Patents Examined by Kristine Florio
  • Patent number: 8230972
    Abstract: A tree stand including a first support secured to the tree and which has a platform secured thereto which may be adjustably positioned with respect to the first support to compensate for variously angled tree trunks or branches. A seat assembly is rotatably mounted on the platform so as to be movable 360° with respect to the platform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2012
    Inventor: Jeremy Johnson
  • Patent number: 6813849
    Abstract: The moldboard support assembly for a motor grader reinforces the rear face of the moldboard by a series of vertical ribs. Upper and lower slide rails are secured to the ribs at a position outwardly of the rear face of the moldboard. This produces a series of gaps between adjacent ribs and between the rear face of the moldboard and the slide rails. These gaps allow material to clear away from the slide rails and thereby reduce bearing contamination of the slide rails.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2004
    Assignee: Volvo Motor Graders Limited
    Inventor: Edward McGugan
  • Patent number: 6758628
    Abstract: A device designed to be deployed from a leading vehicle to cause deflation of the tires of a trailing vehicle. The device has two primary components a deployable base member, with a plurality of tire piercing spikes extending therefrom, and a launch assembly designed to deposit the base member on a road surface in proper position to cause the deflation of the tires of a trailing vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2004
    Inventor: Joseph Edward Curry, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6729051
    Abstract: An attachment for a front end loader that provides a method and apparatus for ripping solid ground that includes a hollow tube mounted between the arms of a front end loader directly behind the bucket. The hollow tube is slidably mounted on a solid shaft. Closely machined bushings are welded and braced on support brackets on the inside bottom surface of the arms of the loader. These closely machined bushings are adapted to receive the shaft which extends from the ends of the hollow tube. Ripper brackets are welded to the exterior surface of the hollow tube. On the end of each ripper bracket are mounted ripper teeth in a manner such that the pointed ends of the teeth are pointing towards the rear of the front end loader. Connecting rods are attached to both the hollow tube and the loader bucket. When the bucket is tilted toward the operator the hollow tube rotates downward to a ripping position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2004
    Assignee: APAC Inc.
    Inventor: James P. Hollen
  • Patent number: 6711839
    Abstract: A tractor includes a tractor body (2), a driver's seat disposed on the tractor body, a working implement attached to a rear end of the tractor body, a tractor control station disposed forwardly of the driver's seat, an implement control station disposed rearwardly of the driver's seat, and a position switching mechanism for switching the driver's seat between a forward facing position for allowing a driver seated on the driver's seat to operate the tractor control station, and a rearward facing position for allowing the driver to operate the implement control station. A passage (52) is disposed on the tractor body (2) for allowing the driver to move past the driver's seat (8) between the tractor control station (43) and the implement control station (33).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2004
    Assignee: Kubota Corporation
    Inventors: Shoichiro Kawamura, Ryoichi Nishi
  • Patent number: 6708361
    Abstract: The present invention is a ramp having a front end that can be positioned up to the open end of a shipping container. The ramp has a back end adapted to receive the forks of a forklift for lifting and transport. Generally, the ramp is made up of an upwardly inclined support structure having an upper surface and a lower surface. A load-bearing plate having an outer surface, an inner surface, a front edge and a back edge is attached by its inner surface to the support structure's upper surface. The back edge of the load-bearing plate includes at least one cutout section with a forward edge spaced above the support structure lower surface. At least one lift plate extends downwardly from the load-bearing inner surface. The at least one lift plate has a bottom surface that is substantially in a plane with the at least one cutout forward edge when the ramp is positioned horizontally.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2004
    Inventor: William P. Emerson, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6702512
    Abstract: A car or other vehicle is prevented from crashing through a barrier along a driveway or other path. One or more bollards stands in the path, on a support in a recessed box that is flush with the surface and defines a pivot axis perpendicular to the path of the vehicle. The bollard can be temporarily detachable to permit passage. A vehicle striking the bollard pivots the bollard backward on the axis, preferably into a clearance space provided. Elongated pike structures are coupled to the bollard and are pivoted up from the surface at an acute angle, to pierce and arrest the vehicle. The pikes can be structural bars, for example of angle iron with flanges formed to barbed points. Preferably several pikes are provided, of which some are angularly fixed relative to the bollard and others are rotatable up to a maximum angle at which the pikes become angularly stopped, for example by engagement with the adjacent pikes. The pikes thus are deployed in a bristling array that engages with the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2004
    Inventor: George S. Reale
  • Patent number: 6702036
    Abstract: A cultivator shovel for mounting on one of the shanks of a conventional agricultural cultivator. The shovel includes a shank mount in the form of a channel for receiving the shank therein. A shovel body is supported on a lower end of the shank mount and includes a leading edge extending rearwardly and outwardly from opposing sides of a forward apex to respective rearward free ends of the shovel body. A pair of upright end plates are mounted on the shovel body adjacent the respective rearward free ends. The end plates prevent deflection of weeds about the free ends of the shovel body when the shovel is used for weeding, thus forcing the weeds to be broken on the leading edge of the shovel body or on the end plates for more effective weeding using a cultivator. Furthermore, soil disturbance is increased dramatically using the end plates, and as a result, shallow rooted weeds such as millet die.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2004
    Inventor: Ken Tatarliov
  • Patent number: 6702515
    Abstract: A corner support element for paving slabs has stackable plate elements to facilitate transport and for height adjustment. The guide and support elements for corner parts of paving slabs, namely plate elements, have cruciform upright support and distance providing projections. The projections are shaped as upwardly tapering elements with open cavities downwards for accommodating corresponding underlying projections. The elements are modular and can be separated along radial rows of projections to form semicircular segments for supporting two adjoining slab corners or quarter segments for supporting only a single corner. The elements are stacked in columns without turning each of the modular parts mutually between them.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2004
    Assignee: Excellent Systems A/S
    Inventor: Ole Frederiksen
  • Patent number: 6698973
    Abstract: An adjustable manhole cover frame assembly suitable for mounting on a manhole basin upper section has an outer ring, capable of resting on the top surface of the upper section, and an inner ring engaging the outer ring by screw threads and having support for a manhole cover. The lower surface of the frame assembly has a part spherically curved surface resting on a similarly curved surface of the manhole basin upper section and which allows the orientation of the frame assembly to be adjusted. Also, the frame assembly itself may have parts with part spherical mating surfaces allowing an upper part to be adjusted for slope when the remainder of the frame assembly has been fixed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2004
    Inventor: Ismail Cemil Suatac
  • Patent number: 6695525
    Abstract: A straight steel curb for the steel curb faced concrete curb of a roadway has a vertical sidewall and a horizontal portion. Two sheet metal or plastic benches, which lie on the floor of the trench, are aligned relative to a string line. Each bench has a bracket which supports a bottom edge of the steel curb at its two ends, to position the steel curb. The front plate and back plate of a bench are welded to the bottom plate by a weak weld which shears under the pressure of the expanding or contracting concrete or has a pleated base which contracts and expands. The bench has front and back flanges which, respectively, hold front and back concrete forms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2004
    Inventor: Richard Hirschhorn
  • Patent number: 6688021
    Abstract: A method and device to further remove snow left by a locomotive snowplow while enhancing traction and control of a locomotive or powered car. The snow removal enhancement method and device typically include a flap arranged to extend beyond a bottom edge of a locomotive snowplow over each rail. The flap loosens and removes residual snow, as well as other debris, left by the snowplow. The device handily removes snow while being constructed of the thinnest material possible.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2004
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Mirza Aref Ahmed Baig, Admir Mesalic, Ryan Eric Perry
  • Patent number: 6688404
    Abstract: A portable handheld lawn edger includes a cutterhead (2) at the end (16) of a guide tube (4) as well as an internal combustion engine (3) at the other end (17). The engine is connected to the cutter blade (5) via a drive shaft (20) in the guide tube (4) and in the cutterhead (2). The cutter blade is mounted for rotation about an axis (6), which lies parallel to the ground during cutting operation, and is guided along the edge. A guide wheel (27) is provided on the end of the cutterhead (2) facing toward the engine (3). The cutterhead (2) can be rolled over the ground with the aid of the guide wheel (27). The service life of the edge cutter (1) is increased and the manufacturing costs are reduced in that the cutterhead (2) is provided with a spacer (7, 9) approximately at the elevation of the drive axis (6) of the cutter blade (5). The spacer (7, 9) projects from the cutterhead and is set on the ground and prevents abrasion of the cutterhead (2).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2004
    Assignee: Andreas Stihl AG & Co.
    Inventors: Klaus-Martin Uhl, Heiko Rosskamp, Claus Strodthoff
  • Patent number: 6688405
    Abstract: A simplified, low component harrow attachment includes several clevis-like mounting castings pivotally connected between two identical flat side sheets. A link which pivots the ranks in unison is pinned to the legs of the mounting castings between the sheets by free-floating pins captured between the sheets. The castings can pivot to a retracted position and be secured by a pin for increased clearance between the teeth and the ground during transport. The rear mounting casting has a longer clevis structure than the remainder of the castings and serves as a tine depth stop when a stop pin is inserted through apertures in the sheets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2004
    Assignee: Deere & Company
    Inventor: David Lee Steinlage
  • Patent number: 6681867
    Abstract: A ground engaging tool that oscillates in a motion, relative to the ground, that is substantially vertically upward, and then downward and forward in a direction in which the apparatus is moved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2004
    Inventor: Ronald L. Satzler
  • Patent number: 6675506
    Abstract: A motorized ice breaking apparatus has a housing with a power source connected thereto. A drive train is operatively connected to the power source. The drive train includes a drive shaft with a crank. A blade is disposed on a bottom side of the housing and extends laterally from a first side to a second side of the housing. A connecting rod is pivotally connected to the blade and pivotally connected to the drive shaft's crank. A pair of guide channels is connected to the bottom of the housing, one guide channel being proximate each lateral side. Ends of the blade are slidingly engaged in corresponding ones of the guide channels. The power source rotates the drive shaft and imparts a reciprocating motion to the connecting rod through the crank. The reciprocating motion of the connecting rod reciprocates the blade in a substantially vertical motion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2004
    Inventor: Alfred Y. Pitts
  • Patent number: 6671983
    Abstract: A snow groomer includes a movable platform, a prime mover mounted to the platform and a grooming drum rotatably driven by the prime mover for rotation in a direction opposite the traveling direction of the snow groomer. The grooming drum includes axially spaced apart and radially protruding ribs that extend circumferentially around the drum. The ribs include circumferentially spaced apart apertures and the apertures of each rib are aligned with the apertures of the other ribs. Elongated cutting teeth extend through the apertures of the ribs and have a cross-sectional area that is smaller than the apertures such that the cutting teeth are free to vibrate within the apertures as the drum rotates, thereby enhancing the pulverization of chunks of snow and ice.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2004
    Assignee: Board of Control of Michigan Technological University
    Inventors: Philip J. Quenzi, Russell G. Alger
  • Patent number: 6669402
    Abstract: A protection barrier system for energy-absorption of impacts includes an elongated barrier defining a chamber therein. The barrier includes side walls having a plurality of connected non-vertical wall segments and a plurality of buttresses positioned vertically at spaced apart locations along each side wall. One or more guide channels are positioned on each side wall in horizontal alignment with similar guide channels on like-configured barriers. A coupling is disposed on each opposed end of the barrier for coupling of either barrier end juxtaposed in end-to-end nested arrangement with like barriers. A supplemental energy-absorbing system is connectable between opposed ends of end-to-end coupled barriers, providing energy-absorbing tubes removably inserted through each guide channel of each barrier. Cables are extendable through the tubes in the guide channels of the nested barriers, providing additional energy-absorption and deterrence from breaching of the barriers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2003
    Assignee: Safety Barriers, Inc.
    Inventors: C. Reed Davis, Richard G. McColl
  • Patent number: 6662480
    Abstract: The present invention provides an apparatus and a method for landscaping or leveling a ground surface wherein the apparatus is selectively configurable to adopt a bucket or a leveling bar configuration. The apparatus is mountable to a motive power source such as a skid steer loader, tractor, or the like. The apparatus may have a frame substantially configured as a bucket with a floor having front, middle, and rear sections, with the front and rear sections being fixedly attached to the side walls and the middle section being movable relative to the side walls to raise it above the front and rear sections to form a leveling bar. The apparatus may also have a pivotable door or gate that opens when the middle floor section is raised to create a material flow-through during operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2003
    Inventor: Timothy J. Stevens
  • Patent number: 6659682
    Abstract: A road traffic speed control device which is located in a roadway, is formed of resiliently deformable material and is deflatable by the passage of a vehicle thereover at the intended speed limit of the vehicle in the roadway, in use. The device may be formed from an extruded or compressed partially recyclable rubber compound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2003
    Assignee: Autospan Limited
    Inventor: Graham Heeks