Patents by Inventor Mark L. Coleman

Mark L. Coleman 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: 5420571
    Abstract: A monitoring device is provided for use in association with a limit switch or similar mechanically actuated device in order to permit its end of life to be predicted. The system uses nonvolatile random access memory to store a count which represents the number of occurrences of one of two alternative events. The first event is the occurrence of a number of switch actuations and the second event is the lapse of a predetermined period of time. When either of these two events occurs, a microprocessor increments a count in the nonvolatile memory unit and clears both the clock and the volatile memory parameter. When the number stored in the nonvolatile memory represents a number of actuations estimated to be appropriately equal to the total life of the switch, this condition can be signaled to a sensor bus by a communication circuit. Alternatively, a light emitting diode can be alternately energized and de-energized to represent the number of actuations having exceeded the predicted end of life total.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 30, 1995
    Assignee: Honeywell Inc.
    Inventors: Mark L. Coleman, Thomas A. Fletcher, Lyle D. Johnsen