Patents Examined by William E. Dondero
  • Patent number: 11661303
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a yarn storage device for a yarn processing machine, a method for supplementing a yarn store in said yarn storage device and a yarn processing machine provided with said yarn storage device, wherein the yarn storage device comprises storage units (2, 7) and loading means (3) in order to add yarn in a selected storage unit, wherein at least one storage unit comprises a winding holder (7) that is provided to keep a yarn store in a state wound round a holder body (7c), and wherein preferably yarn is added in windings with a winding diameter (D1) that is greater than the radial dimensions (D3) of the holder body (7c).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: VANDEWIELE NV
    Inventors: Karl Wyseur, Vincent Lampaert, Koen Bruynoghe, Dominique Maes
  • Patent number: 11649135
    Abstract: A textile machine for producing cross-wound packages, the machine being equipped with a plurality of workstations arranged next to one another on both longitudinal sides of the machine and having a cross-wound package transport apparatus. The cross-wound package transport apparatus has a first transport device, arranged between the two rows of workstations for conveying cross-wound packages, and a handling apparatus for moving cross-wound packages from the first transport device to the second transport device. The handling apparatus is arranged between the end regions of the first transport device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: Saurer Spinning Solutions GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Dirk Brakensiek, Robert Geisler, Wolfgang Doerner, Bodo Hansen, Tai Mac, Erwin Peters, Eduard Prediger, Philipp Schiffers, Michael Spitzer, Jonathan Sprecher, Heiko Toepke, Lothar Winzen
  • Patent number: 11634298
    Abstract: Disclosed are systems and methods for feeding welding wire for welding-type applications. The wire-feeder system comprises a base platform, a spool hub, a drive roll assembly, and a wire guide assembly. The spool hub can be mounted to the base platform perpendicular to the base platform and configured to support a wire spool. The drive roll assembly can be mounted to the base platform, and having one or more sets of drive rollers configured to feed wire from the wire spool toward a welding torch. The wire guide assembly can be mounted to the base platform separately from both the wire spool and the drive roll assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2023
    Assignee: Illinois Tool Works Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Beschta, Erik Brown
  • Patent number: 11623835
    Abstract: An expander roller for a fold-free expansion of foils, webs, and sheet materials in a width dimension. The expander roller has a central metal axle mounted in a surrounding synthetic tube with placed on its circumference a grid of implanted brush plugs in an axial direction under an angle alpha and with a mutual distancing and in tangential direction under a center angle beta and with a mutual distance. The roller provides a perfect expanding or stretching of thin widths of different materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: KOTI ONROEREND GOED B.V.
    Inventor: Michel Jozef Rene Lambert Huybreckx
  • Patent number: 11613443
    Abstract: A cradle apparatus and method for transporting and/or deploying a coil of pipe supported around a reel are disclosed. The cradle apparatus can include a first arm member and a second arm member each having a male segment and a female segment capable of telescopic movement. A first set of pipe reel engagement spools and a second set of pipe reel engagement spools can rotate to raise/lift a first flange and a second flange of the reel thereonto when the pipe reel is positioned between the first arm member and the second arm member and the proximal end and the distal end of the first arm member and the second arm member are brought closer together due to telescopic movement of the male and female segments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: Trinity Bay Equipment Holdings, LLC
    Inventors: Matthew Hegler, John Leger, Alexander Lee Winn
  • Patent number: 11608244
    Abstract: The present invention is an apparatus, system and method for providing pay-out head utilized in unwrapping elongated materials with adjustable pintle flanges that allows for keeping a coil pack stay concentric on the head during the unwrapping.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: Reel Power Licensing Corp.
    Inventor: Brent S. Lim
  • Patent number: 11597623
    Abstract: A cable tension control device includes a pair of first active rollers clamping a cable therebetween, a first driver driving the first active rollers, a pair of second active rollers clamping the cable therebetween at an upstream position from the first active rollers, a second driver driving the second active rollers, a floating roller arranged between the first active rollers and the second active rollers and exerting a pushing force on the cable, and an actuator driving the floating roller to move vertically to adjust the pushing force exerted on the cable. A tension force applied on the cable is controlled to be equal to a predetermined tension force by controlling the pushing force and by controlling a speed difference between a first speed at which the first active rollers convey the cable forward and a second speed at which the second active rollers convey the cable forward.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignees: TE Connectivity Solutions GmbH, TE Connectivity Co. Ltd.
    Inventors: Zongjie Tao, Dandan Zhang, Roberto Francisco-Yi Lu, Yingcong Deng, Zhonghua Xu
  • Patent number: 11565907
    Abstract: A system can comprise a plurality of containers that are coupled together as a movable unit. A plurality of container-feeding assemblies can be configured to simultaneously deliver respective yarns into respective containers of the plurality of containers. A header can be selectively attachable to a tufting machine, the header having a longitudinal axis. A retainer can be configured to extend across the header along the longitudinal axis to secure the respective yarns in respective positions relative to each other along the longitudinal axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: COLUMBIA INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Conrad L. Fernandez, Chad Christopher Anderson, Fidel Gonzalez
  • Patent number: 11560287
    Abstract: A reel system that includes a drum that receives a coil of flexible pipe. A first flange that removably couples to a first side of the drum. A second flange that removably couples to a second side of the drum. The first flange and the second flange secure the coil of flexible pipe to the drum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: Trinity Bay Equipment Holdings, LLC
    Inventors: Nader N. Matari, Alexander Lee Winn
  • Patent number: 11548753
    Abstract: The present invention is an automatic cut and transfer coiler and spooler apparatus, system and method for use generally comprising a rotatable turret with two independently driven spindles thereon wherein the drives for the independent spindles are attached to the turret for selectively rotating the spindles about their own axis independently.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: Reel Power Licensing Corp.
    Inventors: David Lasswell, Christopher David Rekieta, Gary Donald Thompson, Joseph Henry
  • Patent number: 11535474
    Abstract: An apparatus for transporting a tail end in a fiber web machine from one structural section to another includes nozzles for guiding the tail end on the guide plate by means of an air flow such that the blown air is brought onto a guide plate shaped into a curve in such a way that the air flow of the blown air guides the tail end onto the curved guide plate by means of a bump functioning as an aerodynamic profile formed in the curved guide plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: Runtech Systems OY
    Inventors: Kimma Loippo, Juhani Lehto, Markku Kajander, Mertsi Lindeman
  • Patent number: 11530105
    Abstract: A drive unit (4) of the belt (3) for a molding machine (1) of bored fins comprises a fixed front part (12) and a movable rear part (13) driven longitudinally with a forward and backward movement to and from the fixed front part (12). Both parts (12, 13) of the drive unit (4) include support plates (16, 31) on the upper surfaces thereof for vertical teeth (20, 35) with oblique top (22, 37) which protrude upwards under elastic thrust (24, 39) and are suitable for being inserted into corresponding bored collars (52) of the belt (3) downstream of a boring unit (2). The upper surfaces of each of the two parts (12, 13) of the drive unit (4) support at least a further support plate (17, 32) for vertical teeth (21, 36) of greater diameter, which is liftable and lowerable by a control panel (50).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: CEBI HI-TECH S.R.L.
    Inventor: Liviano Girotto
  • Patent number: 11529028
    Abstract: A sheet product dispenser for dispensing sheet product from a supply of sheet product reduces accumulation of the sheet product in the chute. The dispenser comprises a housing including a chute having a sheet product dispensing opening, a sheet product feed roller assembly disposed in the housing and configured to feed sheet product from the supply of sheet product into the chute, and a pusher disposed in the housing and configured to engage the sheet product fed from the sheet product feed roller assembly at a location downstream from the sheet product feed roller assembly and push the sheet product fed from the sheet product feed roller assembly toward the dispensing opening to reduce accumulation of the sheet product in the chute. A related method of reducing accumulation of the sheet product in the chute also is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: GPCP IP Holdings LLC
    Inventor: Brian Scott Borke
  • Patent number: 11530108
    Abstract: A bungee spool for collecting and storing bungee cords in a portable manner comprising a core and two rims where at least one has multiple slots radiating and the slots have raised inner edges outward from the point where the rim joins the top of the cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Inventor: James F. C. Swanson
  • Patent number: 11511962
    Abstract: A winding head (10) for surgical suture material has a securing arm (22) and a guide carriage (24), which is mounted on the securing arm (22). In addition, a circumferential guide system (30) is present, which is mounted displaceably on the guide carriage (24). The circumferential guide system (30) has two first tracks (32, 34) which are spaced apart from each other and are connected to each other by two second tracks (36, 38), which are of approximately semi-circular shape. A transition curve is present in at least one of four transition regions (40, 42, 44, 46) between a first track (32, 34) and a second track (36, 38), which transition curve connects the first track (32, 34) and the second track (36, 38) to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: Harro Höfliger Verpackungsmaschinen GmbH
    Inventor: Ingmar Neff
  • Patent number: 11498796
    Abstract: An apparatus for dispensing wire or cable, the apparatus including an enclosure with a top and a bottom portion and at least three side portions of a first height, a plurality of holes located in both the top and bottom portions of the enclosure, and a core of a second height located within the enclosure, wherein the core forms an area, wherein at least one of the plurality of holes has a first hole diameter and is located in the top and bottom of the enclosure and is located within the area formed by the core, and wherein the wire or cable is placed around the core.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: Encore Wire Corporation
    Inventors: Benjamin L. Weatherford, William T. Bigbee, Jr., Clifton S. Thompson
  • Patent number: 11498798
    Abstract: Disclosed is a creel including a plurality of creel bobbins, a plurality of guiding tubes located at the lower end of the creel and a plurality of guiding tubes located at the upper end of the creel, wherein each guiding tube is arranged for receiving a wire from an individual creel bobbin, wherein the lower half of the creel bobbins are arranged to feed their wires to the guiding tubes at the upper end of the creel, while the upper half of the creel bobbins are arranged to feed their wires to the guiding tubes at the lower end of the creel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Inventor: Marcel Smits
  • Patent number: 11491723
    Abstract: A consumable assembly for supplying filament to a 3D printer includes a spool-less filament coil, a payout tube, and a compressive band. The coil of filament is wound in a configuration having a generally cylindrical outer perimeter and an open interior; the coil has a payout hole extending from an inner layer of the coil to an outer layer of the coil and includes a filament strand configured to be withdrawn through the payout hole in response to a pull force, to thereby withdraw filament from the interior of the coil. The payout tube is disposed in the payout hole and provides a filament port. A compressive band is disposed over the outer layer and is configured to exert a compressive radial force on the coil so that the coil maintains its cylindrical shape without deformation, and the filament strand may be drawn through the filament outlet free of kinks, twists or tangles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: Stratasys, Inc.
    Inventors: Caroline Jo Markman, Timothy Hjelsand, Kevin C. Johnson
  • Patent number: 11485603
    Abstract: An apparatus for dispensing wire or cable, the apparatus including an enclosure with a top and a bottom portion and at least three side portions of a first height, a plurality of holes located in both the top and bottom portions of the enclosure, and a core of a second height located within the enclosure, wherein the core forms an area, wherein at least one of the plurality of holes has a first hole diameter and is located in the top and bottom of the enclosure and is located within the area formed by the core, and wherein the wire or cable is placed around the core.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: Encore Wire Corporation
    Inventors: Benjamin L. Weatherford, William T. Bigbee, Jr., Clifton S. Thompson
  • Patent number: 11485604
    Abstract: A reel apparatus includes a first plurality of spokes extending between and detachably attached to a first hub and a first ring, a second plurality of spokes extending between and detachably attached to a second hub and a second ring, and a plurality of staves extending between and detachably attached to the first and second plurality of spokes. The first and second rings each comprise at least two detachable segments collectively forming a circumference of the respective first and second rings. The at least two detachable segments each have multiple detachable ends allowing the respective first and second rings to be broken down into the at least two completely detached segments detached at their respective multiple detachable ends. The first and second hubs each comprise opposed detachable portions disposed on opposed sides of the respective first and second plurality of spokes to which they are respectively detachably attached.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: MMG INDUSTRIES, INC.
    Inventors: Michael Gehrke, Robert Street