Patents Examined by Mary Beth O. Jones
  • Patent number: 4742961
    Abstract: A cooling air diverter (8) is responsive to exhaust nozzle configuration, directing cooling air (2) to a reverser vane isolation valve (9) during forward thrust operation, and to a conduit (10), which forms part of a reverser vane access passage (17), during reverse thrust operation. The cooling air diverter includes a pivotal arm assembly (18) with inner (22) and outer (23) flaps independently movable about a first common hinge (19), and a floating flap (24) pivotable about a second hinge (25) fastened at the outward end of the inner flap. Flap movement and position is determined by contact with the isolation valve, which moves in response to thrust redirection. By utilizing an existing movable nozzle member to actuate the diverter, directional control of the cooling airflow is achieved without requiring additional actuators or complex mechanical control devices, minimizing complexity and optimizing nozzle weight.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 1987
    Date of Patent: May 10, 1988
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: Roy R. Starke
  • Patent number: 4741425
    Abstract: An improved chute for a bale loader which enables a quarter-turn rotation of faulty positioned bales prior to loading of the bales. A wheel rotatably mounted on the forward most end of one of a pair of converging arms on the chute is operable to engage the side of a bale of hay, straw, or the like. The wheel, being rearwardly and inwardly inclined toward the bale-receiving channel defined by the conveying arm members of the chute causes one quarter rotation of the bale. The wheel is of proper size to allow the operator of the loader to selectively engage only those bales requiring rotation. The wheel may be spring mounted to minimize repairs and may be driven by an external power source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 1983
    Date of Patent: May 3, 1988
    Inventor: Steven E. Land
  • Patent number: 4739931
    Abstract: A transverse pivotable flap is cantilevered between movable sidewall members (10) which include a stub flap (14). A removable central flap portion (18) is secured between the stub flats (10) by a pair of joints (26) having alternating lug sets 28, 30, secured by respective elongated pins (32, 34). Flow area (40) is provided to conduct internal cooling air (16) into the central flap portion (18).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 1987
    Date of Patent: April 26, 1988
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: Claude R. Stogner
  • Patent number: 4738345
    Abstract: The invention relates to an improved roller table arrangement for the transportation, in a horizontal plane, of typically plate-shaped workpieces. The present invention provides a roller table of the form of rollers located on carrier rails, in which rolling transport may be accomplished either parallel to, or transversely to, the carrier rails, the aforesaid transportation being achieved through the use of interchangeable roller receiving means. The invention further provides a means by which uniform elevation of the rollers with respect to the carrier rails is accomplished in spite of the presence of swarf or other material debris upon the carrier rails. The present invention further provides for the selective conversion from roller table to workpiece support table through the use of support strips which may be placed upon the carrier rails in lieu of the roller receiving means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 19, 1988
    Inventor: Erwin Jenkner
  • Patent number: 4738398
    Abstract: Spray discharge from a liquid sprayer is enhanced through a turbulent effect created by a ported baffle defining an air plenum into which air is induced to flow into the spray plume as it emerges from the discharge orifice causing the particles to collide and mix with the emerging spray. The baffle port is sized to match the divergence angle of the spray plume which essentially fills the port upon entry such that the air in the gap between the orifice and the port is driven through the port by impingement of the spray particles and entrainment of the air into the plume from the gap, while preventing any backflow of air through the port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 19, 1988
    Inventor: Douglas F. Corsette
  • Patent number: 4736801
    Abstract: A fire extinguisher has an elongated manifold for discharging water on a chimney fire and is protectively secured within an opened face cage. The top has a threaded opening for a connection to a water hose and pointed bottom end for a ram head. An elongated bore extending from the hose connection feeds water to a plurality of lateral channels with openings on the outside of the manifold. A plurality of spray nozzles mounted in the openings are arranged to discharge a spray mist from the nozzles peripherally about the chimney wall. When lowered or dropped within a chimney the manifold pointed end penetrates the ignited mass of creosote while spraying a water mist to quench the fire.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 1985
    Date of Patent: April 12, 1988
    Inventor: Roy A. Grewell
  • Patent number: 4736891
    Abstract: An aspiration sprayer comprises a disc valve for controlling the degree of aspiration over a very wide range by means of a plurality of passages of different sizes formed in the disc valve and selectively introduced into the flow path of the liquid to be aspirated, the disc valve rotating with a knob and being spring-urged into leakproof relationship with that flow path, the carrier liquid with aspiration material entrained therein emerging from the sprayer in a strong jet-like stream the nature and direction of which can be modified by a deflector mounted on the device so as to be slidable between operative positions. The knob and the disc valve may be readily assembled and disassembled and the operative passages of the valve are accessible for cleaning without requiring disassembly of the device. The passages in the disc valve may comprise a plurality of radially enlarged vortex areas interconnected by spaces of lesser width.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 12, 1988
    Assignee: Hunter-Melnor, Inc.
    Inventors: Ho Chow, Sidney J. Goodman
  • Patent number: 4735361
    Abstract: A fluid dispersing apparatus suitable for use as a sprinkler in water irrigation applications whereby a jet of fluid is reflected from one or more rigid surfaces to preserve fluid particle speed. The reflecting surfaces are shaped to provide a variable but adjustable range of sector coverage in the spray pattern while maintaining range of fluid dispersal coverage. Through substitution of system components, a broad range of fluid dispersing requirements can be met with the same basic substructure. In the absence of fluid jet pressure, the principal jet reflecting assembly settles into a compact, low profile configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 5, 1988
    Inventor: Norman R. Wallace
  • Patent number: 4733824
    Abstract: For overcoming certain inherent disadvantages associated with most agricultural fertilizer distributors, a hopper having a distributor under its floor has a clean out door that is adapted to be closed using a tensioned flexible cover. The flexible cover is drawn into sealing abutment with the edges of the hopper housing walls by tensioning members. Advantages of this difference in construction include, for example, the ease with which blockages can be cleared from the distributor mechanism without the necessity of first emptying the contents of the hopper. The flexible cover is made of non-corrosive material and is not easily damaged by rough handling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 29, 1988
    Inventor: Frederick Alexander
  • Patent number: 4730786
    Abstract: A faucet spout attachment is disclosed including a flow-limiting plate having flow-controlling orifices. Downstream of the flow-limiting plate, alternate series of perforated disks and wire screens arrest stream velocity and redistribute the velocity profile of the stream to provide laminar flow. A screen in contact with the downstream surface of the flow-limiting plate suppreses noise. The flow-limiting plate includes a central flow-trimming orifice whose diameter is selected so that the overall flow rate of the device falls just within the lower end of a predetermined flow range thereby maintaining stream-generated noise at a minimum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 15, 1988
    Inventor: Walter R. Nelson
  • Patent number: 4726526
    Abstract: An automatic aspirator-transfer valve is disclosed which controls the delivery of washing and rinsing fluid from a supply to a cleaning gun. The device includes a valving piston which moves between a first or rinsing position to open communications to the bypass conduits and a second or washing position to close the bypass conduit. The injector aspirates washing fluid from a reservoir through a non-return valve, a side inlet and conduit of the side inlet, the side inlet conduit being separated from a passage within the housing bore. By this novel aspect, a user may change from the washing mode to the rinsing mode without the aspiration of dangerously high concentrations of washing agent and without unnecessary waste of the washing agent during operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 1986
    Date of Patent: February 23, 1988
    Assignee: Knud Erik Westergaard
    Inventor: Tage Ostergaard
  • Patent number: 4723709
    Abstract: An improved multi-boom field spraying apparatus designed to spray in a sequential manner one or more of a plurality of liquids to a selected spray zone among a number of spray zones is described. The apparatus contains a novel spray, agitate air and rinse system. A novel spray boom and vessel apparatus are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 1986
    Date of Patent: February 9, 1988
    Assignee: E. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company
    Inventors: Thomas A. Curran, Jr., James L. Yager
  • Patent number: 4723710
    Abstract: An apparatus for spraying mixtures of solid and liquid materials includes a tank; a pump; an inlet line from the tank to the pump; a return line from the pump to the tank; a spraying nozzle; a nozzle supply line from the pump to the nozzle; a nozzle to the tank; and first and second valves for regulating the respective amounts of mixtures to be fed either to the nozzle, the nozzle supply line, the nozzle return line or the return line from the pump to the tank. By providing two separate valves and return lines, one at the pump and one at the nozzle, constant agitation of the tank contents is maintained and clogging anywhere in the system, particularly in the nozzle hose, is avoided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 1986
    Date of Patent: February 9, 1988
    Inventor: James C. Lucore, II
  • Patent number: 4723714
    Abstract: A programmable sprinkler system ideally suited for use in an enclosure such as a nursery and/or arboretum includes a first overhead rail and a water pipe connected to a pressurized source of water. The water pipe is provided with a plurality of water valves placed at discreet intervals along its length and extend outwardly therefrom and is positioned alongside and close to the first overhead rail and parallel thereto. A source of electrical power is positioned close to and generally parallel with the first rail on the other side thereof and extends essentially its entire length. A plurality of second overhead rails have one end of each positioned near the valves and the first rail and extends outwardly therefrom, preferably at right angles thereto, defining a path along which the water is to be dispensed. A carrier mechanism rests on the first rail. Nested upon the carrier mechanism is a detachable car that includes a second coupling device to bring electrical power to it.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 1986
    Date of Patent: February 9, 1988
    Inventor: Gary H. Lucas
  • Patent number: 4722481
    Abstract: Several embodiments of drip emitters are disclosed. These embodiments comprise (1) a molded plastic, body with an upwardly opening housing, and (2) a molded plastic plug including an enlarged head, a depending shank, and a helical thread defined about the perimeter of the shank. The body is executed in a relatively soft plastic, while the plug is executed in a harder plastic. The shank of the plug is press-fitted into the housing, and the threads on the shank of the plug cut into the softer plastic of the housing. By advancing or retracting the plug, the length of the helical flow path is altered and the rate of discharge of droplets from the emitter is changed to account for changes in line pressure, accumulation of debris in the emitter, and other operational parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 1986
    Date of Patent: February 2, 1988
    Inventor: Jack Lemkin
  • Patent number: 4721245
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus for the spraying onto a field of a liquid such as a herbicide solution by means of a spraying apparatus, propellable over the field, with a series of spraying members (3) fed by a common liquid pressure pump (6) wherein a carrier fluid is supplied to the spraying members (3) by means of the pump and the active substance in the stream of carrier fluid is added by means of a second regulatable pump (12), wherein the volume of carrier fluid provided to the spraying means (3) is controlled dependantly on the quantity of active substance by a regulating system (5) controlling one of the two fluid flows, in order to keep the concentration of active substance in the carrier fluid constant irrespective of the travel velocity, ensuring that although the quantity of the active substance is regulated dependantly on the travel velocity, the concentration is independant thereof, resulting in a homogeneous spreading of the active substance over the full width of the strip of land to be sprayed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 1986
    Date of Patent: January 26, 1988
    Assignee: Multinorm B.V.
    Inventor: Adriaan van Zweeden
  • Patent number: 4721249
    Abstract: A blow-off nozzle assembly provides protection for users, without increasing the noise level, and also protects the nozzle from breakage if dropped. A circular cross-section rod assumes an oblong configuration defining an oblong shaped opening, with circular cross-section support posts extending from one side of the rod. The support posts are received by a casing having channels on opposite sides of a linear array of individual jets of a multi-channel substantially flat jet nozzle. The oblong shaped guard is mounted so that it is spaced from the nozzle in the direction of air flow from the nozzle with a linear array of jets centered within a geometric projection of the opening. The guard prevents deadending, so that the pressure of compressed air if the guard were pressed against a worker's skin would be below the OSHA standard of 30 p.s.i.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 1986
    Date of Patent: January 26, 1988
    Assignee: Burlington Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: B. Dean Lassiter
  • Patent number: 4721561
    Abstract: A centrifugal force separator for broken grains, husks, dust and other impurities from air has a pre-separating chamber (2) with a tangential raw gas inlet (1), in which a cylindrical deflecting screen (4) and a clean gas outlet (5) axially adjoining the latter are concentrically arranged. To increase the degree of dust separation at only a slight pressure loss and in the case of an inexpensive construction, and also to enable application in return-air systems in combination with other cereal crop cleaning and processing machines, a pre-separating chamber (X) for an air circulation is provided radially outside the deflecting screen (4), and an air discharge (Y) is provided radially inside the deflecting screen (4), which air discharge (Y) is in flow connection with the pre-separating chamber (X) via air passage channels (17) in the deflecting chamber (4).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 1985
    Date of Patent: January 26, 1988
    Assignee: Gebruder Buhler AG
    Inventors: Hans Oetiker, Franz Reichmuth
  • Patent number: 4721254
    Abstract: An electromagnetically actuatable fuel-injection valve for injection systems of internal combustion engines has a valve housing, a soft-iron core which is located within the valve housing and bears a fixed solenoid winding, and a valve closure plate which forms an armature and coaxially faces said core forming an air gap with it. This plate can be urged by a compression spring against an annular seat 10 which surrounds an outlet, and whose radially circumferential edge is guided in axial movement along a guide which correspondingly surrounds said edge. The valve closure plate has a coaxially protruding plug which extends through or into the outlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 1985
    Date of Patent: January 26, 1988
    Assignee: VDO Adolf Schindling AG
    Inventor: Martin Horn
  • Patent number: 4720045
    Abstract: A sprinkler head capable of generally uniform operation under varying local source pressure conditions in a part circle mode wherein reversing directions of movement at the ends of the part circle pattern is accomplished without establishing excessive reversing loads so as to render the sprinkler head acceptable for use as an end gun in a pivot move irrigation system, as well as for use in other systems such as solid set systems and traveling sprinkler systems.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 1986
    Date of Patent: January 19, 1988
    Assignee: Nelson Irrigation Corporation
    Inventor: Larry P. Meyer