As one of the world’s top innovative companies, patent milestones honor inventors and serve as a reminder of how important new ideas are to an organization’s future. Xerox researchers worldwide are some of the most prolific inventors in the world – generating more than 1,000 U.S. patents each year.
Recent patent milestones show how the company is unleashing its innovative strengths in new industries and fueling new services. Invention highlights include remotely sensing human nervousness and enabling flexible electronics with new materials.
- Xerox Research Centre Canada’s 2,000th patent relates to “miracle material” and the Internet of Everything
The Xerox Research Centre Canada (XRCC), founded in 1974, was issued its 2000th patent for an invention dubbed “Graphene Nano-Sheets and Methods for Making the Same” (U.S. Patent 8,734,683). Two hundred times stronger than steel, graphene is a thin, flexible conductor that could form the basis of a whole range of next generation devices such as ultrafast transistors that will dramatically increase the processing speed of a personal computer, smartphone or tablet.
Hailed as the “miracle material” in the world of electronics and photonics, Xerox scientists are exploring materials such as graphene for use in digital manufacturing to make smart 3D structures that support the Internet of Everything.
XRCC researchers Yiliang Wu and Sandra Gardner were the inventors named on the patent. Wu, a principal scientist, leads the center’s printable electronics activities. He was one of the first recipients of the Xerox Anne Mulcahy Inventor Award, an honor given to Xerox inventors whose patents open up new growth opportunities for the company. Gardner, a research technologist, specializes in materials characterization, an area that uses various techniques to probe into the internal structure and properties of a material.
- Researcher at Xerox Research Centre India (XRCI) recently named on a U.S. patent related to remote sensing.
Xerox is exploring methods and software that use data collected by cameras to remotely detect vital signs and other physiological reactions. This patent (US. Patent 8,712,126) covers real-world services that could be built around human “remote sensing” such as a web service that can detect the level of nervousness a person experiences when speaking, and help the speaker improve his or her performance. Established in 2009, located in Bangalore, India, the Xerox Research Centre India is the newest research center at Xerox. This joint patent is the first issued to an XRCI researcher and points to Xerox’s focus on emerging markets, and its ability to conduct research globally.
The patent is a joint effort between Nischal Piratla from XRCI; and Lalit K. Mestha and Meera Sampath in Webster, N.Y.
- Six inventors reached significant patent milestones since January 2014:
- 300th patent: Jin Wu, a senior research scientist and project leader in the Xerox Consumables Development and Manufacturing Group, has received over 331 patents for helping design, develop and integrate new materials, coatings and processes for the next generation printing methodologies. His 300th patent (U.S. Patent 8,568,887) is for a new “topcoat” for a fuser in a printer, which will allow better release of printed materials after toner is fixed to the paper by the fuser. He credits his patent successes to solving real-world problems, trying new things and paying attention to scientific advances in his field.
- 200th patent: Guerino Sacripante, research fellow at the Xerox Research Centre of Canada, recently reached this milestone (U.S Patent 8,741,043) with the invention of a new bio-renewable ink derived from plants and recycled plastics. Currently with 204 patents, Sacripante conducts research that will deliver a new generation of environmentally sustainable toners and inks.
- 175th patent: Lalit K Mestha, research fellow in Webster, N.Y., reached this milestone with a patent (U.S. Patent 8,715,202) for a non-contact video-based method to conduct human breath analysis including detecting breath rate and carbon dioxide concentration simultaneously. This has remote healthcare sensing applications including helping to diagnose specific breathing conditions such as hyperventilation or hypoventilation, sleep apnea and asthma.
- 150th patent: Yiliang Wu, principal scientist at Xerox Research Centre of Canada, exceeded his 150th patent in January. He now has 161 patents for his work developing new materials and printing processes that enable electronic devices to be made as easily as printing a document. His 150th patent (US Patent 8,635,761) describes a method for printing an electrical conductor.
- Two scientists have received their 75th patent:
- Stuart Schweid, technical specialist, image and video processing, received his 75th patent (U.S. Patent 8,712,925) for a method to more accurately and efficiently track colored inks in high-speed printing.
- Xing Li, principal imaging system architect, has 76 patents. His 75th patent (U.S. Patent 8,751,411) was for a system to determine multi- tiered billing structure for color printing