Patents by Inventor Rainer Schaefer

Rainer Schaefer 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: 20120167536
    Abstract: An agricultural harvesting machine is provided having a frame, a crop processing unit that is movable with respect to the frame between an operating position, in which it is inserted into a channel through which crop can flow, and a non-operating position outside the channel. A transport unit is provided with a first arm articulated to the frame of the harvesting machine pivotably about a first vertical axis, a winch and a traction device connected to the winch for lifting the crop processing unit out of its non-operating position and for moving the crop processing unit into a position outside the harvesting machine. The transport unit further is provided with a second arm holding the traction device and articulated to the outer end of the first arm pivotably about a second vertical axis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 10, 2011
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Inventors: Rainer Schäfer, Manfred Engel, Christoph Spallek
  • Patent number: 7992245
    Abstract: The invention relates to a cleaning tool for a cleaning device, the cleaning tool being subject to wear during operation. In order to make it easier to identify wear, the invention proposes that the cleaning tool comprise a sensor device with a sensor element which has a physical characteristic variable which changes as a function of the degree of wear of the cleaning tool. The invention also proposes a cleaning device having such a cleaning tool, the cleaning device having a detector device which is coupled to the sensor device for the purpose of sensing the change in the physical characteristic variable of the sensor element, and having an indicator device which is connected to the detector device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2011
    Assignee: Alfred Kaercher GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Michael Schuetz, Juergen Walz, Wilhelm Eisenmann, Alexander Fuchs, Markus Duenne, Ruwantha De Silva, Andreas Van De Ven, Rainer Schaefer
  • Publication number: 20100263141
    Abstract: The invention relates to a cleaning tool for a cleaning device, the cleaning tool being subject to wear during operation. In order to make it easier to identify wear, the invention proposes that the cleaning tool comprise a sensor device with a sensor element which has a physical characteristic variable which changes as a function of the degree of wear of the cleaning tool. The invention also proposes a cleaning device having such a cleaning tool, the cleaning device having a detector device which is coupled to the sensor device for the purpose of sensing the change in the physical characteristic variable of the sensor element, and having an indicator device which is connected to the detector device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2010
    Publication date: October 21, 2010
    Applicant: Alfred Kaercher GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Michael Schuetz, Juergen Walz, Wilhelm Eisenmann, Alexander Fuchs, Markus Duenne, Ruwantha De Silva, Andreas Van De Ven, Rainer Schaefer
  • Patent number: 7555882
    Abstract: The agricultural harvesting machine having a crop picking head includes a pickup conveyer which can be driven so as to pick up the harvested crop at a first adjustable speed, a discharge conveyer which can be driven so as to receive the harvested crop picked up by the pickup conveyer, transport the harvested crop, and discharge the harvested crop at a second adjustable speed, and a feed-in conveyer disposed in a feed-in channel of the harvesting machine that can be driven so as to receive the harvested crop from the discharge conveyer, transport the harvested crop, and discharge the harvested crop to a harvested crop processing unit at a third adjustable speed. The third speed and the first speed are independent of one another, and the second speed is defined by the first and third speeds and falls in a range between the first and third speeds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2009
    Assignee: Deere & Company
    Inventors: Steffen Clauss, Stefan Bohrer, Rainer Schäfer, Jürgen Hofer, Peter Pirro
  • Patent number: 7540136
    Abstract: The invention relates to a field chopper having at least one rotatable lower rough-press roll and at least one rotatable upper rough-press roll. Between the rough-press rolls crop is pressed and fed to a chopping drum where blades chop the crop. A space is defined down stream of the moveable rough-pressing roll between the chopping drum, the stream of pressed crop and the movable rough-press roll. Located in this space is a pressing element that acts on the pressed crop and which exerts a rough-pressing effect on the pressed crop downstream of the movable rough-press roll and upstream of the chopping drum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2009
    Assignee: Deere & Company
    Inventor: Rainer Schäfer
  • Patent number: 7311448
    Abstract: A bearing arrangement for a harvesting machine, including a bearing configured to couple a rotatable shaft with a chassis of the harvesting machine, a first element coupled with the shaft so as to be rotatable therewith, and a second element coupled with the chassis of the harvesting machine. Additionally, at least a portion of the second element is substantially concentrically enclosed by the first element and the first and second elements cooperate to define a contactless seal configured to substantially prevent contamination of the bearing. The shaft is coupled with a product treating element, such as a crop feeding and/or processing element that is driven or idle rotating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2007
    Assignee: Deere & Company
    Inventors: Manfred Engel, Joseph A. Teijido, Claus-Josef Vogelgesang, Fritz K. Lauer, Wolfram Elsner, Rainer Schäfer, Joshua D. Bacon
  • Patent number: 7261632
    Abstract: A self-propelled harvesting machine having an internal combustion engine, a propulsion system that can be operated to cause the harvesting machine to move across a field with a propulsion speed, a crop material pick-up device for picking up the crop material from a field, a crop material processing device for processing the crop material that has been picked up, a control unit for specifying the speed of the internal combustion engine, and a through-put measurement device for determining the through-put of the harvesting machine. The control unit can be operated to vary the speed of the internal combustion engine depending on the signal from the through-put measurement device. In this manner the RPM of the internal combustion engine that is most favorable in terms of fuel consumption and that corresponds to the power to be applied at a given through-put can be specified.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2007
    Assignee: Deere & Company
    Inventors: Peter Pirro, Jürgen Hofer, Stefan Bohrer, Rainer Schäfer, Steffen Clauss
  • Patent number: 6658750
    Abstract: In order to measure a two-wheeled vehicle frame, in which an essentially U-shaped measurement bracket (12) with two limbs (13) and an upper crossbar (14) is inserted, centered, into a retaining hole (5) which is at right angles to the longitudinal axis, and is moved to a fixed angular position, an optically acting component (9) is mounted in a defined position relative to the steering axis (2) of the two-wheeled vehicle frame, and a relative position between the measurement bracket (12) and the optical component (9) is fixed by means of a beam path between the measurement bracket (12) and the optically acting component (9), the invention provides that the optically acting component (9) is mounted in the headstock (1) without any play but such that it can rotate, using an adjustable-height insert (7) which in provided with a first scale, the crossbar (14) is provided with a horizontal marking (18) and with a central horizontal second scale (17), the crossbar is provided with an optically acting surface (16), w
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2003
    Inventors: Bernd Scheibner, Rainer Schaefer
  • Publication number: 20030009892
    Abstract: In order to measure a two-wheeled vehicle frame, in which an essentially U-shaped measurement bracket (12) with two limbs (13) and an upper crossbar (14) is inserted, centered, into a retaining hole (5) which is at right angles to the longitudinal axis, and is moved to a fixed angular position, an optically acting component (9) is mounted in a defined position relative to the steering axis (2) of the two-wheeled vehicle frame, and a relative position between the measurement bracket (12) and the optical component (9) is fixed by means of a beam path between the measurement bracket (12) and the optically acting component (9), the invention provides that the optically acting component (9) is mounted in the headstock (1) without any play but such that it can rotate, using an adjustable-height insert (7) which in provided with a first scale, the crossbar (14) is provided with a horizontal marking (18) and with a central horizontal second scale (17), the crossbar is provided with an optically acting surface (16), w
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2002
    Publication date: January 16, 2003
    Inventors: Bernd Scheibner, Rainer Schaefer
  • Patent number: 6246785
    Abstract: Method for the automated, microscope-aided examination of tissue samples or samples of body fluids with the aid of neural networks. In a first method of examination the sample is firstly classified according to its type and subsequently a digitalized image is divided into connected segments which are examined by one or several neural networks. The sample is classified as pathological if cell types are present which do not belong to the type of sample or if structural cell or tissue changes are present. In a second method of examination the digitalized image is again segmented and the segments are examined for the presence of a cell object. This is followed by an examination whether the cell object is an individual cell or a cell complex. In a third step of the analysis it is determined whether the found cell object is located on one of the image borders. If this is the case then a further image is recorded in which the found cell objects are completely included.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Roche Diagnostics GmbH
    Inventors: Bela Molnar, Rainer Schäfer, Winfried Albert
  • Patent number: 5565364
    Abstract: A method for the analysis of a component of a medical sample with the aid of an autoanalyzer, in which the sample is reacted with a reagent system and a physically measurable quantity X resulting from the reaction of the sample with the reagent system is measured in order to determine at least one measured value R for a specified sample and in which this at least one measured value R is further processed with the aid of a processing unit in a processing stage in order to determine an analytical result A. In the processing stage of the invention, use is made of the results of a neural net training, in which, for a number of standard samples for which the analytical result A is known, at least one measured value R, or a measurement result derived from several measured values R.sub.i, is applied to the input of a neural net.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 1995
    Date of Patent: October 15, 1996
    Assignee: Boehringer Mannheim GmbH
    Inventors: Rainer Schaefer, Bela Molnar, Christoph Berding, Peter Wolf, Fridl Lang