Patents Examined by Tho D. Ta
  • Patent number: 11721942
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a connector system that provides a sealed and grounded electrical connection for a component of a power management system, like those found in a battery-powered motor vehicle. The connector system includes a male connector assembly and an adaptor assembly. The adaptor assembly includes: (i) a capacitor assembly, (ii) a female terminal assembly, and (iii) a busbar assembly. An internal electrical connection state is defined when: (a) the female terminal assembly is electrically coupled to the capacitor assembly, (b) the capacitor assembly is electrically coupled to the busbar assembly, and (c) the busbar assembly is electrically coupled to an extent of the component of the power management system. In the internal electrical connection state, the electrical couplings are sealed from the external environment which increases the operating life, durability and reliability of the adaptor assembly, the connector system and the power management system component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignee: Eaton Intelligent Power Limited
    Inventors: James Dawson, Jeffrey Chojnacki, Jason Degen, Brantley Natter
  • Patent number: 11713853
    Abstract: An improved LED lighting system is provided for overhead ceiling lighting, as well as for other uses. The LED lighting system comprises elongated linear lamps having an LED luminary as a source of illumination and configured to operate as a node of an automated networked lighting system. The linear LED lamps include an interface connector operable to connect to a data network to receive control data and power signals from an external device connected to the network for use in powering LED emitters and controlling one or more operational characteristics of the linear LED lamps. The system includes support connector assemblies for securing the linear LED lamps to a channel member of an overhead dropped ceiling grid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2023
    Assignee: DVA Holdings LLC
    Inventor: Michael W. May
  • Patent number: 11710953
    Abstract: An outlet enclosure for enclosing an electrical outlet to cover the electrical outlet and its electrical socket. The outlet enclosure includes a base plate and an outlet cover or holder which wraps partially around the electrical outlet to allow access to the electrical socket. The outlet cover or holder includes tracks extending in a vertical direction along its outer surface. An outer cylindrical cover wraps completely around the outlet cover or holder. The outer cylindrical cover slides vertically via the tracks over the outlet cover or holder from a lowered position fully enclosing the outlet cover or holder to a raised position exposing the electrical socket to allow access to the electrical outlet so that a plug can be inserted into the socket of the electrical outlet. When the outer cylindrical cover is lowered, it protects the electrical outlet from exposure to the elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2023
    Assignee: LVL-US, LLC
    Inventor: Jeffrey H. Smith
  • Patent number: 11710936
    Abstract: A connection device includes two adjacent connectors, a first connecting portion, and a second connecting portion. The two adjacent connectors are configured to support a flexible member. The first connecting portion of a first connector of the two adjacent connectors is rotatably connected to the second connecting portion of a second connector of the two adjacent connectors. The first connector rotates relative to the second connector based on relative rotation between the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion. The two adjacent connectors rotate to a first limit position and a second limit position based the relative rotations between the first connector and the second connector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2023
    Assignee: LENOVO (BEIJING) CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Ping Tian
  • Patent number: 11710934
    Abstract: An assembly for supporting a power strip is provided and includes a housing. The housing extends between an upper end and a lower end. The housing includes front and rear enclosures. The front enclosure includes a front wall, an interior wall, and a first cord support. The front wall defines a front aperture. The interior wall extends from the front wall at the upper end. The interior wall at least partially defines an interior receptacle that is configured to receive a body of a power strip. The rear enclosure includes a rear wall and a second cord support disposed at the lower end. The interior wall and the rear enclosure cooperate to enclose a body of a power strip within the interior receptacle. The first cord support and the second cord support cooperate with each other to facilitate retention of a cord therebetween.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2023
    Assignee: Leisure Time Products, LLC
    Inventors: Daniel R. Whyman, Randall L. Day
  • Patent number: 11705665
    Abstract: A connector includes a terminal fitting, a housing, a front holder to which an engagement part of the housing is inserted along an inserting direction of the engagement part with respect to a counterpart engagement part, and a water-stopping member with an annular shape that closes an annular space between a projection part from the front holder at an outer peripheral wall surface of the engagement part and an inner peripheral wall surface of the counterpart engagement part. The front holder includes a retained part that projects toward the outer peripheral wall surface of the engagement part. The water-stopping member includes a retained part that projects inward relative to an inner peripheral surface. The engagement part includes a communication retaining part where a first retaining part and a second retaining part are provided in a communicating state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: Yazaki Corporation
    Inventors: Satoki Masuda, Takeo Ida, Yoshinao Sato
  • Patent number: 11705682
    Abstract: A multi-position conversion device and a conversion socket with the multi-position conversion device; the first pin, the second pin, the first connecting sheet and the second connecting sheet are installed together onto the main frame to modularize and integrate the conversion device; therefore, only one main frame is needed to complete the installation of the first pin, the second pin, the first connecting sheet and the second connecting sheet, and this can effectively decrease the volume of the multi-position conversion device and thus decrease the volume and weight of the whole conversion socket, prevent the conversion socket from sagging due to gravity and thus increase the corresponding user experience and safety; meanwhile, after being modularized, the multi-position conversion device is installed directly into the housing and thus can decrease the assembling steps, reduce the assembling difficulty and finally improve the assembling efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Inventors: Liang Guan Lin, Xiao Long Li, Lei Hu
  • Patent number: 11699879
    Abstract: The present invention is a system and method using a hand-mounted force sensor to verify installation of a CPA-enabled electrical connector. The system has at least one CPA-enabled electrical connector with a locking button; at least one hand-mounted force sensor; an interface board; a transmission channel; a system processor; a non-transitory computer readable memory element; a display; and an input. The hand-mounted force sensors have an electrical output that is proportional to the force. The method is accomplished with the steps of mounting at least one force sensor so that it will record the force exerted when depressing a locking button of a CPA-enabled electrical connector; depressing the locking button; measuring the force; recording the force; comparing the force to a pre-determined threshold; passing the CPA-enabled electrical connector if the force was less than the pre-determined threshold and otherwise failing it.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2023
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignee: Global Inventive Consulting Inc.
    Inventors: Slobodan Pavlovic, Mohamad Zeidan
  • Patent number: 11699886
    Abstract: A power distribution connector is configured to connect an electrical cable to at least three electrical interfaces. The connector includes a housing with first and second sections. The first section includes a first electrical interface disposed at a first end of the first section and a second electrical interface disposed at a second end opposite the first end. The second section forms a T-shaped intersection with the first section between the first and second electrical interfaces. The second section includes a distal end opposite the T-shaped intersection, the distal end being configured to receive the electrical cable; and a third electrical interface oriented parallel to the first section, disposed adjacent to the second electrical interface, and extending a distance from an axis of the second section that is less than or equal to a distance from the axis of the second section that the second electrical interface extends.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
    Inventors: Robert Fong, Jeffrey S. Gieger
  • Patent number: 11699875
    Abstract: A connector is configured to be connected to an inlet of an electric apparatus having a storage battery. The connector includes a main body portion, an insertion portion, a first arm, a first preloading member, a release member, a solenoid, and a slide member. The slide member includes a support piece configured to come into contact with a back surface of a first front portion and a connection piece connecting a plunger and the support piece. The connection piece includes a first connection piece provided on a side of the plunger and a second connection piece provided on a side of the support piece. The support piece and the first connection piece are provided with a shift in position in a left-and-right direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignees: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD., SUMIDEN TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM PRODUCTS, LTD.
    Inventors: Shigehiro Tsuda, Shico Kodama, Hiroaki Nii
  • Patent number: 11699878
    Abstract: A power connector includes a terminal block holding terminals in terminal channels with terminating ends configured to be electrically coupled to corresponding wires at separable interfaces. The power connector includes a rear insert covering the terminating ends of the terminals having wire ports configured to receive the corresponding wires during a wire poke-in process. The power connector includes biasing members associated with the terminals each including a pusher configured to be biased against the wire to push the wire into direct physical contact with the separable interface of the corresponding terminal. The power connector includes a release mechanism includes a plurality of pusher release elements. The release mechanism is actuated to release the pushers of each of the biasing members from the corresponding wires.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignee: TE Connectivity Solutions GmbH
    Inventors: Matthew Edward Mostoller, Christopher George Daily
  • Patent number: 11688969
    Abstract: An electrical connector includes a metal shell and a cover. The metal shell includes first, second, third, and fourth side walls sequentially connected and defining an accommodating space, a first opening, and a second opening that are sequentially connected. The first side wall is provided with two buckle grooves. The cover includes a flat plate portion covering the first opening and two fixing portions disposed in the accommodating space. Each fixing portion includes a first plate, a curved portion, and a second plate that extend from the flat plate portion and are sequentially connected. Outer surfaces of the curved portions respectively contact the second and fourth side walls. The two first plates are parallel to and in contact with the first side wall. Each first plate is provided with a buckle member buckled in one corresponding buckle groove. A free end of each second plate contacts the third side wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: ENERGY FULL ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Hsu-Shen Chin
  • Patent number: 11685037
    Abstract: An interface for a battery pack and an electrical combination. The interface may include a battery-receiving portion configured to receive a battery pack and including a cavity. The cavity is defined by a pair of sidewalls with rails defining a groove between the rails and a lower surface of the cavity. The rails are stepped or angled along a battery insertion axis and are configured to guide the sliding engagement of a battery pack within the battery-receiving portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation
    Inventors: Kyle J. Radovich, Cameron R. Schulz, Mitchell Carlson, John G. Marx, Paul Rossetto, David M. Schwalbach
  • Patent number: 11685207
    Abstract: An apparatus that includes an elastic sleeve; an integrally formed top cover that completely (or at least substantially completely) covers one end of the elastic sleeve; an integrally formed elongated clamp feature that extends outward from across a top surface of the top cover, wherein the elongated clamp feature has a C-shaped cross section; an integrally formed elongated strap that is connected at a proximal end to an edge of top cover and that has an elastic loop formed at a distal end of the elongated strap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: WirthCo Engineering, Inc.
    Inventors: Andrew W. Wirth, Kelly T. Eagan
  • Patent number: 11682872
    Abstract: A connector apparatus for a medical device includes a cylindrical core of nonconductive material, a beam of conductive material, and a sleeve of conductive material. The cylindrical core includes an outside surface, an inside surface, a hollow center having a cross sectional area, and a slot opening in the cylindrical core extending from the outside surface to the inside surface. The beam is placed in the slot opening in the cylindrical core, wherein the beam reduces the cross-sectional area of the hollow center of the cylindrical core. The sleeve of conductive material is placed over the outside surface of the cylindrical core.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2023
    Assignee: Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc.
    Inventors: James Michael English, Robert Allen Jones, Scott A. Spadgenske, Moira B. Sweeney
  • Patent number: 11678700
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to aerosol delivery devices and cartridges for aerosol delivery devices. The cartridge comprises a mouthpiece having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end of the mouthpiece having an exit portal defined therethrough, a tank defining a proximal end and a closed distal end, the tank being configured to contain a liquid composition that includes a distinctive characteristic, and a heater configured to heat the liquid composition. The distal end of the mouthpiece is configured to engage the proximal end of the tank, and when the cartridge is coupled with the aerosol delivery device at least one feature of the cartridge, or at least one feature of the control device, or at least one feature of both the cartridge and the control device, provides a visual indication of a color associated with the distinctive characteristic.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2023
    Assignee: RAI Strategic Holdings, Inc.
    Inventors: Jared Aller, Charles Jacob Novak, III, Sean A. Daugherty, Michael Ryan Galloway, Matthew Joel Nettenstrom, Thomas Michael McKeon
  • Patent number: 11677185
    Abstract: An electrical connector includes a housing, a primary locking sleeve disposed on the housing, and a securing tab. The housing has a receptacle open in a connection direction essentially parallel to a longitudinal axis, the receptacle receiving a complementary connector. The primary locking sleeve is movable relative to the housing between a locked position securing the electrical connector and the complementary connector and a release position for connecting and/or disconnecting the electrical connector and the complementary connector. A gap having a gap width is disposed between the housing and the primary locking sleeve at least in the locked position. The gap width decreases from the locked position to the release position. The securing tab is insertable at least partially into the gap to an inserted state to secure the primary locking sleeve in the locked position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Assignee: Connecteurs Electriques Deutsch
    Inventors: Frederic Duval, Frederic Tocqueville, Thierry Cassar
  • Patent number: 11677201
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides an aerosol delivery device and a cartridge for an aerosol delivery device. In various implementations, the aerosol delivery device comprises a control device that includes an outer housing defining a cartridge receiving chamber, and further includes a power source and a control component, and a cartridge that includes a mouthpiece, a tank, a heating assembly, and a bottom cap. The mouthpiece defines an exit portal in an end thereof, and the tank is configured to contain a liquid composition therein. The cartridge is configured to be removably coupled with the receiving chamber of the control device, and the heating assembly defines a vaporization chamber and is configured to heat the liquid composition to generate an aerosol. The heating assembly comprises a substantially planar heating member and a liquid transport element, wherein the heating member is installed in a bowed orientation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Assignee: RAI Strategic Holdings, Inc.
    Inventors: Charles Jacob Novak, III, Sean A. Daugherty, Jared Aller, Michael Ryan Galloway, Justin Holt, Matthew Joel Nettenstrom, Steven Michael Schennum
  • Patent number: 11670888
    Abstract: This present invention relates to a telescoping electrical receptacle designed to elevate the position of an electrical and/or USB receptacle for providing easier access to individuals. The telescoping electrical receptacle comprises a plurality of female receptacles on its front surface and a male plug at its rear surface that plugs the device into an existing wall outlet to provide electrical power to the device and the plurality of female receptacles on its front surface in particular. Additionally, the electrical receptacle device features one or more accordion or telescoping extension members to extend the height or length of the electrical receptacles from the all outlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Inventor: Nathan Johnston
  • Patent number: 11666088
    Abstract: There is provided an electronically controlled, breath actuated vaporization device for generating vaporized material for inhalation by a user. The vaporization device includes a vaporization chamber for accommodating material to be vaporized and a mesh heater or other heater supported upstream of the vaporization chamber which is operable to heat air that passes through the mesh heater or other heater during an inhalation event. A closed loop control scheme may be employed to control heat generated by the heater to maintain a temperature of the air delivered to the vaporization chamber at or within a predetermined tolerance of a desired vaporization temperature for at least a majority of a duration of the inhalation event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: Zenigata LLC
    Inventors: Christopher B. Harrison, Steven A. Rodriguez, Gregory A. Kirkos, Alga Lloyd Nothern III, Dainia Edwards, Joseph N. Kennelly Ullman, Eric W. Healy