Patents by Inventor Ben John

Ben John 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: 7703190
    Abstract: A tooling system includes a plurality of elements arranged in an array, each element being moveable longitudinally relative to the other elements in the array and having a first end. The system further includes a device, adapted to adjust the relative longitudinal positions of the elements such that the free ends of the elements define approximately a desired surface contour and a device for retaining the elements in their adjusted positions. The first end of each element may be provided on a machinable portion removably mounted to a base portion, the arrangement being such that the free ends of the elements can be machined to produce the desired surface contour.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2010
    Assignee: Surface Generation Limited
    Inventor: Ben John Halford
  • Publication number: 20090283488
    Abstract: A two-post mounting rack includes a frame bottom, a frame top, a pair of frame uprights interconnected between the frame bottom and the frame top, and a base assembly for supporting the frame bottom on a surface. One or more of the frame bottom, the frame top, the pair of frame uprights, and the base assembly are seismically hardened. Each frame upright has a closed cross-sectional shape. Each frame upright includes a flange with apertures adapted to provide a mounting location for cable management projections. The base assembly includes two separate end gusset members. Each end gusset member includes two corner gussets. Each corner gusset includes a floor plate and a riser plate. The two corner gussets in each end gusset member are connected by a bridge member. The frame top includes an upper cross-member and two lateral reinforcement plates.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 19, 2009
    Publication date: November 19, 2009
    Applicant: CHATSWORTH PRODUCTS, INC.
    Inventors: William McMillan, III, Ben John Sy
  • Patent number: 7610790
    Abstract: A tooling system comprises a plurality of elements (24) arranged in an array, the elements of the array being movable between a closed position in which the elements contact one another and are secured in position, and an open position in which the elements of the array are spaced apart and are capable of vertical movement relative to one another. The tooling system further comprises bolster means (34, 36) provided to hold the elements of the array securely in the closed position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2009
    Assignee: Surface Generation Ltd.
    Inventor: Ben John Halford
  • Publication number: 20090250857
    Abstract: An element (10) for use in a tooling system which comprises a plurality of elements arranged in an array, the elements of the array being movable between a closed position in which the elements contact one another and are secured in position, and an open position in which the elements of the array are spaced apart and are capable of vertical movement relative to one another is characterised in that the element comprises tagging means (8) providing the element with a unique identifier. The tagging means preferably comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2005
    Publication date: October 8, 2009
    Inventor: Ben John Halford
  • Publication number: 20090056517
    Abstract: This invention relates to a tooling system comprising a plurality of elements (22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64) having tessellating sides arranged in an array. The elements of the array being movable between a closed position in which the elements contact one another, and an open position in which the elements of the array are spaced apart. In the open position the elements are capable of vertical movement relative to one another. Drive means for opening and closing the array are provided and the elements are mounted on supporting rails (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14) and are driven by the drive means between the open position and the closed position along a drive axis which is at angle to the longitudinal axis of the supporting rails.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2006
    Publication date: March 5, 2009
    Applicant: Surface Generation Limited
    Inventor: Ben John HALFORD
  • Publication number: 20090020936
    Abstract: A tooling system comprises a plurality of elongate elements each having an upper surface, said elements being arranged in an array to present said upper surfaces for machining by cutting tool means; support means for supporting said elements, each said element being supported on said support means for axial movement between upper and lower positions relative to the other elements in the array thereby to enable adjustment of the vertical position of said element surface; and clamping means for clamping the array of elements in a closed position in which the elements contact one another for enabling the free ends of the elements to be machined to produce a desired surface contour.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2004
    Publication date: January 22, 2009
    Applicant: Surface Generation Ltd.
    Inventor: Ben John Halford
  • Publication number: 20080203640
    Abstract: A tooling system comprises a plurality of elements arranged in an array, the elements of the array being movable between a closed position in which the elements contact one another and are secured in position, and an open position in which the elements of the array are spaced apart and are capable of vertical movement relative to one another, characterised in that the tooling system further comprises means for retaining the elements of the array in a plurality of different relative vertical alignments. A method of operating the tooling system is also described, which method of operating includes at least the steps of moving the elements of the array into a first vertical alignment, machining the free ends of the elements according to a predetermined pattern and moving the elements of the array into a second vertical alignment in which the machined ends of the elements produce a desired surface contour.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2005
    Publication date: August 28, 2008
    Applicant: SURFACE GENERATION LTD
    Inventor: Ben John Halford
  • Publication number: 20080122152
    Abstract: A tooling system comprises a plurality of elements (24) arranged in an array, each element being supported on a cross rail (22) and being moveable relative to the other elements in the array. Each element terminates in a threaded support post (25) extending from a first end of the element, and is associated with a corresponding internally threaded aperture in the cross rail upon which the element is supported. The tooling system further comprises an adjusting component in the form of a fork (46) which is driveable in rotation and engageable with an element of the array to drive the element in rotation, upon rotation of the fork.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2004
    Publication date: May 29, 2008
    Applicant: Surface Generation Ltd.
    Inventor: Ben John Halford
  • Publication number: 20040145105
    Abstract: A tooling system comprises a plurality of elements (18) arranged in an array (28), each element (18) being moveable longitudinally relative to the other elements (18) in the array (28) and a first end (20), the system further comprising means to adjust the relative longitudinal positions of the elements (18) such that the free ends of the elements define approximately a desired surface contour (22) and means for retaining the elements in their adjusted positions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 10, 2004
    Publication date: July 29, 2004
    Inventor: Ben John Halford
  • Patent number: 5774559
    Abstract: A powertrain roughness model is based on a structure comprising an auditory filterbank for spectral decomposition of the powertrain sound signals into a set of critical bandwidth channels, a model for predicting the specific roughness in each critical band channel, and a critical band to wide band converter that combines the specific roughness in each channel into a single roughness value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 30, 1998
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Ben John Feng