Patents by Inventor C. Thomas Curles

C. Thomas Curles 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: 5694742
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for producing strapless bales of highly compressible textile fibers is disclosed, wherein a compressed block of the fibers is ejected and expanded into a flexible bag. The apparatus includes a supply chamber for supplying loose fibers to a tramping chamber which is stationary. A ram assembly repeatedly tramps the fibers to form a compacted fiber mass which is then formed into a compressed fiber block within a stationary compression chamber disposed in fiber transfer relation to the stationary tramping chamber. The compressed fiber block is ejected transverse to the compression chamber through an ejection sleeve about which an oversized flexible bag is fitted. Due to the fact that the bag is of a greater size than the cross section of the ejection sleeve and due to the stretch and flexibility of the bag, the compressible fibers in the compressed fiber block undergo an expansion process wherein the flexible bag is filled with the compressible fibers to form a strapless bale.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 9, 1997
    Inventors: Kenneth W. Elliott, C. Thomas Curles, Alex Hollingsworth, David P. Zachary, Thomas C. Sisk, Michel D. Vaniman