Patents by Inventor Robert E. Collins
Robert E. Collins 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: 20230339675Abstract: A storage tank includes a floor, a roof, a sidewall extending between the floor and the roof, an access hatch provided on the roof and having a base, a lid pivotably coupled to the base, and a latch configured to secure the lid to the base in a closed position, and a system for remotely opening and closing the access hatch. The system includes an elongate arm having a proximal end operatively coupled to the lid, a pull cable attached to a distal end of the elongate arm and extending toward a ground adjacent the storage tank, and a latching cable attached to the latch and extending toward the ground adjacent the storage tank, wherein pulling on the latching cable when the lid is in the closed position actuates the latch to secure the lid to the base in the closed position.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 21, 2023Publication date: October 26, 2023Applicant: Conspec Controls, Inc.Inventors: Robert E. COLLINS, Paul Douglas BOYCE
-
Patent number: 11760565Abstract: A system for remotely opening an access hatch of storage tank includes an elongate arm having a proximal end configured to be operatively coupled to a lid of the access hatch and a distal end extendable past an outer perimeter of the storage tank, and a pull cable attached to the arm at the distal end and being extendable toward a ground surrounding the storage tank. Pulling on the pull cable releases a latch that secures the lid to a base of the access hatch and allows the lid to pivot from a closed position to an open position.Type: GrantFiled: November 26, 2019Date of Patent: September 19, 2023Assignee: Conspec Controls, Inc.Inventors: Robert E. Collins, Paul Douglas Boyce
-
Publication number: 20210362944Abstract: A system for remotely opening an access hatch of storage tank includes an elongate arm having a proximal end configured to be operatively coupled to a lid of the access hatch and a distal end extendable past an outer perimeter of the storage tank, and a pull cable attached to the arm at the distal end and being extendable toward a ground surrounding the storage tank. Pulling on the pull cable releases a latch that secures the lid to a base of the access hatch and allows the lid to pivot from a closed position to an open position.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 26, 2019Publication date: November 25, 2021Applicant: Conspec Controls, Inc.Inventors: Robert E. Collins, Paul Douglas Boyce
-
Patent number: 5441604Abstract: An extended nip press apparatus is disclosed for removing water from a web. The apparatus includes a rotatable backing roll and an elongate shoe which cooperate with the backing roll for defining therebetween an extended nip for the passage therethrough of the web. The shoe defines a concave surface. A bearing blanket is movably disposed between the backing roll and the concave surface. The arrangement is such that the web is supported by the blanket with the web being disposed between the blanket and the backing roll. A lubricant is supplied between the concave surface and the blanket such that the blanket is slidingly supported by the concave surface during passage of the blanket through the extended nip. The concave surface encompasses a pocket defined by the shoe.Type: GrantFiled: February 17, 1994Date of Patent: August 15, 1995Assignee: Beloit Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Brian G. Sandberg, David A. Brandt, Dale A. Brown, Robert E. Collins, David V. Lange, Bruce L. Lindstrand, Michael A. Radtke
-
Patent number: 4980824Abstract: Tasks may be planned for execution on a single processor or are split up by the designer for execution among a plurality of signal processors. The tasks are modeled using a design aid called a precedence graph, from which a dependency table and a prerequisite table are established for reference within each processor. During execution, at the completion of a given task, an end of task interrupt is provided from any processor which has completed a task to any and all other processors including itself in which completion of that task is a prerequisite for commencement of any dependent tasks. The relevant updated data may be transferred by the processor either before or after signalling task completion to the processors needing the updated data prior to commencing execution of the dependent tasks. Coherency may be ensured, however, by sending the data before the interrupt.Type: GrantFiled: January 17, 1989Date of Patent: December 25, 1990Assignee: United Technologies CorporationInventors: Bhalchandra R. Tulpule, Robert E. Collins, John Cheetham, Smith Cornwell
-
Patent number: 4933836Abstract: A plurality of n-dimensional modular entities are internally interconnected via as many as n duel port random access memory devices (DPRs), each memory device dedicated solely to the interchange of information between two modular entities in an n-dimensional lattice of modular entities. One or more of the modular entities may itself be a separate multiprocessor architecture.Type: GrantFiled: May 17, 1989Date of Patent: June 12, 1990Assignee: United Technologies CorporationInventors: Bhalchandra R. Tulpule, Robert E. Collins, Daniel G. Binnall
-
Patent number: 4774709Abstract: A plurality of redundant channels in a system each contain a global image of all the configuration data bases in each of the channels in the system. Each global image is updated periodically from each of the other channels via cross channel data links. The global images of the local configuration data bases in each channel are separately symmetrized using a voting process to generate a system signal configuration data base which is not written into by any other routine and is available for indicating the status of the system within each channel. Equalization may be imposed on a suspect signal and a number of "chances" for that signal to "heal" itself are provided before excluding it from future votes. Reconfiguration is accomplished upon detecting a channel which is deemed invalid. A reset function is provided which permits an externally generated reset signal to permit a previously excluded channel to be reincluded within the system.Type: GrantFiled: October 2, 1986Date of Patent: September 27, 1988Assignee: United Technologies CorporationInventors: Bhalchandra R. Tulplue, Robert E. Collins
-
Patent number: 4771427Abstract: A miscomparison between a channel's configuration data base and a voted system configuration data base in a redundant channel system having identically operating, frame synchronous channels triggers autoequalization of the channel's historical signal data bases in a hierarchical, chronological manner with that of a correctly operating channel. After equalization, symmetrization of the channel's configuration data base with that of the system permits upgrading of the previously degraded channel to full redundancy. An externally provided equalization command, e.g., manually actuated, can also trigger equalization.Type: GrantFiled: October 2, 1986Date of Patent: September 13, 1988Assignee: United Technologies CorporationInventors: Bhalchandra R. Tulpule, Robert E. Collins, Donald F. Cominelli, Richard D. O'Neill
-
Patent number: 4159061Abstract: A closure assembly for a glass canning jar has an internally threaded skirt portion and a transverse lid portion having a rim section separated from a center section by a continuous weakened region in the form of a surface groove. A manual pull member is mounted on the center section. The transverse lid portion may be integral with the skirt or may comprise a separate member.Type: GrantFiled: April 25, 1977Date of Patent: June 26, 1979Inventors: Bille F. Cornelius, Robert E. Collins