Patents Examined by Gene O. Crawford
  • Patent number: 11884490
    Abstract: A belt and a belt conveyor are provided for transporting particulate material and especially oilseeds up the belt conveyor. The belt conveyor can include an intake end having a hopper, a discharge end, a body extending between the intake end and the discharge end and a belt. The belt travels along a travel path in the belt conveyor; the belt traveling through the hopper, up an upper run in the body to the discharge end, down a return run in the body, and back through the hopper. The belt can have a top surface having pairs of adjacent ridges provided on the top surface, each ridge having a pair of arms extending from a point, in a travel direction of the belt, wherein each pair of adjacent ridges define a v-channel on the top surface of the belt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Brandt Industries Inc.
    Inventors: Lyndon Graff, Jonathan Robert Carteri
  • Patent number: 11885394
    Abstract: A drive sprocket comprising a plurality of teeth for meshing with a drive member to transmit rotary motion, the drive member including a plurality of engagement pockets engaging the teeth of the drive sprocket, wherein each tooth has a tooth profile defined by a first side comprising a first engagement surface and an opposite second side comprising a second engagement surface, which engagement surfaces are configured such that when driven, a tooth meshes to the engagement pocket at a first contact location on the first engagement surface and also at a second contact location on the second engagement surface, wherein the first contact location is radially offset from the second contact location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: NEW MOTION LABS LTD.
    Inventors: Josh Daniel Palmer, Lucas Lobmeyer, Marcel Fowler
  • Patent number: 11883366
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a disc for use in a delivery device for medication units, such as a pills or tablets or portions thereof, comprising a substantially disc-shaped body, comprising means to be engaged for rotation of the disc at least one opening, spaced from the centre of the disc and preferably near the edge of the disc, for holding at least part of the medication unit wherein the at least one opening for holding at least a part of the medication unit is located at a distance from the contour of the disc-shaped body and is thus enclosed by the substantially disc-shaped body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: DD INNOVATIONS B.V.
    Inventor: Dennis Raymond Bijlsma
  • Patent number: 11877703
    Abstract: A ligature-resistant, multifold paper towel dispenser has a housing having a top panel, a front panel, a rear panel, and a pair of side panels secured together to define a hollow, interior chamber. The housing has an open bottom end through which a stack of paper towels may be inserted into the interior chamber. The dispenser also includes a support and dispenser assembly for resiliently supporting the stack of paper towels and for permitting manual dispensing of successive individual paper towels from the open bottom end of the housing. The support assembly includes at least one resilient flexible member which permits the paper towels to be supported thereon and dispensed therebelow and which at the same time is ligature-resistant due to its flexibility.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Inventor: Christopher Kopp
  • Patent number: 11878328
    Abstract: A color sorting method for small-grain agricultural products combining an area scanning photoelectric characteristic and a line scanning photoelectric characteristic is provided. The present invention obtains an area scan image of small-grain agricultural product materials on a conveyor belt by using an area scan camera, which can accurately extract area array features of the materials and realize accurate identification of the unqualified materials. At the same time, the present invention can provide key parameters for accurate positioning during free falling of the materials while identifying the unqualified materials by using the area scan image, and can cooperate with the line scan positioning camera and the pneumatic nozzle to achieve high-speed elimination of the unqualified materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: Jiangsu University
    Inventors: Jiyong Shi, Yu Shi, Xiaobo Zou, Xiaowei Huang, Zhihua Li, Zhiming Guo, Changsheng Qiao, Junwei Yu, Xinai Zhang, Di Zhang, Xiaodong Zhai, Xuetao Hu, Tingting Shen, Chenguang Zhou, Yang Zhang
  • Patent number: 11879536
    Abstract: In one aspect, a rotary device is provided, and includes a shaft adapter, a chambered member, a seal member and at least one internal torque transfer member. The shaft adapter is connectible to a crankshaft or accessory shaft and defines an axis. The chambered member (e.g. a pulley) is rotatably connected to it, and at least partially encloses a chamber (e.g. for oil), and includes a circumferential portion, a first side wall, and a second side wall which is a separate member from the circumferential portion. One of the circumferential portion and the second side wall has projections thereon, and the other has valleys that mate with the projections with no clearance, so as to be able to transfer a torque of at least 10 Nm into one another without plastic deformation. A seal member is compressed between the second side wall and the circumferential portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: LITENS AUTOMOTIVE PARTNERSHIP
    Inventors: Ahmed Abdul Wadood Anwer, Frank Verriet, Sean Kieran, Andrew Malcolm Boyes
  • Patent number: 11878873
    Abstract: An inspection apparatus, for inspection of cased goods, includes at least one conveyor, at least one camera for capturing case image data of each of the cased goods advanced with the at least one conveyor past the inspection apparatus, and a processor configured to receive the case image data from the at least one camera. The processor is configured to characterize, from the case image data, a case exterior protrusion of the case good as a case flap in open condition, wherein the processor is configured to resolve the case image data and determine the case exterior protrusion is a coherent planar surface, and is programmed with a parameter array of physical characteristic parameters that describe case flap coherency attributes determinative of the coherent planar surface defining an open case flap condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Inventors: Christian Simon, William Légaré, Samy Metari, Alexandre Dumais
  • Patent number: 11878872
    Abstract: A portable roller dislodging device is disclosed. The device is configured to dislodge a jammed roller of a conventional conveyor. The device may be detachably secured to the rail of the conveyor about any selectively-desired position. The device includes a motor, a rotating motor shaft, and a means for coupling the motor shaft to the jammed roller to facilitate dislodgement thereof. The device may be operated remotely via a wireless remote control device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Inventor: Andrew K. Cipriani
  • Patent number: 11878871
    Abstract: A conveyor system includes a rail having one or more channels therein and one or more sleds operatively associated with the rail. A sled can include a body and one or more wheels mounted on the body and configured to move through the one or more channels in the rail. A sled can also include a holding device connected to the body. The holding device can be configured to engage a packaging container to move the packaging container along the rail. Multiple sleds can be used to secure a packaging container therebetween and move the packaging container along the rail. The conveyor system may also include a queue system that dynamically moves packaging containers to packaging stations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: Packsize LLC
    Inventors: Hanko Kiessner, Thomas Lamb, David Iverson, Rod Gallaway, Brady Sjoblom
  • Patent number: 11878877
    Abstract: Provided are a material conveying device and a material processing apparatus. The material conveying device includes a frame and a plurality of conveying mechanisms sequentially arranged in a conveying direction of a material. An output end of each of the plurality of conveying mechanisms is connected to an input end of an adjacent conveying mechanism. Each of the plurality of conveying mechanisms includes a plurality of rollers each rotatably connected to the frame, and a driver in a transmission connection with one of the plurality of rollers to drive the one of the plurality of first rollers to rotate. Each conveying mechanism is driven by a separate driver. A speed of the material on different conveying mechanisms can be controlled by adjusting a direction and a magnitude of torque outputted by the driver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: XIAMEN HITHIUM ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Qin Zhang
  • Patent number: 11877702
    Abstract: An article advancing assembly and various article advancers are provided for helping dispense articles from a container. In some forms, the article advancers are provided that can bias the contents of the containers towards the dispensing opening. This can, in some forms, provide extra friction within the container and/or at the dispensing opening to decrease extra contents from being dispensed and thus decrease waste.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: Medline Industries, LP
    Inventors: Paige Wexler, Evan Oravec, Quinten Krisik, Gregory J Foster, Robert W. Sheldon
  • Patent number: 11878866
    Abstract: The tray body comprises a support surface and a spring for spring biasing the tray door relative to the tray body to urge the tray door to open. When the tray door is fully opened, it rests against the support surface under the influence of a spring biasing force, provided by the spring, that exceeds a first non-zero threshold. The tray body comprises a tray frame and a door shaft that defines an axis of rotation of the tray door and the spring comprises a torsion spring arranged around the door shaft. The tray door comprises a shaft channel in which the door shaft is rotatably accommodated. The torsion spring has one end fixed coupled to the door shaft and another end to an inside wall of the shaft channel and/or the damper is arranged in the shaft channel and fixed in position relative to the door shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: EAE SOLUTIONS HOLDING B.V.
    Inventors: Erik Andreas Van Holten, Menno Jansen
  • Patent number: 11879535
    Abstract: A pulley assembly is disclosed herein that includes a shaft having a shaft length. A plurality of rolling elements are supported on a radially outer surface of the at least one shaft. In one aspect, the plurality of rolling elements are cylindrical rollers, the cylindrical rollers can each have a rolling element length and a rolling element diameter, and a ratio of the rolling element length to the rolling element diameter can be at least 1.0. A pulley is provided that surrounds the plurality of rolling elements, the pulley defines an outer raceway for the rolling elements, and the pulley defines a support surface configured to support a cable. A pair of washers are also arranged on axially opposite outer sides of the pulley and the rolling elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG
    Inventors: Ulrich Mayr, Steven Kleinheinz, Carl White
  • Patent number: 11875628
    Abstract: There is provided a device for automatic asset management as well as a method for dispensing items from said automatic asset management device. The device comprises an enclosure, a shelving unit within the enclosure configured to store at least one item, a delivery hatch on the enclosure configured to allow access to the enclosure, and a dispensing unit within the enclosure. The dispensing unit comprises a front gate comprising an open portion and a closed portion, wherein the front gate is configured to control access through the delivery hatch and an elevator module configured to receive the item from the shelving unit, move to the front gate to link with the front gate, while linked with the front gate, move with the front gate to align the open portion with the delivery hatch to allow access to the item within the elevator module; and upon removal of the item from the elevator module, release the front gate to align the closed portion with the delivery hatch to restrict access to the delivery hatch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: SIGNIFI SOLUTIONS INC.
    Inventors: Jaime Arturo Gonzalez, Emil Jose Rodriguez Osorio, Yong Suk Jin, Shamira Jaffer
  • Patent number: 11873170
    Abstract: A battery transmission system may comprise: a material incoming structure to receive batteries; a first transfer structure to transfer the batteries to a first pallet so as to convey the batteries on a first transmission line, wherein the first transmission line has an unloading position for which at least one second transmission line is provided correspondingly; and a second transfer structure to transfer batteries at the unloading position to a first starting position of the second transmission line so as to transmits, when the number of batteries at the first starting position reaches N, the N batteries to a first termination position of the second transmission line, wherein N?1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY CO., LIMITED
    Inventor: Deqiang Shi
  • Patent number: 11864966
    Abstract: A system and method for forming a sterile dental pack is disclosed. The method includes preparing a first wrap and a second wrap; arranging a plurality of dental disposable supplies on the first wrap; and wrapping the plurality of dental disposable supplies within the first wrap and the second wrap to form an airtight container. Also disclosed is a sterile dental pack dispensing system. The sterile dental pack dispensing system may include a storage container with an opening, the storage container being configured to store a wrapped sterile dental pack; an output configured to receive the wrapped sterile dental pack from the storage container; and a fiber optic indicator configured to cause the wrapped sterile dental pack to move from the storage container to the output through the opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Inventors: Paula Evette Nesbitt, Jarrett Anthony Scott
  • Patent number: 11866263
    Abstract: A belt and a belt conveyor are provided for transporting particulate material and especially oilseeds up the belt conveyor. The belt conveyor can include an intake end having a hopper, a discharge end, a body extending between the intake end and the discharge end and a belt. The belt travels along a travel path in the belt conveyor; the belt traveling through the hopper, up an upper run in the body to the discharge end, down a return run in the body, and back through the hopper. The belt can have a top surface having pairs of adjacent ridges provided on the top surface, each ridge having a pair of arms extending from a point, in a travel direction of the belt, wherein each pair of adjacent ridges define a v-channel on the top surface of the belt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: Brandt Industries Inc.
    Inventors: Lyndon Graff, Jonathan Robert Carteri
  • Patent number: 11865548
    Abstract: A spiral separator for separating more-desired material from less-desired material has a feed arrangement for feeding a slurry of mixed more-desired material and less-desired material, a spiral trough, and a splitting arrangement for off-take of a concentrate band of more desired material, and the spiral trough is configured to provide an effective cross-trough floor slope of less than 8 degrees to horizontal in a turn immediately upstream of the splitting arrangement. The separator may be a multi-stage separator and include a slurry preparation apparatus between each pair of stages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: OREKINETICS INVESTMENTS PTY LTD
    Inventors: Ezra McKenzie, Peter Gates
  • Patent number: 11866247
    Abstract: Systems and methods of making a glove pack and for removing gloves from the glove pack are disclosed. The glove pack includes a stack of gloves. The stack of gloves includes a first glove engaging a second glove. The first and second gloves each have an exterior gripping surface. Each exterior gripping surface of the first and second gloves engages and adheres to the exterior gripping surface of the other of the first or second glove in the stack of gloves thereby adhering the first and second gloves together in the stack of gloves such that when the first glove is removed from the stack of gloves at least a portion of the second glove moves with the first glove.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: INTEPLAST GROUP CORPORATION
    Inventors: Pai-Mei Tseng, Chih Jen Hsu, Jyh-Yao Raphael Li, Kelvin Yang
  • Patent number: 11865585
    Abstract: A sorting apparatus, comprising: transportation vehicles for moving, on the basis of a control instruction, along a direction of a transportation row to a target position indicated by the control instruction, such that an object to be sorted is transferred from the current transportation vehicle on which the object is currently placed to a next-row transportation vehicle, wherein the transportation row where the next-row transportation vehicle is located is adjacent to the transportation row where the current transportation vehicle is located in a direction away from a feed inlet. The sorting apparatus occupies a small space, has low requirements on sites, and can be widely applied. Also comprised are a sorting method for a control module of the sorting apparatus, and ac electronic device and a computer-readable storage medium for implementing the sorting method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: Beijing Jingdong Qianshi Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Xiaochong Chen