Patents by Inventor Steve Kotefski

Steve Kotefski 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: 10317182
    Abstract: A safety fuze for use in military and commercial applications, includes a fuze body that is attached to a trigger mechanism, an energetic train contained within the fuze body, and a non-energetic fuze delay mixture that is formed in a rod form so that it can dropped inside the fuze body, without modification to the other components of the safety fuze. Preferably, the non-energetic fuze delay mixture is made of foamed celluloid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2019
    Assignee: The United States of America as Represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: Mohamed Elalem, Philip Abbate, Vincent Gonsalves, Matthew P. Evangelisti, John W. Grassia, Steve Kotefski, Nikola Kotefski, Ming-Wan Young, Fei Shen, Chong Peng, Linjie Zhu, Viral Panchal
  • Patent number: 9010250
    Abstract: A grenade fuze assembly includes a fuze body and a striker lever fixed to the fuze body with a pull pin. A circular pull ring is attached to the pull pin. A detent device is disposed on a top portion of the fuze body and a top portion of the striker lever. The detent device includes four sides with a boss formed on an exterior of one of the four sides. The boss includes a curved slot for receiving and holding the pull ring. A pair of opposed locking tabs on opposite interior sides of the detent device engage the top portion of the fuze body. The detent device secures the pull ring to prevent accidental removal of the pull pin when the grenade is dropped and to prevent undesired noise cause by movement of the pull pin and pull ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: The United States of America as Represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: Matthew P. Evangelisti, Steve Kotefski, Lidija Kotevska
  • Patent number: 8789469
    Abstract: A grenade fuze assembly includes a fuze body, a striker lever pivotally mounted to the fuze body, and a pull pin assembly. The pull pin assembly includes a pull pin attached to a pull ring and a pull pin retainer fixed to the pull pin on a side of the striker lever opposite the pull ring. The pull pin retainer includes a through hole. The two legs of the pull pin are disposed in the through hole and deformed around the retainer to fix the retainer to the pull pin. The retainer includes a pair of nest areas on opposing sides of the retainer. The free end of each of the two pull pin legs is disposed in a respective nest area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2014
    Assignee: The United States of America as Represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: Matthew Evangelisti, Steve Kotefski
  • Patent number: 8505797
    Abstract: A sound-suppressed, powder-actuated stud driver may include a single-use cartridge assembly and a reusable handle assembly. The cartridge assembly may include a housing with a through-bore. The through-bore may include a firing pin retainer with a firing pin therein, an ammunition cartridge case adjacent the firing pin retainer, a piston at least partially disposed in the ammunition cartridge case, and a stud. The handle assembly may include a housing with one open end and a bore extending inwardly from the open end. A handle assembly firing pin may extend axially into the bore from a closed end of the housing. A pair of blocking pins may be movable into and out of the bore, for ensuring proper loading of the cartridge assembly into the bore. A spring-loaded locking pin may lock the cartridge assembly in the bore.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2013
    Assignee: The United States of America as Represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: Terence Ringwood, Steve Kotefski
  • Publication number: 20120298005
    Abstract: A venting lifting plug is provided for an unfuzed munition having a fuze cavity with internal threads, the venting lifting plug is formed of a threaded ring having both internal and external threads together with a lifting plug having a lifting ring, a neck and a round portion having external threads, external threads on the threaded ring being in threaded engagement with internal threads on the fuze cavity of the munition, internal threads on the threaded ring being in threaded engagement with external threads on the lifting plug, and a threaded joint formed between the lifting plug and threaded ring is soldered together with one or more eutectic materials having a melting point lower than a predetermined critical temperature of cook-off gases from the munition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 10, 2012
    Publication date: November 29, 2012
    Inventors: Steve Kotefski, Ductri Nguyen, Dominick DeMella, Paul Manz, William Morelli, Philip J. Magnotti, Lidija Kotevska
  • Patent number: 8161883
    Abstract: A safer flash-bang grenade that yields the state of the art sound intensity, plus a brighter, more intense flash of the order of 13.5 million candela—which effect is due to a combination of a particularly efficacious pyrotechnic formulation and a particular reaction chamber design that momentarily retains or holds-back the reaction escape until the desired intensity is reached. The particular pyrotechnic formulation is based upon a strontium nitrate oxidizer in conjunction with an aluminum powder metallic fuel and a sulfur non-metallic fuel. The particular reaction chamber design includes a relatively rigid, non-fragmenting charge holder, with a slip-fit thin aluminum sleeve internal thereof and a shrink fit or other sealed sleeve external thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2012
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: Nicole D. Harasts, William Chung-Leung Chow, Mark Motyka, Steve Kotefski, Lidija Kotevska
  • Patent number: D642235
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2011
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: Nicole D. Harasts, Gerard Voorhis, William Chung-Leung Chow, Tom Fasano, Steve Kotefski, Lidija Kotevska
  • Patent number: D760858
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Assignee: The United States of America as Represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: Thomas J. Formanes, Dennis M. Sheehan, Lucien G. Ingrassia, Thomas C. Grego, Patrick W. Sherwood, Kevin T. Bauer, Joe O'Neil, Steve Kotefski