Patents Represented by Attorney Francois Martineau
  • Patent number: 5172432
    Abstract: It is important healthwise to oxygenate water in swimming pools in order to kill the mainly anaerobic micro-organisms that may come to grow therein. Chemical agents are nowadays in current use, however, they are expensive, and also they do have damaging effects on the tissues of bathers particularly for the cornea. By mounting an oxygenating device at the water outlet of the recirculating system of the swimming pool, growth of anaerobic organisms is prevented. The present aerating device includes a spherical nozzle with a water flow channel, coupled to the recirculating system main water duct outlet, and a straw, engaging at one end transversely into the water flow channel and escaping at the opposite end above the water line. Ambient air is fed to and dissolved in the recirculated filtered water by the venturi effect generated by the forced circulation of water through the conventional recirculating water filtering system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 1992
    Date of Patent: December 22, 1992
    Inventor: Fernand Beland
  • Patent number: 5168915
    Abstract: Each panel of a garage door of the articulated type comprises a rigid metallic, rectangular frame including a pair of horizontal longer members and a pair of vertical shorter members rigidly interconnected. A casing surrounds the longer members and is made of two extruded sections, of synthetic material, which protrude laterally from the metallic frame and are interconnected to each other. The outer casing section carries weather strips for sealingly engaging the outer section of an adjacent panel. The outer casing section also carries retaining strips of J-shaped cross-section, which retain sheathing panes forming the main panel faces. These sheathing panes may be translucent or transparent, or may be opaque to conceal heat-insulating material which fills the panel inner space. Spaced upright mullions are disposed within the door panel and fixed to the horizontal frame members to provide anchors for the hinges which interconnect the panels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 1991
    Date of Patent: December 8, 1992
    Inventor: Jean C. Lafleur
  • Patent number: 5167412
    Abstract: In a bowling game, an apparatus to automatically retrieve knocked down tenpins from the skittle alley, after each ball strike aimed thereat. The apparatus includes a series of cables each connected to the head of a corresponding one of the tenpins. The cables are connected to a computer controlled slider, guidingly carried by a horizontal rail and power driven in reciprocating motion by an endless belt. Once at least one tenpin is struck by a ball, all tenpins are lifted by their cables through actuation of the motor of the power driven endless belt. The slider then returns to its initial position, which will enable the cables to yield to the weight bias of their pins and therefore allow all of the latter--but for the knocked down tenpin--to fall back to their upstanding position on the skittle alley.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 1991
    Date of Patent: December 1, 1992
    Inventor: Lucien Rochefort
  • Patent number: 5165263
    Abstract: The locking device locks the valve control lever in both its closed or open positions. It consists of a male part and a female part. The male part includes a lengthwise cavity, for flatly and freely receiving the valve lever, and a U-shape extension, transversely extending from one end of the male part main body. The female part defines a channel for sliding engagement by the interconnected male part and valve lever, to interlock same. A padlock interlocks the male and female parts by engaging registering ears thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 24, 1992
    Inventors: Claude Perron, Mario Primeau
  • Patent number: 5159993
    Abstract: The self-raising work platform assembly includes a pair of spaced towers adapted to be erected alongside a building structure, sleeve members surrounding and guided along the respective towers, joists extending between and releasably hooked to the sleeves, a flooring supported by the joists and chain blocks carried by the sleeves. The chains can be hooked to the tower to raise the sleeves, the joists and the flooring, to the level at which work on the building is to be effected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 1991
    Date of Patent: November 3, 1992
    Assignee: Gestion des brevets Fraco limitee
    Inventor: Andre St-Germain
  • Patent number: 5156021
    Abstract: A refrigerator in which one of the horizontal grill-work shelves is replaced by a shallow, flat, water tank. The tank is supported by the same support brackets as the grill-work shelf it replaces. The tank bottom wall includes fore and aft extending grooves, for engagement by the support brackets. The upturned ledge at the free end of each support bracket engages a deeper groove portion at a front section of the main grooves, this groove portion extending short of the front edge of the tank. Thus, only partial forward withdrawal of the tank from the refrigerator chamber will be possible in the horizontal plane, accordingly with the play of the ledge along the deeper groove portion. This will prevent its accidental fall-out.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 1991
    Date of Patent: October 20, 1992
    Inventors: Gino St-Gelais, Serge Pilon
  • Patent number: 5151610
    Abstract: Each vertically rotating blade of a wind-driven main rotor carries a secondary rotor oriented to be driven by the wind during its circular motion about the main rotor axis. The secondary rotors are thus exposed to a much increased relative wind speed and transmit torque to a rotary energy-producing device, such as an electric generator directly coupled to the shaft of the secondary rotor without the necessity of a speed-up transmission. Each secondary rotor may be located, in line with the chords of the main rotor blade, anywhere along said blade but, preferably, in the vicinity of the blade tip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 1990
    Date of Patent: September 29, 1992
    Inventor: Jean St-Germain
  • Patent number: 5146937
    Abstract: The use of a sheet made of a polymer material, preferably polystyrene, having semi-flexible, thermally-insulating, hair-clinging, non porous, non slipping properties, as a dye-applying pad for hair highlighting. The polystyrene sheet defines one and another opposite flat portions merging about a fold line. A lock of hair is laid over one flat half portion of the sheet, and a fluid (e.g. gel, cream, or cream gel) dye solution including oxidizing means is applied to the lock of hair. The other flat half portion of the sheet then folded over and flatly compressed against the first portion of sheet to take the locks in sandwich for a sufficient development time to enable permanent hair coloring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 1991
    Date of Patent: September 15, 1992
    Inventor: Stephane Lefebvre
  • Patent number: 5145154
    Abstract: A lift device for lifting the front or rear of a snowmobile. The lift is actuated by a pivoted handle bar, controlling a snowmobile chassis-engaging bracket through a parallelogram linkage. A non-hydraulic ram is connected to the parallelogram linkage wherein fluid pressure inside the ram cylinder builds up as the piston rod thereof retracts concurrently with the lowering of the raised snowmobile under the load of the descending snowmobile. A releasable lock about the inner end of the handle bar maintains the ram in loaded condition, until a vehicle is to be lifted. The power assist ram reduces by up to 90% the effort needed to pivot handle bar to lift the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 1991
    Date of Patent: September 8, 1992
    Inventors: Romain Bastille, Adelard Vaillancourt
  • Patent number: 5145275
    Abstract: A node coupler for interlocking truss beams of a self-standing structure. The coupler includes at least one pair of diverging elongated arms. Each arm has a cylindrical inner end portion and a thin outer end portion, engaged into the cylindrical hollow of a given truss beam. A slit is made in the arm outer end portion, to release a spring-loaded U-shape clip. The U-clip has a transverse finger to engage a bore in the wall of the truss beam, under the bias of the clip spring load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 1991
    Date of Patent: September 8, 1992
    Inventor: Claude Alain
  • Patent number: 5144782
    Abstract: A draining system for water which may collect between the upper and lower membranes of flat, horizontal or slightly sloped insulated roofs upon perforation of the upper membrane. The insulating panels located between the two membranes are provided at both their upper and lower faces with a network of intersecting grooves, and these networks communicate with each other through passages made through the insulating panels or constituted at the panel joints. A lower drain member is sealed to and opens above the lower membrane to drain any water having seeped under the broken or perforated upper membrane, so as to prevent deterioration of the insulating panels and water accumulation which may provoke considerable roof overload problems. In certain roof constructions, the network of upper grooves is not necessary.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 1990
    Date of Patent: September 8, 1992
    Inventors: Jean-Paul Paquette, Luc Trudeau
  • Patent number: 5135205
    Abstract: A tool to assist a single worker of a car body reblocking workshop in installing a door or the like vehicle body part on a vehicle. The tool includes a wheeled base frame supporting three upright posts. Each vertical post carries a transverse horizontal arm. The two opposite end arms form support arms to support the bottom edge of the car door in upright position. The intermediate or body part stabilizing arm endwisely carries a discoid plate applied against the car body part, and from which project two opposite belts hooked at their outer ends to the opposite lateral side edges of the body part. Each support arm is controlled in elevation by an independent motor, while the stabilizing arm can be adjusted vertically and horizontally. Horizontal positioning is controlled along an azimuthal axis and can also pivot vertically.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 1991
    Date of Patent: August 4, 1992
    Inventor: Francois Bedard
  • Patent number: D329086
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 1991
    Date of Patent: September 1, 1992
    Inventor: Germain Courchesne
  • Patent number: D329586
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1990
    Date of Patent: September 22, 1992
    Inventor: Mario Primeau
  • Patent number: D332139
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 1992
    Date of Patent: December 29, 1992
    Inventor: Germain Courchesne