Patents by Inventor William J. Searle

William J. Searle 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: 6219996
    Abstract: Container filling systems include a container filling station which fills empty containers with a product, most preferably a frozen dessert. The container filling station will necessarily include a fill valve assembly which has a housing defining a inlet and discharge openings, and a cylindrical spool having a spool port defined therethrough. Preferably, the spool is mounted asymmetrically within said housing for rotation between an open and closed conditions. A container lid supply and transfer system is most preferably employed in the system of this invention and includes a lid supply assembly to provide an available stand-by supply of container lid stacks, a lid feeding assembly for sequentially feeding individual container lids onto an awaiting product-filled container, and a lid transfer assembly for transferring a lid stack from the lid supply assembly to the lid feeding assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2001
    Assignee: Sweetheart Cup Company, Inc.
    Inventor: William J. Searle
  • Patent number: 5865895
    Abstract: Syrup spray systems for producing frozen dessert cones include a manifold block defining a bore therethrough. At least one nozzle assembly is provided in fluid communication with the bore of the manifold block and having an actuator stem reciprocally movable between an inoperative condition (in which liquid syrup in the bore is prevented from being sprayed into an awaiting cone), and an operative condition (in which liquid syrup in the bore is sprayed into an awaiting cone). A control cylinder moves the actuator stem between the operative and inoperative conditions and is coupled removably to the actuator stem. In such a manner, the manifold block and the at least one nozzle assembly thereof may easily be removed from the control cylinder to permit repair and/or replacement thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 2, 1999
    Assignee: Sweetheart Cup Company Inc.
    Inventors: Edward L. Huffman, William J. Searle, Kenneth H. Bealer