Patents Examined by Sean Pryor
  • Patent number: 5657678
    Abstract: A toner cartridge splitter provides for the opening of the two major portions of a powdered toner cartridge, as used in various xerographic photocopy machines and printers. The device serves to separate the toner reservoir and mounting portions of a toner cartridge, thereby allowing the cartridge to be replenished with toner and resealed for further use, rather than merely being discarded after a single use. A toner cartridge is placed within the cartridge receptacle portion of the splitter, with the cartridge being immovably secured therein during the operation. A splitter blade is disposed coplanar with the seam of the cartridge between the two major components, and is driven between the two cartridge components to split them apart. A clearance notch may be provided in the blade to clear any protrusions in the cartridge rim which might otherwise block the penetration of the blade into the seam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 1995
    Date of Patent: August 19, 1997
    Inventor: Zev B. Cohen
  • Patent number: 5647260
    Abstract: A roller die cutting machine includes a base having a drive roller assembly generally centered thereon between opposing side edges. A first table is located between the drive roller assembly and the first side edge to support a die assembly, and a second table is supported on the base opposite the first table to support a die assembly. A crank is connected through a set of gears to the pressure roller to rotate the pressure roller and to draw a die assembly through the drive roller assembly, to thereby cut stock positioned on the die assembly. A cover on the drive roller assembly includes a pair of inwardly projecting lips which will contact the pressure roller and produce an audible sound as a consumer's hand approaches the cutting location of the pressure roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 15, 1997
    Inventor: Stephen W. Nabity
  • Patent number: 5642646
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a rotary cutting tool for fabricating a sheet having transverse slits. The rotary cutting tool has a cylindrical body having generally longitudinally extending grooves, and cutting blades. The cutting blades are first fitted in the grooves with the cutting edges seated on the bottom surfaces of the grooves, and the base surfaces of the cutting blades projecting from the grooves are machined with a rotary grinding wheel while the cylindrical body is rotated. The cutting blades are then removed from the grooves and are finally fitted in the same grooves. The cutting edges of the cutting blades can be accurately arranged about an axis of the cylindrical body, and the rotary cutting tool can be easily manufactured.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 1996
    Date of Patent: July 1, 1997
    Assignee: Nippon Petrochemicals Company, Limited
    Inventor: Kintaro Aihara
  • Patent number: 5636558
    Abstract: An apparatus for directing a selected fluid to a movable substrate includes a nozzle connected to a movable support, and a supplying mechanism for providing the fluid to the nozzle at a pressure which provides for a selected fluid flow rate from the nozzle. The supplying mechanism includes a torque conduit section which has a longitudinal torque axis thereof and is configured to absorb torsional energy produced by moving the support. An actuating servo rotates the support to move the cutter nozzle along a selected cutting path, and the actuating servo has a servo axis of rotation which is arranged substantially collinear with the longitudinal axis of the torque tube conduit section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 1996
    Date of Patent: June 10, 1997
    Assignee: Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
    Inventors: Donald J. Sanders, Michael J. Collom, Mary E. Barker, John H. Hise, Bruce A. Owen
  • Patent number: 5630347
    Abstract: The device includes dispensing units, each of which features a pair of counter-rotating rollers, between which there is inserted the end of a blister band unrolling from a reel and pushed toward a delivery opening. A blade moves vertically and cooperates with the edge of a support surface, situated downstream of the two rollers, to cut the blister band after a predetermined number of products, counted by a sensor, have passed through the delivery opening. An electric motor drives two ratchet coupling mechanisms acting in opposite directions and connected, by belts or chains, with pulleys or toothed wheels which are integral respectively with the rollers and with a pinion meshing with a rack fastened to the blade. An electronic unit controls and checks the working of the device. Optionally, a token, or coin receiver, a banknote reader or other payment mechanism may be used to allow the user to activate the dispenser after making a payment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 1995
    Date of Patent: May 20, 1997
    Assignee: I.M.A. Industria Macchine Automatiche S.P.A.
    Inventor: Gasperini Elvio
  • Patent number: 5611255
    Abstract: A cutter assembly for food film includes a rigid planar base with a movable metal strip anvil movably positioned thereon. A slidable cutter arm for forward or rearward movement is attached to a rear axle affixed to the base. The assembly, in one embodiment, can be positioned atop a conventional box of rolled food film. Safe, manual cutting of the food film to convenient lengths can be easily accomplished with minimal training and effort. A turret blade allows for convenient blade changing when dulling occurs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 1995
    Date of Patent: March 18, 1997
    Assignee: Marketing & Distribution Services, Inc.
    Inventor: David J. Evans
  • Patent number: 5603161
    Abstract: A visual wear indicator which may incorporate a shaving aid, such that the visual wear indicator corresponds to released shaving agents, wear or oxidation of a cutting edge. The visual wear indicator may include a shaving aid composite which exhibits a first color to the user during an initial use and a different color during a subsequent use, wherein the transition from the first color to the second color is designed to correspond to a predetermined parameter of the shaver. The visual wear indicator may also include a metallic surface having an oxidation rate which parallels the oxidation rate of a cutting edge and provides a sufficient surface area to exhibit a second color upon detrimental oxidation of the blade.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 1995
    Date of Patent: February 18, 1997
    Inventor: Christopher A. Welsh
  • Patent number: 5603252
    Abstract: A saw blade is provided with recurring groups of teeth. Each group of teeth includes one straight tooth, an even number of high set teeth, and an even number of low set teeth. Distances from all of the teeth in the group to a corresponding, immediately preceding teeth are different for all of the teeth. Distances from all of the teeth in the group to a preceding tooth of the same height are different for each tooth. Distances from all of the set teeth in the group to the nearest preceding set tooth with the same set are different for each set tooth. No high teeth are immediately adjacent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 1995
    Date of Patent: February 18, 1997
    Assignee: Sandvik AB
    Inventor: Robert C. Hayden, Sr.
  • Patent number: 5600892
    Abstract: A cutter for simultaneously severing opposed sides of a drywall panel. The inventive device includes a guide assembly for sliding along an exposed edge of a drywall panel. Support columns project from the guide assembly for positioning along respectively opposed front and rear faces of the panel. Cutting assemblies are secured to lower ends of the support columns and engage the faces of the panel to effect cutting of the panel along a line parallel to the exposed edge as the guide assembly is traversed thereover.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 1995
    Date of Patent: February 11, 1997
    Inventors: Glenn H. Peugh, David A. Daniel, Gary O. Pritchett
  • Patent number: 5586785
    Abstract: The invention provides a structure mounted on the front of a vehicle to cteract wire booby traps set to disable vehicle drivers. The wire cutter has an upright cutting bar mounted on the front of a vehicle and a second cutting bar extending back from the first cutting bar at an angle. The second cutting bar has a cutting hook attached to the end so as to catch and sever any wire which remains uncut when the end of the second bar is reached.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 24, 1996
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: Joseph G. Warner, Christopher J. Bensch
  • Patent number: 5584216
    Abstract: A die punch includes a shank configured to operably engage a tool holder on a die, and a tip extending from the shank, the tip being configured to punch a hole in sheet material. A conductor extends from the shank to the tip along a longitudinally extending passageway in the punch. The conductor is insulated from the shank but electrically connected to said tip at one end by a bridge so that an electrical circuit is defined from the conductor through the bridge and tip to the shank. A first electrical contact is connected to the trailing end of the conductor and insulated from the shank, and a second contact is secured to the shank, either on the side or the end of the shank. The punch holder includes a pair of corresponding contacts so that the punch is electrically connected to the press control circuitry when the punch is secured in the punch holder. The continuity of the electrical circuit is continuously monitored to determine if the tip of the punch has been broken.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 1994
    Date of Patent: December 17, 1996
    Inventor: Arthur H. Sinjen
  • Patent number: 5584219
    Abstract: A release device for an air cushion or thermal insulation barrier of a double or multi glazed glass unit comprises interfitting first and second members which are movable relative to one another, the first member having associated with it a pin or striker which is movable with the first member from an inoperative position to an operative position to crack or penetrate one or more glass panels of the unit, the device has one or more ventilation orifices to enable release of the sealed air cushion or thermal insulation barrier between the panes of a glazed unit. To limit the relative movement of the first and second members of the device there is within the device interfitting projections. The device, which may include one or more springs, may be mounted on a support structure for movement from an inoperative position to an operative position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 1994
    Date of Patent: December 17, 1996
    Inventors: Kenneth R. Dunn, Carole A. Dunn
  • Patent number: 5582088
    Abstract: An adjustable panel cutter including a table for supporting the workpiece horizontally, semi-vertically or vertically, a guide frame mounted for pivotal movement at a lower end thereof with respect to the table and a cutting tool carriage slidably received on the guide frame. A power cutting tool is mounted in the cutting tool carriage. The guide frame is moveable angularly across the plane of the table following an arcuate slot in the table in which a guide and locking pin, attached at an upper end of the guide frame, is attached. A quick locking and release mechanism is operatively connected to the guide and locking pin to allow an operator to easily set the guide frame and cutting tool at a desired angle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1994
    Date of Patent: December 10, 1996
    Inventor: Edward R. Harter
  • Patent number: 5575189
    Abstract: A roller with grooves for a wire saw around which a cutting wire is wrapped. The roller comprises a core member having an inside divided into two areas which have a boundary at the center in the longitudinal direction of the core member, wherein each of the areas has a passage for circulation of a coolant and the inlet and the outlet of each passage are provided in the vicinity of the outer end of one area side in which the passage belongs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 1995
    Date of Patent: November 19, 1996
    Assignee: Shin-Etsu Handotai Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Etsuo Kiuchi, Kazuo Hayakawa, Kouhei Toyama
  • Patent number: 5566601
    Abstract: An apparatus for cutting away containers, arranged in rows in a foil web having support platforms, which are rotatable perpendicular to the conveying direction and are surrounded by receptacles of a vertically movable die. To cut the containers away from the foil web, the die cooperates with a likewise vertically movable cutting knife. The support platforms have support faces, which have two different extensions offset from one another. If the support platforms are rotated with the die in the lowered position, then their maximal extensions form a gapless conveyor path for the containers, so that they can be removed from the apparatus without the danger of canting in the interstices between the support platforms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 1994
    Date of Patent: October 22, 1996
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Peter Mueller, Martin Beck
  • Patent number: 5564321
    Abstract: The can trimmer includes first and second supports adjustably mounted on bars for adjustably spacing the supports from one another dependent upon the height of the cans to be trimmed. The supports mount a motor-driven splined shaft for rotating first and second carrier wheels and star wheels between the carrier wheels. Cam-actuated pushers are mounted on the pusher carrier wheel and mandrels are carried on the other carrier wheel in axial opposition to the pushers. Cam-actuated trim heads are pivotally carried by the second carrier wheel for movement toward and away from the mandrels, respectively. Upon disposition of cans on the star wheels between the pushers and mandrels, the pushers carry the cans onto the mandrels for cutting by the trim heads. Air pressure pushes the cans off the mandrels in following engagement with the pushers for discharge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 1995
    Date of Patent: October 15, 1996
    Inventor: Hans M. Rath
  • Patent number: 5556019
    Abstract: A bag dispenser, for separating and dispensing a series of plastic bags where one end is attached to the top of the next bag by perforation lines with a slot therebetween. The series of bags are dispensed from a device comprising a wire frame formed into channels to support the core that the series of bags are rolled onto. The channels allow the core to rotate in place but restrict its linear movement to the vertical direction. The dispenser has two braking devices, a braking bar underneath the roll of bags and a pair of fingers that are attached to the channels to engage the core. The braking bar is positioned transversely to the series of bags so that it supports them. The pair of fingers does not engage the core until the number of bags on the core has decreased and the core has begun to descend. The two braking devices work in combination to retard the rotation and dispensing of the bags and thus to apply a tension to the series of bags.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 1994
    Date of Patent: September 17, 1996
    Assignee: Sealed Air Corporation
    Inventor: Joseph W. Morris
  • Patent number: 5553524
    Abstract: A stripper device for a punching tool comprises: a gas cylinder (5) filled with a gas (7) having a cylinder head (27) and a cylinder end (17) attached to a lower end of the cylinder head airtightly; and a piston (9) having a punch head (11) and a piston rod (15); an axial movement restricting member (13, 201) for restricting an axial movement of the piston in the gas cylinder filled with the gas; and a rotational movement restricting members (31; 205, 203) for restricting a rotational movement of the piston in the cylinder body. A stripping force of the stripper device can be obtained by a resilient force generated whenever the gas is compressed by the piston within the gas cylinder for each punching operation. The punch assembly enables plate material of various thicknesses to be punched out without generating stripping miss.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 1994
    Date of Patent: September 10, 1996
    Assignee: Amada Metrecs Company, Limited
    Inventor: Oriya Fujita
  • Patent number: 5549233
    Abstract: An improved coupon inserter assembly receives a continuous supply of coupons and separates the forwardmost coupon and successive coupons from the web in a controlled fashion. The inserter assembly includes a pair of opposed feed rolls and opposed burst rolls for delivering the forwardmost coupon to a predispense position and deliver that coupon to a point of insertion. The feed rolls and delivery rolls are both driven from a first drive source during a feeding operation. The feed rolls are driven by the first source and the burst rolls are driven by a second drive source during a burst operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1994
    Date of Patent: August 27, 1996
    Assignee: C. Joyce Witt
    Inventor: Donald E. Clauser
  • Patent number: 5546838
    Abstract: A slitting machine including a first slitting stage for producing a plurality of interrupted cut slits in an advancing sheet having a leading edge and a trailing edge includes a drive pulley, a driven pulley, and a belt engaging the drive pulley and the driven pulley to provide a power path and a return path between the drive pulley and the driven pulley. The slitting machine also includes a mechanism translating rotation of the driven pulley to drive an upper slitting assembly and notched blades of a lower slitting assembly in synchronization with the advancing of the sheet by a sheet feeder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 1995
    Date of Patent: August 20, 1996
    Assignee: The Upper Deck Company
    Inventor: Michael V. Longwell