Patents Examined by Harold Joyce
  • Patent number: 5720206
    Abstract: An actuator device designed to prevent intrusion of water into a control section housing chamber due to an breathing operation and hence malfunction and fracture of a control section. In the actuator device, a ventilating opening is provided in a partition between a mechanism section housing chamber and a control section housing chamber for communicating the mechanism section housing chamber and the control section housing chamber, a cylindrical protrusion is provided in the partition on the side of the mechanism section housing chamber so as to surround the ventilating opening; and a drain hole for communicating said mechanism section housing chamber with outside air is provided at a position lower than that of the ventilating opening of said mechanism section housing chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 24, 1998
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akira Watanabe, Shiro Kishimoto, Takeshi Sugiyama
  • Patent number: 5720656
    Abstract: A hose for an aircraft parked at a remote location from a source of pre-conditioned air through which the pre-conditioned air, under pressure, is delivered through the hose, wherein the hose construction uses to advantage a length portion having a bellows, in that the bellows folds are constrained by an internal strap from longitudinal expansion and thus are not "blown out" by the pressure air and yet, retain degrees of rotation and contraction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 1995
    Date of Patent: February 24, 1998
    Inventor: Brian T. Savage
  • Patent number: 5720660
    Abstract: A protective cover for heat registers, heating ducts, cooling vents or the like, including a main panel having an open grid pattern for covering the surface of a register, duct or vent; four side walls connected to the main panel for overlapping the sides of the register, duct or vent; and four gripping members connected to the four side walls respectively for inserting behind the register, duct, or vent to hold the protective cover in place.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 24, 1998
    Inventors: Geri Benedetto, Rich Jones
  • Patent number: 5720659
    Abstract: A fire protection system and method supplies life-sustaining air to occupants taking refuge in the bathrooms of a building. Upon sensing a fire, the system automatically drains water from the building's hot water re-circulating loop. The loop drains rapidly due to the loop's automatic vent valve and re-circulating pump. Fresh air selected from among number of sources is then injected into the loop at a rather low pressure. The low pressure actuates a low pressure relief valve located at each bathroom sink. The valves automatically release the fresh air into each bathroom. If there is any exhaust vent in any of the bathrooms, it is equipped with an automatic damper that seals in the fresh air and prevents a back draft of smoke.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 24, 1998
    Inventor: Edward A. Wicks
  • Patent number: 5720658
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for space pressure control in high containment laboratories. The system comprises a volumetric air flow controller and a differential pressure controller. The differential pressure controller couples to the volumetric air flow controller. To establish negative space pressurization in the laboratory, the differential pressure controller generates a variable offset signal for volumetric operation. In response to the offset signal, the volumetric air controller controls the ducted supply air to the laboratory at a set shortfall compared to the ducted exhaust air flow. The shortfall of ducted supply air creates a negative pressure which is also sensed by the differential pressure controller. The differential pressure controller reduces the variable offset signal to zero once the desired negative pressure level is attained. To maintain the negative pressure level, the supply and exhaust air flow rates must remain equal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 1995
    Date of Patent: February 24, 1998
    Inventor: Manfred L. Belusa
  • Patent number: 5720657
    Abstract: In switching of opening and closing air passage opening portions of an automotive air conditioning apparatus, a circumference one end of the film member is secured to one end in a circumferential direction of the rotary door by a pin member, and the other end in a circumferential direction of the film member is set to be a free end which is movable with reference to a slide wall portion of the rotary door. The variation in dimension of the film member or the case side is absorbed by movement of the free end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 24, 1998
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Tomohiro Kamiya, Kazuma Inagaki
  • Patent number: 5720661
    Abstract: The ventilating fan system comprises an air flow passage including a duct for guiding the air in a room to outside and a ventilating fan arranged in the air flow passage; whereby said ventilating fan is an inversion type ventilating fan, in which opposed rotating blades arranged in a direction perpendicular to flowing direction of the air are rotated in reverse directions, and the ventilating fan is arranged at an end portion of the air flow passage closer to outside and sucks the air in the room and discharges it to outside.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 24, 1998
    Assignees: Marix Co., Ltd., Seiwa Precision Ind. Ltd.
    Inventors: Kiyoshi Yoshizawa, Hajime Okazaki
  • Patent number: 5718374
    Abstract: The invention relates to a heating installation. The installation comprises a closed liquid circuit which is under pressure during operation, a pressureless liquid reservoir, an actuable pump with an inlet connected to the reservoir and an outlet connected to the circuit, actuable draining means for draining liquid out of the circuit to the reservoir, pressure detecting means for detecting the pressure in the circuit and control means for activating the pump when exceeding of a minimum pressure in negative direction is detected and for activating the draining means when exceeding of a maximum pressure in positive direction is detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 17, 1998
    Inventor: Jan Henk Cnossen
  • Patent number: 5718628
    Abstract: The cooling air generated from an air conditioner is supplied into an air passageway formed below the floor on which an equipment is disposed. The cooling air supplied to the air passageway is guided into the equipment through an opening made in the floor. The cooling air introduced into the equipment is released into the free space within the room. Further, the air stream released into the free space of the room is partly introduced again into the equipment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 17, 1998
    Assignees: NIT Power and Building Facilities, Inc., Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Hideaki Nakazato, Hirofumi Hayama, Manabu Kishita, Masaki Nakao
  • Patent number: 5718626
    Abstract: A tension adjusting sash suspension arrangement for a vertically reciprocal sash for a fume hood having a cable connected to opposite sides of the sash, threaded over front corner pulleys, threaded around rear corner pulleys, threaded through a tension adjusting mechanism and directed downwardly to a common counter weight. The tension adjusting mechanism includes two laterally arranged pulleys mounted rotatably on a sliding bracket. The sliding bracket is slidable along a fixed bracket and fixable in selected position along a slot. The cable lengths are adjusted by loosening the sliding bracket with respect to the fixed bracket and allowing the counter weight to take up all tension in the cables, and then fixing the sliding bracket in position. The sash counter weight system can be precisely adjusted for proper vertical movement of the sash without binding caused by a skewed travel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 1995
    Date of Patent: February 17, 1998
    Assignee: Kewaunee Scientific Corporation
    Inventors: Kurt Rindoks, Karole Clanton
  • Patent number: 5718627
    Abstract: A system and method for maintaining elevator use during a fire includes a blower and a damper at opposite ends of an elevator shaft to create a full volume current of fresh air that engulfs a conventional elevator car traveling between floors. The unidirectional airflow provides a curtain of air that "washes" any smoke away from the exterior of the elevator car. When the car stops at a floor, the damper closes to force the fresh airflow onto that floor. Fresh air is chosen from one of several fresh air supplies by sensing the quality of the air at the supplies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 17, 1998
    Inventor: Edward A. Wicks
  • Patent number: 5716270
    Abstract: A louvered air diffuser which mounts to an outlet of an air distribution system of a building and is removed therefrom without tools. The diffuser has two arms which expand resiliently to engage an environmental surface of the air conduit of the distribution system. The arms each have teeth for improving frictional engagement of the environmental surface. The arms and teeth are configured to assure that the arms are urged inwardly, away from frictional engagement of the environmental element, when being installed and removed. Optionally, the teeth have holes with sharp edges, or holes for receiving rubber projections for enhancing grip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 10, 1998
    Inventor: Charles F. Chambers
  • Patent number: 5716267
    Abstract: A laboratory fume hood has a cabinet structure, which defines an enclosed work area, and a primary exhaust assembly. The primary exhaust assembly serves to contain fumes within the work area and then exhaust the fumes. It effects a flow of a volume of air through the work area and in many instances is designed to maintain a constant face velocity across an access opening in the front wall of the fume hood. A secondary collection device is disposed within the fume hood for removing a concentration of fumes from a small portion of the work area. The secondary collection device includes a collector head disposed in the work area and a conduit connected to the primary exhaust assembly. A portion of the air flowing through the work area is directed to the primary exhaust assembly through the secondary collection device. The volume of air passing through the secondary device should not be high enough to adversely affect the containment capabilities of the primary exhaust assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 1995
    Date of Patent: February 10, 1998
    Assignee: Labconco Corporation
    Inventors: Larry G. Hambleton, Gary P. Roepke, Gerald J. O'Dell, Kevin C. Gilkison
  • Patent number: 5715701
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing conditioned air to an aircraft parked at an airport. The air conditioning unit is able to accommodate various aircraft sizes. The unit uses two blowers to allow an increase in variation in the volume of air supplied without changing the static pressure of the air supplied. The unit also uses dampers to accommodate aircraft with one and two air hose connections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 10, 1998
    Assignee: FMC Corporation
    Inventor: Naum Kreymer
  • Patent number: 5716268
    Abstract: A device for removal of deleterious impurities from room atmosphere comprises an exhaust hood, a means for delivery of inflow air into the emission zone of deleterious impurities and incorporates slotted nozzles arranged around the perimeter of the hood and oriented towards the source of deleterious impurities, and an apparatus for distributing air from the delivery air duct to the slotted nozzles. The air-distributing apparatus has the form of a distributing chamber disposed in the central part of the hood, communicating with the delivery air duct and provided with pressure branch pipes, one per slotted nozzle, connected, each,;with the corresponding nozzle at the point equidistant from the ends of said nozzle. In a preferable embodiment the nozzles are provided with cellular attachments and the slot width "b" of each nozzle complies with the following ratio: ##EQU1## where b--nozzle width, m;F--cross-sectional area of hood, sq.m;P--hood perimeter, m;H--height of hood above source of deleterious impurities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 10, 1998
    Assignee: PlymoVent AB
    Inventors: Andrei Semenovich Strongin, Alexandr Mikhailovich Zhivov, Evgeny Ovseevich Shilkrot, Bengt Gunnar Lindestrom
  • Patent number: 5716271
    Abstract: A latch for use with a valve on the end of an exhaust vent typically associated with a clothes dryer or the like. The latch includes a flat, plastic bonded magnet having a layer of pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) for bonding the magnet to one of either the hinged valve plate or stationary face plate of the valve while a strike plate formed of a conformable, magnetically susceptible material is bonded by a PSA layer to an opposing section of the other of the valve plate or face plate. The latch is kept closed by magnetic forces in the absence of blower expelled air, regardless of variations in pressure on the valve plate, such as may result from gusts of wind.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 10, 1998
    Inventor: Richard L. Paidosh
  • Patent number: 5716269
    Abstract: An air flow system for use in ambulance is generally comprised of a blower unit mounted in the ceiling of the ambulance's patient compartment, an air conditioning condenser, and a series of exhaust vents extending through the sidewalls of the patient compartment and positioned adjacent the floor. The exhaust vents each include a fan mounted therein for drawing the air in the patient compartment thereto and forcing the air out of the compartment. The blower unit includes louvers to permit selective air direction control, but essentially the blower unit always directs the conditioned air vertically downwardly over a patient supported on a stretcher, thereby creating an air curtain around the patient.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 10, 1998
    Inventor: Dickran Garbooshian
  • Patent number: 5713791
    Abstract: A cleanroom conduit (44) is used for transporting products between two cleanroom environments through an area that is less clean than either cleanroom environments. The conduit is modular in nature and thus can be adapted for various distances between the two cleanrooms. Each modular section (10 & 30) has a perforated floor (12) for exhausting gas and contaminants out of the modular section. Additionally, each modular section (30) has a filter (38) attached to a wall, with an opening therein, for filtering the incoming gas that is being supplied recirculated through the conduit. In effect, the conduit is maintained as a mini-cleanroom such that products being moved from the first cleanroom through the conduit do not require a decontamination step before they can be reintroduced into the second cleanroom.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 1995
    Date of Patent: February 3, 1998
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventors: Curtis C. Long, Michael L. Pape
  • Patent number: 5713973
    Abstract: A clean air duct device comprises a duct (11) having a positive-pressure air channel (21), and a filter (12) provided between the inlet (24) and the outlet (31) of the duct. The filter (12) comprises a filter medium (41), and a frame (43) surrounding the medium (41) and having an upstream mount flange (45) along an edge portion thereof defining an upstream opening (44) and a downstream mount flnage (47) along an edge portion thereof defining a downstream opening (46). The duct (11) comprises an upstream duct member (22) and a downstream duct member (23). The upstream duct member (22) is provided at an outlet end thereof with an upstream communication opening (26) shaped in conformity with the shape of the frame upstream opening (44), and the downstream duct member (23) is provided at an inlet portion thereof with a downstream communication opening (33) shaped in conformity with the shape of the frame downstream opening (46).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 1995
    Date of Patent: February 3, 1998
    Assignee: Shikoku Kakoki Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kiyomi Yoshida, Fumiyuki Iwano, Michio Ueda
  • Patent number: 5713790
    Abstract: An embedded heat dissipating device mounting structure including a housing for an electronic instrument, the housing having an opening and two parallel side boards perpendicularly raised from the periphery of the opening at two opposite sides, a heat dissipating device mounted in the opening of the housing and secured to the parallel side boards and operated to carry heat out of the housing, the heat dissipating device having a cover shell which has backward springy hooks adapted for hooking on the parallel side boards of the housing at an inner side, and elongated flanges adapted for stopping against the parallel side boards of the housing at an outer side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 3, 1998
    Assignee: Inventec Corporation
    Inventor: Mao-Yu Lin