Patents by Inventor Gerard A. Stephan

Gerard A. Stephan 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: 20080222852
    Abstract: A button hook fastener includes a longitudinally extending solid plate, sized to fit a clothing button hole of one half inch or less. The proximal end of the button fastener includes a three dimensional finger engaging stop portion, preferable spherical. This enables the user to hold the plate within two fingers, but the three dimensional stop prevents the plate from slipping through the two fingers of the user. In order to capture a button, an open hook at the distal end of the plate is wrapped around the threading holding the button to a shirt. To maintain stability, the forward end of the hook has a slight taper, so that it can be easily inserted within a typical shirt button hole of one half inch or less. Additionally, there is an angled guide leading from a recess to the longitudinally extending inner confines of the arcuate hook, to guide the thread holding the button to within the confines of the arcuate hook.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2007
    Publication date: September 18, 2008
    Inventor: Gerard A. Stephan
  • Patent number: 6851565
    Abstract: An annular adapter adapts a standard beverage bottle, such as a plastic water bottle, to accommodate the internal threads of a baby's annular nipple cap, which has a nipple inserted therein. Inside the annular adapter is a seal, such as a disc-shaped annular ledge extending in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the adapter, to prevent leakage, when a baby bottle nipple and cap are inserted over the exterior threads of the annular adapter. Liquid flows through the central opening of the annular adapter. The nipple is inserted and the seal engages the bottle of the water bottle, the annular adapter is screwed over a conventional threaded exterior neck of a standard beverage bottle, such as a water bottle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2005
    Inventor: Gerard Stephan
  • Patent number: 6835124
    Abstract: A sanding block holds a continuous loop sanding belt tightly thereon. The block includes a hollow block body including a spring clamp having top and bottom racks of serrated indented teeth, which extend longitudinally therein, forming the top and bottom gear racks. Each of these gear racks engages reciprocal top and bottom gear racks with serrated indented teeth extending longitudinally along top and bottom forked members the spring clamp. The spring clamp is positioned within the hollow block body so that the continuous loop sanding belt can be tightly fit over the hollow block body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2004
    Inventor: Gerard Stephan
  • Publication number: 20040152405
    Abstract: A sanding block holds a continuous loop sanding belt tightly thereon. The block includes a hollow block body including a spring clamp having top and bottom racks of serrated indented teeth, which extend longitudinally therein, forming the top and bottom gear racks. Each of these gear racks engages reciprocal top and bottom gear racks with serrated indented teeth extending longitudinally along top and bottom forked members the spring clamp. The spring clamp is positioned within the hollow block body so that the continuous loop sanding belt can be tightly fit over the hollow block body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2003
    Publication date: August 5, 2004
    Inventor: Gerard Stephan
  • Publication number: 20030029829
    Abstract: An annular adapter adapts a standard beverage bottle, such as a plastic water bottle, to accommodate the internal threads of a baby's annular nipple cap, which has a nipple inserted therein. Inside the annular adapter is a seal, such as a disc-shaped annular ledge extending in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the adapter, to prevent leakage, when a baby bottle nipple and cap are inserted over the exterior threads of the annular adapter. Liquid flows through a the central opening of the annular adapter. The nipple is inserted and the seal engages the bottle of the water bottle, the annular adapter is screwed over a conventional threaded exterior neck of a standard beverage bottle, such as a water bottle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2001
    Publication date: February 13, 2003
    Inventor: Gerard Stephan
  • Patent number: 6220893
    Abstract: A waterproof, sealed splice connector includes a top cover connected to a lower section, providing a hollow interior for insertion of severed portions of an electrical cord therein. The severed portions are clamped within the splice connector and are connected to an electrically conductive connection, such as a terminal block. The splice connector may include sealed entry holes for the severed cord wire sections, to keep the splice connector waterproofed and safe.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2001
    Inventor: Gerard Stephan
  • Patent number: 5472220
    Abstract: The present invention includes a dolly with an upwardly extending edge about 3 to 5 inches high, that generally conforms to the size of a standard five gallon bucket. The purpose of the invention is to be able to push around whatever materials one is working with, without having to pick the bucket up to move it. The upwardly extending edge on the dolly prevents the bucket from tipping as it is being pushed or pulled. Also, additional wheels can be added to distribute the weight load more evenly, and the wheels can be raised or lowered to lower the center of gravity, to help avoid tipping of the bucket within the dolly. The dolly can be used by a person sealing a driveway with a five gallon pail bucket. Painters or spacklers can also benefit from the bucket dolly. Spacklers can stack pails on top of each other as they normally do so that they can reach into the uppermost pail and move their materials around without reaching down and getting down out of their elevated stilts or scaffolds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 1994
    Date of Patent: December 5, 1995
    Inventor: Gerard A. Stephan
  • Patent number: 5038509
    Abstract: A gun brush is provided for cleaning a magazine receiver, magazine and bore in a barrel of a pistol. The gun brush consists of an elongated handle to be gripped by the hand of a person using the gun brush. A first head segment is on a first end of the handle. A mechanism on the first head segment is for cleaning the magazine receiver and the magazine of the pistol. A second head segment is on a second end of the handle. A mechanism on the second head segment is for cleaning the bore in the barrel of the pistol.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 1991
    Date of Patent: August 13, 1991
    Inventor: Gerard A. Stephan
  • Patent number: 5020925
    Abstract: This bearing comprises an external piece (10) with a cylindrical housing (11), a hollow insert sleeve (20) with a circular external wall (21) and a curvilinear triangular internal wall (22), an internal piece (30) with a circular external seating (31) and rolling elements (40) interposed between sleeve and seating.The sleeve is a relatively thin and, for example, press-formed bush, with non-constant thickness, engaged under force in the housing in such a way that the external piece (10) alone exerts a prestress.Application to systems in which it is necessary to obtain a bearing effect without the slightest radial play without it being necessary to effect an adjustment, such as an automobile suspension with trailing arms for example.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 1990
    Date of Patent: June 4, 1991
    Assignee: Nadella
    Inventors: Gerard Stephan, Jean-Denis Labedan
  • Patent number: 4949496
    Abstract: A brush for cleaning a clip receptacle of a gun is disclosed. The gun brush has a handle portion and a brush portion which is attached to the handle portion. The brush portion has a cross sectional shape that matches the cross sectional shape of the clip receptacle of the gun so that the brush portion can easily enter the clip receptacle of the gun and readily clean the clip receptacle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 1989
    Date of Patent: August 21, 1990
    Inventor: Gerard A. Stephan
  • Patent number: 4913564
    Abstract: The rolling bearing comprises a housing (10), rolling elements (20), at least one ring (30) in two ring parts (31, 32) freely mounted one inside the other and defining raceways (231, 232) on which roll the rolling elements, and an elastically yieldable prestressing device (50). This device is adjustable between two states, namely a first state in which an elastically yieldable member (53) exerts relatively no prestress for permitting the assembly and a second state in which the elastically yieldable member (3) exerts the prestress for normal operation of the bearing. Application in the case where the other ring (40) is a shaft carrying another raceway (240) along which the rolling elements roll.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 1989
    Date of Patent: April 3, 1990
    Assignee: Nadella
    Inventors: Gerard Stephan, Jean-Denis Labedan
  • Patent number: 4655618
    Abstract: A needle bearing, and in particular a needle sleeve, comprising an outer ring (1) in which are mounted needles (2) contained in a cage (3), sealing means being provided at the ends of the outer ring, wherein said sealing means comprise a sealing element (11) of an elastomer having a sleeve (12) adapted to receive by a tight fit the inner element (4) of the bearing, and peripheral sealing lips (13, 14, 15) cooperative with the axial surfaces of a flange (5) having an axial ledge (6, 7, 8, 10) of the outer ring in which the sealing element (11) is disposed, an axial inner portion (10) of the flange constituting an abutment for the axial relative displacements of the outer ring (1) and the inner element (4) of the bearing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 1985
    Date of Patent: April 7, 1987
    Assignee: Nadella
    Inventors: Jean-Denis Labedan, Gerard Stephan
  • Patent number: 4505523
    Abstract: The prestressed rolling bearing device comprises a cage for guiding and/or retaining a plurality of rolling elements. At least one of the rolling elements has an outside diameter larger than that of the other rolling elements. The rolling element of larger diameter is formed by a ball and the other rolling elements are cylindrical elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 1983
    Date of Patent: March 19, 1985
    Assignee: Nadella
    Inventor: Gerard Stephan
  • Patent number: 4403812
    Abstract: A radial bearing assembly with play take-up comprises an elastically deformable ring inserted into and compressively held by an elastic sleeve. The internal surface of the ring comprises the outer race for bearing elements and the ring is suitably shaped to create a reduced or zero circulation clearance for the bearing elements at angularly spaced zones during use of the bearing assembly. The elastic sleeve is inserted into a rigid sheath whose radial thickness is greater than the combined radial thickness of the sleeve and ring so that the sheath principally determines the radial size of the bearing assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 1982
    Date of Patent: September 13, 1983
    Assignee: Nadella
    Inventor: Gerard Stephan
  • Patent number: 4365909
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a coupling clamp formed by shaping a sheet-metal blank or tube length and having an axially slotted hollow body (14) forming a socket for a shaft or other transmission member and having a lug (17) depending from either side of the slot (15), the lugs being pierced (18) for the passage of a bolt or the like by which the clamp can be tightened to bear radially onto a shaft, at least one of the lugs having at least one internal tab (13) extending at least part-way across the slot and shaped to bear radially onto a shaft on tightening the clamp.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 1979
    Date of Patent: December 28, 1982
    Assignee: Nadella
    Inventor: Gerard Stephan
  • Patent number: 4334414
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a universal joint yoke 1 having a rotational axis Y--Y and an opposed pair of arms 3 with bores 9 having a common axis X--X; the sectional shape of the arms in that plane perpendicular to the rotational axis Y--Y and passing through the common bore axis X--X having end portions 10 inturned towards the rotational axis Y--Y so that a greater depth h of bore may be obtained than the bore depth h' of a yoke of equivalent radial size formed from the same thickness material e and having arms 16 wherein the corresponding section is part circular.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 1979
    Date of Patent: June 15, 1982
    Assignee: Nadella
    Inventor: Gerard Stephan
  • Patent number: 4325566
    Abstract: The combined thrust and radial bearing is combined with a structure which defines two axially extending support surfaces. The bearing comprises two coaxial radially extending bearing plates and a set of rolling elements engaged between the plates. A first of the plates has a first flange extending axially from the inner peripheral edge of the first plate. A second of the plates has a second flange extending axially from the inner peripheral edge of the second plate. The flanges are concentric with each other and a radial bearing is interposed therebetween. The first plate has a third flange extending axially from the outer peripheral edge of the first plate and engaging one of the support surfaces to radially locate the first plate. The second plate is radially located relative to the structure by either the engagement of its second flange or the engagement of a fourth flange with the other of the support surfaces, the fourth flange extending axially from the outer peripheral edge of the second plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 1980
    Date of Patent: April 20, 1982
    Assignee: Nadella
    Inventor: Gerard Stephan
  • Patent number: 4183258
    Abstract: A collapsible shaft assembly forming part of a universal coupling, such as in the steering system of a motor vehicle, has outer and inner sleeves, a co-axial elastomeric sleeve in radial compression there between, a shaft rotatably coupled to and axially slideable within the inner sleeve and a shearable lock to hold the shaft axially relatively to the inner sleeve up to a given, minimum axial load, such as in a motor vehicle collision.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 1977
    Date of Patent: January 15, 1980
    Assignee: Nadella, & French Body Corporate
    Inventor: Gerard Stephan
  • Patent number: 4168869
    Abstract: A combined radial and axial bearing device wherein the axial or thrust bearing has limited axial movement relative to the radial bearing to make the bearing device easier to fit and be capable of accommodating a range of tolerances in the size of a support housing the bearing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 1978
    Date of Patent: September 25, 1979
    Assignee: Nadella
    Inventor: Gerard Stephan
  • Patent number: RE37350
    Abstract: The present invention includes a dolly with an upwardly extending edge about 3 to 5 inches high, that generally conforms to the size of a standard five gallon bucket. The purpose of the invention is to be able to push around whatever materials one is working with, without having to pick the bucket up to move it. The upwardly extending edge on the dolly prevents the bucket from tipping as it is being pushed or pulled. Also, additional wheels can be added to distribute the weight load more evenly, and the wheels can be raised or lowered to lower the center of gravity, to help avoid tipping of the bucket within the dolly. The dolly can be used by a person sealing a driveway with a five gallon pail bucket. Painters or spacklers can also benefit from the bucket dolly. Spacklers can stack pails on top of each other as they normally do so that they can reach into the uppermost pail and move their materials around without reaching down and getting down out of their elevated stilts or scaffolds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2001
    Inventor: Gerard A. Stephan