Patents by Inventor J. Wayne Sawyer

J. Wayne Sawyer 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).

  • Measuring spatial variability in soil characteristics
    Patent number: 6497153
    Abstract: The present invention provides systems and methods for measuring a load force associated with pulling a farm implement through soil that is used to generate a spatially variable map that represents the spatial variability of the physical characteristics of the soil. An instrumented hitch pin configured to measure a load force is provided that measures the load force generated by a farm implement when the farm implement is connected with a tractor and pulled through or across soil. Each time a load force is measured, a global positioning system identifies the location of the measurement. This data is stored and analyzed to generate a spatially variable map of the soil. This map is representative of the physical characteristics of the soil, which are inferred from the magnitude of the load force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2002
    Assignee: Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LLC
    Inventors: Reed L. Hoskinson, John M. Svoboda, J. Wayne Sawyer, John R. Hess, J. Richard Hess