Patents Examined by Joseph Iskra
  • Patent number: 9674899
    Abstract: A method for forming a shim. A liquid shim material with a magnetically permeable material is applied in a location for the shim between a plurality of composite parts. A magnetic field is applied to the magnetically permeable material in the location. The magnetic field is configured to heat the liquid shim material to a temperature to cause the liquid shim material to become solid and form the shim.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
    Inventors: Marc Rollo Matsen, Brian W. Smith, Robert James Miller
  • Patent number: 9674897
    Abstract: A heated window covering device heats an area surrounding a window and ensures an escape through the window in the event of an emergency. The device includes a frame configured for coupling to an opening of a window well. A lid is coupled to the frame and is pivotable between an opened position and a closed position wherein the lid is configured for exposing the opening when the lid is in the opened position. A plurality of heating elements is positioned in the lid wherein the heating elements are configured to melt snow abutted against the lid such that the lid is freely pivotable between the opened and closed positions. A panic plate is operationally coupled to the lid. A lock assembly couples the panic plate and the lid wherein pressing on the panic plate is configured to retract the lock assembly and actuate the lid to the opened position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Inventors: Nancy D. Bellig, Dale Fahrenkamp
  • Patent number: 9662738
    Abstract: A welding electrode includes an electrode holder and an electrode cap removably attached to the holder and having a central longitudinal axis. The cap includes a body having an end, and a welding surface that is substantially smooth and free from any grooves defined therein, and has a first diameter of from about 7 to 10 mm, a first radius of curvature, and a second radius of curvature that is different from the first radius. The cap includes a skirt portion extending away from the body and configured to bear against the holder. The skirt portion has a first face that is substantially parallel to the axis and spaced apart from the surface. The body has a second face interconnecting the first face and the surface, and the body tapers from the first face to the surface. A method of forming a resistance spot weld joint is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Sampath K. Vanimisetti, David R. Sigler
  • Patent number: 9662735
    Abstract: A method of operating a welding wire feeder includes receiving an input power from a welding power source, actuating a power relay to close and open a first current carrying path for application of the input power, and actuating bypass circuitry coupled in parallel to the power relay to close and open a second current carrying path in coordination with actuating the power relay. The method of operating the welding wire feeder also includes providing a welding wire to a welding torch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC.
    Inventors: Anthony Van Bergen Salsich, Brian Lee Ott, Edward G. Beistle
  • Patent number: 9636764
    Abstract: A mechanism in a wire electrical discharge machining apparatus for machining a workpiece by electrical discharge between a wire and the workpiece is disclosed. The mechanism includes a processing fluid bath configured to store processing fluid used for electrical discharge machining between the workpiece and the wire, a processing fluid supply port to communicate with the processing fluid bath and supply the processing fluid into the processing fluid bath from a processing fluid supply apparatus supplying the processing fluid, and a stream control mechanism to suppress a stream of the processing fluid supplied from the processing fluid supply port into the processing fluid bath in the direction of the water surface of the processing fluid in the processing fluid bath.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: CANON MARKETING JAPAN KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Suguru Tsukamoto, Hisao Okazaki
  • Patent number: 9612022
    Abstract: A teppanyaki assembly includes a platform including a cooking plane, an air pump installed in the platform, and an air filter connected to the air pump. The air filter has a housing with an air room defined therein connecting to an air channel of the air pump and a filter screen slantwise disposed within the air room for increasing an area available for filtering air and oil fumes, thereby facilitating an increase in transient air flow, a decrease in wind resistance, and an efficient oil fumes interception to prevent the problem of air pollution. An additional arrangement of a cleaning door on the housing also allows the filter screen to be promptly taken out for following washing and maintaining proceedings, which increases the using convenience.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: Fancy Food Service Equipment Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Ting-Fang Chiang
  • Patent number: 9604312
    Abstract: A fast-speed laser scoring method is provided, in which a set of related laser scoring device is used to simultaneously score lines on the upper surface and the lower surface of an oriented silicon steel strip, which is being fed and traveling forwards on a production line, with high-focalized continuous wave laser beam; the lines scored on the upper surface and the lines scored on the lower surface have the same space between every two adjacent scored lines but are staggered each other in order to reduce iron loss evenly. The space between every two adjacent scored lines on the same surface is 6-12 mm, laser power is 1000-3000 W and scanning speed is 100-400 m/min. The machining rate of the scoring method and device attains 1.5-2 times the one of conventional scoring methods which can not simultaneously score the upper and lower surfaces of a steel strip at a time. The lines scored on a steel strip by the method can reduce iron loss of the strip by 10-16%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: BAOSHAN IRON & STEEL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Wangya Huang, Guobao Li, Xinqiang Zhang, Xing Mao, Wanqing Guo, Jianru Zhu, Banglin Xiang
  • Patent number: 9598230
    Abstract: A cartridge containing one serving of coffee powder for preparing a coffee beverage comprises a cartridge body having a cup-like shaped lower portion and a cover portion; the cup-like shaped lower portion having a bottom portion and a upper region; and a lower filter element located inside the cup-like shaped lower portion between the coffee powder and the bottom portion; in which the interior of the cup-like shaped lower portion of the cartridge is provided with engaging means, and in which the lower filter element is provided with a peripheral edge portion engaging the engaging means for clampingly fix the lower filter element to the cup-like shaped lower portion of the cartridge. In the preferred embodiments the engaging means are constituted by a groove provided in the interior or the exterior of the cup-shaped lower portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: CAFFITALY SYSTEM S.P.A.
    Inventors: Arthur Schmed, Roberto Degli Esposti Venturi
  • Patent number: 9585196
    Abstract: A honeycomb structure including: a tubular honeycomb structure part having porous partition walls with which a plurality of cells are formed, and an outer peripheral wall; and a pair of electrode parts arranged on a side surface of the honeycomb structure part, an electrical resistivity of the honeycomb structure part is from 1 to 200 ?cm, each of the pair of electrode parts is formed into a band-like shape extending in a direction in which the cells extend, in a cross section perpendicular to the extending direction of the cells, the one electrode part is disposed opposite to the other electrode part via the center of the honeycomb structure part, and a total of heat capacities of the pair of electrode parts is from 2 to 150% of a heat capacity of the whole outer peripheral wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshiyuki Kasai, Atsushi Kaneda, Yusuke Hosoi, Yoshimasa Omiya, Tadato Ito
  • Patent number: 9555497
    Abstract: A plasma arc torch is provided that includes a torch body and a torch height controller. The torch height controller includes a movable part mounted to the torch body and a fixed part connected to a robotic arm. The movable part and the torch body are biased toward a workpiece and are translational relative to the fixed part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: Victor Equipment Company
    Inventors: Daniel Wayne Barnett, Christopher V. Braudis, Sr., Nakhleh Hussary, Dirk Ott
  • Patent number: 9536551
    Abstract: A laser processing method processes spots on an object in a scan area with a laser beam emitted from a laser emitter. The method includes steps of covering the scan area in such a way as to transmit the laser beam and define a closed space over the scan area, jetting an inert gas into the closed space so that the jetted inert gas forms a gas curtain sweeping along the scan area in the closed space, and discharging the inert gas from the closed space while maintaining a positive pressure in the closed space, thereby removing plumes from the spots processed with the laser beam and preventing the spots from oxidizing. The method is capable of stably laser-processing the object without changing the color of the processed spots.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2017
    Assignee: NHK SPRING CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Tadashi Tokiwa
  • Patent number: 9527152
    Abstract: The present systems and methods relate generally to the field of welding systems, and particularly to flux-cored arc welding systems with self-shielded electrodes (FCAW-S). In an embodiment, a tubular welding wire includes a core and a sheath disposed around the core. Further, the tubular welding wire includes greater than approximately 2.4% glassy slag promoter by weight.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC.
    Inventors: Richard Martin Hutchison, Mario Anthony Amata, Michael Scott Bertram, Zhigang Xiao
  • Patent number: 9532402
    Abstract: A honeycomb structure including: a tubular honeycomb structure part having porous partition walls and an outer peripheral wall; and a pair of electrode parts arranged on a side surface of the honeycomb structure part, an electrical resistivity of the honeycomb structure part is from 1 to 200 ?cm, each of the pair of electrode parts is formed into a band-like shape, the one electrode part is disposed opposite to the other electrode part via the center of the honeycomb structure part, and a distance from one end portion in the extending direction of the cells to an end portion of the electrode part which faces the one end portion of the honeycomb structure part in the extending direction of the cells is from 1 to 10% of a length of the honeycomb structure part in the extending direction of the cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshiyuki Kasai, Yoshimasa Omiya, Tadato Ito
  • Patent number: 9532407
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an induction cooking hob (10) including a number of heating zones (12, 14, 16, 18). Each heating zone (12, 14, 16, 18) comprises or corresponds with at least one induction coil. Each induction coil is connected to a generator. Two or more heating zones (12, 14, 16, 18) are linked or can be linked into a cooking area by a user. The linked heating zones (12, 14, 16, 18) are controlled by a common power setting. An operator interface is provided for operating the heating zones (12, 14, 16, 18). A control unit is provided for controlling the heating zones (12, 14, 16, 18). The operator interface includes actuating elements corresponding with predetermined links (20) between the heating zones (12, 14, 16, 18). The control unit is provided for synchronizing the generators of the linked heating zones (12, 14, 16, 18) by one common controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: ELECTROLUX HOME PRODUCTS CORPORATION N.V.
    Inventors: Alex Viroli, Svend Erik Christiansen, Laurent Jeanneteau, Luca Zannoni
  • Patent number: 9526131
    Abstract: A microwave oven having a hood is provided. The microwave oven may more efficiently suction air containing contaminants, thereby more efficiently preventing diffusion of air containing contaminants. In addition, the microwave oven may tilt a tilting hood using a simplified construction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2016
    Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventors: Wontae Kim, Sungbae Song, Taeho Ji
  • Patent number: 9517525
    Abstract: A welding system includes a housing having a front panel assembly. The welding system also includes first and second handles. The first handle is coupled to a first side of the front panel assembly and the second handle is coupled to a second side of the front panel assembly that is opposite from the first side. Each handle includes a recessed handle portion having an inner wall that forms an angle of between approximately 60 degrees and approximately 80 degrees with respect to an outer wall of the respective handle. The first and second handles are symmetrical about a central axis such that the first and second handles are interchangeable with each other. In addition, the first and second handles each include a plurality of internal tabs on both top and bottom sides of the first and second handles. The internal tabs facilitate coupling and alignment of the first and second handles with the front panel assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2016
    Assignee: ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC.
    Inventors: Ryan Lawrence Peterson, Nicholas James Dessart, Sunil Kumar Pattnaik
  • Patent number: 9516702
    Abstract: There is disclosed a honeycomb structure including a tubular honeycomb structure part having porous partition walls with which a plurality of cells are formed and an outer peripheral wall, and a pair of electrode parts arranged on a side surface of the honeycomb structure part, an electrical resistivity of the honeycomb structure part is from 10 to 200 ?cm, each of the pair of electrode parts is formed into a band-like shape extending in a direction in which the cells extend, in a cross section perpendicular to the extending direction of the cells, the one electrode part is disposed opposite to the other electrode part via the center of the honeycomb structure part, and the electrode part has portions having a thickness of 0 to 70% of the maximum thickness of the electrode part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2016
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takashi Noro, Kazumi Nagareda, Tsuyoshi Watanabe, Shuhei Kuno, Tadato Ito
  • Patent number: 9510394
    Abstract: Enhanced safety for electrical appliance, such as toaster, toaster ovens or rotisseries, is provided by a circuit arrangement which removes power from all or a portion of the appliance upon detection of potentially dangerous conditions as well as activating a visual or audible alarm. The circuit arrangement includes sensors and circuitry for detecting various types of dangerous or hazardous conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2016
    Assignee: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH, LLC
    Inventor: Raymond L. Legatti
  • Patent number: 9510435
    Abstract: A plasma arc torch is provided that includes a torch head, a pre-flow gas conduit for directing a pre-flow gas through the plasma arc torch, at least one plasma gas conduit for directing a plasma gas through the plasma arc torch, and a gas control device. The pre-flow gas conduit and the plasma gas conduit extend into a proximal end portion of the torch head. The gas control device is disposed proximate the torch head and extends between a distal end portion of the pre-flow gas conduit and a distal end portion of the plasma gas conduit. The gas control device is operatively connected to each of the pre-flow gas conduit and the plasma gas conduit. The gas control device selectively allows one of the pilot gas and the plasma gas to flow through the plasma arc torch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2016
    Assignee: Victor Equipment Company
    Inventors: Brandon Hebert, Christopher J. Conway
  • Patent number: 9498840
    Abstract: A welding structural part 1 is manufactured by overlapping the surfaces of steel sheets 2, and forming a weld zone by spot welding. The weld zone 3 includes: a weld nugget 4; and a heat affected zone 5 surrounding the weld nugget 4, wherein the hardness in the weld zone increases along an exterior region 6 of the heat affected zone 5 toward the heat affected zone 5, and then decreases along the heat affected zone 5 toward the central region of the weld nugget 4. In the boundary region between the weld nugget 4 and the heat affected zone 5, the weld nugget 4 may have a convex portion 4A bulging into the heat affected zone 5 along the overlapped portion. The steel sheets 2 contain carbon in 0.15 mass % or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignees: NETUREN CO., LTD., NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MATERIALS SCIENCE
    Inventors: Takahiko Kanai, Munehisa Hatta, Fumiaki Ikuta, Kazuhiro Kawasaki, Eizaburou Nakanishi, Masayuki Miyake, Kotobu Nagai, Masao Hayakawa, Takehiko Itagaki