Patents Examined by Gregory W. Adams
  • System and method for loading and unloading shipping containers
    Patent number: 11214468
    Abstract: A crane system includes an elevated track spanning a first location to a second location; at least one spreader assembly configured to move along the elevated track using a tram assembly unit, and to move a shipping container from a first storage area to a second storage area, wherein the first storage area and the second storage area are between the first location and the second location; and a controller configured to identify the shipping container and control a movement of the shipping container using the at least one spreader assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Inventor: John Van De Beuken
  • Easy dump bucket with latchable door
    Patent number: 11208825
    Abstract: An easy dump bucket for installation of post has a bucket that is essentially tubular with a bottom portion and an opening towards a front bottom portion of the bucket. A pair of door tracks are vertically and parallelly located along the sides of the opening. A door is slidably disposed within the tracks and rests against the bottom portion when closed. The door slides upward to an open position by moving it up. A handle is connected to the door and interacts with a latch that keeps the door open. The bottom portion of the bucket is angled to gravitationally direct fill material towards the opening. A lifting arm is attached to a top portion of the bucket to allow the bucket to be lifted into place during use. A guide portion is disposed along the top portion of the bucket on the same side as the opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Inventor: Travis Schellhorn
  • Combination tubular handler and power swivel unit
    Patent number: 11208854
    Abstract: A combination tubular handler and power swivel unit having an extendable trough to raise a tubular to a rig floor height. A raising leg connected with the trough assembly. A following leg movingly coupled with an end of the trough assembly. This handler is configured to move the power swivel and other miscellaneous tools and equipment to the rig floor without winches or cables. A hydraulic swivel rack allows parking the swivel out of the way in a storage location when not in use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Inventor: Larry G. Keast
  • Bag-making and packaging machine
    Patent number: 11208222
    Abstract: A bag-making and packaging machine has a film supply unit that supplies film to a bag-making and packaging unit. The film supply unit has holding mechanisms each having a shaft that holds a film roll, a holding mechanism support frame supporting the holding mechanisms, a moving mechanism that rotates the holding mechanism support frame to move each holding mechanism between a film roll setting position and a film supply position, a splicing mechanism splicing a trailing end portion of the film of the roll of one of the holding mechanisms and a leading end portion of the film of the roll of another one of the holding mechanisms, and a film drawing mechanism that rotates the shafts of the holding mechanisms to draw the film independently from the film rolls attached to the shafts of the holding mechanisms and changes the drawing speed of the film during bag-making and packaging.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: ISHIDA CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takafumi Shimoda, Masaki Shinkawa, Ryota Nagashima, Satoshi Hashimoto, Makoto Ichikawa, Yuchuan Tong
  • Dish stacking cart
    Patent number: 11208289
    Abstract: A dish cart includes a top with a slot for receiving a lift arm that may be lifted up through the slot to raise or lower dishes. Lobe openings emanating from the slot receive lobes of a lift paddle secured to the lift arm. The cart may define a gap below the top for permitting insertion of the lift paddle and the lift arm. The cart may be adjusted to receive differently sized dishes by means of rails of different sizes or adjustable vanes. A dish drop station includes the lift arm and lift paddle and a lift mechanism for raising and lower the lift arm. The dish drop station may include a cart present sensor and include a lock for retaining the cart. The controller may be programmed to the lower the lift arm to an unlock position that disengages the cart lock.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: Dishcraft Robotics, Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy Young Lee, Jacob Conor Dooris, Abigail Elizabeth Soong, Katrina Bell Sheehy, Michael William Tschudy, Taylor Joseph Cone
  • Sensing arrangement for stabilizing an offshore wind turbine installation arrangement
    Patent number: 11198597
    Abstract: Provided is an offshore wind turbine installation arrangement, including a lifting assembly realized to hoist a suspended load between a floating installation vessel and a wind turbine assembly, the lifting assembly including a crane supported by the floating installation vessel; a sensor arrangement realized to sense at least a motion of the floating installation vessel; and a controller realized to control elements of the lifting assembly on the basis of the sensed installation vessel motion to adjust the position of the suspended load relative to the wind turbine assembly. Also provided is a method of hoisting a load between a floating installation vessel and an offshore wind turbine assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: SIEMENS GAMESA RENEWABLE ENERGY A/S
    Inventor: Jesper Moeller
  • Method for automatically stacking packages in layers on a support
    Patent number: 11180327
    Abstract: A method for automatically stacking packages of different sizes in layers on a support in a specified spatial arrangement so as to form a stack by determining the order and spatial position of the packages of different sizes in the stack to be formed in a computer-assisted manner, including by placing the individual packages in an order by a conveyor system, and transporting the packages to be loaded from the conveyor system to the pre-calculated spatial positions on the support or the stack being formed on the support using the handling means of a stacking device. The specified order and the specified spatial position of the packages are used to computationally check whether at least two packages following each other on a conveyor system path leading to the stacking device can be transported together to the pre-calculated spatial positions by the handling means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: Dematic GmbH
    Inventor: Hans Christoph Meurer
  • Depalletizing device for depalletizing a transport receptacle from a storage surface
    Patent number: 11167940
    Abstract: A depalletizing device for depalletizing a transport container from a storage surface includes a frame, a belt conveyor unit, a drive unit, and a plurality of balls. The belt conveyor unit is disposed so as to be height-adjustable on the frame by the drive unit and the plurality of balls are integrated in and protrude from the belt conveyor unit, are rotatable by the drive unit, and form a bearing face for the transport container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Thomas Irrenhauser, Christian Poss, Mario Trautner
  • Automatic food-boxing device for cooked food of food frying machines
    Patent number: 11167868
    Abstract: An automatic food-boxing device for cooked food of food frying machines is disclosed, which pushes a container by means of a load stage to a position below the front side of a food frying pot, the, while the food frying pot consistently stirs and rotates the materials poured therein, the container can at the same time move along with the rotation angle such that the food processed in the food frying pot can be completely poured into the container without dropping out of it.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: O-VIEW TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD
    Inventor: Chia-I Pan
  • Egg-orienting station for orienting eggs, and apparatus for transporting and packaging eggs
    Patent number: 11161635
    Abstract: An egg-orienting station for an apparatus for transporting eggs and packaging them in egg packs has a plurality of tracks, which are arranged parallel to one another in the conveying direction, and a transfer region for transferring the eggs to a conveyor belt. An adjustment device is arranged upstream of the transfer region, the adjustment device being used to insert the eggs, optionally by way of the bottom or of the top of said eggs, in egg holders of the first conveyor belt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Inventor: Gerd Bergmeier
  • System and method for underway autonomous replenishment of ships
    Patent number: 11161572
    Abstract: An autonomous loading/unloading system and method for transferring material includes: a buoy for releasing onto water; a messenger line coupled to the buoy for being pulled; a carrier line loop coupled to the messenger line for being pulled, where a payload is coupled to the carrier loop for transferring the material to or from an unmanned ship; a fetch/release platform to fetch or release the payload from or onto the water; a loading/unloading dock for the payload; a plurality of line guides for guiding the carrier loop; and a platform-to-payload interconnect for autonomous loading or unloading of the material from/to the payload.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: Raytheon BBN Technologies Corp.
    Inventors: William Bowles Coney, John Philip Granville, Edin Insanic
  • Method of securing and transferring a load between a vessel and an offshore installation and an apparatus therefor
    Patent number: 11161571
    Abstract: The offshore jack-up has a hull and a plurality of moveable legs engageable with the seafloor. The offshore jack-up is arranged to move the legs with respect to the hull to position the hull out of the water. The method comprises securing the vessel with respect to the hull of the offshore jack-up when the hull is positioned out of the water and the legs engage the seafloor. A lifting mechanism mounted on the offshore jack-up engages with a cargo carrying platform positioned on the vessel. The platform is lifted with the lifting mechanism between a first position on the vessel and a second position clear of the vessel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: Phoenix II A/S
    Inventors: Hoegni Hammer, Steen Tange Hasholt
  • Transfer device
    Patent number: 11161702
    Abstract: A transfer device to transfer an article by moving the article in a front-rear direction includes a base portion, a support plate movable in the front-rear direction with respect to the base portion and able to support a bottom surface of the article, a front-rear actuator that actuates the support plate in the front-rear direction with respect to the base portion, a suction device that is provided on the base portion to be movable in a vertical direction to suction a side surface of the article, and a vertical actuator that actuates the suction device at least in an ascending direction with respect to the base portion and supports the suction device to be detachable from the suction device in a descending direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: MURATA MACHINERY, LTD.
    Inventor: Takayuki Oshikawa
  • Cargo handling method
    Patent number: 11142411
    Abstract: The availability of a container crane or a dock is improved. A cargo handling method includes steps of: moving a lighter 601 to a different dock, the lighter 601 carrying a freight container wheeled platform 501 loaded on the lighter 601, the freight container wheeled platform 501 carrying a container 401 placed on the freight container wheeled platform 501 in a container yard; and unloading the freight container wheeled platform 501 from the lighter 601 to the different dock.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: SHIBAKAI CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Manabu Araki, Toru Araki
  • Method of unloading floating containers
    Patent number: 11123768
    Abstract: A system and method of transporting and unloading a load from a floating container that includes placing a load on a floating container at a first location, wherein the load is a mixture of solid material and liquid; moving the floating container with the load on a body of water from the first location to a remote second location; positioning the floating container so that a crane at the second location is within reach of the load; positioning a dewatering unit at the second location proximate the crane; unloading a quantity of the mixture of solid material and liquid from the floating container with the crane; depositing the quantity of the mixture of solid material and liquid into the dewatering unit; and dewatering the quantity of the mixture of solid material and liquid with the dewatering unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: COGAR MANUFACTURING, INC.
    Inventor: Lowell Cogar
  • Paper feeding device, image forming device, and electrode feeding device
    Patent number: 11124375
    Abstract: A paper feeding device has a paper feed tray, a device body, a fan, a rectifying member, and a retreat mechanism. A paper bundle in which a plurality of sheets of paper are stacked can be placed on the paper feed tray. The rectifying member is positioned above the paper bundle placed on the paper feed tray in a state in which the paper feed tray is accommodated in an accommodating part of the device body. The rectifying member generates a negative pressure between the rectifying member and an uppermost sheet of paper of the paper bundle using airflow from the fan in a state in which the paper feed tray is accommodated in the accommodating part. The retreat mechanism displaces the rectifying member in conjunction with the paper feed tray so that the rectifying member retreats from the paper feed tray in at least one of a pull-out operation and a push-in operation of the paper feed tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Kei Matsuoka, Kohei Nara, Takahiro Kokubo, Takamitsu Sunaoshi, Shunsuke Hattori
  • Grappler, utility implement, and method
    Patent number: 11116135
    Abstract: A grappler for a utility implement for handling bales includes a pivot frame, at least one support arm coupled to the pivot frame, and a selectively movable cutting device. The grappler forms part of a utility implement along with a bucket such that the grappler is movable with respect to the bucket.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: DEERE & COMPANY
    Inventor: Lionel Guiet
  • Substrate transfer device, substrate processing system, substrate processing method and computer-readable recording medium
    Patent number: 11120985
    Abstract: A substrate transfer device configured to transfer a substrate while holding a first surface of the substrate by a substrate holder and configured to deliver a second surface of the substrate is provided. The substrate transfer device includes a tilting mechanism configured to perform tilting of the substrate holder when viewed from a side; and a fixing mechanism configured to stop the tilting of the substrate holder when viewed from the side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventor: Munehisa Kodama
  • Hay bale cradle
    Patent number: 11109565
    Abstract: This manger style hay bale handling apparatus comprises a manger shell structure positioned within a structural frame and pivotably mounted to the structural frame and moveable between a first bale retaining position and a second bale retaining position; and wherein the manger shell structure comprises a plurality of curved shaped ribs being spaced apart to form a cradle framework providing longitudinal support for a horizontally positioned round hay bale. Rotatable locking mechanisms rotate the manger shell structure between positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Inventors: Natalie Chvala, Thomas Louy
  • Carton stack divider and method for dividing a stack
    Patent number: 11104533
    Abstract: A divider for dividing a pack of flat-folded cartons into a plurality of stacks of flat-folded cartons, the divider comprising a magazine adapted to hold the carton pack, where the magazine includes a stop member, and where the divider includes a pusher member and a holder foot, where the magazine is arranged in an inclined position, where the pusher member is adapted to compress the carton pack between the pusher member and the stop member, where the holder foot is adapted to bear on the upper side of the compressed carton pack, and where the pusher member is adapted to release the pressure on the carton pack when the holder foot bears on the upper side of the carton pack, thereby creating a low density area adjacent a first carton stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Assignee: Norden Machinery AB
    Inventors: Pär Fridolfsson, Peter Johnsson