Patents Examined by John M. Jillions
  • Patent number: 6739546
    Abstract: An axial-position adjustment apparatus is used to adjust the axial position of an arm shaft equipped with paper roll support arms. The arm shaft is supported rotatably and axially movably on a frame in a paper web feed unit and rotated by means of a shaft-rotating apparatus located at one end portion of the arm shaft. The axial-position adjustment apparatus has a moving member including a male screw and connected to the arm shaft in such a manner as to be rotatable and axially immovable in relation to the arm shaft; a guide member having a threaded hole formed therein, the male screw of the moving member being screwed in the threaded hole, and the guide member being provided in such a manner as to be nonrotatable and axially immovable in relation to the frame; and a drive unit for rotating the moving member. The moving member and the guide member are located adjacent to the shaft-rotating apparatus. The drive unit is provided on a support member axially immovably connected to the arm shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2004
    Assignee: Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho, Ltd.
    Inventor: Teruo Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 6739542
    Abstract: A manually-operated shrink-wrap device is described. The device includes a rigid support member having first and second sections, a handle at the first section, and a flexible leash attached to the second section. The rigid support member is adapted to support a film roll, and to facilitate rotational dispensing of film from the film roll to wrap the target load, which is typically a palletized load. The device also typically includes upper and lower film roll engagements for holding the film roll therebetween. A tensioning member may provide tension to the film roll along the longitudinal axis of the support member upon movement of one of the film roll engagements towards the tensioning member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2004
    Assignee: Fizer Wrapper, Incorporated
    Inventors: Mauro Prina, Alan E. Fizer
  • Patent number: 6739540
    Abstract: A seat belt retractor having a structure preventing a gear or pinion having external teeth from being improperly assembled to a spool gear. The pinion includes concave portions on its inner periphery and the spool gear includes corresponding convex portions on its outer periphery. The concave and convex portions are configured to be fit together may be inclined in the circumferential direction and thus have no symmetrical plane. If during assembly the pinion is positioned adjacent the spool gear with the wrong side out, the pinion and the spool gear would not fit together and the mistake would be noticed and, therefore, prevented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2004
    Assignee: Takata Corporation
    Inventors: Masahiro Shiotani, Joji Mishina, Yasushi Kanamori
  • Patent number: 6736350
    Abstract: A matrix is provided having at least two diagonal turnbars and one parallel turnbar respecting the direction a paperweb is fed into the matrix. By threading through the turnbars in one or another way, the paperweb exits either face-up or face-down as compared to its orientation upon entering the matrix. Additional turnbars enable the matrix to direct the paperweb to exit in any number of directions with either orientation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2004
    Assignee: Energy Saving Products and Sales Corp.
    Inventor: Richard P. Lamothe
  • Patent number: 6736349
    Abstract: A device for supporting a strip in the wound or spooled condition, includes two half-hubs each having at least one flange (1A, 2A) made by molding with the half-hub, these half-hubs being assembleable together to form a spool. At least one of the half-hubs, called reversible, has a flange (2A) off centered in the direction of the length of the half-hub and is shaped to connect to the other half-hub (1) by either one of its ends (3A, 3B) as a function of the spacing desired between flanges (1 A, 2A).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2004
    Assignee: Zih Corp.
    Inventors: Olivier Boisdon, Stéphane Mabit, Régis Barre, Mickaël Hinry, Frédéric Pellerin
  • Patent number: 6732966
    Abstract: A belt spool for a belt retractor comprises a torsion rod and a spool body that has a recess in which is provided a shaped part by means of which an end of a safety belt can be fastened in the recess. The shaped part rests at the torsion rod in order to be supported when the shaped part is stressed by a tensile load of the safety belt. There is also proposed a belt retractor including such a belt spool.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2004
    Assignee: TRW Occupant Restraint Systems GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Franz Wier
  • Patent number: 6726138
    Abstract: A device for controlling a discharge drop position of rod wire coils transportable by a horizontal conveyor and stackable in a vertical bundle build-up chute located beneath an end of the transporting conveyor and behind the transporting conveyor end in a transporting direction, with the device including friction brake element for impacting an outer circumference of the rod wire coils and located opposite the transporting conveyor end at a distance therefrom and beneath a charging opening of the bundle build-up chute in a drop region of the rod wire coils.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2004
    Assignee: SMS Demag Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Rüdiger Grimmel, Karl Keller
  • Patent number: 6726141
    Abstract: There is provided a seat belt apparatus which not only can reduce the possibility that an end lock phenomenon can occur when removing the mounting of a webbing but also, even in case where the end lock phenomenon occurs, can remove the end lock phenomenon easily. That is, in a seat belt apparatus including a seat belt retractor having a lock mechanism structured such that, when the acceleration of a vehicle body or the pay-out acceleration of a webbing is a predetermined value or more, a pawl member (15) is engaged with a pawl wheel (13) to lock the rotation of a bobbin (2) with the webbing wound thereon in the webbing pay-out direction, the pawl wheel (13) is structured such that two or more kinds of ratchet teeth (T1) and (T2) differing in addendum circle diameter are mixedly arranged in the peripheral direction of the pawl wheel according to a predetermined manner, thereby being able to lower the probability of the webbing end lock occurring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2004
    Assignee: NSK Autoliv Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shu Ichikawa, Masuo Matsuki
  • Patent number: 6726144
    Abstract: Core and spindle technology for use with ribbon materials. The invention has use in many environments in which a ribbon or sheet material is wound onto a core, for example in printers and related equipment used to produce data bearing identity documents. The core and spindle are constructed to prevent the core from locking on the spindle as a result of the core contracting as ribbon material is wound onto the core. The core and spindle permits contraction of the core without squeezing or binding the core to the spindle, so that the core can easily be removed from the spindle once the ribbon is wound onto the core.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2004
    Assignee: DataCard Corporation
    Inventor: Milo B. Squires
  • Patent number: 6722602
    Abstract: A cable management system and method for winding on or letting out a length of cable from a cable support apparatus, in a generally curved, figure eight path, to prevent continuous twisting of a fixed length of cable coupled between the cable support apparatus and a fixed device. A control system is used to move the cable support apparatus in the figure eight path. The cable support apparatus includes a pair of spools which are arranged at a generally 45° angle to one another. Cable is alternately wound onto or wound from the two spools as the apparatus is moved in the figure eight path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2004
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventor: A J Mims
  • Patent number: 6719237
    Abstract: Process and winding machine for winding a continuous material web on a reel spool forming a wound reel. The process includes, upon attaining a desired roll diameter in an old wound reel, closing a new winding nip between a reeling drum and a new reel spool brought into a standby position. In this regard, the reeling drum and the old wound reel are jointly displaced while maintaining the old winding nip formed between the reeling drum and the old wound reel. After the closing of the new winding nip between the reeling drum and the new reel spool, the linear load in the new winding nip is adjusted, controlled or regulated by a corresponding displacement and tightening of the reeling drum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2004
    Assignee: Voith Paper Patent GmbH
    Inventors: Matthias Wohlfahrt, Roland Thomas
  • Patent number: 6719239
    Abstract: An automatic splicing system is provided that includes a motor (20a) for rotating an active roll (R1) while a web (P1) is drawn from the roll (R1) toward a cigarette rod-manufacturing machine, a motor (20b) for rotating a standby roll (R2) when a residual of the roll (R1) reaches a predetermined amount or less so that a web (P2) is fed from the roll (R2), a splicing section (70) splicing the webs (P1; P2) and changing over the feeding of web from the roll (R1) to the roll (R2) when feed speeds of the webs match each other, and suction casings (42) disposed on feed paths of the webs, respectively, the suction casings drawing the webs thereinto temporarily. The rotational speeds of the motors (20a and 20b) are controlled so as to maintain drawn amounts of the webs in the respective suction casings (42) within a predetermined range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2004
    Assignee: Japan Tobacco Inc.
    Inventors: Hisao Suzuki, Fumio Kubo, Shozo Horikawa
  • Patent number: 6719233
    Abstract: A seat belt retractor has a belt reel for seat belt webbing and a load limiter that has a flowable load-limiter medium which is transported through a flow channel, by a displacement device. The displacement device is drivable by the belt reel, at an energy consumption related to a crash, in which the flow resistance of the transported load-limiter medium in the flow channel or the volume of the load-limiter medium transported in the flow channel per unit time is adjustable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2004
    Assignee: Key Safety Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Martin Specht, Thomas Heckmayr
  • Patent number: 6719230
    Abstract: A carrier tube is provided for retaining yarn packages during a dyeing operation, the tube including axially aligned rings spaced from one another along at least a portion thereof. Longitudinally extending columns or ribs intersect each of the rings to form a lattice structure over at least a portion of the surface of the tube body in which apertures are defined by the rings and ribs. Each of the ribs includes interspersed reduced load carrying sections that deflect compressively in response to axial load applied to the tube. The deflections of the reduced load carrying sections accumulating over the length of the ribs to permit axial acceptance of the load. The carrier tube also having radial reduction sections connected to the rings to accept a radial reduction of the tube in response to compressive load created by the yarn during the dyeing operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2004
    Assignee: Sonoco Development, Inc.
    Inventors: Fedar Baranov, Brian P. Couchey, Victor J. DesRosiers, William E. Leidel, James P. Stevens
  • Patent number: 6715707
    Abstract: In a cable reel, a stationary body and a movable body are combined together to define an annular hollow section. A guide member is disposed in the annular hollow section, the guide member including a C-shaped ring and a plural rollers. A flat cable is wound round an inner circumferential passage and wound round an outer circumferential passage, a winding direction of the flat cable in the inner circumferential passage and that of the flat cable in the outer circumferential passage are inverted to each other. The intermediate portion of each roller is rotatably held by the ring, a lower end portion of the roller on the outer cylindrical section side contacts with the bottom plate section under the condition that the inner cylindrical section side of the roller is raised from the bottom plate section, and the inner cylindrical section side of the roller contacts with the flat cable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2004
    Assignees: Autonetworks Technologies, Ltd., Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd., Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Tomoyuki Sakata
  • Patent number: 6715709
    Abstract: The present invention provides an apparatus and a method for forming and ejecting logs from the winding cradle of a surface-driven rewinder comprising a winding cradle formed by a plurality of parallel rollers having gaps there between and wherein at least one of the rollers is moveable relative to the others thereby forming first and second gaps of variable length. The rewinder further includes a first driver that is operatively connected to and controls the rotational speed of at least one of the rollers, and a second driver that is operatively connected to and controls the rotational speed of at least one of the rollers, and wherein the rollers driven by the first driver are different than the rollers driven by the second driver. The rotational speed and/or direction of one or more of the rollers can be varied whereby a log of sheet material formed within the winding cradle can be ejected through either the first or second gap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2004
    Assignee: Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
    Inventors: Franklin Jerepatrick Stephens, Rustin Michael Holder
  • Patent number: 6715710
    Abstract: A self-aligning stackable cable reel has a pair of spaced apart disc-shaped flanges joined by a tubular central core. Each flange has a periphery and an outside face. A generally annular rim extends around the periphery of each flange and projects outwardly from the outside face to an edge. The edge of each rim is contoured to define a repeating serpentine pattern around the rim. When two cable reels are stacked end-on-end, the serpentine patterns of their respective rims intermesh to align the cable reels automatically with each other and to lock them against relative sliding motion during transport.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2004
    Assignee: Russell Forest Products, Inc.
    Inventors: Kelly C. Russell, Randall S. Wilson, Robert D. White
  • Patent number: 6712311
    Abstract: An apparatus is disclosed for fabricating a laminate product having a pair of sheet materials spaced by a plurality of flexible parallel vanes which are secured to the sheet material so that planar movement of the sheet materials in opposite directions cause the vanes to shift between open and closed positions. The vane material is formed from a web of material by dyeing the material, drying the dyed material, applying spaced longitudinally extending lines of adhesive on opposite faces of the material, and cutting the material into a plurality of side-by-side strips with each strip having a bead of adhesive on each face and along opposite side edges. The cut material with adhesive applied thereto is taken up on a transfer roll and moved to a vane/strip handling station where the strips of material are processed and delivered to a laminating station in parallel overlapping relationship with each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2004
    Assignee: Hunter Douglas Inc.
    Inventors: Wendell B. Colson, David Hartman
  • Patent number: 6712308
    Abstract: A chuck is mounted on a drive shaft and torque can be transferred to an inner ring (30) of the chuck from the drive shaft. A casing (28) of the chuck surrounds the inner ring and supports four circumferentially-spaced cam elements (40) for gripping and supporting the core. Each cam element comprises a cam pivotably mounted on the housing and operated by a cam roller (58) mounted on the inner ring. Relative rotation of the inner ring and the casing causes the cam roller to move along a cam surface on the underside of its cam and to raise either end of the cam to engage the core. A switching element (80) is housed in a chamber in the casing between each pair of cam elements. Each switching element comprises a detent spring (90) having a central detent and being captive within the chamber (82), and a detent roller (88) mounted on the inner ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2004
    Assignee: Ashe Controls, Ltd.
    Inventor: Keith Fordham
  • Patent number: 6712310
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods for packaging and dispensing coiled material. A device for packaging a coil of metallic ribbon stock comprises a first planar panel and a second planar panel, wherein the first and second planar panels have substantially the same shape, and a sidewall panel that interconnects the first and second planar panels along the perimeter of the first and second planar panels to form a container. The sidewall panel comprises preferably comprises a plurality of perforated regions each defining an aperture through which a roller is inserted to rotatably engage a coil of metallic ribbon stock within the container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2004
    Inventor: Ellen Louise Adams