Patents by Inventor Loren L. Vander Woude

Loren L. Vander Woude 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: 5806221
    Abstract: A segmented sign drive provides rotational driving force from a drive arm moving in reciprocating motion. The arm moves a series of pins in a series of grooves located in drive disks. A drive disk is mounted to each segment of the sign so as to rotate the segments into preferred positions in a step-by-step sequence where all of the segments move together to new positions so as to change the outward appearance of the sign. The grooves are ramped so that on a forward stroke of the drive arm the pins are moved upward on a ramped groove in the drive disks to fall into a preferred hole at one end of each of the grooves. On the return or reverse stroke, the pins, now caught within the holes, cause the disks to rotate by one part of the cycle. On the next cycle, the pins again move out of the holes and up the ramp surfaces of the next grooves which have been moved into place where the former grooves were.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 15, 1998
    Inventor: Loren L. Vander Woude