Patents by Inventor Mickey Lee Smith

Mickey Lee Smith 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: 6708695
    Abstract: An asymmetrical trimmer disk/paddle wheel apparatus for trimming tobacco from a stream or braid of cut tobacco in a cigarette maker comprises a pair of counter rotating disks with a plurality of pockets arranged to coact with one another to trim off excess tobacco and create densified regions at the filter and lit ends of a cigarette rod product made in the maker. The pockets are constructed with different widths and depths to provide densified regions of different densities and lengths at the filter and lit ends of the cigarette rod product. The cigarette rod product formed by the asymmetrical trimmer disk/paddle wheel apparatus has an improved density profile that minimizes rejects at maker speeds up to about 8000 rods/minute.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2004
    Inventors: Barry Smith Fagg, Mickey Lee Smith, John Larkin Nelson, Travis Eugene Howard
  • Publication number: 20030014878
    Abstract: A specialized tape for a tape measure that is uniquely designed for determining whether the height of a tennis net complies with the net height regulations established in the rules of tennis. A user would simply extend the tape in a vertical fashion and compare the height of the center of the net (40) with the appropriate mark on the tape (15) that represents the regulation height of the net at its center point. Likewise, the user would compare the height of the net at one or both of the net posts (20 and 25) with the appropriate mark on the tape (12) that represents the regulation height of the net at the net posts.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 19, 2002
    Publication date: January 23, 2003
    Inventor: Mickey Lee Smith
  • Patent number: 6417156
    Abstract: An odorizer or freshener article for use in odorizing and freshening drawers, closets, cabinets, rooms and the like comprises a rod made of a gathered web or filamentary tow material in which a fragrance is embedded or injected in liquid or powder form or in a breakable fragrance-containing capsule and about which a sheet material is overwrapped. An anti-static additive may be incorporated into the rod for use in a clothes dryer. The components of the article are especially designed to be fabricated using conventional cigarette filter making and cigarette packaging machinery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2002
    Assignee: R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
    Inventors: Mickey Lee Smith, Cynthia Stewart Stokes, Ronnie Lee Willard
  • Publication number: 20020035999
    Abstract: An asymmetrical trimmer disk/paddle wheel apparatus for trimming tobacco from a stream or braid of cut tobacco in a cigarette maker comprises a pair of counter rotating disks with a plurality of pockets arranged to coact with one another to trim off excess tobacco and create densified regions at the filter and lit ends of a cigarette rod product made in the maker. The pockets are constructed with different widths and depths to provide densified regions of different densities and lengths at the filter and lit ends of the cigarette rod product. The cigarette rod product formed by the asymmetrical trimmer disk/paddle wheel apparatus has an improved density profile that minimizes rejects at maker speeds up to about 8000 rods/minute.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 9, 2001
    Publication date: March 28, 2002
    Inventors: Barry Smith Fagg, Mickey Lee Smith, John Larkin Nelson, Travis Eugene Howard
  • Patent number: 6360751
    Abstract: An asymmetrical trimmer disk/paddle wheel apparatus for trimming tobacco from a stream or braid of cut tobacco in a cigarette maker comprises a pair of counter rotating disks with a plurality of pockets arranged to coact with one another to trim off excess tobacco and create densified regions at the filter and lit ends of a cigarette rod product made in the maker. The pockets are constructed with different widths and depths to provide densified regions of different densities and lengths at the filter and lit ends of the cigarette rod product. The cigarette rod product formed by the asymmetrical trimmer disk/paddle wheel apparatus has an improved density profile that minimizes rejects at maker speeds up to about 8000 rods/minute.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2002
    Assignee: R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
    Inventors: Barry Smith Fagg, Mickey Lee Smith, John Larkin Nelson, Travis Eugene Howard
  • Patent number: 6155273
    Abstract: A beauty coil that is in the form of a rod which is comprised of a mass of elongated fibers which run the length of the rod. The fibers are held in a compressed state by an outer sheathing having a pair of longitudinal slits at one end of the rod to form a tab to permit easy removal of the sheath which allows the fiber mass to expand or blossom prior to use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2000
    Assignee: R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
    Inventors: Mickey Lee Smith, Charles Ray Ashcraft, Carl Carlton Greene, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6041790
    Abstract: A cigarette substitute article comprises one or more rod segments made of a gathered web or filamentary tow material in which a flavorant is embedded in liquid or powder form or in a breakable flavorant-containing capsule. The components of the article are designed to be fabricated using conventional cigarette making and cigarette filter making machinery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 1996
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2000
    Assignee: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
    Inventors: Mickey Lee Smith, Cynthia Stewart Stokes, Ronald Odell Wagoner
  • Patent number: 5724997
    Abstract: A disposable flavored filter attachable to the mouth end of a cigarette comprises an insertion end and a mouth end. A first interior portion of the filter, at and adjacent to the insertion end, defines a void space of the filter, while a second interior portion of the filter, at and adjacent to the mouth end, defines one or more segments. In a single-segment embodiment of the invention, flavorant is injected into, or a flavor-containing capsule is inserted into, the single segment. In a two-segment embodiment of the invention, the flavorant is injected into, or the flavor-containing capsule is inserted into, that segment disposed between the void space and the segment at the mouth end of the filter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1995
    Date of Patent: March 10, 1998
    Assignee: R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
    Inventors: Mickey Lee Smith, Barry Smith Fagg, John Douglas Weber, David Nicholas Iauco