Patents by Inventor John L. Eickelberg

John L. Eickelberg 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: 5983478
    Abstract: A process and apparatus for electromagnetically forming the end of an electrically conductive 2024 aluminum tube onto an end fitting includes energizing a main coil around a field concentrator movable into an opening in the main coil. The field concentrator has a wide circumferential flange that narrows down to an inner radial web having an axial channel through the center. The field concentrator is split horizontally into two halves, so the top half can be removed for insertion of the tube end and the end fitting. The end fitting has a tubular body that fits snugly into the end of the tube. A pair of carriages mounted on rails clamp the tube, and a gripper holds the end fitting in the proper position in the tube end. The carriages carry the field concentrator, and the tube with its end fitting positioned in the center of the field concentrator web, into the coil where a magnetic field generated by the coil and concentrated by the field concentrator forms the end of the tube onto the end fitting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 16, 1999
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Larry E. Dolan, John L. Eickelberg, Blake E. Reed, Ron N. Scarborough