Patents Examined by Matthew R. McMahon
  • Patent number: 11274451
    Abstract: A removably locking baluster system in a balustrade in which a pair of connector bases mount to facing balustrade surfaces. Each base has a wall extending therefrom defining an inner wall surface and an inwardly tapered outer wall surface. An end of the baluster closely and removably fits within the base wall without necessitating removal of the bases from the balustrade. A pair of covers are provided that are slidable along the baluster, each having a tubular member with an opening configured to fit around the baluster and another opening configured to closely fit around the base. An internal wall of each cover is configured to closely abut the outer base wall surface and has a complementary taper to the outer base wall surface to urge the base wall against the baluster end to provide frictional engagement between the inner base wall surface and the baluster.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Inventor: Richard Bergman
  • Patent number: 11268567
    Abstract: A sealing element for a ball joint has a sealing area on the housing side and a sealing area a distance away therefrom in an axial direction of the sealing element on the stud side. Arranged between the housing-side sealing area and the stud-side sealing area is an outlet opening which extends through the sealing element to allow the passage of spent lubricant. The outlet opening extends in the axial direction of the sealing element, passing all the way through the sealing element in the axial direction. Further, the sealing element is incorporated in a ball joint which is incorporated in a two-point control arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignees: ZF Friedrichshafen AG, ZF Gainsville, LLC
    Inventors: Dirk Sokolihs, Uwe Petersen, Joe Vierthaler, Marco Di Sarno, Holger Hardt
  • Patent number: 11266209
    Abstract: A method is provided for manufacturing a combination of components. The method includes the following steps: manufacturing a functional element by providing a plate-type base element and integrally bonding a ball or a ball-shaped element to the plate-type base element, in particular by welding a ball or a ball-shaped element onto a flat plate-type element, and joining the functional element to a first component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Johann Van Niekerk, Christian Dunckern, Maik Hammer
  • Patent number: 11268293
    Abstract: An exemplary bollard fence includes bollards having bottom ends secured in a concrete base, the bollards spaced apart and extending axially from the concrete base; an elongated member moveably disposed inside of each of the bollards, and a header member laterally interconnecting the upper ends of the bollards.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Inventor: William H Neusch
  • Patent number: 11261617
    Abstract: An enhanced security fence for use in high security situations is provided. The fence is made of high strength materials that are preferably welded together in a convenient location and sent as prefabricated sections to the installation location to form an all welded bracket-less perimeter barrier fence system. Posts with section hangers are provided and installed at a perimeter, and the prefabricated panels are quickly and securely attached to the posts. The panels can be friction fit to the posts and, if desired welded thereto. The invention includes a method of creating an enhanced security fence, that includes prefabrication of panels and rapid fitting and securing the panels to posts to more quickly create a secure perimeter in places having difficult environments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: Industrial Fence, Inc.
    Inventor: Miguel A Saltijeral
  • Patent number: 11261616
    Abstract: A modular fence system is disclosed herein. The modular fence system includes a frame having a fence post bracing bar, an upper locking bar, a lower locking bar, an upper stationary bar, a lower stationary bar, wherein fence boards may be coupled and uncoupled from the frame when the upper and lower locking bars are in the open position. The frame may be utilized with removable fence boards or a lattice style fence. The modular fence system is useful for simple installment of aesthetic and removable fence arrangements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Inventor: Khalid Abdus-Samad
  • Patent number: 11248638
    Abstract: A pole section for temporary assembly with similar pole sections into an elongate pole assembly whereby a user can perform work on a remote worksite elevated by up to 20 m above the user. Each pole section includes a male end and a female end, having a complementary taper to slide into or around the other of a male or female end and form a fluid tight joint with a stiffness similar to or greater than the overall stiffness of the pole. The ends of each pole section include one of first and second complementary coupling parts. The coupling parts cooperate to prevent the pole sections moving relatively towards each other under the weight of overlying pole sections in use to prevent the pole sections jamming A resiliently deformable locking structure is provided in a coupling part by a ring spring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Inventor: Lucian Ivan
  • Patent number: 11242880
    Abstract: A method and device for attaching and detaching material to a c-channel groove, including attachment and detachment between first and second objects already attached to the groove. The device comprises a coil-shaped element that is resiliently compressible and connected to a desired material. Through biasing, the coil-shaped element is navigable into an aperture of the c-channel groove at a point along the c-channel groove between the ends of the c-channel groove and positionable such that at least a portion of the biased coil-shaped element is in the c-channel groove. Upon restoring the biased coil-shaped element toward a second, larger dimension, it is secured in the c-channel groove and the material connected to the coil-shaped element is attached to the c-channel groove, including between the first object and the second object, if present.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Ali Shehri, Brian Parrott, Pablo Carrasco Zanini
  • Patent number: 11231059
    Abstract: A fastening device for fastening at least two panels or flanges to each other is disclosed. The device comprises a male member, a female member and a washer. The male member is inserted into and at least partially through aligned slots in the panels or flanges. The male member includes or houses a first securing component. The female member defines an opening generally complementally shaped to the projection of the male member. The male member and the female member are configured to receive the at least two panels or flanges between them when the projection is received in the opening. The washer mates with the female member such that displacement of the washer relative to the female member towards the male member is substantially prevented. The device further comprises a second securing component configured to mate with the first securing component and to secure the washer against the female member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignee: Rock Solid Industries International (Pty) Ltd
    Inventor: Michael Voss
  • Patent number: 11225798
    Abstract: Improved decorative shoes for balusters that cover and conceal the attachment points of the balusters to the tread, floor, or rail surfaces and secure themselves in place without the need for mechanical fasteners or adhesives. The baluster shafts can be retained within central holes in the shoes by the use of compressive elastic means such as flexible sheets, rods, strips, O-rings or the like to produce an interference fit when the shaft is inserted in the holes. The shoes can be produced in both flat and angled versions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Inventor: David W Moeller
  • Patent number: 11224152
    Abstract: An angle adjustable connecting part for farm equipment and hand tools easily detaches from a working part of farm equipment and a hand tool from a sack. A connecting part is formed on the front end of a working part of farm equipment or hand tool. A connecting part is also formed on the front end of a sack, thereby coupling the working part and the sack. The connecting part has a fixing hole formed in the center thereof, and multiple angle adjusting holes are formed concentrically outward. A fixing hole is formed at the center outward from the connecting part. A fixing plate has a fixing protrusion inserted into the angle adjusting hole. When a fixing screw is fixed to the fixing plate and the fixing hole of the connecting part, the fixing protrusion of the fixing plate is fixed to an angle adjusting hole of the connecting part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Inventor: Jun Rae Jo
  • Patent number: 11221035
    Abstract: The present invention provides a connecting structure for plate members, including a projection projected from one of the plate members in a first direction, and a groove provided on the other of the plate members to have inner faces facing each other in a second direction intersecting the first direction and configured to fittingly receive the projection. The projection includes a main body, a resilient portion provided on one side of the main body in the second direction and resiliently inwardly deformable in the second direction, and an engagement portion outwardly expanded in the second direction from the resilient portion and configured to be plastically deformed along and engage with one of the inner faces of the groove when the groove fittingly receives the projection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: AZONE CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kenji Yokozeki, Eriko Shimoda
  • Patent number: 11215210
    Abstract: A retaining system for joints without utilising welds, screws or any other additional element or accessory, consisting in the making of a closing or locking mechanism, by means of a tab-slot configuration, using only the structure proper of the sections which are the object of the jointing, according to a first section (A) on which the cutting or machining that gives rise to the tabs and an embedment gap is made and a second section (B) that houses the slots and has to fit in the said embedment gap of section (A). Finally, the system is supplemented with the addition of tools that make it possible to release the system, thus making the joint demountable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Inventor: Christian Gonzalez Iriarte
  • Patent number: 11198455
    Abstract: A connecting hanger bolt according to an aspect of the present invention is a hanger bolt which is inserted into a hanging groove rail having an opening narrower than the outer diameter of a bolt head and extending in a hanging groove rail longitudinal direction and from which a device is hangable. The connecting hanger bolt includes: a plurality of bolts which move in the hanging groove rail longitudinal direction in the hanging groove rail and whose shaft portions pass through the opening; and a connecting member which connects the plurality of bolts to each other, and keeps an interval in the hanging groove rail longitudinal direction between the plurality of bolts adjacent to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mitsuru Yokoyama, Kazuya Tanigawa
  • Patent number: 11199212
    Abstract: A tactical-gear interconnection system apparatus and method allowing connection of a variety of tactical gear such as gun stocks, camera supports, sights, rangefinders, grips, and clamps, in field-interchangeable configurations responsive to changes in field conditions, by providing same-sized threaded plug units on all gear and same-sized interchangeable unions for removable connection of various pieces of gear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Inventor: Donald Kennair, Jr.
  • Patent number: 11162527
    Abstract: One example of a ball and socket joint for a device enclosure includes a ball member configured to facilitate connection to an electronic equipment. The ball member includes a first portion, and a second portion configured to mate with the first portion to form a passage to pass one or more cables for connection to the electronic equipment. The ball and socket joint also comprises a socket comprising a hollow portion configured to receive the ball member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: Lilitab LLC
    Inventors: Bryan Rudolf Grziwok, Adam Scott Aronson
  • Patent number: 11149771
    Abstract: Provided is a lock, including a locking module and a driving module. The locking module includes a latch mounted on a first main body, an oblique pin ring gear mounted on a second main body and adapted to the latch. A radial thickness of the oblique pin ring gear changes continuously. A first slot is arranged on the latch. The driving module is used for driving the oblique pin ring gear to move in a circular motion, such that on the latch in a closed position the oblique pin ring gear clips to or separates from the first slot. The lock mechanism can realize inward or outward arcuate connection and planar connecting without finishing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: UNILUMIN GROUP CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Jinfeng He
  • Patent number: 11110514
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods for joining nodes to tubes with node to tube joints are presented herein. Joining techniques allow the connection of additively manufactured nodes to tubes. In an embodiment, at least one node may be joined to a tube and may be a part of a vehicle chassis. The node to tube joint connection incorporates adhesive bonding between the node to tube to realize the connection. Sealants may be used to provide sealed regions for adhesive injection, which are housed in sealing interfaces co-printed with the additively manufactured nodes. Additionally, seals may act as isolators and reduce galvanic corrosion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Assignee: DIVERGENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: William David Kreig, David Brian TenHouten, Chukwubuikem Marcel Okoli, Kevin Robert Czinger, Broc William TenHouten, Antonio Bernerd Martinez, Narender Shankar Lakshman
  • Patent number: 11111694
    Abstract: A safety device functions as a cap that is inserted over the exposed end of an I-shaped support post. The safety device comprises a generally L-shaped cap including a front pad that covers the flange of the support post, and a top pad that covers the exposed end of the support post when the safety device is installed onto the support post.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Inventor: Andrew W. Nickleson
  • Patent number: 11103973
    Abstract: A clamping device for axially clamping a disk-shaped tool on a flange of a spindle of a machine tool, includes a clamping disk which rests against the tool in a friction-fitting manner in the clamped state, a screw which is screwed into a threaded receiving opening in an end face of the spindle, an operating element which is connected to the screw in a rotationally fixed manner, and a first securing element which interacts with a corresponding second securing element provided on a flange such that when the screw is at least partly introduced into the receiving opening, the clamping disk is rotationally secured to the flange in a form-fitting manner, where the clamping disk can be rotated relative to the screw and the operating element. The first securing element can be rotated relative to the screw and is mounted in a rotationally fixed manner relative to the clamping disk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Assignee: Hilti Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Karin Groth