Patents Represented by Attorney, Agent or Law Firm Robert E. Muir
  • Patent number: 6583914
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device for scanning an object using a scanning beam which is directed into a rotating deflector and which is diverted onto the object at a controllable diversion angle using a diverting unit that is arranged in a moveable manner. The diversion angle of the diverting unit is adjusted according to the centrifugal force acting upon said diverting unit and according to the rotational speed of the deflector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2003
    Assignee: Universitat Hannover
    Inventors: Eckart Müller, Ulf Kruse
  • Patent number: 6572357
    Abstract: An apparatus permits production of the complete monolithic cross flow trap module in a single extrusion process followed by firing to sinter the plasticized ceramic material and remove the plastics to achieve open porosity. Consequently, the trap modules can be made in large production quantities at minimal cost.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2003
    Assignee: Illinois Valley Holding Comany
    Inventor: John M. Bailey
  • Patent number: 6560953
    Abstract: A harvester at least one adapting device for receiving a front attachment, wherein a mechanically and/or hydraulically switchable reversing device is associated with at least one of the working components of the agricultural harvesting machine which are at the front in the direction of travel and the front attachment, which is received by the adapting device, can be moved by at least one displacement device into at least one non-working position which is at a distance from the working components of the agricultural harvesting machine, and which forms a gap for passage of crop between the front attachment and these working components. In this way, in the non-working position a through-gap is created between the front attachment and the working components of the harvesting machine, through which the crop stream conveyed out of the agricultural harvesting machine during the reversing process and interspersed with one or more foreign bodies can flow down in the direction of the ground.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2003
    Assignee: Claas Saulgau GmbH
    Inventor: Hans Rauch
  • Patent number: 6557332
    Abstract: A self-propelled combine harvester having a mechanically actuated directional control valve for a hydraulic piston-cylinder unit used for driving the cutter bar in an oscillatory manner. A switching bracket is used to axially move the mechanically actuated directional control valve from a first end position to a second end position and from the second end position to the first end position. A latch is used to periodically latch a piston valve stationary. A first plunger and second plunger are alternatively and axially moved by a first spring and second spring. The first plunger and the second plunger alternatively move the valve piston from the first end position and the second position and from the second position to the first position. The valve piston will be released from the first end position or the second end position one end position from which it was arrested or latched.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2003
    Assignee: CLAAS Industrietechnik GmbH
    Inventor: Karl-Thomas Rhody
  • Patent number: 6558252
    Abstract: A self-propelled combine harvester includes a separation unit having at least one rotor housing, a sieve mechanism with sieve openings and a rotor rotatably mounted therein. A grain collecting element is arranged adjacent the sieve mechanism. A cleaning apparatus receives the grain kernels collected from the grain collecting element. A sucking blower unit generates a sucking air flow stream. The sucking blower unit draws an air stream in an upward direction through a conduit which guides the air flow stream from a space between the rotor housing of the separation unit and the grain collecting element around a front wall of the housing of the separation unit towards the sucking blower unit. A second discharge location for chaff and broken straw draws the chaff and the broken straw from under the separation unit through the conduit via the sucking blower unit. The mixture of the air, the chaff and the broken straw is directed to the ground or into a chopper via a collection duct.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2003
    Assignee: Claas Selbstfahrende Erntemaschinen GmbH
    Inventors: Andrie Visagie, Thomas Barrelmeyer
  • Patent number: 6544118
    Abstract: A self-propelled combine harvester having a threshing device, main threshing drum and feed drum for transferring crop to an axial dividing device. The axial dividing device has two housings that are asymmetrical and expand vertically and horizontally at their inlet ends to ensure uniform and trouble-free transfer of the harvested crop to the dividing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: CLAAS Selbstfahrende Erntemaschinen GmbH
    Inventor: Berthold Schwersmann
  • Patent number: 6541121
    Abstract: A superconducting element comprising a high temperature superconducting film deposited on a stainless steel substrate that includes a composition of nickel; chromium; silicon; manganese; and iron. Optionally, carbon; phosphorous; sulfur; nitrogen; and unavoidable impurities will be present.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2003
    Assignees: Zentrum fuer Funktionswerkstoffe Gemeinnuetzige Gesellschaft mbH, Alcatel Kabel AG & Co.
    Inventors: Alexander Usoskin, Herbert Freyhardt, Friedrich Harten
  • Patent number: 6536984
    Abstract: A fastening bracket system for connecting two abutting members at a fixed angle includes a locking bracket having a flange and attached to one member and a channel bracket having a channel and attached to the other member. The channel or the flange, or both, is tapered. The flange is inserted into the channel until it becomes locked. Multiple locking brackets and channel brackets may be used in series to form longer joints. A method of assembling a joint from two abutting members at a fixed angle includes the steps of attaching at least one locking bracket having a flange to one of the members and at least one channel bracket having a channel to the other member, either the flange or the channel being tapered; positioning the members in the desired angle; and inserting the flange into the channel until it is locked, thereby locking the brackets together and securing the two members in position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2003
    Inventors: James G. Ring, Kevin L. Brinkman
  • Patent number: 6537148
    Abstract: An apparatus for separating grain, kernel or cereal from harvested crop includes a separating rotor operatively mounted in a rotor housing and having a rotor axis, and a separating grate which partly surrounds the separating rotor and forms a lower part of the rotor housing. The separating grate includes a plurality of frame portions, profiles operatively connected to the plurality of frame portions and extending parallel to the rotor axis, and webs having apertures therein and bent in a step-like shape. The webs are mounted between the profiles and the plurality of frame portions and transverse to the rotor axis forming a sieve area for separating the grain from the crop mat. The separating grate is utilized in a combine harvester, preferably a self-propelled combine harvester. The sieve area is used to sift, separate or loosen grain, kernel or cereal from the crop with reduced fragmentation and clogging.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2003
    Assignee: Claas Selbstfahrende Erntemaschinen GmbH
    Inventor: Berthold Schwersmann
  • Patent number: 6516595
    Abstract: A harvesting machine with a front-mounted harvesting attachment that is pivotable about a shaft running transversely to the direction of travel comprising and capable of lifting when an obstacle is detected that includes a sensing device with at least one double-acting hydraulic piston and cylinder unit, having a first cylinder chamber and a second cylinder chamber, arranged on the harvesting attachment, a control valve associated with the sensing device in such a way that when the sensing device is not operated, the first cylinder chamber is in fluid communication with the second cylinder chamber by a control valve and when the sensing device is operated, fluid communication between the first cylinder chamber and the second cylinder chamber is interrupted by the control valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2003
    Assignee: CLAAS Industrietechnik GmbH
    Inventors: Karl-Thomas Rhody, Helmut Franke
  • Patent number: 6516941
    Abstract: Chain conveyors in an agricultural harvesting machine can be tensioned by means of a tension adjusting device including an adjusting unit which is coupled to a displaceable shaft via a linkage means or connector members. The adjusting units are advantageously hydraulic cylinders controlled in synchronism. The hydraulic cylinders can be mutually independently pressurized via bypass lines incorporating control valves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2003
    Assignee: Claas Selbstfahrende Erntemaschinen GmbH
    Inventor: Hubert Buhne
  • Patent number: 6517431
    Abstract: A self-propelled combine harvester includes a transfer zone with side panels and a meshing and feed drum which functions on the tangential flow principle. The feed drum feeds the harvested crop to the separating rotors, which function on the axial flow principle and are rotatably mounted in rotor housings. Side panels are operatively mounted on the rotor housing in the frontal pickup region thereof Guide rails are directed upwardly at an acute angle and become increasingly elevated in the direction of conveyance, for imparting an upward, axially directed pulse to the harvested crop whereby the increasing elevation amplifies this pulse without thereby blocking the pickup zone in a frontal region. Dividing wedge for dividing the harvested crop into two paths, wherein the harvested crop glides over the dividing wedge towards the rotor housings and the long stemmed materials, such as stalks, are caught by the separating rotors and drawn into the corresponding rotor housing via the dividing wedge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2003
    Assignee: Claas Selbstfahrende Erntemaschinen GmbH
    Inventor: Berthold Schwersmann
  • Patent number: 6510680
    Abstract: In an agricultural machine having a machine housing, a main drive axle with pivotal drive wheels, and a feed rake, an apparatus for allowing pivotal adjustment of a frontal attachment relative to the feed rake includes at least one pivot element or frame pivotally connected between the feed rake and the frontal attachment, thereby creating at least two separate pivot planes between the frontal attachment and feed rake. The pivot element pivots about a pivot axis that is generally coaxial with a crop path through the feed rake.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2003
    Assignee: Claas Selbstfahrende Erntemaschinen GmbH
    Inventors: Hubert Uhlending, Holger Thiemann
  • Patent number: 6510230
    Abstract: A support for a behind-the-ear hearing aid, including a body and a sound tube that includes at least one pad positioned underneath the behind-the-ear hearing aid, and at least one attachment mechanism that connects the at least one pad to the behind-the-ear hearing aid. This support device can also include a moisture guard that includes a sweat pad located underneath the body of the behind-the-ear hearing aid and also includes a muffler pad located adjacent to the microphone of the hearing aid and is attached to the sound tube of the behind-the-ear hearing aid wherein the at least one attachment mechanism further includes a first attachment mechanism to attach the sweat pad underneath the body of the behind-the-ear hearing aid and a second attachment mechanism to attach the muffler pad to the sound tube and adjacent to the microphone of the behind-the-ear hearing aid. The support and sweat pads can, but are not necessarily, made of foam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 2, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2003
    Inventor: Theodore J. Marx
  • Patent number: 6506439
    Abstract: An apparatus and process for applying a superconductive layer on an elongate substrate that includes moving the elongate substrate through a heating zone, applying a pulsed laser beam against a target, having a length, that is coated with superconductive material wherein particles of superconductive material are separated from the target and strike the elongate substrate with a plasma beam in the heating zone, and oscillating the pulsed laser beam across the target to provide a substantially uniform coating of superconductive material on the elongate substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2003
    Assignee: Zentrum für Funktionswerkstoffe Gemeinnuetzige Gesellschaft mbH
    Inventors: Alexander Usoskin, Herbert Carl Freyhardt, Juergen Knoke
  • Patent number: 6487843
    Abstract: A turbomachine is operated in a manner to improve the degree of efficiency of a machine of this type. To this end, fresh air that has been drawn in by suction is isochorically heated in individual, closed off conveying and heating chambers, which are arranged in succession in the conveying direction, and then supplied to a working machine in which the air is expanded and behind which the air is burned after being mixed with fuel. The resulting combustion gases are then guided past the conveying and heating chambers in the opposite direction to the conveying direction of the same, in such a way that the fresh air that is drawn in by suction is successively isochorically heated in said chambers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2002
    Assignee: DIRO Konstruktions GmbH & Co, KG
    Inventor: Hubert Tomczyk
  • Patent number: 6476559
    Abstract: A ceremonial illuminary including a voltage supply mechanism, a switching mechanism that is electrically connected to the voltage supply mechanism, a first lamp electrically connected to the switching mechanism, a second lamp electrically connected to the switching mechanism wherein the switching mechanism provides voltage to the first lamp to illuminate the first lamp and then switches to provide voltage to the second lamp instead of the first lamp when the first lamp burns-out and no longer illuminates. The first lamp and the second lamp are secured with an enclosure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2002
    Assignee: Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
    Inventor: Gary L. Rapp
  • Patent number: 6474266
    Abstract: A plant anchor for securing a plant that includes a base member, having a top and bottom, and at least one support portion located within the base member and each support portion includes at least one opening for frictionally securing a plant. Preferably, there is more than one leg that is attached to the bottom of the base member. The base member as well as the legs can be in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. There can be more than one support portion located on each base member. The optimal opening is two transverse, v-shaped slits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2002
    Assignee: Sea Side Innovations LLC
    Inventor: Jeffery A. Arnett
  • Patent number: 6475082
    Abstract: A rotary threshing and separation unit for grain harvesting comprising a rotor housing with a feeding zone, separation zone and discharge zone, sieve at least partially located within the separation zone, rotary driven separation rotor arranged in the rotor housing, fan or blower for generating a main air flow stream moving through at least the separation zone and discharge zone, an auxiliary flow stream, adjustable flaps and grain collecting element arranged below the sieve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2002
    Assignee: CLAAS Selbstfahrende Erntemaschinen GmbH
    Inventor: Andrie Diederich Visagie
  • Patent number: D472032
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2003
    Inventor: Stephen M. Young