Patents Examined by André L. Jackson
  • Patent number: 7237302
    Abstract: A furniture glide is provided for mounting to a leg of a piece of furniture. The furniture glide having an inner surface for engaging a bottom of the leg of the piece of furniture and an outer surface for engaging a supporting surface. A first and second sidewalls project from opposite sides of the base and have inner surfaces for engaging opposites sides of the leg of the piece of furniture. Each sidewall is pivotable between a first storage position wherein the sidewall is spaced from a corresponding side of the leg and a second operating position wherein the sidewall is in engagement with the corresponding side of the leg.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2007
    Inventor: Richard D. Bushey
  • Patent number: 7231692
    Abstract: A damping mechanism for an opening and closing member that opens and closes an opening while changing a center of rotation has an arm with damped rotational speed to support a shaft part of the opening and closing member. A position of the shaft part with respect to the arm is changed along with the opening and closing operation of the opening and closing member by a guide member. The arm is urged toward an opening direction of the opening and closing member by a forcing member, and the opening and closing member is maintained in a closed state against the force of the forcing member by a locking member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2007
    Assignee: Nifco Inc.
    Inventor: Akinori Harada
  • Patent number: 7200901
    Abstract: Zipper securing devices for keeping zippers in a securely closed but unlocked condition that provide for easy un-fastening and re-fastening of the zipper securing device. In one embodiment, the zipper securing device comprises an elastic loop assembly and post. In a second embodiment, the zipper securing device comprises two zipper pulls which snap together. In a third embodiment, the zipper securing device comprises a hook assembly and zipper pull assembly. In a fourth embodiment, the zipper securing device comprises an elastic loop assembly and zipper slider assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2007
    Assignee: Quiksilver, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher Brian Pitts, Casey D. Fleming
  • Patent number: 7155779
    Abstract: An automatic hinge having an upper or left hand section with an arcuate interior or lower edge, a central section with an arcuate left hand or upper edge and an arcuate right hand or lower edge, and a lower or right hand section with an upper or interior edge. The sections are preferably cylindrical and the edges generally elliptical. A drive moves the central section linearly between the upper and lower sections. As the central and upper sections engage, the central section will rotate in one direction. As the central section engages the lower section, the central section will rotate in the opposite direction. A gate is preferably attached to the central section. By linearly moving the central section, the gate is lifted and turned. The preferred configuration allows the hinge to open a gate inward or outward in both a left hand mount and a right hand mount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2007
    Assignee: Logical Decisions, Inc.
    Inventor: Guy Watkins
  • Patent number: 7073235
    Abstract: Vehicle body restraint systems including buckles for latching and retaining latch plates associated with safety belts wherein the buckles includes latching mechanisms having oppositely oriented release mechanisms which are operative in such a manner that any force applied to one release mechanism which would act to release a latch plate creates an increased force on the opposing release mechanism to retain the latch plate in a locked position. Release of the latch plates can only occur upon the simultaneous activation of the opposing release mechanisms by manual force applied in opposite directions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2006
    Inventor: Charles E. Benedict
  • Patent number: 7065836
    Abstract: A fitting for rotatably supporting a closing element for closing an opening, the fitting including a flange, a clamping element for fixing the closing element to the flange, and a pair of arms extending in parallel from the flange and forming an intermediate space therebetween. Each arm extends to a sleeve which can receive the axle therethrough. The flange, the arms, and the sleeves forming a single piece. A ring received between the sleeves can be secured to the axle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2006
    Assignee: Dorma GmbH + Co. KG
    Inventor: Hubert Elmer
  • Patent number: 6874828
    Abstract: A bayonet locking system for vending machines is provided to lock and unlock the machine preferably with a remotely controlled electronic operating unit. It includes at least one motor driven axially and rotationally movable bayonet with an enlarged shaped head being mounted preferably on a gasketed door and at least one receptacle receiving device disposed within the machine interior positioned for engagement by the bayonet when the door is moved to an intermediate position. The bayonet advances into the receptacle and rotates to capture it in the receptacle and then axially retracts to pull the door into the closed position wherein a gasket disposed between the door and the machine is substantially uniformly compressed and sealed around its periphery. An axially rotatable pin with fins may be used with a bracket on either the door or machine to prevent prying of the door at opposite corners.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2005
    Assignee: TriTeq Lock and Security, L.L.C.
    Inventors: Calin Vasile Roatis, William D. Denison, Tomasz Barnas, Gary L. Myers
  • Patent number: 6799353
    Abstract: A portable support handle for assisting individuals in exiting and entering motor vehicles. The support handle is designed to removably engage a door striker pin of the vehicle when the door is in an open position. The handle preferably comprises a metal shaft including a pin engagement portion sized to lockably fit into an opening defined by the striker pin in a deployed position; and a grip portion which extends laterally from the striker pin in the deployed position to provide a secure, readily accessible temporary support.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2004
    Assignee: Avenue Innovations, Inc.
    Inventor: Ian A. Stewart
  • Patent number: 6779232
    Abstract: The “Protector Sleeve For Wires And Pipes In Wood Frame Construction” is a cylindrical grommet/bushing, that looks like a short length of pipe, that fits snugly in any hole drilled through a stud or joist in wood frame construction and which has anchors on both sides to keep it in place. When the “Protector Sleeve” is in place it shields the hole that was drilled and thereby protects the wire or pipe that the hole was drilled for from being punctured by any screw or nail that might be driven through the wall and into the stud. The “Protector Sleeve” also serves to provide a smooth surface for wires to pass through as they are being pulled through several studs at a time towards their end point. The “Protector Sleeve” also reinforces the stud where it was weakened by the hole that was drilled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2004
    Inventor: Alexis Cerul
  • Patent number: 6757943
    Abstract: A hook for a mail bag, the hook including a planar attachment portion for attachment to a mail bag, the attachment portion defining a longitudinal axis; a planar supporting portion extending from the attachment portion in the direction of the longitudinal axis and which is planar with the attachment portion, the supporting portion defining an aperture therethrough; and a retaining portion which extends in the plane of the supporting portion and which partially occludes the aperture of the supporting portion, the retaining portion being resiliently deformable out of the plane of the supporting portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2004
    Assignee: Royal Mail Group PLC
    Inventor: Barry Brown
  • Patent number: 6754938
    Abstract: A clasp for jewelry items comprising a tongue member and a socket member which are correspondingly connected at the terminal ends of the jewelry item, where the clasp is brought into a locked position when the tongue member is slidably inserted into the socket member and a snapping engagement occurs between engaging elements of the tongue and socket members. The clasp is provided with hook end formations at the free ends of the tongue and socket member, whereby it is connected either directly to axial pin terminal ends of the jewelry item or through extra connecting elements including such axial pin ends thereby ensuring advantageous rotatability of the jewelry terminal ends around the hook end formations of the clasp.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2004
    Inventor: Galini Savoulidou
  • Patent number: 6742228
    Abstract: A clamp pad-body assembly that resists a separation of the clamp pad from the clamp body due to externally applied forces. The clamp body has a peripheral surface that has a height that is greater than the height of the exterior perimeter surface of the pad, and the exterior perimeter surface of the pad abuts the perimeter surface of a recess in the clamp body. The clamp pad-body assembly my be incorporated into a clothes hanger including two such clamps disposed at the ends of a beam coupled to a question-mark-shaped hook.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2004
    Inventor: Young Chang Kim
  • Patent number: 6742229
    Abstract: A buckle device in which it can be detected whether or not a tongue plate inserted into a case is locked, and in which reliability of such detection is high. In the buckle device, a magnetic plate is provided at a leg portion which moves together with the tongue plate which is inserted into an interior of the case. Changes in orientation of a magnetic field of a magnet of a sensing section, which orientation varies due to the magnetic plate approaching and moving away from the magnet, are detected at an MRE sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2004
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai-Rika-Denki-Seisakusho
    Inventors: Masakata Kanbe, Masahiro Taniguchi, Katsuya Kogiso, Masaya Tajima
  • Patent number: 6728995
    Abstract: A spectacles caddy can be attached by its spring clip to a vehicle visor or other similar substantially flat, thin, and stiff object. The shell of the caddy is made in two shallow elongate half boxes attached together at one short end by a hinge, and at the other by a latch closure. The latch is released by an exterior push button. A deformable member is provided in each shallow half box to grip the arms of a pair of spectacles inserted into the caddy. The longer side of each shallow half box also includes recesses, so that the sides do not grip the spectacle arms. The hinge is also constructed to limit the angular opening of the caddy to at most 45°, and preferably to about 30°, so that when in use attached, for example to a vehicle visor, the spectacles do not fall out when the caddy is opened to retrieve them.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2004
    Inventors: Leanne Ainley, Andrew Ainley
  • Patent number: 6719297
    Abstract: Piston ring including a covering surface which covers a circumferential surface of a piston, and supporting segments having retaining surfaces which engage the upper and lower sides of the piston. The piston ring has a butt joint which enables the piston ring to be elastically deformable radially, the butt joint being designed at one end of the covering surface with at least one tongue which engages in a cutout in the other end of the covering surface. The tongue is designed with at least one retaining segment which runs in the circumferential direction and engages in a supporting manner in each case on the upper and lower side of the piston.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2004
    Assignee: Mannesmann Sachs AG
    Inventors: Gerald Fenn, Hassan Asadi, Matthias Höhn, Peter Wirth
  • Patent number: 6711789
    Abstract: A clamp having first and second handle assemblies with each handle assembly having a jaw, a hand grip and an intermediate portion. The handle assemblies are pivotally mounted to each other at their intermediate portions for movement between an open position and a predetermined closed position. A spring is provided for biasing the hand grips and jaws to an open position. A locking mechanism is provided to lock the jaws in the predetermined closed position. The locking mechanism comprises a rack mounted on one of the hand grips and a pawl mounted on the other hand grip, each of which have teeth adapted to mesh with each other to hold the jaws in the predetermined closed position. Mechanism is also provided to release the pawl teeth from the rack teeth to permit the jaws and hand grips to move to an open position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2004
    Assignee: Great Neck Saw Manufacturers, Inc.
    Inventor: Qiu Jian Ping
  • Patent number: 6708374
    Abstract: A plastic terminal end section of a refrigerator handle is secured to an upper in-turned portion of a refrigerator door by forming the end section with a lower channel defined, at least in part, by in-turned, tie-down flanges. The overall mounting assembly also incorporates a metal plate which slips into the channel and receives mechanical fasteners such that the fasteners extend into the terminal end section of the handle, through the metal plate, and into the door. With this arrangement, the metal plate functions to clamp down the tie-down flanges to the door when the fasteners are tightened, thereby securing the terminal end section of the handle to the door.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2004
    Assignee: Maytag Corporation
    Inventor: Sheldon W. Mandel
  • Patent number: 6708380
    Abstract: A breakaway latch plate for use with the seat belt system is disclosed. The breakaway latch plate includes a latch plate body that may be selectively secured to a buckle. An orifice may be disposed within the latch plate body. Seat belt webbing passes through the orifice. A locking mechanism is coupled to the latch plate body. In a locked state, the locking mechanism prevents movement of the seat belt webbing relative to the latch plate body. When a predetermined load is applied to the seat belt webbing, the locking mechanism changes to an unlocked state, in which the seat belt webbing may move relative to the latch plate body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2004
    Assignee: Autoliv ASP, Inc.
    Inventors: David W. Schneider, Pontus Soderstrom
  • Patent number: 6708369
    Abstract: An adjustable top holder comprises a pivotal strut assembly and an anchor assembly that consist of a plurality of anchor components and a plurality of anchor disks for protecting and anchoring tempered glasses. The pivotal strut assembly includes a first vertical rod, a first transverse rod and a pivotal strut. The anchor assembly includes a second vertical rod, a third vertical rod and a second transverse rod. The invention is made and assembled from cylindrical bars without using molds. Thus production cost is greatly reduced. In addition, the vertical rods and the transverse rods may be switched between the right side and the left side to increase flexibility and interchangeability. Production and warehousing costs and space also are reduced The invention provides multiple functions and a greater versatility.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2004
    Inventor: Shou-Hsing Liao
  • Patent number: 6704972
    Abstract: A lightweight plastic bolt-like fastener which is used in pairs having a dual ratcheting function. The fastener includes a bolt having a stem which is semi-cylindrical in cross-section, with a head connected to one end of the stem and a semi-circular aperture in the head positioned coaxially aligned with the stem for receipt of a stem from a second bolt directed in opposite orientation. Positioned longitudinally along the flat side of the stem is a rack of serrated teeth which when the stem is inserted within the semi-circular aperture, a deflectable locking tab attached to the head end of the stem engages the rack of serrated teeth as a ratchet, and since the two fasteners each have stems sliding within the semi-circular aperture of the opposing stem, there is a double ratcheting action between both fasteners.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2004
    Assignee: Cessna Aircraft Company
    Inventor: Kevin J. Pyle