Patents by Inventor Pierre A. Alsina

Pierre A. Alsina 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: 4349965
    Abstract: Four alignment housings are mounted on a garage floor adjacent a conventional lift, so that when a vehicle has been elevated by the lift each of its four independently suspended four wheels will register with an alignment chart that is adjustably mounted on the face of each housing. A beam of light is directed through registering openings in each housing and its attached chart toward a mirror releasably mounted on each vehicle wheel. The mirrors reflect the beams back onto the associated charts, which are calibrated to provide camber, caster and toe-in readings. In one embodiment each housing contains a light source (for example a laser) which directs a beam onto a reflecting surface which is inclined at 45.degree. to the horizontal, so that it projects the beam at right angles out of the housing toward the adjacent wheel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 1980
    Date of Patent: September 21, 1982
    Assignee: Security Trust Company of Rochester
    Inventor: Pierre A. Alsina
  • Patent number: 4335519
    Abstract: This mechanism includes a housing having three, equi-angular spaced, radially projecting arms which carry pivotal hook members that are releasably engagable with the rim of a wheel to secure the housing on the wheel for rotation therewith. Each hook member is adjustable longitudinally of its associated arm so that the mechanism can be mounted on wheels of various diameters. A circular casing, which is mounted on the housing normally to rotate therewith, carries an adjustable mirror having on its rear face a triangular plate held resiliently against a plane surface on said casing. A plurality of adjusting screws on the casing are engagable with the mirror to tilt it selectively about any one of the three edges of the triangular plate to position the mirror's reflecting surface in a plane normal to the axis of the rotation of the wheel. The casing can be rotated manually relative to the housing to adjust the tilting edges of the plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 1980
    Date of Patent: June 22, 1982
    Assignee: SpinOptic, Inc.
    Inventor: Pierre A. Alsina
  • Patent number: 4185917
    Abstract: A mirror is mounted in the open end of a circular housing by means of a universal joint formed by a stud which projects from the rear of the mirror into a spherically-shaped knuckle joint that is seated at diametrally opposite sides in a pair of "Teflon" ring bearings carried by two plates that are held over opposite sides of the knuckle by a pair of adjusting screws which can be selectively tightened or loosened to control the resistance to movement of the mirror universally about the center of the joint. The housing is releasably attachable to the hub cap of a front wheel by a plurality of clamps adjustably mounted on arms which project radially from the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 1977
    Date of Patent: January 29, 1980
    Assignee: SpinOptic, Inc.
    Inventor: Pierre A. Alsina
  • Patent number: 4142299
    Abstract: Two rectangular housings are mounted in a pair of spaced recesses in a garage floor to have cover means thereon moved to closed positions flush with the floor surface. Mounted in one end of each housing beneath a first cover is a rotatable wheel-supporting pad, which is slidable longitudinally of the housing, and is reciprocable vertically by a pneumatically operated scissors jack. Each housing has pivoted on its opposite end a second cover which carries on its inside surface a laser, a mirror, and a conventional alignment chart for denoting toe in, toe out, camber, etc., all of which items are disposed within one section of the housing when the pivotal cover is closed. When the pivotal covers are swung to upright positions, each laser directs a beam of light upwardly onto the associated mirror, which is inclined at 45.degree. to the vertical, so that the mirrors direct their beams horizontally through an aperture in the center of the associated chart and coaxially toward one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 1977
    Date of Patent: March 6, 1979
    Assignee: Spin Optic
    Inventor: Pierre A. Alsina