Invention List - Fred Charles Thomas III

List of Fred Thomas' patent inventions. 100+ inventions and 180+ patents. 9x different companies as assignees (HP / Hewlett-Packard / Britta Technologies / Iomega / EMC / Dell / 3M / Cole National / Texas Instruments). 19 different coutries with issued patents 19 (United States of America / Benelux / Canada / EPC / France / Germany / Japan / Malaysia / PCT / Singapore / Taiwan / UK / China / Australia / Philippines / WO / Brazil / India / Korea).
About Fred C Thomas III

Fred Charles Thomas III - Engineer and Inventor
Fred Thomas received a BS in Mechanical Engineering with a Minor in Physics from Bucknell University in 1982. In 1990 he received a MS in Mechanical Engineering specializing in Control Systems and Non-linear Dynamics.

His awards include the International Design Excellence Award in 2009, Industrial Forum Product Design Award in 2008, "Nano50 Award" for "Subwavelength Optical Data Storage" in 2005, Lemelson-MIT "Inventor of the Week" Award in 2004, Iomega "Exceptional Invention Award" in 1999, and Laser Focus World "Electro-Optic Application of the Year Award" in 1994.
Patents HP Iomega Inventions Fred Charles Thomas III Unit STATE Iomega EMC Dell America Iomega EMC America Issue DATA STORAGE America Hewlett Packard cartridge System DATA STORAGE cartridge DEVICE Unit STATE Media Unit STATE System Unit STATE disk drive Cooperation Treaty HP Patent Cooperation Treaty DEVICE America HP Method Patent STORAGE cartridge Unit
About Fred C Thomas III

Fred Charles Thomas III - Engineer and Inventor
Inventor: 
Fred Charles Thomas III 
Last Update: 
23-Jan-21 
Total Patents Pending w USPTO: 
16 
Total Issued US Patents: 
86 
Total Published Inventions USPTO: 
19 
Total Issued Patents Worldwide: 
180 
Countries Patents Issued In: 
19 (United States of America / Benelux / Canada / EPC / France / 
Germany / Japan / Malaysia / PCT / Singapore / Taiwan / UK / China / 
Australia / Philippines / WO / Brazil / India / Korea) 
Companies Patents / Inventions 
Assigned to:  
9 (HP / Hewlett-Packard / Britta Technologies / Iomega / EMC / Dell / 
3M / Cole National / Texas Instruments) 
 
Seq. # 
Status 
 Patent 
Number w 
link 
Date          
(Issue or Filing 
as appropriate 
relative to 
status) 
Title 
Country/s 
Corporate 
Assignee 
Footn
ote/s 
(Inven
tors 
backgr
ound 
note/s
) 
1 
Pending 
  
30-Oct-20 
DIGITISING DRAWINGS 
Patent 
Cooperation 
Treaty 
HP 
  
2 
Pending 
  
29-Oct-20 
CAPACITIVE SENSING 
Patent 
Cooperation 
Treaty 
HP 
  
3 
Pending 
  
30-Sep-20 
SPEECH AND AUDIO DEVICES 
United States 
of America 
HP 
  
4 
Pending 
  
25-Sep-20 
ELECTRONIC DEVICES WITH TOUCH SENSORS HAVING 
OVERLAID PROJECTED-CAPACITIVE LAYERS 
Patent 
Cooperation 
Treaty 
HP 
  
5 
Pending 
  
28-Aug-20 
TRANSLATE A HAND GESTURE TO AN ACTION 
Patent 
Cooperation 
Treaty 
HP 
  
6 
Pending 
  
26-Aug-20 
TOUCH PEN SENSOR 
Patent 
Cooperation 
Treaty 
HP 
  
7 
Allowed 
  
20-Aug-20 
DETERMINING LOCATIONS OF ELECTRO-OPTICAL PENS 
United States 
of America 
HP 
  
8 
Issued 
10,699,550 
 
 
30-Jun-20 
STYLI 
United States 
of America / 
China / 
European  
HP 
  
9 
Pending 
  
30-Apr-20 
DIGITAL PEN SENSOR SURFACE 
Patent 
Cooperation 
Treaty 
HP 
  
10 
Pending 
  
30-Apr-20 
TOUCH/PEN SENSOR SURFACES 
Patent 
Cooperation 
Treaty 
HP 
  
11 
Pending 
  
30-Apr-20 
TOUCH/PEN SENSORS WITH PEDOT FILMS 
Patent 
Cooperation 
Treaty 
HP 
  
12 
Issued 
10,620,716 
14-Apr-20 
VISIBLY OPAQUE AND NEAR INFRARED TRANSPARENT 
DISPLAY BORDER WITH UNDERLYING ENCODED PATTERN 
United States 
of America / 
China / 
European  
HP 
  
13 
Issued 
10,558,299 
11-Feb-20 
CALIBRATION OF AN INPUT DEVICE TO A DISPLAY USING 
THE INPUT DEVICE 
United States 
of America 
Taiwan / China 
/ European 
HP 
  
14 
Issued 
10,459,574 
29-Oct-19 
DISPLAY INCLUDING HOT MIRROR 
United States 
of America / 
China / 
European  
HP 
  
15 
Issued 
10,429,950 
 
 
1-Oct-19 
A DIFFUSIVE EMISSIVE DISPLAY 
United States 
of America / 
France / 
Taiwan /China 
/ Germany / 
UK 
HP 
  
16 
Issued 
10,353,488 
16-Jul-19 
POSITIONAL INPUT ON DISPLAYS 
United States 
of America 
/France / 
Germany /UK 
/China / 
Taiwan 
HP 
  
17 
Published 
  
21-Mar-19 
SCALING AND RENDERING VIRTUAL HAND 
Patent 
Cooperation 
Treaty 
HP 
  
18 
Pending 
  
25-Feb-19 
ENERGY STORAGE AND ALTERNATING CURRENT POWER 
COMBINERS 
United States 
of America / 
PCT  
HP 
  
19 
Issued 
10,191,593 
29-Jan-19 
POSITIONAL INPUT SYSTEMS AND METHODS 
United States 
of America / 
Germany  
HP 
  
20 
Issued 
10,088,917 
2-Oct-18 
DETECTOR FOR A DISPLAY 
United States 
of America / 
China / Taiwan 
/ UK 
HP 
  
21 
Issued 
10,048,779 
14-Aug-18 
VIRTUAL HAND BASED ON COMBINED DATA 
United States 
of America / 
UK / China / 
Taiwan 
HP 
  
22 
Pending 
  
13-Apr-18 
SURFACES WITH INFORMATION MARKS 
United States 
of America / 
China / 
European  
HP 
  
23 
Pending 
  
26-Jan-18 
SCRIBING SHAFT SENSORS 
United States 
of America / 
China 
HP 
  
24 
Pending 
  
24-Jan-18 
SURFACES WITH EMBEDDED INFORMATION 
United States 
of America 
HP 
  
25 
Issued 
9,858,086 
2-Jan-18 
LOAD BOOT DATA 
United States 
of America / 
KR /Japan / 
India / 
European / 
China / Brazil / 
Taiwan 
HP 
  
26 
Pending 
  
13-Jul-17 
ELECTRONIC INPUT DEVICES WITH RADIAL FORCE SENSOR 
ARRAY 
United States 
of America 
HP 
  
27 
Issued 
9,697,115 
4-Jul-17 
SEGMENTED CACHES 
United States 
of America / 
2X Taiwan / 
Brazil / India / 
HP 
  
KR /UK / 
28 
Issued 
9,626,124 
18-Apr-17 
Direct-attached/network-attached Storage Device 
United States 
of America / 
Germany / 
India  
HP 
  
29 
Issued 
9,542,116 
10-Jan-17 
Direct Attached Storage System And Method For 
Implementing Multiple Simultaneous Storage Schemes 
United States 
of America / 
India 
HP 
  
30 
Pending 
2018/19997
2 Al 
1-Nov-18 
INK WITH A REFLECTIVE HOT MIRROR STACK PIGMENT 
PCT 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
31 
Pending 
2018/19997
0 Al 
1-Nov-18 
INKS WITH A LIGHT SCATTERING METALLIC PIGMENT 
PCT 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
32 
Issued 
9,225,541 
29-Dec-15 
Media shadow files and system 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
33 
Issued 
9,223,166 
29-Dec-15 
POSITIONAL INPUT SYSTEMS AND METHODS 
United States 
of America 
/Taiwan / 
China / Japan 
HP 
  
34 
Issued 
8,964,018 
24-Feb-15 
Video display systems 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
35 
Issued 
8,888,524 
18-Nov-14 
MODULAR POWER ADAPTER ASSEMBLY 
United States 
of America 
HP 
  
36 
Issued 
2,783,290 
1-Oct-14 
AN AMOUNT OF MEMORY FOR EXECUTION OF AN 
APPLICATION 
EU 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
37 
Issued 
8,762,637 
24-Jun-14 
DATA STORAGE APPARATUS WITH A HDD AND A 
REMOVABLE SOLID STATE DEVICE 
United States 
of America 
HP 
  
38 
Published 
2014/05162
8 
3-Apr-14 
TRANSITION TO AN INTERMEDIATE POWER STATE 
PCT 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
39 
Issued 
8,578,091 
5-Nov-13 
Providing Data Redundancy Using An Internal Mass Storage 
Device And An External Mass Storage Device 
United States 
of America 
HP 
  
40 
Issued 
8,555,372 
8-Oct-13 
Automatic Firewall Configuration 
United States 
of America 
HP 
  
41 
Issued 
8,527,692 
3-Sep-13 
DATA STORAGE APPARATUS WITH A HDD AND A 
REMOVABLE SOLID STATE DEVICE 
United States 
of America 
HP 
  
42 
Issued 
8,402,284 
19-Mar-13 
Symbiotic Storage Devices 
United States 
of America / 
Brazil / UK 
/India 
HP 
  
43 
Issued 
8,386,689 
26-Feb-13 
INTERFACE ADAPTER SYSTEMS AND METHODS 
United States 
of America 
HP 
  
44 
Issued 
166,109 
6-Dec-12 
WAKING AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE 
EU 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
45 
Published 
  
28-Sep-12 
TRANSITION TO AN INTERMEDIATE POWER STATE 
Germany 
HP 
  
46 
Publicatio
n 
124,168 
17-May-12 
Server migration method 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
47 
Issued 
8,132,198 
6-Mar-12 
POINT-OF-SALE ENABLEMENT OF OPTICAL STORAGE MEDIA United States 
of America 
HP 
  
48 
Issued 
8,113,434 
14-Feb-12 
Passive electro-optical identification tags 
United States 
of America 
Britta 
Technologies 
  
49 
Publicatio
n 
19,646 
26-Jan-12 
Video display systems 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
50 
Issued 
8,085,948 
27-Dec-11 
NOISE REDUCTION IN A SYSTEM 
United States 
of America 
HP 
  
51 
Issued 
8,005,993 
23-Aug-11 
A System And Method Of A Storage Expansion Unit For A 
Network Attached Storage Device 
United States 
of America / 
Taiwan /Brazil 
/ China /UK / 
India 
HP 
  
52 
Issued 
2,340,491 
6-Jul-11 
DIRECT-ATTACHED/NETWORK-ATTACHED STORAGE DEVICE EU 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
53 
Published 
125,965 
26-May-11 
Direct Attached Storage System And Method For 
Implementing Multiple Simultaneous Storage Schemes 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
54 
Issued 
7,874,490 
25-Jan-11 
Active electro-optical identification 
United States 
of America 
Britta 
Technologies 
  
55 
Issued 
7,865,710 
4-Jan-11 
Software recovery without the use of a keyboard, mouse, 
trackball or computer monitor 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
56 
Publicatio
n 
318,737 
16-Dec-10 
Providing data redundancy using an internal mass storage 
device and an external mass storage device 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
57 
Issued 
7,797,396 
14-Sep-10 
Network attached storage (NAS) server having a plurality of 
automated media portals 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
58 
Issued 
7,734,959 
8-Jun-10 
Operating system recovery across a network 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
59 
Publicatio
n 
20,110,173,8
05 
1-Jun-10 
Hard-disk drive insertion 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
60 
Issued 
D615968 
18-May-10 
Electronic enclosure 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
61 
Publicatio
n 
201,019,146 
16-May-10 
Media shadow files and system 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
62 
Issued 
7,697,391 
13-Apr-10 
Massively multi-level optical data storage using 
subwavelength sized nano-grating structures 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
63 
Published 
20,120,081,5
47 
5-Apr-10 
Conducting surveillance using a digital picture frame 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett -
Packard 
  
64 
Issued 
7,639,492 
29-Dec-09 
Drive Carrier For Computer Systems 
United States 
of America / 
Taiwan / China 
HP 
  
65 
Publicatio
n 
20,090,273,8
44 
5-Nov-09 
Privacy Filter With Rounded Optically Opaque Regions 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
66 
Issued 
7,505,263 
17-Mar-09 
Storage device protection system 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
67 
Issued 
D579013 
21-Oct-08 
COMPUTER HAVING A DOOR 
United States 
of America 
HP 
  
68 
Publicatio
n 
20,080,256,3
86 
16-Oct-08 
Raid configuration indication in network attached storage 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
69 
Issued 
D577,719 
30-Sep-08 
Computer having a door 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
70 
Publicatio
n 
2008017790
7 
24-Jul-08 
METHOD AND SYSTEM OF A PERIPHERAL PORT OF A 
SERVER SYSTEM 
United States 
of America 
Hewlett-
Packard 
  
71 
Issued 
7,123,446 
17-Oct-06 
Removable cartridge recording device incorporating 
antiferromagnetically coupled rigid magnetic media 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
72 
Issued 
6,947,254 
20-Sep-05 
Interchangeable cartridge data storage system for devices 
performing diverse functions 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
73 
Issued 
6,879,556 
12-Apr-05 
Method and apparatus for optical data storage 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
74 
Issued 
6,785,091 
31-Aug-04 
Interchangeable cartridge data storage system for devices 
performing diverse functions 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
75 
Issued 
150,915 
5-Aug-04 
Air bearing surface for a head, and a method of making it 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
76 
Publicatio
n 
2004009070
6 
13-May-04 
Method and apparatus for using vibration to clean a 
read/write head 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
77 
Issued 
6,587,297 
1-Jul-03 
System and Method for Detecting the Presence of a Data-
Storage Cartridge Using Phase-Rotated Polarized Light 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
78 
Issued 
6,587,304 
1-Jul-03 
Interchangeable cartridge data storage system for devices 
performing diverse functions 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
79 
Issued 
44,901 
27-May-03 
Method and apparatus for using vibration to clean a 
read/write head 
EU 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
80 
Publicatio
n 
2003005326
2 
20-Mar-03 
Low-friction wear-resistant guide track for an actuator in a 
disk drive 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
81 
Issued 
1,292,949 
19-Mar-03 
Method and apparatus for storing data in a removable 
cartridge 
EU 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
82 
Published 
10/359,500 
5-Feb-03 
Blended ABS Edges and Steps on Thin Film Magnetic Heads 
and Method of Fabrication 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
83 
Published 
2002015701
1 
24-Oct-02 
Method and apparatus for secure transmission of identifier 
for removable storage media 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
84 
Issued 
6,445,667 
3-Sep-02 
Optical Servo Writing 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
85 
Issued 
6,445,523 
3-Sep-02 
Readable Indelible Mark on Storage Media 
United States 
of America / 
Benelux / 
Canada / EPC / 
France / 
Germany / 
Japan / 
Malaysia / PCT 
/ Singapore / 
Taiwan / UK  
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
3, 8 
86 
Published 
20,020,112,1
61 
15-Aug-02 
Method and system for software authentication in a 
computer system 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
87 
Issued 
6,424,492 
23-Jul-02 
Frequency Based Cartridge Detection System 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
88 
Issued 
6,360,466 
26-Mar-02 
Data Storage Cartridge with Multiple Labels 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
89 
Issued 
6,359,745 
19-Mar-02 
Latent Illuminance Discrimination Marker System for Data 
Storage Cartridges 
United States 
of America / 
Australia / EPC 
/ France / 
Germany / 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
3, 8 
Japan / Taiwan 
/ UK 
90 
Issued 
6,359,745 
19-Mar-02 
Latent illuminance discrimination marker for data storage 
cartridges 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
91 
Published 
10/076,016 
12-Feb-02 
Method and Apparatus for Optical Data Storage 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
92 
Issued 
1,324,485 
28-Nov-01 
Latent irradiance discrimination method and marker 
system for cartridgeless data storage disks 
United States 
of America / 
EU 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
93 
Issued 
6,324,026 
27-Nov-01 
Disk Indelible Utility Mark 
United States 
of America / 
Canada / EPC / 
Japan / PCT 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
94 
Issued 
6,324,026 
27-Nov-01 
Readable indelible mark on storage media 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
95 
Issued 
6,317,292 
13-Nov-01 
PTFE Fiber Based Liner for Flexible High Density Magnetic 
Media 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
96 
Published 
20,010,038,5
12 
8-Nov-01 
Data cartridge marker for foreign object detection 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
97 
Issued 
6,297,924 
2-Oct-01 
System and Method for Cartridge Detection and 
Verification Using Signal Comparision (Phosphor/Retro-
Reflective Detection Using Signal Subtraction)  
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
98 
Issued 
457,435 
1-Oct-01 
Digital appliance data download device for data storage 
Taiwan   
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
99 
Issued 
256,448 
21-Sep-01 
Rf id tagging for improved tracking in maintenance 
environment 
Japan 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
100 
Issued 
6,292,319 
18-Sep-01 
Thin Retroreflective Marker for Identifying an Object 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
3, 9 
101 
Issued 
6,282,060 
28-Aug-01 
Data Cartridge Marker for Foreign Object Detection 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
102 
Issued 
6,264,107 
24-Jul-01 
Latent Illuminance Discrimination Marker System for 
Authenticating Articles 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
103 
Issued 
6,266,211 
24-Jul-01 
Latent illuminance discrimination marker for data storage 
cartridges 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
104 
Issued 
6,259,575 
10-Jul-01 
Readable Indelible Mark on Storage Media 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
3, 8 
105 
Published 
09/839,515 
20-Apr-01 
Method And Apparatus For Secure Transmission Of 
Identifier For Removable Storage Media  
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
106 
Issued 
120,629 
8-Feb-01 
Disk Drive for Detecting a Retroreflective Marker on a Data 
Storage Cartridge 
Taiwan / 
Philippines / 
Malaysia 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
107 
Issued 
6,181,662 
30-Jan-01 
Latent irradiance discrimination method and marker 
system for cartridgeless data storage disks 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
108 
Issued 
6,097,562 
1-Aug-00 
Disk drive for detecting a retroreflective marker on a data 
storage cartridge 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
109 
Issued 
6,091,563 
18-Jul-00 
Latent Illuminance Discrimination Marker System for Data 
Storage Cartridges 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
110 
Issued 
6,067,214 
23-May-00 
Data Cartridge Marker for Foreign Object Detection 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
111 
Issued 
6,282,060 
21-Feb-00 
DATA CARTRIDGE MARKER FOR FOREIGN OBJECT 
DETECTION 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
112 
Issued 
5,986,838 
16-Nov-99 
Thin Retroreflective Marker for Data Storage Cartridge 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
3, 9 
113 
Issued 
5,943,185 
24-Aug-99 
Data Storage Drive and Cartridge Having Alignment 
Openings for Cartridge Mounting and Ejection 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
3 
114 
Issued 
5,943,185 
24-Nov-98 
Caddy for Cartridge and Disk Drive Accommodating Caddy 
(Interchangeable Cartridge Data Storage System for Devices 
Performing Diverse Functions) 
United States 
of America / 
Taiwan / EPC / 
Japan 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
3, 7 
115 
Issued 
5,841,605 
24-Nov-98 
Caddy for cartridge and disk drive accomodating a caddy 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
116 
Issued 
5,831,795 
3-Nov-98 
Head Loading Mechanism for a Disk Drive 
United States 
of America / 
Singapore /  
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
117 
Issued 
5,809,520 
15-Sep-98 
Interchangeable Cartridge Data Storage System for Devices United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
6 
118 
Issued 
D 389,470 
20-Jan-98 
Disk Cartridge and/or Drive 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
119 
Issued 
5,638,228 
10-Jun-97 
Retroreflective Marker for Data Storage Cartridge 
United States 
of America / 
Germany / 
Philippines 
Iomega > EMC 
> Dell 
  
120 
Issued 
5,419,733 
30-May-95 
Method of and Apparatus for Removing Debris from the 
Floptical Medium 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > 3M 
1 
121 
Issued 
5,334,849 
2-Aug-94 
Apparatus for and method of verifying etching of optical 
servo information on magnetic media 
United States 
of America / 
WO / Japan / 
EP / Germany 
Iomega > 3M 
  
122 
Issued 
5,322,987 
21-Jun-94 
Pneumatic Hub Locking Device for Etching Optical Servo 
Tracks on Magnetic Disks 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > 3M 
1 
123 
Issued 
5,283,773 
1-Feb-94 
Steering Laser Beam While Etching Optical Servo Tracks for 
Magnetic Disks 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > 3M 
1 
124 
 
 
Issued 
5,279,775 
18-Jan-94 
Acousto-Optical Intensity Control of Laser Beam During 
Etching of Optical Servo Information of Magnetic Media 
United States 
of America 
Iomega > 3M 
1 
 
Invention title footnotes: 
1. These five patents were the basis for the laser servo writing process for the first (prior to Zip) super floppy disk drive 
and media. The product was call the “21 MB Floptical.” Iomega sold these patents and technology to 3M/Imation prior to 
coming out with the Zip Drive. These same inventions were used to manufacture the Imation LS-120 120MB SuperDisk The 
LightSaber, which was the name for the laser servo writer, won the 1994 Electro-Optic Application of the Year Award from 
Laser Focus World Magazine. The following attached PDF files have published articles that describe these inventions and the 
technology. 
• LaserFocusWorld 1994 
• LightSaber SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2062 Article 
• Iomega Article – LFW Award 
• Floptical Technology Primer 
2. For this patent I obtained Iomega’s “Exceptional Invention Award”. Only two inventions have received this award 
during Iomega’s 28 years in business. This invention has utility and hence is patented, but due to its unique optical properties, 
it is hard to substitute for on the cartridge. In this manner it has also prevented others from replicating the razor blades of our 
business the highly successful Zip and Jaz disk cartridges. There are over 400 million units of this invention in worldwide 
circulation. 
3. All these inventions fall into the Penny Tag category. These electro-optically based cartridge identification and 
authentications systems, are the focus of the “Research Feature” article in the August 2003 edition of IEEE Computer 
Magazine. Its file name is: 
• IEEE Computer Research Feature Article, Aug.-2003. 
4. These two patents have broad authentication and identification potential in a variety of applications since their 
claims cover this use on any article. Potential applications are for pharmaceuticals, aerospace parts, nuclear facility fasteners, 
currency, and other financial instruments. The latent irradiance patents uniquely cover the use of the decay time signature of 
the marker materials, which is significantly less costly to implement than previously used spectral signature verification. Each 
of Iomega’s 10s of millions of disk drives have a cartridge authentication system built in for less than $1.00. 
• Zip Security White Paper - Final 
5. Patents covering and capturing the entire market place for device interchangeable small form factor removable disk 
drives. The original product was the 40 MB Clik! drive. These inventions most recent incarnation have been announced to the 
marketplace as the 1.5 GB “Digital Capture Technology.” The following is a catalogue clipping of the original Clik! drive. 
• Pocket Zip Image 
 
6. An elastomeric actuated head loading ramp for the Jaz disk drive. Allows retraction of ramp from media and 
prevents disk and head damage during random power off sequences where head unload is not under servo control. 
 
7. A system for having a larger form factor removable cartridge disk drive work with a miniature from factor cartridge 
via a caddy system for the miniature cartridge. This caddy will fit in the large form factor drive. 
 
8. Indelible mark inventions use a laser (excimer) to mark microscopic bar codes on removable magnetic and optical 
media. These marks can be read by the drive read/write head at no addition drive cost. 
 
9. Thin retroreflective inventions use a micro retroreflective array in combination with a transmission hologram to 
produce structured light patterns upon reflection from a light source (LED). 
 
10. This invention is for the use of Teflon fibers in the liner material of flexible disks. High capacity floppies like Zip 
(750 MB) rotate at rates an order of magnitude greater than the original floppy (1.44 MB), hence the use of Teflon fibers 
wipes dust/debris from the disk while not wearing away the magnetic recording layer. 
11. This was a fun and simple one. It is a label for removable data storage cartridge, which is similar to a stack of post-
it notes. 
 
12. This is a near-field optical data storage patent. It covers the use of over-amorphised (non-reversible) phase change 
media marks as data track servo field marks. 
 13. Invention covers using public/private key encryption methods to provide a secure media serial number wrapper 
for communication between host computer and removable disk drive. This talk, I presented at the 2002 RSA conference, 
covers these concepts for removable data storage. 
• RSA Presentation – Fred Thomas, Iomega, 2-21-02 
14. This invention, whose notice of issuance was just received from the PTO, is a very exciting one for me. It covers the 
use of reflective nano-structures (structures smaller than the wavelength of light) to encode data in a massively multi-level 
format. Structures such as micro-mirror facets and nano- gratings are covered by the patent. Essentially, by using these 
structures, it is possible to encode data, with 1000’s if not million of levels, in the same area as a binary (2 level) DVD bit is 
now stored. This invention, of any of my inventions, I would consider the most Lemelson-like in that it is presently a few years 
ahead of its time. These two files contain peer-reviewed technical papers on this topic, which were presented at both the 
2002 and 2003 OSA ODS Topical Meeting on Optical Data Storage. 
 
• OSA ODS Paper 2003 – Fred Thomas – Final  
• AO-DVD Short Paper – Fred Thomas – distribution 
 
 
15. This invention uses gray-scale lithography techniques to blend the edges of thin film magnetic heads. A MEMS 
technology implemented for disk drive head fabrication.