Patents by Inventor Robert D. Shaw

Robert D. Shaw 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: 20020121057
    Abstract: A corner piece for covering the corner of a structure with mating walls having siding panels containing multiple shingle impression courses attached thereto includes a first wall having an exterior face with first and second lateral edges and a second wall having an exterior face with first and second lateral edges. The exterior faces of the first and second walls include an ornamental appearance containing a plurality of vertically stacked shingle impressions. The shingle impressions of the exterior faces are staggered at least along the second lateral edges. These staggered shingle portions overlap at least a portion of the siding panels when the siding panels and corner piece are attached to the structure. The staggered shingle portions and multiple shingle impression courses of the siding panels cooperate to give the appearance that the corner piece substantially blends into the siding panels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2001
    Publication date: September 5, 2002
    Inventors: Stephen W. Steffes, Robert D. Shaw
  • Patent number: 5651286
    Abstract: A method and apparatus (10) for sensing a surface level (24) of fluid (12) in a tank (14) having an electrically conducting pickup tube (20) extending through a wall (16) of the tank (14) and into the fluid (12) includes a time domain reflectometry circuit (40) connected to the tube (20) for generating an incident pulse (68) that travels down the tube (20) and a portion of which is reflected at the surface (24) as a reflected pulse (70,72) which travels back along the tube (20) and is sensed by the circuit (40). The circuit (40) includes a microprocessor (92) which utilizes the elapsed time between the generation of the incident pulse (68) and the receipt of the reflected pulse to determine the position of the surface (24) relative to a reference point and the amount of the fluid (12) in the tank (14) and indicate the amount of fluid at a display (106). The tube (20) forms a transmission line with one of a plate (48), an outer tube (110) and a return tube (130).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 1996
    Date of Patent: July 29, 1997
    Assignee: Teleflex Incorporated
    Inventors: James R. Champion, Robert D. Shaw