Patents Examined by Yvonne Abbott-Lewis
  • Patent number: 9930863
    Abstract: A system for cleaning a dairy animal milker unit and applying dip to a dairy animal, the system includes a main control, an air supply, a water supply, a backflush fluid supply, a dip supply, a stall control for receiving the air, water, backflush fluid and dip supplies, and a safety valve that is adjacent to a downstream portion of the milker unit to control backflush and dip fluids being fed to the milker unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2018
    Assignee: GEA Farm Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin L. Torgerson, Nathan Hedlund, Matthew J. Stuessel
  • Patent number: 9924702
    Abstract: A mobile telephone adapts to use as a gundog training tool by interfacing with a dog collar using a wireless communication device, such as a WWAN text or IP interface, a WLAN interface or a radio transceiver that couples to the mobile telephone and is accessible to a training application running on the mobile telephone. The dog collar includes a GPS receiver to provide position information to the mobile telephone and a shock device to provide training stimulus to the dog. A wireless headset interfaces with the mobile telephone to provide audible indications of position to an end user, such as a dog point and tone indicators of directions to the dog. A wireless handset interfaces with the mobile telephone to accept inputs for application to the collar, such as training stimulus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: Specifi-Kali, LLC
    Inventors: James C. Bianchi, Robert W. Holland
  • Patent number: 9894877
    Abstract: Litter compositions are provided comprising sodium bentonite and various fillers. These litter compositions have substantially the same clumpability properties as a composition consisting of only the sodium bentonite.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2018
    Assignee: OIL-DRI CORPORATION OF AMERICA
    Inventors: Monika Kuras, George Robert Goss, Dan Jaffee, Bob Soral
  • Patent number: 9888666
    Abstract: Provided is a litter box for animals that is hygienic and easy to clean. A litter box for animals is provided with a lower container, the upper part of which is open and which has a lower bottom surface part and a lower side wall part standing up from the peripheral edge of the lower bottom surface part, and an upper container, the upper part of which is open and which is disposed above the lower container. The upper container is provided with a upper bottom surface part in which a plurality of through holes is formed, an upper wall part standing up from the peripheral edge of the upper bottom surface part, and an extending wall part that extends downward from the outer surface of the upper wall part. The lower end part of the extending wall part is disposed lower than the upper bottom surface part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: UNICHARM CORPORATION
    Inventors: Chiyo Takagi, Shinya Kaneko, Tomoko Hirao, Nobuharu Namikawa
  • Patent number: 9883652
    Abstract: A system for cleaning a dairy animal milker unit and applying dip to a dairy animal, the system includes a main control, an air supply, a water supply, a backflush fluid supply, a dip supply, a stall control for receiving the air, water, backflush fluid and dip supplies, and a safety valve that is adjacent to a downstream portion of the milker unit to control backflush and dip fluids being fed to the milker unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2018
    Assignee: GEA Farm Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin L. Torgerson, Nathan Hedlund, Matthew J. Stuessel
  • Patent number: 9883654
    Abstract: A system includes a first milking box stall of a size sufficient to accommodate a first dairy livestock and a second milking box stall of a size sufficient to accommodate a second dairy livestock. The first and second milking box stalls face opposite directions. An equipment portion is located between the first milking box stall and the second milking box stall. A robotic attacher is housed in the equipment portion and configured to service both stalls at different times. The robotic attacher comprises a gripping portion having a spray nozzle. The gripping portion is operable to rotate around a longitudinal axis such that during a milking operation the spray nozzle is positioned on the bottom of the gripping portion, and after the milking operation the spray nozzle is positioned on the top of the gripping portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2018
    Assignee: Technologies Holdings Corp.
    Inventors: Henk Hofman, Cor de Ruijter, Menno Koekoek, Michael A. Mills, Peter Willem van der Sluis
  • Patent number: 9883651
    Abstract: An embodiment of the invention is directed to a system for cleaning teats of multiple milk-producing animals, wherein the animals are housed in a parlor area and the teats are cleaned or disinfected before a milking operation is started. The system comprises a disinfectant solution source provided at the parlor area; and, a hand-held applicator having a housing volume within which one or more scrubbing elements are positioned for engaging a teat of the milk-producing animal having been inserted in the volume for cleaning. The scrubbing elements include a brush that has an array of bristles including a first set of bristles having a first radial length and a second set of bristles that have a second radial length that is longer than the first radial length.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2018
    Assignee: ALPHA TECHNOLOGY U.S.A. CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kevin Dole, Stanley B. Herbin
  • Patent number: 9877459
    Abstract: An apparatus for drying piglets immediately after birth includes a container shaped and arranged for receiving up to three or four of the piglets having an opening arrangement for manual insertion by the worker of the piglets to be confined within the container during a drying period. The container has a system for applying air movement and optionally heat to the piglets while confined with the container for drying and a release arrangement having a door controlled by a settable timer or a system for detecting when the piglets are dry for allowing release from the container of the piglets after a sufficient drying time period has elapsed. The container includes a base mounted in each farrowing crate and a cover portion which is removable from one crate to another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: Conception Ro-Main Inc
    Inventors: Germain Labrecque, Jacquelin Labrecque, Rudy Cabrera, Jr.
  • Patent number: 9877463
    Abstract: An apparatus for drying piglets immediately after birth includes a container shaped and arranged for receiving up to three or four of the piglets having an opening arrangement for manual insertion by the worker of the piglets to be confined within the container during a drying period. The container has a system for applying air movement and optionally heat to the piglets while confined with the container for drying and a release arrangement having a door controlled by a settable timer or a system for detecting when the piglets are dry for allowing release from the container of the piglets after a sufficient drying time period has elapsed. The container includes a base mounted in each farrowing crate and a cover portion which is removable from one crate to another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: Conception Ro-Main Inc.
    Inventors: Germain Labrecque, Jacquelin Labrecque, Rudy Cabrera, Jr.
  • Patent number: 9872479
    Abstract: An improved animal feeder with an insertable feed restrictor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Inventor: Walter Tharp
  • Patent number: 9861071
    Abstract: Composite particles and methods for making the same. An absorbent material is formed into a particle. An optional performance-enhancing active is coupled to the absorbent material before, during, or after the particle-forming process, homogeneously and/or in layers. Additionally, the composite absorbent particle may include a core material. Preferred methods for creating the absorbent particles include a pan agglomeration process, a high shear agglomeration process, a low shear agglomeration process, a high pressure agglomeration process, a low pressure agglomeration process, a rotary drum agglomeration process, a mix muller process, a roll press compaction process, a pin mixer process, a batch tumble blending mixer process, an extrusion process, and a fluid bed process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: The Clorox Company
    Inventors: Charles F. Fritter, Ananth N. Shenoy
  • Patent number: 9861082
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a system configured to inject objects, such as eggs, with a fluid, wherein said objects each comprise at least two object parts, such as embryo tissue, embryotic or allantoic fluid and an air pocket, of which at least one object part is to be injected, by advancing injection needles to a determined depth, which depth is expected to correspond with the at least one object part to be injected, into the objects and injecting fluid into the objects at the determined injection depth. The system a sensor to monitor pressure or flow of the fluid during injecting, and to generate a monitoring signal, the control being configured to detect an operational state of the needles and/or the fluid, indicating proper operation or defect in the system, such as a blocked fluid line and/or needle, based on the monitoring signal representing the monitored pressure or flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: Viscon B.V.
    Inventor: Bastiaan Arie Smaal
  • Patent number: 9861072
    Abstract: The object of invention is an animal cage litter composition, especially suitable for cats, in the form of compacted and/or ground down sunflower hulls, in the amount from 1% to 100%, preferably 100%, with addition of the known binder, in the amount from 0% to 50%, and/or the known filler, in the amount from 0% to 80%, in the total mass of compacted sunflower hulls.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Inventor: Tomasz Gawron
  • Patent number: 9848580
    Abstract: A tug toy that includes at least two gripping members and a central portion, wherein the at least two gripping members are attached to the central portion, and wherein the central portion further includes a noise maker.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: Horsemen's Pride, Inc.
    Inventor: Robert J. Miavitz
  • Patent number: 9848584
    Abstract: A leash booster adapter is descripted which is attach to each end of a section of pet leash, and comprises an elastic member between shorter than the pet leash section to which it attached. In use, the device applies progressive resistance to the pet proportional to the stretching force provided by the pet pulling on the leash: the harder the pet pulls, the more resistance is felt. Rather that a hard jerk felt by the pet when it pulls, a gentle resistance is first felt, increasing in force as the pet pulls harder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Inventor: Robert Alden
  • Patent number: 9844207
    Abstract: Embodiments are directed to a tug-toy tooth brush. In one example, the tug-toy tooth brush includes a structural frame that provides support for at least one sliding element. The structural frame includes channels that guide the sliding element while sliding within the structural frame. The sliding element is configured to slide from a first position to a second position within the structural frame. The sliding element includes bristles that extrude through the structural frame. The tug-toy tooth brush also includes at least one handle attached to a distal end of the sliding element, where the handle is configured for travel through the structural frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: OWL INNOVATIONS, LLC.
    Inventors: Samuel Wayne Wright, Brian Coutts, Tyler Brown
  • Patent number: 9844210
    Abstract: Methods and systems of promoting fertilization of eggs of an avian. While inseminating a plurality of avian eggs a spectrum substantially concentrated within a narrow range of wavelength irradiates the plurality of inseminated avian eggs to increase the motility of the sperm to increase the probability of conception of avian from the inseminated eggs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: Once Innovations, Inc.
    Inventors: Zdenko Grajcar, John Lilly, Kevin Payne
  • Patent number: 9839200
    Abstract: A system and method for quantitatively assessing the changes in control of asymmetric locomotor behavior of an animal comprising analyzing the phase modulation in response to imposed asymmetric stepping tasks for quantitatively assessing changes in control of asymmetric locomotor behavior. A walkway gait device is provided comprising an elevated grid having at least one platform having a face and at least two or more pegs located in front or back of said platform, wherein each peg has a pressure sensor or switch in communication with a detection unit for capturing the pressure detected by one or more of the pressure sensors or switches. Preferably, the grid of the walkway gait device has at least three platforms to form a closed path loop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2017
    Assignee: West Virginia University
    Inventors: Sergiy Yakovenko, Matthew Boots, Ryan Ellison, Kiril Tuntevski
  • Patent number: 9828791
    Abstract: A restraint device having a tubular body with a handle at one end and a telescopic extension rod at the other end which allows the overall length of the body to be selectively adjusted. A cuff is attached to a tether at the end of the rod in a non-deployed position. The tether can be released so a law enforcement officer can loosely control a detainee. Electrical circuitry in the body is connected to electrodes on the lower end of the handle and on the cuff so a disabling charge can be delivered. The device is also useful to civilians as a protective device when jogging, walking, bicycling or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Inventor: James R Lash
  • Patent number: 9826716
    Abstract: Provided is an absorbent article for pets that can prevent side leakage of urine. In an absorbent article for a pet including a liquid permeable inner layer sheet, a liquid impermeable outer layer sheet, and an absorbent core provided between the inner layer sheet and the outer layer sheet, the absorbent core is provided only on a region closer to a belly facing region than a cutting line in which the tail of the pet is inserted, the cutting line being positioned in an intermediate region, and a body facing surface of the inner layer sheet has an area, at least overlapping the absorbent core in plan view, in which a recessed-and-protruded region is positioned, the recessed-and-protruded region including ridges and grooves that are alternately arranged side by side in a lateral direction while extending in a longitudinal direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Assignee: UNICHARM CORPORATION
    Inventor: Daisuke Komatsubara