Patents by Inventor Bruce A. Pierson

Bruce A. Pierson 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).

  • Publication number: 20140081875
    Abstract: A method executed at least in part in a computing device for providing cloud based customer support services includes providing a cloud based service enabling data interchange between participants of a cloud based support service, the participants including customers seeking support on products or services and support personnel from companies providing the products or services. The method further includes associating a subset of the participants with a selected product or service, enabling the customers to initiate a support case for the selected product or service, and enabling the subset of the participants associated with the product or service to communicate in order to resolve the support case.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2013
    Publication date: March 20, 2014
    Applicant: New Gate Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Eric Pierson, Kellen Pierson, Bruce Pierson, Adriele Rosheger
  • Patent number: 5875878
    Abstract: The mounting for a roller shaft in the frame of a conveyor is designed to reduce the vibration of the shaft and the sound produced during conveyor operation. In several embodiments, the end of the shaft is provided with a taper, and a spring which is internal to the roller is used to bias the taper into the mounting hole. The resulting tight fit of the taper in the hole greatly reduces the vibration energy of the shaft. In another embodiment, a bushing separates the shaft and the hole and is designed to grip the shaft as it is pressed into place in the hole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 2, 1999
    Assignee: HK Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Bruce A. Pierson
  • Patent number: 5678676
    Abstract: The mounting for a roller shaft in the frame of a conveyor is designed to reduce the vibration of the shaft and the sound produced during conveyor operation. In several embodiments, the end of the shaft is provided with a taper, and a spring which is internal to the roller is used to bias the taper into the mounting hole. The resulting tight fit of the taper in the hole greatly reduces the vibration energy of the shaft. In another embodiment, a bushing separates the shaft and the hole and is designed to grip the shaft as it is pressed into place in the hole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 1995
    Date of Patent: October 21, 1997
    Assignee: HK Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Bruce A. Pierson
  • Patent number: 5259511
    Abstract: A dust seal connector for accommodating the relative movement between the enclosed, moving screen box of a screening machine, and a fixed particle inlet or outlet conduit connected to the screen box. The relative movement occurs as sliding motion between a suspended flat slide plate and a wear ring below the slide plate, with which the plate is facially engaged. The plate is connected upwardly by an enclosed particle passage to the conduit or box member from which it is suspended, and communicates downwardly with an opening in the ring for the flow of particles. In a preferred embodiment the particles flow through an axially compressed corrugated sleeve which connects the plate to the member from which it is suspended, compression of the sleeve biasing the ring and plate together to maintain a sliding dust seal between them.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 1991
    Date of Patent: November 9, 1993
    Assignee: Rotex, Inc.
    Inventor: Bruce A. Pierson
  • Patent number: 5186333
    Abstract: Disclosed is a clamp for securing the top cover of a screening machine. Clamping is not subject to galling or seizing and the force exerted is not temperature or displacement dependent. The clamp is air pressure operated, with super-atmospheric pressure being applied for clamping and venting to atmosphere or sub-atmospheric pressure being applied to release the clamp. The clamp is mounted for easy swing away movement when not in use so as to permit the top cover to be removed. Multiple clamps may be simultaneously operated from a common manifold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 1991
    Date of Patent: February 16, 1993
    Assignee: Rotex, Inc.
    Inventors: Bruce A. Pierson, William E. Lower
  • Patent number: 5165550
    Abstract: Disclosed is a ball cleaner for a screening machine in which the ball cages are presented by a molded plastic insert having integral intersecting longitudinal walls and cross walls. The weight of material being screened on the screen which overlies the insert is not carried by the insert but rather by a separate support beneath it. The support comprises a peripheral frame and joists within the frame which directly underlie at least the longitudinal walls of the insert. The insert completely isolates the frame from the erosive action of the cleaning balls and can be replaced separately from the frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 1991
    Date of Patent: November 24, 1992
    Assignee: Rotex, Inc.
    Inventors: Bruce A. Pierson, William E. Lower
  • Patent number: 5150796
    Abstract: Disclosed is a clamp for securing the cover of a screening machine. The clamp is air pressure operated, both to apply clamping force and to retract or swing the clamp out of the way when it is open. Super-atmospheric pressure is applied for clamping; subatmospheric pressure is applied to swing the clamp away. Multiple clamps may be simultaneously operated by pressure or vacuum from a common manifold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 1991
    Date of Patent: September 29, 1992
    Assignee: Rotex, Inc.
    Inventor: Bruce A. Pierson
  • Patent number: 4937088
    Abstract: A method of and apparatus for extracting the meat section and juice from a fruit while minimizing the amount of undesirable flavor components, e.g. peel oil, released from the fruit's peel. In one embodiment of the present invention, whole fruits are fed into a single station extraction apparatus that first cuts a equatorial groove in the fruit's peel while the fruit is rotated. A semicircular coring blade is then inserted into the groove and rotated 360.degree. which severs a spherical chunk of fruit meat from the peel. The small amount of fruit meat remaining on the peel's inner surface is then preferably extracted with a reaming element or fluid jet nozzle. In other particularly preferred embodiments, the grooving, coring, and reaming component mechanisms are incorporated into an indexing turret apparatus and a high-speed continuous motion turret apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 1988
    Date of Patent: June 26, 1990
    Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
    Inventors: Peter G. Gosselin, Ronald W. Kock, Michael S. Kolodesh, Jeffrey T. Leitner, Bruce A. Pierson, H. Norman Reiboldt, David A. Sabatelli, Vicki L. Weber, William Willhite, Jr.
  • Patent number: 4885182
    Abstract: A method of and apparatus for extracting the fruit meat section of a fruit, and subsequently separating and removing the sectional membranes and seeds from the fruit meat section to produce free juice and an abundance of unruptured juice sacs. In one embodiment of the present invention, whole fruits are fed into a dual turret extraction apparatus that includes a plurality of matched resilient cups for holding the fruit. After the fruit is cut in half, the halves are indexed through successive coring and reaming stations. The coring station includes a coring element that cleanly extracts a hemisperical section of fruit meat from the peel. The reaming station includes a reaming element that gently removes any fruit meat remaining within the peel. The fruit meat sections are then fed into rag separator apparatus that uses a rotating screen drum and a counterrotating shaft having striker bars projecting radially therefrom to strip the juice sacs from the sectional membranes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 1988
    Date of Patent: December 5, 1989
    Assignee: The Proctor & Gamble Company
    Inventors: Michael S. Kolodesh, Walter Cash, Jr., Jerry E. Davis, Peter G. Gosselin, Ronald W. Kock, Bruce A. Pierson, H. Norman Reiboldt, David A. Sabatelli, Douglas Toms
  • Patent number: 4873106
    Abstract: A method of and apparatus for separating and removing sectional membranes ("rag") from a section of fruit meat extracted from whole fruit to produce a juice/juice sac slurry. In one embodiment of the present invention, sections of fruit meat extracted from whole fruits are fed into a rotating screen drum having a counterrotating shaft coaxial therewith. The coaxial shaft has a plurality of striker bars projecting radially therefrom that strike the tumbling fruit meat sections and separate the juice sacs from the sectional membranes to produce the juice/juice sac slurry. Also disclosed and described are apparatuses for and methods of extracting fruit meat sections from whole fruits, and an apparatus for and method of separating seeds from the juice/juice sac slurry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 1988
    Date of Patent: October 10, 1989
    Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
    Inventors: Michael S. Kolodesh, Douglas Toms, Bruce A. Pierson