Patents by Inventor Ralph A. Gifford

Ralph A. Gifford 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).

  • 3D tolerance analysis system and methods
    Patent number: 11250184
    Abstract: A computer-aided design system provides tolerance analysis of model assemblies. Constraints are applied to a model assembly based on user-selected surfaces. Overlay surfaces are defined at the assembly, where each of the overlay surfaces corresponds to a user-selected surface. One or more stacks are defined based on a user input, where the stacks are a measurement dimension encompassing two or more parts of the assembly. The system simulates 1) variation of the overlay surfaces across a range of variation values within a respective tolerance zone based on the tolerance specifications, and 2) alteration of the stack as a result of the variation. Based on the variation of the overlay surfaces, the system identifies a subset of the user-selected surfaces that, when varied within the respective tolerance zone, alter the stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: ENVENTIVE ENGINEERING, INC.
    Inventors: James Hurt, Ralph A. Gifford, A. Vincent Huffaker, Kurt Andersen
  • 3D Tolerance Analysis System And Methods
    Publication number: 20190121925
    Abstract: A computer-aided design system provides tolerance analysis of model assemblies. Constraints are applied to a model assembly based on user-selected surfaces. Overlay surfaces are defined at the assembly, where each of the overlay surfaces corresponds to a user-selected surface. One or more stacks are defined based on a user input, where the stacks are a measurement dimension encompassing two or more parts of the assembly. The system simulates 1) variation of the overlay surfaces across a range of variation values within a respective tolerance zone based on the tolerance specifications, and 2) alteration of the stack as a result of the variation. Based on the variation of the overlay surfaces, the system identifies a subset of the user-selected surfaces that, when varied within the respective tolerance zone, alter the stack.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2018
    Publication date: April 25, 2019
    Inventors: James Hurt, Ralph A. Gifford, A. Vincent Huffaker, Kurt Andersen