Patents by Inventor Tom Teller

Tom Teller 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).

  • Method of blocking a pocket of a multi-pocket feed member for a directional drilling machine
    Patent number: 6374928
    Abstract: A method for blocking a pocket of a multi-pocket feed structure used to feed rods to and from a magazine of a directional drilling machine. The method includes providing a blocker at a non-blocking position, engaging the blocker with the feed structure, and extending the feed structure from beneath the magazine while the blocker engages and moves in concert with the feed structure. The method also includes disengaging the blocker from the feed structure after the feed structure has been extended, retracting the feed structure relative to the blocker until the blocker is positioned in a first blocking position in which at least one of the pockets of the feed structure is blocked, and re-engaging the blocker with the feed structure once the blocker is oriented in the first blocking position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2002
    Assignee: Vermeer Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Tom Teller, Bill Moldestad, Jr.