Patents by Inventor Albert B. Atkinson

Albert B. Atkinson has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 5307902
    Abstract: In a meter counter assembly of a gas meter, a rotatable shaft of a gear train is journaled in a bore that extends through a support plate mounted in the housing of the counter. The plate is of a porus material, forming capillary passages for the transmission of lubricant therethroughout. A portion of the support plate extends into a lubricant reservoir in the housing. In use, lubricant migrates through the capillary passages to the bore from the reservoir for lubrication of the shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 1993
    Date of Patent: May 3, 1994
    Assignee: Dresser Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Richard T. Herrmann, Albert B. Atkinson
  • Patent number: 5305647
    Abstract: A fluid meter counter assembly includes a one-way clutch with an input hub drivingly releasable and connectable to a clutch shaft for unidirectional rotation of the clutch shaft and, in turn, a register in response to a reciprocating force coupled eccentrically to the input hub from outside of its rotational plane. A tubular support fixedly connected to the input hub extends along the clutch shaft and includes a distal end with an integral reaction surface spaced from the rotational plane of the hub and in bearing engagement with the outside of the clutch shaft to react against tilting of the hub within its rotational plane and binding relative to the clutch shaft under side load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 1992
    Date of Patent: April 26, 1994
    Assignee: Dresser Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: Albert B. Atkinson
  • Patent number: 5291790
    Abstract: A mechanical computer for a compensated meter counter assembly for a gas meter includes a one-way clutch with an input hub drivingly releasable and connectable to an output shaft for driving a register. A computer arm carried by the input hub oscillates along a specified arc about the axis of the hub between an initial position and a travel limiting cam surface positioned in response to temperature changes. An adjustably settable connection is provided between the arm and the hub for selectively pivoting said arm about said hub to position the outer end of the arm in a selectively set angular position relative to said hub and along the arc. In this position the outer end of the arm is held so as to precisely register with the initial position of the arc at the start of each oscillation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 1993
    Date of Patent: March 8, 1994
    Assignee: Dresser Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: Albert B. Atkinson
  • Patent number: 5105911
    Abstract: A gear train in a counter unit of a rotary positive displacement gas meter includes loosely fitting tubular sleeves telescoped around rotatable shafts in the train. The sleeves are located between gears that are partially immersed in a lubricant reservoir contained within the counter unit and adjacent bearings and gears that are out of direct contact with the lubricant in the reservoir. During operation of the meter, oil from the reservoir flows through passages formed between the inside of each sleeve and the outside of the shaft upon which the sleeve is mounted so that the gears and the bearings in the counter unit are lubricated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 1991
    Date of Patent: April 21, 1992
    Assignee: Dresser Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: Albert B. Atkinson
  • Patent number: 4339899
    Abstract: A connector assembly and method are disclosed for supporting each of the legs of a free standing tower or the like using a screw anchor driven into the ground at the base of a respective tower leg. In order to compensate for irregularities in alignment between the upper end of each screw anchor and a corresponding tower leg, the connector units are initially mounted on the screw anchors in a manner permitting individual axial, angular and longitudinal adjustment as may be necessary to bring each connector unit into proper alignment with a tower leg thereabove. The connector units while being held in such aligned disposition may be precisely affixed to a corresponding screw anchor and the proximal tower leg using the connector unit itself as a guide for such interconnection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 1980
    Date of Patent: July 20, 1982
    Assignee: A. B. Chance Company
    Inventors: William A. Klenk, Albert B. Atkinson, Donald E. Bobbitt