Patents by Inventor James D. Freeman

James D. Freeman 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: 4478671
    Abstract: A liquid-adhesive applicator has a hollow cylindrical reservoir formed of a somewhat flexible plastic material and closed at each end by rigid plastic end caps. A stiff but bendable rod axially rotatably supports the reservoir, and is bent to form the shank of a handle for the applicator. The reservoir has a plurality of pairs of slits parallel to the axis of the reservoir and angled inwardly midway between radial and tangential orientation. Molded-on protuberances between the pairs of slits cause the slits to open when the applicator is pressed against a surface, such as the edge of a two-by-four stud, to apply adhesive thereto. In a second species the cylindrical reservoir and the end caps are cemented, or are thermoplastically welded, together; and are further made into a sealed toroidal reservoir by an axial tube that prevents leakage if the reservoir unit is discarded for throw-away replacement by a new head unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 1983
    Date of Patent: October 23, 1984
    Inventor: James D. Freeman
  • Patent number: 4395174
    Abstract: A fastener for anchoring a sheet-metal roofing panel to the top horizontal web of a roof-supporting sheet-metal beam, comprises a headed shank having an enlarged tip end constructed to penetrate said roofing panel and the underlying web of the panel's supporting beam, by being either percussively driven or rotatingly bored therethrough. In one species, an elastic plastic sleeve, which embraces the shank, has (1) a series of molded rings forming stepped seats engageable under the penetrated beam web and (2) a dome-shaped capping flange resiliently engageable down against the upper surface of the roofing panel. In a second species, a metallic sleeve, split for expanded slip-over engagement with the shank of the fastener, has vertical rows of struck-out anchoring fingers; and a resilient dome-shaped member is resiliently squeezed between the head of the fastener and the upper surface of the roofing panel. Said member may include a bowed spring-steel cross-shaped element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 1981
    Date of Patent: July 26, 1983
    Inventor: James D. Freeman
  • Patent number: 4389035
    Abstract: A hanger-type ceiling-attachable support has a shallow pan engageable against a ceiling surface. A bellows or a piston-in-cylinder type of reservoir for liquid cement underlies the pan, and when it is compressed upwardly by a post depending from the reservoir, injects cement into the pan and against the ceiling surface. The depending post serves both (1) as an attachment device for a plural-section manipulating pole and (2) as a fastener for a suspension wire. The pole sections are inter-nestable for storing and carrying. A horizontally adjustable measuring rod aids in accurately spacing being-installed supports from previously installed ones.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 1980
    Date of Patent: June 21, 1983
    Inventor: James D. Freeman
  • Patent number: 4291823
    Abstract: A track-mounted trunk-type luggage-carrier body is longitudinally movable from its transporting position on the top of a station wagon (or van, panel-truck or like vehicle) to its loading position when pulled-down at the back of the vehicle. The tracks are C-shaped in cross-section and the carrier has a pair of wheels adjacent its front end guided therein. Tensioned coil springs may be used to pull the carrier body forwardly. Removable stop means normally prevent the wheels from leaving the rear track ends. Resilient bumpers on the bottom of the carrier prevent damage to the top and rear surfaces of the vehicle. Optionally, roller means can be attached to the vehicle surface adjacent the junction of its top and rear surface portions to protectively and easily guide the carrier body past the junction area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 1979
    Date of Patent: September 29, 1981
    Inventors: James D. Freeman, Robert L. Freeman
  • Patent number: 4249578
    Abstract: Two telescopically mated tubes carry on their opposite ends laterally extending flanges for engaging the inner faces of opposite panels of rectangular fiberboard ducts to brace them against sagging and/or buldging caused by air-pressure-difference and/or gravitational forces. The inner tube has a series of notches or apertures formed therein and the outer tube has a tongue or pin engageable with a selected notch or aperture to lock the tubes in length-adjusted relative positions. Optionally, the opposite tube ends can have a bendable tongue or a barbed pin for penetrating through the fiberboard wall. The tongue can be bent over the outer face of the duct panel to brace the panel against outward buldging. The barbed pin can receive a pressed-on resilient nut for the same purpose. The tubes can be economically formed from sheet-metal strips bent to define, in cross-section, nearly closed triangles or nested U's.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 1979
    Date of Patent: February 10, 1981
    Inventor: James D. Freeman
  • Patent number: 4245545
    Abstract: A toggle-bolt-like blind-end connector fastens sheet-metal panels to fiber-board ducts by passing through pre-bored holes in the metal panel and punching its own hole in the fiber-board by a sharply pointed conical head mounted on a barbed-ring shaft. An expandable spider is fixed at the base of the head and is held collapsed against the shaft by a short sleeve. The sleeve has an end flange to limit its following the head and spider through the hole punched in the fiber-board, thus allowing the spider to expand inside the duct, after which expansion the shaft is pulled outwardly to press the expanded spider against the inner surface of the fiber-board. Next a resilient-material nut having shaft-gripping barbed-rings in its bore is pushed onto the exposed end of the shaft to engage the sheet-metal panel. The barbed-rings on the shaft facilitate breaking-off the unneeded end of the shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 1979
    Date of Patent: January 20, 1981
    Inventor: James D. Freeman