Patents by Inventor James Carl McClain

James Carl McClain 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: 6217274
    Abstract: The present invention provides for a continuous flow transfer system designed to transfer the contents of a mail tray into a cartridge for subsequent processing and then, after processing, to transfer the contents of the cartridge back into a mail tray without disrupting the facing or orientation of each piece of mail. The continuous flow transfer system comprises both a cartridge loader and a cartridge unloader, both of which have a tray section, a transfer conveyor and a cartridge section. The tray section, or infeed section, of the cartridge loader is designed to deliver filled mail trays to the transfer section of the loader. At the transfer section, the contents of each mail tray are deposited into an intermediate container that is affixed to the transfer section. The transfer section then delivers the contents of the intermediate container into empty cartridges being fed onto the cartridge section, or discharge section, of the loader.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2001
    Assignee: Bell & Howell Postal Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Eduard Svyatsky, David Schwaba, Anatoly Estis, Walter Conard, James Carl McClain, Stephen R. Archer, Fred Hegland
  • Patent number: 6019364
    Abstract: A document transporting system for conveying documents along a transport path in a first direction from a document infeed station to a document processing station, certain of such documents being advanced along the transport path from the infeed station with an improper facing orientation. A plurality of document re-orienting devices are disposed adjacent the transport path between the infeed station and the document processing station. Each of the document re-orienting devices are adapted to receive an improperly oriented document, to reverse the orientation of the previously improperly oriented document, and to transport the correctly oriented document back onto the document transport path. Control elements operatively associated with each of the plurality of document re-orienting devices deliver improperly oriented documents into a pre-selected empty re-orienting device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2000
    Assignee: Bell & Howell Postal Systems Inc.
    Inventors: Eduard Svyatsky, Walter Conard, John M. Buday, James Carl McClain