Patents by Inventor Frank Wieland

Frank Wieland 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: 6219918
    Abstract: A spoked wheel rim having a hub defining an axis, a plurality of spokes projecting radially from the hub, and a rim ring attached to outer ends of the spokes is machined by first mounting it in a loading/unloading station into a holder rotatable about a holder axis with the rim axis generally coaxial with the holder axis. Then the holder is orbited by a turntable carrying the holder from the loading/unloading station into a working station angularly offset relative to the loading/unloading station about a turntable axis between the stations. A rotating tool is then displaced by means of a head carried on a hexapod positioner at least over surfaces of the spokes while holding the rim stationary in the working station to machine the surfaces. The rim is then continuously rotated about the holder axis in the working station while engaging a rotating tool carried on the hexapod positioner with an edge of the rim ring to machine the edge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2001
    Assignee: Variomatic GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Frank Wieland
  • Patent number: 6155758
    Abstract: In known hexapodal machining centers, a movable support is supported and the individual struts are articulated on the support in one plane. For permitting a greater movability of the support, especially in the rotational degrees of freedom, and for improving the absorption of the forces, a hexapodal machining center having a stationary frame and a movable support is provided, in the case of which the six connecting struts of adjustable length are articulated on the support. Three articulation points respectively define a common plane of application so that two separate planes are defined. Also, the articulation of the struts on the frame is effected in two separate planes of application.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2000
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Forderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Frank Wieland, Michael Schwaar, Reimund Neugebauer