Patents Examined by Ira S. Lazarus
  • Patent number: 6558340
    Abstract: The invention concerns a dialysis machine (10) comprising a dialyzer (20) having a first inlet (21) and a first outlet (22) for the bloodstream, dialysate supply mechanism (25), an arterial line (16) connected between the patent's arteriovenous fistula and the dialyzer, a venous line (17) connected between the arteriovenous fistula and the dialyzer, a pump (28) coupled with the arterial line, a dialysate supply line (31), connected between the dialysate supply mechanism and the dialyzer, a dialysate evacuation line (33) connected between a dialysate recuperating container (27) and the dialyzer. The sterile dialysate bags are arranged in a chamber (26) under a gas pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2003
    Assignee: Valemont Participation Corp.
    Inventor: Jules Traeger
  • Patent number: 6557269
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method and device for reducing the volume or pressure of a fluid which is driven through an opening (3, 17) by moving surfaces. According to said method, the opening (3, 17) is divided in at least two flow channels (5, 6, 14) by means of one or more flexible separation members (4). Each separation member (4) is attached at its rear end relatively to the direction of displacement of said surfaces, and its front finishing end extends inside said opening (3, 17). The inventive method can be advantageously implemented during production and further transformation of strip-shaped materials (paper, cardboard strips, plastic material sheets) for bringing the strip which moves on an element (cylinder, roll, rigid guiding element, winding reel) into close contact with said element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2003
    Assignee: Jagenberg Papiertechnik GmbH
    Inventors: Dietrich Schüler, Ewald Georg Welp, Bruno Holtmann, Armin Hutzenlaub, Hans Rückert
  • Patent number: 6557268
    Abstract: The invention relates to a dryer (1) for drying continuously conveyed products, e.g. a warp, comprising essentially a first dryer array (2) and a second dryer array (3). A passage (4) for passing through the product (W) is formed between the dryer arrays (2, 3). The second dryer array (3) is configured in such a way as to be able to move in relation to the first dryer array (2). When the dryer (1) is in stop position (S), the second dryer array (3) is disposed relative to the first dryer array (2) in such a way that the cross section of the passage (4) is bigger than in the operating position (B).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2003
    Assignee: Benninger Zell GmbH
    Inventors: Hans Berg, Heinrich Johann Mensing, Wolfgang Lange
  • Patent number: 6553688
    Abstract: A method for making wood with heartwood has steps of forming a wood log with a heartwood from a tree, pressure treatment to the wood log with the heartwood, drying the wood log and forming the wood log to a desired shape. The pressure treatment process is to apply a desired pressure to the wood log to reduce a moisture content of the wood log with the heartwood to an even level. This can avoid the wood log with the heartwood to split, crack or deform during the drying process. The utilization of a tree can be increased, and the process for gain a wood material is simplified.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2003
    Inventor: Shen-Ba Lee
  • Patent number: 6553687
    Abstract: The helmet dryer described includes an electric fan mounted in a base having a stanchion for supporting a helmet. The dryer provides convenience in removing moisture from a helmet worn during strenuous activities. The electric fan delivers air through perforations in the stanchion which circulates along the inside of the helmet for drying purposes. The helmet is separated from the stanchion by spacers affixed to a dome to insure a proper, complete air flow along the inside of the helmet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2003
    Inventor: J. Wayne Leamon, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6553689
    Abstract: A vapor collection method and apparatus capable of capturing vapor compositions without substantial dilution. The method and apparatus utilize a material that has a surface with an adjacent gas phase. A chamber is positioned in close proximity to a surface of the material. The position of the chamber creates a relatively small gap between the surface of the material and the chamber. The adjacent gas phase between the chamber and the surface define a region possessing an amount of mass. At least a portion of the mass is drawn through the region by induced flow. The utilization of a small gap limits the flow of mass that is external to the chamber from being swept through the chamber by induced flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2003
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Nirmal K. Jain, Peter T. Benson, James L. Capps, William Blake Kolb, Eldon E. Lightner, Norman L. Rogers, Jr., Robert A. Yapel
  • Patent number: 6553923
    Abstract: A blower for a high efficiency furnace is provided with an increased interior space for accommodating an impeller of maximum practicable diameter. The blower includes a blower motor and a blower housing having a bottom piece and a top piece assembling with the bottom piece to define an interior of the blower housing. The top piece includes an annular lower support portion for supporting the blower motor and an annular upper portion extending above and around the lower portion. The upper portion has an outer peripheral edge and lugs extending outward beyond the outer peripheral edge. The lugs have lug holes to receive mechanical fasteners to secure the blower housing to an external device. The head of the mechanical fasteners are positioned above the lugs on the upper portion of the top piece. In this arrangement the diameter of the bottom piece is not limited by a need to accommodate spacing for the head of the mechanical fastener.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2003
    Inventor: William Stuart Gatley, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6556870
    Abstract: A cochlear implant system has a signal processor that fits in the ear canal of a user. The signal processor processes an acoustic signal present in the ear of the user to produce a representative radio signal. A power transmitter transmits an electrical power signal through the skin of the user. A cochlear implant receives the radio signal and the electrical power signal and produces for the auditory nerve of the user an electrical stimulation signal representative of the acoustic signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2003
    Assignee: Med-El Elektromedizinische Geraete GmbH
    Inventors: Clemens M. Zierhofer, Erwin S. Hochmair, Ingeborg J. Hochmair
  • Patent number: 6553686
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a grain roasting apparatus in which a blower is installed at one side of a body having a support at a lower portion of the same, a heated air flow path is installed in the blower, a heater is provided, a peel collecting port and a discharge port are installed at the other side of the body, rotation portions are installed in an upper portion of the heated air flow path and an upper portion of the discharging port, respectively, a rotary drum is installed in the rotation portions, rotation members are rotated together with the rotary drum, the rotary drum is inserted into the rotation members, the rotary is installed eccentrically about a rotation center, support portions are installed opposite each other at both ends of the same, a heated air flow port having a net and connected with the heated air flow path is protruded from one side of the support, the heated air inlet is inserted into an insertion portion of the rotary port, respectively, and is supported therein, a ring gea
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2003
    Assignee: Innotech Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yong Ji, Sang-Joon Yoon
  • Patent number: 6553924
    Abstract: A system and method for treating, injecting and co-combusting sludge in a municipal waste or other solid fuel combustor. The system includes a sludge receiving and treatment module and a sludge injection and combustion module. The sludge is received and stored in one or more storage hoppers where its moisture content is monitored and varied to obtain a sludge having a desired moisture content. The treated sludge is then pumped to a furnace injection nozzle where it is preferably atomized with steam and sprayed into the combustion zone of the furnace. Improved odor control in sludge handling is also provided by a storage tank and a sludge tanker trailer each having an air diffuser for mixing and aerating the sludge and a filter system for filtering odors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2003
    Assignee: ECO/Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: E. Larry Beaumont, Larry D. Richardson, Kevin G. Rousseau
  • Patent number: 6550158
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for reducing particles in reactors. The apparatus includes an enclosure with a wafer handling chamber connected by an isolation gate valve to a processing chamber. Pipes deliver purge gas into the wafer handling chamber to eliminate particles from the enclosure. A pilot operated back pressure regulator regulates the delivery and removal of the purge gas. The apparatus actuates the isolation gate valve in a controlled rate to reduce disturbances from the purge gas entering into the enclosure. A Bernoulli wand is provided for lifting and holding a single semiconductor wafer. A dome loaded regulator actuated by a pilot gas is used to control the ramp rates of gas to the Bernoulli wand. The ramping rates of the Bernoulli wand gas can be controlled by restrictions and check valves in the pilot gas line. The apparatus also utilizes ionizers in the purge gas lines entering the wafer handling chamber and load locks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2003
    Assignee: ASM America, Inc.
    Inventors: Allan Doley, Dennis Goodwin, Kenneth O'Neill, Gerben Vrijburg, David Rodriguez, Ravinder Aggarwal
  • Patent number: 6553253
    Abstract: An electrokinetic system for delivering a substance into tissue includes an alternating current source of a predetermined frequency. A first electrode is coupled to a first terminal of the alternating current source and a second electrode is coupled to a second terminal of the alternating current source. A rectifying circuit is coupled between the first electrode and the first terminal of the alternating current source. One of the first and second electrodes is adapted for electrical contact with a substance-delivery site. A current rectified by the rectifying circuit flows in a current path between the first and second electrodes when the one of the first and second electrodes is in electrical contact with the substance-delivery site to effect delivery of the substance into the tissue.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2003
    Assignee: Biophoretic Therapeutic Systems, LLC
    Inventor: Kuo-Wei Chang
  • Patent number: 6551298
    Abstract: A controlled medicament security enclosure system that houses liquid filled reservoirs which consists of a portable enclosure (20) formed with a top half (22) and a bottom half (24) that permanently snap together to form a secure inseparable repository for the reservoirs. Inside the enclosure is at least one glass vial (36) for storing the liquid medicament with each vial having a sliding piston stopper (42) within that seals the inside of the vial and slides to maintain the liquid air free regardless of the volume. An adapter socket (48) is removably attached to the stopper and includes a hollow needle that pierces the stopper and permits a flowpath for the liquid. A flexible outlet tube (62) along with connectors on each end transmit the medicament to a mechanical drug delivery system that has a peristaltic pump and a control module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2003
    Inventors: Jack Y. Zhang, Frank Zhishi Xia, Mary Ziping Luo
  • Patent number: 6551274
    Abstract: A cryoablation catheter having an expandable cooling chamber in which the cooling fluid, preferably a gas, serves to expand the expandable cooling chamber while simultaneously cooling the chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2003
    Assignee: Biosense Webster, Inc.
    Inventor: Wilfred Peter Heiner
  • Patent number: 6553255
    Abstract: A device and method are provided that minimize the changes in flux encountered during iontophoresis and reduce inter-subject variability. For drug delivery, the active agent to be delivered is administered in conjunction with at least one background ion having a hindrance factor that changes at a faster rate than the hindrance factor of the active agent when an electrical current is applied. For analyte extraction, the extraction reservoir contains at least one background ion having a hindrance factor that changes at a faster rate than the hindrance factor of the background ions of the analyte in the tissue when an electrical current is applied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2003
    Assignee: ACiont Inc.
    Inventors: David J. Miller, Kevin Li, William I. Higuchi
  • Patent number: 6550157
    Abstract: A clothes dryer vent system is designed for hollow walls framed with scantling and covered with sheathing secured to the scantling, the walls having a hollow interior space that is uniformly, at least about 3½ inches wide. The vent system includes a rough-in box for recessed mounting within a hollow wall, the rough-in box having a substantially planar rear panel, side panels and nonparallel top and bottom panels, the side panels and the top and bottom panels intersecting and unitary with the rear panel, each side panel intersecting and unitary with both top and bottom panels, the rough-in box also having a depth no greater than about 4 inches, and a stub connector pipe affixed within the top panel, the stub connector pipe having a lower portion of oval-shaped cross section within the box that is couplable to a flexible dryer vent hose and an upper portion outside the box directly couplable to an oblong vent pipe having a minor cross-sectional dimension no greater than about 2 inches.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2003
    Inventor: Robert W. Harding
  • Patent number: 6546647
    Abstract: A method and an appliance are disclosed for the non-thermal drying of articles, in particular motor vehicle bodies, freshly painted with a water-based paint. The articles to be dried are subjected to dry air by forced convection in a drying tunnel and the moisture-laden air is dried in an air drying device by condensation to a specific target value of absolute residual moisture. So that fluctuations in the incidence of moisture can be leveled out with a low degree of inertia, with the high condensation performance remaining unchanged, only a fraction of the circulated air which is adapted in size, as required, is dried in the air drying device to a residual moisture markedly below the circulating-air target moisture, and the remaining untreated part of the circulated air is led back into the drier housing after being intermixed with the dried part-air stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2003
    Assignee: DaimlerChrysler AG
    Inventor: Hans-Joachim Speck
  • Patent number: 6546883
    Abstract: A thermo-oxidizer evaporator is provided with a combustion chamber, burners, and waste water injection system. The waste water injection system is preferably adapted to atomize the waste water stream. The waste water is injected near the flame from the burners so as to evaporate water in the waste water stream and combust contaminants in the waste water stream. The water leaves the combustion chamber as vapor, and contaminants collect at the bottom of the combustion chamber as dry ash. Heat exchange apparatus heats air prior to injection into the combustion chamber. A temperature controller controls fuel and air flow into the combustion chamber. Baffles in the combustion chamber increase the residence time to facilitate the settling of solid constituents from the gas stream leaving the combustion chamber. Methods for treating liquid wastes are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2003
    Assignee: RGF, Inc.
    Inventors: Ronald George Fink, Andrew Charles Hyatt, Walter Bernard Ellis
  • Patent number: 6547764
    Abstract: A disposable double pointed injection needle has a needle hub to which a thin needle cannula is permanently fasten and which needle hub can be mounted on to a syringe comprising a dose setting and injection mechanism and a cartridge containing a liquid medicine to be injected subcutaneously into a human body. The needle hub is provided with a safety shield guided on the outside surface of the needle hub. The safety shield is urged in a direction away from the needle hub by a spring located between the needle hub and the safety shield. The safety shield has a number of protrusions guided in guiding tracks on the outside surface of the needle hub. The guiding tracks are designed such that the safety shield during injection is moved towards the needle hub, and after injection is moved away from the needle hub by the spring and locked in an irreversible position where the safety shield covers the needle cannula and prevents accidental needle stick injuries.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2003
    Assignee: Novo Nordisk A/S
    Inventors: Carsten Gerner Larsen, Lars Stenholt, Anders Molin, Jørn Rex, Bjørn Gullak Larsen
  • Patent number: 6546645
    Abstract: An air blowing tool includes a connecting pipe (1) and an air blowing head (2). The air blowing head includes an inner wall (22), and an outer wall (21). An annular passage (24) is defined between the inner and outer walls. The inner wall encloses and defines a heating space (23) for accommodating a package (3) to be heated. A plurality of evenly distributed outlets (221) is defined in the inner wall. Each outlet is defined at an acute angle relative to the annular passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2003
    Assignee: Hon Hai Precision, Ind. Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yueh Liang Chung, Yang Jinn Chen, Lipei Huang