncture, the bottom plate being driven up through hole


47


which is positioned therefor in accordance with the positioning of the table resulting from its engagement with the stop


83


.




For safety, the apparatus may be provided with side guards


93


and a front guard


95


for the throat.


59


. These guards are preferably fixed in place because the table can be moved out so there is no need for access to the throat


59


. However, conventional movable guards could also be used. A pair of finger actuated switches


97


are provided for triggering the drivers


25


,


29


to shear connector plates from the coils and drive them into the wood members when the table


41


is in position. The switches


97


must be depressed substantially simultaneously to trigger the drivers to inhibit the operator from triggering the driver unless his hands are well clear of the throat


59


. In the preferred embodiment, the actuator switches


97


are DUO-TOUCH Model No. OTBA5QD photoelectric touch switches available from Banner Engineering Corporation of Minneapolis, Minn.




As best seen in

FIG. 9

, means is provided to facilitate setting the stops


85


in the desired X-Y positions relative to the table


41


for forming the desired joint between the wood members


43


,


45


. The means assists in locating the stops


85


such that the selected connector plate will be properly positioned for pressing into the wood members preferably without any portion of the connector plate


9


extending beyond the edges of the wood members and having all the nails of the connector plate


9


within the wood members. The location of a connector plate


9


, the wood members


43


,


45


and stops


85


in the following description are the X-Y locations on the table


41


in one or more planes generally parallel to the upwardly facing surface


100


of the table.




The means includes indicia on the upward facing surface


100


of the table


41


indicative of the locations of the side edges and end edges of the variously sized connector plates. The indicia in the structure of

FIG. 9

, includes a plurality of lines


101


-


104


formed in the upwardly facing surface


100


. Preferably, the lines


101


-


104


are scribed into the upwardly facing surface


100


. A preferred width for the lines is about {fraction (1/16)}″. One end edge of each of the different sized connector plates, in the preferred embodiment, are commonly located and thus share the same indicia line


102


, i.e., the end edges at the location of shearing of the connector plates from the coil. The indicia includes a plurality of generally parallel lines


101


A-C indicating. the location of the leading end edge of each of the different connector plates on a coil when positioned for pressing into the wood members. For example, the line


101


A indicates the location of the leading end edge of a 3″ long connector plate, the line


101


B indicates the location of the leading end edge of a 4″ long connector plate and the line


101


C indicates the location of the leading end edge of a 5″ long connector plate. The line


102


indicates the location of the trailing end edge of a connector plate which is the location where the connector plate is severed, as by shearing, from a coil when the table


41


is in its in position as described above. The lines


102


,


10


A-C are generally parallel and indicate the Y locations of the end edges of the connector plates.




The indicia further includes lines


103


,


104


indicating the X locations of the side edges of the connector plates. As shown, the latter described lines include lines


103


A-C and lines


104


A-C . The lines


103


A-C are generally parallel to one another and generally parallel to the lines


104


A-C which are also generally parallel to each other. For example, the line


103


A indicates the location of the right hand side edge (as viewed in

FIG. 9

) of a 1″ wide connector plate


9


, the line


103


B indicates the location of the right hand side edge of both 1½″ and 2″ wide connector plates and the line


103


C indicates the location of the right hand side edge of a 3″ wide connector plate. In the illustrated embodiment, the lines


104


A-C indicate the various locations of the left hand side edges (as viewed in

FIG. 9

) of various connector plates. For example, the line


104


A indicates the location of the left hand side edge of 1″ and 1½″ wide connector plates


9


, the line


104


B indicates the location of the left hand side edge of a 2″ wide connector plate and the line


104


C indicates the location of the left hand side edge of a 3″ wide connector plate. The lines


101


-


104


can be used to designate any length or width of connector plate, and the above described lines are merely representative of certain sized generally rectangular plates.




Alternatively, the orientations and locations of the lines can be changed to accommodate any size or shape of connector plate. The surface may also include identification indicia


106


indicating which size nailing plate the various lines


101


-


104


represent. One such size indicating indicia includes scribed numbers as seen in FIG.


9


. The lines


101


-


104


may also be color coded, for example the lines


101


B,


103


C, and


104


C may be coded red to indicate the location of the side edges and leading end edge of a 4″ long by 3″ wide nailing plate. In the alternative, should the trailing end edge vary in location relative to the table when it is in its in position, a plurality of lines


102


may be used to indicate the various trailing end edge locations. In some cases, it may be possible to use only a single reference line for the Y location and also for the X location depending on the sizes of the connector plates


9


and whether they share a common side edge and/or a common end edge. Preferably, the lines


103


,


104


extend between the front and back edges


63


,


61


and the lines


101


,


102


extend between the side edges


98


,


99


of the table


41


except for in the opening


47


with the lines


101


,


102


being generally perpendicular to the lines


103


,


104


for rectangular plates.




In operation, the table is moved to its out or extended position. The wood members (two in the illustrated embodiment), are placed on the table in the orientation relative to one another that they are to be joined together with one or more connector plates


9


. The lines


101


-


104


are then used by the operator to sight along to accurately position the wood members in their X-Y locations to receive the connector plate(s) in the desired location on the joined wood members as indicated by the respective lines


101


-


104


. The operator selects the desired lines for the connector plate size to be used prior to sighting along the lines. The stops


85


are then secured, as described above, in the appropriate locations to fix the positions or locations of the wood member


43


,


45


when fed into the nailing station for pressing in the connector plates


9


in a manner as described above. Thus, the stops may be more easily located than with a trial and error method reducing product waste and personnel time used in set-up. If desired, after set up, a sample joint can be made and refinement of the stop location can be made if needed. Set-up can be done with the table in its out position facilitating set-up and reducing the risk of operator mijury.




In an alternate embodiment, the connector plate locating indicia may include one or measures mounted to the table


41


. Such an embodiment is illustrated in

FIG. 10. A

preferred measure includes a pair of adhesive backed indexed scales


107


,


108


secured to the upwardly facing surface


100


adjacent the opening


47


along at least two adjacent sides thereof. The measures could be secured in a recess in the surface


100


to reduce wear of the measures. The measure includes two scales


107


(X scale),


108


(Y scale) at generally right angles to one another. The Y direction is that direction that the connector plates


9


are fed into the pressing station and the X direction is generally normal to the Y direction and generally parallel to the trailing end of the connector plate, i.e. where it is sheared from the strip of plates. The measure can be a unitary structure or can have separate scales


107


,


108


. The single piece arrangement utilizes a scaled pattern


112


printed or scribed thereon to project the dimensions or other location indicia up and down (Y scale indicia


114


) and across the measure (X scale indicia


116


) to facilitate the location of the wood members and the stops


85


. The indexing of the scales


107


,


108


can be numeric indicating units of length or distance measure like inches or centimeters or other suitable scales including arbitrary indexing, e.g., alpha characters. Color coding of the indicia could also be used. A tabulation of the indicia value for the location of the edges of each given connector plate


9


can be provided to facilitate set-up by providing the X and Y scale coordinates for the plate edges. If the trailing edge is common for all connector plates


9


, a zero value for the Y location on the Y scale


108


can be used for the trailing edge location indicator for all connector plates. In some cases, it may be possible to use only a single reference line or indicator value for the Y location and also for the X location depending on the sizes of the connector plates


9


and whether they share a common end edge and/or a common side edge respectively.




In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.




When introducing elements of the present invention or the preferred embodiment(s) thereof, the articles “a”, “an”, “the” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising”, “including” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements.




As various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.



Claims
  • 1. Apparatus for connection of wood members or the like in which wood members are fastened together by at least one connector plate, said apparatus is adapted to use a variety of different sized connector plates including first and second connector plates of different sizes to form different configurations of fastened wood members, said first and second connector plates having integral nails extending from one face thereof and end and side edges, said apparatus comprising a driver for driving a connector plate into the wood members, a table for the emplacement thereon of the wood members in a pattern for being fastened together, said table having an upwardly facing surface adapted for engaging the wood members, said table having thereon indicia visible on said surface indicating the locations of at least some edges of the first and second plates in a plane generally parallel to the surface.
  • 2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said indicia includes a plurality of lines on said surface, said lines indicating the locations of at least some edges of the first and second plates.
  • 3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said plurality of lines includes a plurality of generally parallel first lines indicating the locations of opposite side edges of the first and second plates and a plurality of generally parallel second lines indicating the locations of end edges of the first and second plates.
  • 4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said first and second plates having trailing end edges and leading end edges with said trailing end edges having a common location when in the apparatus and positioned for pressing into the wooden members.
  • 5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said table is mounted for movement between a position out from under said driver for emplacement of said wooden members and a position under said driver for driving the plate down for penetration of its nails into said wood members, said table being mounted for sliding movement in a generally horizontal plane between said in and out positions.
  • 6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5 wherein the table carries stop members for jigging said wood members in said pattern.
  • 7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said stop members are settable for different patterns of wooden members on the table.
  • 8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein said first and second plates each being supplied from a respective strip of first or second plates with the first and second plates in each strip being connected end-to-end lengthwise of the respective strip thereof, each said strip being supplied in coil format, each said plate being segmented from a respective said strip.
  • 9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8 wherein said apparatus further comprises a pair of feeders with one feeder being an upper feeder and the other feeder being a lower feeder, the upper feeder being operable to feed an upper said strip from an upper coil thereof and said lower feeder operable to feed a lower said strip from a lower coil thereof, said upper strip being fed forward with its nails extending down and the lower strip being fed forward with its nails extending up.
  • 10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said indicia includes at least one index scale on said surface.
  • 11. An apparatus as set forth in claim 10 including connector plate feeders for feeding the first and second plates to a respective position for emplacement in a first direction and wherein said index scale extends in an second direction generally normal to the first direction.
  • 12. An apparatus as set forth in claim 11 wherein the index scale comprises a first index scale and wherein the apparatus further comprises a second said index scale with said first and second index scales being generally at right angles to one another.
  • 13. An apparatus as set forth in claim 12 wherein said location indicia includes units of distance measure.
  • 14. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further including identification indicia on the upwardly facing surface to identify certain of said indicia for the size of connector plate the indicia represents.
  • 15. An apparatus as set forth in claim 14 wherein the identification indicia includes numeric characters on the upwardly facing surface and referencing respective said indicia.
  • 16. An apparatus as set forth in claim 14 wherein the identification indicia includes alpha characters on the upwardly facing surface and referencing respective said indicia.
  • 17. An apparatus as set forth in claim 14 wherein said identification indicia includes color coding of certain of the indicia.
  • 18. A method of setting up an apparatus adapted to press connector plates into wood embers to join the wood members together, said apparatus comprising a table with an upwardly facing surface having connector plate location indicia thereon and adapted for supporting engagement with the wood members and including a plurality of stop members, mounted selective movement on said table and extending upwardly therefrom for positively locating said wood members thereon, said method including locating the wood members relative to one another and relative to the indicia indicating the desired location of a connector plate relative to the wood members, adjusting the stop members to engage edges of the wood members forming stops for positioning the wood members relative to one another in a desired orientation and securing the stop members in their adjusted positions thereby forming a positioning jig for locating wood members to be joined together with at least one said plate.
  • 19. A method as set forth in claim 18 wherein said indicia is indicative of the locations of a plurality of different sized connector plates.
Parent Case Info

This application is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/419,582, filed Oct. 18, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,330,963.

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Continuation in Parts (1)
Number Date Country
Parent 09/419582 Oct 1999 US
Child 09/612813 US