Invalidity dossier
US 3463103
Added 9/23/2026, 5:55:20 PM
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Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview — US 3,463,103
Title: Inactive position centering mechanism for sewing machines. Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US3463103/en
Bibliographic data (per supplied text): Patent number US3463103A; application number US640990A; inventor George B Saray; original and current assignee Ivanhoe Research Corp; filing date 1967-05-24; priority date 1967-05-24 (noted as an assumption, not a legal conclusion); publication/grant date 1969-08-26; anticipated expiration 1986-08-26; status "Expired – Lifetime." Classifications: D05B69/00 and D05B69/22 (devices for stopping drive when sewing tools reach a predetermined position).
Purpose: A control device for sewing machines so the machine "will always stop operation and become latched only at a known inactive position, shown here as the upper limit of the needle stroke, i.e., its top dead center position." It causes the needle to stop when removed from the workpiece and remain locked there until the machine is restarted.
Plain-language scope: An auxiliary (second) motor drives the needle after the primary motor stops, until the main shaft reaches a predetermined angular position. The second motor is controlled by a cam and cam follower and is disengaged during normal sewing. A cam on the main shaft has a decreasing-radius surface ending in a notch with an adjacent shoulder; a spring-pressed latch on the follower engages the notch to lock the mechanism engaged. Gears (16 on the shaft; 25, 26, 27 on a pivoted gear arm) couple or uncouple the auxiliary motor, actuated by a pneumatic cylinder/plunger controlled via a solenoid valve. A link and spring interrelate the gear arm and follower. A switch actuator and normally-closed microswitch, plus a time-delay and electric clutch, appear in the FIG. 5 circuit. The device "may be added to existing sewing machines or incorporated into the structure of the machine when built."
What the excerpt does not establish: It does not provide the full specification, all claims, the complete FIG. 5 description, drawing reference details, or any examination history. The legal status shown is expressly an assumption, not a legal conclusion.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:43:09 PM
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PTAB challenges
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Assignment history
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Prior art
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
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