Patents by Inventor Carl David Hardison, III

Carl David Hardison, III 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: 9388634
    Abstract: Powered safety curtains are disclosed herein. An example barrier includes a motorized drive unit, and a curtain. The curtain includes a leading edge. The leading edge of the curtain is selectively moveable to a closed position and to an open position. The example barrier also includes a guide plate carried by the curtain and extending into a track and a nonferrous guide member attached to the guide plate. The example barrier also includes a first safety device including a first wireless portion and a first electrical portion. The first wireless portion is attached to the nonferrous guide member. The first electrical portion is in a first activated state when the first wireless portion is in proximity with the first electrical portion. The first wireless portion is in a first deactivated state when the first wireless portion is remote relative to the first electrical portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: RITE-HITE HOLDING CORPORATION
    Inventors: Carl David Hardison, III, David Swift, Ryan Pfaff, Ryan P. Beggs
  • Patent number: 9309717
    Abstract: Powered safety curtains are disclosed herein. An example safety barrier assembly to control access to equipment includes a track and a barrier including a receptacle. The barrier is to be moveable within the track between an open position and a closed position. The open position is to enable access to the equipment, the closed position to substantially prevent access to the equipment. The example safety barrier assembly also includes a sensor to identify when the safety barrier is in the closed position and a securing device comprising a portion to be received by the receptacle when the barrier is identified as being in the closed position. An interaction between the portion and the receptacle is to prevent the barrier from moving out of the closed position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2016
    Assignee: RITE-HITE HOLDING CORPORATION
    Inventors: Carl David Hardison, III, David Swift, Ryan Pfaff, Ryan P. Beggs
  • Patent number: 8863815
    Abstract: A vertically operating door and its drive system can be configured to push a door panel along a track to various overhead storage configurations including vertical, horizontal, inclined and coiled. Semi-flexible drive strips extend continuously along lateral edges of the curtain. The system includes a drive gear that engages a series of projections on at least one drive strip so that the gear can push the door between its open and closed positions. To protect the door from being damaged by collisions, the track can include a breakaway feature that allows at least a portion of the panel with its drive strip to separate from the track without permanent distortion. The drive strip and panel remain together as they break away from the track. The threshold of the breakaway force can be changed by selecting a retention strip from a plurality of interchangeable strips having different degrees of flexibility.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Rite-Hite Holding Corporation
    Inventors: Tom Jansen, Peter S. Schulte, Carl David Hardison, III, Jason Dondlinger
  • Publication number: 20130112358
    Abstract: Powered safety curtains are disclosed herein. An example safety barrier assembly to control access to equipment includes a track and a barrier including a receptacle. The barrier is to be moveable within the track between an open position and a closed position. The open position is to enable access to the equipment, the closed position to substantially prevent access to the equipment. The example safety barrier assembly also includes a sensor to identify when the safety barrier is in the closed position and a securing device comprising a portion to be received by the receptacle when the barrier is identified as being in the closed position. An interaction between the portion and the receptacle is to prevent the barrier from moving out of the closed position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2012
    Publication date: May 9, 2013
    Inventors: Carl David Hardison, III, David Swift, Ryan Pfaff, Ryan P. Beggs
  • Publication number: 20130112354
    Abstract: Powered safety curtains are disclosed. An example barrier for an opening includes a motorized drive unit, and a curtain. The example barrier also includes a track disposed along the lateral edge of the curtain, a guide plate carried by the curtain and extending into the track and a nonferrous guide member attached to the guide plate. The example barrier also includes a first safety device comprising a first wireless portion attached to the nonferrous guide member and a first electrical portion mounted relative to the track. The first electrical portion is in the first activated state when the first wireless portion is in proximity with the first electrical portion as a result of the leading edge of the curtain being at the closed position. The first wireless portion is in the first deactivated state when the first wireless portion is remote relative to the first electrical portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 3, 2011
    Publication date: May 9, 2013
    Inventors: Carl David Hardison, III, David Swift, Ryan Pfaff, Ryan P. Beggs
  • Patent number: 8113265
    Abstract: An example of a door with a pliable curtain includes various washdown features that make the door particularly suitable for use in food and drug related environments that demand cleanliness. To prevent product contamination, such as bacteria and other microorganisms, some examples of the door include a curtain storage track with a spiral groove machined in a unitary block of plastic, a ventilated side frame with a removable curtain guide track and a removable seal, and various curtain seams that not only join multiple sheets of the curtain together but also promote and strategically direct liquid runoff to avoid creating water-holding surfaces and to prevent liquid from dripping on products passing through the doorway.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2012
    Assignee: Rite-Hite Holding Corporation
    Inventors: Carl David Hardison, III, James C. Boerger, Peter S. Schulte, Thomas Jansen
  • Publication number: 20100221063
    Abstract: An example of a door curtain having pieces comprised of different thermoplastic materials includes a weld medium that facilitates the welding of two thermoplastics that are otherwise not readily welded together. In some examples, the weld medium comprises two outer layers that are joined to each other, wherein one layer is of the same polymer as one of the curtain pieces, and the other opposite layer is made of the same polymeric material as that of the other curtain piece. The weld medium is sandwiched between the two curtain pieces such that matching materials of the curtain and weld medium face each other. The two curtain pieces, with the weld medium between the two, are then thermally or ultrasonically welded together. The weld medium can be made by coating a fabric sheet with the two different plastic layers bonded to opposite sides of the fabric sheet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 2, 2009
    Publication date: September 2, 2010
    Inventors: Carl David Hardison, III, Peter S. Schulte, Thomas Jansen
  • Publication number: 20100218431
    Abstract: An example of a door with a pliable curtain includes various washdown features that make the door particularly suitable for use in food and drug related environments that demand cleanliness. To prevent product contamination, such as bacteria and other microorganisms, some examples of the door include a curtain storage track with a spiral groove machined in a unitary block of plastic, a ventilated side frame with a removable curtain guide track and a removable seal, and various curtain seams that not only join multiple sheets of the curtain together but also promote and strategically direct liquid runoff to avoid creating water-holding surfaces and to prevent liquid from dripping on products passing through the doorway.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 2, 2009
    Publication date: September 2, 2010
    Inventors: Carl David Hardison, III, James C. Boerger, Peter S. Schulte, Thomas Jansen
  • Publication number: 20090236054
    Abstract: A fabric power door with a vertical or side-winding curtain includes window comprised of a transparent sheet that is attached to the curtain by way of a flexible frame. The transparent sheet is appreciably smaller than the window opening in the curtain to create a strain-relieving gap between the sheet and the curtain. The flexible frame extends across the gap and overlaps both the curtain and the transparent sheet. As the door opens and closes, the flexible frame protects the transparent sheet from stresses from the flexing movement of the curtain.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2008
    Publication date: September 24, 2009
    Inventors: Carl David Hardison, III, Thomas Jansen, Peter S. Schulte