Patents Examined by Erica B. Harris
  • Patent number: 6431376
    Abstract: A storage bin assembly has a first sidewall, a second sidewall and a backwall. The assembly includes a first substantially L-shaped support member including the first sidewall and a first portion of the backwall, the first backwall portion being integrally connected to the first sidewall. The assembly also includes a second substantially L-shaped support member including the second sidewall and a second portion of the backwall, the second backwall portion being integrally connected to the second sidewall. The assembly has a plurality of shelves secured to the first and second support members, the shelves extending from the backwall and between the first and second sidewalls.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2000
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2002
    Assignee: White Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Joseph J. Wisniewski
  • Patent number: 6425560
    Abstract: A magnetic mounting object holder includes a magnet, a base, a pivotal mounting plate, and a removable attachment surface. One end of the base is attached to a top of the magnet. The other end of the base is pivotally attached to the other end of the pivotal mounting plate. The removable attachment surface is attached to a top of the pivotal mounting plate. The magnetic hook includes a magnet, hook, and a fastener. The hook is attached to the magnet with the fastener. The hook preferably has two positions. In a first position, an item may be placed on or removed from the hook. In a second position, the magnet must be removed from a mounting surface to place or remove an item from the hook.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2002
    Inventors: Casey M. Dembowiak, Edmund A. Malczewski, Vicki L. Kempka
  • Patent number: 6422403
    Abstract: A modular display having upper and lower modules connected to one another. Each module has an upstanding wall and is of L-shaped cross section. The upstanding wall of each lower module is secured to the protruding wall of the upper module below the upper edge of the wall. The upstanding walls are thus, in use, spaced from one another to define an open ended receptacle. The lower end of an upper module and an upper part of lower module have mutually engageable connector parts for connecting the modules together.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2002
    Assignee: EML Limited
    Inventors: Andrew Charles Woolnough, Jean Wilhelmine Harris, Sydney James Harris
  • Patent number: 6422405
    Abstract: A vertically and or horizontally adjustable and reconfigurable dunnage rack capable of accommodating new dunnage sizes and shapes associated with annual model year changes, which preferably includes, among other elements, a base and a pair of upstanding adjustably spaced apart walls detachably connected to the base, wherein each wall includes a dunnage support assembly attached to inner surfaces and a fastening assembly for releasably securing the walls to the base after adjustment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2002
    Assignee: Accurate Fabrication, Inc.
    Inventor: James D. Haenszel
  • Patent number: 6422398
    Abstract: A modular organizer includes a plurality of walls, two faceplates, and a plurality of shelves. In a storage mode, the walls and shelves of the organizer are stored within the containing walls of the face plates. The containing walls of the faceplates are each equipped with an exterior edge that presents an uneven outline. When the uneven outlines of each faceplate are positioned adjacent each other, a substantially sealed interface is created containing the walls and shelves within. In an organizer mode, the walls are supported by, and serve to separate the faceplates. The shelves are placed within the structure formed by the walls and are positionable between a display and storage position. Each faceplate of each modular organizer is identically configured to incorporate at least one post and hole pair.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2002
    Assignee: Safco Products Company
    Inventors: Pamela R. LaFontaine, Stanley R. Thorud
  • Patent number: 6412648
    Abstract: A modular display having upper and lower modules. Each module has a pair of upstanding walls and a base therebetween, to define an open ended receptacle. The lower end of the upper module and an upper part of the lower module have mutually engagable hanger parts for connecting the modules together by hanging the lower module from the upper module. A tube may be attached to the back side a lower module upstanding wall for spacing the lower module from a wall such that the modules are angled as desired to receive articles therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2002
    Assignee: EML Limited
    Inventors: Andrew Charles Woolnough, Jean Wilhelmine Harris, Sydney James Harris
  • Patent number: 6409028
    Abstract: A self-facing, add-on shelf system is made up of universal base, divider, front, and rear sections. Universal in the sense that these sections form basic building sections for constructing shelf systems of various sizes and operational mode. The front and rear track sections are identical and can be combined with various combinations of bases, dividers and end sections to provide systems of different, desired widths. The depth of the self-facing shelf is generally set by the depth of the shelf with which it is to be used. The individual sections can be selected and combined to provide center pusher, side pusher, and gravity feed types of self facing systems. The bases, dividers and end sections are configured such that they can be extruded and interlock in assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2002
    Assignee: DCI Marketing, Inc.
    Inventor: Terry L. Nickerson
  • Patent number: 6409136
    Abstract: A holder for a beverage container has two holding elements which are turnable around two turning axes spaced from one another from a substantially lying position to a substantially standing position and vice versa so that the holding elements in the substantially standing position have a distance therebetween which allows insertion of a beverage container between the holding elements, and a coupling transmission which provides an opposite turning movement of the holding elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2002
    Assignees: Fischerwerke Artur Fischer GmbH & Co. KG, Land Rover Group Limited
    Inventors: Martin Weiss, I. Mehmet Ozozturk
  • Patent number: 6409030
    Abstract: An assembly for a textile machine includes a carrier bar for attachment to the textile machine; a module base body carrying a plurality of tools and having a mounting; and an adapter received in the mounting and including holding and orienting arrangements for holding the module base body and for orienting the module base body relative to the carrier bar. The adapter is suitable to conform variously configured module base bodies to variously configured carrier bars.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2002
    Assignee: Groz-Beckert KG
    Inventor: Klaus Schlemper
  • Patent number: 6401939
    Abstract: The invention concerns a wire cable rack (10) for supporting and fixing electric cables (16), locally equipped with at least a fixing accessory (18), including fastening means (20, 21) through which it is made integral with the wire cable rack (10) panel which is equipped therewith, and with at least a hole (22, 23) which runs right through it, and by which it can receive any fixing element, such as a clamp fitting (17), bolt or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2002
    Assignee: Metal Deploye S.A.
    Inventor: Michel Durin
  • Patent number: 6401945
    Abstract: A shelving unit for a wire rack is formed from an essentially flat elongated shelf member with at least one cleat attached transverse to the underside of the shelf member and extending downward between a pair of adjacent support wires of the wire rack, preferably in a frictional fit to prevent movement of the shelf in a sideways, forward and back, or twisting manner. Additional cleats, spaced apart from each other and extending downward between other pairs of support wires are typically used. The shelf unit member may be formed from slats that are spaced apart from each other or in contact with each other in a butt, lap, tongue and grove or other joint arrangement. Each cleat may be formed as two or more spaced apart cleat sections that, when properly sized and positioned, accept differently positioned cental support rods from major wire-rack manufacturers which serve as a stop to prevent the shelf unit from falling from the wire rack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2002
    Inventor: Theodore E. Gawel
  • Patent number: 6401947
    Abstract: The combination garment hanger/storage apparatus is constructed by two up-standing locker members connected thereinbetween by two frame members wherein the upper frame member is further equipped with hook means for hanging worn garments. A plurality of shelves and thus a plurality of rack spaces formed by the shelves are provided in the up-standing locker members for accommodating boots or packaged clean garments. The apparatus can be fabricated of a material that does not produce particle contamination, for instance, of stainless steel. The apparatus is further provided with ventilation apertures in the top panel and in the shelves of the locker unit to promote air circulation and to reduce total weight of the apparatus such that it can be moved in the clean room gowning area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2002
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd
    Inventors: Dennic Hu, Thomas Chen
  • Patent number: 6398041
    Abstract: A latch for retaining a rack slide mounted computer in a rack system. The latch includes a resiliently bendable latch arm having catches configured for engagement with a column flange of a computer rack system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2002
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Company
    Inventor: Ryan C Abbott
  • Patent number: 6386494
    Abstract: A bath towel hanger base with a strong suction disc includes a base, a suction disc and a handling rod. The base and the suction disc are assembled together, with the handling rod added in the two components, to rotate the handling rod to control the suction disc to suck on or release from a wall so as to secure the base on a wall or release the base from the wall without harming the wall surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2002
    Inventor: Pao Ching Huang
  • Patent number: 6386379
    Abstract: A wire rack provides a point of purchase structure for displaying product. The product hangs from a plurality spaced parallel pairs of arms distributed along the length of the structure. The arrangement of arms and product enables the product to be stocked on or removed from the rack in any order without disturbing the remaining products on the rack. The rack may be temporarily and removably attached to a permanent structure so that a merchant may have feature sales. In a preferred embodiment, the structure may be a freezer or refrigerator and the rack may be hung over the top of a door of the freezer or refrigerator. Suction cups may be used to stabilize the position of the hanging rack or to completely support the rack when it cannot hang from a supporting structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2002
    Assignee: L & P Property Management Company
    Inventor: Joseph M. Battaglia
  • Patent number: 6382428
    Abstract: A notepad having rectangular leaves each having a self-adhesive marginal edge portion adhered to an underlying leaf, and a free edge opposite from the marginal edge portion, is provided in a notepad holder having a rectangular pad support surface, a pair of opposed site walls extending at right angles to the pad support surface at opposite sides of the pad support surface and an abutment for the marginal edge portions. Resilient material, secured to the side walls, is in contact with and compressed by opposite sides of the notepad. At least the lowermost one of the leaves folded to form a strip-shaped bulge and a plastic strip is inserted into the bulge to increase the retention of the notepad.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2002
    Inventor: Trevor Hurwitz
  • Patent number: 6375016
    Abstract: A knife holder includes a knife holding block having a plurality of knife holding slots, each slot for receiving a knife therein. The knife holder also includes a knife locking mechanism that is movably engaged with the knife holding block. The knife holding mechanism is selectively movable to alternately: (a) simultaneously lock knives located in all of the knife holding slots so that the knives cannot be removed from any of the knife holding slots, and (b) simultaneously unlock knives located in all of the knife holding slots so that the knives can be removed from all of the knife holding slots.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2002
    Inventor: Charles F. Stuchlik, III
  • Patent number: 6371142
    Abstract: A seated walker has a frame that includes pair of inverted U-shaped side members and a cross bar. A seat is pivotally affixed to the frame and is movable between an upper position where the seat is generally vertical and out of the way of the user and a lower position where the seat is generally horizontal and can be utilized by the user to sit down. An elastic cord is affixed to the frame of the seated walker and encircles the seat so that the seat is biased toward its upper position. By use of the elastic cord, a user can disable the biasing function by hand to remove the elastic cord from encircling the seat and, engage the biasing. Thus, the user can use or not use the biasing function as desired. As a further feature, the seat can be pivotally affixed to a front cross bar and is supported by a pair of generally L-shaped members extending outwardly from the underside of the seat and which rest upon pair of side braces that are positioned lower on the frame than the front cross bar.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2002
    Assignee: Tubular Fabricators Industry
    Inventor: Joseph Battiston
  • Patent number: 6367751
    Abstract: A bracket assembly including a first bracket assembly that includes an annular portion and a pair of opposing flange members extending outwardly from the annular portion so as to define an open center between the pair of opposing flange members, and a second bracket assembly that includes a back plate and two opposing sidewall members extending outwardly from the back plate. The second bracket assembly is received in the open center defined by the first bracket assembly, wherein the first bracket assembly includes an extended back portion that projects axially beyond the top edge of the back plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2002
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventor: J. Donald Perrott
  • Patent number: 6364124
    Abstract: Burglarproof locking display stand includes a display panel. A rack protrudes from and is firmly fixed on outer face of the display panel. A lock seat is fixedly mounted on inner face of the display panel. A lock hook has an inner end that is be pivotally connected with the lock seat. An outer end of the lock hook extends out from the outer face of the display panel, the lock hook being deflectable and rotatable to close and mate the outer end with the outer end of the rack so as to lock a displayed article bridged over the rack. A lock latch transversely rides on a slide channel of the lock seat. A solenoid-controlled valve is fixedly mounted on the lock seat, to control the abutment of the lock latch against the lock hook in a first locked position or to a second unlocked position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2002
    Assignee: Chenbro Micom Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Feng-Ming Chen