Patents Represented by Attorney, Agent or Law Firm Nikolai, Mersereau & Dietz, P.A.
  • Patent number: 6234212
    Abstract: A pile loop forming assembly for looms for reliably transferring yarn from one side of the lance to the other in order for the yarn to be wrapped around the lance to form a loop. The loops may be cut by a blade as the loops advance and ride over the blade edge. The loops are formed by yarns passing through reed fingers wherein lances move the yarn from one side of the reed finger to the other. The lances are attached to a bar, which moves linearly in alternate directions so as to wag the lances to either side of the reed space. A heald moves the yarn up or down to selectively engage or disengage from the lances. A guide formation on a portion of the reed space helps deflect the yarn from one side of the lance to the other. The reed can pivot between a beat-up position and a weft insert position. As the reed moves to the beat-up position it engages the newly formed pile loop on the lance and pushes it to the fell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2001
    Assignee: Griffith Textile Machines, Ltd.
    Inventor: John Dalton Griffith
  • Patent number: 6233851
    Abstract: A method and compact portable system for excavating a two-soldier fighting position is disclosed in which the method includes using a material-retention type auger to bore a plurality of spaced hollow recesses to a desired depth, placing prepared explosive charges in each bored recess, detonating the explosive charges using a remotely operable detonation device to loosen the soil in the defined pattern, removing the loosened soil, and finalizing the interior walls of the structure. The system is compact and lightweight designed to be stored within a confined carrying pack volume and features a bucket-type, hollow auger system including handle extensions capable of being quickly assembled to bore clean holes in the earth, a plurality of explosive charges, the explosive charges being stored in canisters of a size to fit into the hollow auger bit and holes bored by the auger, means for connecting to and remotely detonating the binary charges in each of the canisters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 1997
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2001
    Assignee: Alliant Techsystems Inc.
    Inventors: Alan A. Alexander, Gary W. Erickson, Paul F. Schmidt
  • Patent number: 6230410
    Abstract: The wall trimmer for carpet and vinyl floor coverings is a hand tool for cutting floor coverings flush to the wall. The wall trimmer may be used in both directions along walls, and may be used right or left handed. The wall trimmer includes a base plate that allows the wall trimmer to be slid on the surface of floor coverings. The base plate is wide and flat, which stabilizes the tool for true cuts along the walls. There is also a handle assembly that is used to move the wall trimmer along its path, which is attached to the base plate. The handle assembly can be easily angularly adjusted for different jobs. The wall trimmer also includes a blade guide assembly that retains a pair of blades that are used to cut the floor covering. The blades are retained at an angle of about 15 to 25 degrees from the base plate. This shallow angle allows for good cutting with little effort. The blades are also crossed so that the trimmer is able to cut floor coverings closer to the corners of rooms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2001
    Assignee: National Carpet Equipment, Inc.
    Inventors: Raymond N. Taylor, Martin L. Anderson
  • Patent number: 6227257
    Abstract: The invention relates to a fabric (10) for arresting ballistic articles, the fabric (10) comprising first (11) and second (12) woven layers secured together. The working fibers of the first (11) and second (12) layers are of substantially inextensible yarns such as aramid fibers. The working fibers of the first layer (11) are perpendicular to the working fibers of the second layer (12).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2001
    Assignee: M. Wright & Sons Ltd.
    Inventor: Paul Philip Griffiths
  • Patent number: 6227759
    Abstract: A plastic skating surface comprising at least two sheets of plastic welded together. The plurality of welded sheets of plastic form a continuous skating surface, wherein the effects of expansion and contraction due to temperature change is limited to the outer perimeter of the skating surface. An expansion plate overlaps the outer perimeter of the skating surface, thereby defining a fixed enclosure of the skating surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 1997
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2001
    Assignee: TecLink International Ltd.
    Inventors: Leonard S. Fricke, Carl W. Sims
  • Patent number: 6226956
    Abstract: A combination of versatile and inexpensive elements are combined on site to create an impermeable assembly which collects water falling through a grating or cracks between adjacent boards of a deck and completely drains it to one or more points at a selected edge. The impermeable assembly is comprised of a plurality of peaks and valleys configured to simplify installation, conserve headroom and provide an aesthetically pleasing finished surface. In a first embodiment, a collector collects the water falling through cracks between boards spanning the space between adjacent joists from which it drains transversely to a gutter positioned beneath the joists. The gutter drains the water longitudinally to the perimeter of the deck.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2001
    Inventors: Richard A. Davis, LeRoy A. Prohofsky
  • Patent number: 6226928
    Abstract: A base for a manhole or catch basin structure having an embedded plastic canal-bed liner and a corresponding blocking member or hood. The plastic liner has an annular, outwardly extending flange which becomes embedded in a sidewall of the base to form a unitary structure when the concrete is poured. The liner is not subject to delamination from the canal-bed and includes bosses for additional anchoring to the base. The canal-bed liner and hood serve to protect the concrete base and sidewalls of the manhole or catch basin from corrosive fluids, thus extending the useful life of the manhole structure. The hood may be secured to the sidewalls of the structure or may be engaged and sealed to a rim of the liner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2001
    Assignee: Royal Environmental Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Julian P. Trangsrud
  • Patent number: 6226551
    Abstract: A cardiac rhythm management device having a capture verification sensing circuit for use in either a normal beat to beat pacing mode or an autothreshold mode. The cardiac rhythm management device is coupled to one or more pacing leads having pacing/sensing electrodes coupled thereto, and includes a sensing circuit for sensing electrical activity of the patient's heart. The sensing circuit includes a sense amplifier electrically connected in a manner, wherein a polarity of an amplitude of the sensed signal corresponding to an evoked response is opposite a polarity of an amplitude of the sensed signal corresponding to afterpotential. The sensing circuit further includes a band pass filter having a single high pass pole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2001
    Assignee: Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc.
    Inventors: Qingsheng Zhu, Michael Lyden, Scot C. Boon
  • Patent number: 6224318
    Abstract: This apparatus relates to improved replaceable wear shoes for use with the slide guides of rear-loading refuse trucks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2001
    Assignee: McNeilus Truck and Manufacturing, Inc.
    Inventors: Garwin B. McNeilus, William P. Bartlett
  • Patent number: 6220307
    Abstract: A mechanism for a gripper Axminster loom is disclosed which includes a plurality of yarn carriers each of which is movable to any one of a plurality of predetermined positions. Each carrier guides a plurality of tuft yarn and is arranged to present one of the yarns to a gripper when the carrier is located at a corresponding one of the predetermined positions. The mechanism includes a plurality of independently controllable rotary drive motors, each of which is connected to drive an associated carrier for selectively moving the associated carrier to a selected one of the predetermined positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2001
    Assignee: Griffith Textile Machines Limited
    Inventor: John D. Griffith
  • Patent number: 6213007
    Abstract: A kitchen appliance for preparing yogurt, soft frozen yogurt and ice cream, hard frozen yogurt and ice cream, and cheese. The appliance includes a housing having a base and side walls defining an open top. A motor-driven paddle device is rotationally journaled with respect to the cover and base and the motor therefor is adapted to be driven either continuously or with a predetermined duty cycle, dependent upon the product being made. Also mounted on either the cover or the base is a vent hole occluder that is normally positioned to block the vent holes in the cover or base, but which shifts to a second position uncovering those vent holes when the consistency of the product being produced, as tested by the paddle motion or other apparatus reveals that a predetermined cultured state has been reached. Shifting of the occluding device from the covering position to the open position also actuates a switch to shut off the drive motor and a warming element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2001
    Inventor: Arnold J. Lande
  • Patent number: 6216035
    Abstract: A dual chamber pacemaker incorporating a system for distinguishing Wenckebach episodes from pacemaker mediated tachycardia episodes based on variations in VA intervals is disclosed which provides for adjusting the MTR upward in response to a threshold frequency of incidences of Wenckebach.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2001
    Assignee: Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc.
    Inventors: Wyatt K. Stahl, John M. Voegele, Rick P. Conville
  • Patent number: 6213706
    Abstract: A loading device mounted to a collection vehicle is disclosed. The loading device may comprise several embodiments for scooping a soft-sided object through either a horizontal or vertical plane. The loading device is attached to a mechanized arm for compound angular displacement and operable between a stowed, extended, lift, and dump positions. A swivel mount interconnects the mechanized arm to the collection vehicle and further compounds the angular displacement and operating positions of the loading device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2001
    Assignee: McNeilus Truck and Manufacturing, Inc.
    Inventor: Ronald E. Christenson
  • Patent number: 6210338
    Abstract: A sizing catheter and method of measuring a preselected internal opening within a patient to provide a rapid and precise determination of first and second stretched diameters of the preselected internal opening. The sizing catheter includes a dilation balloon constructed of a thin expandable plastic, which is inflatable and is utilized to determine a size of the preselected opening. The dilation balloon is inflated to an inflation threshold wherein the dilation balloon deforms about the preselected opening and the size of the dilation balloon adjacent the preselected opening approximates the first stretched diameter of the preselected opening. The sizing catheter and method may be utilized to determine an appropriate sized device to be positioned within the preselected opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2001
    Assignee: AGA Medical Corp.
    Inventors: Michael Afremov, Kurt Amplatz
  • Patent number: 6211943
    Abstract: An apparatus and method relating to the print quality of a high speed package printer that produces photographs of varying size from film negatives. The high speed package printer includes a diffusion plate and a diffusion plate cleaner, and a film cleaner to remove dust and unwanted particles from the diffusion plate and film, thereby increasing the quality of prints from the printer. The apparatus increases print quality by having a plate that diffuses light from a light source shining on the photographic paper, and by automatically cleaning the diffusion plate with a brush during the time between exposures and while the photographic paper and photographic film are advancing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2001
    Assignee: Lifetouch Portrait Studios, Inc.
    Inventors: E. John Adolphi, Gerald A. Jensen, Michael Breckenridge, Todd Kuester, John Lawson, Patrick J. Galloway
  • Patent number: 6210094
    Abstract: Side-loading refuse vehicles are disclosed including an offset or recessed hopper section having at least one recessed side which accommodates a loading bin or bucket which is moveable between a lowered position and a raised dumping position. Followers attached to the bucket on each end are engaged in candy cane shaped guide channels situated at the front and rear of the hopper. The guide channels are angled away from the base of the hopper and curved into the top of the hopper to guide the bucket in an angled and arcuate path over the sidewall of the hopper which is built to accommodate the bucket. In some embodiments, a bin handler is built in to the bucket or an automated arm is provided for dumping refuse cans or containers directly into the hopper. The refuse vehicles may have side-loading buckets on one or both sides of the vehicle and the vehicles may be single or multiple compartment vehicles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2001
    Assignee: McNeilus Truck and Manufacturing, Inc.
    Inventors: Garwin McNeilus, Ronald E. Christenson, Wilbur R. Harris
  • Patent number: 6208881
    Abstract: An electrical lead for sensing electrical activity with the body of the patient and for applying electrical energization to selected body tissue comprises an elongated, flexible polymeric lead body having one or more conductors extending the length thereof, the conductors being connected at their distal end to electrode pads where the pads each comprise a multilayer thin metallic film structure formed on the surface of the lead body where the overall thickness of the composite electrodes are less than about 5 microns. As such, the electrodes do not adversely impact the ability of the distal end portion of the catheter to flex and conform to tissue structures where sensing is to be taken and therapy delivered via the lead.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2001
    Assignee: Micropure Medical, Inc.
    Inventor: Eugene J. Champeau
  • Patent number: 6206609
    Abstract: An extension collar suitable for engagement with an upper ledge of an invert liner positioned within the canal bed of the base of a manhole or catch basin structure. The extension collar is replaceable and is suitable for use in either new construction or rehabilitation of the manhole structure. A plurality of extension collars may be sealably stacked one on top of the other to create a corrosion resistant barrier at a desired height from the bottom of the base of the manhole or catch basin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2001
    Assignee: Royal Environmental Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Julian P. Trangsrud
  • Patent number: 6206363
    Abstract: A catch tray attachment for a sheet feeding machine allows rapid accumulation and manual removal of a predetermined count of sheet articles from the catch tray. The catch tray itself is adapted for mounting to the frame of the sheet feeding machine so as to position it in the discharge path of sheet articles exiting the sheet feeder. Upon removal of an accumulation of sheet articles from the catch tray, a signal is sent back to the sheet feeder to initiate further machine cycles whereby a predetermined count of sheet articles are again deposited in the catch tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2001
    Assignee: Multifeeder Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Arild Vedoy, Mark Nordling
  • Patent number: 6203302
    Abstract: A high pressure fluid forcing pump having a cavity adaptable for receiving an impeller assembly rotatable within the cavity of the pump. The impeller assembly includes an impeller engaged between first and second spaced apart bearing plates and having tips fixed to the bearing plates adjacent an outer circumference of the bearing plates. The impeller includes a locking arrangement that ensures that the impeller rotates about a motor shaft of the pump. The shaft is positioned in the cavity of the housing, wherein the rotational axis of the shaft and impeller are offset from the longitudinal axis of the cavity and first and second bearing plates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2001
    Assignee: Hypro Corporation
    Inventor: Bruce A. Maki