Patents Examined by Leonid Fastovsky
  • Patent number: 6533557
    Abstract: This invention relates to a positive displacement pump which allows a liquid additive (such as liquid fertilizer) to be introduced into another liquid stream (such as water) and to be mixed in a constant proportion. One end of the pump can be connected to a faucet and the other end to a typical garden hose or other device. Water enters the pump through a faucet and is redirected (bent) by an upper stator which allows the water to rotate turbine vanes. The turbine is rotatably connected to a cam and the rotation of the cam moves pistons which allows liquid fertilizer to be drawn in from its reservoir. The liquid fertilizer flows through a tube and into one of two pistons. Then, the liquid fertilizer is dispelled through one of the exit tubes through the pumping action of the pistons. The water which was used to turn the turbine then combines with the liquid fertilizer as it comes out of the exit tubes and a water/fertilizer mixture is created.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2003
    Inventor: David G. Williams
  • Patent number: 6528769
    Abstract: A connection of an electrical terminal 13 to a conductor track 5 applied to a glass or glass ceramic plate 1 is to be resistant to temperature change and traction and conductive. For this purpose an electrically conductive connecting element 11 is ultrasonically welded to the composite consisting of the conductor track 5 and plate 1. The connecting element 11 extends to the terminal 13 which is fastened to the plate 1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2003
    Assignee: Schott Glas
    Inventors: Roland Schnabel, Kurt Schaupert, Harry Engelmann
  • Patent number: 6517531
    Abstract: A medical device for fragmenting objects and aspirating remaining debris enables a physician or other medical personnel quickly and easily remove objects, such as kidney stones, from a patient. The medical device can include a dual-lumen elongated member and a handle coupled to the elongated member. A first one of the lumens provides a suction passageway, and a second one of the lumens receives a laser fiber for delivering laser energy to an object, such as a kidney stone, within the patient. The handle can include a positioning mechanism to enable the physician by manual manipulation to move and hold in place the laser fiber longitudinally within the second lumen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2003
    Assignee: Scimed Life Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Clifford M. Liu, Bradley D. Elliott, Jeffrey C. Smith, Juli L. Curtis, Thomas B. Remm
  • Patent number: 6514058
    Abstract: A compressor includes a piston slidably received in a chamber of a housing and having an annular groove for receiving a sealing ring, and having one or more conduits and having a number of openings communicating with the annular groove of the piston. The piston includes an inclined peripheral surface having a lower diameter greater the sealing ring for forcing the sealing ring to engage with the housing, and having an upper diameter less than that of the sealing ring for loosely receiving the sealing ring. A spring blade may selectively block the conduits of the piston.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2003
    Inventor: Wen San Chou
  • Patent number: 6511300
    Abstract: An impeller arrangement in which adjacent blades (ventilating surfaces) are overlapped with each other as viewed in the axial direction is realized easily and cost-effectively even in a synthetic-resin-molded product. In an impeller for an axial flow type blower driven by an outer rotor type motor which is integrated to a rotatably supported shaft and a motor yoke to be rotated about the shaft around an outer side of a stator together with the motor yoke for ventilation, the impeller comprises a plurality of impellers (divided impellers, for example, a front side divided impeller and a rear side divided wheel), so that each of the divided impellers can be molded by a simple molding method using axially coupled type metal dies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2003
    Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shuichi Otsuka
  • Patent number: 6508633
    Abstract: A swash plate type compressor of variable capacity type including a rotary drive shaft, a swash plate angle adjusting device for adjusting the inclination angle between a minimum and a maximum angle, and wherein the_swash plate has a first center point at the maximum inclination angle and a second center point at the minimum inclination angle, each of the center points being an intersection between an intermediate plane of the swash plate which is intermediate in the thickness direction and a centerline of the swash plate, the two center points being located on the rotation axis, or the first center point being located on the rotation axis or offset therefrom on one side of the rotation axis corresponding to the compression-end circumferential part of the swash plate, while the second center point is offset a larger distance from the rotation axis than the first center point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2003
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyoda Jidoshokki Seisakusho
    Inventors: Ryo Matsubara, Tomoji Tarutani, Ken Suitou, Kenta Nishimura, Taku Adaniya, Masaki Ota
  • Patent number: 6508013
    Abstract: There are provided a method of drying a fresh sample in a short period of time, a method of fabricating a pressed flower or specimen which retains a beautiful color, and a method of fabricating tea or herb tea which retains a natural beautiful color and scent. The method of quickly drying a fresh sample is characterized in comprising the steps of covering an outer surface of a fresh sample with a moisture absorbent porous flexible sheet, surrounding the periphery of the moisture absorbent porous flexible sheet with moisture absorbent granular bodies in an amount capable of absorbing all moisture contained in the fresh sample, bringing the outer surface of the fresh sample, the moisture absorbent porous flexible sheet and the moisture absorbent granular bodies into intimate contact with one another, and irradiating the fresh sample, the moisture absorbent porous flexible sheet and the moisture absorbent granular bodies with a microwave, then cooling them.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2003
    Assignee: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Chizuko Okazaki, Naoki Mita
  • Patent number: 6508636
    Abstract: A freon compressor comprises a compressor device and an electromotor device. The electromotor device is used for driving the compressor device and consists of a stator and a rotor rotating within the stator. The stator further consists of a stator core and stator windings wired on the stator core, and a three-phase sine alternating current waveform is applied to the stator windings. Therefore, the magnetic lines of force of the electromotor device are stabilized in space and time and noise is significantly reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2003
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takashi Ogawa, Hideaki Kato, Tetsuo Nomoto, Yuuichi Izawa
  • Patent number: 6506178
    Abstract: A vascular occlusion-crossing assembly (2) includes an elongate delivery system (4) and a flexible elongate member (6) which passes along the body (34) of the delivery assembly. A laterally-extending, vascular tunica-separation guide (32) helps guide the distal end (36) of the delivery assembly between tunica layers (40, 42, 44) to a position distal of an occlusion (52). The distal portion (30) of a distally moving elongate member, typically a flexible hollow needle, is deflected into this distal lumen (54) on the far side of an occlusion (52). A guidewire (62) may be passed along the elongate member thereby crossing the occlusion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2003
    Assignee: Vascular Architects, Inc.
    Inventors: Peter J. Schubart, Ted S. Thorson, John D. Martin
  • Patent number: 6503226
    Abstract: The apparatus comprises a transportable unit with a support base which is provided with wheels and which carries a source for the supply of CO2 under regulated pressure, having a support foot provided, at the top, with an articulated arm carrying a programming and control screen and means for receiving an exchangeable metering device capable of receiving the CO2 by way of ducts coming from the CO2 source and of metering it to an outlet for a catheter for administration to the patient, having motorised means capable of actuating the intake of CO2 into the metering device and of actuating the valves thereof in order to control the administration of the gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2003
    Assignee: Grupo Grifols, S.A.
    Inventors: Enrique Martinell Gisper-Sauch, Roger Ferrer Royo, Jorge Ma Manzano Riera
  • Patent number: 6488478
    Abstract: An axial plunger pump which does not need bellows by restricting fuel to a cylinder bore configuring a pump portion and by lubricating the other portion with oil. The high pressure fuel pump includes a plunger reciprocating according to a shaking movement of a swash plate, a cylinder block forming a pump chamber together with the plunger, and a sealing member provided between the plunger and a cylinder bore for sealing oil leaked from the pump chamber to a chamber surrounding the pump chamber, wherein oil in the oil chamber is supplied from the outside of the high pressure fuel pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2002
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshinobu Ono, Yukio Takahashi, Hideki Machimura, Minoru Hashida, Masayoshi Kotaki, Takefumi Yamamura
  • Patent number: 6488483
    Abstract: A heat dissipation fan that has a casing, a stator and a fan. The stator is pressed onto a sleeve secured in the casing. The stator has a coil and two pole disks respectively abutting opposite sides of the coil. A low-friction member is mounted in the sleeve. The fan is rotatably mounted in and around the stator inside the casing. A permanent magnet is mounted in the fan to make the fan a rotor. A shaft securely attached to the fan extends from the fan and passes through the low-friction member. The permanent magnet has an axial height shorter than that of the coil of the stator. The permanent magnet has a horizontal central line axially displaced from a horizontal central line of the coil of the stator. Accordingly, the fan with the shaft will not move axially during the operation of the heat dissipation fan. Power loss will be avoided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2002
    Inventor: Hsin-Mao Hsieh
  • Patent number: 6485454
    Abstract: Automatic infusion set for continuously infusing liquid medicine of double bottles, including a hollow circular barrel and a float-type sealing valve disposed in the circular barrel. The sealing valve has an I-shaped cross-section for reducing contacting area with inner wall of the circular barrel and preventing the sealing valve from attaching to the inner wall. A rubber-made membrane is disposed on each of two end faces of the sealing valve. An A bottle infusion catheter is passed through the circumference of a lower section of the circular barrel near the cap member at bottom end of the circular barrel, whereby the liquid medicine in double bottles can be automatic continuously infused and it is unnecessary to replace the exhausted drop bottle to save time. Moreover, the air in the vacant drop bottle is prevented from entering the vessels of a patient to lead to thrombosis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2002
    Inventor: Sheng-Chi Yueh
  • Patent number: 6475196
    Abstract: Provided is an infusion cannula modified to incorporate one of more medicinal agents. The infusion cannula has a tube having an inner lumen and an external surface, and is made of a flexible, biologically compatible elastomeric material, with a coating adhered to the external surface of the tube. The coating contains a medicinal agent in a polymer matrix. Preferably, the polymer is capable of sustained release of the medicinal agent. The infusion cannula can be produced by coating a tube with a medicinal agent in a polymer matrix. In some embodiments, the coating involves dipping the tube into the polymer matrix, or spraying or painting the polymer matrix onto the tube. Additionally provided is a method for infusing a substance into a subject by inserting the cannula into subcutaneous tissue of the subject and delivering the substance into the cannula, thereby infusing the substance into the subject through the cannula.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2002
    Assignee: MiniMed Inc.
    Inventor: David J. Vachon
  • Patent number: 6476365
    Abstract: A toilet paper dispenser for providing heated toilet paper having lotion thereon. The toilet paper dispenser includes a roll of toilet paper partially saturated with a lotion. A housing has a top portion, and a bottom portion. Each of the top and bottom portions has a first side wall, a second side wall, a front edge and a back edge. The back edges are pivotally coupled together. A pair of supports support the housing on the vertical wall. Each of the supports is attached to one of the side walls of the bottom portion and each of the supports is attached to the vertical wall. A spindle is removably extended into each of the side walls of the bottom portion. The spindle extends through the roll of toilet paper. A heating element is positioned in the housing and attached to the bottom portion of the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2002
    Inventor: Refugio G. Rios
  • Patent number: 6471491
    Abstract: The present invention provides an axial plunger pump which does not need bellows by restricting fuel to a cylinder bore configuring a pump portion and by lubricating the other portion with oil. The high pressure fuel pump comprises a plunger reciprocating according to a shaking movement of a swash plate, a cylinder block forming a pump chamber together with the plunger, and a sealing member provided between the plunger and a cylinder bore for sealing oil leaked from the pump chamber to a chamber surrounding the pump chamber, wherein oil in the oil chamber is supplied from the outside of the high pressure fuel pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2002
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshinobu Ono, Yukio Takahashi, Hideki Machimura, Minoru Hashida, Masayoshi Kotaki, Takefumi Yamamura
  • Patent number: 6468249
    Abstract: A device for drawing blood includes a disposable holder (12) defining a socket (14) for receiving one end of a vacuum vial (18). The holder (12) includes an inner needle-receiving formation (26) and an outer needle-receiving formation (28), the inner and outer needle-receiving formations being in fluid communication with one another. A hollow needle (32) is connected to the inner needle-receiving formation (26) so as to extend into the socket (14) for puncturing a stopper (52) on the vacuum vial when the vial is inserted into the socket. The outer needle-receiving formation (28) carries a hypodermic needle (38) and a safety cover (42) for the hypodermic needle. The safety cover includes a cup (44) having an off-centre opening (46) through which the point of the needle (38) can pass, and a resilient member (48) for holding the cup over the point of the needle when the needle is inoperative so as to cover the point of the needle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2002
    Assignee: Sleeping Dog Intellectual Property (Pty) Ltd.
    Inventor: Ricardo Sheath Oxford Steyn
  • Patent number: 6457955
    Abstract: A composite heat dissipation fan, including an impeller having first blades, and the first blades having a periphery combined with second blades for creating a side directed wind supply. The impeller is provided with a magnet ring which is energized with the stator coils of the base plate, so that the impeller is induced to rotate about the rotation shaft of the base plate. The first blades draw the ambient cold air through the wind inlet opening, and the wind outlet opening of the base plate drains the wind outward. The second blades uses part of the cold air to drain wind sideward, thereby providing a multi-directional wind draining effect so as to increase the heat dissipation efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2002
    Assignee: Yen Sun Technology Corp.
    Inventor: Jui-Hung Cheng
  • Patent number: 6454743
    Abstract: An injection device that is used with a syringe, wherein the injection needle of the syringe is initially introduced into the skin and the injection fluid is injected afterwards. The injection device is essentially driven and controlled by a control sleeve (6) which can be displaced and/or rotated in relation to the housing (7) and which can be moved between a closing and functional position (P1) and an open and safety position (P2). In the closing and functional position, the control sleeve prevents access to the syringe and activates a release device for the injection process. In the open and safety position, a syringe (1) can be removed or inserted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2002
    Assignee: Schering Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Wilfried Weber
  • Patent number: 6450939
    Abstract: The spacer element (10) includes a central portion (16) and two end portions (18, 20). The spacer element is generally cylindrical in configuration and the two end sections are adapted to receive and hold a portion of radioactive seed elements (12, 14). The spacer element comprises two half-portions (22, 24) joined by a hinge element (26) positioned along a longitudinal edge of the spacer element. The two half-portions rotate about the longitudinal hinge element, moving from an open position, in which the radioactive seeds can be loaded by an operator into the spacer element, to a closed position, in which the radioactive seeds are held in the spacer element. A plurality of seeds and spacers can thus be conveniently assembled into a series string thereof for loading into a needle and subsequent insertion into the prostate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2002
    Inventor: Peter D. Grimm