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Tag: Featured Idaho Patent

  • Featured Idaho Patent: Potato Protein Powders

    Featured Idaho Patent: Potato Protein Powders

    U.S. Patent Number 12,439,938 – Potato Protein Powders

    Every Tuesday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office publishes newly granted patents. This blog post is part of a weekly series in which I pick an interesting new patent that has Idaho connections and briefly describe it.

    Inventors: Jeffri Curtis Bohlscheid (Boise, ID), Katrina Marie Fletcher (Palmerston North, New Zealand), Lee Meryl Huffman (Palmerston North, New Zealand)

    Assignee: J.R. Simplot Company (Boise, ID)

    Some patent titles make it difficult to ascertain the subject matter of the patent. Not this one; it discloses exactly what “potato protein powders” sounds like: protein powder made from potatoes.

    In one of the patent claims, the powder’s ingredients include “crude protein extracted from potato fruit juice (PFJ)” and “about 1-about 20 wt. % ash from the PFJ.” The powder can be used to make sports bars and dry mix powders.

    If I see this on the grocery store shelf, I will buy it. Way to go, Idaho!

  • Featured Idaho Patent: Net Securing System, Apparatus, And Methods

    Featured Idaho Patent: Net Securing System, Apparatus, And Methods

    U.S. Patent Number 12,421,754 – Net Securing System, Apparatus, And Methods

    Every Tuesday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office publishes newly granted patents. This blog post is part of a weekly series in which I pick an interesting new patent that has Idaho connections and briefly describe it.

    Inventors: Joshua Leland Frazier (Boise, ID), Justin Shook (Boise, ID)

    Assignee: SOCCER PARK, LLC (Boise, ID)

    Fields where people play sports often need a net around them to contain balls, frisbees, or other flying objects. An older way of securing the net to a wall involves “pinching portions of the net between wall portions,” which “creates weak points in the net, which over time may break.”

    This patent describes an improved apparatus for securing a net to a wall in a way that prolongs the life of the net. The apparatus is a wall cap that has an upper cavity and a lower cavity.

    Patent figure showing the upper cavity of the wall cap.

    The upper cavity holds a nylon rod intertwined with the net. The lower cavity sits on top of the wall. The wall cap has a gap large enough for the net to pass through, but too small for the rod. A cable wrapped both above and below the rod secures everything in place within the upper cavity.

    This design distributes load forces that occur when a ball impacts the net, lengthening the life of the net. Game on!

  • Featured Idaho Patent: Intelligent Door Lock System For Use With A Door Assembly

    Featured Idaho Patent: Intelligent Door Lock System For Use With A Door Assembly

    U.S. Patent Number 12,416,180 – Intelligent Door Lock System For Use With A Door Assembly

    Every Tuesday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office publishes newly granted patents. This blog post is part of a weekly series in which I pick an interesting new patent that has Idaho connections and briefly describe it.

    Inventors: Joshua Funamura (San Francisco, CA), Nicolás Pedro Lylyk (Palo Alto, CA), Patrick Kessler (San Francisco, CA), Eric Jadallah (Ketchum, ID), Jordan Fountain (San Jose, CA), Robert Sean Murphy (Sunnyvale, CA), Phillip Satterfield (San Francisco, CA), Greg Springer (Los Altos, CA), David Morgenstern (Los Altos, CA)

    Assignee: WedgeTLS LLC (Ketchum, ID)

    If you’ve ever fumbled with keys in the dark or worried about whether you locked the door, this week’s patent might pique your interest.

    The patent describes a door lock system that improves upon the typical keypad or Bluetooth-enabled deadbolt. Particularly, the patent describes that previous electronic door locks were “quite large and hence conspicuous when mounted on the door assembly, thus affecting the overall aesthetic appeal of the room.” This lock integrates sensors, processors, and wireless communication modules directly into the lock assembly, resulting in a better-looking device.

    One standout feature is its modular design. The system can be retrofitted into existing doors or built into new ones, making it flexible for both residential and commercial applications. It also supports multiple authentication methods, including RFID cards, key fobs, smart phones, and biometric inputs. That’s a big improvement from traditional locks, and it opens the door to smarter building management.

  • Featured Idaho Patent: Utility-scale Lithium-ion Battery Transporters

    Featured Idaho Patent: Utility-scale Lithium-ion Battery Transporters

    U.S. Patent Number 12,391,084 – Utility-scale Lithium-ion Battery Transporters

    Every Tuesday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office publishes newly granted patents. This blog post is part of a weekly series in which I pick an interesting new patent that has Idaho connections and briefly describe it.

    Inventors: Jonathan Edward Bellows (Waterbury, VT), Gregg Richard Noble (Saxtons River, VT), Alex David Perkins (North Ferrisburgh, VT), Lindsay Edward Gorrill (Coeur d’Alene, ID), Paul Brant Coombs (St. John’s, Canada), Nan Wu (St. John’s, Canada), Jason Jean Martin (Coeur d’Alene, ID), Mark Williams Hagedorn (North Plains, OR)

    The power grid in Idaho and the rest of the country may not be ready for the future. As electric cars continue to increase in popularity, as power-hungry data centers continue to increase in numbers, and as industry generally continues to require more electrical power, it’s looking likely that the current infrastructure will be a limiting factor.

    These inventors have come up with a creative solution: instead of moving electrons around the grid, let’s charge up a truckload of batteries in one location and transport the batteries to where power is needed. Energized batteries are mounted in racks, which are themselves anchored to an isolation platform working to dampen the external forces intrinsic to moving vehicles. In this manner, energy can be transported at a “utility-scale” to where it’s needed.

    The idea reminds me of the old quote “Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of magnetic tapes hurtling down the highway.”

  • Featured Idaho Patent: Portable Fluid Spraying System

    Featured Idaho Patent: Portable Fluid Spraying System

    U.S. Patent Number 12,383,915 – Portable Fluid Spraying System

    Every Tuesday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office publishes newly granted patents. This blog post is part of a weekly series in which I pick an interesting new patent that has Idaho connections and briefly describe it.

    Inventor: Vance Turbeville (Kimberly, ID)

    This week’s featured invention is a practical device. It has a housing with an internal water tank, pump, and battery. It even has wheels and a handle. It can be used to “to water plants, wash a car or boat, and the like.”

    Patent figure for Portable Fluid Spraying System

    The independent claims in this patent are highly detailed, which suggests a relatively narrow scope of protection. While I haven’t reviewed the prosecution history of the patent, it’s likely that the original claims were broader but were incrementally narrowed in response to examiner rejections. This kind of evolution is typical in patent prosecution, where applicants often add specificity to overcome prior art or other objections.

    Such claim narrowing underscores the critical role of the prosecution phase in shaping the final scope of a patent. Strategic responses during this stage can significantly influence the strength and enforceability of the resulting patent, making it a key focus for both applicants and their counsel.

  • Featured Idaho Patent: Compact Annular Linear Induction Pump

    Featured Idaho Patent: Compact Annular Linear Induction Pump

    U.S. Patent Number 12,381,466 – Compact Annular Linear Induction Pump

    Every Tuesday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office publishes newly granted patents. This blog post is part of a weekly series in which I pick an interesting new patent that has Idaho connections and briefly describe it.

    Inventor: Bryce D. Kelly (Idaho Falls, ID)

    Assignee: United States Department of Energy

    As discussed in the background section of this patent, after the U.S. developed sodium cooled nuclear reactors in the 1950s, this reactor type never enjoyed mainstream use. Recently, however, interest in sodium cooled nuclear reactors has increased due to their “breed & burn” design and their ability to be manufactured and deployed as microreactors.

    “Breed & burn” reactors are desirable because they can use spent fuel and generate more fissile material during operation.

    The sodium cooled nuclear reactor is defined by its molten sodium coolant. One improvement needed for this reactor type is an electromagnetic pump that can transport the molten sodium.

    Figure from the patent for Compact Annular Linear Induction Pump
    FIG. 2 of the patent, depicting a coil pair within the stator.

    The invention described in this patent has a duct through which the molten sodium coolant passes, a stator around the duct, and an inner core surrounded by the duct. Molten sodium is a paramagnetic fluid that can be moved by an electromagnetic field generated by the stator.

    The stator contains evenly spaced slots, divisible by three to correspond with a three-phase electrical system, each slot housing a coil. Three conductors, wired in series, alternate through the stator slots so that every third coil belongs to one of the conductors. Applying a three-phase current to the conductors generates a magnetic field, inducing the sodium coolant to move through the duct.

    Link: https://patents.google.com/patent/US12381466B2

  • Featured Idaho Patent: Apparatus and method for electrosurgical suction with suction band and replaceable tips

    U.S. Patent Number 9,763,729 – Apparatus and method for electrosurgical suction with suction band and replaceable tips

    Every Tuesday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office publishes newly granted patents. This blog post is part of a weekly series in which I pick an interesting new patent that has Idaho connections and briefly describe it.

    Inventors: Noah Mark Minskoff (Palo Alto, CA), Nathan Andrew Terry (Lowman, ID)

    Apparently “surgical smoke” is a danger to surgeons and operating room staff. But where does it come from? This week’s featured patent tells us that the “true workhorse” of the surgeon is not the boring old scapel, but the electrocautery device.

    Electrocautery devices present several advantages over the older technology, but also bring about at least one disadvantage: the smoke plume that emanates at the surgical site may contain volatile organic compounds that could pose a health hazard to the surgeon and the OR staff. The patent does not mention whether the patient would be in danger as well (but maybe the assumption is that since the patient is the one producing these harmful compounds, it is already too late for that individual).

    The device itself is essentially a wand with the electrocautery electrode and one or more smoke intake ports.

    Link:

  • Featured Idaho Patent: Differential action railroad car axle assembly

    U.S. Patent Number 8,246,096 – Differential action railroad car axle assembly

    Every Tuesday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office publishes newly granted patents. This blog post is part of a weekly series in which I pick an interesting new patent that has Idaho connections and briefly describe it.

    Inventors: Thomas W. Blasingame (Boise, ID), Robert E. Hord (Richmond, VA)

    According to this week’s featured patent, railroad axles are usually one piece and therefore the wheels are fixed to each other in rotation. This arrangement causes problems when the railcar goes around a corner, because the outside wheel wants to turn faster. The traditional fix for this problem is a tapered wheel that is commonly seen on railcars. However, this solution is not effective “enough to fully accommodate the adverse action of the rigid mounting,” and so the track gets worn down.

    Another seemingly-obvious solution, separately-rotating wheels (such as by the use of mechanical differentials), is problematic because electrical continuity must be maintained between the two rails for signaling systems. Even metallic bearings in a mechanical differential degrade electrical signals.

    The device in the featured patent allows electrical continuity between the two wheels across an axle while providing independent rotation of the wheels with respect to each other. Another advantage of this device is that it has low maintenance needs (no more than conventional railroad wheels).

    Link:

  • Featured Idaho Patent: Portable apparatus for cleaning air filters

    U.S. Patent Number 8,236,076 – Portable apparatus for cleaning air filters

    Every Tuesday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office publishes newly granted patents. This blog post is part of a weekly series in which I pick an interesting new patent that has Idaho connections and briefly describe it.

    Inventor: Dennis Grieve (Tendoy, ID)

    This week’s featured patent discloses a device for cleaning air filters on vehicles used in off-road and other environments that quickly saturate the air filter with particulate matter. Unlike passenger vehicles, which slowly accumulate dirt in their air filters, heavy equipment is sometimes operated in conditions that result in clogged air filters relatively quickly.

    This invention does its magic by using rotating nozzles that aim compressed air at the internal surface of the air filter. The compressed air makes the nozzles spin, similar to a dishwasher’s spray arms.

    Link:

  • Featured Idaho Patent: Armor systems including coated core materials

    U.S. Patent Number 8,231,963 – Armor systems including coated core materials

    Every Tuesday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office publishes newly granted patents. This blog post is part of a weekly series in which I pick an interesting new patent that has Idaho connections and briefly describe it.

    Inventors: Henry S. Chu (Idaho Falls, ID), Thomas M. Lillo (Idaho Falls, ID), Kevin M. McHugh (Idaho Falls, ID)

    Assignee: Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC (Idaho Falls, ID)

    This week’s featured patent is an armor system that could be used for aircraft, armored vehicles, and body armor. The invention includes a multi-layer design, with a core material that is coated with a second material. The coating material is used to absorb some of the energy of projectiles hitting the armor.

    As described in the patent, the coating layer is sprayed on the core material. In one example, the coating is about 3 mm thick. One advantage of spraying the second layer is that complex armor shapes can be created just as easily as flat armor plates.

    Link: