Patents Examined by Michael A Riegelman
  • Patent number: 11897741
    Abstract: A straddle fork vehicle includes a generally rectangular frame structure with front and rear forklift assemblies positioned between a set of tread belts. The straddle fork vehicle is designed such that the frame may accommodate, or straddle, agricultural harvesting pallets between the set of treads in a passthrough through area beneath the frame as the vehicle progresses down a field row. Engine configuration and improved braking systems facilitate a safer construction and tighter turning radius.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2023
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Inventor: John G. Berry
  • Patent number: 11892072
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method of managing the oil temperature of a transmission of a motor vehicle, the transmission comprising a lubrication circuit and an oil cooling circuit, the oil temperature management circuit comprising a liquid/liquid heat exchanger mounted on the lubrication circuit, the lubrication circuit comprising a pump for circulating the oil in the lubrication circuit, and a temperature sensor wherein, before a starting stage of the vehicle, if the temperature of the oil is lower than a first value, the pump of the lubrication circuit is activated so as to circulate the oil in the liquid/liquid exchanger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Volvo Truck Corporation
    Inventors: Nicolas Granottier, Baptiste Boutin
  • Patent number: 11885311
    Abstract: A lubrication system for a wind turbine is provided, the lubrication system including a lubricant consumer to which fresh lubricant is supplied and out of which used lubricant is extracted, a pump for pumping fresh lubricant to the lubricant consumer, a waste lubricant collector where used lubricant can flow after being extracted from the lubricant consumer, and a plurality of containers delivering fresh lubricant to the lubrication system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Inventor: Ulrich Hedegaard Madsen
  • Patent number: 11885462
    Abstract: Embodiments relate to an atomizer unit that has a chamber assembly with an injection chamber and an atomizer chamber. The injection chamber is connected to the atomizer chamber by a nozzle, and the atomizer unit has a first feed channel for feeding a first compressed air flow into the injection chamber, a second feed channel for feeding a second compressed air flow into the atomizer chamber, and an injection valve for injecting a coolant and/or lubricant into the first compressed air flow in the injection region of the injection chamber. The first compressed air flow flows from the injection chamber into the atomizer chamber through the nozzle, is atomized in the atomizer chamber by the nozzle, is combined with the second compressed air flow in the atomizer chamber in order to form a transport flow for transporting the injected coolant and/or lubricant, and can be conducted to the machining location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Broetje-Automation GmbH
    Inventors: Marc Lehmann, Henning Frers
  • Patent number: 11885247
    Abstract: An oil drainage apparatus includes a base member defining an interior area and a laterally extending selector channel. A connection tube extends upwardly from the base for connection to the oil drainage port of an engine. An oil drainage body extends upwardly from the connection member and has apertures in fluid communication with the oil pan. Drainage of oil from the engine's oil pan is regulated by a positioning of magnets. A drain magnet is vertically movable inside the drainage body and movable between a closed configuration blocking the plurality of apertures and an open configuration displaced therefrom. An actuation lever is laterally movable to align either a first or second actuation magnet beneath the drain magnet, one of the actuation magnets having a polarity to attract and close the drain magnet and the other having a polarity which pushes away and opens the drain magnet to allow drainage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Inventor: Daniel Joseph Covino
  • Patent number: 11873897
    Abstract: A drive apparatus includes a motor that has a motor shaft extending in an axial direction, a transmission mechanism that is connected on one side in the axial direction of the motor shaft, a lock mechanism that restricts driving of the transmission mechanism, a housing that houses the motor, the transmission mechanism, and the lock mechanism, an oil that is stored in the housing, and an oil passage that circulates the oil. The housing includes a motor room that houses the motor, a gear room that houses the transmission mechanism and the lock mechanism, and a partition that is provided between the motor room and the gear room. The oil passage includes a pump that pumps the oil in the oil passage, a first feed flow passage that feeds the oil to the motor, and a second feed flow passage that feeds the oil to the lock mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: NIDEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shuhei Nakamatsu, Shinsuke Mizukami, Tsubasa Tamura, Keisuke Aso
  • Patent number: 11873946
    Abstract: A method of lubricating a fluid production pump may include mixing a polarized lubricant with water to produce a diluted lubricant. The method may additionally include creating a flowpath within the fluid production pump. An initial volume of the diluted lubricant may be circulated within the flowpath to allow the diluted lubricant to react with components of the fluid production pump and form a protective barrier on the components of the fluid production pump. The method may further comprise repeatedly introducing a periodic volume of diluted lubricant into the fluid production pump according to a predefined lubrication schedule.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Inventor: Scott Rettberg
  • Patent number: 11873192
    Abstract: An elevator door control system comprises a door sensor, a door motor control unit, a transmission unit being wired by a cable as part of or all of a transmission path between the door sensor and the door motor control unit, a storage unit to store a change in a binary signal indicating detection of an obstacle in association with a door position at a time of the change in the binary signal. A partially broken state of the cable is determined by evaluating reproducibility of the door position at the time of the change in the binary signal on the basis of the timing of the change in the binary signal and a door position at the time of the change in the binary signal. The partially broken state of the cable caused by repeated bending deformation of the cable can be determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kazuhiro Yamada
  • Patent number: 11867076
    Abstract: The invention relates to a system (1) for lubricating an aeronautical engine (5) and a reduction gearbox (4) associated with the engine (5), the system (1) comprising an oil reservoir (2) feeding at least one first supply pump (3) supplying a first circuit (6) of the gearbox (4) opening into at least one chamber (4a) of the gearbox (4) and, in parallel, a second circuit (7) of the engine (5) opening into chambers (5a) of the engine (5). The second circuit (7) comprises a jet pump (9) of variable cross section supplied at least by the first supply pump (3), bypassing the first circuit (6), a second driven supply pump (10) being integrated into the second circuit (7) downstream of the jet pump (9), a portion of a flow (Qp) in the first circuit (6) being drawn off by the jet pump (9) to supply the second circuit (7).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES
    Inventors: Loic Pora, Huguette De Wergifosse
  • Patent number: 11866297
    Abstract: An elevator landing sill device includes a landing sill provided along a lower edge of a landing opening, and a fixture fixed to a hoistway wall of a building, to which the landing sill is attached. The elevator landing sill device includes a partition member for sealing a gap between the landing sill and the hoistway wall. The partition member includes a center plate, the building-side mount part attached to one end of the center plate, a sill-side mount part attached to the other end of the center plate, a building-side rotating part for rotatably fixing the center plate and the building-side mount part, and the sill-side rotating part for rotatably fixing the center plate and the sill-side mount part. A building-side fastener for fixing the building-side mount part to the building, and a sill-side fastener for fixing the sill-side mount part to the landing sill are further provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: HITACHI, LTD.
    Inventors: Yu Takahara, Shinsuke Ishitsuka
  • Patent number: 11852079
    Abstract: A pump that can be a gear pump that drives a rotating body of an aircraft turbine engine such as a fan shaft, is set in rotation always in the same direction, by virtue of a transmission including an oblique double gear formed by a toothed wheel on the same side as the rotating body and meshing with two pinions connected to a shaft driving the pump through free-wheels with identical driving directions, whereas the pinions have opposite directions of rotation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES
    Inventors: Emmanuel Fabrice Marie Baret, Julien Fabien Patrick Becoulet, Franck Emmanuel Bosco, Michel Gilbert Roland Brault, Paul Ghislain Albert Levisse
  • Patent number: 11852294
    Abstract: Provided is a diagnosis technique with high reliability when a state of lubricating oil of a rotary machine such as a wind power generator is diagnosed by a state monitoring sensor. A diagnosis system of lubricating oil includes a lubricating oil utilization device, a lubricating oil tank for storing lubricating oil to be supplied to the lubricating oil utilization device, and a sensor which measures characteristics of the lubricating oil. In this system, the state of the lubricating oil is diagnosed by using sensor data obtained after a time required for air bubbles in the lubricating oil generated at the time of use of the device disappear elapses since the lubricating oil utilization device is regularly or irregularly stopped.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: HITACHI, LTD.
    Inventors: Kyoko Kojima, Mitsuru Saeki, Shinichiro Aikawa
  • Patent number: 11852293
    Abstract: A lubricant pumping system includes a lubricant pump having a lubricant pumping space, a first seal configured to seal the lubricant pumping space, at least one signal detector, and a leakage detector for detecting leakage of a lubricant from the pumping space through the first seal and sending a signal to the signal detector in response to a detection of the leakage of the lubricant. The signal detector may produce a visual or acoustic output in response to receipt of the signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: SKF LUBRICATION SYSTEMS GERMANY GMBH
    Inventors: Juergen Kreutzkaemper, Stefan Schuermann, Andreas Schoenfeld, Dieter Hess
  • Patent number: 11851305
    Abstract: A method of operating a safety net system of an elevator system is provided. The method includes installing a sensor in an elevator pit of the elevator system and executing a learning phase of the sensor to verify successful installation of the sensor. The executing of the learning phase includes causing the sensor to sense physical characteristics of a portion of the elevator pit when the elevator pit is known to have certain physical characteristics to generate a background reading, comparing the background reading against a reading associated with known physical characteristics of the portion of the elevator pit and verifying the successful installation of the sensor based on results of the comparing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2023
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Randy Roberts, Johanna Whitwell, Craig Drew Bogli, Kyler Vensel
  • Patent number: 11845636
    Abstract: A stair lift includes a movable user carrier, an authentication device comprising a signal receiver and at least two signal emitters, wherein each emitter is assigned to a different user of the stairlift, operation adjustment means, for generating a behavioral profile of the stair lift, and a control unit for controlling the stairlift. A method of operating a stair lift includes authenticating one of at least two signal emitters assigned to a first user, and adjusting the behavioral profile of the stair lift according to a stored operation profile associated with the authenticated signal emitter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: TK HOME SOLUTIONS B.V.
    Inventor: Cornelis Boxum
  • Patent number: 11846213
    Abstract: A lubricant delivery system includes a valve manifold, an electronic controller, and a pressure sensor for determining whether there is adequate lubricant flow in the system. The valve manifold receives lubricant from a pressurized source. The valve manifold includes a plurality of valves configured to control the flow of lubricant to respective applicators. The electronic controller controls the opening and closing of the valves. The pressure sensor measures lubricant pressure in the valve manifold, and outputs a signal to the electronic controller. The signal correlates to a lubricant pressure value in the valve manifold. The electronic controller uses the lubricant pressure values to derive an indication of lubricant flow (via the valves) to the applicators.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: Unist Inc.
    Inventors: Zachary E. Talen, Timothy J. Bangma
  • Patent number: 11840425
    Abstract: A safety brake includes a first brake element, a first guide element, and an actuating element. The first brake element is mounted in a displaceable manner in a linear bearing on the first guide element. The first guide element can be moved between a rest position and a braking initial position. The actuating element is designed to move the first guide element from the rest position into the braking initial position, more particularly to activate the safety brake. The first brake element can carry out a braking movement from the braking initial position into a braking position. The braking movement returns the first guide element to the rest position. The first guide element is guided on a first parallelogram guide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: INVENTIO AG
    Inventors: Michael Geisshüsler, Faruk Osmanbasic, Adrian Steiner, Julian Stähli, Volker Zapf
  • Patent number: 11834301
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a guide device for an elevator car, and an elevator system. The guiding device includes: a roller guide frame; and at least one roller rotatably mounted to the roller guide frame, the roller being configured to roll on an elevator guide rail when the elevator car is moving; wherein the guiding device further includes a braking device which inhibits the rotation of the roller when activated. The device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure has a simple and compact structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Bichun Li, Shenhong Wang, Yunru Chen
  • Patent number: 11834300
    Abstract: Embodiments here are directed to an elevator stabilizing assembly for energy dissipation of an elevator assembly is provided. The elevator stabilizing assembly includes an actuator and a stabilizing device. The actuator is configured to move between a retracted position and an extended position. The stabilizing device includes an arm and a biasing member. The biasing member is coupled to the arm and biases the arm to move the arm between a disengaged position and an engaged position. When the actuator is in the extended position, the arm is moved into the engaged position when at least a portion of the arm is in contact with the fixed member of a hoistway. When the actuator is in the retracted position, the arm is moved into the disengaged position such that the at least the portion of the arm is free from contact with the fixed member of the elevator assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: TK Elevator Innovation and Operations GmbH
    Inventors: Jeffrey Shawn Duvall, Erin Nicole Seligsohn
  • Patent number: 11834302
    Abstract: A stairlift includes a rail and a carriage. The carriage includes a frame, a central drive unit mounted to the frame, the central drive unit including a drive motor and a drive gear, a yoke assembly pivotably mounted to the frame, and a first bogie unit attached to the yoke assembly and a second bogie unit attached to the yoke assembly, wherein each bogie unit includes a bogie socket mounted to the yoke assembly, and a bogie ball spherically pivotable within the bogie socket, the bogie ball including a plurality of bogie ball rollers configured to hold the bogie ball to the rail, and further wherein the plurality of bogie ball rollers are configured to maintain the bogie ball in a generally perpendicular travel orientation relative to the rail.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: BRUNO INDEPENDENT LIVING AIDS, INC.
    Inventors: Allen Edward Brook, Terrence E. O'Brien, Roy E. McDaniels, Jr., Scott Martin Hall, Eduard Jozef Marie Duijnstee