Patents Examined by Sarah McPartlin
  • Patent number: 9713973
    Abstract: Provided is a headrest that is capable of improving the rigidity of a headrest frame and preventing the leakage of a foaming agent upon integral foam formation of the headrest. The headrest, which is disposed on the upper part of a seatback and includes a headrest frame inside the headrest, includes a retaining portion of a headrest stay guide in the headrest frame. Further, the headrest is configured in a manner that a headrest skin is sandwiched between the headrest stay guide and the headrest frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2017
    Assignee: TS Tech Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoichi Tachikawa, Shigeru Adachi, Hiroshi Izawa
  • Patent number: 9714095
    Abstract: A vehicle seat includes a seat, a swivel connected to and rotatably supporting the seat, a swivel frame connected to the swivel, a first lateral rail supporting the swivel frame, the first lateral rail permitting the swivel frame to move in a first direction, and a first longitudinal rail supporting the first lateral rail such that the first lateral rail is movable along the first longitudinal rail, thereby permitting the swivel frame to move in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2017
    Assignee: BOMBARDIER INC.
    Inventor: Philippe Erhel
  • Patent number: 9707794
    Abstract: An adjustable strap, comprised of four straps, which fastens on the spine of the book using a fitting mechanism. The second strap, comprised of three straps, is comprised of one strap made of elastic material that is inserted in the middle of the book pages. The second strap is fastened to the second end of the first strap and the first end of the third strap which wrap around the spine of the book and fastens through the fitting mechanism, making the strap as a whole, adjustable to fit different sized books. The fourth strap, acting as the bookmark(s), is attached to the first strap so it/they can be inserted between a single page or multiple pages to mark a place in a book. The bookmark is adjustable to fit different sized books and stays securely attached until removed and placed on another book.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Inventors: Joanne Lynne McCarthy, Amanda Lynne McCarthy Campos, Jennifer Lee Phelan
  • Patent number: 9693617
    Abstract: A nail clipping device of the present invention presents a nail clipper and a housing adaptable to fit onto the nail clipper. The housing is made of a resilient material having open scoop overhanging cutting portions of the nail clipper for receiving nail clippings. The housing is designed to allow convenient collection and disposal of the nail clippings. The housing includes a magnifying glass connected thereto for better targeting of the nails to be clipped.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2017
    Inventors: Salvatore LaTorre, Joanne Safie
  • Patent number: 9693633
    Abstract: A seat support with adjustment systems allowing a height and swivel adjustment functionality of the seat in a manner free of any wobble and shaking motion. The seat mechanism for height and swivel adjustments have screw adjustment applying a pre-load on a resilient component which gives a resilient force on a load bearing surface. The load bearing surface guides the seat part in motion during seat adjustment in a way to reduce friction and wear with use in time. The screw adjustment and the resilient component are configured such that play in guiding of the seat part in motion during seat adjustment is eliminated regardless of fabrication and component variations, and wear, with use in time. A screw adjustment locking device is configured to assure a stable adjustment with use in time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2017
    Assignee: CREATIONS I.D. B05 INC.
    Inventors: Etienne Archambault, Andre Albert, Etienne L'Huillier, Maxime Laplante, Mathieu Rocheleau, Jimmy Rondeau
  • Patent number: 9682260
    Abstract: The present invention relates to equipment for fire fighting and fire prevention. The invented fire equipment comprises a fire blanket, a fire extinguisher and a housing assembly for housing the fire blanket and the fire extinguisher. The housing assembly enables the fire blanket and the fire extinguisher to be easily and quickly accessible and removable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2017
    Assignee: ECOPEOPLE B.V.
    Inventors: Abraham Harder, Flip Ziedses Des Plantes
  • Patent number: 9681754
    Abstract: The present invention is a collapsible stool with a plurality of legs that can be stored either freestanding or hung, and that has a single handle that is used to carry, initiate expansion or collapse of, or used to guide the stool when sitting. Further, the stool has a novel mechanism that allows a smooth transition from collapse to expansion and expansion to collapse using a single handle. This same mechanism allows the stool to stand upright in a stable position in both the expanded and collapsed configurations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2017
    Assignee: AVERY AEROSPACE CORPORATION
    Inventor: John Leonard Avery
  • Patent number: 9682779
    Abstract: A vehicle seat, in particular an aircraft seat, includes at least one seating device, which has at least one seat unit and at least one bench unit, which is arranged at one side of the seat unit in a transverse direction oriented at least substantially perpendicular to a seat unit longitudinal direction. The bench unit, in at least one seat position, can have at least one bench unit section which projects rearward beyond the seat unit in relation to the seat unit longitudinal direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2017
    Assignee: RECARO Aircraft Seating GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Satoshi Hasegawa, Djunianto Ko, Jochen Lohrmann, Juri Vnukovski, Vasco Broenner, Timea Roderwald-Vincze
  • Patent number: 9676434
    Abstract: A bicycle seat includes a deformation space that corresponds to a pressure deformation of a bicycle rider. Wherein, a plurality of filler particles is filled in the deformation space. Therefore, the plurality of filler particles in the deformation space is sliding and rolling under pressure, and the bicycle seat can average support the body of the rider and bring lower friction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Assignee: GIANT MANUFACTURING CO. LTD
    Inventors: Chi-Ming Wu, Che-Wei Hsu
  • Patent number: 9668580
    Abstract: A body support structure including a pair of laterally spaced apart supporting arms defining a gap therebetween, wherein each of the supporting arms includes an upper support having an upwardly extending upright and a forwardly extending seat support defining a seat part, and a lower support having an upwardly extending upright spaced apart from the upright of the upper support in a vertical plane. The uprights of the upper and lower supports define a backrest part. A pair of armrests each includes an upwardly extending portion connected to a respective one of the forwardly extending seat supports and a forwardly extending portion pivotally connected to the backrest part. A cross brace extends between and is coupled to the supporting arms proximate the pivotal connection. A flexible membrane extends between and is coupled to the supporting arms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: Herman Miller, Inc.
    Inventors: Johann Burkhard Schmitz, Claudia Plikat, Carola Eva Marianne Zwick, Roland Rolf Otto Zwick, Andrew Keith Hector, John F. Aldrich
  • Patent number: 9669739
    Abstract: An arrangement in passenger vehicles, that diverts the impact energy in lateral or side impacts away from the passengers to the remaining mass of the vehicle thereby protecting the passengers, and in the same arrangement provides utilitarian access to the vehicle, such utilitarian access making it possible to both install multi-element contoured surround seats for passengers and the driver, and also a safety device for head-on collision protection that obviates the need for conventional seat belts and front impact airbags. An indo-skeletal structural arrangement proposed for the vehicle, provides further benefits by targeting the strength of the vehicle to protect passengers while minimizing other massive elements in the vehicle. Side impact protection for the head and neck are proposed with airbags and aircushions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Inventor: Arjuna Indraeswaran Rajasingham
  • Patent number: 9662591
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for detecting the actual and true position of model railroad turnout points while not adding any load or hindrance to the turnout points or to said points operating mechanism. The movable, tapered rails of railroad turnouts are called points, and their position determines the route that the train will follow. Using Hall-effect switches and magnets, the actual and true position of the turnout throw bar and points is detected without any physical contact with the throw bar, the points, or with the mechanism that actuate said throw bar and points. The output of the Hall-effect switches is used to communicate and provide feedback of the actual position of the points to the position display indicators, which are observed by the model railroad operator, and to the model railroad control system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: Atlas Model Railroad Company
    Inventor: Alexander Muller
  • Patent number: 9656583
    Abstract: Describes are passenger seats including a seat pan assembly with a reclining mechanism, a seat back pivotally coupled to the aft end of the seat pan assembly, and a lumbar mechanism coupled to the seat back and/or the seat pan assembly. As examples, the seat pan assembly includes at least one track having a reclining path and a sleeper path, and a sleeper selection control configured to pull a diverter into a position substantially blocking the opening to the reclining path and to push the diverter into a position substantially blocking the opening to the sleeper path. In certain cases, the seat pan assembly also includes a tilting mechanism with a fixed component and a variable component adjustably engaged with each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Assignee: Zodiac Seats US LLC
    Inventors: Larry Richard Gaither, Timothy W. Terleski, Chirag Patel
  • Patent number: 9650093
    Abstract: A saddle on which an individual is seated while riding a bicycle or a motorcycle. The saddle includes a flexible base to support the rider's weight and a stationary nose cap attached to the flexible base. One end of a bumper retaining block is pivotally and detachably connected to the nose cap. A resilient bumper is located between the flexible base and the bumper retaining block. A pair of rails which runs along the bottom of the flexible base is attached to the bicycle/motorcycle. The pair of rails is coupled to the bumper retaining block to push the block towards the flexible base with the resilient bumper sandwiched therebetween. The bumper retaining block can be detached from the stationary nose cap so that the resilient bumper can be replaced by a bumper having a different density to selectively control the flexibility of the base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Inventors: Raymond J. Kuipers, Jason A. Clark
  • Patent number: 9635944
    Abstract: A system of controlling various actuators associated with human support surfaces is disclosed. Such a system is made up of a support surface, a controller, and an actuator. The system may optionally include batteries, a means of charging the batteries, and a graphical user interface as well as a communication link between the graphical user interface and the support surfaces. The actuators are capable of altering contour and/or firmness, of a support surface, they may be vibrational or heating/cooling in nature, and they may also alter the overall relative position of a support surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Inventor: Steven Jerome Caruso
  • Patent number: 9635897
    Abstract: A cushion for supporting a user relative to a support surface is provided. The cushion has material with sufficient flexibility to deform under a weight of the user and sufficient resilience to return to its original state when the weight is removed. A supporting face contacts the support surface and is characterized by a plurality of points. The supporting face is contoured such that, when the cushion is in an unloaded configuration, a first subset of the plurality of points contact the support surface and a second subset of the plurality of points do not contact the support surface. When a user then sits on the cushion so that it is in a loaded configuration, at least some of the points in the second subset are displaced under the user's weight and contact the support surface. The cushion thus both bends and compresses to distribute the weight of the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: BACKJOY ORTHOTICS, LLC
    Inventors: Peter C. Prust, Allen Siekman
  • Patent number: 9630286
    Abstract: A tool buddy couples to an existing pneumatic tool and allows service personnel to suspend the pneumatic tool from a hoist or other ferromagnetic object. The tool buddy has a molded or otherwise shaped magnet housing that supports, retains, and protects standard magnets therein. The magnet housing defines a tray with side walls and a bottom that receives the magnets therein, but which is open on one face to allow the magnets to effectively engage with a ferromagnetic support. The magnet housing has a generally cylindrically defined concave surface distal to the open face which is cooperative with the curved housing used on most pneumatically or electrically powered tools to nest therewith. To affix the tool buddy to the tool housing, a very high bond double-sided adhesive that adheres on one surface to the magnet housing concave face and on the opposed surface to the tool.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Inventor: Jeff C. Pomerenke
  • Patent number: 9616790
    Abstract: A fastener, such as for coupling a trim cover to a seat, including an elongated body portion; a first end extending from the elongated body portion to define a connecting structure having a substantially J-shape, a middle portion between the elongated body portion and the first end, and a receiving space there between for receiving a structure; a second end extending distally from the elongated body portion for attachment to the trim cover; and wherein the connecting structure includes an arcuate hook shaped to define a barb pointing outward and a planar surface pointing inward for retaining the fastener on the structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Timothy J. Stankiewicz, Sandra L. Smith, Gerald M. Moilanen
  • Patent number: 9596940
    Abstract: A seat cushion body and method of producing the same are provided. In a method of producing a seat cushion body, fiber material is inserted into a mold. Heat is supplied to the fibers to cause thermal activation of binding fibers, so as to effect thermal cross-linking. The resulting seat cushion body includes a resilient portion formed from the fibers and having a fiber orientation along a main load direction of the seat cushion body. The seat cushion body may include at least one further portion formed from the fibers, which has a fiber orientation and/or a density different from the fiber orientation and/or different from a density of the resilient portion. The resilient portion and the at least one further portion may be integrally formed from the cross-linked fiber material as a unitary body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: SCHUKRA GERAETEBAU GMBH
    Inventors: Jan Petzel, Alenka Fäller
  • Patent number: 9592914
    Abstract: A seat for an aircraft is provided that includes a seat pan, having a seat pan front edge and a seat pan rear edge, a backrest, having a backrest top edge and a backrest bottom edge, where the backrest bottom edge is articulately disposed adjacent to the seat pan rear edge, a headrest, having a headrest top edge and a headrest bottom edge, where the headrest bottom edge is articulately disposed adjacent to the backrest top edge, a tracking device disposed beneath the seat pan and being attachable to a floor of the aircraft, the tracking device permitting the seat pan to translate in at least one of a lateral direction and a longitudinal direction, and a swivel connected between the tracking device and the seat pan, permitting the seat pan to rotate with respect to the tracking device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: BOMBARDIER INC.
    Inventor: Philippe Erhel