Patents Assigned to Automation Equipment, Inc.
  • Patent number: 5177849
    Abstract: The brake shoe rivet press is for removing in a single operation rivets which are arranged in rows to hold a fibrous liner to the base of a brake shoe to thereby permit removal and later replacement of the liner. The press has a frame and a punch holder fixedly carried by the frame. The punch holder has a plurality of movable punches also arranged in rows and corresponding in number to the number of rivets in the brake shoe. The press includes upper and lower rams movably carried by the frame on opposite sides of the punch holder. The lower ram is provided with a support surface for positioning and supporting the brake shoe and also includes a plurality of openings arranged in rows for receiving the spent rivets. The upper ram has an operating surface, which, when the upper ram is actuated, engages the punches so as to urge them against the rivets to remove them from the brake shoe in a single operation. A hydraulic circuit is provided for controlling the movements of the upper and lower rams.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 1991
    Date of Patent: January 12, 1993
    Assignee: Muskegon Automation Equipment, Inc.
    Inventor: Bruce R. Johnson
  • Patent number: 5129247
    Abstract: Method for forming a tubular metal member of a shape and length having an opened end and a closed end into an element which is formed of a different shape and length by forcing and thereby flowing the metal of the tubular member from one mold cavity to another. The method utilizes a form mold having an entrance cavity of a shape and length generally corresponding to the tubular member and in which the entire tubular member is initially located and an exit cavity of a different shape and length in which the flowing metal of the tubular metal member is forced to form the element having the shape and length of the exit cavity. The form mold has an entrance opening in a side wall thereof which is connected to the entrance cavity. The tubular metal is initially located entirely within the entrance cavity of the form mold, with the closed end thereof located adjacent the exit cavity and the opened end of the tubular metal member being located at the entrance opening to the entrance cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 1991
    Date of Patent: July 14, 1992
    Assignee: Muskegon Automation Equipment, Inc.
    Inventor: Bruce R. Johnson
  • Patent number: 5050417
    Abstract: Apparatus for forming a tubular metal member of a shape and length having an opened end and a closed end into an element which is formed of a different shape and length by forcing and thereby flowing the metal of the tubular member from one mold cavity to another. The apparatus comprises a form mold having an entrance cavity of a shape and length generally corresponding to the tubular member and in which the entire tubular member is initially located and an exit cavity of a different shape and length in which the flowing metal of the tubular metal member is forced to form the element having the shape and length of the exit cavity. The form mold has an entrance opening in a side wall thereof which is connected to the entrance cavity. The tubular metal is initially located entirely within the entrance cavity of the form mold, with the closed end thereof located adjacent the exit cavity and the opened end of the tubular metal member being located at the entrance opening to the entrance cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 1990
    Date of Patent: September 24, 1991
    Assignee: Muskegon Automation Equipment, Inc.
    Inventor: Bruce R. Johnson
  • Patent number: 5008995
    Abstract: The brake shoe rivet press is for removing in a single operation rivets which are arranged in rows to hold a fibrous liner to the base of a brake shoe to thereby permit removal and later replacement of the liner. The press has a frame and a punch holder fixedly carried by the frame. The punch holder has a plurality of movable punches also arranged in rows and corresponding in number to the number of rivets in the brake shoe. The press includes upper and lower rams movably carried by the frame on opposite sides of the punch holder. The lower ram is provided with a support surface for positioning and supporting the brake shoe and also includes a plurality of openings arranged in rows for receiving the spent rivets. The upper ram has an operating surface, which, when the upper ram is actuated, engages the punches so as to urge them against the rivets to remove them from the brake shoe in a single operation. A hydraulic circuit is provided for controlling the movements of the upper and lower rams.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 1990
    Date of Patent: April 23, 1991
    Assignee: Muskegon Automation Equipment, Inc.
    Inventor: Bruce R. Johnson
  • Patent number: 4177567
    Abstract: This disclosure relates to a novel tracer head comprising a stylus, stylus support and housing, and two perpendicular differential transformers. The stylus has a unique configuration enabling more precise memory of its null position when the stylus is not deflected. Further, the stylus has a rotating top pin for contacting the pattern or template that assures a condition assumed in tracer control systems but not achieved under all conditions, i.e., the stylus will deflect away from the template normal to the template edge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 1978
    Date of Patent: December 11, 1979
    Assignee: Automation Equipment Inc.
    Inventors: Walter S. Limbach, 2nd, Jon R. Swoager, James M. Swoager
  • Patent number: 4117385
    Abstract: A tracer control circuit for guiding a probe around a template comprising analog computers for calculating normalized values of x and y deflection signals and x and y velocity signals. The circuit comprises means for rotating the vector defined by the normalized deflection signals to drive the probe tangent to the template edge and means for rotating the vector defined by the normalized velocity signals to establish a probe deflection reference against which actual deflection may be compared and controlled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 1977
    Date of Patent: September 26, 1978
    Assignee: Automation Equipment Inc.
    Inventors: Walter S. Limbach, II, George Kusic
  • Patent number: 4060035
    Abstract: An elongated shuttle car is provided having a set of undriven rail wheels and a set of driven road wheels. The rail wheels are movable between a lowered position wherein they support the shuttle car and a raised position wherein the shuttle car is supported from the road drive wheels. The road drive wheels are independently driven by fluid drive motors, one of which is associated with each road wheel. The road wheels are disposed so as to permit movement of the shuttle car generally perpendicular to its longitudinal axis which is aligned with the rail bed. Hydraulic cylinders or jacks are utilized for raising and lowering the undriven rail wheels which are normally formed of steel. The rail wheels are supported in movable truck assemblies. The movable truck assemblies have an axle permanently attached thereto and a pair of rail wheels are attached to the ends of the fixed axle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 1975
    Date of Patent: November 29, 1977
    Assignee: Automation Equipment, Inc.
    Inventor: Jon R. Swoager
  • Patent number: 4058104
    Abstract: A two-stroke engine having an improved piston construction which reduces friction and wear between the piston and the cylinder wall, thereby providing cooler operation at any selected speed. The decreased wear increases piston life. The piston skirt, which is substantially parallel to the cylinder wall during normal operation, has a plurality of circumferentially spaced openings formed therethrough. These circumferentially spaced apart openings or holes, which are of a relatively small cross-sectional area compared with the area of the ports, are aligned with vertical continuous portions of the cylinder wall. The openings of the inlet, outlet, and transfer ports are located between the vertical continuous portions or ribs of the cylinder. The piston is disposed within the hollow inner portion of the cylinder for relative reciprocating motion. The openings in the cylinder skirt are aligned to move along the vertical ribs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 1975
    Date of Patent: November 15, 1977
    Assignee: Automation Equipment, Inc.
    Inventor: Jon R. Swoager
  • Patent number: RE28707
    Abstract: A self-propelled vehicle having independently steerable and suspended wheel assemblies for use in underground excavations. The vehicle includes means for temporarily supporting the roof of an excavation, drilling holes in the roof, and inserting bolts therein. The vehicle also includes scoops mounted at each end with a conveyor joining the scoops, thus giving the machine a self-loading capacity. The application also discloses a method for systematically installing roof bolts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 1975
    Date of Patent: February 10, 1976
    Assignee: Automation Equipment, Inc.
    Inventor: Jon R. Swoager