Patents by Inventor Tom Edwards

Tom Edwards 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: 6101698
    Abstract: This invention relates to an arrangement for sealing a closed chamber in which equipment is to be replaced and especially to a chamber in which equipment is to be replaced while the chamber is to be maintained closed. The arrangement includes a channel filled with a fluid, such as water, and a skirt arranged to extend into the fluid to form the seal. As the skirt extends down into the liquid, a portal space is formed at the opening in the chamber and the opening preferably includes a gate for closing the chamber from the portal space and the outside.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2000
    Assignee: E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
    Inventors: Tom Edward Estep, Ronald P. Hoffman, James R. Hunter, Jean Joseph Muller, Germain Schilz, Carl E. Vorhees, James M. Wiggins, Jean Francois Woll
  • Patent number: 6059318
    Abstract: This invention relates to a coupling system for connecting one or more fluid conduits wherein the system is adapted for lateral entry of one pipe or conduit to the other. The coupling system is also suited for making a connection in an environment which is relatively inaccessible to personnel and may be remotely operated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 1997
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2000
    Assignee: E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
    Inventors: Tom Edward Estep, Ronald P. Hoffman, James R. Hunter, Jean Joseph Muller, Germain Schilz, Carl E. Vorhees, James M. Wiggins, Jean Francois Woll
  • Patent number: 5788993
    Abstract: A flash spin pack for a flash-spinning apparatus is provided in which the pack includes a spin mixture inlet, that communicates with a spin mixture passage, that discharges through a spinning orifice that opens into a slot defined by two opposing faces of the body of the spin pack. The slot is 0.25 mm to 7 mm wide proximate the spinning orifice outlet, 0.25 mm to 10 mm at the slot outlet, and the distance from the orifice outlet to the slot outlet is 1.5 mm to 40 mm. The spin pack may have five or more spinning orifices that each discharge into a different slot so configured.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 4, 1998
    Assignee: E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
    Inventors: Michael Allen Bryner, Don M. Coates, Michael Charles Davis, Tom Edward Estep, Ralph A. Franke, Larry Ray Marshall, Subhra K. Nath, Charles Wesley Starke, Sr.