Patents by Inventor Richard L. Swain

Richard L. Swain 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: 5980076
    Abstract: An illuminator assembly that has a lid that can be easily removed, a spare bulb holder, a color wheel that easily accepts additional filters without disassembly and a snap on filter for a window on the illuminator assembly. The illuminator assembly illuminates one end of a bundle of fiber optic fibers for a lighting system for a swimming pool or a spa or other area to be illuminated. The illuminator assembly includes a hollow housing containing a light socket assembly for illuminating the end of the bundle of fiber optic fibers. The housing has a first tab mounted adjacent to its open upper end. A light bulb is mounted in the light socket assembly and a lid is provided that is sized to cover the open upper end of the housing. The lid has a second tab configured to selectively engage the first tab on the housing upon the rotation of the lid with respect to the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 1996
    Date of Patent: November 9, 1999
    Assignee: American Products, Inc.
    Inventors: Dennis C. Dunn, Kevin L. Potucek, Richard L. Swain, Laurence E. Thrasher
  • Patent number: 5825954
    Abstract: A submersible fiber optic lens assembly for use with a fiber optic cable having an end. The assembly includes a lens cap having a lens plate, a seal nut threadedly received within the lens cap, an O-ring radially sealing between the lens cap and the seal nut, a grommet received within the seal nut, and a compression nut received within the seal nut adjacent the grommet such that the grommet may be axially compressed between the seal nut and the compression nut to form a seal between the jacket and the seal nut. The fiber optic cable has a jacket, the jacket being received within the grommet prior to compression of the grommet. The lens plate has a reservoir formed on an inside surface, with a globule of gel located in the reservoir. Upon assembly, the end of the fiber optic cable is received within the gel. The O-ring seal and the grommet seal form an water tight cavity which is further defined by the reservoir and the seal nut. The cavity is filled by the gel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 1996
    Date of Patent: October 20, 1998
    Assignee: American Products, Inc.
    Inventors: Dennis C. Dunn, Richard L. Swain
  • Patent number: 5802227
    Abstract: An improved fiber optic end coupling apparatus for a bundle of optical fibers that is heat resistant and that can precisely and easily align different-sized fiber optic bundles along an axis of the beam of light. The end coupling releasably connects one end of a fiber optic bundle to a housing containing an illumination source to light an object, which, by way of example, can be a swimming pool, a spa or the like. The cable has a bundle of exposed coaxial optical fibers in a region adjacent to the end of the cable. The coupling includes a tubular body that has a forward end and that is mounted concentrically on the bundle so that the exposed ends of the fibers are out of contact with the body and extend axially forward from the forward end of the body. The coupling also includes a connector mounted on the body in releasable engagement with the housing to support the ends of the fibers close to the illumination source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 1, 1998
    Assignee: PacFab, Inc.
    Inventors: Dennis C. Dunn, Richard L. Swain