Device For Detecting and Displaying the Position of Components of Vehicle Couplings

• US 20080150745A1
• Filed: 03/21/2006
• Published: 06/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jost-Werke GmbH
• Original Assignee: Jost-Werke GmbH & Co. KG
• Inventors: Gallego, Jose Manuel Alguera, Schmidt, Dirk, Saupe, Swen, Strutt, Achim
• Granted Patent: US 7,932,816 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/686.1
• CPC Class Codes: B60D 1/28 for preventing unwanted disengagement, e.g. safety appliances
• CPC Class Codes: B60D 1/58 Auxiliary devices
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 53/08 Fifth wheel traction couplings tractors for handling trailers in terminals B62D49/007
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 53/0814 with adjustment of the clearance between the tractor or the trailer devices modifying the load in tractor-trailer combinations B62D53/068
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 53/10 with means for preventing accidental uncoupling

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for detecting and displaying the position of components of vehicle couplings, in particular semi-trailer couplings. A combined sensor and display unit is located in a common housing. The sensor unit comprises at least one sensor and the display unit at least one display element. The device can be mounted on the exterior of a semi-trailer coupling or of a sliding unit of a semi-trailer coupling, adjacent to a manual actuating element of a closing or locking device.

Claims

1. A method of making a fabricated snack chip having an image disposed thereon, comprising:

(a) providing at least one fabricated snack piece;

(b) providing an image source, wherein said image source comprises a plurality of different images;

(c) creating a script, wherein said script comprises a script image selected from said image source;

(d) communicating a script image from the script to an image disposal device, wherein said image disposal device comprises an ink jet printer;

(e) disposing said script image on said fabricated snack piece with said ink jet printer to form an image-disposed fabricated snack piece.

2. The method of claim 2, wherein said fabricated snack piece is an uncooked sheeted dough.

3. A method of making fabricated snack chips having a variety of images disposed thereon, comprising:

(a) providing a stream of fabricated snack pieces, wherein said stream comprises a plurality of fabricated snack pieces;

(b) providing an image source, wherein said image source comprises a plurality of different images;

(c) creating a script, wherein said script comprises a plurality of script images selected from said image source, and wherein said script images are arranged in a pre-determined order in the script;

(d) communicating the script images in a pre-determined order from the script to an image disposal device, wherein said image disposal device comprises an ink jet printer;

(e) disposing script images on the fabricated snack pieces with the ink jet printer to form image-disposed fabricated snack pieces.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein each said fabricated snack piece is an uncooked sheeted dough.

5. A method of making edible substrates having a variety of images disposed thereon, comprising:

(a) providing a stream of edible substrates, wherein said stream comprises a plurality of edible substrates;

(b) providing an image source, wherein said image source comprises a plurality of different images;

(c) creating a script, wherein said script comprises a plurality of script images selected from said image source, and wherein said script images are arranged in a pre-determined order in the script;

(d) communicating a plurality of script images in a pre-determined order from the script to an image disposal device;

(e) disposing a plurality of script images on a plurality of edible substrates to form a plurality of image-disposed edible substrates, wherein said image-disposed edible substrates have a level of pattern change of from 2% to 100%.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the script images are arranged in a predetermined order in the script by an algorithm that assigns at least one image from said image source to a first position and to a second position in the script, and wherein the first position of said at least one image has a pattern change with respect to the second position.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said algorithm assigns images from said image source to positions in said script at random.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein said image disposal device comprises an ink jet printer.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein said edible substrates are sheeted snack dough.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein said edible substrates are fabricated snacks.

11. A method of creating a modified script, wherein said method comprises:

(a) providing a stream of edible substrates, wherein said stream comprises a plurality of edible substrates;

(b) providing an image source, wherein said image source comprises a plurality of different images;

(c) creating a script, wherein said script comprises a script image selected from said image source;

(d) communicating a script image from the script to an image disposal device;

(e) disposing said script image on a first edible substrate to form a first image-disposed edible substrate;

(f) detecting an image on said first image-disposed edible substrate;

(g) evaluating said detected image and providing feedback to modify said script of images, as a function of the evaluation of said detected image, to create a modified script;

(h) communicating a second script image from said modified script to an image disposal device;

(i) disposing said second script image on a second edible substrate with said image disposal device to form a second image-disposed edible substrate

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said first image and said second image comprise a question and an answer, or comprise different parts of the same story.

13. An article of commerce comprising:

(a) a container;

(b) a plurality of image-disposed edible substrates wherein each said image-disposed edible substrate has an image different from every other said image on each said image-disposed edible substrate contained within said container, wherein the number of different images disposed upon each said image-disposed edible substrate is equal to the number of image-disposed edible substrates contained in said container.

14. An article of commerce comprising:

(a) a container,

(b) a plurality of image-disposed edible substrates contained within said container, wherein the number of different images disposed upon said image-disposed edible substrates is ≧

10.

15. The article of claim 14, wherein at least one image is multicolored.

16. The article of claim 14, wherein at least one image has a resolution ranging from about 90 to about 1200 dpi.

17. An article of commerce comprising:

(a) a container;

(b) a plurality of image-disposed edible substrates contained within said container;

(c) a message associated with the container, wherein said message communicates to the consumer that all of the image-disposed edible substrates contained within said container have a different image disposed thereon.

18. The article of claim 17, wherein the number of different images disposed upon said image-disposed edible substrates is ≧

10.

19. An article of commerce comprising

(a) a container;

(b) a plurality of image-disposed edible substrates wherein each said image-disposed edible substrate has an image different from every other said image on each said image-disposed edible substrate contained within said container, wherein the number of different images disposed upon said image-disposed edible substrates is equal to the number of edible substrates in one serving size of said edible substrates.

20. The article of claim 19, wherein said edible substrates are fabricated snack chips.