Patents Represented by Attorney, Agent or Law Firm Michael H. Minns
  • Patent number: 6827357
    Abstract: A janitorial cart having zone separation to separate storage areas from water zones to help maintain clean and dry storage areas. Basically, a central trash unit separates the water zone from the supply storage zone. Additionally, an enclosed trash compartment is used to conceal a trash collection bag and improved the appearance of the janitorial cart when being used. The enclosed trash compartment is positioned above a pair of large central wheels for improved stability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2004
    Assignee: Akro-Mils, a division of Myers Industries Company
    Inventors: Randall W. Calmeise, Douglas S. Hardesty
  • Patent number: 6821065
    Abstract: A rail road car has a rail car body which includes a housing structure. The housing structure has a pair of sidewalls, a roof and at least one deck mounted to the sidewalls. An enclosed lading space is defined by the housing structure and there is at least one door for controlling access to the enclosed space. The rail road car is provided with short travel buff gear and a reduced slack, or slackless, coupler.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2004
    Assignee: National Steel Car Limited
    Inventor: James W. Forbes
  • Patent number: 6786266
    Abstract: A waste peeling apparatus for separating the waste part of a continuous web material where a peeling member is positioned skewed to the direction of travel of the web.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2004
    Assignee: K. K. Mashintex
    Inventor: Koichi Fukada
  • Patent number: 6752411
    Abstract: A multi-stage torsion axle that has a first stage torsion assembly positioned within a second stage torsion assembly. The first stage torsion assembly has a square first stage shaft within a first elastomeric bushing. The second stage torsion assembly has a square tubular second stage shaft within a second elastomeric bushing, the second stage shaft fitting around the first stage torsion assembly. A hollow square tubular housing fits around the second stage assembly. The resilience of the first stage torsion assembly is less than the resilience of the second stage torsion assembly. A stop mechanism directly transfers torque from the first stage shaft to the second stage shaft when the first stage has rotated more than a predetermined amount relative to the second stage shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2004
    Assignee: Norco Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: Jeffrey P. Few
  • Patent number: 6739605
    Abstract: A utility cart which is capable of being readily converted from a first configuration as a conventional utility cart with the area above a bottom table being open into a second configuration as a bin cart, including a number of outwardly extending storage bins. In addition, the utility cart in accordance with the present invention includes end members having “I” beam type construction, the top table and the bottom table have panel members which pivot from an upright position to form a recessed top table and/or a recessed bottom table to a downward position to form a substantially flat top table and/or a substantially flat bottom table and a handle having an organizer integrally built therein, including a beverage container holder, a storage tray and one or more storage compartments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2004
    Assignee: Akro-Mills, division of Myers Industries Company
    Inventors: Randall W. Calmeise, Doug S. Hardesty
  • Patent number: 6687696
    Abstract: The disclosed system implements a novel method for personalized filtering of information and automated generation of user-specific recommendations. The system uses a statistical latent class model, also known as Probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis, to integrate data including textual and other content descriptions of items to be searched, user profiles, demographic information, query logs of previous searches, and explicit user ratings of items. The disclosed system learns one or more statistical models based on available data. The learning may be reiterated once additional data is available. The statistical model, once learned, is utilized in various ways: to make predictions about item relevance and user preferences on un-rated items, to generate recommendation lists of items, to generate personalized search result lists, to disambiguate a users query, to refine a search, to compute similarities between items or users, and for data mining purposes such as identifying user communities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2004
    Assignee: Recommind Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Hofmann, Jan Christian Puzicha
  • Patent number: 6675853
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for forming a splice in a conveyor belt. The apparatus includes a lower plate having a heating strip where the splice is being formed. The lower plate includes areas of insulation adjacent the heating strip to reduce transfer of heat to areas of the conveyor belt adjacent the splice during vulcanization or heating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2004
    Inventor: Curt Shaffer
  • Patent number: 6669271
    Abstract: A smooth side trailer body or body structure comprised of a plurality of extruded panel members positioned adjacent one another. The extruded panels are arranged perpendicular to the floor of a trailer. The panels are held to the floor by a bottom rail. A top rail portion may be used to hold the panels together to form a more rigid wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2003
    Assignee: East Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventor: Howard Booher
  • Patent number: 6644719
    Abstract: A slidable room assembly comprises a vehicle body having an opening formed in an exterior wall, and a reciprocable slideout unit or compartment disposed in the opening and slidable between a retracted position and an extended position. Sliding movement of the slideout unit is controlled by means of a drive mechanism which includes either one or two endless cables. A plurality of sheaves, rotatably mounted on the slideout unit, define a path for the endless cable or cables. This path includes a pair of parallel longitudinally extending courses disposed on opposite sides of the slideout unit. Anchors, attached to respective longitudinally extending courses of the cable(s) and to adjacent portions of the vehicle body, effect relative reciprocation between the slideout unit and the vehicle body. Sliding movement of the slideout unit may be either motor driven or manually powered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2003
    Assignee: Norco Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: James Young, Sr.
  • Patent number: 6626053
    Abstract: A motor vehicle torque transfer case pump drive which is mounted in the front of a torque transfer case where it mounts to a motor vehicle transmission and includes a drive arrangement, such as a chain drive, a belt drive or a gear drive. This permits an auxiliary hydraulic pump to be driven directly from the torque transfer case, thus eliminating the need for a power take-off (PTO) adapter to drive the auxiliary hydraulic pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2003
    Assignee: Opker Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Ralph W. Baxter, Jr., Wesley M. Dick
  • Patent number: 6623066
    Abstract: A slidable room assembly comprises a vehicle body having an opening formed in an exterior wall, and a reciprocable slideout unit or compartment disposed in the opening and slidable between a retracted position and an extended position. Sliding movement of the slideout unit is controlled by a drive mechanism that includes a pair of cables. A plurality of sheaves, rotatably mounted on the vehicle body about the opening, define a path for the cable or cables. The drive cables have a double Y-shape whereby each cable has four ends with an end being connected to each corner of the slideout unit. Sliding movement of the slideout unit 24 may be either motor driven or manually powered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2003
    Assignee: Norco Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Bernard F. Garceau, James Young, Sr.
  • Patent number: 6617503
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a system for playing back, via a plurality of speakers, the melody, harmony, and the harmony's components which comprise a song. Specifically, the present invention allows the user to select a song from a plurality of songs that have been formatted to allow playback of individual melody and/or harmony or the harmony's sub-components. Additionally, the present invention allows the user to select a desired playback mode which includes: melody only, harmony only, melody and harmony, multi-unit playback of melody, harmony and harmony's components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2003
    Inventor: Joseph W. Geopfert
  • Patent number: 6572123
    Abstract: A utility cart which is capable of being readily converted from a first configuration as a conventional utility cart with the area above a bottom table being open into a second configuration as a bin cart, including a number of outwardly extending storage bins. In addition, the utility cart in accordance with the present invention includes end members having “I” beam type construction, the top table and the bottom table have panel members which pivot from an upright position to form a recessed top table and/or a recessed bottom table to a downward position to form a substantially flat top table and/or a substantially flat bottom table and a handle having an organizer integrally built therein, including a beverage container holder, a storage tray and one or more storage compartments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2003
    Assignee: AKRO-MILS, a division of Myers Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Randall W. Calmeise, Doug S. Hardesty
  • Patent number: 6572151
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a label/form combination assembly which will be able to withstand the harsh environment present in a laser printer in both simplex and duplex imaging modes. The label/form combination document is constructed of two separate materials joined together at a coplanar joint. A variable image receptive, pressure sensitive stock being comprised of a coplanar combination of facestock, pressure sensitive adhesive and release liner overlapping a laser bond paper is used in the label/form combination. A joint is formed when a portion of the liner of the pressure sensitive stock is removed, exposing its pressure sensitive adhesive. The exposed pressure sensitive adhesive is adhered to a strip of the laser quality bond sheet to create a bond between the label and the bond sheet. A remaining portion of the liner is adhered to the laser bond sheet with a cold bond adhesive that results in a double bond. The finished construction is die cut to form at least one rounded corner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2003
    Assignee: Bertek Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Steve Jarvis, Ken Whitcomb, Eric Severy
  • Patent number: 6497293
    Abstract: A horseshoe adapted to be compliant with the expansion and relaxation of the heel areas of a hoof of a horse in motion. The horseshoe consists of a toe area hingedly connected to two heel areas. In the preferred embodiment, the hinges are formed of a resilient material and are tapered from a wide end on the inside of the horseshoe to a narrow end on the outside of the horseshoe. Metal toe and heel inserts are provided as a wear surface for the horseshoe and the toe insert is sufficiently malleable to allow shaping of the horseshoe using typical blacksmithing equipment and tools.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2002
    Inventor: Gary M. Miller
  • Patent number: D469235
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2003
    Assignee: Akro-Mils, a division of Myers Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Randall W. Calmeise, Douglas S. Hardesty
  • Patent number: D469564
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2003
    Assignees: Hortilus Schreder B.V., Financiere des Applications de l'Electricite N.V.
    Inventor: Marco J. P. Brok
  • Patent number: D481188
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2003
    Assignee: Akro-Mils, a division of Myers Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Alex P. DiGiacomo, Jr., Douglas S. Hardesty
  • Patent number: D483169
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2003
    Assignee: Norco Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: Robert Fox
  • Patent number: D489650
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2004
    Assignee: Norco Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: Bernard F. Garceau