Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette newspaper: Patently Speaking - "Combustion Powered Driver"

Greg Cooper, a patent attorney in Barnes & Thornburg LLP's Fort Wayne, Indiana office and a member of the firm's Intellectual Property Law Department, authored the column, "Combustion Powered Driver," for the May 2, 2011 edition of the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette. Greg's column, "Patently Speaking," highlights various patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Greg is an attorney in Fort Wayne practicing in the areas of patent, trademark, copyright, procurement, and litigation in the U.S. and internationally. He can be reached at gcooper@btlaw.com or (260)425-4660.

A copy of Greg's article for the week of May 2, 2011 appears below.

PATENTLY SPEAKING
May 2, 2011

Patently Speaking highlights the technological achievements of Fort Wayne area residents.

COMBUSTION POWERED DRIVER

U.S. Patent No. 7,926,690
Invented by: Dennis J. Tippmann, Sr., New Haven, IN

Certain types of post-drivers and log splitters operate using hydraulics or cables to raise and then drop a hammer to force a post into the ground, or a wedge into a log. In other words, it is a mechanized version of swinging a sledge hammer or ax. Post-drivers and log splitters work for their intended purpose, but can be cumbersome because they need a large, bulky support structure to handle the heavy hammer.

This new patent describes a post-driver that uses combustible gas, such as propane, to propel the hammer against the post or log. This drives the hammer with a lot more force than gravity. As a result, a less bulky support structure is needed.

The driver includes an injection valve that selectively distributes fuel to a combustion chamber. The fuel is then ignited via an ignition module. The force of this explosion propels a ram which impacts the post or log.

WATER PURIFICATION SYSTEMS

U.S. Patent No. 7,927,488
Invented by Rudy B. Wilfong, Fort Wayne, IN

Water purification systems are common. The water here in northeast Indiana has forced many of us to become familiar with water softeners, filters, and reverse osmosis purifiers to soften and clean our water.

Softening and cleaning water traditionally required these multiple systems. The water softener removes iron, the filters remove particulates, and the reverse osmosis system removes other impurities. No one system completed the whole task.

According to this patent, a new purification system was developed that removes many of the impurities found in water. Iron, manganese, and hydrogen sulfide gas that traditionally required multiple systems to be removed, is now accomplished by one system.

This new system includes two water tanks. The first tank receives water from a well or a municipal water supply and exposes it to air kept in a head space portion of the tank. The impurities oxidize and precipitate in the water. The water is then transferred to a second tank where a special filter holds the precipitated impurities, leaving only pure, clean water.

The preceding are lay descriptions of patents obtained from the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s public records and are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing contained herein is a legal description of any claimed invention, identification of novelty, or offer of legal advice. Because issued patents are based on applications often filed years earlier, the subject matter of some patents may have been available on the market for some time prior to the issuance of the patent. Additional information on these patents is available at www.uspto.gov.