Patents by Inventor Thomas T. Von Handorf

Thomas T. Von Handorf 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: 5819189
    Abstract: A monorail vehicle used for material handling purposes comprises a number of cars which run on a track. The cars are linked together in one or more trains and each train has a master car and several slave cars. An embedded computer in the master car keeps track of the location on the train on the track by means of pulses from a Hall effect sensor in a brushless DC motor which powers the train. A central computer in an off board work station issues commands to the train and by monitoring its position on the track loop, the embedded computer in the master car of the train determines when to execute the command. A special jumper is used to connect the cars of the train together which distributes control signals to the various cars in the train without regard to the position of the cars in the train.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 1996
    Date of Patent: October 6, 1998
    Assignee: HK Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael J. Kramer, Jerry A. List, Weston R. Loomer, Thomas T. Von Handorf