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Archaic Legal Glossary & Citations

“Letters Patent”14th–20th Century
19th-C Meaning:

Open public letters from a monarch or government (literae patentes) granting monopoly rights.

Modern Engineering Decoded:Issued USPTO utility or design patent publication.
Historical note: Contrasted with 'letters close' (private sealed royal correspondence).
“In testimony whereof”19th Century
19th-C Meaning:

Formal concluding legal formula affirming under oath the execution of the instrument.

Modern Engineering Decoded:Inventor and witness digital/physical signatures.
Historical note: Required two witness attestations in 19th-century USPTO filing procedure.
“Aeroplane”Early 20th Century (Wright era)
19th-C Meaning:

A flat or cambered lifting aerofoil surface supported dynamically by air pressure.

Modern Engineering Decoded:Wing / Airfoil lifting surface (later evolved to mean the entire motorized aircraft).
Historical note: The Wrights used 'aeroplane' to denote the individual fabric-covered wings.
“Undulating Current”19th Century (Bell era)
19th-C Meaning:

An electric current whose magnitude varies continuously and periodically without interruption.

Modern Engineering Decoded:Continuous analog AC or audio-frequency electrical waveform.
Historical note: Bell's central legal weapon against telegraph companies who relied on pulsed DC make-and-break circuits.
“Subdivision of the Electric Light”1870s–1880s (Edison era)
19th-C Meaning:

The problem of operating numerous small domestic lamps off a single electrical generator.

Modern Engineering Decoded:Parallel circuit wiring of high-resistance incandescent electrical loads.
Historical note: Pundits claimed it was physically impossible until Edison increased filament resistance to 100 ohms.
“Optically Anisotropic Solution”1960s (Kwolek era)
19th-C Meaning:

A liquid solution that exhibits direction-dependent refractive indices due to molecular alignment.

Modern Engineering Decoded:Liquid crystalline nematic phase polymer dope.
Historical note: Technicians initially tried to throw out Kwolek's cloudy solution thinking it was contaminated.
“Unitary Body of Semiconductor Material”1950s–1960s (Noyce era)
19th-C Meaning:

A single continuous crystal structure of silicon or germanium.

Modern Engineering Decoded:Monolithic single-crystal silicon die / integrated circuit wafer.
Historical note: Differentiated Noyce's monolithic planar circuit from Jack Kilby's hybrid flying-wire prototype.
“Peculiar and Novel Construction”19th Century
19th-C Meaning:

A distinctive, patentable structural arrangement not found in prior art.

Modern Engineering Decoded:Novel and non-obvious mechanical embodiment under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
Historical note: Standard 19th-century legal terminology establishing novelty.

Museum Broadside & Archival Print Edition

Authentic archival layout formatted for framing, study, and high-resolution printing

Paper:
Theme:
The United States Patent & Trademark Archive

Historical Specification & Engineering Broadside

Curated, Verified & Restored by Classic Patents (classic-patents.com)
AUTOMATIC MEASUREMENT APPARATUSElectron-Beam Scanning, Synchronized Video Gating, and Signal Analysis
US 3,081,379Class: 178/6.8
Inventor(s):Jerome H. Lemelson
Origin / Location:Metuchen, New Jersey
Grant & Filing:Filed December 4, 1956 · Granted March 12, 1963

I. Historical Context & Grant Summary

US 3,081,379 claims an automatic scanning and control apparatus: an electron beam scans a predetermined path in an image field, synchronized programming operates a gate, and an analyzing circuit receives only the selected portion of the resulting picture signal. The reviewed source supports that signal-path architecture, but does not provide a calibration packet for beam speed, pickup responsivity, signal amplitude, or an actuator's force and response.

II. Core Mechanism & Scientific Principles

The issued claim is a signal-selection architecture. An electron beam makes a predetermined scan of an image field; a programming means is synchronized to the picture signal; a gate then passes only the selected segment to an analyzing circuit. The archive also describes reference-picture and comparison arrangements. That is enough to teach why the order of scan, selection, and analysis matters, but it is not enough to reconstruct a particular factory camera, dimensional gauge, comparator threshold, or sorting actuator.

Physical Operation:The public instrument treats the claim as a source-bounded logical path: $C = S \land G \land A \land I$. Here $S$ is the source-described scan path, $G$ is the synchronized gate, $A$ is the analyzing circuit, and $I$ is a picture-signal-present state. $C$ means only that the depicted control path is available. It is not a voltage, pulse width, physical measurement, reject decision, force, or response-time prediction. A reference branch may show a match or difference as a display state; the reviewed grant does not license a calibrated optical or actuator model.
Governing Formulation:
Scan-Path Signal Generation:S \rightarrow P
Synchronized Gating:P_{\text{selected}} = P \land G
Analyzing-Circuit Admission:A = P_{\text{selected}} \land C_A

III. The Granted Legal Monopoly (Key Claims)

Claim 1 (Independent)Electron beam scanning along a predetermined image-field path

Claim 1 defines the complete combination of an electron beam scanning camera that sweeps across an image field to produce an analog video picture signal, an analyzing circuit that inspects a specific zone of that field, a gating circuit placed in the video signal path, and a synchronized programming device that automatically triggers the gate to pass only the specific portion of the video signal generated while the electron beam is scanning that predetermined inspection zone.

IV. Mechanical Organ Breakdown

Cathode Ray Vidicon Video CameraTerm: “Electron beam scanning apparatus / television camera pickup tube” → CCD / CMOS line-scan and area-scan industrial machine vision camera

An electron-beam scanning apparatus that produces a picture signal while traversing a predetermined image-field path.

Synchronized Video Gating NetworkTerm: “Gating means controlled by variable programming means” → Region of Interest (ROI) hardware windowing & FPGA frame grabber gating

Electronic gating and commutation circuits that isolate specific regions of interest within the video frame.

Analyzing CircuitTerm: “Clipping circuit, differential analyzer, and pulse width measurement means” → Sub-pixel edge detection & 1D/2D dimensional gauging algorithm

A circuit that inspects the picture-signal portion admitted by the synchronized gate.

Control Output PathTerm: “Electromechanical sorting means / solenoid diverter gate” → Pneumatic blow-off nozzle & servo diverter sortation gate

A depicted downstream control relationship, shown only when the scan, gate, picture signal, and analyzing circuit form a complete source-described path.

CLASSIC PATENTS DIGITAL ARCHIVE • PERMANENT EXHIBIT ID: us-3081379-lemelson-machine-vision
classic-patents.com/patents/us-3081379-lemelson-machine-vision
Original USPTO PDF
Classic Patents/US 3,081,379
Information & Digital Age (1950–Present)Machine Vision & Industrial Automation

Lemelson Machine Vision & Automated Video Inspection

US 3,081,379

Electron-Beam Scanning, Synchronized Video Gating, and Signal Analysis

Inventor(s)Jerome H. Lemelson
Grant DateMarch 12, 1963
Filing DateDecember 4, 1956
LocationMetuchen, New Jersey
US 3,081,379 claims an automatic scanning and control apparatus: an electron beam scans a predetermined path in an image field, synchronized programming operates a gate, and an analyzing circuit receives only the selected portion of the resulting picture signal. The reviewed source supports that signal-path architecture, but does not provide a calibration packet for beam speed, pickup responsivity, signal amplitude, or an actuator's force and response.
USPTO PDF
Audio Engineering Breakdown~2 min listen

Listen to the narrated mechanical breakdown and civilizational context

Engineering Analysis & Physical Principles

How It Works: Step-by-Step Mechanical & Physical Breakdown

The issued claim is a signal-selection architecture. An electron beam makes a predetermined scan of an image field; a programming means is synchronized to the picture signal; a gate then passes only the selected segment to an analyzing circuit. The archive also describes reference-picture and comparison arrangements. That is enough to teach why the order of scan, selection, and analysis matters, but it is not enough to reconstruct a particular factory camera, dimensional gauge, comparator threshold, or sorting actuator.
The Core Breakthrough Mechanism

The public instrument treats the claim as a source-bounded logical path: C=S∧G∧A∧IC = S \land G \land A \land I. Here SS is the source-described scan path, GG is the synchronized gate, AA is the analyzing circuit, and II is a picture-signal-present state. CC means only that the depicted control path is available. It is not a voltage, pulse width, physical measurement, reject decision, force, or response-time prediction. A reference branch may show a match or difference as a display state; the reviewed grant does not license a calibrated optical or actuator model.

Interactive Real-Time Physical Simulation

Drag to rotate · Pinch to zoom · Shared controls update the displayed model
INITIALIZING THREE.JS WEBGL SIMULATION...
Source-Bound Video Signal Gating & Analysis.
Host-Model Telemetry/Computed Readout
Source-Bound Video Signal Gating & Analysis
Scan path
Source
ACTIVEclaim topology[1]
Synchronized gate
Source
PASSclaim topology[1]
Analyzing circuit
Source
INSPECTINGclaim topology[1]
Inspection signal
Source
PRESENTclaim topology[1]
Control output
Source
READYsource topology[1]
Quantitative mechanics
Source Refusal
WITHHELDmissing source inputs[1]
Electron-beam scan path1 off/on
Synchronized programming gate1 off/on
Analyzing circuit1 off/on
Picture signal at inspection1 off/on
Reference comparison1 difference/match

Detailed Component Architecture

1Cathode Ray Vidicon Video Camera
An electron-beam scanning apparatus that produces a picture signal while traversing a predetermined image-field path.

Claim 1 requires an electron beam to scan a predetermined path and produce a picture signal. It does not print a particular raster count, frame rate, image-field dimension, electron-beam velocity, pickup material, optical responsivity, or signal-voltage calibration. The exhibit therefore marks the scan path as present or withheld rather than presenting a reconstructed camera measurement.

19th-C. Term: Electron beam scanning apparatus / television camera pickup tubeModern: CCD / CMOS line-scan and area-scan industrial machine vision camera
2Synchronized Video Gating Network
Electronic gating and commutation circuits that isolate specific regions of interest within the video frame.

The claim's programming means operates the gate in predetermined time relation to picture-signal generation. Its legal work is selective passage: the analyzer receives the part of the picture signal made while the beam scans the chosen area. The source does not set a gate width, delay, comparator threshold, or noise margin for a particular apparatus.

19th-C. Term: Gating means controlled by variable programming meansModern: Region of Interest (ROI) hardware windowing & FPGA frame grabber gating
3Analyzing Circuit
A circuit that inspects the picture-signal portion admitted by the synchronized gate.

The apparatus makes the selected signal available to an analyzing circuit. That preserves the claim's causal order, scan→gate→analysis\text{scan} \to \text{gate} \to \text{analysis}, without assigning a threshold voltage, a pulse duration, a dimensional tolerance, or an accuracy result that the reviewed record does not establish.

19th-C. Term: Clipping circuit, differential analyzer, and pulse width measurement meansModern: Sub-pixel edge detection & 1D/2D dimensional gauging algorithm
4Control Output Path
A depicted downstream control relationship, shown only when the scan, gate, picture signal, and analyzing circuit form a complete source-described path.

The drawing set includes sorting and ejection arrangements, but this grant's reviewed public record does not establish coil turns, current, gap, moving mass, force, stroke, or response time for a particular diverter. The visual therefore shows a control-path state, not a solenoid simulation or a pass/fail production claim.

19th-C. Term: Electromechanical sorting means / solenoid diverter gateModern: Pneumatic blow-off nozzle & servo diverter sortation gate
5Reference Signal Waveform Store
A multi-track magnetic drum or disc that stores golden standard reference waveforms for differential comparison.

The specification describes stored reference picture signals and comparison arrangements. The source-backed visual represents only the topological result of that branch, reference match, difference, or withheld; it does not manufacture waveform amplitude, sampling rate, optical sensitivity, or a defect-classification threshold.

19th-C. Term: Magnetic drum storage device and differential playback pickupModern: Golden template matching & normalized cross-correlation (NCC) memory buffer
Engineering Principles & Equations

Governing Equations & Engineering Principles

Authored explanation paired with its stated mathematical relation

Source-Bounded Picture-Signal Path

Source-Bounded Video Signal TopologyClaim 1
Mathematical Governing Law
Terms:
Plain English DecoderHover or tap any highlighted phrase
The illustrated is available only when the , , , and are all represented.
CC
Control-Path State
Normalized display state for the complete Claim 1 signal path
logical state

This is not an electrical output, a reject decision, or an actuator command; it only marks that the source-described path is complete.

Live Physical Value:
READY source topology
Physical Principle & Engineering Insight

This is a normalized topology relation. It makes Claim 1's scan-to-gate-to-analysis order visible while refusing unreviewed beam velocity, optical responsivity, signal amplitude, solenoid force, and actuator-response claims.

Historical Context: Claim 1 makes the selected portion of a picture signal, rather than the whole field, the input to analysis. The public exhibit keeps that legal structure visible without inventing a calibrated industrial apparatus.

Scan-Path Signal GenerationAuthored Principle 1
Stated relationS→PS \rightarrow P
The claim starts with a scan along a predetermined path SS that produces a picture signal PP. This is a relationship of apparatus functions, not a published scan rate or a reconstructed beam trajectory.
Synchronized GatingAuthored Principle 2
Stated relationPselected=P∧GP_{\text{selected}} = P \land G
The synchronized programming and gating means GG selects only the picture-signal portion produced while the chosen image-field area is scanned. No absolute gate width, delay, or voltage is asserted.
Analyzing-Circuit AdmissionAuthored Principle 3
Stated relationA=Pselected∧CAA = P_{\text{selected}} \land C_A
The analyzing circuit is active only when it receives the selected signal and its own circuit path CAC_A is available. The expression describes connection topology, not a comparator transfer curve or a measurement accuracy.
Claim 1 Control-Path ConditionAuthored Principle 4
Stated relationC=S∧G∧A∧IC = S \land G \land A \land I
The public visual lights its control path CC only when scan SS, synchronized gating GG, analysis AA, and picture-signal presence II are all represented. CC is a normalized display state, not an electrical output or actuator command.
Reference Comparison StateAuthored Principle 5
Stated relationR=compare⁡(Ptest,Preference)R = \operatorname{compare}(P_{\text{test}}, P_{\text{reference}})
The specification describes reference-picture comparison. This display uses match, difference, and withheld as qualitative outcomes only; it does not infer optical amplitude, tolerance, defect type, or automated sorting performance.

Interactive Schematic Sheet (Figure 1A)

Overall block diagram showing the scanning camera, synchronization generator, clipping amplifier, gating circuit, and workpiece conveyor belt.

1.00x
US 3,081,379 · FIGURE 1A
Tap any numbered pin2 Curated Callouts
Callout Pin Inspector

Select Any Numbered Pin

Click pins on the schematic or select from the list below to inspect historical specifications.

Why It Still Matters

The record is useful as an early, explicit statement of a still-familiar engineering separation: form a picture signal, select the portion that matters, and send that portion to analysis. Modern image sensors and software use different components. This museum treatment keeps the historical signal-path idea distinct from claims about the performance, lineage, or calibration of any later machine-vision product.

Legal Claims Decoder (1 Numbered Claims)

Compare dense legalistic claims directly with decoded plain-English functional specifications.
Claim #1Independent Master Claim
1/1
Verbatim Historical Legal Text
“1. Automatic scanning and control apparatus comprising in combination with an electron beam scanning apparatus including means for causing an electron beam to scan an area of an image field in a single frame sweep along a predetermined path in said field and to produce a video picture signal of said scanning on an output of said apparatus, an analyzing means for inspecting a predetermined area of said image field by the analysis of that portion of the picture signal generated during the scanning by said electron beam of said predetermined area of said image field, said analyzing means including an analyzing circuit connected to a gating means in the output of a circuit in which said picture signal is generated, a variable programming means for controlling said gating means whereby to prevent the passage of said picture signal to said analyzing circuit, said programming means being synchronized in its operation for automatically operating said gating means in predetermined time relation to the generation of said picture signal whereby to switch in a manner to pass to said analyzing circuit only that portion of said picture signal which is generated during the scanning of said predetermined area of said image field.”
Plain English Engineering Translation
Claim 1 defines the complete combination of an electron beam scanning camera that sweeps across an image field to produce an analog video picture signal, an analyzing circuit that inspects a specific zone of that field, a gating circuit placed in the video signal path, and a synchronized programming device that automatically triggers the gate to pass only the specific portion of the video signal generated while the electron beam is scanning that predetermined inspection zone.
Key Protected Innovations:
Electron beam scanning along a predetermined image-field pathSynchronized electronic gating networks isolating predetermined inspection zonesAnalyzing circuit receiving only the selected picture-signal portionProgramming means synchronized to picture-signal generation
Historical Legal Impact:
Claim 1 was the primary independent claim asserted across decades of high-stakes patent licensing and litigation in the bar-coding and machine vision industries, ultimately culminating in the landmark Federal Circuit case Symbol Technologies v. Lemelson (2004-2005) on the doctrine of patent prosecution laches.

The Historical Bottleneck

Mid-20th century manufacturing lines moved at high speeds, but quality control and dimensional inspection were bottlenecked by human visual fatigue or crude fixed photocells incapable of measuring complex geometry, identifying printed markings, or detecting localized surface flaws.

Why Prior Art Failed

  • •Human inspectors could not reliably inspect hundreds of components per minute and suffered from eye strain and inconsistency.
  • •Fixed photocells and mechanical limit switches could only detect bulk physical presence or gross binary blocking of a single light beam.
  • •Early optical comparators were static benchtop optical projection instruments requiring manual alignment and manual reticle reading.
  • •There was no electronic system capable of converting optical image scenes into real-time waveform voltages for synchronous automated sorting.
The Breakthrough Insight
“The claim makes a particular selection order explicit: a beam scans an image field, synchronized programming operates a gate, and the analyzer receives only the signal made while the predetermined area is scanned. That is a useful architecture to study without treating the grant as a calibration sheet for a camera or an actuator.”

Patent Wars & Legal Litigations

Vs. Symbol Technologies, Cognex Corp., and the Machine Vision / Barcode IndustryInfringement Challenge
Rival Claim & Defense:
Industrial barcode scanners and CCD machine vision systems developed in the 1980s and 1990s were independent solid-state inventions that should not be subject to patent infringement claims stemming from 1954/1956 vacuum-tube television camera disclosures.
Litigation Conflict:
Starting in the late 1980s, Jerome Lemelson and his licensing foundation aggressively asserted his 1954/1956 patent continuation portfolio against hundreds of major automotive, electronics, and semiconductor manufacturers, collecting over $1.5 billion in licensing royalties. Symbol Technologies and Cognex filed a landmark declaratory judgment action in federal court challenging the validity and enforceability of the asserted claims.
Final Resolution & Judicial Outcome:
In Symbol Technologies, Inc. v. Lemelson Medical, Education & Research Foundation (2004–2005), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the doctrine of prosecution laches is a valid equitable defense against patent enforceability when an applicant engages in an unreasonable and unexplained delay in prosecuting patent claims.
After the Grant
Lemelson used his patent licensing royalties to fund major educational and philanthropic initiatives, creating the Lemelson-MIT Program, establishing the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Prize for American inventors, and donating millions to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.
Civilizational Impact
Lemelson's vision of automated optical inspection laid the technical and conceptual foundations for modern machine vision, industrial robotics quality control, automated barcode sortation, and semiconductor wafer metrology across global manufacturing.
Technological Lineage & Descent

Robotic Manipulation & Kinematic Degrees of Freedom

From Nuclear Hot-Cell Teleoperation to Parallel Delta Delta Manipulators

The kinematics and robotics lineage that transformed remote mechanical linkages into programmable magnetic-drum arms, selective-compliance SCARA robots, and high-speed delta mechanisms.

1958Bilateral Force-Reflecting Teleoperation
US 2,846,084

Goertz Force-Reflecting Master–Slave Manipulator

Position-error servomechanisms returning remote contact force feedback to human operator.

1961Programmable Robotic Manipulator
US 2,988,237

Devol Programmed Article-Transfer Controller

Magnetic recording drum storing multi-axis coordinate trajectories for playback.

1963Automated Visual InspectionThis Patent
US 3,081,379

Lemelson Machine Vision & Automated Video Inspection

Video scanning raster signal comparison against reference templates for parts inspection.

1965Continuous Hydraulic Articulation
US 3,212,649

AMF Versatran Programmed Manipulator

Hydraulic servo actuation delivering coordinated multi-axis industrial transfer movements.

19786-DOF Anthropomorphic Arm
US 4,068,536

Stackhouse Intersecting-Axis Robot Wrist

Electrically actuated revolute joints mimicking the human shoulder, elbow, and 3-axis wrist.

1978Remote-Center Passive Compliance
US 4,098,001

Watson Passive Remote-Center Compliance End Effector

Geometric elastic shear pads placing the center of compliance at the tip of the inserted peg.

1982Selective Compliance (SCARA)
US 4,341,502

Makino Four-Link SCARA Assembly Robot

Rigid vertical axis combined with compliant horizontal planar articulation for assembly.

1985Automatic Robotic Tool Changer
US 4,512,709

Milacron Robot Toolchanger: Common Base, Pins, and Wedge Lock

Precision kinematic docking interface transferring pneumatic, electrical, and mechanical tools.

1990High-Speed Parallel Delta Kinematics
US 4,976,582

Clavel Delta Parallel Robot

Three closed-loop parallelograms moving a lightweight traveling plate with high acceleration.

2003Autonomous Mobile Spatial Navigation
US 6,594,844

Optical Cliff and Wall Detection for an Autonomous Cleaning Robot

Dual differential drive wheels and sensor-guided state machine traversing unmapped rooms.