Patents by Inventor Andrew J. Buckland

Andrew J. Buckland has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11872632
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for producing powders. The system includes a housing having an enclosure, a crucible configured to produce a melt of a first material, a droplet device configured to receive the melt of the first material from the crucible and produce a flow of droplets of the melt of the first material within the enclosure of the housing, wherein the droplets solidify within the enclosure, and a distribution device configured to propel a second material into the flow of droplets of the first material within the enclosure such that the second material is mixed with the droplets of the first material to produce the powder that includes the first material, the second material, and/or a reaction product thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Ronald C Daul, Qigui Wang, Ali Shabbir, Yucong Wang, Andrew J Buckland
  • Patent number: 9517895
    Abstract: A system for turning over a vehicle frame defining openings and having a longitudinal center axis includes first and second robots each having an end effector. Each end effector has a pair of oppositely-positioned locator pins, at least one of which is selectively moveable toward the other. A controller is used to control the positioning of the frame via the robots and end effector by executing method instructions to cause the robots to align the locator pins of the end effectors with the openings of the frame, and to insert the aligned locator pins into the openings toward the center axis from outside of the vehicle frame. The robots lift the frame from a first conveyor, with weight of the vehicle frame born by the locator pins during the lift. The robots also rotate the frame about the center axis and lower the vehicle frame onto a second conveyor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2016
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Christopher E. Bacalia, John M. Lux, Andrew J. Buckland, Theodore R. Burton, Douglas M. Linn
  • Publication number: 20150118003
    Abstract: A system for turning over a vehicle frame defining openings and having a longitudinal center axis includes first and second robots each having an end effector. Each end effector has a pair of oppositely-positioned locator pins, at least one of which is selectively moveable toward the other. A controller is used to control the positioning of the frame via the robots and end effector by executing method instructions to cause the robots to align the locator pins of the end effectors with the openings of the frame, and to insert the aligned locator pins into the openings toward the center axis from outside of the vehicle frame. The robots lift the frame from a first conveyor, with weight of the vehicle frame born by the locator pins during the lift. The robots also rotate the frame about the center axis and lower the vehicle frame onto a second conveyor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2013
    Publication date: April 30, 2015
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Christopher E. Bacalia, John M. Lux, Andrew J. Buckland, Theodore R. Burton, Douglas M. Linn