Patents Examined by Erin McGrath
  • Patent number: 11903098
    Abstract: A temperature regulation unit includes a housing, an electrical connector, a fan, a thermal element, a cover, and a light. The housing has an upper end and a lower end. The housing defines an internal cavity. The electrical connector extends from the upper end of the housing. The fan is positioned within the internal cavity of the housing and is configured to provide an airflow. The thermal element is positioned within the internal cavity. The thermal element is configured to thermally regulate a temperature of the airflow. The cover at least partially encloses the lower end of the housing. The light is disposed along at least one of the cover or the housing. The housing has an angled portion that extends at an angle from the electrical connector. The angled portion defines a plurality of vents positioned to provide an inlet air flow path from an external environment into the internal cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: Hatco Corporation
    Inventor: John Scanlon
  • Patent number: 11882878
    Abstract: In an example embodiment, a heater assembly for an electronic heating device includes a heating element and a support. The heating element includes a planar portion, a first lead, and a second lead. The planar portion includes a filament. The filament defines an air channel through the planar portion. The filament includes a plurality of curves. At least one of the curves has a tip thereon. At least one of the first lead portion, the second lead portion, or both the first lead portion and the second lead portion are generally coplanar with the planar portion of the heating element. The heating element is in contact with the support such that the tip of the at least one of the curves rests thereon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Altria Client Services LLC
    Inventors: Arie Holtz, Isaac Weigensberg
  • Patent number: 11877581
    Abstract: A smoking appliance in the form of a smoker gun. The appliance includes a major body portion (111) that releasably receives a barrel. The barrel provides an air flow passage that extends from an inlet opening to an outlet opening. Mounted in the barrel is a combustion bowl having an opening through which smoke is delivered to the air flow passage. A motor and impeller driven thereby causes air to flow along the air flow passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: BREVILLE PTY LIMITED
    Inventors: Greg Upston, Vyvyan Rose
  • Patent number: 11865637
    Abstract: A laser machining device includes a plurality of optical fibers and a collimator lens arranged in parallel along a supply nozzle for supplying a molten material, and a laser beam projected from the optical fiber is applied onto an axis between a tip of the supply nozzle and a build-up welding spot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignees: MURATANI MACHINE INC., ISHIKAWA PREFECTURE, OSAKA UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Sotohiro Muratani, Masahiro Tsukamoto, Yoshinori Funada, Yorihiro Yamashita
  • Patent number: 11859307
    Abstract: The embodiments described herein generally relate to a stem assembly for coupling a susceptor to a process chamber. The stem assembly includes a pivot mechanism, a first flexible seal coupled to the pivot mechanism, a second flexible seal coupled to a plate on a first side of the plate, the plate having a second side coupled to the first flexible seal, a housing coupled to the second flexible seal, and a motion assembly adapted to move the housing in an X axis and a Y axis, and position the susceptor angularly relative to an X-Y plane of the process chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Edric Tong, James Francis Mack, Paul Brillhart
  • Patent number: 11839933
    Abstract: A laser processing apparatus 3 includes: a laser head H; a head driving mechanism that moves the laser head H above a workpiece W; and a dust collecting box 60 that moves below the workpiece W and follows the laser head H. A non-contact support unit 7 is provided at an opening 61 of the dust collecting box 60, and the non-contact support unit 7 suctions a lower surface of the workpiece W toward a suction surface 71 and supports the workpiece W without bringing the lower surface of the workpiece W and the suction surface 71 into contact with each other. An outer support roller 81 and an inner support roller 82 that are each rotatable about an axis parallel to a width direction orthogonal or substantially orthogonal to a conveying direction Fy are provided at the opening 61.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroki Tokuichi, Shin Yoshida, Takanori Sato, Yuichi Hirata, Naruhiko Okubo, Koki Mizutani
  • Patent number: 11839331
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates generally to apparatuses, systems, and methods for food storage and warming, and particularly, providing static, constant, even, and gentle heat for precise temperature and humidity control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: Everidge, Inc.
    Inventor: Danny Chien-Yung Kuan
  • Patent number: 11819047
    Abstract: A cam roller type horizontal extrusion cracking system for walnuts, including feeding, cracking and falling devices fixed accordingly on a stand. The feeding device includes a feeding box; an intermittent feeding roller is arranged therein; one side of the roller includes a feeding baffle plate, the other side includes an adjustable feeding scraper blade mechanism; and opposing feeding slots are formed in the roller. The cracking device includes an extrusion box body; movable and fixed tooth-shaped extrusion plates are oppositely mounted therein; one side of the movable plate opposite the fixed includes an extrusion cam; the plates have a plurality of tooth gaps; a walnut passes through the feeding device, falls into a gap between the plates; the cam drives the movable plate to do a periodic reciprocating motion, to synchronously cooperate with the fixed plate to perform extrusion cracking on the walnut.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignees: QINGDAO UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, XINJIANG JIANG NING LIGHT INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Changhe Li, Mingzheng Liu, Yucheng Wang, Yanbin Zhang, Ji Che, Yali Hou, Xiaoming Wang, Yitian Feng, Rong Wang, Yiping Feng, Huaiyu Wang, Zhenming Jia, Lei Zhao, Guangzhen Miao, Runze Li, Teng Gao
  • Patent number: 11819163
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer program products for controlling a heating system in a fryer. At startup, a setpoint temperature for a cooking medium is set to a melt temperature. While in melt mode, each of a plurality of heating elements each located in a different region of a fry pot is sequentially activated to control an amount of heat provided to the cooking medium. Once the cooking medium has reached the melt temperature, the setpoint temperature is increased to a target cooking temperature. While in cooking mode, if an order to cook a food product is not received within a predetermined time period, the setpoint temperature is set to an idle temperature which is below the target setpoint temperature and above the melt temperature. The target cooking temperature is adjusted using a set of setpoint bias temperatures that is selected based on a cooking load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: Henny Penny Corporation
    Inventors: Melissa M. Hohler, Kevin R. Romer
  • Patent number: 11771126
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a multi-station adaptive walnut shell pre-breaking system, comprising a feeding device and a shell pre-breaking device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignees: QINGDAO UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, XINJIANG JIANG NING LIGHT INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Changhe Li, Mingcun Shi, Yiping Feng, Yitian Feng, Zhenming Jia, Leilei Zhao, Rong Wang, Yucheng Wang, Yanbin Zhang, Ji Che, Runze Li, Cai Wang, Min Yang, Yali Hou
  • Patent number: 11772005
    Abstract: Provided is a method of producing an ultrafine bubble-containing liquid containing ultrafine bubbles generated by causing film boiling in a liquid with a heat generation member, including: detaching a solid present at a liquid contact surface of the heat generation member in a form of a microscopic substance by using the film boiling; and generating ultrafine bubbles with the detached microscopic substance as a core.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshiyuki Imanaka, Masahiko Kubota, Akitoshi Yamada, Akira Yamamoto, Yumi Yanai, Teruo Ozaki, Toshio Kashino, Hiroyuki Ishinaga
  • Patent number: 11772196
    Abstract: In the present application, a shaped article W is produced, the shaped article including: a plurality of blades provided around a shaft, with an interval disposed therebetween in the circumferential direction; and curved surface-shaped recesses present in between the blades. This method for producing a shaped article includes: a shaping step, in which welding beads where filler material has been melted and solidified at the peripheral surface are layered on a base material having a circular cross-section of a greater radius than the bottom circle that passes through the lowest part of the recess, thus forming a shaped section that will become a blade; and a cutting step in which part of the surface of the shaped section and the peripheral surface of the base material is cut to form a blade, and the recesses between the blades are also formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: KOBE STEEL, LTD.
    Inventors: Shinji Sato, Takeshi Yamada, Takemasa Yamasaki
  • Patent number: 11758944
    Abstract: A heating wire of an electronic atomizing device includes a central end, a distal end, and a plurality of spiral heating coils extending between the central end and the distal end. The plurality of spiral heating coils is coplanar and surrounds the central end. A mounting gap is formed between any two adjacent spiral heating coils in an extending direction of a reference line connecting the center end and the distal end. The widths of the mounting gaps gradually decrease along the extending direction of the reference line away from the central end. An electronic atomizing device including the aforementioned heating wire is further provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: SHENZHEN VERDEWELL TECHNOLOGY LIMITED
    Inventors: Shouhao Chen, Zhiyong Ke
  • Patent number: 10118252
    Abstract: Systems and methods for laser processing continuously moving sheet material include one or more laser processing heads configured to illuminate the moving sheet material with one or more laser beams. The sheet material may include, for example, an optical film continuously moving from a first roller to a second roller during a laser process. In one embodiment, a vacuum chuck is configured to removably affix a first portion of the moving sheet material thereto. The vacuum chuck controls a velocity of the moving sheet material as the first portion is processed by the one or more laser beams. In one embodiment, a conveyor includes a plurality of vacuum chucks configured to successively affix to different portions of the sheet material during laser processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: Electro Scientific Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Yasu Osako, Mark Unrath, Mark Kosmowski
  • Patent number: 10036849
    Abstract: An arrangement and method that compensates for variation in grating strength associated with forming multiple gratings in multicore fiber is proposed where the writing efficiency of the beam(s) used to form the gratings is controlled to compensate for fiber lensing effects. In one case, a spacing between the multicore optical fiber and the beam source is controlled such that the writing efficiency (which decreases as a function of the space between the source and the fiber) compensates (at least in part) for the increased beam intensity attributed to the lensing effect of the fiber itself. The width of beam itself may also be controlled to modify the writing efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2018
    Assignee: OFS FITEL, LLC
    Inventor: Paul S Westbrook
  • Patent number: 9980325
    Abstract: A method for controlling a microwave heating system is provided. The method may be used with a system having a liquid-filled microwave heating chamber and includes measuring the value of one or more microwave system parameters. Suitable parameters can include, for example, net microwave power discharged, the temperature of the liquid in the microwave chamber, the flow rate of liquid through the microwave chamber, and the speed of the conveyance system disposed within the microwave chamber. The measured value of the selected parameter is then compared to a target value for that parameter in order to determine a difference. Based on the difference, one or more actions can be taken in order to start, stop, or alter the operation of the microwave heating system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: Microwave Materials Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Harold Dail Kimrey, Jr.
  • Patent number: 9943109
    Abstract: The present invention provides an electronic cigarette, including a cartridge, an atomizer device, and a cartridge fixing element to detachably connect the cartridge to the atomizer device. A cartridge body can be switched to be in a pre-mounting position and a mounting position to engage the cartridge fixing element. When in the pre-mounting position, a sealing element and a puncturing element of the cartridge are spaced by a certain distance or abut against each other, to ensure that a first sealing portion will not be punctured and E-liquid in the cartridge will not be contaminated before smoking. When in the mounting position, the installation of the cartridge is completed, a second sealing portion is punctured to communicate a liquid reservoir chamber with a liquid reservoir room, to allow the E-liquid in the liquid reservoir chamber to flow to the liquid reservoir room, and users can smoke.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Shenzhen Smoore Technology Limited
    Inventor: Zhiping Chen
  • Patent number: 9925626
    Abstract: The present invention concerns a forming process for hot forming of a steel sheet of a rotor blade to be produced of a wind power installation, including the steps heating the steel sheet in a furnace while the steel sheet is lying on a hearth bogie, displacing the heated steel sheet with the hearth bogie from the furnace into a pressing apparatus for the hot forming operation, transloading the heated steel sheet in the pressing apparatus from the hearth bogie on to a form bogie having a counterpart form, and pressing the steel sheet by at least one pressing punch which presses on the steel sheet in such a way that it is formed between the pressing punch and the counterpart form and in particular assumes the shape of the pressing punch and the counterpart form.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: WOBBEN PROPERTIES GMBH
    Inventors: Burkhard Voigt, Oliver Labs, Roy Kersten
  • Patent number: 9907427
    Abstract: A system and a method for making a beverage from a mixture of liquid and solid particles are disclosed. The liquid and solid particles are introduced into a chamber so as to allow the liquid to infuse with the flavor or quality of the solid particles. A piston having an integrated filter is in sealed contact with the chamber, and can be vertically displaced within the chamber. When the piston is displaced downward, air is forced from below the filter and into the mixture sitting above the filter, agitating the mixture. When the piston is displaced upward, the mixture is drawn from above the filter. This separates the spent solid particles from the infused liquid, which collects in the chamber, thereby making the beverage. Also described are a driving mechanism for displacing the piston, a dispensing mechanism for releasing the beverage, and a wiping mechanism for wiping spent solid particles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2018
    Assignee: Keurig Canada Inc.
    Inventors: Marc St-Germain, Stephen Grant, Marc-Andre Vaillant, Alain Boily, Jorge Barbales
  • Patent number: 9884685
    Abstract: A heating apparatus for use in an AoA sensor is described herein. The heating apparatus includes a heating element bonded to a support element. The support element is configured to be attachable to and removable from the AoA sensor. The heating element may receive an electrical current, causing the temperature of the heating element to increase. The temperature increase is designed to reduce the probability that ice forms in certain locations of the AoA sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2018
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Gary L. Bartz, Bryan Galbreath, Julie F. Asfia, Arthur D. Sandiford