Patents by Inventor Stephen Shoemaker, Jr.

Stephen Shoemaker, Jr. 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: 8505549
    Abstract: The present invention is a holder and method for using a holder that works with a hand rolled cigarette. A hollow tubular member is utilized having a first end that the user breathes from, and a second end that holds the hand-rolled cigarette. The cigarette is tightly rolled about an elongate steel rod or other stiff member having a diameter that can pass through the hollow tubular member, such that the rod protrudes from the cigarette far enough to be easily grasped by the user. The user inserts the rod through the holder until it passes out the first end, thereby wedging the attached cigarette into the second end of the holder. The second end of the holder preferably has internal threads, and the rod is twisted by the user to further engage the threads by the cigarette end to reliably affix the cigarette to the holder. The rod is then removed, leaving the cigarette firmly in the holder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2013
    Inventors: Robert Jurado, Stephen Shoemaker, Jr.
  • Patent number: 8070167
    Abstract: An arcade game pick-up device for use with hollow cylindrical targets that can be picked-up by applying a suction force to the bottom of the target, the pick-up device having a suction means and a control for reducing the tolerance between an impeding structure and the upper wall of the target to control the win percentage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Inventor: Stephen Shoemaker, Jr.
  • Publication number: 20110192409
    Abstract: The present invention is a holder and method for using a holder that works with a hand rolled cigarette. A hollow tubular member is utilized having a first end that the user breathes from, and a second end that holds the hand-rolled cigarette. The cigarette is tightly rolled about an elongate steel rod or other stiff member having a diameter that can pass through the hollow tubular member, such that the rod protrudes from the cigarette far enough to be easily grasped by the user. The user inserts the rod through the holder until it passes out the first end, thereby wedging the attached cigarette into the second end of the holder. The second end of the holder preferably has internal threads, and the rod is twisted by the user to further engage the threads by the cigarette end to reliably affix the cigarette to the holder. The rod is then removed, leaving the cigarette firmly in the holder.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 11, 2010
    Publication date: August 11, 2011
    Inventors: Robert Jurado, Stephen Shoemaker, JR.
  • Patent number: 7857318
    Abstract: An arcade type crane game includes a crane that moves in a two dimensional random motion over the playing field of the prizes without control from the player. After a period of the random motion, a pick up device stops its random motion and lowers in the location where it stops and attempts to pick up a prize below. In the case of a vacuum pick up device, the vacuum is lowered and acquires (or attempts to acquire) the nearest object below the vacuum. In the case of a claw type crane, the claws actuate after being lowered to the level of the prizes to acquire (or attempt to acquire) a prize below. By removing the controls from the player, various elements of skill have been removed from the game and replaced by chance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2010
    Inventors: Stephen Shoemaker, Jr., Edward Che
  • Patent number: 7559552
    Abstract: An arcade game is disclosed having a rotating roulette type wheel with holes along a concentric circle of the upper face, and a coin track for carrying a coin from a player to the roulette type wheel at the position of the holes, which serve as targets. An optical sensor signals a microprocessor that a coin is entering the rotating playing field, and a second optical detector detects the nearest target and communicates a target value to the microprocessor. The microprocessor compares the timing of the coin passing through the coin track and the passage of the most proximal target, and awards the target value of the time between the two events is within a predetermined interval.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2009
    Inventor: Stephen Shoemaker, Jr.
  • Publication number: 20090108045
    Abstract: A redemption ticket dispenser is disclosed having a ticket path defined by a series of interchangeable rollers to accommodate different width tickets, the dispenser having a pair of pinch rollers disposed at the mouth of the dispenser to pull tickets through the dispenser and out of an arcade game. The pinch rollers are mounted on a pivoting arm that is held in place by a removable tensioning member. With the tensioning member removed, the pivoting arm can be rotated out of the ticket path to allow ticket jams to be cleared without removing the dispenser from its housing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2007
    Publication date: April 30, 2009
    Inventor: Stephen Shoemaker, JR.