Famous Patents
3M employee and church chorister Art Fry needed something to temporarily mark pages in his hymnal. He was in luck because his colleague, Spencer Silver, accidentally developed a glue that was too weak for other purposes. After initially discouraging consumer response, Post-it Notes became a hit in 1979.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8128067 | Device and method providing redundant automatic clutch release and engine shut down on a drilling or production rig A drilling rig control system adapted for easy interface between a compressed air supply and a drilling rig clutch and brake. Both manual and automatic controls are provided to initiate the device to interrupt and vent the compressed air supply to the clutch and con... | 03/06/2012 |
| 7866630 | Winding mechanism with tension control function and trawling apparatus To provide a winding mechanism and a trawling apparatus capable of eliminating an excessive tension or slack generated in a wire wound around a drum and keeping the tension or wire length of the wire constant. A winding mechanism with tension control function... | 01/11/2011 |
| 7448597 | Powered personnel ascender A powered rope ascender that supports a person or a load while ascending a vertical rope. The rope ascender has a motor driven capstan drum that engages the rope. A pinch roller grips the rope against the capstan drum. A load limiting assembly releases the grip by t... | 11/11/2008 |
| 7331252 | Braking system This braking system (S) is adapted to be used with a mechanism having one or several turning members (34), and comprises a toothed wheel (6), connected in rotation with at least one turning member (34) to be braked, and an endless screw (8 | 02/19/2008 |
| 7303183 | Safety brake mechanism for a winding drum and method for grinding a safety brake The invention concerns a safety brake mechanism for the winding drum (8) of a hoisting machine that can be driven via a motor (4) with lifting gearbox (3), which is substantially braked to a standstill without jerking when the lowering speed is ... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7293761 | Diagnostic system for cranes A hoist system for critical loads incorporates improved safety technology to monitor various possible fault conditions. For example, a command-not-operated function causes braking of the hoist when an encoder detects one of a group of conditions including a lack of ... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7237765 | Speed limiting system for lifting devices Speed limiter system to detect over speed and generate a signal to cut the power and if necessary operate brakes. It consist of the limiter itself, with a tension pulley. The limiter consists of weights connected by a mechanism that moves asymmetrically and by centr... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7234685 | Apparatus for raising and lowering a banner An apparatus for raising and lowering an article includes a tube, a motor coupled to the tube for rotating the tube, a plurality of cables secured to the tube and to the article in spaced relation to each other, and a cable indexer synchronously coupled with the tub... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7234684 | Hoisting device with load measuring mechanism and method for determining the load of hoisting devices A hoisting device, especially a cable or chain block, with a hoisting transmission having at least one shaft and with a hoisting load measuring mechanism. In order to determine the hoisting load as accurately as possible and possibly independent of the reeving and w... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7227322 | Hoist with detachable power and control unit A hoist is powered by a separate power unit. The hoist unit includes: a motor, a mounting connector, a spool, webbing, auto cut-off and a first portion of a mating electrical connector. The control unit includes a hollow pole, a hook, a second portion of the mating ... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7226037 | System for assuring engagement of a hydromatic brake on a drilling or well service rig The present invention provides an automatic system for engaging the hydromatic brake on a drilling rig or a service rig. This system monitors both the hook load and traveling block velocity, and uses an electrical solenoid to activates the hydromatic when either the... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7201366 | Electronic winch monitoring system An electronic winch monitoring system for a winch having a fixed-ratio gearbox with input and output shafts, a winch drum connected to the output shaft, and an auxiliary brake connected to the output shaft activated by reducing the pressure in a brake release hydrau... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7190146 | Control system and method for an overhead bridge crane Included herein is a system and method for controlling a velocity vector of an overhead crane. A motor is attached to the crane and is positioned to move the overhead crane and has an output vector including a rotational direction and a rotational speed. A variable ... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7114577 | Safemode operating system for a drilling or service rig Disclosed herein is a system designed to manage or slow the block travel speed down to safe speeds when the rig is operating in a light load/high speed condition. The system monitors and controls engine torque and horsepower, providing the minimum amount of each nec... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7080824 | Chain motor drive controller An improved chain motor drive controller is provided for a chain hoist. The system employs a position encoder including a position sensor located within the casing of the chain hoist to producing encoded electrical position signals. A motor pulley is mounted on the ... | 07/25/2006 |
| 7063306 | Electronic winch monitoring system An electronic winch monitoring system for a winch having a fixed-ratio gearbox with input and output shafts, a winch drum connected to the output shaft, and an auxiliary brake connected to the output shaft activated by reducing the pressure in a brake release hydrau... | 06/20/2006 |
| 7004456 | Engine speed limiter for a hoist A mobile service rig for wells includes a hoist powered by an internal combustion engine. In response to the hoist exerting a predetermined lifting force, the lifting force is limited by automatically limiting or reducing the speed of the engine. ... | 02/28/2006 |
| 6956345 | Robot apparatus, and load absorbing apparatus and method To appropriately detect overload which may break a motor or deform a body and reduce the overload in the motor. The DC component of a load torque is derived from the sum of absolute values of a torque applied to a link connected to the output shaft of a motor and th... | 10/18/2005 |
| 6886812 | Human power amplifier for lifting load with slack prevention apparatus A human power amplifier includes an end-effector that is grasped by a human operator and applied to a load. The end-effector is suspended, via a line, from a take-up pulley, winch, or drum that is driven by an actuator to lift or lower the load. The end-effector inc... | 05/03/2005 |
| 6607182 | Winching apparatus A winching arrangement is disclosed for winching a cable comprising a winching frame; a capstan (11) for winding the cable onto; a drive motor (3) for driving the capstan; and a first clutch mechanism for disengaging the capstan from the clutch when the t... | 08/19/2003 |
| 6092789 | Methods and apparatus for boom hoist systems A boom hoist system for supporting and adjusting the position of a lifting crane gantry is provided including a drum, a drive system, and first and second braking systems for selectively stopping rotation of the drum. The boom hoist system operates indepe... | 07/25/2000 |
| 5915673 | Pneumatic human power amplifer module A pneumatic human power amplifier module is usable in conjunction with a wide variety of pneumatic actuators and lifting devices to provide a human power amplifier for lifting a load. The module includes an end-effector, an electronic controller and a pne... | 06/29/1999 |
| 5692733 | Winding machine stopping method A method of stopping of a winding machine that hoists and lowers an object prevents abrasion of the electromagnetic brake and the descent of load. The winding machine, which winches a load up or down in response to a torque command TREF to the ... | 12/02/1997 |
| 5520368 | Air lifting and balancing unit with constant force pneumatic circuit An air lifting and balancing unit including a cylinder, a piston in the cylinder, a ball screw affixed to the piston, a ball nut mounted for rotation on the ball screw, a drum mounted on the ball nut, a chain driven by the drum, and centrifugally actuated... | 05/28/1996 |
| 5284325 | Hoist with load shifted gear, detector, and motor speed changer An electric hoist comprising an electric motor and a sheave driven by the electric motor via a reduction gear. The reduction gear comprises a pair of helical gears meshing with each other. One of the helical gears is axially movably arranged on a shaft an... | 02/08/1994 |
| 5005777 | Seat belt retractor with an electric motor A seat belt retractor includes a spool driven by an electric motor. Seat belt webbing is wound around the spool. A worm wheel rotates with the spool and meshes with a worm that is axially movable. A set of electrical brushes is axially movable with the wo... | 04/09/1991 |
| 4869130 | Winder A winder for winding and unwinding of materials, which utilizes a ball variator and planetary speed reducer in combination with a mechanism functioning as a regulator of speed output and tension desired for the materials. During a winding operation, the g... | 09/26/1989 |
| 4635491 | Fail-safe motor-driven cylinder for lifting apparatus A motor-driven cylinder for lifting apparatus has screw means including intermeshed internally and externally threaded screw means by which a load can be moved upwardly and downwardly by the torque of a motor, the motor-driven cylinder including torque tr... | 01/13/1987 |
| 4625946 | Hoist having worm safety device A hoist having a worm safety device in which the worm is continuously meshed with a worm wheel coupled to the drum. The worm is accelerated to a speed greater than that of the worm wheel and at a torque sufficient to overcome the frictional contact betwee... | 12/02/1986 |
| 4581723 | Method for maintaining a constant tension on a seismic marine cable A method for maintaining a substantially constant tension on a towed seismic cable, wherein the instantaneous towing force and the instantaneous cable displacement relative to a fixed shipboard reference are continously measured and sampled. A microproces... | 04/08/1986 |
| 4570245 | Constant tensioner for a seismic marine cable A system for maintaining a substantially constant tension on a towed seismic cable, wherein the instantaneous towing force and the instantaneous cable displacement relative to a fixed shipboard reference are continuously measured and sampled. A microproce... | 02/11/1986 |
| 4518153 | Safety mechanism for hoisting drums The safety system in a hoist having a motor with a motor shaft, a gear reduction unit, a drum, a safety brake drivingly coupled on an operating element on or close to the drum in which a mechanical out-of-sync detector produces a unidirectional brake-sett... | 05/21/1985 |
| 4508281 | Hydraulic drive system for cable stringing apparatus A rotary drum cable winding apparatus particularly adapted for constant tension pulling operations in conjunction with stringing aerial electrical cables includes a hydraulic drive and control system utilizing a variable displacement, variable torque hydr... | 04/02/1985 |
| 4493479 | Hoist drive safety system A hoist having a motor, gear reduction unit, drum, and an emergency brake on the drum or on a drive-coupled element close to the drum. A brake-actuating mechanism is operated in response to a mechanical out-of-sync detector with mechanical inputs directly... | 01/15/1985 |
| 4483518 | Device for preventing overload of a winch In a device for preventing overload of a vehicle winch, including a line drum, a motor and a planetary gearing between the line drum and the motor, there is a sensor comprising a planet carrier of the planetary gearing. When the winch is overloaded the pl... | 11/20/1984 |
| 4323222 | Control systems for hydraulically operated elements circuits or systems Method of controlling two separately operable hydraulic circuits involving monitoring the pressure conditions in one of the circuits, comparing this pressure with a reference pressure which is established in the control system to produce a first error sig... | 04/06/1982 |
| 4248406 | Barn scraper drive assembly The drive motor is pivotally supported axially within the frame so that it rotates slightly if the torque of the motor increases due to the scraper assembly being impeded by animals, equipment, broken slats or the like. This actuates a reversing switch th... | 02/03/1981 |
| 4200052 | Systems for controlling the position of a moored floating vessel This invention provides a system which includes winding apparatus for haug in and paying out a substantially inextensible steel rope tethering a floating vessel to a moorage or towing vessel, and a control system responsive to signals indicative of the t... | 04/29/1980 |
| 4175727 | Single failure proof crane A synergistic safety system is incorporated in a crane driven by a high-speed motor which requires both an energy-absorbing torque-limiting device in the speed reduction unit and a drum emergency holding device. The energy-absorbing torque-limiting device... | 11/27/1979 |
| 4025055 | Apparatus for use in raising or lowering a load in a condition of relative motion Motion compensated load lifting apparatus for use on marine vessels. Apparatus includes means for maintaining tension in load lifting member during relative motion and means for locking the tensioning means in one direction of motion. Tensioning means inc... | 05/24/1977 |
