Patents Examined by Robert J. Spar
  • Patent number: 5083894
    Abstract: A loading/unloading vehicle having booms and a bucket carried thereon such as a shovel loader, a wheel loader or the like vehicle detects that a true bucket-to-ground angle coincides with a preset angle after the vehicle starts automatic turning movement of the bucket. When the coincidence is detected, the automatic turning movement of the bucket is interrupted. Thereafter, a differential value between the true bucket-to-ground angle and the preset angle is determined, if any and then the bucket angle is corrected so as to allow the differential value to be reduced to zero. Consequently, the bucket is held at the preset angle after the bucket stops, even though the booms continue to be turned.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 1989
    Date of Patent: January 28, 1992
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Komatsu Seisakusho
    Inventors: Masanori Ikari, Masao Fukuda
  • Patent number: 5083891
    Abstract: A multistory parking space wherein at least one parking floor is located underground. An entry way and an exit way for vehicles of the multistory parking space are provided with an entrance lift and an exit lift, respectively. The parking floor is provided with at least one power carrier and a large number of parking pallets, and vehicles are transferred between the lifts and the carrier and between the carrier and the pallets by conveyors. Shutters are provided between the lifts and the entry and exit ways, and the lifts and the passenger ways to prevent accidental falling of a vehicle or a passenger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 28, 1992
    Assignee: Takenaka Corporation
    Inventor: Tsubota Takahiro
  • Patent number: 5082420
    Abstract: A blended cube of brick and a method and apparatus for producing same are disclosed. The cube includes vertically extending panels of columns of endwise abutting brick having a similar color and/or texture. Each layer within the cube includes one column from a panel forming the layer so that each layer contains a full blend of brick contained within the cube. The cubes are assembled with the cube resting on its side, and are subsequently turned through 90 degrees to an upright position. Therefore, the panels are assembled in a horizontal position and subsequently assume a vertical position. The method of assembling the cubes includes removing layers of brick from a stack on a kiln car and maintaining such layers in groups which are subsequently assembled in the panels. Since the brick within a given layer in a stack on a kiln car tend to have similar color and texture, this results in panels having similar color and texture. An apparatus is also disclosed for automatically performing the method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 21, 1992
    Assignee: Pearne & Lacy Machine CO., Inc.
    Inventor: Joseph H. Patrick, Jr.
  • Patent number: 5082419
    Abstract: A process for the input and carrying away of smoking rods or cooking rods to and from a station for the automatic suspension of sausages provided with loops on a rod which in turn is tightly chucked at one end works as follows: the rods are first brought out of a storage area one after the other into horizontal arrangement in a readiness position. Then one rod is tightly chucked there and is fed by a horizontal movement to the loading station; finally the loaded rod is picked up at both ends and fed in the same direction as before to a holding station, in which a number of loaded rods are collected for transfer by being shoved onto a smoking or cooking wagon. The process is carried out nearly without dead time, and is accomplished by an operator who remains for the post part independent of the filling and suspending cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 21, 1992
    Assignee: Gunter Kollross
    Inventors: Gunter Kollross, Fritz K. Steinbis
  • Patent number: 5082404
    Abstract: A cargo clamp for a van, the van having cargo space defined by a floor, upwardly extending sidewalls and a roof. The cargo clamp comprises a transverse track that extends between the sidewalls below the roof and is supported below the roof and is held in place by side rails on each side. A clamp is attached to the track and is movable along the side rails between the sidewalls. The clamp also includes a downwardly extending brace that engages and restrains sheet material that is positioned on edge in the cargo space. The clamp includes a handle and bolt for engagement in a threaded hole for securing the clamp to the track at a selected position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 21, 1992
    Inventors: Peter V. Stewart, David R. Butts
  • Patent number: 5082415
    Abstract: A fork lift style loading apparatus is provided to improve truck cargo loading and unloading efficiency by allowing an entire truckload of cargo to be set on forks which simply move horizontally into the truck for loading. Loading time is drastically reduced by loading the cargo onto the forks prior to truck arrival. The loading appartus includes a platform lift which adjusts vertically to the truck height, a fork lift body which supports the cargo, and a cargo stand which fits in the cargo bed of the truck. Loading pallets are not required and cargo is handled by the truckload rather than by a pallet load as in a pallet loading system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 1989
    Date of Patent: January 21, 1992
    Inventor: Takeshi Hayashi
  • Patent number: 5080549
    Abstract: Wafer handling apparatus operating under the Bernoulli principle to pick up, transport and deposit wafers, which apparatus includes a plate having a plurality of laterally oriented outlets and a central outlet for discharging gas in a pattern sufficient to develop a low pressure enviroment to pick up the wafer while bathing the wafer in radially outflowing gases to prevent intrusion and deposition on the wafer of particulate matter in suspension.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 14, 1992
    Assignee: Epsilon Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Dennis L. Goodwin, Richard Crabb, McDonald Robinson, Armand P. Ferro
  • Patent number: 5080548
    Abstract: A portable low-profile tipper for dumping the contents from a trailer containing a dumpable material, includes a towable elongated frame having a back end with a deck pivotally attached thereto. The deck has a backstop for positioning the trailer during dumping. Actuators raise and lower the deck between a lowered position adjacent the frame and a raised position for dumping the trailer contents. The tipper includes a chute having fixed and pivoting components which cooperate to guide the dumpable material from a back opening of the trailer past the frame back end. The tipper frame has outwardly extending front and back stabilizers. The front stabilizers lift and lower a front end of the frame between a low-profile dumping position for receiving the trailer and a raised towing position for hitching and towing the tipper between dumping locations. A method of successively removing the contents from a plurality of trailers using the tipper is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 14, 1992
    Assignee: Columbia Trailer Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Kenneth A. Bratlie, David J. Miller
  • Patent number: 5080552
    Abstract: A resin tablet supplying apparatus comprising a plurality of tablet accommodating parts, a tablet discharge part and transporting part. The plurality of table accommodating parts are fixedly mounted at predetermined positions for accommodating a plurality of resin tablets by stacking one upon another with its central longitudinal axis being laid lateral. The tablet accommodating part is formed with a table discharge opening at its bottom end, and the resin tablet is formed generally of a pillar shape and used in encapsulating semiconductor device. The tablet discharge part discharges the tablets in each of the tablet accommodating part, by dropping down the tablets one at a time from the opening. The transporting part receives the tablet discharged one at a time by the tablet discharge part irrespective of whatever the axial length of the tablet may be, and transports the received tablet to a tablet conveying part for conveying the tablet to the next process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 1989
    Date of Patent: January 14, 1992
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Fumio Takahashi, Koshi Murakami
  • Patent number: 5080442
    Abstract: A collector cart includes a body having an open rear end, which is closed by a canopy pivotally mounted adjacent its front end on the body adjacent its front end. The body has a support pivotally connected to caster wheel supports and a tow bar attached to a riding lawn mower hitch plate. Telescoping chutes connect the mower outlet with a canopy port to fill the cart with debris. When the cart is to be dumped, a first handle is rotated by an operator, who remains on the mower, to initially cause pivoting of a rear portion of a frame of the canopy, which includes a cover on the frame, relative to the body and the remainder of the canopy frame to release a locking connection of the rear portion of the canopy frame to the rear of the body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 14, 1992
    Assignee: Brinly-Hardy Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Charles W. Doering, Garland E. Caudill
  • Patent number: 5078569
    Abstract: A quick attaching mechanism adapted to automatically fasten an implement to a boom assembly of a front-end loader. The quick attaching mechanism is designed to accommodate a broad range of lateral spacing between lift arms of the boom assembly and mounting structures on the implement to be attached thereto. The quick attaching mechanism includes a pair of male coupling structures carried at a forward end of the boom assembly and which are releasably fastened to female coupling structures on the implement. Each male coupling structure includes a fastening pin which is automatically operated to releasably fasten the implement to the boom assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 7, 1992
    Assignee: J. I. Case Company
    Inventor: Kurt I. Cook
  • Patent number: 5078570
    Abstract: A machining operation where a workpiece is moved stepwise in a transport direction through a succession of stations has a transport apparatus comprising a stationary housing adjacent the stations, a rail extending in the direction adjacent the stations and movable both parallel and perpendicular to the direction, and a plurality of clamps spaced apart in the direction on the rail and each displaceable between an open and a closed position, whereby a workpiece can be gripped by each of the clamps in the closed position thereof. A set of control rods carried and displaceable on the rail is oppositely displaceable to move the clamps between their open and closed positions. A pair of like lever systems each having an inner end pivoted on the housing and an outer end pivoted on the rail can be synchronously pivoted to displace the rail through a predetermined stroke perpendicular to the direction between inner and outer positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 7, 1992
    Assignee: Ernst Thielenhaus KG
    Inventor: Manfred Loock
  • Patent number: 5078235
    Abstract: An apparatus for imputting commodity data, including a bar code scanner and a keyboard for inputting the commodity data. The apparatus further includes a supporting member for pivotably supporting the keyboard at its front end, a plurality of engagement portions provided at one of opposed portions between the keyboard and the supporting member and arranged on an arc about an axis of rotation of the keyboard, a stopper member provided at the other of the opposed portions and adapted to be releasably engaged with any one of the engagement portions, and a release mechanism connected to the stopper member for releasing the stopper member from the engagement portion, the release mechanism having a knob projecting from the front end of the supporting member of the keyboard for operating the release mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 1989
    Date of Patent: January 7, 1992
    Assignee: Tokyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mitunori Kohno, Takao Umebara, Yukuo Kurimoto, Nobuhiko Fujii
  • Patent number: 5076752
    Abstract: This invention provides a farm implement that is transformable between three different configurations in order to perform three different tasks. In a first configuration, the invention is suitable for hauling goods. By rotating its side members about their outer edges, the invention may be transformed into a second configuration, which is suitable for unloading goods. By rotating its side members about their inner edges, the invention may be transformed into a third configuration, which is suitable for presenting goods to livestock.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 31, 1991
    Inventor: DuWayne Rader
  • Patent number: 5076413
    Abstract: A multiple bill escrow and storage apparatus provides in combination: a validator unit for validating paper money bills which has an outlet through which each accepted bill is ejected; a receiver of bills from the validator unit; a conveyor disposed near the receiver, the conveyor being capable of moving a bill from the validator unit to a handling station; an escrow box disposed adjacent the handling station, the escrow box having a retaining device for holding multiple bills therein; a transfer device mounted at the handling station for transferring a bill from the conveyor into the escrow box, the transfer device comprising a pusher reciprocally movably mounted opposite the escrow box; a vault mounted adjacent the escrow box; an actuating device coupled to the transfer device for selectively transferring a bill into the escrow box and from the escrow box into the vault, the actuating device being capable of driving the pusher through the conveyor to push the bill from the conveyor into the escrow box; a me
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 31, 1991
    Assignee: General Signal Corporation
    Inventors: Jose Davila, Kirk D. Hoffman, Norman Diamond
  • Patent number: 5076753
    Abstract: A lifting and turning device for work objects comprises a stand (14) and a holding frame (10) which is supported thereby and in which the work object is fixable. The holding frame is connected in a vertically adjustable as well as turnable manner with the stand. Driving elements are provided for lifting, lowering and turning the holding frame. According to the invention, the holding frame (10) has parallel driving and idling wheel tracks (12, 13) which have curved corners and, connected thereto, straight portions extending substantially perpendicular to one another. Furthermore, the device has a driving wheel (15) and an idling wheel (17), respectively, engaging the tracks (12, 13) and being provided at a distance from one another as seen in the direction of the tracks, one on the inside and the other on the outside of the parallel tracks. The wheel (17) on the inside is disposed on a higher level than the wheel (15) on the outside.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 31, 1991
    Assignee: Internationell Fabriksautomation I Goteborg AB
    Inventors: John B. B. Ahlsen, Kurt J. Dahlstrom, Bror H. I. Karlsson
  • Patent number: 5076751
    Abstract: Newsprint roll handling apparatus for a reelroom having a row of reelstands each equipped with spindles adapted to coaxially engage and rotate a cylindrical newsprint roll on a reelstand axis. The apparatus comprises storage racks installed in the reelroom and providing superimposed horizontal rows of storage bins adjacent to the reelstands and extending perpendicular to the reelstand axes, each storage bin being adapted to hold an individual newsprint roll positioned with its axis extending substantially parallel to the reelstand axes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 31, 1991
    Assignee: Jervis B. Webb Company
    Inventor: Alfred J. Kafka
  • Patent number: 5074741
    Abstract: The invention relates to a manipulator for positioning workpieces with respect to an industrial robot (4) by which the work pieces, one after the other, are to be processed. The manipulator (2) comprises at least two fixture supports (26,27) each having fixture members for holding a respective work piece, a holder (16) for the fixture supports, movably suspended for moving one of said fixture supports from a loading position, in which exchange of a work piece held in said fixture members may take place, towards an operative position within the operating range of the robot, while simultaneously moving another one of said fixtures from the operative position towards the loading position. A turning servo motor (32) common to the fixture supports is drivingly engageable with a fixture support (26) held in the operative position so as to be able to rotate said fixture support, e.g.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 24, 1991
    Assignee: Torsteknik AB
    Inventor: John I. E. Johansson
  • Patent number: 5074742
    Abstract: A method and apparatus are described for conveying and supplying a part, such as a projection nut, to a predetermined point in space. The apparatus comprises a telescopic supply rod including an outer and inner shaft, two magnets being associated with a proximal end of one of the two shafts. The supply rod first extends in its entirety towards the predetermined point, or destination, with the part being attracted and held at the proximal end by the magnets. Relative displacement in longitudinal direction of the outer and inner shafts takes place as the part reaches the destination and, consequently, the magnets are moved away from the part so that magnetic force on the part is no more influential, whereupon the part is allowed to fall under gravity down to the destination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 24, 1991
    Inventor: Yoshitaka Aoyama
  • Patent number: 5074622
    Abstract: A scissor frame lift for pivotally moving a dump body hingedly secured to a truck frame comprising upper and lower frame assemblies having the rearward ends thereof pivotally secured together and which are pivotally moved relative to one another by a hydraulic cylinder operatively interconnecting the upper and lower frame assemblies. The lower frame assembly includes a pair of elongated frame members, the forward ends of which are operatively pivotally or rotatably secured to mounts secured to the frame members of the truck frame. The upper frame assembly includes a pair of frame members, the forward ends of which are operatively connected to mounts secured to the runsills of the truck body. The distance between the rearward ends of the frame members of the lower frame assembly is substantially less than the distance between the frame members of the truck frame and is substantially less than the distance between the forward ends of the frame members of the lower frame assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 24, 1991
    Assignee: Omaha Standard, Inc.
    Inventor: Glenn L. Channell