Patents by Inventor Robert H. Ankum

Robert H. Ankum 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: 4799291
    Abstract: Self-aligning hinge for providing a properly aligned, uniformly tight fit between opposite mating first and second members has a resilient element in the form of a wire spring for permitting restrained movement of a hinge in all directions. The wire spring which is generally U-shaped has an intermediate portion residing within a groove in a mounting post extending outwardly from the first member and opposite end portions which encircle the opposite ends of a hinge pin. The pin resides within slots within an opposite pair of lugs mounted on the first member and within a hole in a single lug disposed between the spaced-apart pair of lugs and mounted on the second member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 1983
    Date of Patent: January 24, 1989
    Assignee: Deere & Company
    Inventors: Robert H. Ankum, Jay H. Olson
  • Patent number: 4793511
    Abstract: In a seed meter in which individual seeds from a seed mass within a first chamber on a first side of a seed disk rotatably mounted within a housing are transported by at least one circumferential row of apertures within the seed disk to a separate seed discharge area within the first chamber by the reduced pressure of a vacuum source coupled to a second chamber within the housing and on the opposite side of the seed disk from the first chamber, a brush and wiper arrangement mounted within a third chamber within and sealed from the second chamber and located opposite the seed discharge area bears against the second side of the seed disk to aid in dislodging and expelling debris from the apertures in the seed disk. The brush and wiper arrangement includes at least one circular brush rotatably mounted within the third chamber and a spring arrangement for biasing the circular brush and an adjacent circular band against the second surface of the seed disk at the at least one row of apertures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 1986
    Date of Patent: December 27, 1988
    Assignee: Deere & Company
    Inventors: Robert H. Ankum, Jay H. Olson