Patents by Inventor Charles E. Dietrich

Charles E. Dietrich 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).

  • Pneumatic fruit decelerator apparatus and method
    Patent number: 7926252
    Abstract: A decelerator apparatus for mounting at the end of a pneumatic fruit harvesting or delivery tube. The decelerator comprises a housing with a moving decelerator body aligned with a fruit-receiving inlet connected to the pneumatic delivery tube. The decelerator body, for example a padded rotating wheel, moves at a speed slower than the speed at which the fruit is pneumatically delivered into the housing, and further defines a compressive deceleration path that moves the fruit in a compressive but protective fit toward a housing exit, releasing the fruit after the fruit has been decelerated to the speed of the moving body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2011
    Assignee: DBR Conveyor Concepts, LLC
    Inventors: Charles E. Dietrich, Philip Brown, Michael Rasch
  • PNEUMATIC FRUIT DECELERATOR APPARATUS AND METHOD
    Publication number: 20110047955
    Abstract: A decelerator apparatus for mounting at the end of a pneumatic fruit harvesting or delivery tube. The decelerator comprises a housing with a moving decelerator body aligned with a fruit-receiving inlet connected to the pneumatic delivery tube. The decelerator body, for example a padded rotating wheel, moves at a speed slower than the speed at which the fruit is pneumatically delivered into the housing, and further defines a compressive deceleration path that moves the fruit in a compressive but protective fit toward a housing exit, releasing the fruit after the fruit has been decelerated to the speed of the moving body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2010
    Publication date: March 3, 2011
    Inventors: Charles E. Dietrich, Philip Brown, Michael Rasch
  • Pneumatic Fruit Decelerator Apparatus and Method
    Publication number: 20100064653
    Abstract: A decelerator apparatus for mounting at the end of a pneumatic fruit harvesting or delivery tube. The decelerator comprises a housing with a moving decelerator body aligned with a fruit-receiving inlet connected to the pneumatic delivery tube. The decelerator body, for example a padded rotating wheel, moves at a speed slower than the speed at which the fruit is pneumatically delivered into the housing, and further defines a compressive deceleration path that moves the fruit in a compressive but protective fit toward a housing exit, releasing the fruit after the fruit has been decelerated to the speed of the moving body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 1, 2009
    Publication date: March 18, 2010
    Inventors: Charles E. Dietrich, Philip Brown, Michael Rasch