Patents Examined by Nathaniel Adams
  • Patent number: 9604826
    Abstract: A fairlead assembly includes a frame structure having an opening therein. A pair of rollers are disposed on opposite sides of the opening. The frame structure includes a pair of opposed curved surfaces disposed between the end portions of the pair of rollers and defining a bordering surface of the opening. The frame can be cast as a unitary structure with the pair of rollers each rotatably supported by a support pin having opposite ends received in a first set of corresponding semi-cylindrical recesses in a surface of the cast frame. A clamp structure having a second set of corresponding semi-cylindrical recesses secure the support pins to the cast frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: Warn Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: Darren G. Fretz
  • Patent number: 9604733
    Abstract: Wind energy systems, such as an Airborne Wind Turbine (“AWT”), may be used to facilitate conversion of kinetic energy to electrical energy. An AWT may include an aerial vehicle that flies in a path, such as a substantially circular path, to convert kinetic wind energy to electrical energy. The aerial vehicle may be coupled to a winch assembly via a tether. The winch assembly may include a winch drum and a drum door. The winch assembly may be configured such that the drum door may operate in two or more positions, such as an open position and a closed position, to reduce the likelihood of stability problems occurring at the aerial vehicle during winding or unwinding of the tether.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: X DEVELOPMENT LLC
    Inventors: Brian Hachtmann, Gabe Murphy, Damon Vander Lind
  • Patent number: 9551368
    Abstract: Spooling machine including two side frames spaced at a horizontal distance by a telescopic spacer beam, each frame having a pintle on supports for bearing a drum for cable pipe or hose, the telescopic spacer beam including at least one outer tube and at least one inner tube, which are slidably and telescopically one inside the other, and a locking device positioned between the outer tube and the inner tube for locking the outer and inner tube in adjustable position. The locking device includes a split part of the inner tube extending over a part of the length of the inner tube and dividing the inner tube into sections, and a force element for creating a swelling force on the split part of the inner tube to press the sections against the inner surface of the outer tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2017
    Assignee: MAILLEFER S.A.
    Inventor: Kari Mäkelä
  • Patent number: 9517909
    Abstract: Described is a device for winding ribbon-like material onto spools. Said device comprises at least a first rotating body (10a, 10b) that can rotate around a spool axis (S) and at least a second rotating body (20) that can rotate around the spool axis (S) and can furthermore be moved relative to the spool axis (S) in axial direction from a first end position to a second end position. Thus, the second rotating body (20) when it is in the first end position is located closer to the first rotating body (10a, 10b) than when it is in the second end position. The two rotating bodies (10a, 10b; 20) can rotate jointly around the spool axis, at least when the second rotating body (20) is located in its first end position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2016
    Assignee: SUBA HOLDING GMBH + CO. KG
    Inventors: Frank Bauer, Thomas Standke, Mirko Lindenmann
  • Patent number: 9486116
    Abstract: There is provided herein a dispenser for a rolled product which has a center bore, comprising: a casing having walls and having a top with an opening; a first fastening means disposed on a first inner wall of said casing; a second fastening means disposed on a second inner wall of said casing, wherein said first inner wall is opposite said second inner wall, and said first fastening means is opposite said second fastening means; and an axle fastened to said first and second fastening means, wherein said axle can rotate when fastened.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2016
    Inventor: Mark A. Caldwell
  • Patent number: 9487380
    Abstract: A hoist assembly includes a mount. A plurality of hooks is coupled to the mount. The plurality of hooks engages a ladder. The mount may be coupled to the ladder. A plate is provided. The plate engages the mount. The plate may be positioned above a roof access hatch. A winch is coupled to the plate. A cable is wrapped around the winch. The winch may extend or retract the cable. A hook is coupled to the cable. The hook engages an object. The assembly may lift the object upwardly through the roof access hatch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2016
    Inventor: Jeff Hanley
  • Patent number: 9475679
    Abstract: A chain hoist includes a body; a hoist chain passing through the body; through-holes in the body for the hoist chain; and an actuator arrangement for operating the chain hoist, the actuator being used for moving the hoist chain through said through-holes in a lifting or lowering direction of the chain hoist, and on the side of at least one through-hole the portion of the hoist chain moving outside the body is provided with a limiter member whose position in the longitudinal direction of the hoist chain is adjustable, the limiter member being provided with a detectable sensor; and a sensor detection member is provided in the vicinity of said through-hole to detect the detectable sensor at a predetermined distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2016
    Assignee: KONECRANES GLOBAL CORPORATION
    Inventor: Fabrice Copin
  • Patent number: 9457600
    Abstract: A conveyance device including an upstream roller that supplies a sheet medium to be processed to a conveyance path; a downstream roller that conveys the supplied medium to a processing position; and a control unit that, in order to convey the sheet medium at a constant speed, controls driving the upstream roller and the downstream roller using the constant speed as a target speed. The control unit changes the target speed of the upstream roller to eliminate a conveyance difference, which is the difference between the length of media conveyed by the upstream roller and the length of media conveyed by the downstream roller from the start of the conveyance operation, based on the conveyance difference in each conveyance operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2016
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Norio Horaguchi
  • Patent number: 9457596
    Abstract: A sheet feeder including a sheet roll constituted of one long continuous sheet wound around a core, a sheet conveyance unit to convey the sheet fed from the sheet roll and including an extreme upstream member that contacts an upper surface of the sheet fed from the sheet roll at an extreme upstream side in a direction of conveyance of the sheet, and a trailing end detector rotatable by contacting the sheet extended between the core of the sheet roll and the extreme upstream member. The trailing end detector detects a trailing end of the sheet roll upon being rotated upward to a position above a line connecting the extreme upstream member and a lowest part of the core of the sheet roll having a minimum diameter usable in the sheet feeder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2016
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventor: Masato Ogawa
  • Patent number: 9452905
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a handle cover assembly. The assembly is structured to dispense and recover handle cover material, such as a hygienic handle cover material in the form of a sheet, web, sleeve, or the like. The assembly includes a housing configured and/or structured to serve as a handle and which provides an interior in which handle cover assembly components and handle cover material are at least partially contained, from which handle cover material is dispensed, and to which handle cover material is recovered. In at least some embodiments, the handle cover material is dispensed from the interior of the assembly to at least partially cover at least a portion of the outer surface of the assembly housing. The assembly can be connected to a structure, such as cart (e.g., shopping cart, luggage cart), that includes a handle as a retrofit, or installed during manufacture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2016
    Assignee: XELA INNOVATIONS, LLC
    Inventors: Todd J. Muderlak, Kenneth J. Muderlak
  • Patent number: 9408505
    Abstract: The machine includes a housing receiving an articulated cover closed by raising it and a module which accommodates a pre-cut wound strip of material. The module has a flap located opposite the inner face of the cover and articulated relative to the module, and a device enabling pulling on the end of the strip. The module enables positioning and articulation of the flap, and includes a support plate for the device. The device includes a vertically arranged pusher which slides in a controlled, limited manner relative to a face of the support plate. The pusher has a lower gripping and contact part and an upper end that forms a cam. A roller of the device cooperates with the upper end of the pusher. The pusher cooperates with the flap. The device acts on the flap to ensure its rearward swivelling to allow un-jamming and strip emergence from the machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Inventor: Maurice Granger
  • Patent number: 9403652
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a roll spindle comprises two roll supports and a differential.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2016
    Assignee: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.
    Inventors: Ramon Castells, Jose Antonio Alvarez Tapia, David Claramunt Morera
  • Patent number: 9388024
    Abstract: A vehicle hoist device couples a hoist to a vehicle hitch for lifting heavy objects. The device includes a hitch mount and a cavity extending into a bottom end of the hitch mount wherein the bottom end of the hitch mount is configured for being seated on a ball hitch extending from a vehicle. A bottom end of a boom arm is coupled to the hitch mount. A pulley is coupled to the boom arm and positioned proximate the top end of the boom arm. A hoist is coupled to the boom arm proximate the bottom end of the boom arm. A line is coupled to the hoist such that the line is selectively extendable and retractable from the hoist. The line extends through the pulley.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Inventor: Michael E. McCully
  • Patent number: 9385519
    Abstract: A cord winder includes a base, a rotating disc, a spiral spring, a cord, a cord positioning element, a push button, and a top cover. When a first end part of the cord is pulled, the rotating disc and the cord positioning element are rotated in a first direction, and two protruding blocks of the push button are moved along an inner surface of the cord positioning element. When the first end part of the cord is no longer pulled, the two protruding blocks are respectively contacted with two notches of the inner surface of the cord positioning element. Consequently, the rotating disc and the cord positioning element are not rotated. When the push button is pressed down, the rotating disc and the cord positioning element are rotated in a second direction in response to a restoring force of the spiral spring. Consequently, the cord is retracted back.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Assignee: PRIMAX ELECTRONICS LTD.
    Inventor: Xiang-Hui Deng
  • Patent number: 9375117
    Abstract: The device includes a housing with an associated cover receiving a module receiving the strip of pre-cut material, said module being provided with a transverse support plate, a flap pivotally assembled with respect to said module and to the support plate by being arranged in front of it, opposite to the inner front surface of the cover to allow the passing of the strip of material. A transverse barrier rod is arranged in the lower portion of the cover between its lateral flanges. The flap has at least one recess enabling to catch the strip of material and at least one long slot arranged in a plane forming an angle from the lower edge of the flap, said slot defining an area for receiving at least one rib formed in a complementary configuration on the cover by penetrating on closing of the cover into said slot. The cover has at least one rib adapting in the slot formed on the flap and at least one recess for the passing of the strip of material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Inventor: Maurice Granger
  • Patent number: 9375118
    Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus including a housing having a cover and a pivotably mounted flap, said housing receiving a module that receives the strip of precut material. Said module is arranged with a transverse supporting plate, and a flap that is pivotably mounted relative to said module and to said supporting plate while being placed in front of the latter and opposite the inner front surface of the cover so as to enable the material strip to pass therethrough. The module hingedly receives, in front of the flap, a cover plate that is profiled, on the top edge thereof, with an edge, which is oriented toward the inside of the flap and which is suitable for projecting from the top of said flap so as to make it possible to guide the material strip between said flap and said cover plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Inventor: Maurice Granger
  • Patent number: 9346643
    Abstract: A transportation device includes a first roller that transports a sheet-shaped medium from an upstream to downstream in a transporting direction; a guide member that has a guide section extended along the transporting direction and is arranged upstream of the first roller in the transporting direction; and a second roller that is movable between a correcting position where the second roller pinches the sheet-shaped medium with the first roller and corrects a curl of the sheet-shaped medium, and a standby position where the second roller separates from the transporting passage further than the correcting position, wherein the guide member is movable to an escaping position that is separated from a moving passage that is from the correcting position to the standby position of the second roller if the second roller moves to the correcting position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Shun Ito
  • Patent number: 9334141
    Abstract: A support comprising a handhold in the center with two ends extending straight out in opposite directions away from the handhold for winding and storing a rope or cord in a secure condition in a figure-8 configuration around the ends of the support using a flexible tie affixed at one end to the center of the support to wrap around and secure the rope or cord to the support when the other end of the tie is fastened to a cleat located in the center of the support. A method of winding and releasing a line on the support.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Inventor: Douglas Jerome Diekman
  • Patent number: 9326648
    Abstract: A system for consecutively dispensing paper sheet material from a stub roll and a primary roll which utilizes a pivoted transfer door to locate a lead end portion of the primary roll in dispensing position responsive to disengagement between the transfer door and a pivoted lever supporting the stub roll.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: Dispensing Dynamics International
    Inventor: Alex Trampolski
  • Patent number: 9290364
    Abstract: The within invention relates to a crane with a boom slewable in a vertical pivoting plane and a bracing boom arrangement, particularly a derrick boom arrangement in which a luffing cable is arranged between the boom and the bracing boom arrangement, in which the luffing cable has at least two guying cables that run from two guying points arranged on the opposite side of the pivoting plane, which cables belong to the bracing cable arrangement, to the boom, in which the two guying cables are each movable by means of a winch and in which a mechanical coupling is provided between the two winches by means of which the movement of the two winches can be force coupled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2016
    Assignee: Liebherr-Werk Ehingen GmbH
    Inventor: Hans-Dieter Willim