Patents Represented by Law Firm Griffin, Butler, Whisenhunt & Szipl
  • Patent number: 5946798
    Abstract: The method for manufacturing a core comprises the following steps: providing a strip made of an electrically conductive material, shaping the strip into a tube, the two edges of the strip being substantially in contact, and welding together the two edges of the tube-shaped strip, via laser welding, in order to form the core (1). The method is preferably performed continuously using a continuous strip of substantial length, in an advantageous manner, the shaped and welded tube undergoes calibration, then a surface treatment intended to promote the adhesion of the insulating material (6) so as to insulate the core with respect to the external conductor (8) of the coaxial cable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 7, 1999
    Assignee: E. Kertscher S.A.
    Inventor: Bruno Buluschek
  • Patent number: 5948660
    Abstract: The invention relates to a DNA fragment encoding the gene for D-amino acid oxidase, a method for the preparation of said fragment and the uses of the enzyme expressed by said fragment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 7, 1999
    Inventor: Mirella Pilone
  • Patent number: 5946776
    Abstract: Wristlet clasp including first and second elements (1, 2), respectively mechanically connected to strands (5, 6) of a wristlet. A third element (3) mechanically connects in a hinged manner the first and second elements (1, 2). A cap (4) is rigidly and removably fixed to the first element (1). This cap includes two wings. The first element (1) is pierced by two transverse holes (15, 16) in which two pins or screws (35, 36) are engaged. One of these two transverse holes (35) is covered by the wings of the cap. The adjustment of the length of the wristlet is effected by connecting the first element and the third element to each other either via the first pin or screw (35), or by the second pin or screw (36).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 7, 1999
    Assignee: ProtAurec Sarl
    Inventor: Aurele Bourquin
  • Patent number: 5948373
    Abstract: In the installation for decontaminating a liquid effluent contaminated by at least one organic substance, a gaseous combustible is burned in a reactor to produce a flame containing hydroxyl free radicals OH.degree. and oxygen O.sub.2 and that flame is centered on the geometrical axis of the reactor. A helical flow of liquid effluent is produced on the inner cylindrical wall of the reactor to cause a direct contact between the hydroxyl free radicals and the organic substance contaminating the liquid effluent. Having hydroxyl free radicals present, the organic substance is oxidized in liquid phase. The high temperature of the flame enables completion of the oxidation of the organic substance, in liquid phase, by means of the oxygen O.sub.2 present in the flame. At the outlet of the reactor, the liquid and gaseous products are separated; the liquid product is collected while the gaseous product is evacuated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 7, 1999
    Assignee: Corporation De L'Ecole Polytechnique
    Inventors: Christophe Guy, Marzouk Benali, Eve Ostiguy
  • Patent number: 5944979
    Abstract: To decontaminate soil, a generally thin porous medium is used. A cathode is applied to one face of the porous medium and an anode is spaced apart from the other face of that porous medium to define a generally thin spacing for receiving a generally thin layer of soil to be decontaminated. An electric potential is applied to the first and second electrodes in view of transferring the contaminants from the thin layer of soil to the porous medium. A porous membrane may be positioned between the thin layer of soil and the anode. The system may be of the conveyor type to enable displacement of the porous medium, the porous membrane, and the layer of soil between the anode and the cathode. Also, the system may comprises a series of at least two pairs of anode and cathode supplied with electric potentials of different amplitudes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 31, 1999
    Assignee: Universite de Sherbrooke
    Inventor: Guy Lefebvre
  • Patent number: 5944040
    Abstract: A collapsible tent frame is disclosed. The tent frame has a center pole used for stretching and sustaining a tent's roof when pitching a tent. A plurality of side poles are coupled to each other through a plurality of scissor-type ribs, with upper ends of the ribs being hinged to connectors provided at top ends of the side poles and lower ends of the ribs being hinged to sliders movably fitted over the side poles. The center pole is coupled to the connectors of the side poles through a plurality of center pole ribs. The above center pole ribs individually consist of two rib members, which are coupled to each other through a hinge joint. Each of the center pole ribs is also hinged to the slider of an associated side pole through a support link, thus being collapsible at the hinge joint in accordance with a sliding motion of the slider along the side pole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 31, 1999
    Inventor: Jung-Woo Jang
  • Patent number: 5944166
    Abstract: Pallet conveyor intersection apparatus having a central portion and plural conveyor portions connected to the central portion. Each of the conveyor portions has a pallet way along which pallets can be driven. The pallet ways of at least two of the conveyor portions are disposed at different levels, and the central portion is configured so that it can vertically displace a pallet, situated on the central portion, between levels corresponding to the different levels of the pallet ways of the conveyor portions. A pallet to be used in this system has a peripheral coupling which may be oriented facing at least one of the conveyor portions. The pallet's coupling can be engaged with or disengaged from a complementary coupling associated with the facing conveyor portion by vertically displacing the pallet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 31, 1999
    Assignee: ABB Preciflex Systems
    Inventor: Daniel Bidaud
  • Patent number: 5944731
    Abstract: A surgical appliance for slicing a sliver from the cornea comprises:a base comprising an annular suction chamber shaped to be pressed against the sclera of an eye;a cornea-shaping element situated above the base and having a surface turned to face it; anda cutting blade movable in a plane that is situated between the surface of the shaping element, and the base.According to the invention, the appliance has a general support to which the base is coupled by means enabling its position relative to the support to be adjusted along the axis of symmetry of the annular chamber, and to which the cutting blade is coupled by means enabling its position relative to the general support to be adjusted along a direction parallel to the axis of symmetry of the annular chamber and enabling it to be displaced perpendicularly to said axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 31, 1999
    Inventor: Khalil Hanna
  • Patent number: 5941400
    Abstract: A frame collapsible and extendable by means of a turning movement, which frame comprises a number of supporting frames (1) and a number of rod-like upright elements (2, 2'), each upright element being connected to a supporting frame via a pivot (3) for pivoting through at least 90.degree. and being connected to at least one end via a hinge joint (4) and to one end of a further upright element connected to a further supporting frame for swinging and turning about its longitudinal axis, in such a manner that in a first collapsed position the supporting frames form a compact stack with upright elements and in a second extended position the supporting frames are spaced with the upright elements mutually resting on each other surface-to-surface as positioning means, while a spring force in the hinge joint must be overcome to bring the frame out of the extended position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 1995
    Date of Patent: August 24, 1999
    Assignee: Laarhoven Design International B.V.
    Inventor: Raoul Andre Lemaire
  • Patent number: 5943213
    Abstract: The invention discloses a three-dimensional module with the use of volume unpackaged and film electronic components.Between the independent electronic components comprising IC chips and the microboards comprising active and passive electronic components are disposed intermediate multifunctional boards. All module members are fabricated mostly from heat conductive materials, and together with the module's heatsinks make up an effective heat dissipation system. The microboards and intermediate boards further contain film active and passive components fabricated using semiconductor, thin film and thick film techniques and increasing the operational range of equipment. The proposed design is versatile and can be used in any-purpose electronic equipment.The module structure allows its application under severe operational conditions and increases the packing density up to the technological limit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 24, 1999
    Assignee: R-Amtech International, Inc.
    Inventor: Yuriy Dmitrievich Sasov
  • Patent number: 5941577
    Abstract: A quick connector comprising a female part (1) having a bore (8, 11), a male part (2) having an outer collar (6) suitable for being inserted in the bore, and a locking ring (3) mounted to slide radially in a housing (10) of the female part, which housing subdivides the bore into an inlet section (8) and a main section (11), the ring (3) being movable between a first position in which it is eccentric relative to the bore and a second position in which it is substantially coaxial with said bore, said ring being integral with a resilient member in the form of at least one tongue (12, 13) co-operating with the housing (10) to urge the ring (3) into its first position, wherein the ring (3) includes a thrust platen (9) adjacent to the inlet section (8) of the bore and projecting beside the tongue (12, 13), at least the free end portion of the tongue being of a width (L) that is less than the thickness (E) of the ring (3) minus the thickness (e) of the platen (9) measured in the same axial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 24, 1999
    Assignee: Legris S.A.
    Inventor: Jean-Noel Musellec
  • Patent number: 5939888
    Abstract: A monitor for monitoring the moisture content of grain comprises at least one programmable PIN diode attenuator connected between a microwave measurement signal source and a transmit antenna. A controller stores an addressable attenuation table, each location in the table storing an attenuation value and an associated attenuator address. A counter accesses the table locations sequentially and the attenuator addresses are applied to the attenuator to cause a step-wise decreasing attenuation of the measurement signal which is then transmitted through the grain. After the signal passes through the grain, it is detected and applied to a threshold comparator. When the magnitude of the detected signal reaches the threshold, the counter is stopped and the attenuation value at the location pointed to by the counter is taken as the attenuation of the measurement due to moisture in the grain. Once the attenuation has been determined, the moisture content and mass grain flow may be calculated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 17, 1999
    Assignee: New Holland North America, Inc.
    Inventor: George F. Nelson
  • Patent number: 5937839
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a clay pigeon throwing machine comprising a secondary throwing table (29), elements (130, 154) for placing clay pigeons in a throwing position on the throwing table (29), a throwing arm (75) fixedly secured to a main axle (60), which main axle (60) is connected to an element (70) for urging the throwing arm (75) in a rapid acceleration and thus throwing the clay pigeon from the throwing table (29). The invention is characterized in that the elements (130, 154) are arranged so as to place two clay pigeons in throwing position so that two clay pigeons are thrown simultaneously in the same plane by the throwing arm (75).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 17, 1999
    Assignee: Beomat Sweden Aktiebolag
    Inventors: Sten Nilsson, Ingemar Axen
  • Patent number: 5936477
    Abstract: An oscillator, such as a ring oscillator, uses CMOS transistors. At least some of the transistors have forward biased, current limited source-tub junctions for lowering the threshold voltages of these transistors. This enables the oscillator to operate at very low supply voltages, and it may be used in an electronic timepiece powered by a single photovoltaic cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 10, 1999
    Assignee: Asulab, S.A.
    Inventors: Jean-Pierre Wattenhofer, Pierre-Andre Farine
  • Patent number: 5935474
    Abstract: The invention pertains to flexible heating elements with carbon fiber resistive elements and can be used independently for heating greenhouses, domestic and industrial premises and as a component in other devices such as heaters. The invention also concerns a method of manufacturing the flexible heating elements in question. An electrical heater is a resistive element in the form of a bundle of carbon fibers; an insulating first layer made from a heat-conducting material in the form of a winding or braid, and a second layer made from polymer material; current supply elements each of which has three pairs of lobes. One of these pairs secures the end of the resistive element freed from the electrical insulation between the tip and a section of the first insulating layer; the second compresses the second electrically insulating layer; the third secures the insulating tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 10, 1999
    Assignee: R-Amtech International, Inc.
    Inventors: Gennady Porfirievich Grischenkov, Petr Alexeevich Korenev, Igor Anatolievich Kozlov, Vladimir Arkadievich Vjuchkov, Andrei Borisovich Tkachenko, Leonid Gurievich Shusharin
  • Patent number: 5934997
    Abstract: A microwave grain monitor determines grain density and moisture content without measuring the phase shift of the measurement signal in passing through the grain. A set of grain coefficients is determined and stored in a non-volatile memory. A microwave measurement signal is transmitted through the grain and the ambient temperature is sensed. The grain density and moisture content are determined from the attenuation of the measurement signal in passing through the grain, the sensed temperature and the set of grain coefficients.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 10, 1999
    Assignee: New Holland North America, Inc.
    Inventors: George F. Nelson, Ray E. Artz, Paul A. Leavitt
  • Patent number: 5932076
    Abstract: An electroforming apparatus, in particular for the manufacture of CD/LD data media molding tools, comprises an anode assembly and a rotatable cathode assembly spaced therefrom, and a stationary nozzle means for ejecting an electrolytic fluid into the space between the anode and cathode assemblies. An annular part of the cathode assembly surrounding a molding tool blank is penetrated by a plurality of circumferentially distributed flow passages, the inlet ends thereof are disposed to successively come into alignment with the nozzle means upon rotation of the cathode assembly so that the electrolytic fluid ejected from the nozzle means is received by the flow passages and guided thereby into the space between the anode and cathode assemblies. The width of the spac can thereby substantially be minimized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 3, 1999
    Assignee: Technotrans GmbH
    Inventor: Andreas Gubig
  • Patent number: 5931071
    Abstract: An apparatus for cutting the peripheral portion of a film projecting from the peripheral edge of a laminated glass plate having the film sandwiched between a pair of glass plates has a robot arm and a robot hand connected to the the robot arm. The robot hand has a releasable cutting blade, a device for biasing the cutting blade against the peripheral edge of a laminated glass plate, a device for biasing the cutting blade away from the peripheral edge of the laminated glass plate when the resistance force acting on the cutting edge of the cutting blade becomes larger than a predetermined level, and a device for biasing the cutting blade close to the peripheral edge of the laminated glass plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 3, 1999
    Assignee: Central Glass Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Takeshi Mori
  • Patent number: 5930873
    Abstract: A system for attaching a wristlet to a watch case (15) comprises at least one pin (45), which is situated in a cylindrical housing (45A) of a flexible resilient film (30), made of a plastic material or rubber, and at least one link (25) for attaching the wristlet to the watch case.The connection between the watch case and the wristlet is achieved as a result of the presence of the film (30) which is inserted in openings, provided within the attaching link (25) and the other links of the wristlet.The cylindrical housing (45A) comprises a series of hollow extensions (48), communicating with said housing, so that the coupling of a plastic element, such as the film (30), with the attaching link (25) made of metal has the effect of increasing the traction resistance of the wristlet with respect to the prior art.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 3, 1999
    Assignee: Lascor S.p.A.
    Inventor: Paul Julian Wyser
  • Patent number: 5927417
    Abstract: The series hybrid traction assembly comprises an electric generator set, a static converter and at least one tandem traction set intended to drive two driving wheels of a vehicle. The traction set (1) comprises two back-gear motors each comprising an electric motor (4, 14) and a reducing gear (7, 17) which drives the wheel by means of a transmission shaft. The two reducing gears are adjacent to a median plane (24). The motor driving the wheel situated on one side of the median plane is on the other side of such plane, so that each driving line preferably has a Z-shaped outline and the axial space requirement of the traction set is reduced. The assembly also comprises a generator set (40) formed of a heat engine (41) and a generator (42), this set being arranged facing one (4) of the electric motors, on the other side of the median plane. A very compact assembly results.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 27, 1999
    Assignee: SMH Management Services AG
    Inventors: Raphael Brunner, Robert Apter