Recently Issued Patents

A competitive table game includes a rapidly spinning game wheel, an annular collection area, a base, and a plurality of rollable playing pieces. The game wheel is rotatably connected onto the base while the annular collection area is concentrically positioned around the game wheel. During each game, the players roll the plurality of rollable playing pieces on a smooth top surface of the game wheel as the plurality of rollable playing pieces is tangentially positioned on the smooth top surface and released attempting to match the linear velocity at the respective position on the game wheel. Then the plurality of rollable playing pieces moves across the smooth top surface and drops into the annular collection area, where the winner of each game is determined according to the game rules of each different game and the positioning of the plurality of rollable playing pieces. Other embodiments are described and shown.

A pocket safety saw that can be carried by a detention officer or psychiatric personnel without fear that it could do harm to another patient, inmate or guard is described. The pocket safety saw may be used to quickly cut down a suicidal patient or detainee from a hanging suicide attempt. An exemplary pocket saw comprises a handle, a saw portion, saw support, and safety saw element. A safety saw element is a saw element that will not cut human skin when pressed and reciprocated against the skin. The safety saw element may be used to cut fibrous material such as rope, cord, fabric and the like. A pocket safety saw may have one or more frangible features that cause the safety saw element to fracture when removed from the saw support. A frangible feature may be a removed portion of a safety saw element.

A rolling ball-race betting apparatus has at least two decline planes with deflectors to allow balls to race down along the decline planes into a collector. A person may place any number of different types of wagers on a race result, such as selecting one ball to win. Each ball in the ball-race apparatus has a designation such as a number, symbol, color or other marking. A ball-race apparatus may have stops, wherein one or more of the balls may be trapped in the stop and will not finish the race. A person may place a wager on one or more balls to not finish the race. A ball-race apparatus may have a shortcut conduit that transfers balls from the first decline plane to the second decline plane. A ball race game apparatus may include a spinning deflector that is configured to hit and propel the balls in any number of directions.

A train brake tool for engaging and disengaging a train brake, such as a brake wheel or lever, is described. The train brake tool is configured for manual or hand operation and has both a puller portion and pusher portion configured at the end of an elongated member. The puller portion is configured with a hook for insertion into an opening in a brake wheel to allow the user to pull and rotate the wheel. The pusher portion has a hook configured oppositely to the puller, to allow the user to push the wheel. A length extension is described and is configured to be detachably attachable to the train brake tool.

An integrated battery control system incorporates a battery management system and a power control system to reliably and safely provide power to vehicles and other mobile devices. The integrated power control system incorporates safety features to protect the batteries from dropping below a threshold voltage or being overcharged, and from operating the vehicle when it is coupled with an AC power supply. An integrated power control system may be contained in a control enclosure having a computing device, battery power input, an AC power input, a power output switch, a power output, a key-switch interface and a shunt to measure current flow. The power control system regulates electrical power delivery to a drive motor and a pre-charge resistor as a function of the battery state of charge. When a battery unit is below a threshold value, power delivery is disabled to the drive motor and a pre-charge resistor.

A continuous heat-shrink tubing process is described having an expansion element disposed with the tubing and a position maintenance feature to keep the expansion element in a desired location. The expansion element may be maintained in a position by pressurized fluid trapped within the tubing between the expansion element and pinch rollers. The pinch roller may be moved to reduce the volume within the section of tubing between the pinch roller nip and the expansion element, and thereby increase the pressure of the trapped fluid. In another embodiment, the expansion element may be held in place by an extruder connector. In yet another embodiment, the expansion element incorporates a magnetic component, or has at least one magnet, or magnetic metals and one or more magnets are configured to maintain an expansion element position through attractive or repulsive magnetic forces.

A helmet cover that has an outer skin, an impact absorbing material and at least one vent comprising an aperture tough the helmet cover is described. A helmet cover vent may be aligned with a vent in a helmet, thereby providing for improved ventilation and cooling, and may be attached to a helmet. A helmet cover vent may be configured as a tapered or flared vent, and may be an air capture vent. The impact absorbing material may be configured over substantially the entire helmet cover surface, or may cover only a portion of the surface. In one embodiment, the impact absorbing material is configured as a discrete pad that is located where impact is most common, such as on the front, sides, or back of the helmet cover. A discrete pad may be interchangeable, allowing for customizing the type and location of impact absorption on the helmet cover.

A self-cooling fan in configured with a vent feature that draws air into a fan housing and over a heat sink to dissipate heat generated by the motor and/or control unit. The self-cooling fan has a conduit with an attached end opening that couples with a cooling zone within the fan housing and extends along a portion of the fan blade(s). A vent feature is an opening in a conduit, at or near the extended end of the conduit, that allows air to exit the conduit. A vent feature may be a venturi feature. A venturi feature creates a vacuum within a conduit via outer diameter blade velocities interacting with venturi geometries when the blades are rotating, further promoting the drawing of air into the fan housing. A cooling channel allows air from outside of the fan assembly to enter into a cooling zone where a heat sink is configured.

A wire coil retainer having a band with at least one fastening feature configured to detachably attach one side of the band to the other side of the band that allows for quick and easy retention of a wire coil, such as a headphone wire. When the fastening feature is attached, two opposing loops are formed on either side of the fastener. A wire coil can be retained by placing the wire coil inside the interior of the band and detachably attaching the fastening feature through the center coil opening. A first portion of the wire coil is retained in a first loop and a second portion of the wire coil is retained in a second loop of the fastened wire coil retainer. A wire coil retainer may be configured with one or more retainer protrusions that aid in the retention of a wire coil within a loop.

A bird-wing broadhead blade is a blade that has a free end that is positioned in a back or downstream position from a fixed end. The free end of the bird-wing blade extends out, like a bird opens its wings to fly. A bird-wing broadhead blade may incorporate a shape memory alloy material that has a set shape, such as by thermal setting. A shape memory alloy bird-wing broadhead blade may be deformed into a strained shape and retained until hitting an object. When the shape memory blade is released, it will move into the set shape automatically. A shape memory alloy is a metal alloy that “remembers” its set shape and has superelastic properties. A spring deployment system may also be used to deploy one or more bird-wing blades. A spring may be configured upstream or downstream of the fixed end of the blades.