Patents by Inventor William Holman

William Holman 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).

  • Robotic pick up and delivery system
    Patent number: 7261511
    Abstract: A pick up and delivery system for use with mobile robots which have a body with a horizontal upper surface and at least one vertical side. The robot has at least one shelf, each of which contains a stop bar containing a retaining device. The system further uses multiple stations, each of which contain at least one pallet retaining surface to contain at least two pallets. The pallet retaining surfaces are provided with a holding device at the pick up area and a holding device at the delivery area. Pallets are used to retain the items being transferred with each of the pallets having a securing device that interacts with the holding device and retaining device. The strength of the holding device at the pick up area is less than the holding device at the delivery area, with the robot's retaining device having a strength between the strength of the holding devices. The mobile robot picks up a pallet from a first station, and delivers the pallet to a second station.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2007
    Assignee: University of Virginia Patent Foundation
    Inventors: Robin Felder, Randy Turner, William Holman, Chris Estey
  • Robotic pick up and delivery system
    Publication number: 20030165373
    Abstract: A pick up and delivery system for use with mobile robots which have a body with a horizontal upper surface and at least one vertical side. The robot has at least one shelf, each of which contains a stop bar containing a retaining device. The system further uses multiple stations, each of which contain at least one pallet retaining surface to contain at least two pallets. The pallet retaining surfaces are provided with a holding device at the pick up area and a holding device at the delivery area. Pallets are used to retain the items being transferred with each of the pallets having a securing device that interacts with the holding device and retaining device. The strength of the holding device at the pick up area is less than the holding device at the delivery area, with the robot's retaining device having a strength between the strength of the holding devices. The mobile robot picks up a pallet from a first station, and delivers the pallet to a second station.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 10, 2003
    Publication date: September 4, 2003
    Inventors: Robin Felder, Randy Turner, William Holman, Chris Estey
  • Robotic pick up and deliver system
    Patent number: 6543983
    Abstract: A pick up and delivery system for use with mobile robots which have a body with a horizontal upper surface and at least one vertical side. The robot has at least one shelf, each of which contains a stop bar containing a retaining device. The system further uses multiple stations, each of which contain at least one pallet retaining surface to contain at least two pallets. The pallet retaining surfaces are provided with a holding device at the pick up area and a holding device at the delivery area. Pallets are used to retain the items being transferred with each of the pallets having a securing device that interacts with the holding device and retaining device. The strength of the holding device at the pick up area is less than the holding device at the delivery area, with the robot's retaining device having a strength between the strength of the holding devices. The mobile robot picks up a pallet from a first station, and delivers the pallet to a second station.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: University of Virginia Patent Foundation
    Inventors: Robin Felder, Randy Turner, William Holman, Chris Estey
  • Microcode loading with continued program execution
    Patent number: 5613133
    Abstract: Microcode is loaded into, for example, a processor or I/O module within a computer system without manually halting and restarting the computer system. In other words, microcode can be loaded into the computer system dynamically while data processing continues from the processor or I/O module states just prior to the microcode load with no major interruption to the user. A microcode image is loaded into a processor which is already executing one or more tasks. A request to load microcode into the processor is received. The processor is signalled to suspend task execution. After the microcode image is transferred into the processor, the processor is signalled to resume task execution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 1994
    Date of Patent: March 18, 1997
    Assignee: Unisys Corporation
    Inventors: Michael Bell, William Burroughs, Susanne Gilliam, William Holman