Patents by Inventor David Lacombe

David Lacombe 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: 5872890
    Abstract: A linear cartridge heater has a cylindrical heater element and an integral, concentrically-mounted current collector element positioned within a fire retardant chlorinated PVC enclosure. The enclosure includes a unitarily-molded mounting flange for sealingly mounting the cartridge heater, a unitarily-molded special "tee" section interconnected with the mounting flange, and an alignment bushing. The alignment bushing is interconnected with the special "tee" section by a pipe section to form a fluid flow path between the alignment bushing and the special "tee" section. The special "tee" section provides an outlet for discharging heated water and a mounting place for a first thermistor temperature sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 16, 1999
    Assignee: Watkins Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventor: Thomas David LaCombe
  • Patent number: 5279514
    Abstract: A gift item which is illustrated in the form of a stuffed teddy bear houses a control system which incorporates a re-programmable solid state analog memory device which is used to record a message. In the illustrated embodiment, a write switch is housed in the teddy bear's ear, and while it is being squeezed, a microphone in the main control system will record a spoken message into the non-volatile analog memory. The recording will take place as long as the two-contact switch is squeezed, and will stop upon release of the switch or expiration of the memory capacity of the memory device, which is about 20 seconds. The message is played back by momentary compression of another two-contact switch placed in the bear's paw, which would typically be done by a child. Replacement of a prior message with a subsequent one can be done at will by closing the write switch again as was done initially.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 1992
    Date of Patent: January 18, 1994
    Inventors: David Lacombe, Sherry Yu-Kim, George Seelman