Patents Examined by Houston S. Bell
  • Patent number: 4735238
    Abstract: Apparatus and method for filling a container with a liquid. Apparatus includes a filling lance for introducing liquid into a container and a bung engaging tool assembly for removing the bung cap from the container prior to filling operations and for replacing the bung cap into the container after filling operations have been completed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 5, 1988
    Assignee: Velasco Scale Company
    Inventor: Robert H. Reeves, Jr.
  • Patent number: 4735240
    Abstract: A device for detecting a filling level in a container having an electro-mechanical transducer 4 which is secured to a diaphragm 5 for vibrating the diaphragm 5. Furthermore an electrical device is provided for activating the oscillations of the diaphragm 5. The diaphragm 5 has a holder 1 on which the diaphragm is fastened by means of a cylindrical intermediate member 6. The holder 1 has a holder projection 7 which, with play, is enclosed and engaged by the cylindrical intermediate member 6. The intermediate member 6 is disposed on the holder projection 7 by an elastic play equalization element which is located between the holder projection 7 and the intermediate member 6.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 5, 1988
    Assignee: VDO Adolf Schindling AG
    Inventor: Klaus Ziegler
  • Patent number: 4735239
    Abstract: The device uses an elastic tubular bladder for receiving liquid which is expandable radially generally spherically at a local segment until a fully-expanded cross-section is achieved at which time the expanded region begins to grows axially, thereby maintaining a relatively constant pressure independent of bladder volume. The device is provided with a nozzle and a valve for controlling and directing the flow of the projected liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 5, 1988
    Assignee: Water Weenies, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael E. Salmon, John S. Briski
  • Patent number: 4735241
    Abstract: A bag-filling machine, in which the material to be filled is conveyed by compressed air through a filling tube, has a storage cylinder which is closed at its underside by a grid-like floor having ventilation apertures. The filling tube is fitted above the floor in the peripheral wall of the storage cylinder. An improvement in the flow of the material to be filled and a more complete emptying on termination of the filling procedure are achieved if the floor is formed from at least three segments. Below the segments, sealed relative to one another, respective specifically associated compressed air supply chambers are disposed which are each provided with a regulatable compressed air supply.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 5, 1988
    Assignee: Natronag Gesellschaft fuer Verpackungssysteme mbH
    Inventor: Joachim Spiess
  • Patent number: 4733680
    Abstract: A dispenser for manually filling a plurality of liquid receptacles simultaneously is disclosed. The dispenser includes an elevated base having a plurality of apertures through which liquid may flow into receptacles or cups positioned thereunder. Leg members support the base to position the apparatus over the receptacles. A filler tank is secured to the base for retaining a volume of liquid. Sandwiched between the filler tank and the base, a slide cover is manually rotatable over the base between an open position and a closed position so that a plurality of selectively placed apertures in the slide cover line up with selected apertures in the base to permit fluid flow therethrough. The filller tank of the apparatus includes a vacuum release valve for manually controlling the flow of fluid through the apertures in the base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 29, 1988
    Inventor: Larry G. Mosier
  • Patent number: 4730652
    Abstract: The fuel filling system includes double pipe fuel delivery and tank venting plumbing. Both fuel delivery pipe and tank venting pipe are flexible and communicate with the gas tank through normally closed check valves. An inlet housing defines a vent cut-off chamber which communicates with the tank venting pipe, and also includes an annular nozzle embracing seal for isolating the end of the gas pump nozzle from the vent cut-off chamber. The gas tank is thus fully sealed by the check valves during driving, so that fuel will not spill from the tank should the filling system plumbing become ruptured or should the vehicle become overturned as a result of a collision. Fuel is introduced into the tank under positive pressure provided by the filling station fuel pump. Under pumping pressure, the check valves opens to permit the inflow of fuel and the outflow of air displaced from within the tank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 15, 1988
    Assignee: Proprietary Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Donald D. Bartholomew
  • Patent number: 4730760
    Abstract: A tray for auto passenger compartments, in which a bracket is mounted at one end of a tray member, the bracket received in a slot recess extending into the one end of the tray member. The bracket sections form a hook-shaped portion with an end section adapted to be received into a window recess. The end of the tray is positioned against the door surface when the bracket is hooked to support the tray member, and an in-and-out adjustment of the bracket in the recess slot accommodates differing door configurations. The bracket sections are hinged together to allow folding for storage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 15, 1988
    Inventor: Karen S. Keller
  • Patent number: 4730647
    Abstract: A powder feeder for supplying particulate powder material to powder applicators mounted in a powder spray booth comprises a housing having an inlet connected to the powder recovery system of the powder spray booth, and an outlet. A fluidizing plate and pump or rotating screw feeder is mounted within the interior of the housing to aid in the discharge of particulate powder material through the outlet of the housing to the powder applicators in the spray booth. A clean air chamber mounted to the housing is formed with an inlet communicating with the housing interior and an outlet located outside of the housing which is connected to a source of vacumm. The vacumm source creates a negative pressure within the clean air chamber to draw air from the housing interior to vent its interior. A cartridge filter is mounted within the housing to the inlet of the clean air chamber to prevent airborne particulate powder material from exiting the housing in the course of venting thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 15, 1988
    Assignee: Nordson Corporation
    Inventor: Douglas C. Mulder
  • Patent number: 4730649
    Abstract: A liquid delivery nozzle to be used in gasoline stations comprising two pairs of light sensor in which the first pair arranged at the tip end of the nozzle is of reflection type and the second pair arranged a little higher up from said first pair is of usual contact type, for more relevantly coping with full tank delivery. The sensors are mounted in a casing which is to be mounted on the nozzle inner wall surface near the tip end. In order to prevent leads extending through said nozzle and a hose connected therewith for angular movement from being damaged due to such angular movement, a flexible sheet on which leads are printed or embedded, has a part wound to form several spiral turns. The sheet is arranged in the portion where angular movement occurs to cope with such movement by loosening or tightening of the spiral turns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 15, 1988
    Assignee: Tokyo Tatsuno Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Matsumura, Siro Masai, Noboru Oguma, Haruhisa Yamada
  • Patent number: 4730650
    Abstract: In a device for detecting filling level of liquid in a container, a protective tube (6) extends over a membrane (5) which can be placed in vibration by an electromechanical transducer (4). In this way, bubbles which rise in the liquid cannot reach the membrane and induce a false measurement of low filling level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 15, 1988
    Assignee: VDO Adolf Schindling AG
    Inventors: Klaus Ziegler, Reiner Liebl
  • Patent number: 4730648
    Abstract: The dispensing pump is intended for metering pasty products into a group of molding bowls cylically advanced under the dispensing pump. The dispensing pump comprises a plurality of commonly drivable metering piston pumps (2) corresponding in number to the number of bowls disposed in series and in side-by-side relationship, with the pumps being provided with closing and opening elements associated with dispensing nozzles (7). To provide a compact and space-saving configuration with short and rectilinear conveying distances for the feedstock to be metered and thereby to provide favorable cleaning conditions, the dispensing pump is so constructed that the closing and opening elements are disposed in a flat valve block below the metering piston pumps. Feedstock distributor channels for each pump row are provided in the valve block in parallel to rotary slide valves with feedstock carrying channels pivotal by a common drive into the dispensing and metering position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 15, 1988
    Assignee: Hassia Verpackungsmaschinen GmbH
    Inventor: Kurt Walter
  • Patent number: 4729414
    Abstract: A water dispensing device utilizing a trough which is fed by a faucet having a valve which controls the flow of water from a pressure source. A platform having first and second end portions is positioned adjacent the trough. One end of the platform is suspended above the ground surface. The valve of the faucet is regulated by movement of the second end portion of the platform in relation to the ground surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 1987
    Date of Patent: March 8, 1988
    Inventor: Emmanuel Beber
  • Patent number: 4729413
    Abstract: A transport puck for filling, handling and packaging caulking tubes is disclosed and the process steps involved therewith.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 8, 1988
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Walter E. Shults
  • Patent number: 4727913
    Abstract: This invention relates to a dust suppressing device for use in the discharge of granular bulk materials, such as crushed rock, ore, and the like, for example, during the loading of such material onto a transport vehicle such as a ship. The device comprises(a) a central hopper;(b) a first outer tubular member, coaxially disposed and concentrically spaced outward with respect to the hopper; and(c) a second tubular member coaxially disposed and concentrically spaced outward with respect to the hopper and the first tubular member. The spacing between the central hopper and the first tubular member and the spacing between the first and second tubular members are such as to provide alternate path for the discharge of granular material when the flow rate of the granular material into the hopper exceeds the capacity of the hopper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 1, 1988
    Assignee: Occidental Chemical Corporation
    Inventor: James A. Bliss
  • Patent number: 4728007
    Abstract: A dispensing assembly including an internally pressurized container of viscous liquid which may be dispensed through a hollow stem by deflecting the directing tube and stem to open a valve and cause liquid to flow out through an outlet opening in the directing tube. An overcap having a cavity adapted to receive the stem and directing tube releasably engages the container and has at least one, and preferably two, sockets along its inner surface for storing elongate hollow tapered application nozzles. The application nozzles have inlet ends adapted for engagement around the outlet opening on the directing tube so that the nozzles can be used to apply the liquid as it is discharged from the container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 1, 1988
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Bruce E. Samuelson, Carl S. Ahlberg, Daryl E. Vosberg
  • Patent number: 4726404
    Abstract: A combination container and air removal fixture for easily and precisely filling an implantable hydraulic device with a continuous air-free supply of hydraulic fluid. In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the hydraulic device is an elastofluidic prosthetic sphincter and the fluid is a radio-opaque fluid. A premixed and pre-proportioned supply of hydraulic fluid is contained within each of a plurality of gas-fluid exchange chambers. A hollow occlusion cuff and at least one reservoir-actuator of the prosthetic sphincter are placed in fluid communication with respective exchange chambers. When the occlusion cuff and actuator are compressed, associated pistons are moved outwardly through the exchange chambers, whereby fluid containing entrapped air is withdrawn from the cuff and the actuator and removed to the chambers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 1986
    Date of Patent: February 23, 1988
    Assignee: Habley Medical Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Terry M. Haber, Clark B. Foster
  • Patent number: 4724875
    Abstract: A vehicle-servicing trailer is attachable to a pulling vehicle for transporation to the intended servicing site, the trailer having a hydraulically controlled lift apparatus, ramps on opposite sides of the trailer for advancement of a vehicle to be serviced onto the trailer, and outriggers are stationed at the four corners of the trailer to cooperate in supporting a vehicle on the trailer. When the vehicle is loaded on the trailer via the ramps, the lift is activated to raise the track members and vehicle to be serviced so that the underside of the vehicle is accessible, and outboard extensions on the track members enable a service man or operator to gain access to the engine compartment and interior of the vehicle. A movable dolly is positioned centrally of the trailer to permit the operator to slide beneath the vehicle and to perform necessary servicing operations, such as, oil changes and lubrication jobs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 1986
    Date of Patent: February 16, 1988
    Assignee: Porta-Lube, Inc.
    Inventors: Wendell Baldwin, Harley D. Longan, Dudley R. Seifert, Stanley A. Williams
  • Patent number: 4723581
    Abstract: A process and apparatus for drawing off deformable masses containing air, such as sausage masses. The mass is transferred in a stream from a supply space into a filling cylinder where a vacuum is generated relative to the space to remove air from the mass, and the transferred mass is then ejected from the filling cylinder by means of a piston. To transfer the mass quickly and remove air from it completely, the mass stream is guided, during its transfer into the filling cylinder in such a way that, as it enters the filling cylinder, it first moves towards the cylinder wall at an angle to the direction of the piston. Moreover, during filling the level of mass in the filling cylinder is maintained at an essentially constant filling height so that a constant volume of free space remains above the mass in the filling cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 1986
    Date of Patent: February 9, 1988
    Assignee: Albert Handtmann Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co., KG
    Inventors: Georg Staudenrausch, Thomas Handtmann, Manfred Kern, Jurgen Schraivogel, Georg Zinser, Franz Abt, Siegfried Reutter, Einar Fesseler
  • Patent number: 4722373
    Abstract: An apparatus for producing and filling tubular bag packages includes a shaping mandrel, about which a sheet of packaging material is shaped into a tube and an open end of the tube is filled with one portion of a product at a time and separated from the formed tube. For sending the portions of the product gently and quickly through the hollow shaping mandrel, a feed apparatus is disposed in the mandrel. The feed apparatus has a plurality of spaced flaps pivotably connected at equal intervals to two synchronous belt drives. In a feed conduit of the shaping mandrel, these flaps define downwardly moved chambers which receive portions of the product and transport them to the lower end of the shaping mandrel, and then, through a relatively narrow return conduit in the shaping mandrel, the flaps return upward again in an upright position by the belts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 1986
    Date of Patent: February 2, 1988
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: Gijsbertus C. F. Roovers
  • Patent number: 4722454
    Abstract: A fuel filler neck with a vent device is provided for receiving fuel from a dispensing pistol and depositing the fuel into a fuel tank, which fuel filler neck simultaneously allows for optimal utilization of the fuel tank volume and for operationally adequate venting during refueling. The filler neck is formed in one piece with the vent device having a cross-sectional enlargement forming an expansion space. A connecting duct is provided at the area where the expansion space opens into the filler neck and a discharge gap is provided at the area where the vent device enters the filler neck.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 1986
    Date of Patent: February 2, 1988
    Assignee: Dr. Ing. h.c.F Porsche Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Roland Fischer