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US 5,667,069 AGranted
Strengthened handles in membranous articles
AssigneeDevon Industries, Inc.
InventorJames P. Williams, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A novel manufacturing technique for strengthening integrally molded handles on a membranous or thin-film article against tearing, by integrally molding the peripheries of the handles and adjacent rim regions of the article in a mold which provides a three-dimensional curvilinear pre-bias against the stress-pattern engendered by lifting of masses carried by the article.
Claims2
A storage device, comprising:
- a storage portion composed of a thin, substantially flexible film and defining a storage area therewithin and an upper edge;
- and
- at least one handle associated with the upper edge, the at least one handle being composed of the thin, substantially flexible film and including a pre-biased area defining a three-dimensional curvilinear shape which reduces any additional tendency to stretch the thin, substantially flexible film during the stress pattern engendered by lifting the storage device with a significant mass stored in the storage portion, the three-dimensional curvilinear shape including a first fixed boundary curve which lies wholly within a flattenable portion of the at least one handle and a second fixed boundary curve which defines the perimeter of a hole in the at least one handle, and wherein the three-dimensional curvilinear shape defines a shape which substantially minimizes the area defined by the first and second fixed boundary curves.
A surgical instrument cradle, comprising:
- a storage portion composed of a thin, substantially flexible film and defining a storage area therewithin, a bottom portion and an upper edge, the bottom portion defining a plurality of porosity elements;
- and
- at least one handle associated with the upper edge, the at least one handle being composed of the thin, substantially flexible film and including a pre-biased area defining a three-dimensional curvilinear shape which includes a first fixed boundary curve which lies wholly within a flattenable portion of the at least one handle and a second fixed boundary curve which defines the perimeter of a hole in the at least one handle, and wherein the three-dimensional curvilinear shape defines a shape which substantially minimizes the area defined by the first and second fixed boundary curves.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.