Patents Examined by Keith Kupferschmid
  • Patent number: 5086199
    Abstract: A switch device includes an insulating base formed of a plastics material which defines upper and lower switch operation spaces, a pair of confronting hinge bosses interposed between the upper and lower switch operating spaces, and a lamp-mounting space. An operation lever having upper and lower ends is pivotally coupled to the hinge bosses such that the upper end extends into the upper switch operation space and a lower end extends into the lower switch operating space. In this manner, the operation lever may be pivotally moved between first and second states. The lower end of the operation lever includes a bridge portion which establishes a hole such that an an opposed pair of resilient contact members associated with a U-shaped movable contact are disposed adjacent to the hole and are thereby capable of being resiliently displaced therewithin. A lamp-holding connector is mounted to the base for holding a lamp within a lamp-mounting space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 1990
    Date of Patent: February 4, 1992
    Assignee: Daiichi Denso Buhin Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Tsunesuke Takano
  • Patent number: 5082997
    Abstract: Switch of the tilting blade type wherein the spring blade (35) provides for the tension of the moving blade (38) and the return of the pusher (39); under the action of the pusher(39) the spring blade (35) separates progressively from the inclined terminal (34); the inclination value is given for products in compliance with standard (DIN 41635, shape A); the closure system of the case comprises flanges which retain the cover; the shaft of the accessories is cast in a single operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 1988
    Date of Patent: January 21, 1992
    Inventor: Roger Vialy
  • Patent number: 5082157
    Abstract: A concealed pocket comprises a container and a belt loop. A belt passes through the belt loop and the container portion has a pocket opening which is vertically aligned with the belt loop and the belt. The pocket is received between an article of clothing and the wearer such that the belt forces the article of clothing inwardly against the wearer to close the pocket opening. In this way, the pocket is concealed within the article of clothing. When it is desired to remove valuables from the container, the wearer merely moves the belt outwardly, and has access to the container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 1991
    Date of Patent: January 21, 1992
    Inventor: Marla Emerson-Santos
  • Patent number: 5080147
    Abstract: A cock for drawing-off carbonated liquid under pressure having a body having, in an internal area, a recess communicating with an opening under which is arranged a receptacle to be filled. In this recess is integrated a seating above which vertically extends a quill valve, which emerges from the body. An upper end of the quill valve penetrates into a carbonated liquid storage tank. The flow of carbonated liquid out of the storage tank is controlled via the quill valve, outside of the body and storage tank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 14, 1992
    Assignee: Institut Francais des Boissons de la Brasserie Malterie
    Inventors: Pierre Millet, Patrick Coffion
  • Patent number: 5078310
    Abstract: A mechanical retaining device, for a stringer assembly, having various base configurations which adapt to a number of angling situations. The retaining device includes a housing (12) containing a plunger (10) and a spring (38). A stringer rod relief (22) in a stringer rod (20), engaged by plunger (10), secures the stringer assembly in the retaining device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 1991
    Date of Patent: January 7, 1992
    Inventor: DeLois M. Ferry
  • Patent number: 5079393
    Abstract: A control device for stopping and/or starting plate saws, for a plate saw having at least one workpiece support table operably associated therewith. An actuation member is provided which is accessible to an operator positioned adjacent the workpiece support table or behind it, or between two or more tables. The actuation member is a bar-shaped member, rotatably supported about an axis extending beneath and parallel to a longitudinal edge of a table surface of one of the workpiece support tables.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 7, 1992
    Inventor: Erwin Jenkner
  • Patent number: 5072868
    Abstract: A portable wet paint brush holder which is formed by a substantially rectangular bottom panel, vertical front and rear walls, and substantially rectangular side walls forming an enclosure with a top opening for receiving the brush portion of a conventional paint brush having the handle extending in an upward direction. One of the side walls of the holder is substantially vertical, but the other is outwardly inclined from the vertical at the bottom by an acute angle of the order of thirty degrees so that the enclosure top opening is larger than the bottom portion. A flexible clip is attached to the rear wall adjacent to the angled side wall and the top of the rear wall for holding the paint brush handle and a flexible hinged gripper extends from the rear wall at the top for securing the holder to an external object such as the painter's belt or to a ladder strut or the lip of a paint can.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 1991
    Date of Patent: December 17, 1991
    Assignee: Brushmate Corporation
    Inventors: Robert G. Dickie, Christopher A. Smith
  • Patent number: 5070917
    Abstract: A compact device for sealingly storing, and subsequently delivering to the interior of a tire, a predetermined charge quantity of a tire leak sealant liquid includes a hollow liquid storage and transfer member, having an inlet fitting and an outlet fitting, within which the sealant liquid is disposed. When the hollow member is operatively interconnected between a pressurized air source and the tire's valve stem, pressurized air sequentially forces the entire sealant liquid charge volume into the tire and then flows into the tire through the storage and transfer member. Accordingly, the device may be utilized to repair and fully inflate a flat tire. A check valve structure incorporated in the device prevents fluid backflow through the storage and transfer member. The device may also be used to force other treatment liquids, such as a tire conditioner liquid, into the tire.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 10, 1991
    Inventors: James E. Ferris, William J. Quest
  • Patent number: 5069260
    Abstract: A lightweight, low maintenance and efficient gasoline dispensing nozzle having a nozzle spout to be inserted into the fill pipe of a motor vehicle to dispense fuel thereto from an underground storage tank while reliably preventing the escape of hydrocarbon vapors prior to and during the pumping of such fuel. The dispensing nozzle includes a resilient sealing bladder assembly which is normally spring biased to a relatively distal position at which to prevent communication between the underground tank and the atmosphere. When the nozzle spout is inserted into the fill pipe, the sealing bladder is urged axially against its spring bias to a relatively proximal position at which to release a latching assembly and thereby permit the pump handle to be depressed radially inward so that gasoline will be dispensed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 1991
    Date of Patent: December 3, 1991
    Inventor: Reeford P. Shea
  • Patent number: 5067641
    Abstract: A bicycle carrier with a three point mounting arrangement for carrying bicycles on the rear of a motor vehicle. The carrier has a central upright member with a lower end structure for detachably securing the bicycle carrier to a conventional draw bar hitch which is attached to the motor vehicle. The base end portion of a rearward extending swing arm is pivotally attached to the upper end of the upright member and a short distance below the swing arm there is a lateral member which is centered and fixed to the lateral member. A pair of spaced apart hanger brackets extend longitudinally from attachments to the lateral member, to mount each bicycle at two points on the carrier. The swing arm is releasably rotatable about a transverse axis from a horizontal locked position adjacent to the hanger brackets to an upward position away from the hanger brackets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 26, 1991
    Assignee: Valley Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Richard B. Johnson, Thomas P. Schneider
  • Patent number: 5068506
    Abstract: A switch includes a casing in which a contact holder is movably provided allowing the holder to move from an original position into a pressed in position in response to the pressing of a button. The contact holder is biased toward the original position by a spring. A rotor is provided on either the fixed casing or the movable contact holder such that the rotor is rotatable about an axis parallel with the direction of movement of the contact holder. The outside circumferential surface of the rotor has a cam groove which has oblique parts and locking halfway parts. A locking projection is provided on either the contact holder or the casing, and the locking projection is fitted in the cam groove so that the projection slides relating to the groove as the holder is moved, thereby rotating the rotor. A contact on the contact holder selectively engages a contact on the casing, depending on whether the holder is in the original or the pressed in position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 1991
    Date of Patent: November 26, 1991
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai Rika Denki Seisakusho
    Inventor: Akira Suzuki
  • Patent number: 5067530
    Abstract: The waste oil collector has a catch pan supported in a cantilever manner by a pair of legs. Apertures are provided in an end wall of the catch pan to which bottles for collecting the drained oil are connected. The bottles extend outwardly at an incline and serve as a counterbalance for supporting the catch pan in the cantilever manner from the legs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 26, 1991
    Assignee: Allied Plastics, Inc.
    Inventor: Edward H. Short, III
  • Patent number: 5066841
    Abstract: A switch assembly is provided with a short travel switch (16, FIG. 3) activated by a push button that has a long travel both before and after closing of the short travel switch, and which provides a substantially constant spring rate throughout push button travel, with minimal noticeable disruptions. The switch assembly includes an inner plunger (32) which depresses the short travel switch, and an outer plunger (44) or keystem coupled to the push button. An inner spring device (46) couples the inner plunger to the housing, and an outer spring device (52) couples the two plungers, so the springs act in series. The preloads of the two spring devices are substantially the same, and the inner spring has a lower spring rate than the outer spring. As the keystem is depressed, both springs begin to compress until the inner plunger contacts the short travel switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 19, 1991
    Assignee: ITT Corporation
    Inventors: Jon P. Zoller, Jeffrey J. Norris
  • Patent number: 5065799
    Abstract: In apparatus for filling cans with beverage the can is coupled to the filler valve and purged of atmospheric air with a mostly inert gas and air mixture derived from the space of the liquid in a storage tank. When the exhaust valve is closed, another valve opens to permit pure inert gas stored in a reservoir to flow into the can and pressurize it to slightly above atmospheric pressure but below the pressure in the storage tank. A pre-pressurization valve is then opened to let some of the inert gas and air mixture in the storage tank flow to the can which is occupied by the substantially pure inert gas so practically none of the downflowing gas and air mixture from the storage tank enters the can although it fills the chamber to which the can is connected and thereby pressurizes the can. When the can pressure and storage tank pressure become equal, a liquid control valve opens to drain liquid from the tank into the can.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 19, 1991
    Assignee: Krones AG Hermann Kronseder Maschinenfabrik
    Inventor: Wilhelm Weiss
  • Patent number: 5063978
    Abstract: The centering nozzles of continuously orbiting material-supplying valves in a filling machine wherein cans, bottles or other types of containers are moved into register with and advance with the valves in the course of the filling operation are biased toward the material-receiving portions of registering containers by mechanical springs or by pneumatic cylinder and piston units in order to ensure that the nozzles can yield when necessary so as to preserve the integrity of the valves and/or of the containers. The springs and/or the cylinder and piston units are interposed between the nozzles and the assemblies which serve to raise and lower the nozzles relative to the containers below them. The nozzles also serve as differential pistons to bias their sealing elements against the adjacent containers during actual admission of a flowable material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 12, 1991
    Assignee: alfill Getranketechnik GmbH
    Inventor: Jacek Walusiak
  • Patent number: 5064109
    Abstract: A support for a portable lightweight hand-held video camera includes an arm/wrist band which carries a support brace for the camera, the arm/wrist band substantially immobilizing relative movement between the user's arm and wrist to minimize jitters normally associated with recordings made by hand-held video cameras.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 12, 1991
    Inventor: Paul T. Caster
  • Patent number: 5060703
    Abstract: A brake filling apparatus uses nitrogen or dry air as a desiccant to assure freedom from moisture in brake fluid supplied from a supply tank as well as at the filling location. A main fluid tank has a vacuum over the fluid to deaerate the fluid and has a pump submerged in the fluid to deliver fluid to the brake system. The pump is driven by a submerged motor which is driven by pressurized brake fluid. The brake system is evacuated, the low pressure is monitored for a test interval for leak detection, the system is filled by the pump and excess fluid is returned to the main tank and is replaced by the nitrogen or dry air.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 29, 1991
    Inventor: Arthur Koerner
  • Patent number: 5056571
    Abstract: A container fill system for filling flexible bulk container shaving lift straps with a product having a support frame with first and second ends, a scale connected to the first end of the support frame for determining the weight of the flexible bulk containers, a fill control device connected to the second end of the support frame for controlling the flow rate of the product into the flexible bulk container, a rotatable holder connected to the support frame and to a fill spout rotatable along a vertical axis and having fingers for securing the lift straps to the rotatable holder for supporting the flexible bulk containers and an electronic operator panel with an associated microprocessor for controlling the operation of the container fill system. The container fill system of the present invention allows for one man operation and filling of the flexible bulk containers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 1991
    Date of Patent: October 15, 1991
    Assignee: Super Sack Manufacturing Company
    Inventor: Norwin C. Derby
  • Patent number: 5054669
    Abstract: The lure container comprises adjustable shelves that can be configured to any size lure chamber. The units of the lure container have a glass or other transparent cover so that the appropriate lure can be predetermined before removing from the container. An important feature of this invention is the dual purpose adjustable handle which can be used both as a handle to carry the container and as an attachment which connects the lure container to the side of a boat. This dual purpose adjustable handle is made up of two complementary pieces or parts which when fitted together constitute either the handle or the boat attachment means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 8, 1991
    Inventors: D. John Zimbardi, Wayne H. Matthies
  • Patent number: 5054135
    Abstract: A molded plastics framework for an above-ground swimming pool which includes an endless molded base member having post sockets and a continuous cove integral therewith. The base member is made up of a plurality of identical molded modules which are connected together end to end to make up the endless base member. Molded plastics posts are secured in the base socket and extend upwardly in a spaced apart manner and receive an endless ledge made up of molded ledge segments connected end to end above the posts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 1989
    Date of Patent: October 8, 1991
    Assignee: Vogue Industries Ltd.
    Inventors: Michel Dallaire, Michel Seguin