Patents Examined by Arlen L. Olsen
  • Patent number: 5072531
    Abstract: A pair of road-sliding skates for mounting onto a front-loaded, snowplow, automotive vehicle are provided, to prevent damage to the structural integrity of the vehicle when rolling on a high-crowned road, yet enabling unhampered snowblowing operation of the snowplow in high snow banks. The skates are mounted rearwardly of the front bucket side walls of the vehicle, being substantially inwardly offset relative to the vertical plane of the corresponding side walls, yet being forwardly positioned relative to the front leading edge of the recessed bucket flooring. Each skate position is adjusted about a horizontal, fore end aft axis as well as in elevation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 17, 1991
    Inventors: Normand Pronovost, Rejean Pronovost
  • Patent number: 5071286
    Abstract: A horizontally elongate floating boom for confining contaminate material floating on the surface of a body of water. There is a flotation section having a substantially vertical contaminate impervious skirt section extending downwardly therefrom. The skirt section has first and second ends which are adapted to overlap one another. A substantially vertical net section extends downwardly from the skirt section, and has a ballast section attached along a lower edge thereof. Apparatus is provided for securing a first end of a skirt section and a second end of a skirt section together when they are overlapped. In a first embodiment, the ballast section is adapted to rest on the floor of the body of water so as to maintain the boom in a fixed position. In a second embodiment, apparatus is provided for contracting the boom about a portion of the body of water which is encircled by the boom.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 1989
    Date of Patent: December 10, 1991
    Inventor: Robert A. Separovich
  • Patent number: 5067261
    Abstract: An invention which is an attachment to a standard tractor for use in continuous clearing, uprooting and grubbing of small trees, stumps, roots and brush from the land. The unit is fabricated of structural steel elements specially designed for continuous cutting and release of targeted materials for removal. These elements, specially designed and new to the art include a safety shield with viewing windows which provides protection to the operator from flying, hazardous debris; a steel bar as a guide to the forward cutting blades which also aids in pushing over the targeted timber; a pair of curved blades for gripping and cutting, then releasing the material they cut and lift without clogging the blades. Also the blades do not stick in the wood. This is a unique property as it allows continual operation including clearing the blades of debris saving the operator time and labor dismounting and manually clearing the blades after each cutting operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 1991
    Date of Patent: November 26, 1991
    Inventor: James G. Betts
  • Patent number: 5064312
    Abstract: A delay stopper for use in a mine roof anchor is provided. A mine roof anchor has a threaded roof bolt and a threaded receiving member for the roof bolt whereby the roof bolt and the receiving member initially rotate as a unit to mix resin components that are placed in the bore hole in a destructible capsule above the roof anchor. When the roof anchor is placed in the bore hole, the destructible capsule is ruptured, and the components within the capsule are mixed to form resin which at least partially secures the mine roof anchor within the bore hole. The delay stopper causes the roof bolt and the threaded receiving member to rotate as a unit to mix the resin after the capsule ruptures. The delay stopper has a cylindrical body portion interfitting into the threads of the threaded receiving member and a conical end portion formed on the cylindrical body portion and extending axially from the body portion in a direction toward the end of the roof bolt. The delay stopper is preferably formed of an epoxy resin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 12, 1991
    Assignee: Jennmar Corporation
    Inventors: Frank Calandra, Jr., Jerry Frease
  • Patent number: 5064311
    Abstract: An assembly and methods of installation thereof for supporting and stabilizing a rock structure adjacent a mine tunnel or other underground passageway. The assembly includes an elongated bolt, threaded from both ends for at least a portion of its length. A conventional, mechanical expansion anchor is threaded on one end of the bolt, within a drill hole in the rock structure, and a bearing plate, washer, jam nut and tensioning nut are carried on the other end, outside the drill hole. The tensioning nut is threaded into firm engagement with the jam nut to prevent further threaded advance of the tensioning nut a substantial distance from the termination of the threads. A torque applied to the tensioning nut thus rotates the bolt and expands the anchor shell into gripping engagement with the bore hole wall; torque producing an axial load on the jam nut in excess of its strength causes it to fracture or strip from threaded engagement with the bolt, permitting travel of the tensioning nut.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 12, 1991
    Assignee: The Eastern Company
    Inventors: Roger Giroux, Raymond L. Wright
  • Patent number: 5063695
    Abstract: An assembly of wear element for installation on the wearable part of a structure engageable with abrasive material including a relatively elongated base element adapted to be secured to the wearable part and a relatively elongated wear element releasably, reversibly mounted on the base element, each of the elements having longitudinally spaced apart dovetail surfaces in one outstanding wall portion and at least one surface in a second opposed outstanding wall portion positioned between the spaced art dovetail surfaces. A method of designing the dovetail connection through a repeating pattern is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 12, 1991
    Assignee: ESCO Corporation
    Inventors: Terry L. Briscoe, Paul C. Sprunger
  • Patent number: 5064308
    Abstract: A gravity sub-drainage system for drainage of level-graded natural grass athletic fields. A plurality of parallel trenches are formed in a level-graded subgrade beneath the surface of the field. A main drainage system is provided at the lowest point of the subgrade. A collector pipe is placed into a trench at one end of the field sloping downward into the main drainage system. Perforated drain pipes are placed in the parallel trenches to slope downward toward the collector pipe and to slope downward toward the main drainage system to ensure that water collected from the surface will flow down into the collector pipe and into the main drainage system by the forces of gravity without the need for a mechanical pumping system.A layer of pea gravel capable of draining at a preferred rate of eighteen inches per hour is placed around and above the perforated drain pipe up to a height of four inches above the top of the subgrade.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 1991
    Date of Patent: November 12, 1991
    Inventors: Daniel R. Almond, Joseph M. Stroemel, Stuart M. Cameron
  • Patent number: 5060732
    Abstract: A ground raking attachment for bucket-equipped tractor includes a toothed, cylindrical rotor which works the soil and at the same time rakes the ground free of rocks, refuse, roots, sticks and other debris which is transferred to the tractor bucket by the action of the rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 29, 1991
    Inventor: Theodore N. Baskett
  • Patent number: 5061120
    Abstract: A direction correcting device for a shield tunnelling machine having a shield body provided with a head portion and a tail portion following the head portion corrects the direction of the head portion relative to the tail portion. The device includes three jacks, each jack having two connecting portions relatively displaced in the axial direction of the tail portion, and a connecting body for interconnecting the head portion and the tail portion to permit the head portion and the tail portion to swing and to prevent the head portion and the tail portion from relatively displacing in the axial direction of the tail portion. Each of the jacks is connected at one connecting portion to the head portion and connected at the other connecting portion to the tail portion. The jacks and the connecting body are disposed around the axis of the tail portion at angular intervals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 29, 1991
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Iseki Kaihatsu Koki
    Inventor: Toshio Akesaka
  • Patent number: 5060404
    Abstract: An auger type dredge head may be mounted on a dredge ladder in a selected angular position with respect to the ladder axis, for sweeping or fore and aft operation, and a selected angular position may be set and maintained with respect to the dredge barge. The head has movable shrouds on opposite sides of the auger, the shrouds carrying doors which open automatically to eject matter too large to be accommodated by the dredge suction pipe. The shrouds have sloping fins on their inner faces to aid in the movement of dredged material to a centrally located suction pipe inlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 29, 1991
    Assignee: Ellicott Machine Corporation
    Inventor: Keith W. Lipford
  • Patent number: 5060405
    Abstract: A bucket loader wherein the bucket is pivotally mounted at one end of an arm. The other end of the arm is pivotably connected to the locomotive of a multiple-trolley train which is mounted for travel along an overhead monorail in a surface mine or in an underground excavation. The bucket can be tilted by two chains each of which is connected to a winch on a discrete trolley of the train.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 1989
    Date of Patent: October 29, 1991
    Assignee: Walter Becker GmbH
    Inventors: Horst Siffrin, Werner Michaely
  • Patent number: 5059064
    Abstract: Water is removed from an underground perforated pipe by a submersible pump inserted into an imperforate pipe extending from above ground to below ground level for communication with the perforated pipe. An inflatable bladder seals the submersible pump to the inner wall of the imperforate pipe for facilitating suction of water from the perforated pipe into the imperforate pipe. Water is drawn into a proximal end of the pump and expelled out of a distal end of a pump, and out of the imperforate pipe above ground level. By sealing the pump to the inner wall of the imperforate pipe, the pump is capable of drawing water from an underground perforated pipe located at a depth greater than the pumping capacity of the pump for drawing up water.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 22, 1991
    Inventor: Donald R. Justice
  • Patent number: 5059066
    Abstract: Plural liquid- and gas-tight, large capacity upright cylinders having closed tops and bottoms are positioned connected together resting on the bottom of a body of water. A first cylinder, initially filled with water, is loaded with waste (potentially consisting of various types of trash including solids of different specific gravity, oil and other liquids and entrapped gases created by decomposition). Liquid displaced by the trash is pumped to the next cylinder. A third cylinder may be fabricated on site or transported to the site in time to replace the second cylinder as it is being filled after the first is completed. Displaced gases are accumulated in the tops of the cylinders pipe to a location where they may be filterted or otherwise purified or burned.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 22, 1991
    Inventor: Peter V. Schindler
  • Patent number: 5058295
    Abstract: The rear-mounted scraper of this invention is adapted for attachment to the rear of a vehicle which has a rear bumper, bottom and a rear axle. The rear-mounted scraper has a hitch with portions adapted for attachment to the bottom of the vehicle and portions defining pivotal attachment points which define a horizontal pivot axis. The pivot axis of the attached hitch is spaced from the rear axle and the rear of the vehicle and is beneath the bottom of the vehicle. The plow also has a scraper assembly which has a blade an extension which extends forward from the blade and is pivotally mounted at the hitch pivot points to enable the scraper assembly to pivot about the horizontal pivot axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 22, 1991
    Inventor: William H. Holland
  • Patent number: 5056245
    Abstract: An article of manufacture is provided for use primarily in removal of snow from driveways, sidewalks, decks and other locations where snow accumulates and needs to be removed. Such article of manufacture also may be used as a dolly, sled, or a trailer-like device for pulling by a vehicle or snowmobile.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 15, 1991
    Inventors: Stephen L. Jenkins, Stephen L. Jenkins, Jr.
  • Patent number: 5056243
    Abstract: A locked connection for structures engageable with abrasive material and the like including a pair of relatively elongated elements at least one of which is subject to abrasive wear, the elements having parallel longitudinally extending centerlines and spaced apart generally planar surfaces arranged at an angle to the centerlines and between which a bi-stress lock is positioned.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 15, 1991
    Assignee: ESCO Corporation
    Inventors: Paul C. Sprunger, Terry L. Briscoe
  • Patent number: 5056244
    Abstract: The digging chain support boom of a continuous chain type excavating machine is vibrated in a directional mode so as to enhance digging efficiency. Directionally compliant mounting of the boom isolates this vibration from the machine proper while allowing unimpaired application of digging torque and crowd forces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 1989
    Date of Patent: October 15, 1991
    Inventor: John F. Bryan, Jr.
  • Patent number: 5054964
    Abstract: Stiffening elements are welded between the three rods (T1, T2, T3) of three-rod girders in uderground drift construction. Such stiffening elements consist of thee triangular wire polygons (10, 20, 30) connected to form one piece. Two of the polygons meet at the top rod (T3) to form a wire pyramid. The third wire polygon (30) is perpendicular to the plane determined by the axes of the lower rods (T1, T2). Since neither this third wire polygon (30) nor the adjacent polygon (10), which is one side of the pyramid, needs a cross-strut between the lower rods (T1, T2), a significant saving in materials combined with high resistance to bending is achieved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 1989
    Date of Patent: October 8, 1991
    Assignee: Pantex-Stahl AG
    Inventors: / Peter Salzmann, Hans Hugi
  • Patent number: 5052860
    Abstract: A system for aligning a drilling module on a jack-up rig with a drilling module support surface on a fixed rig wherein the angular disposition of the drilling module is varied by moving a portion of the jack-up rig on at least one of the legs of the jack-up rig to bring the angular disposition of the drilling module into alignment with the angular disposition of the drilling module support surface on the fixed rig prior to transferring the drilling module from the jack-up rig to the fixed rig. The system also includes a position assembly for positioning the drilling module on the drilling module support surface in a predetermined aligned position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 1, 1991
    Assignee: Transworld Drilling Company
    Inventor: James E. Ingle
  • Patent number: 5052133
    Abstract: A mobile ballast regulating machine comprises a machine frame supported by undercarriages on the track for mobility therealong in an operating direction, a vertically adjustable ballast plow arrangement comprising a substantially vertical ballast damming wall extending transversely to the longitudinal extension of the machine frame to the opposite machine frame sides, a respective ballast guide plate associated with the damming wall at each machine frame side, each guide plate being adjustable to define a desired angle with the respective machine frame side, and a cover plate preceding the damming wall in the operating direction and connected to the damming wall, the cover plate extending substantially parallel to a plane defined by the track and immediately above the running surfaces of the rails, and the cover plate including opposite ends associated with the rails and extending in the direction of the longitudinal machine frame extension, each cover plate end projecting obliquely downwardly towards the bas
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 1, 1991
    Assignee: Franz Plasser Bahnbaumaschinen-Industriegesellschaft m.b.H.
    Inventor: Pierre Mohr