Patents by Inventor William Willhite, Jr.

William Willhite, Jr. 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: 5059277
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for ultrasonically bonding continuously moving webs to one another using a stationary vibrating horn and a relatively slick, non-thermally softenable moving slip layer interposed between the webs to be bonded and the horn to prevent web damage. Interposing the slip layer between the webs to be bonded and the ultrasonic horn improves both the quality and efficiency of web bonding. It reduces friction between the travelling webs and the substantially stationary ultrasonic horn not only due to its relatively slick surface, but also due to the compressive force which the slip layer exerts upon the webs to be bonded. This in turn minimizes jamming and hangups in the very limited clearance existing between the rotating anvil roll and the substantially stationary vibrating ultrasonic horn. In addition, the slip layer maximizes retention of heat either generated in the laminate web by the ultrasonic horn or transferred to the laminate web structure by preheating one or more of the webs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 1986
    Date of Patent: October 22, 1991
    Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
    Inventors: William Willhite, Jr., Gerald M. Weber, Godfrey Retier
  • Patent number: 5038454
    Abstract: A method for producing an integral bottle/collar combination for use in a package for storing and dispensing potentially dangerous material such as medicament tablets. The package is resistant to opening by children yet readily openable by adults. The process includes a step of injection molding a polymeric part having a finish portion, a preform portion, and a flange portion. The flange portion has at least one integrally formed socket having a resiliently deformable pushtab connected by a hinge. The preform portion of the injection molded part is blow molded into the shape of the bottle. The hingedly connected pushtab is then folded into its in-use position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 1990
    Date of Patent: August 13, 1991
    Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
    Inventors: Del M. Thornock, James R. Goldberg, Ronald W. Kock, Robert A. Paul, Peter W. Hamilton, William Willhite, Jr.
  • Patent number: 4948002
    Abstract: A package for storing and dispensing potentially dangerous materials, such as medicament tablets or the like, said package being resistant to opening by children but readily openable by adults, particularly adults having impaired manual dexterity of their hands and/or fingers. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the package comprises a bottle, a collar which is secured in place over the uppermost portion of the bottle and a closure which is secured to the finish portion of the bottle by means of complementary screw threads. The collar preferably includes a pair of spring-like pushtabs containing vertical extensions which engage interlocking teeth on the innermost surface of the closure skirt when the closure is fully assembled onto the bottle. To remove the closure, the opposed pushtabs must be manually depressed prior to applying unscrewing torque to the closure to disengage the pushtab extensions from the interlocking teeth on the closure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 1988
    Date of Patent: August 14, 1990
    Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
    Inventors: Del M. Thornock, James R. Goldberg, Ronald W. Kock, Robert A. Paul, Peter W. Hamilton, William Willhite, Jr.
  • Patent number: 4937088
    Abstract: A method of and apparatus for extracting the meat section and juice from a fruit while minimizing the amount of undesirable flavor components, e.g. peel oil, released from the fruit's peel. In one embodiment of the present invention, whole fruits are fed into a single station extraction apparatus that first cuts a equatorial groove in the fruit's peel while the fruit is rotated. A semicircular coring blade is then inserted into the groove and rotated 360.degree. which severs a spherical chunk of fruit meat from the peel. The small amount of fruit meat remaining on the peel's inner surface is then preferably extracted with a reaming element or fluid jet nozzle. In other particularly preferred embodiments, the grooving, coring, and reaming component mechanisms are incorporated into an indexing turret apparatus and a high-speed continuous motion turret apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 1988
    Date of Patent: June 26, 1990
    Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
    Inventors: Peter G. Gosselin, Ronald W. Kock, Michael S. Kolodesh, Jeffrey T. Leitner, Bruce A. Pierson, H. Norman Reiboldt, David A. Sabatelli, Vicki L. Weber, William Willhite, Jr.
  • Patent number: 4823783
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for ultrasonically bonding continuously moving webs to one another using a stationary vibrating horn and a relatively slick, non-thermally softenable moving slip layer interposed between the webs to be bonded and the horn to prevent web damage. Interposing the slip layer between the webs to be bonded and the ultrasonic horn improves both the quality and efficiency of web bonding. It reduces friction between the travelling webs and the substantially stationary ultrasonic horn not only due to its relatively slick surface, but also due to the compressive force which the slip layer exerts upon the webs to be bonded. This in turn minimizes jamming and hangups in the very limited clearance existing between the rotating anvil roll and the substantially stationary vibrating ultrasonic horn. In addition, the slip layer maximizes retention of heat either generated in the laminate web by the ultrasonic horn or transferred to the laminate web structure by preheating one or more of the webs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 1988
    Date of Patent: April 25, 1989
    Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
    Inventors: William Willhite, Jr., Gerald M. Weber, Godfrey Retier