Patents by Inventor James L. Schmitt

James L. Schmitt 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: 20120111261
    Abstract: A device for reservation of access space for a vehicle equipped with a wheelchair ramp includes an attachment mechanism for attachment of the device to the vehicle, an arm coupled to the attachment mechanism and a caution sign carried by or otherwise present on the arm. The arm is moveable from a stowed condition to an extended, deployed position. The arm is carried in the stowed condition while the vehicle is driven over the road. The arm is placed in the deployed, extended position when the vehicle is parked to thereby preserve space adjacent to the vehicle for access to the wheelchair ramp. In some embodiments the arm is telescoping in design. The caution sign may be lighted. The arm can also be moved to the deployed position by means of a motor driven by vehicle power.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 13, 2011
    Publication date: May 10, 2012
    Inventors: Jeffrey L. Schmitt, James L. Schmitt
  • Patent number: 4324274
    Abstract: A selector valve (10) for providing a plurality of fluid signals has a plurality of signal ports (17-22) and a pair of drain ports (23,24) opening into a bore (14) of a body (11) and are angularly spaced one from another in a plane normal to the axis of the bore (14). A spool (12) is reciprocatable within the bore (14) between a plurality of positions. At each position at least one of a plurality of radial passages (48-57) in the spool (12) communicates an inlet passage (25) with a manifold (41), another of the radial passages communicates the manifold (41) with one of the signal ports (17-22) and one or more of a plurality of arcuate pockets (60-68) in the spool (12) communicate the other signal ports (17-22) with the drain ports (23,24).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 1980
    Date of Patent: April 13, 1982
    Assignee: Caterpillar Tractor Co.
    Inventors: Kenneth F. Golan, Charles N. Goloff, James L. Schmitt
  • Patent number: 4093034
    Abstract: The invention is concerned with improvement in a vehicle supported winch which comprises a supported rotatable drum for receiving and releasing a cable, a drive train for selectively transmitting rotary motion to said drum having clutching apparatus and breaking apparatus, a pump serving as a source of pressurized fluid and valves communicating the pump for selectively controlling application of the pressurized fluid to the clutch apparatus and the brake apparatus. The improvement comprises an accumulator communicating with the pump for storing the pressurized fluid produced by the pump when it functions and for supplying the pressurized fluid when function of the pump is retarded. A transmission is driven by an engine of the vehicle and drivingly connected to drive the drive train to selectively transmit rotary motion to the drum. A pump drive apparatus drivingly connects the pump to be driven by the transmission of the vehicle. Functioning of the pump is retarded as the transmission stalls.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 1975
    Date of Patent: June 6, 1978
    Assignee: Caterpillar Tractor Co.
    Inventors: Francis M. Curley, James L. Schmitt
  • Patent number: 3991787
    Abstract: A hydraulically operated winch of the type adapted for logging or towing operations and having a rotatable winch drum about which a cable or line is entrained, a normally disengaged clutch being hydraulically operable to provide a coupling between a power input member and a winch drum drive shaft, a normally engaged friction brake normally securing the winch drum drive shaft against rotation while being hydraulically disengagable and a normally engaged clutch providing a selective coupling between the winch drum drive shaft and the winch drum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 1974
    Date of Patent: November 16, 1976
    Assignee: Caterpillar Tractor Co.
    Inventors: James L. Schmitt, David S. Ohaver
  • Patent number: 3985046
    Abstract: A control valve pressurizes an outlet conduit when a variable fluid pressure signal rises above a first predetermined level and depressurizes the outlet conduit when the variable signal subsequently drops below a second level that is lower than the first level, the valve further functioning to maintain the outlet conduit unpressurized without regard to the variable fluid pressure signal level in the absence of a second fluid pressure signal. The control valve automatically controls a fluid pressure operated lock-up clutch of a torque converter in a vehicle transmission system. The variable fluid pressure signal source may be a governor producing a pressure proportional to vehicle speed while the second fluid pressure signal source is one or more of the transmission drive conditioning devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 1975
    Date of Patent: October 12, 1976
    Assignee: Caterpillar Tractor Co.
    Inventors: Hugh C. Morris, Kenneth F. Golan, James L. Schmitt
  • Patent number: 3951009
    Abstract: A control system for a drive train having an engine-driven power input member and auxiliary equipment associated therewith, a power output member, a hydraulically-operated slippable clutch coupling the power input member and power output member, the control system including a control valve operable in a first fluid flow condition to provide a maximum predetermined pressure level for fully engaging the clutch and a second fluid flow condition to provide an adjusted pressure level lower than the predetermined pressure level for partially engaging the clutch, and an override valve for selectively establishing either the first or second fluid flow conditions of the control valve and providing convenient changeover between the two power apportioning conditions of operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 1974
    Date of Patent: April 20, 1976
    Assignee: Caterpillar Tractor Co.
    Inventors: Sidney J. Audifferd, Jr., James L. Schmitt
  • Patent number: D343666
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 1991
    Date of Patent: January 25, 1994
    Inventor: James L. Schmitt