Ah, I see further down in the digest someone has provided some patent numbers.
I go to www.uspto.gov It takes a little while to figure out how to use the website. There is a download link there for a plug-in called alterna-tiff, which will allow .tiff files to be displayable in a browser. It will also allow you to save them to disk as individual pages. Patents run anywhere from 30-130 kB (approximately) per page, so long ones are tedious to download, but if you want to look before deciding to order them, it's great. I have patiently downloaded everything I want a page at a time and print them out on a laser printer. I haven't paid for any yet. You may need help from the reference librarian at a patent repository (like OSU, or whatever site handles it locally in your area). They can help you find patent numbers associated with the "class numbers" that relate to the item. If you look at one patent, right after the description, there is a class number. This is something to keep track of too if you want to find related things. The patent librarian I spoke with gave me a weird example - he said that electric shavers fall under some same classes as 'harvesting' equipment. This is what takes so %^@#%^& long to get patent applications processed, I guess. Murray _______________________________________________ Cameramakers mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://rmp.opusis.com/mailman/listinfo/cameramakers
