Patents by Inventor Thomas Gerard
Thomas Gerard 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).
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Patent number: 10519601Abstract: The present invention relates to tissue products comprising high yield hesperaloe fiber having improved wet performance, such as improved absorbency, CD Wet/Dry Ratio and CD Wet Durability. The addition of high yield hesperaloe pulp fibers surprisingly improves the CD Wet/Dry ratio without negatively affecting the absorbency of the tissue product. For example, tissue products of the present invention generally have an Absorbent Capacity greater than about 6.0 g/g, such as from about 6.0 to 8.0 g/g. As such the tissue products are durable when wet, but are still sufficiently absorbent. This balance of absorbency and wet strength is not found in the prior art without resorting to adding latex binders or the like to the tissue product.Type: GrantFiled: October 29, 2018Date of Patent: December 31, 2019Assignee: KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC.Inventors: Thomas Gerard Shannon, Richard Louis Underhill, Kevin Leon LaBerge, John Matthew Reiser, Gilbert Darrell Gafford
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Publication number: 20190374015Abstract: Embodiments of a collar, which may be adapted for removably securing a portable device to a user, are disclosed. In embodiments, the collar may be secured to the portable device, wherein a retaining clip may be inserted into a receiving volume which restricts movement of a claw in contact with a surface of the portable communications device.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 11, 2018Publication date: December 12, 2019Inventor: Thomas Gerard Carpenter
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Patent number: 10501892Abstract: The present invention provides a tissue product formed from a fiber furnish consisting essentially of short cellulosic fibers, such as fibers having an average fiber length less than about 2.0 mm, and a synthetic fiber having at least one cross-section dimension less than about 20 microns. The invention also provides a tissue product comprising at least one wet laid multi-layered tissue web comprising a fiber furnish consisting essentially of synthetic fibers and short cellulosic fibers, the multi-layered tissue web having a first and second outer layer and a middle layer disposed there between where the synthetic fibers are selectively disposed in the middle layer. Generally the tissue product comprises less than about 30 percent, by weight of the tissue product, synthetic fiber. In a preferred embodiment the tissue product comprises non-fibrillated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers having a circular cross-section shape with a diameter less than about 5.Type: GrantFiled: September 29, 2016Date of Patent: December 10, 2019Assignee: Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.Inventors: Thomas Gerard Shannon, Bo Shi
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Publication number: 20190358834Abstract: A modular electric hair cutting device that has a housing, a hair-cutting module contained in a first end of the housing, the hair-cutting module has blades for cutting hair, the hair-cutting module having at least one sensor coupled to and configured for detecting a temperature of the hair-cutting module, and a cooling module contained in a second end of the housing, the cooling has a fan and cools the internal components of the housing. Further, the modular electric hair-cutting device has a processor that receives data indicative of a temperature from the at least one sensor contained in the hair-cutting module and compares the temperature to a threshold temperature, and the processor activates a first fan if the temperature is greater than the threshold temperature.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 21, 2019Publication date: November 28, 2019Applicant: DueTT, LLCInventors: Tyler Albert Anthony, Thomas Gerard White
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Patent number: 10450703Abstract: The present application provides a tissue product comprising at least about 10 weight percent high coarseness fibers, from about 1.0 to about 10 weight percent synthetic fibers and less than about 10 weight percent long, low-coarseness cellulosic fibers. The high coarseness fibers may be cellulosic fibers having an average fiber length greater than about 2.0 mm and a coarseness greater than 17 mg/100 m, such as Southern softwood kraft pulp fibers (SSWK) derived from a pine in the Pinus subgenus, and the synthetic fiber is a non-cellulosic, thermoplastic fiber such as non-fibrillated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers. In certain embodiments the tissue products may be substantially free from long, low coarseness cellulosic fibers, yet provide satisfactory strength, such as a geometric mean tensile from about 500 to about 1,200 g/3?, and softness, such as a TS7 less than about 11.0.Type: GrantFiled: February 22, 2017Date of Patent: October 22, 2019Assignee: KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC.Inventors: Thomas Gerard Shannon, Bo Shi, Jeffrey James Timm, Abigail Joy Mitchell
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Patent number: 10428465Abstract: The invention provides tissue products comprising agave fibers and methods of producing the same. Preferably the agave fibers are high yield agave pulp fibers, which have demonstrated the ability to replace a substantial portion of the long fiber fraction of the furnish without negatively effecting important tissue product properties such as stiffness, CD Durability and bulk. Thus, the tissue product may comprise greater than about 10 weight percent agave fiber and more preferably greater than about 25 weight percent. Accordingly, in certain embodiments the present disclosure provides a three-layered through-air dried tissue product comprising high-yield agave fibers from the leaves of Agave tequilana, Eucalyptus Hardwood Kraft (EHWK) and Northern Softwood Kraft (NSWK), wherein the high-yield agave fibers comprise 10.0 percent by weight of the tissue product, the product having a CD durability greater than about 18 and sheet bulk greater than about 10 cc/g.Type: GrantFiled: October 27, 2016Date of Patent: October 1, 2019Assignee: KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC.Inventors: Kayla Elizabeth Rouse, Richard Louis Underhill, Thomas Gerard Shannon, John Matthew Reiser
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Patent number: 10408456Abstract: A combustion chamber assembly includes a combustion chamber casing, a combustion chamber, a plurality of fuel injectors and respective seals. The axis of each fuel injector head is arranged at an angle to the axis of the combustion chamber casing and parallel to the center line of the combustion chamber. Each seal is positioned between a fuel injector head and an aperture in an upstream wall of the combustion chamber. Each seal has an aperture extending through the seal which is arranged parallel to the axis of the combustion chamber casing or the flange of the fuel injector. Each fuel injector head has a part spherical surface located in a seal. The assembly provides a clearance required to engage, or disengage, a fuel injector head while minimizing the amount of material removed from the between the apertures in the upstream wall of the combustion chamber.Type: GrantFiled: October 13, 2016Date of Patent: September 10, 2019Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE PLCInventor: Thomas Gerard Mulcaire
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Publication number: 20190264395Abstract: Soft, durable and bulky tissue products comprising non-wood fibers and more particularly high yield hesperaloe pulp fibers are disclosed. The tissue products preferably comprise at least about 5 percent, by weight of the product, high yield hesperaloe pulp fiber and have relatively modest tensile strengths, such as a geometric mean tensile (GMT) greater than about 1,000 g/3?, and improved durability and cross-machine direction (CD) properties, such as a CD Stretch greater than about 10 percent. Additionally, at the foregoing tensile strengths the products are not overly stiff. For example the tissue products may have a Stiffness Index less than about 10.0.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 15, 2019Publication date: August 29, 2019Inventors: Kayla Elizabeth Rouse, Richard Louis Underhill, David John Paulson, Felicia Marie Sauer, Thomas Gerard Shannon
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Publication number: 20190249367Abstract: The disclosure provides a wet-pressed tissue product comprising agave fiber and having improved sheet bulk and good cross-machine tensile, toughness and durability properties. Cross-machine properties are significant because tissue products often fail in the cross-machine direction because it is often the weaker of the two product orientations (cross and machine directions). Accordingly, in certain embodiments the present disclosure provides a three-layered single-ply wet-pressed tissue product comprising high-yield agave fibers from the leaves of Agave tequilana, Eucalyptus Hardwood Kraft (EHWK) fibers and Northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK), wherein the high-yield agave fibers comprise at least about 5.0 percent by weight of the tissue product, the product having a CD tensile greater than about 450 g/3? and sheet bulk greater than about 7.0 cc/g.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 27, 2016Publication date: August 15, 2019Inventors: Kayla Elizabeth Rouse, Richard Louis Underhill, Thomas Gerard Shannon, John Matthew Reiser
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Patent number: 10337148Abstract: Soft, durable and bulky tissue products comprising non-wood fibers and more particularly high yield hesperaloe pulp fibers are disclosed. The tissue products preferably comprise at least about 5 percent, by weight of the product, high yield hesperaloe pulp fiber and have relatively modest tensile strengths, such as a geometric mean tensile (GMT) less than about 1,000 g/3?, and improved durability and cross-machine direction (CD) properties, such as a CD Stretch greater than about 10 percent. Additionally, at the foregoing tensile strengths the products are not overly stiff. For example the tissue products may have a Stiffness Index less than about 10.0.Type: GrantFiled: November 17, 2017Date of Patent: July 2, 2019Assignee: KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC.Inventors: Kayla Elizabeth Rouse, Richard Louis Underhill, David John Paulson, Felicia Marie Sauer, Thomas Gerard Shannon
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Patent number: 10337149Abstract: Soft, durable and bulky tissue products comprising non-wood fibers and more particularly high yield hesperaloe pulp fibers are disclosed. The tissue products preferably comprise at least about 5 percent, by weight of the product, high yield hesperaloe pulp fiber and have relatively modest tensile strengths, such as a geometric mean tensile (GMT) greater than about 1,000 g/3?, and improved durability and cross-machine direction (CD) properties, such as a CD Stretch greater than about 10 percent. Additionally, at the foregoing tensile strengths the products are not overly stiff. For example the tissue products may have a Stiffness Index less than about 10.0.Type: GrantFiled: November 17, 2017Date of Patent: July 2, 2019Assignee: KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC.Inventors: Kayla Elizabeth Rouse, Richard Louis Underhill, David John Paulson, Felicia Marie Sauer, Thomas Gerard Shannon
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Publication number: 20190169798Abstract: The disclosure provides tissue products comprising agave fibers and methods of producing the same. Preferably the agave fibers are high yield agave pulp fibers, which have demonstrated the ability to replace a substantial portion of the long fiber fraction of the furnish without negatively effecting important tissue product properties such as stiffness, CD Durability and bulk. Thus, the tissue product may comprise greater than about 10 weight percent agave fiber and more preferably greater than about 25 weight percent. Accordingly, in certain embodiments the present disclosure provides a three-layered through-air dried tissue product comprising high-yield agave fibers from the leaves of Agave tequilana, Eucalyptus Hardwood Kraft (EHWK) and Northern Softwood Kraft (NSWK), wherein the high-yield agave fibers comprise 10.0 percent by weight of the tissue product, the product having a CD durability greater than about 18 and sheet bulk greater than about 10 cc/g.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 27, 2016Publication date: June 6, 2019Inventors: Kayla Elizabeth Rouse, Richard Louis Underhill, Thomas Gerard Shannon, John Matthew Reiser
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Publication number: 20190161916Abstract: The present invention provides a tissue product formed from a fiber furnish consisting essentially of short cellulosic fibers, such as fibers having an average fiber length less than about 2.0 mm, and a synthetic fiber having at least one cross-section dimension less than about 20 microns. The invention also provides a tissue product comprising at least one wet laid multi-layered tissue web comprising a fiber furnish consisting essentially of synthetic fibers and short cellulosic fibers, the multi-layered tissue web having a first and second outer layer and a middle layer disposed there between where the synthetic fibers are selectively disposed in the middle layer. Generally the tissue product comprises less than about 30 percent, by weight of the tissue product, synthetic fiber. In a preferred embodiment the tissue product comprises non-fibrillated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers having a circular cross-section shape with a diameter less than about 5.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 29, 2016Publication date: May 30, 2019Applicant: Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.Inventors: Thomas Gerard Shannon, Bo Shi
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Patent number: 10287025Abstract: The invention relates to a system for suspending two modules of a propulsion unit, such as two fan modules, said system comprising a pylon (28) and a rudder bar (30). One part (30?) of the rudder bar is hinged to the pylon, while the opposing ends thereof are hinged to connecting rods (34, 36). The system also comprises a torque bar (40) which has an elongate shape and is mounted on the pylon such that it can pivot about an axis substantially parallel to an axis (B) of elongation of the torque bar, the opposing ends (42) of said bar being secured on each side of the above-mentioned part of the rudder bar.Type: GrantFiled: September 21, 2016Date of Patent: May 14, 2019Assignee: SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINESInventors: Thomas Gerard Daniel Riviere, Antoine Elie Hellegouarch
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Publication number: 20190100883Abstract: The present invention provides soft, durable and bulky tissue products comprising non-wood fibers and more particularly hesperaloe fiber. The inventors have discovered that high yield hesperaloe pulp fiber, when incorporated in amounts of at least about 5 percent by weight of the tissue product, produces products having a GMT less than about 1000 g/3? and a GM Slope less than about 7.0 kg. At the foregoing tensile strengths and modulus the tissue products of the present invention are also generally soft, such as having a Stiffness Index less than about 10.0, and more preferably less than about 9.0, such as from about 7.0 to about 9.0.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 29, 2018Publication date: April 4, 2019Inventors: Thomas Gerard Shannon, Richard Louis Underhill, Kevin Leon LaBerge, John Matthew Reiser, Gilbert Darrell Gafford
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Publication number: 20190100878Abstract: The present invention relates to tissue products comprising high yield hesperaloe fiber having improved wet performance, such as improved absorbency, CD Wet/Dry Ratio and CD Wet Durability. The addition of high yield hesperaloe pulp fibers surprisingly improves the CD Wet/Dry ratio without negatively affecting the absorbency of the tissue product. For example, tissue products of the present invention generally have an Absorbent Capacity greater than about 6.0 g/g, such as from about 6.0 to 8.0 g/g. As such the tissue products are durable when wet, but are still sufficiently absorbent. This balance of absorbency and wet strength is not found in the prior art without resorting to adding latex binders or the like to the tissue product.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 29, 2018Publication date: April 4, 2019Inventors: Thomas Gerard Shannon, Richard Louis Underhill, Kevin Leon LaBerge, John Matthew Reiser, Gilbert Darrell Gafford
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Patent number: 10145066Abstract: The present invention relates to tissue products comprising high yield hesperaloe fiber having improved wet performance, such as improved absorbency, CD Wet/Dry Ratio and CD Wet Durability. The addition of high yield hesperaloe pulp fibers surprisingly improves the CD Wet/Dry ratio without negatively affecting the absorbency of the tissue product. For example, tissue products of the present invention generally have an Absorbent Capacity greater than about 6.0 g/g, such as from about 8.0 to 8.0 g/g. As such the tissue products are durable when wet, but are still sufficiently absorbent. This balance of absorbency and wet strength is not found in the prior art without resorting to adding latex binders or the like to the tissue product.Type: GrantFiled: May 29, 2015Date of Patent: December 4, 2018Assignee: KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC.Inventors: Thomas Gerard Shannon, Richard Louis Underhill, Kevin Leon LaBerge, John Matthew Reiser, Gilbert Darrell Gafford
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Patent number: 10145069Abstract: The present invention provides soft, durable and bulky tissue products comprising non-wood fibers and more particularly hesperaloe fiber. The inventors have discovered that high yield hesperaloe pulp fiber, when incorporated in amounts of at least about 5 percent by weight of the tissue product, produces products having a GMT less than about 1000 g/3? and a GM Slope less than about 7.0 kg. At the foregoing tensile strengths and modulus the tissue products of the present invention are also generally soft, such as having a Stiffness Index less than about 10.0, and more preferably less than about 9.0, such as from about 7.0 to about 9.0.Type: GrantFiled: May 29, 2015Date of Patent: December 4, 2018Assignee: KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC.Inventors: Thomas Gerard Shannon, Richard Louis Underhill, Kevin Leon LaBerge, John Matthew Reiser, Gilbert Darrell Gafford
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Publication number: 20180334778Abstract: The present application provides a tissue product comprising at least about 10 weight percent high coarseness fibers, from about 1.0 to about 10 weight percent synthetic fibers and less than about 10 weight percent long, low-coarseness cellulosic fibers. The high coarseness fibers may be cellulosic fibers having an average fiber length greater than about 2.0 mm and a coarseness greater than 17 mg/100 m, such as Southern softwood kraft pulp fibers (SSWK) derived from a pine in the Pinus subgenus, and the synthetic fiber is a non-cellulosic, thermoplastic fiber such as non-fibrillated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers. In certain embodiments the tissue products may be substantially free from long, low coarseness cellulosic fibers, yet provide satisfactory strength, such as a geometric mean tensile from about 500 to about 1,200 g/3?, and softness, such as a TS7 less than about 11.0.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 22, 2017Publication date: November 22, 2018Inventors: Thomas Gerard SHANNON, Bo SHI, Jeffrey James TIMM, Abigail Joy MITCHELL
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Patent number: 10132036Abstract: The invention relates to tissue products comprising hesperaloe fibers and methods of producing the same. Preferably the hesperaloe fibers are high yield hesperaloe pulp fibers, which have demonstrated the ability to replace substantially all of the long fiber fraction of the papermaking furnish without negatively effecting important tissue product properties such as CD Stretch, CD Durability and bulk. Thus, the tissue product may comprise greater than about 90 weight percent hesperaloe fiber and more preferably greater than about 95 weight percent.Type: GrantFiled: May 29, 2015Date of Patent: November 20, 2018Assignee: KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC.Inventors: Lynda Ellen Collins, Mark Alan Burazin, Thomas Gerard Shannon, Jeffrey James Timm